Hongwu Survival Guide

Chapter 268 Tea

When Zhu Yuan was still in Mingzhou, he thought about the tea tax because of the salt tax, and he mentioned it to Lao Zhu later, and he has been paying attention to it.

Simply put, the tea tax in the Ming Dynasty was too low.

Like the salt tax, this could have been a way to take measures to make up for the deficit when the country was in financial constraints. Unfortunately, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, no matter whether it was salt or tea, it could not be used.

At the moment, there is another case around me.

With a few simple words and some sporadic perceptions before, Zhu Yuan knew that the green tea girl next to her was smart. As for other thoughts, Zhu Yuan didn't mind.

In fact, in the past, 'green tea' has become a bad term.The problem is, standing in Zhu Yuan's former class, who cares if the flowers and plants around him are green tea?

Green tea is convenient.

There is no burden, just play and live, while looking for beauty, while looking for money, fair trade.

So, still have to make money.

So he took out a few pages and pushed them to the lamp on the opposite side: "Help me take a record of the conversation and pick the key points."

Pick up the lamp and nod.

Zhu Yuan turned to the green tea girl: "The imperial court has been brewing a new tea policy. It just so happens that your family is a tea merchant. As a case, let's not mention the present, but talk about your family's past."

The green tea girl accurately grasped a certain 'don't mention the present', relaxed a little, nodded, and said in a low voice: "I'm afraid I can't speak well of the tea, let the little prince blame it."

"I won't blame you," Zhu Yuan said, glanced at the young lady who was bowing her head across the way, and said with a smile, "I will blame your mother."

Qing Niang trembled, looked up at her little man, saw him smiling, turned to glance at her daughter, lowered her head again, her face turned even redder.

Zhu Yuan has also started: "Tell me, when did your family start selling tea?"

"It started with my great-grandfather," said the green tea girl, with a look of reminiscence, "probably before Jiazi, the house of my great-grandfather... After the separation, I took a small amount of land, which was not enough for the family, so I wanted to make a living."

Jiaziqian... about 60 years ago.

This year is 1368... Well, no, according to the Gregorian calendar, it should be 1369 now.

Anyway, the Gao clan started selling tea around 1310.

At that time, the Southern Song Dynasty had been destroyed for many years, and the Yuan Dynasty was regarded as a stable period, and the people's minds were inevitably more active.

After sorting it out a bit, Zhu Yuan signaled: "Go on, what was the business situation at that time, the place of production, price, sales, etc.?"

The green tea girl said: "In the beginning, it was just my great-grandfather, who brought his servants to work as helpers and bought tea from all over Shandong."

Zhu Yuan knew that tea is widely distributed in China, but he never noticed that there is also tea in Shandong, so he subconsciously asked, "Shandong, where is there tea?"

The green tea girl blinked her eyes and said, "Where there is a mountain, there is tea; in Taishan, there is Taishan tea; in Yishan, there is Yishan tea; in Laoshan, there is Laoshan tea."

"When you say that, I understand."

Zhu Yuan was stunned.

Maybe this kind of statement is not entirely true, but with the summary ability of the girls around me in this age, it is already very rare.

As he spoke, he looked at Zhuang Liuniang beside him: "What kind of tea do you have?"

Zhuang Liuniang rubbed against her adults like a cat, and said, "Liu'er grew up in Shaanxi, and there is no good tea there, so I just get some from the mountains in southern Shaanxi. Later... Married to Shanxi, it was the same, all kinds of tea The rough tea from outside the Great Wall. I drink tea on weekdays, or buy it from the southeast."

Zhu Yuan pinched the woman: "It's a blessing once you hear it, no wonder you have developed such a savage temper, and you will beat people at every turn."

"Liu'er made a mistake, don't dare to do it again," Zhuang Liuniang's body became softer: "It is Liu'er's greatest blessing to be by Daddy's side."

Ignoring the coquettish people around him, Zhu Yuan turned to the green tea girl: "Continue?"

The green tea girl withdrew her subconscious gaze towards a certain woman, thinking that if her mother could speak like this...

Hearing the little prince's question, he quickly withdrew his thoughts and said: "At the earliest time, the great-grandfather just went from Dongchang to Tai'an to collect some Taishan tea, and the round trip was only one or two hundred catties. If you talk about the price... I don't know about the tea, I just heard it by chance. The elders said that the tea tax was still low at that time, and business was easy to do. My grandfather opened two shops in Dongchang within less than ten years of running tea, and the family bought a lot of land.”

Zhu Yuan cooperated and asked: "And then?"

The green tea girl said: "Then came to my grandfather. My grandfather expanded the family's shops to six, and bought more family properties. Every year, he can import high-quality tea from the southeast. The family's livelihood, not to mention Dongchang. A few. It’s just that the business is getting harder and harder, the tea tax is getting higher and higher, and it’s getting harder to deal with the government..."

"Remember the numbers, prices, taxes, and whatnot?"

The green tea girl thought for a while, and said: "There is one, the highest tea price is 12 taels and 5 yuan. If it's just like this, it's not bad, but...you have to do it up and down, and it costs more. After that, the family will be less and less. We have bought tea in the south, and the longer the journey, the more costly it will be..."

Zhu Yuan grasped one point: "12 taels and 5 yuan, is it a banknote?"

The green tea girl nodded: "Yeah."

Zhu Yuan once again recalled that the generation of the green tea girl’s grandfather should have been around 1330. I remember the number at that time, because it was also the most stable period for grain transportation in Yuan Tinghai.

The cost of tea introduction for 12 taels and 5 qian is about 3 to 4 taels of silver.

So he asked again: "Tea... Ordinary, how much is a catty in the market?"

The green tea girl said: "Earlier, I didn't know much about tea. Now, there are good and bad. Purchasing and retailing are also different. If you are buying... the little prince said that it is ordinary, but now it is ten or twenty coins, retailing to five. Sixty renminbi. If it is a good bud tea, the purchase price can easily be one or two hundred renminbi, no matter how high it is... it will be sold for two."

The green tea girl said, her gaze still making a small gesture to the gift list on the table.

There are several good teas listed separately in the gift list, which were bought only after my father begged and gave a lot of money.A total of 10 catties cost 500 taels, and it was because others knew that they were going to give it to the young prince, so they gave a discount.

Moreover, this is not the best, the best... The family can't afford it either.

On the other side, Zhu Yuan subconsciously picked up a charcoal pencil to calculate.

According to the retail price of 50 Wen, one Yincha, 100 catties, is 5 guan qian, which is 5 taels of silver.

Of course, this is now, and it's the lowest gear level.

Now the imperial court only needs to pay 200 Wen or 300 Wen for the introduction of tea. The former is leaf tea and the latter is bud tea. This is what Zhu Yuan knew in Mingzhou.

In addition, there is a commercial tax of thirty tax one.

In short, the two items are added together, and the tax rate is only 500%.What's more, the green tea girl said that it is only the cheapest tea, and the court distinguishes only two kinds of bud tea and leaf tea.

If it is the average price of ordinary tea, Zhu Yuan thinks that if it is doubled, it will be calculated as 100 renminbi a catty, and 10 taels of silver for a tea, and the comprehensive tax rate will be reduced to 5%.

This is now.

Going back to the Yuan Dynasty, as I just said, the highest tea introduction fee is 12.5 taels of silver, which is equivalent to 5 taels of silver. The average retail price of a tea introduction is calculated at 10 taels of silver, and the tax rate can reach 50%, which is indeed a bit high.

Moreover, if it is only a tax issue, the businessman can continue to operate.

Zhu Yuan has feelings for this.

The problem is that it's not just a tax issue, the green tea girl also pointed out that it has to be managed up and down.In short, the wholesale tax rate is 100%, and the terminal sales tax rate accounts for half, plus various complicated expenses, the business is conceivable.

After some calculations, Zhu Yuan signaled: "Continue."

The green tea girl said: "Furthermore, when it was passed down to my father's generation, business became more and more difficult, and the world became more chaotic. I felt that there was going to be a military disaster in Shandong, and my family sold the shop and land at a discount. Because of a little relationship, the whole family fled to Jinling."

Hearing this, Zhu Yuan was a little curious: "Who made the decision to move the family south?"

The green tea girl paused, then whispered, "Ma'am."

Zhu Yuan asked again: "You were also taught by your aunt?"

"Hmm..." The green tea girl nodded her head even more softly, then remembered again, raised her head and said, "Writing...is taught by my mother."

Zhu Yuan smiled: "Your mother can only teach this."

The young lady on the opposite side raised her head, then lowered it embarrassedly.

The green tea girl opened her mouth, wanting to say something nice for her mother, but for a while... she didn't remember.

Although there was not much talk about the history of the Gao family’s tea sales, the main reason was that the girl across the street didn’t want to talk about it, and Zhu Yuan didn’t force it. Just a little bit was enough for him to sort out the context, and he changed the subject, then asked the girl next to him: "You're old too, did you say kiss?"

The green tea girl immediately blushed and lowered her head, but opposite Zhu Yuan, Qingniang looked up with concern.

After a pause, the green tea girl said: "This year... there are a lot of things to talk about, but... this is the order of my parents, and Cha'er dare not ask more questions."

Zhu Yuan smiled: "It's not like the truth, your personality doesn't seem like you don't dare to ask more questions?"

The green tea girl still hung her head down, and began to wring her fingers. After a little hesitation, she finally mustered up her courage: "Cha'er...still thinking about it, please mother...please...please help the little prince to make the decision."

"Don't think about your mother, she can't even make decisions for herself, and me, don't even think about it, I don't have this position," Zhu Yuan spread the words without much concealment, and asked with a smile: "Would you still think about it?" Why don't you come in here and serve your mother?"

Unexpectedly, the little prince would say this, and the green tea girl suddenly became awkward and didn't know how to speak.

Zhu Yuan has already continued: "Don't even think about it, silly girl, look around you, all of them are goblins, your mother, if I didn't protect you, they would have been eaten by them long ago, you follow Come in, not to mention being incompatible with etiquette, a 16-year-old girl, she will also be eaten."

After Zhu Yuan finished speaking, not only the green tea girl, but also a group of people, big and small, all had different expressions.

Zhuang Liuniang even threw herself on Zhu Yuan, pitifully: "Father, Liu'er is not a goblin, Liu'er was also bullied."

Zhu Yuan grabbed the woman's chin: "You are the most shameless to say that you are being bullied, who beat you with the watermelon?"

Zhongli Xigua, who could only touch the edge of the bed half-sitting next to him, nodded immediately.

shameless!
Zhuang Liuniang lifted Yunzhi's face in coordination, her eyes were watery: "Father, Liu'er... Liu'er was bullied by Dad."

Zhu Yuan let go of his hand, ignored the goblins around him, and turned to the green tea girl: "I guess, someone must have promised you a kiss, but you must not like it. It's okay for my daughter to choose some. But , and you can’t delay your life because of this. Go back and think about it, you are a capable girl, if you work hard, you can live well in the future. In the future, if you want to see your mother, come, of course, she has nothing to see , you won't like your mother with your temper..."

The green tea girl hastily interrupted: "Little prince, no, no...how could it be that Cha'er doesn't like mother..."

"There's no need to quibble," Zhu Yuan said, "Anyway, if you want to see it, just look at it, it's just like pulling a tiger's skin, but, don't think about coming to me anymore, it's inappropriate. One more thing, pull this tiger's skin back , and you can’t do anything wrong, just do your business with peace of mind, I believe this is enough for you to live well. Therefore, you can’t do smuggling and tax evasion, let alone other evil things, let me know, you guys A family can pull my tiger skin, and I can also peel off your family's skin, but do you understand?"

Zhu Yuan said a certain sentence indifferently, but the green tea girl trembled a little, knowing that it was not a joke, she nodded quickly.

"That's how it is," Zhu Yuan glanced at the gift list again, and said, "I'll accept the New Year's gift you gave me, but the gifts are reciprocal..." As he spoke, he looked at Cai Mulberry next to him, "Go and talk to me." Xie Yi said, return a set of glass tea sets, and... oh, didn't they make some bags at home, pick one for... the tea, and treat it as her mother's personal gift to her."

Caisang agreed, but the green tea girl waved her hands: "Little prince, how can this be done, I can't ask for..."

"There's nothing you can't want. Go ahead and pick mulberries." Zhu Yuan waved his hand and laughed again: "Your mother won't send you off. I want to stay and teach you a lesson."

The green tea girl began to cry: "Little prince, mother...it's all because of me, if you want to teach me a lesson, then teach Cha'er a lesson."

Zhu Yuan: "..."

Did you really not understand or was it on purpose?
Just wave your hands.

Caisang stepped forward to take the green tea girl out.

Seeing this, Gao Lvcha didn't insist, but politely saluted Zhu Yuan, and said goodbye to his mother, then left with Caisang, wiping away tears.

When Caisang left with the green tea girl, Zhu Yuan took the record written by the lamp on the opposite side, and saw that the woman had marked a lot of notes in addition to the record, such as "Jiaziqian", which the green tea girl said, was marked as "before" on the paper. During the reign of Emperor Wuzong', and so on, he said with satisfaction: "Who says women are inferior to men, it's like crouching tigers and hidden dragons around me."

Zhu Yuan knew about the emperors of the Yuan Dynasty, but he didn't remember them.

Lantern bowed gracefully on the opposite side: "My lord praises me, but my daughter dare not be her."

"Since this is the case, I will give you another task to sort out a copy of tea-related materials from past dynasties... Heh, I have already collected some when I was in Mingzhou, and it should be placed in the West Garden study. You can discuss it with the sisters around you. For a while, in short, the more the better...I'll give you three days."

Pick up the lamp and nod.

"Also, regarding the theme of custom pens for the new year, choose "Zhuangzi", and leave this to Luoshui. You can talk to her if you have ideas."

Pick up the lamp and agree again.

Zhu Yuan thought about it for a while, then said, "For the time being, let's go away. Well... stay here, my dear young lady."

Qingniang was still thinking about her daughter who had just left, and what the adults said to "teach yourself", but at the moment, hearing the word "obedient" in the little man's words, she stopped panicking.

Even, amidst the envy of other women of all sizes, when being dragged by a little man to the bedroom in the east room with a bed the size of a house, there are some... inexplicable and strange realizations.

(End of this chapter)