Chapter 233 Salt People
Kevin was dizzy guarding his stall. It was already noon. He still hadn't eaten enough water and rice, and his stomach kept growling in protest to his brain.
But what can he do? He had been setting up a stall here since the sun first rose, but he had only earned a handful of copper coins, which Kevin was reluctant to use to buy food.
He sat on the ground, wrapping his legs with his arms, feeling helpless. There was a rag spread on the ground in front of him. This was Kevin's stall, with several bags of white stuff on it.
Table salt, that's what Kevin is selling.
Kevin's village has always relied on boiled salt for a living. In the past, merchants would come to collect salt every month and pay them.
But gradually things changed. When the merchants came to collect the salt, they began to push the price downwards, and they also showed an attitude of not wanting to sell.
Their village is basically engaged in boiling salt. There is no other livelihood, so they have to accept the price reduction from the salt merchants.
But the prices offered by merchants became increasingly unbearable, and the number of times they came to collect salt became less and less.
Someone inquired about the news from Fulan Port. Businessmen led by the great salt merchant Godwen established some kind of "salt field" near Fulan Port. I don't know what methods were used in it. I heard that it can produce tons of salt. The production of salt from tons of land is much more efficient than the boiling method in their village.
When the salt farm was first put into operation, it could not meet all the needs, and the merchants had to rely on them, the salt residents. However, as the scale of the salt farm became larger and larger, the output became higher and higher, and the dependence on the salt residents became less and less.
The salt produced from the salt farm is no better than the salt boiled in Kaiwen Village, and is even slightly inferior in quality. But it has an unrivaled advantage - it's cheap.
That's really cheap. Kevin has learned that a subsistence family can buy enough salt to make pickled fish.
The income from cooking salt is getting less and less, and the family will soon be unable to make ends meet. If this continues, the already small savings will soon be exhausted.
As a last resort, Kevin and his fellow villagers went to nearby towns to sell their products on their own. In order to avoid competition, they each chose a place. Kevin's chosen destination was Port Fulan.
He arrived at Port Fulan yesterday, but after setting up a stall for a day, he could only earn a measly copper coin. He was starving until night, so he bought a piece of black bread to fill his stomach. He had not earned much money in the first place, and became There is not much left.
He stayed in the stables of an inn and planned to continue trying his luck the next day.
Kevin Cheng tried to sell his salt in a salt shop, but the price offered by the shop was extremely low. If he sold it to them like this, he would definitely lose a lot of money. He tried to bargain and was quickly kicked out by the store clerk.
While he was thinking about what to do, he saw a man walking over with an iron bucket and a brush from the corner of his eye.
Kevin guessed that the city hall was probably going to put up some kind of "slogan" again. Speaking of which, this was also a propaganda method invented by the young lord who only succeeded to the throne last year. The so-called "slogan" was put up in eye-catching public places. area, allowing people to understand his policies through concise writing.
Things like "Everyone has a responsibility to protect the environment", "Littering anywhere will be punished" and so on. Even their small, remote village had a few slogans painted on them, although the number of literate people in their village could be counted on one hand.
Seeing the man carrying the bucket coming towards him, Kevin secretly complained about his bad luck, quickly packed up his things and moved the stall to another place, making room for the space next to the wall.
The people from the city hall came to the wall, dipped their brushes in paint, and smeared it on the wall.
A bunch of people gathered to watch the fun.
Kevin also approached the crowd, patted a person who was looking intently at the wall and asked: "Sir, what is written on the wall?"
This man was so fascinated that he probably recognized the writing on the wall.
The man turned back to look at him and replied: "Don't you recognize it? It says 'Be vigilant and guard against spies'!"
"Beware of spies?"< br>
Kevin was a little confused. He knew what a spy did, but why did he suddenly put up such a slogan?
“Yes, don’t you know the recent situation?”
"What's the situation?"
Just listen to the man saying mysteriously: "The war is about to begin! The lords are going to fight again!"
"War? Why is there a war anyway? ?”
Kevin frowned. He had heard from his elders about the horror of military disasters since he was a child. When a fight broke out, the lords would lead troops to plunder each other’s territory, and would also add extravagance to their own subjects. War tax, forcing people to serve as soldiers.
The closest thing to war he has ever experienced was the last pirate invasion, and the old man in the village said that a military disaster is more terrifying than a pirate robbery.
"I heard that this time we are going to war with Emden."
"Emden? I heard that it is a very powerful territory to the south of us." "What are you afraid of? You forgot about us Grayman How did your lord beat up those pirates and Bairdin's rebels?"
The person talking to Kevin was extremely excited, and he was obviously very confident in Alda's military. The young lord danced with joy.
Kevin snorted inwardly. Port Fulan was protected by a city wall, but their village had no defensive measures.
He turned back to his stall and complained in a low voice: "War, war, we salt people are going to starve to death and still worry about fighting..."
A person next to him overheard his words and looked at him. There was light coming out of it...
Kevin continued to guard the stall for a while, and finally he couldn't hold on anymore. Now he didn't even have the energy to shout and sell to passers-by.
He weighed the few coins in his hand, and with great pain, he decided to buy a piece of bread to satisfy his hunger first, and then went to the well to drink a few sips of cold water.
Just after he got up and walked a few steps, a person stopped him.
"Is this your stall?"
Kevin immediately turned around and responded: "Yes. This is my stall. Do you want to buy salt?"
He I saw the person clearly. He was neither tall nor short, neither fat nor thin, and his face was average.
"Excuse me, what is the price of salt here?"
Kevin thought for a while and directly quoted the lowest price he could accept.
The visitor said hesitantly: "It's much more expensive than the ones sold in the store!"
Kevin was anxious, "Guest, the salt here is a bit expensive, but the quality is high quality. The salt that is cooked artificially in our village and has been carefully ground and screened is not much different from the refined salt that noble men eat. Look at the salt in the store. Not to mention the coarse particles, it still contains salt. There is so much sand, and the taste is infinitely worse than the one at my stall.”
The visitor touched his chin, seeming to be considering Kevin’s words. He dipped his finger in some salt and tasted it in his mouth.
"Well, you are right, the taste is indeed much better than what is sold in the store."
Hearing what the other party said, Kevin's eyes showed hope.
"So, guest..."
"Think about it, we really need to buy salt in our store. Since the quality of the salt here is good, I will buy it from you. Just this bag!"< br>
He pointed at a bag of salt and said to Kevin.
“Okay, I’ll tie it up for you right now!”
Kevin quickly tied the bag and handed it to the guest, who also readily gave the money.
The customer inquired: "I haven't seen you before, are you new here?"
"Well, I just came here yesterday to sell salt..."
"I will come here again in the future. Will it continue to be sold here?"
"I will sell salt as long as you need it."
"Okay, if the food is good, I will continue to patronize it."
He patted Kevin on the shoulder, turned around and left with a bag of salt.
Kevin carefully shook the small bag full of coins, and there was a crisp collision sound inside, making his heart instantly filled with happiness.
I can finally have a full meal today.
I have been sent to Jiangsu on a business trip these two days, so I apologize for not updating in time. Alas, it’s almost the New Year and I suddenly encountered this kind of thing. ????
(End of this chapter)