"Alright, a total of twelve fish, including six grass carps, two yellow fish, and four assorted small fish, I'll charge you a tax of forty-four cents!"
"Next."
...
The fishermen of Xiantao Town on Mianshui River dock had finished their morning work and were bringing up their catch of the day.
And the first thing upon landing was to pay taxes to the Fishing Guild.
The staff of the Fishing Guild mainly had the task of collecting taxes at this time.
A grass carp could be sold for about eight cents, the Fishing Guild charged a tax of three cents, yellow fish were pricier, selling for twelve cents each, with the Fishing Guild taking a five-cent tax, and assorted fish were generally between nine and ten cents, hence they had to pay a four-cent tax.
In addition, each fisherman had to pay a dockage fee of ten cents a day.
One could say that a fisherman could only net fifty to sixty cents a day, which was roughly equivalent to five to six pounds of grain.
