Chapter 41 The Mantis and the Oriole
Lin Deqing cautiously entered the ghost market with his mule. As soon as he put down his stall and hung up the sign, the merchants who bought salt from the last time gathered around him.
The person who bought salt last time was a steward slave of a wealthy family in the county. He originally planned to buy salt in Qianshi, but when he saw that Lin Deqing was cheaper, the steward changed his mind.
Lin Deqing's place is a full fifty cents cheaper than the one in the previous market. You can pay the fifty cents price difference by buying a pound. They, the servants, rely on this little extra money.
(By the way, just in case, ordinary people were prohibited from keeping slaves in the Ming Dynasty, but big families still had domestic slaves, usually in the name of adopted sons. So in a certain masterpiece, the domestic slaves called Ximen Qing "Ximen Qing" "Dad.")
The housekeeper's slave bought the salt and was a little uneasy. If something went wrong with Lin Deqing's salt being eaten by his father, his greedy money would be exposed.
But I didn't expect that after the host finished eating, he praised him for buying good salt this time, and it didn't have any bitter taste at all.
Now the housekeeper was extremely happy, but also extremely regretful.
What I regret is that the last time I bought only two kilograms, I only spent 100 cents.
So as soon as the ghost market opened this time, the steward's slave rushed to Lin Deqing's stall. Sure enough, when he saw the sign hanging out, it was still the same price as last time. The steward's slave immediately rushed up and said, "You are still a salt person.
" One hundred coins per pound?"
Lin Deqing nodded.
The steward asked again:
"How many pounds do you weigh?"
Lin Deqing had a dull personality and was too nervous to speak. He raised three fingers.
"Thirty kilograms? Then I'll cover it all!"
Thirty kilograms is 3,000 Wen. Although it's more than the owner wants, you can pay for it first and buy it all in advance. Next time, the owner will let you buy salt. Will make up for it when the time comes.
Lin Deqing shook his head and said: "Three hundred catties."
When he heard three hundred catties, the manager was stunned. He couldn't eat so much salt, and the owner's family couldn't eat so much salt in a year.
"Three hundred catties, all one hundred cents per catty?"
Lin Deqing nodded, and the steward's breathing became rapid.
Three hundred catties, a price difference of fifty cents per catty, is a price difference of ten taels of silver.
The steward only made ten taels of silver after working for a year. This was because he received a generous purchase from the family, and all parties had to respect him.
The steward rolled his eyes and said immediately: "Wait a moment, I'll buy it right away!"
After saying that, the steward immediately ran away, and he quickly found a few familiar figures.
These were the housekeepers and slaves that the rich families in the county came to purchase. He gritted his teeth and found these people and immediately told them all about this "business opportunity."
Since you can’t eat one bite, let’s share the fat together.
Every government needs salt, and this low-priced salt is profitable.
In the future, these slaves from various houses who have accepted favors will also help themselves when encountering low-priced goods.
Lin Deqing also didn't expect that in less than half an hour, three hundred kilograms of refined salt would be snatched away as soon as he put up the sign.
Su Ze on the side also secretly reflected that he had still misunderstood the value of refined salt in this era.
Su Ze forgot that in the Ming Dynasty, salt could be called a general equivalent almost like currency.
Even compared to Baobao, a currency that is inferior to toilet paper, the value of salt was very stable from the early Ming Dynasty to the late Ming Dynasty.
Selling refined salt in a ghost market for a hundred cents a pound is almost the same as selling gold at a low price in a busy city.
No wonder Zhu Qi and his gang of salt-selling Japanese pirates wanted to target him. This was simply ruining the situation.
But Su Ze didn't have time to regret it. He sold the salt at a low price because he was eager to get rid of it. Anyway, he made a profit. Besides, selling salt in the ghost market will definitely affect the business of Zhu Qi and his group. It will be a matter of time before he is targeted. It is better to get rid of this group of Japanese pirates as soon as possible.
Lin Deqing closed the stall, and the steward of the ghost market from last time came immediately to collect taxes. This time, his business was booming, and the steward issued a tax bill of 500 yuan. Lin Deqing followed Su Ze's instructions, kept the money, and quickly left the ghost market with his mule. city.
Just after Lin Deqing left the ghost market, two sneaky people crawled out from the roadside of the ghost market and immediately followed Lin Deqing.
The mantis stalked the cicada, the oriole followed, and Su Ze followed the two of them as they walked deeper into the night.
Today is the end of the month, when the moon is at its dimmer.
The bright moon has no light, but the stars are bright.
Lin Deqing held a lantern and led the mule, which became a guiding light in the dark night. The two men who were following him followed closely.
Once they were far away from the ghost market, the two men immediately got into the woods. After a while, they put on the clothes of county officials, lit lanterns and caught up with Lin Deqing.
Lin Deqing was walking at night with a huge sum of money in his arms. He was trembling with fear when he suddenly heard a cry of "stop" behind him.
Lin Deqing turned around and saw two guards coming with lanterns, and felt even more frightened.
These days, the reputation of county government officials is about the same as that of bandits, but slightly better than that of Japanese pirates.
"Check the road guide! Take it out quickly!"
When he heard that it was the road guide, Lin Deqing immediately said in the local dialect: "Two officers, the common people are from the county, so don't use the road guide."
Two Chinese characters pretending to be a police officer After stalling for time, Zhu Qi, a former salt worker who discovered the Japanese pirates, led his remaining brothers to ambush beside the grass.
Although they became Japanese pirates, the equipment of Zhu Qi and his group was still at the same level as when they were working as salt workers. All they had were wooden sticks for stirring brine.
Only Zhu Qi was holding a short knife. This was the self-defense weapon he took from the young eunuch guarding the salt field after killing him.
"Go!"
The brother pretending to be a police officer had already entangled Lin Deqing, and Zhu Qi immediately ordered his subordinates to rush forward.
Making and selling salt is the survival of Zhu Qi and his group. There is no fresh water on Meiyue Island, and no food can be grown. Food and clothing must be purchased with money from selling salt.
Zhu Qi used various means to finally monopolize the channels for selling salt in this ghost market, but Su Ze blocked him again.
Zhu Qi bribed the tax collector at the ghost market, but could not get any information from Lin Deqing. Today he could only bring his brother with him, first robbed Lin Deqing, and then forced him to ask him where he got the low-price refined salt.
Zhu Qiyi rushed out, and two accomplices pretending to be guards immediately went to catch Lin Deqing.
However, Lin Deqing heard Su Ze's whistle in advance and immediately mounted his mule to escape.
As soon as the two fake officers and Zhu Qi reunited, shouts of death came from the jungle on all sides!
This group of ordinary guardsmen from Changning Guard rushed out wearing cotton armor borrowed from the guardhouse and holding wolf forks, harpoons and hoes.
The farm tools in their hands could not be seen clearly in the darkness. The remnants of the soldiers from the guard station practiced with Su Ze twice more. They were more powerful than the last time they fought with weapons, and they were even more organized than the officers and soldiers in the county.
The fake officers and real Japanese pirates met the fake officers and soldiers. Su Ze used the whistle to coordinate and quickly surrounded Zhu Qi and his group of Japanese pirates.
Seeing the officers and soldiers suddenly charging out, Zhu Qi first thought that he had been ambushed by the officers and soldiers. He was so frightened that he could no longer hold the dagger in his hand.
Su Ze held up a torch and shouted coldly: "Put down your weapons and surrender immediately! Those who disobey will be killed without mercy!"
(End of Chapter)