Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 762 Application Order

762 Application Order

Moreover, all these salt-making factories belonged to the imperial court. For this purpose, Emperor Shengwu specially set up a special management department, called the "Salt Administration", which was in charge of this entire set of affairs.

In addition, no government office or private individual could produce or sell salt privately. Therefore, the amount of official salt used in each prefecture was limited to a certain range. The quality of the salt obtained was also different.

Because no matter whether it is fried salt or sun-dried salt, the output of salt is very low, and the quality of the salt produced is also divided into different grades.

The first-grade salt produced by the Salt Bureau was supplied to Emperor Shengwu and his three thousand concubines, as well as civil and military officials in the court.

The slightly inferior salt was supplied to the soldiers in the military camps guarding the border, and Emperor Shengwu never withheld any of it.

In this way, after being sorted layer by layer according to grades, the remaining salt of the worst quality is sold to ordinary people, and there are also regulations on how to sell it.

If the people needed salt at home, they had to take their household registration and go to the official salt shop designated by the local government to buy salt in a fixed amount every month.

However, the same amount of salt may be enough in Mobei, but in western Xinjiang, people may need to consume more salt because of excessive sweating.

Moreover, the worse the quality of the salt, the less flavorful it is, and the demand for quantity is likely to increase. As the most remote region of the Great Sheng Dynasty, Western Xinjiang is also the poorest.

Therefore, the salt distributed to Xichang Prefecture every year was of the worst quality and the least per capita. As a result, the people in Western Xinjiang were short of salt and had no choice but to find Rhus chinensis to supplement it.

It seems that we still need to submit a petition to apply for more official salt for Xichang. Although the court has formulated a very strict management system, these are the rules on the surface.

In fact, the quantity and quality of salt that each local state can get is mostly determined by the subjective methods of the people above. To put it bluntly, even the people above will serve you differently based on your situation.

If you have connections, the amount of salt you are given is at the top of the range, and the quality of the salt you are given is also the best among the short ones, and is relatively good.

If you don't have any connections, then sorry, whatever others have left is yours. Moreover, you have no way to file a complaint, because the other party has not violated any rules, they are just operating within the range.

Of course, after going through so many levels of people, the amount of salt that can actually reach the local area will be reduced a lot. So if I can apply for more, by then, Xichang will have enough salt, and the government office will make some adjustments, and the people should be able to afford the salt.

Because the price of salt that the imperial court gave to local government offices was fixed, but when it came to the locality, the prefect could adjust the price sold to the people based on the price given by the imperial court, with a certain percentage fluctuation up or down.

Let’s do it this way. Go back and write the memorial quickly. December of each year is the decision-making period for the Salt Administration to distribute salt to various places.

It would be best if my memorial could be submitted before they made a decision, so that it would be more successful. If I could apply for a larger amount this time, then Xichang Prefecture should be able to get more salt in the spring of next year.

After asking Ziyun to leave a few coins for Mr. Zheng, the group left the Zheng family and hurried back to the government office.

As soon as she arrived at the government office, Hua Lei immediately wrote a petition for official salt and had it delivered by the government post. In the petition, Hua Lei raised the average monthly salt per capita in Xichang from one tael to three taels.

You know, if you aim high, you get average, and if you aim average, you get low. If you raise the per capita income a little, the people in the Salt Administration will definitely not agree directly.

However, it would not be a direct loss of face for me. I would not add any salt at all. As long as it is 2 taels of salt per person per month, it would be good. Even 1.5 taels would be fine.

Moreover, Hualei also cited many facts to explain. For example, starting this year, the people of Xichang planted three crops a year.

Therefore, everyone's workload has greatly increased. Under such high temperatures in Xichang, the amount of sweating must have increased greatly, and the demand for salt has also risen sharply.

If people do not consume enough salt, they may easily experience weakness in their hands and feet, dizziness, etc., which may affect the planting in three seasons of the year.

In the past, the people of Xichang were lazy, not because they were lazy, but because they lacked physical strength. The biggest reason for this was the lack of salt.

In addition, Hualei also mentioned tactfully about the quality of salt. He said that they do not require that all salt from Xichang is of good quality, but only that not all salt is of the worst quality.

A few days after the memorial was sent, Hualei was free for a few days. So, she always went back to the house at the back early to rest and catch up on sleep.

Since Jinnian and Jinshi returned to the capital, Hualei has had a lot more free time. However, she also feels a little empty inside.

In the past, every time she returned home, even if the two children had fallen asleep, Hua Lei would go to the children's rooms, help tuck in the corners of the quilts, and kiss the children on their sleeping faces. She would feel very satisfied.

However, since the two children went back, there was no such opportunity. At first, Hualei was really not used to it.

Every time I returned from Mingzhengtang, I would habitually walk to the two children's bedrooms. It was not until I saw the dark room and the empty bed that I remembered that the two children had returned to Beijing.

The loss in my heart would surge like a tide. At this moment, Hualei would miss the video call in her previous life.

Unfortunately, even communication is a luxury here. It takes more than a month at the earliest to receive a reply.

Fortunately, Lord Pei and Madam Pei also thought of this. So, every month they would have someone write a letter, detailing every little thing about Jinnian and Jinshi, so that Hualei and Rongjin could know.

After returning, Jinnian went directly to the clan school of the Marquis's mansion and began formal and systematic learning. The courses of the clan school were arranged reasonably.

Several courses are rotated, which is not only not monotonous but also very interesting. In addition, the teacher's teaching methods are also very diverse, so Jinnian likes it very much.

There are many children in the clan school. Zhenzhu's son Qilin is also studying in the clan school in the Marquis' Mansion. The two children have reunited after a long separation, and now they get together every day and are very happy.

In addition to holidays, Lord Pei would often take the children to the stable to ride horses. Recently, Jinnian has become quite good at riding horses.

The pony that Pei Jingyang sent back from Mobei was also put to use. Every morning, there would be a special teacher in the Marquis's Mansion to teach Jinnian how to squat and strengthen his body.