Water Margin people

Chapter 1417 Affordable Salt

But when people went to the shops to buy salt, they found that all the salt shops on the street were closed, saying that there was no salt for sale.

"Didn't it say 25 cents a pound?"

The people holding bowls and jars were shouting. After learning that there was affordable salt, they all wanted to buy more.

"Our salt hasn't arrived yet. You can go to the Tea and Salt Department to check!"

The shop owner spoke directly to the people.

When the people heard this, they all ran to the Tea and Salt Bureau.

The Tea and Salt Bureau seemed to have anticipated the reaction of the salt merchants and set up a row of stalls selling salt directly in front of the government gate.

The people thought the government was a liar, but they actually bought salt at the Tea and Salt Bureau for 25 wen. The people did not dare to buy too much because the salt would get damp easily after being stored for a long time.

Moreover, the salt used by the government is refined salt, not the kind of coarse salt that a family would consume more than ten kilograms of in a month. A few kilograms of refined salt is enough for a family of several people in a month.

"It's only a dozen pounds at most!"

Liu Dong smiled as he watched the people happily leave with the salt in their hands. Salt is not like rice and its consumption is not that high. After this wave of looting, no one would buy salt in Yangzhou for three or four months.

"I want 500 kilograms!"

"I want 800 kilograms!"

"I want a thousand pounds!"

Suddenly, a few guys in coarse linen clothes shouted, and the sound instantly attracted everyone's attention. An ordinary family of ten people could not consume 100 kilograms of salt a year. Would it take them ten years to consume 1,000 kilograms?

"Why did you buy so many?"

The salt seller looked at the people who were buying salt and asked.

"My family runs a restaurant, so we use a lot!"

“My family is large!”

“I bought it for the village!”

"My family wants cured ham!"

……

The group of people stated their reasons with a smile on their faces.

The officers were undecided and could only look at the officials behind them.

"As long as you pay, I'll sell it!"

Liu Dong waved his hand. According to his idea, the salt should be sold in fixed quantities, but Sun Lei said that he would have as much salt as he wanted and asked him to make all the money from the salt merchants. Then he would not be polite.

"These eight bags are yours!"

"These ten bags are yours!"

……

The officers counted the money and threw the sacks of salt directly in front of the people.

Those people were a little stunned. They all thought that they would continue to pester the government if it refused to sell it, but they didn't expect that the government would just throw the sack at them.

Watching those people pack the salt bags onto ox carts and take them away, Liu Dong sneered. These merchants who went against the imperial court were already dead. When everything was over, he would personally go to their homes to confiscate their property. It was the same in Liangshan back then. If you offended Liangshan, you would be seeking death.

The first group of people bought a large amount of salt, but the Tea and Salt Bureau’s warehouse immediately moved out salt bags and continued to sell salt.

“That’s a lot of salt!”

The salt merchants who were watching everything from a distance looked grim. The reaction of the Tea and Salt Bureau made them a little uneasy. If there was too much salt, they would be working in vain and not making any money. After all, the cost of transporting salt to the mountains was very high.

"It's only tens of thousands of pounds!"

Hu Feng said indifferently, if the imperial court only has so little salt, how dare they lower the price of salt?

"Then let's continue selling, and have the docks ready to ship salt!"

Merchants’ idea is very simple: goods cannot be kept in the warehouse, they must be shipped out quickly and sold for money.

……

Sun Lei knew nothing about anything. He brought Li Shishi back to the inn in the early morning. Li Shishi had already fallen asleep, so he could only carry her back and slept until noon.

"Where did you take Shishi last night? Why did you spend the whole night there?"

Hua Chan asked as she looked at the yawning Sun Lei, and handed him a bowl of warm porridge.

"I went to the Tea and Salt Bureau to work until midnight, and then took a boat trip on the river. I was so tired!" Sun Lei said after drinking a mouthful of porridge.

"We all heard today that the price of salt is 25 yuan per pound, and the people all say that the court is good!"

Cheng Wan'er hugged her son and said with a smile that the court belonged to the Sun family, and when the people said good things about the court, they were saying good things about their Sun family.

"Why sell it so expensively when it's not worth anything?"

Sun Lei smiled and said that he had now opened a large number of salt fields in Shandong, and the refining technology was mature. There was no need to boil salt, which was a hassle. The cost of salt had already reached single digits, and selling it for twenty-five cents was already a high price.

"Brother, something happened!"

Just as Sun Lei was drinking porridge, Zhu Wu ran in.

"What happened?"

Sun Lei sighed unconsciously, and was just thinking about taking a break from his busy life, but he didn't expect this to happen.

"Master Lu went to Daming Temple and had a conflict with some monks there!"

Zhu Wu said quickly.

"Daming Temple? A conflict? How many people went there?"

Sun Lei thought something big had happened, but it turned out to be just a group of monks fighting. However, he still showed some concern because Lu Zhishen was too upright and it would be easy for him to suffer losses alone.

"Wu Jilang and the others are following us!"

Zhu Wu said.

"Then let Master Lu fight. They are all here and won't suffer any loss!"

Sun Lei said indifferently, he only cared whether Lu Zhishen would suffer any loss.

"Your Majesty, this is not good. A dignified Duke, Privy Councilor of Qi, is fighting with a group of monks?"

Zhu Wu didn't expect Sun Lei to be so indifferent, even though he was in the national arena.

"What a mess! Master Lu is also a monk. He didn't wear official uniforms or set up ceremonial guards this time. He is just an ordinary monk. Is it a big deal if monks fight?"

Sun Lei pointed at Zhu Wu. Zhu Wu was not wearing official uniform at this time. He was traveling incognito and no one knew them.

Zhu Wu was stunned, then he realized that he was traveling incognito. It would be troublesome if they revealed their identities at this time.

"Why fight?"

Sun Lei finished a bowl of porridge, then looked at Zhu Wu and asked.

"Master Lu said he wanted to see some Buddhist temples in the south. After asking around, he found out that there is a Daming Temple in the north of Yangzhou. It's quite famous and it was home to the great Vinaya monk Jianzhen."

Zhu Wu said.

"Jianzhen? Humph, you bastard monk!"

Sun Lei snorted coldly. Jianzhen might be a great monk and was of great help to the expansion of Buddhism, but this could not change Jianzhen's identity as a traitor.

The Tang Dynasty prohibited private construction of ships to Japan, and private sailing to the sea was also strictly prohibited. Jianzhen and his disciples privately built ships to cross the sea, which was illegal and treasonous! Regardless of whether their purpose was good or bad, such people should be severely punished.

"Go to Yangzhou Prefecture and report to the authorities, saying that the monks from Daming Temple are colluding with pirates."

Sun Lei looked at Zhu Wu and said.

"what?"

Zhu Wu didn't react for a long time, his mouth was wide open. Monks colluding with pirates, if you make this known to others, people have to believe it.

"You should report it to the authorities if I ask you to. Why are there so many questions? You should know the Yangzhou prefect!"

Sun Lei looked at Zhu Wu and said.

"I recognize him. He is also an old man from Liangshan!"

Zhu Wu said that as long as he went, no matter whether the monks of Daming Temple colluded with pirates or not, the crime would be confirmed.

"Go!"

Sun Lei looked at Zhu Wudao.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Wu quickly took the order and went out.