The Clerk was startled again. "What did you say? Money before goods?"
We won't discuss the difference between money before goods and goods before money here, nor will we debate their respective pros and cons.
We'll just say that in the era of small-scale peasant economies, where agriculture was the main economic activity, there weren't many who would leave their hometowns to make a living. Most people would live out their lives tending to a piece of land, surrounded by familiar faces.
In such a situation, paying after receiving goods wasn't just a trading method, but also a matter of personal credit. As long as you didn't have a bad reputation within a hundred li, no one would think that you would run away after accumulating debt.
The Prefectural Governor was not a local of Fushan County, but he was an official who valued his reputation. Moreover, he was the top authority of Fushan County.
