Destiny Only Han

Chapter 689 Liu Ying: Consumption Upgrade!
To the east of Fushi County, where a huge gap in the old Great Wall was demolished, more than a dozen locomotives covered with grass curtains are parked, and not far away, there are a series of long strip carriages.

This is the parking lot selected by Liu Ying, and to the south of this place is a freight transfer station.

It's not coal, but salt, the salt from the Dingbian salt pond.

If you look carefully, you will find that most of the stacked packs there are not refined salt for human consumption, but coarse salt for feeding livestock and pickling ham and bacon.

Nowadays, there are a lot of livestock raised in the Han Kingdom. It is no exaggeration to say that feeding pigs and cows consumes at least [-]% more salt than humans!
However, in the age of walking on legs, long-distance livestock trafficking is actually very uneconomical. If the price is too low to make money, it is better to sell it locally; if the price is too high, it cannot compete with local traders, so it is still necessary to sell at a low price or lose money. ...

Therefore, the livestock are slaughtered when they are in the best condition and the taste is excellent, and they are roughly processed to increase the flavor. At the same time, they will not be exploited by profiteers. As long as they are well preserved, it is not a problem to keep a ham for three to five years!
With the promotion of pickled ham and bacon technology, the supply of salt in Hedong Yanchi is somewhat in short supply.

If the supply exceeds the demand, the price will naturally rise.

As a result, the old profession of salt smugglers, which was on the verge of losing their heads, revived again.

The reason why Liu Ying set up the unloading point here is to take advantage of the lower logistics costs to suppress the rising salt price and kill the profession of private salt dealer again!
After all, salt, an indispensable resource for everyone, is much more, but less is less, and only certain places can produce this resource.

Such as Qi State, such as Wu State.

After all, people are flattering, practicing skills hard, and struggling to have children behind the gates of hell, isn't it just to enjoy the glory and wealth brought by the palace?

But more white gold!

Liu Ying said casually: "Yes, when the time comes, the profit of Hedong Yanchi will drop, and Xiao Xiang and Xungui who lost money will ask you to make up for the shortfall!"

Zhang Buyi retorted seriously:
"That's not what it says. "Guanzi" says that five liters of salt for older men is less than half, three liters of older women is less than half, and my son's salt is less than half for two liters. This is the Dali."

Liu Ying smiled, grabbed Zhang Buyi's sleeve and said:

And in this curiosity, there is also a strong greed.

"What?" Zhang Buji was taken aback, weighed the weight with his hands, and asked with wide eyes:

Yes.

"Let's talk about business. This kind of fine salt is actually not sold to ordinary people, but to noble merchants in Guanzhong. It's the same sentence, you can't get tired of eating fine food."

I feel sorry for you for a second... Liu Ying waved her hand:

After all, it is different from Hedong Yanchi. The history of Hedong Yanchi can be traced back to the Battle of Banquan during the Yellow Emperor’s period. At that time, Yandi and Huangdi fought for Hedong Yanchi. Emperor Yan was defeated, but because the two families had a marriage alliance , So instead of exterminating the family, he joined the Yellow Emperor's side and became the ancestor of Zhu Xia!
Because of this, no one can swallow the fat of Hedong Yanchi alone. The country eats meat, and Xungui, who bought bonds, sips soup!
As for the Dingbian Salt Pond, this is the property of Liu Bang, which Liu Ying is responsible for managing. It is said that a god-man entrusted him with a dream, so Liu Ying found this salt pond.

"The old master said that you can't get tired of eating fine food. In the past, the salt everyone ate was a little bit bitter, but there was no choice. Now that there are better ones, why not eat some good ones?"

"This pack can be up to one catty (250g)! The price of salt in Chang'an City is the highest in the world, and the best table salt sold in the official salt workshop is only five hundred yuan a stone, which is a full 120 catties! This small bag costs a hundred yuan? Why don't you grab it?"

For a moment, Zhang Busu felt a little resentful.

Therefore, Liu Ying felt that her lustful, greedy, arrogant and domineering big fat man could not help but not make this money...

"What's that?" Zhang Buyi pointed forward.

"Spend a small amount of money to enjoy a big blessing, what is worthwhile if it is not worth it?"

If you don't spend enough money, you will unconsciously embark on the road of breaking the law and committing crimes, especially for a vassal king who has more than [-] troops and controls the power of life and death of millions of people. Breaking the law is easier than drinking water!

Liu Ying stared at Zhang without doubt for a long time, with a sarcasm on her face: "Are you really not understanding or are you just pretending? Could it be that you are stupid after taking medicine?"

Is this white flower salt?

Liu Ying walked over slowly, and asked with a smile, "How about it, do you think the price is acceptable for a pack of [-] yuan?"

"This is brocade, every inch of brocade is precious. Even if it is placed in the market, the head of Guizhou who is wandering around will probably only have a look at it, and will definitely not buy it."

"So, who is not good for you to learn from, and you have to learn from Guan Zhong?"

So, no amount of money is enough to spend!

"After all, noble and rich merchants are different from ordinary Qianshou. They don't do any heavy physical work on a daily basis, and actually eat very little salt. Taking you as an example, how much salt can you eat in a month? I'm afraid it's no more than half of ordinary people at most!"

In a few days, when the train is loaded with white gold and black gold like coal, roaring into Chang'an North Station, the scene of crowds of people will be spectacular!
Looking at it, Zhang Buyi suddenly froze for a moment, and stared straight at the goods on the pallet in the distance. Although it was also salt, it was different from those large packages weighing dozens of catties. It's a palm-sized paper bag, so delicate that it can be seen with the naked eye!

In an instant, Zhang Buyi's face turned red, and he stammered, "Why take medicine? What kind of medicine should I take if I'm not sick! Don't listen to Zhiyang's nonsense...Really, trust me!"

Liu Ying shook her head and said:

"So, I only spent a little more money every month, but my life has improved by more than one level!"

"The important thing is that it doesn't cost much to let yourself eat better."

Zhang Buyi thought about it for a while, and nodded slightly. Their daily food is the kind of salt that Liu Ying calls "refined salt". Sometimes they can feel a little smell, but it's really just a little, and the tongue is not sensitive. People can't feel it at all!
Therefore, this guy is pure hypocrisy!

In today's Han Dynasty, especially in a princely family like theirs, not only children are gold swallowing beasts, but their mothers don't give in too much!
Wear silk and satin, and decorate with pearls and agates!
Is it too much?

After figuring this out, Zhang Buji no longer forced Lai Lai, but followed Liu Ying honestly, but still looked around curiously.

Kuaiji and Zhang County under the jurisdiction of Wu State are now under the direct control of the Han Empire, but Qi State does not, and it is the home of private salt dealers. Qi people have a tradition of boiling salt with seawater on a large scale for hundreds of years at least!

"Fine salt, a high-end product." Liu Ying smiled mysteriously: "You can find out by yourself."

"Now life is easier. We live in thousands of mansions. When we go out, we hug each other and wear silk and satin. The only thing we eat is fine salt with a bitter aftertaste. This is not in line with our identities!"

In the freight station, Liu Ying was full of thoughtfulness, and Zhang Buyi, who was following him, looked around curiously, puncturing the paper bag containing salt from time to time to check the quality of the salt and whether it was damp.

"Without him, there is no money in my pocket."

Therefore, if you want the monarch and his ministers to be equal to each other, it is necessary to prevent the gradual progress.

ps: Question about salt in the book.

"Then if the price of salt is a hundred dollars a catty, how many people in Guizhou can afford it? Salt is the livelihood of the people, and everyone is indispensable. If dad finds out, he will chase me twice!"

No.

Gradually, he was full of doubts: "Why is it all coarse salt? It doesn't take much manpower to refine it, but it can make a lot of profit!"

"I think your idea is very similar to Guan Zhong's! For example, he said that if the price of salt is increased by 3000%, then Qi, a country of ten thousand vehicles, can sell [-] million yuan more for salt alone every year! If the poll tax is increased , the people of the country will all oppose it, but adjusting the salt price, even if a hundred times the profit goes to the monarch, people cannot avoid it! This is the method of managing money that Guan Zhong told the king of Qi!"

The crux of the problem is, if you bought it for this, should you buy it for that?

After all, Liu Fei, like Han Wangxin, has a long list of sons. Naturally, there are countless beauties in the harem...

"Ah... grabbing money is not as profitable as this." Liu Ying said something serious, and then said with a smile: "But the salt that costs [-] yuan a stone is the most refined salt, the color is still yellow, and the grains are very large. If you taste it carefully, the aftertaste is still not so purely salty, and there will be a peculiar smell!"

Zhang Buyi shook his head: "If that's the case, why are there such, um, a bag of fine salt for a hundred dollars?"

Zhang Buyi took two quick steps, opened a bag and poured it into the palm of his hand, twisted it with his fingers, and saw that it was as white as snow and fine as sand, completely different from the table salt he had seen before. Afraid to lick and taste the taste...

But in the whole world is it the land of the king, the salt pond is naturally owned by Liu Bang, and the money earned will be paid to the court tax, dividends distributed to shareholders, Liu Ying's management fee, and the rest will all fall into Liu Bang's own small treasury. It is the emperor's private income!
Therefore, if this private salt pond overwhelms the salt pond controlled by the state, I am afraid that Xiao He will be the first to refuse!

In fact, the low salt price is the result of Liu Ying's efforts to suppress the people's livelihood projects and the development of animal husbandry. According to the salt price in Qi State recorded in "Guanzi", the ratio of salt to grain prices is about one to five Relationship, that is, one catty of salt is exchanged for five catties of grain.

The price of grain is [-] renminbi a stone, and the price of salt is [-] renminbi a shi. In the book, because of the increase in the number of copper coins, inflation is caused, and the price of grain has risen to about [-] renminbi, so the price of salt should be [-] renminbi. Guanzhong is more expensive, and the price of salt It should be fifteen thousand.

As for the amount of salt eaten, it is recorded that from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Tang and Song Dynasties, the common people ate an average of 45 grams of salt per day, 36 grams after removing 15% ​​of impurities. People in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties ate less salt, about [-] grams.

This is mainly because the head tax has been converted into the price of salt. If the price of salt is high, there will be less food to eat, and large animals such as cattle also eat a lot of salt every day. Instead of large plows, people replaced cattle and became the main force of plowing.

(End of this chapter)