Chapter 136 Paying Grain Tax
After a short day of rest, Liu Ji took his living expenses and couldn't wait to rush back to the academy.
This time, Qin Yao sent him to Jinshi Town, and then he walked to the county town by himself.
On Qin Yao's return trip, she bought a lot of daily necessities and asked around in the town if there was any news about land for sale.
Land is the most important asset for ordinary people, and most people are unwilling to sell it unless they are completely desperate.
Because she bought meat frequently and each time she bought more than two kilograms, the butchers in the town already knew Qin Yao. When they heard that she was asking about selling the land, they told her to go directly to the pawnshop in the county town to ask.
"But you'd better be careful. The guys in the pawnshop are very shrewd. Be careful not to be cheated by them." The butcher reminded.
Qin Yao had never thought of the pawnshop as a way out, and curiously asked: "Don't pawnshops accept pawned items? Do they also sell land?"
"You don't understand this." The butcher brother said with a smile: "Think about it, what is the most valuable thing for ordinary people like us?"
Gold, silver and jewelry are only things that the ladies of rich families can afford. What else can ordinary people pawn except land?
Qin Yao suddenly realized that this was the case.
That being said, there must be a lot of land deeds hidden in the pawnshop.
The butcher added: "But if anyone in your village wants to sell land, it would be better to buy from people in the same village."
There are two places that ordinary people are most taboo to go to: the government office is one, and the pawnshop is the other. It is better not to go there if possible.
"Thank you, butcher brother." Qin Yao paid for the meat, took the three pounds of meat she had just bought, nodded gratefully to the butcher, and turned to leave.
But when Qin Yao went to Liujia Village to ask around, she found out that no one wanted to sell the land for the time being, so she put the matter of buying the land aside for the time being.
She plans to ask again before the beginning of next spring. In January and February, the stored food will be eaten up and the wheat will not yet grow, so someone may want to sell the land.
However, Qin Yao doesn't want land that is too bad. If she wants to buy land, she would rather buy good land, at least as good as the fertile land she is renting now. Whether she wants to cultivate it herself or sell it when she has no other choice, it will be more valuable.
Of course, good farmland is also expensive. She asked Old Man Liu, and learned that the ten acres of good land that Liu Dafu rented to her could be sold for between eight and ten taels per acre.
After doing the math, Qin Yao found that with the one hundred taels of silver she had, she could only afford about ten acres.
So instead of buying it at a high price now, it is better to wait and see if there is a better opportunity. At the same time, you can save more money and get it in one go.
If you buy more, you can negotiate a wholesale price!
Qin Yao made up his mind not to use the 100 taels of silver on hand for the time being and concentrate on running the water mill.
In a blink of an eye, half a month passed.
At the water mill, the workers have already mastered the production process and assembly line production is beginning to show results.
According to the current production speed, the thirty sets of small water mills can be delivered as scheduled in mid-October.
Carpenter Liu also felt a lot more relaxed. He joined Qin Yao and Shunzi, who was picked by Qin Yao, in the sales work, and visited the town and other villages from time to time.
While maintaining old customers, we also develop new customers, and can bring in an order every two or three days.
Although it is not as good as Qin Yao's 17 sets at a time, the trickle is continuous and very stable.
The head of the village brought people to collect grain taxes, and the village was bustling for several days.
This year is a year of bumper harvest, and the grain tax is much lower than that of the old dynasty. It is rare to see reluctance on the faces of ordinary people.
However, for families with many people and little land, the one-fifteenth grain tax is still a huge pressure for them.
Qin Yao's family had little land, so they had to hand in more than 190 kilograms of grain, which she only had to carry two loads.
Old Man Liu's family has more. This year they planted 110 acres of crops, with a total harvest of 24,200 kilograms including shells. They should pay 1,600 kilograms of grain tax, and have a surplus of more than 22,500 kilograms.
The whole county had a bumper harvest this year and grain prices dropped to an extremely low level. Liu Dafu's family sold their grain for only three cents per pound, which was half less than last year.
After deducting a year's food for his family, Old Man Liu's family sold all the remaining grain for 48 taels of silver.
There are nine people in the family, and soon there will be one more person in Mrs. Qiu's family, so next year there will be ten people. If there were no other taxes, then they would be well off.
If there are no natural disasters or man-made calamities, you can achieve a comfortable life by accumulating for a few years.
However, only the elderly who have experienced it, such as Mr. Liu and Mrs. Zhang, feel happy about the bumper harvest this year, but more importantly, they just feel relieved.
Because they know that God may show his power at any time.
This year they didn't dare sell all of the surplus grain and only sold half.
After selling the grain, he got 24 taels of silver, but he only dared to use a part of it.
Because Liu Fei was already of marriageable age, his family needed to build another room to use as a new home.
After paying the grain tax, Qin Yao suddenly remembered that the academy's closing time had arrived.
I thought Liu Ji would come back before dark like last time, but unexpectedly, he didn't show up that night.
Qin Yao woke up twice in the middle of the night. Once she was awakened by the barking of the new yellow dog at Grandma Wang's house at the village entrance.
Another time, Old Huang in the stable shouted, thinking he was awakened by someone passing by.
As a result, when the day dawned, the person who should have returned did not return.
In the morning, Dalang asked, "Auntie, isn't my dad coming back?"
"Maybe something delayed him last night." Qin Yao answered uncertainly.
Dalang was a little worried, afraid that something might have happened to his father in the city.
Qin Yao also felt that it was a bit strange. After breakfast, no one had come back yet, so she wanted to take Lao Huang out of the stable and go to the county town.
Just as he was about to take action, his ears moved slightly. He quickly walked to the dam in front of his house, looked down at the river bank, and saw an ox cart slowly driving towards his house.
However, there was no sign of Liu Ji in the car.
Qin Yao had seen the driver before. He often traveled between Xiahe Village and Kaiyang County. Both she and Liu Ji had ridden in his car.
The driver parked the car at the foot of the mountain and walked up. Seeing Qin Yao waiting at the intersection, he said as he walked:
"I'm sorry, Madam Qin, you must be waiting impatiently. I was supposed to come last night, but something happened at home and I was delayed. It's too dangerous to drive at night, so I had to wait until this morning."
When Qin Yao heard this, she had a guess in her mind, "Did Liu Ji ask you to come?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" The driver nodded vigorously. "It was your husband Liu who asked me to come here!"
The last time he sent Qin Yao back to Liujia Village from Jinshi Town, he still remembered the scene where her husband ran all the way from the mountain to the river to pick her up. The man was handsome and the woman was beautiful, they were really a perfect match.
At that time, he felt that the young man was of noble bearing and not like an ordinary person. Unexpectedly, he was actually a student in the academy and was familiar with Mr. Fan and others. They were all scholars, which was amazing.
Therefore, this time when Liu Ji asked him to go home to help get living expenses, the driver agreed very readily, even with a bit of flattery in it.
Qin Yao invited the driver in. Dalang and his two siblings stood outside the main room, leaning against the wall and listening intently.