touchnovel Chapter 33 Spending Money Like Water
Chapter 33 Spending Money Like Water
Good heavens! I've barely settled down here, and gangs and government officials are already coming one after another, starting to collect all sorts of exorbitant taxes and levies.
As for paying someone to do the corvée labor? Didn't Zhou Ye have to do corvée labor before? They could hire someone to do it in his place, which would be another way out for the government, right? That would be another way for the government to generate revenue. Anyway, there are plenty of people; it's just a matter of replacing some commoners with corvée labor.
No wonder the lives of ordinary people at the bottom of society are so difficult. These various exorbitant taxes and levies add up to nearly two ounces each year. This is enough to allow people to maintain a basic standard of living, but almost all their extra money is squeezed out, making it very difficult to accumulate any savings.
Don't think that two taels of silver is a small amount. That's just a misconception Zhou Ye had when he sold goods before. It seemed like he was making more than ten taels of silver all the time.
Actually, silver is quite valuable. Take this courtyard for example; it would only cost a hundred or eighty taels of silver. If an ordinary person occasionally eats meat, a bachelor wouldn't even spend one or two taels of silver a month.
At this moment, Zhou Ye was speechless; he was completely disillusioned with this cruel otherworld. "I still wanted to bring my talent to the county town!"
He still needed to focus on making money. Zhou Ye immediately set off and returned to his small home in the mountains...
On the riverbank, Zhou Ye drew his bow to its fullest extent, "Whoosh—!"
Fifty paces away, an otter was seen struck in a vital spot, its body convulsing and struggling in its death throes.
The surrounding otters were already in a panic, and they all scurried into the river. Zhou Ye drew his bow again, and with a "bang," the bowstring snapped.
Zhou Ye frowned helplessly. The +3 Strength bonus also had its downsides. This bow's stone count was already insufficient; he needed to replace it with a heavy bow with eight or more stones.
However, the hunt over the past few days has been very successful. In addition to catching fish and birds, several groups of otters were discovered, and three were shot and killed.
When we got back, we skinned the otter as well. Otters have a thick layer of fat, which we cut off and rendered into otter oil. The previous two had already been marinated; we'll take the remaining otter meat with us this time!
Other things include taking all the furs here, as well as the two leather armors, and setting off for home in the county town tomorrow...
Two days later.
Zhou Ye first went to the blacksmith Sun and bought an eight-stone heavy bow. He also replaced the string on his old bow so he could keep it as a spare. However, the bow was very expensive, costing a total of 18 taels of silver.
After finishing all that, Zhou Ye took all the furs and leather armor and went to the largest fur shop in the outer city.
Inside the main hall, Zhou Ye silently sipped his tea, watching the shopkeeper inspect the furs.
"Distinguished guest, these furs of yours are all very well processed." The shopkeeper smiled and began to quote prices. "Wolf pelt: 4.2 taels; this largest one: 6.5 taels. Otter pelt: 3 taels. Deer pelt: 5 taels... And this fire fox pelt—you're very lucky; a noble lady from the inner city specially ordered it. I'll give you 70 taels!"
Zhou Ye was overjoyed. He really hadn't expected that the small fox pelt would be the most expensive item. It far exceeded his expected price.
However, on the surface, Zhou Ye maintained a calm expression: "Shopkeeper, isn't this too low? You don't seem to be sincere."
"That's really sincere. You can ask around if you don't believe me. Our fur trade always offers the highest purchase price. Or... shall I add a little more for you?"
"Then I have other requests."
"Please speak."
"I'll take this rather worn-out leather armor and have it repaired for me.
"Can."
"Leave a wolf pelt to make me a wolf pelt coat? Not the best one, just a regular one."
"no problem."
"Then calculate it again and give me a fair price."
"OK!"
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zhou Ye repaired the leather armor. As for the wolf-skin coat? He didn't choose the one from the alpha wolf, but instead chose the one from an ordinary wild wolf.
The reason for this choice was also to keep a low profile. At least the leather armor had patches, so it didn't look very good.
A wolfskin coat is very practical. It can be worn to keep warm, and it can also be used as a mat or cover when camping in the wild. That makes it quite convenient.
After some haggling, the shopkeeper agreed to almost all of Zhou Ye's requests and finally rounded it up to one hundred taels.
When Zhou Ye saw a 100-tael banknote from Jintong Money Shop, he was somewhat amused and exasperated. This was the second time he had seen a banknote, and both times it was from this Jintong Money Shop.
"Shopkeeper, if I may ask, what are the benefits of these silver notes?"
"There are so many advantages. It can be used in every major city, and it's very convenient to carry large sums of silver. However, outside of major cities, it's not possible to exchange silver for cash in many rural areas. I've also heard that this Jintong Money Exchange has a very powerful background. They don't even care much about the face of the imperial court and completely keep their clients' information confidential. So whether it's officials or wealthy merchants, they all like to deposit their money in this Jintong Money Exchange. This also includes the powerful and wealthy people in our inner city. Anyway, just carry the silver notes with you, and you can travel freely throughout our Great Yin Kingdom."
Zhou Ye never expected that there would be such a behemoth of a money exchange that was above the imperial court. But this was a good thing, wasn't it? He needed this.
In case of needing to escape, all you need to do is take the silver notes. It's incredibly convenient.
Taking this opportunity, Zhou Ye simply inquired about the so-called Great Yin Kingdom.
According to the shopkeeper, the Great Yin Kingdom spans thousands of miles, possessing thirty-six provinces, each with a population of hundreds of millions. Furthermore, its national strength is considerable.
Below the prefectures are counties, and below the counties are districts. The county where Zhou Ye is currently located is actually in a remote corner of the Great Yin Kingdom and is not particularly prosperous.
Okay! A county town with millions of people isn't considered prosperous?
However, the imperial court was too far away, and Zhou Ye was merely satisfying his curiosity.
When Zhou Ye left the fur shop, he had an extra silver note in his pocket. He suddenly realized that it was best not to use this note, but it seemed that he was running out of cash.
Why am I so unlucky? I was planning to move on to the next stage of my mission as soon as I had the money.
Nothing more to say, let's keep saving money!
For nearly a month afterward, Zhou Ye traveled back and forth between the county town and Xiaojiayuan, transporting over a thousand catties of salted fish and selling them for more than 70 taels of silver. He also transported over a thousand catties of charcoal to his courtyard in the county town, intending to sell it gradually to the woodcutters…
That day, Zhou Ye carried over 100 jin of charcoal to the woodcutter's charcoal shop and received over 400 wen.
However, just as they were about to leave, they ran into that big dog.
"Big Dog Bro."
"Huh? Ah Ye, you're here to sell something?"
"Yes! I sold some charcoal. Enough said, I was just about to thank you. My treat, let's go to a restaurant together."
"This...?" Big Dog looked at his subordinates on the left and right.
"Don't be so polite. Are you all here together, brothers? It's an honor to meet you all today, thanks to the magpies calling at my door."