My life skills in Daming Liver

Chapter 31: The Great Ming’s Characteristics

Having decided to go to the ghost market at night, Lin Liangjun didn't go back to the Baihu House at all, and just slept in the family temple for a while.

In the middle of the night, Su Ze and Lin Liangjun changed their clothes, carried the only lantern in the family temple, and walked northwest of Changningwei.

While walking the little radish head, he introduced the situation of the ghost market to Su Ze:
"When my father was here, Wei Li often went to the ghost market to buy and sell things. Now only Uncle Zong can make some carpentry items and bring them to the ghost market for sale."

Su Ze understood that when the old hundred households were still there, Changningwei would also handle some smuggling and selling of stolen goods, and the ghost market was where they sold their stolen goods.

Coastal smuggling was a gray area in the Ming Dynasty.

Since the middle of Ming Dynasty, smuggling has become popular in the southeast coast, and a developed industry has been formed.

In the fourth year of Hongwu, the Taizu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that "inch boards are not allowed to go to the sea", and later reiterated the prohibition many times, "It is forbidden for coastal people to privately communicate with overseas countries".

However, goods from the Ming Dynasty were needed overseas, and the Ming Dynasty also needed silver from overseas. The Ming Dynasty set up a Shibo Department to be responsible for the trade of the tributary countries.

The trade with the tributary countries presided over by the Shibo Department is increasingly exploited by the officials of the Shibo Department. The profits of the sea trade that were originally carried out in the name of tribute have become increasingly thin.

At that time, people once sighed with emotion, "Slabs are not allowed to go to sea, and giant warships come from the river; goods are not allowed to enter, and children and treasures are always full."

For example, Zhangzhou Yuegang, not far from Changningwei, was a well-known smuggling center throughout the Ming Dynasty.

And the coastal guards that were originally in charge of sea ban and defense, almost all participated in the smuggling feast to some extent, so guards like Changning Guard were special cases among special cases.

After the rise of the Japanese Rebellion, the situation in the entire southeastern region became more complicated.

The sea speculators on the southeast coast often have one or two identities among "officers and soldiers", "Japanese pirates" and "maritime merchants". Now Wang Zhi, the great pirate king who is raging in the southeast, has been recruited by the court many times. Bandits and merchants have triple identities.

According to Lin Liangjun, the scale of this ghost market near Changningwei is quite large. In addition to being a place where nearby people exchange goods, it is also a place where several smuggling gangs along the coast sell their stolen goods. There are even businessmen from far away who come to the ghost market to buy goods. .

Holding the lamps, the two walked west along the official road. After walking for less than half an hour, they saw a brightly lit market.

After getting closer, Su Ze even saw a wooden archway with a string of lanterns hanging high, attracting passing merchants unscrupulously like a lighthouse.

Su Ze asked in shock: "Shouldn't ghost markets be sneaky?"

The little radish gave Su Ze a white look and said:
"Who can find it secretly, this ghost city is registered with the county government."

"Is the county government registered?"

Lin Liangjun, a little radish-head, is worthy of being from a hereditary family of hundreds of families. She is a little ghost and well-informed. In contrast, Cai Niang and other children are much duller and duller.

Lin Liangjun nodded and said: "It is said that behind this ghost market are several uncles from the county government. Every month, the history of the house will come here to collect taxes."

Su Ze was shocked. He knew that the Ming Dynasty imposed a lot of miscellaneous taxes, but he didn't expect it to reach this point.

There is a tax for armed fighting, and the ghost market even collects taxes. Whoever said that the Ming Dynasty had less taxation for merchants, Su Ze was the first to refuse.

Lin Liangjun continued: "Of course it is not the official tax of the imperial court. The money is for the administration of the government office. The owner of the ghost market will take a cut from the vendors and then hand it over to the tax collector. But it is also more cost-effective than doing business in the city. many."

It's no wonder that this ghost market is so blatant. It turns out that there is an umbrella behind it.

Walking through the archway, this ghost market is not small. There are two streets, one horizontal and one vertical. Lanterns are hung on the simple thatched houses, and the signboard name is written on the lanterns. This is an eye-opener for Su Ze.

Going deep into the ghost market, the shop has turned into a stall. The owner of the goods squats behind the stall with his mask masked, and does not attract customers. Interested people will naturally go up to inquire, and the two parties communicate with each other with gestures. This is how the ghost market in the novel appears. look.

[Discover the location "Market", you can learn the skill "Valuation", do you want to learn it? 】

[Discover the location "Market", you can learn the skill "Business", do you want to learn it? 】

Learn to learn!

Another two practical skills!
Appraisal is used to assess the value of commodities, and it is a very useful business skill in "Hundred Scenes".

In reality, this skill level is only Lv1. It can only let Su Ze know the purpose and approximate price of some common commodities. This is already a quite practical skill.

And "buying and selling" includes a set of skills of observing words and expressions and buying and selling goods. Lv1 level is the level of apprentices who have just entered the industry, but it also includes some unspoken rules of doing business in the industry, which can be regarded as relatively practical knowledge.

After learning two skills, Su Ze finally understood what these masked vendors were selling.

This should be a place for smugglers or pirates to sell stolen goods, and those who come to buy goods are professionally trained buddies, or experts who specialize in picking up stolen goods.

The way they bargain is also silent. Both parties hide their hands in their sleeves, and then put their sleeves on each other and use gestures to bargain.

Su Ze saw a cargo owner nodded slightly, and then the customer who bought something immediately took out a piece of cloth, paid for the goods and packed them, and left in a hurry.

But Su Ze didn't look too much. The people who come here to buy and sell are basically outlaws. The water here is too deep. Now Su Ze hasn't found out the situation clearly, and he doesn't have the capital to participate in these transactions.

Su Ze took Lin Liangjun around the ghost market, which was an eye-opener.

Before and after the ghost market, the front market is basically legal trading, such as rice noodles, grains, oils, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, tables, chairs, benches, farm tools and kitchen utensils. The categories are quite complete.

The business here is almost aboveboard, and some merchants even bring teams of mules and horses to carry the goods bag by bag.

The aftermarket is more similar to the black market, in addition to all kinds of stolen goods, there are also some rare items.

Su Ze also saw a stall selling abortion medicine. This stall was even more peculiar. There was no stall owner at all, and there was only a clay pot with a narrow mouth behind the stall.

A masked guest picked up a pack of medicine, threw copper coins into the clay pot, and hurriedly covered his face and left.

Su Ze sighed. With the medical conditions of this era, taking abortion pills is likely to kill two people, so the government has always strictly prohibited the sale of abortion pills.

However, although the imperial court prohibits it, there are always times when the people need it, especially in the Fujian area where supplies are scarce, and there has always been a tradition of abortion and drowning infants.

Su Ze turned around and finally saw the booth he was looking for.

(End of this chapter)