Chapter 18: We honest women have more than enough strength to make a living!

The "Food and Goods Treatise" in the Book of Han says: "When grain is excessively expensive, it harms the people; when excessively cheap, it harms the farmers; when the people are harmed, they scatter; when the farmers are harmed, the state becomes poor."

Du Shanü is not afraid of these people blindly shouting high prices.

Because although the cooling jelly is fresh, it absolutely cannot be called 'wonderful'.

Here the rice can yield two harvests a year; although the cooling jelly is tasty, if the price is shouted too high, one can simply not eat it—it's not the only thing one can eat.

Thus, it becomes impossible for prices to be raised, and one must guard against middlemen fighting tooth and nail, leading to the situation of 'cheap grain hurting the farmers'.

A bowl of cooling jelly that costs two or three wen to procure, if sold for five wen, may not sell in huge quantities, but there is definitely profit to be made.

And if someone thinks, 'If I sell it for four wen, do I still have profit?'—cheaper by one wen, not only will it sell well, but it can also drive away other vendors selling cooling jelly...

Once someone sets this precedent, anyone else who wants to sell cooling jelly can only be forced to accept the uniform price of four wen.

If there is cooling jelly priced at four wen, there will surely be cooling jelly priced at three wen.

Middlemen unable to make money will naturally cut costs, leading to endless problems.

For example, to obtain a discount, middlemen might purchase too much cooling jelly at once, but if they cannot sell it within a day or two, it spoils, ruining its taste and reputation.

For example, middlemen work hard all day, yet the money they earn may be less than what a day's odd jobs would bring, resulting in nobody wanting to come and purchase supplies...

These are all things that Du Shanü does not permit.

If she does something, she must do it to the best of her ability, leaving no detail unattended.

This is her desire for control...

Or rather, confidence!

Zhao Da shen and Wang San shu obviously don't understand these matters, but Du Shanü is willing to set a uniform selling price, and they are also pleased.

Zhao Da shen anxiously said:

"Good girl, hurry up and make some cooling jelly for auntie; before noon is exactly the best time to sell......"

Du Shanü hesitated not, turned and scooped the cooling jelly, packaged it, sold it, and took the money in one smooth motion; then the sound of clinking coins rang out again from Yu Hen's money box.

Yu Hen pursed his lips in restraint, but deliberately slowed his steps; with each step, the money box swayed and chimed, and he raised his chin a fraction...

He held his head high and chest out, looking very pleased with himself.

As if...

He was proud of every wen he earned for her?

Du Shanü narrowed her eyes at the jingling Yu Baobao, and suddenly a feeling of joy rose in her—an honest woman fulfilling her dream—

Enduring hardship has always been nothing to fear for her.

What is frightening is not knowing gratitude, having one's suffering go unnoticed in others' hearts, and having nobody feel proud of her.

And now, Heaven has forgiven her; by such a coincidence, she has found such a person.

Whether to speak or not, this life now indeed has some hope ahead.

With the water-turned mill, before winter arrives she will be able to save enough money to build a residence.

Once a good residence is established, and then acquiring a hundred mu of good farmland here, she will sooner or later become a wealthy household rich enough to dominate the region.

By then, Yu Baobao's eyes should have fully recovered, and he will be a little white and plump from her care; then she will sneak in under cover of night...

No, she is an honest woman; how could she do such a sneaky thing?

Moreover, this is her own residence! What sneaking in is that?

It should be that she openly kicks into Yu Baobao's room, then seizes his hands and says, 'Heh heh heh, beauty, you have finally fallen into my hands; today even if you shout till your throat breaks, no one will......'

No, no.

Sorry, that doesn't sound like something an honest woman would say.

"My dear, I went out to work today and earned another fifty wen; I give all the money to you, hurry and give me a fragrant kiss......"

Wait, that also seems not quite right...

Never mind, forget it! It must be correct!

The fairy‑tale life of us honest women ought to be just like this!

The money box continued to clatter, Du Shanü propped her chin, her gaze following Yu Hen as he went, unable to help narrowing her eyes again and again; just as she was about to speak something to tease the beauty, she heard the shaky fence outside once again ring out with a shout:

"Is the lady of this house, Du Shanü, present?!"

This voice was violent and angry; everyone in the courtyard, whether raving or dazed, was drawn to look.

Du Shanü turned back and saw that the speaker was none other than the constable Zhao Jia, who had escorted refugees two days earlier, and the intermediary Huang Lao, the village head, who had stood surety then.

Their attire was exactly as before, but their faces bore anxiety; Huang Lao the village head looked especially dejected.

Du Shanü turned, gave Yu Hen a quick instruction, then strode forward, first blocking their mouths:

"Officer, maternal uncle, what a coincidence that you come today!"

"These days our household has been lucky; doing a bit of small trade we actually earned some scattered cash, scraping together and borrowing from east and west, we can barely scrape together six hundred wen......"

"I have already sent my husband to fetch the money; you two, would you like to come in for a drink, or......?"

The two men bore an ill‑omened air, instinctively making one think they had come for that six hundred wen to buy a person.

Therefore Du Shanü lowered her posture considerably, her words full of difficulty, so as not to reveal a weakness and be held against her.

However, what nobody could have imagined—

Du Shanü gave the money, yet the vexation and gloom between the brows of these two were not completely dispelled.

Du Shanü couldn't tell whether they were going to open their mouths wide like lions, so she could only direct her gaze toward Huang Lao the village head.

Huang Lao the village head leaned on that cane, older than Du Shanü's years, and sighed:

"The six hundred wen is a trifle; if you can come up with it, hand it over now to the official, and the IOU will automatically be cancelled."

"We have come today for a more important matter......"

The cane tapped repeatedly on the ground, poking at those specks of dirt that were hardly noticeable and kicked up no dust.

Huang Lao the village head's shoulders shuddered, and he suddenly choked up and said:

「【All registered households under heaven, each adult male shall additionally deliver one stone of grain per year........ If there are stubborn folk who rely on strength to disobey, linger and watch, or even incite the villagers, resist grain and cause trouble, once discovered they shall be immediately arrested and sent to the county for strict investigation, with no leniency........】」

「This is this morning's announcement........ Imperial Court, the Imperial Court has increased the poll tax! Each household shall pay extra according to the number of adult males; one man must pay an extra one stone of grain each year! 」

This sound was not loud, yet it reverberated through the courtyard, shaking everyone's heads until they felt dizzy.

Not to mention adults who understand a thing or two, even Ouyang An, this ten-year-old boy, knows what one stone of grain means.

One stone, it is more than a hundred market catties!

This year's grain price is low, but it's still five cash per catty; a hundred catties thus come to five hundred cash!

Each year an extra half tael of silver in taxes is added for no reason!

Moreover, which household could have only one adult male?

Two adult males make one tael; take Du Shanü's household, with six men, they must pay an extra three taels each year!

An ordinary farming household might not even earn two taels of silver in a year!

It's mad.

This world, it truly is mad.

Du Shanü moved her lips, but before she could speak, she heard behind her the loud thud of a copper coin bag hitting the ground.

She turned around, and there was Yu Hen, who had just painstakingly finished counting the money, feeling his way out; hearing the words, he froze on the spot.

And at his feet lay that very bag of money, kicking up dust.

Six hundred cash, a big bag full.

The kicked-up dust could wrinkle the common folk's robes, yet it could not stir the slightest ripple above the hall.

They want more, more.

Du Shanü bent over, picked up the bag, her brows and eyes still smiling, but this time her tone was much calmer, making it hard to discern her thoughts:

"Sir, please first accept these six hundred cash......"

"As for the grain tax, I will think of a way."