Looking north towards the rivers and mountains

Chapter 10 Market Situation

"Bang!" Sometime later, the scarred man from before turned around again and threw a sack on the ground.

Shao Shuyi looked at him, puzzled.

The man ignored him and took out twenty strings of cash from his pocket, saying, "Here, keep it safe."

Shao Shuyi understood. It turned out to be a "welcome gift" for new employees, or perhaps money to buy his life.

Without saying a word, he accepted the money and picked up the bag.

"My name is Zheng Fan," the scarred man said, following behind Shao Shuyi.

Shao Shuyi put down the bag, bowed, and asked, "Why are you following me, sir? Is there something you need?"

"I'm afraid you'll die." Zheng Fan glanced at him sideways and said, "If you go back to the village like this, you'll definitely be arrested."

"I never planned to go back to the village. I just wanted to find a place to stay, spend two strings of cash, borrow some pots and pans, and live there for a few days," Shao Shuyi replied.

Zheng Fan couldn't help but look at him with newfound respect and laughed, "As expected of someone who is good at studying, you're not stupid. Don't bother with that. You can stay at the boat house for the next few days and help watch over the timber. Come with me to buy some clothes first."

"Zhan Chi" refers to a post station, but nowadays many of them are struggling to operate. For a little money, you could easily find a woodshed to stay in, and even borrow pots and pans to cook with; you could simply return them afterward.

Upon hearing that he could stay temporarily at the boat shop, Shao Shuyi immediately agreed. Why? Two strings of cash were still money. Including what he had earned before, he only had a little over twenty-two strings of cash left; every little bit saved counted.

After leaving the boat shop, the two headed north along the salt and iron dike, all the way to Hetang.

This is an east-west river that runs through the urban area of ​​Taicang and intersects with the Yantietang River, which runs north-south through Taicang, in the city center.

There is a bridge on the west side of the intersection, running north-south and spanning across Hetang. It is called "Wuling Bridge". On the other side of the bridge is the "Qingyuan and other places Maritime Trade Office" - as can be seen from the name, the main body of this Maritime Trade Office is in Qingyuan Road (Ningbo), and this place in Taicang is a branch office.

The Wuling Bridge area is very prosperous and is one of the most important distribution centers for goods in Taicang. It also has a large-scale market.

Unlike the thirty-mile-long dike outside the city, the market here is more standardized. There are markets for rice, noodles, firewood, satin, hats, vegetables, geese and ducks, books, paper money, carts, and so on. Except for strong-smelling items like sheep, horses, and cattle, or relatively dirty items like coal and ironware, everything is available and there is no shortage of anything.

Zheng Fan looked around and said, "You stay here and don't leave. I'll go ahead and ask."

Shao Shuyi gave an "Oh" and looked around listlessly.

"A copy of Chu Suiliang's 'Stele of Master Meng', only five strings of cash! Just five strings!"

"Mi Haiyue's 'Ode to Lofty Ambitions,' a volume missing several lines in the middle, was rewritten by Zhao Weigong, and costs only three strings of cash and fifty coins!"

There was a shop right next door, and the shop owner stood at the door, casually shouting a few times.

Shao Shuyi looked over and found that it was a bookstore that also sold calligraphy copybooks, which immediately piqued his interest.

In his previous life, he had diligently copied Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy and even attempted to write the "Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering." His skill level was quite good among modern people, but he wasn't very confident that he could surpass the ancients in this era. After all, writing requires muscle memory, which this body lacked. He estimated that he would need to practice to gradually regain the feel for it.

"You can read, young servant?" the shopkeeper asked with a smile as he saw Shao Shuyi looking around.

"I recognize it, and I can even write it." Shao Shuyi nodded and asked, "Who wrote 'Ode to Lofty Ambitions'?"

The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment, then finally said, "Written by a Confucian scholar. What? You look down on it? It's enough for you."

Shao Shuyi didn't mind his attitude, but asked curiously, "A Confucian household?"

The shopkeeper was taken aback.

However, he had a very good temper and explained briefly: "They are scholars who have entered the Confucian system. The imperial court treats them very well. Before the age of thirty, they study in seclusion, and the school provides them with meals. After the age of thirty, they are exempt from taxes and miscellaneous corvée labor, and they are also exempt from pawning for hiring and purchasing. Even if you come to open this bookstore, the commercial taxes you pay are not much."

Shao Shuyi was somewhat surprised.

The Mongols treat Confucian scholars very well, with so many preferential policies!

"May I ask how one can be admitted to the Confucian school?" he asked instinctively.

The shopkeeper laughed and said, "Don't overthink it. In the thirteenth year of Zhiyuan (1276), the imperial court sent officials to examine Confucian scholars, and 3,890 households were registered. In the twenty-eighth year of Zhiyuan (1291), the former Song dynasty's 'true talents and learned scholars' and 'famous officials' were registered, and there have been few changes since then. Today, there are only about 20,000 Confucian households in the country, and the school lands are already struggling to support them. It is impossible to register any more new people unless you have connections that reach the highest levels."

"Furthermore—" He cleared his throat and continued, "I actually misspoke earlier. The laws and regulations of the court are one thing, but the actual situation is another. Confucian households are indeed exempt from miscellaneous corvée labor, but when faced with official duties, they often have no choice but to pay money, to the point that etiquette is compromised, which is truly lamentable. Even when buying or hiring, it is often unavoidable, depending entirely on whether the officials are considerate or not."

At this point, the shopkeeper's face turned somewhat somber.

Although he was a merchant, he was dealing in cultural products and felt quite sympathetic to the plight of the Confucian scholars. He even sighed deeply for a moment.

Shao Shuyi cupped his hands in greeting and didn't ask any more questions. The path of going to school to make a living was probably not feasible for ordinary people.

He looked ahead and saw a group of pale-faced women squatting in a corner, holding children, with vendors hawking their wares nearby...

Yes, this is also a product.

Shao Shuyi couldn't help but take a few steps closer and look at it carefully.

"You little brat, you're already lusting after women before you've even grown your pubic hair?" A middle-aged man in brocade robes stood not far away, his tone somewhat flippant and casual, which drew laughter from those around him.

Shao Shuyi looked up and saw a familiar face – Zhou She, whom he had seen the day before yesterday on the thirty-mile-long embankment.

Is this guy a human trafficker?

"Young man, are you really interested?" A group of idlers looked at Shao Shuyi suspiciously and said, "They are all respectable women, very clean. If you buy them, they can do your laundry, cook, warm your bed, and even sleep with you. They are very obedient."

Zhou She had already turned and left.

A man like him clearly has no interest in lingering here; it's already quite an achievement that he even made this trip. Wouldn't it be better to use this time to flirt with that new woman he's just met?

"A respectable woman?" Shao Shuyi glanced at her.

"These are neither fishermen nor fishmongers, but rather the wives and daughters of military households that my family's fishmongers and my employer's friend entrusted to sell." Having had no business for half a day, he felt a bit of sales pressure. Although he doubted whether the ragged Shao Shuyi had the financial means, he still said a few more words in the spirit of trying anything, even if it was just a small thing.

Fish farmers? Shao Shuyi knows about this.

Taicang is located in the Jiangnan water town area, and is also close to the river and the sea, so there are naturally many fishermen.

Fishing was subject to taxation, known as "river and lake tax," which was one of the various miscellaneous taxes. Unlike some ancient dynasties that restricted the fishing of mountains and lakes, the Yuan Dynasty allowed fishing to proceed freely and even encouraged it. "Fish and lake officials" provided boats and fishing gear, and then collected taxes: "The rate was 10%, with fishermen collecting 30% and officials collecting 70%."

It sounds barely acceptable, but in practice, there is a huge pitfall: because the imperial court is pressing for payment, the fish officials have to collect a year's worth of "river and lake tax" in advance.

Fish farmers have no money, so how could they pay taxes in advance? Therefore, fish officials cooperated with wealthy people living near the water. The latter would pay the taxes on their behalf, then obtain the right to contract and operate the rivers, lakes and ponds, and control a group of fish farmers to catch fish and crabs for them. They could also sell reeds and firewood for money.

The Zhou family that had already left was probably one of those wealthy and powerful households. They were extremely ruthless in exploiting the fish farmers, to the point that the fish farmers had to sell their wives and daughters to pay off their debts.

Tragic! Absolutely tragic!

Are military households reduced to the same level as fish farmers? How can they maintain morale and fighting capacity?

"Military households—" Shao Shuyi said.

"Why are you spouting so much nonsense?" The hanger-on, having lost his patience or perhaps realizing Shao Shuyi truly had no money, became rude and shouted, "How many military households don't owe interest? If you're not going to buy, then get out!"

Shao Shuyi remained silent.

"Yanggaoli" is the Mongolian term, which is actually usury. A principal of one ingot, after ten years of lending, would accumulate to 1,024 ingots of principal and interest, which was called Yanggaoli.

According to the sycophants, many military households across the country owed usurious loans and often had to pawn their wives and daughters, which made the Yuan army's fighting strength highly questionable.

This Yuan Dynasty was truly bizarre, discriminating against everyone equally.

Shao Shuyi had previously heard a joke at the Zheng family construction site, saying that there was a Mongolian military household in Liujiagang who mortgaged his wife to borrow money, and when he redeemed her, she was already pregnant. It was really speechless. There were 300,000 military households in Jiangnan, mainly composed of newly attached soldiers and their descendants, with a small number of Mongolian, tammachi, and Han military households.

"Get out! Don't let me see you again! You don't have much money in your pocket, yet you keep asking all sorts of questions." The hanger-on hadn't made a single sale in a while and was in a bad mood, so he rolled up his sleeves, as if he was about to hit someone.

Shao Shuyi shook his head and left unhurriedly.

He wasn't in a good mood either.

Although it's already good enough to be able to protect oneself in this world, it's still quite disheartening to see such tragedies.

Zheng Fan returned shortly after, and took Shao Shuyi to a fabric shop that also served as a tailor shop. After carefully measuring him, the shopkeeper brought out a navy blue two-piece suit, a pair of boots, and even a slightly worn cymbal hat, which no one knew if it was an order from a customer who had changed their mind.

For this outfit alone, Zheng Fan paid fifty strings of cash, reportedly at a discounted price, which left Shao Shuyi somewhat speechless.

"Don't die easily." After paying, Zheng Fan had Shao Shuyi change into the clothes on the spot, then patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile.

Shao Shuyi felt a chill run down his spine.

There must be a reason why Zheng Fan said this a second time.