Chapter 66 The Emperor also comes to increase the shares (2)

This is the change in Jiaoshan Village, Sanjing Town, Kilan Prefecture, in Gaojiahui Town, dozens of miles away from Sanjing Town.

At this time, at the intersection, a young woman wearing a coarse cloth dress with a few patches on it and a dish-like face was following another middle-aged woman wearing a cloth dress. The two of them spoke and entered the town.

Gaojiahui Town is not big, there is only a bluestone street inside, with some low and broken houses built with rammed earth walls on both sides, and only a few shops selling some grain, rice and groceries. At this time, there were very few young and strong men walking on the street, mostly ragged old men and women, holding some children in their hands, all of them looked numb on their faces, as if they were overwhelmed by the burden of life. Even the two tax collectors in the tax collector's room in the town were sitting at the door basking in the sun, lazy and relatively bored.

After the two women walked into the town, the young woman with a slutty face said to the middle-aged woman: "Sister Chun, is it true that you said that picking wool? After a month, can you really earn two cents of silver?"

The middle-aged woman said, "Oh, Ximei, you have asked me eight hundred times, don't worry, when did I cheat you as a sister? Your sister has been working with Mrs. Sun every day these days, and there are still fakes? You are so diligent, don't say that you have two cents a month, even three cents a month, you won't be able to earn. But you have to think about it, and it's not easy to live for a day."

The young woman with a cute face named Yang Ximei lived not far from the town. The middle-aged woman was named Lu Chunjie, who was from Gaojiahui Town. Although the two lived in the east and the other lived in the west of the town, they had a good relationship since childhood. Because the family scenery was better, Lu Chunjie always took good care of Yang Ximei.

Yang Ximei couldn't help asking repeatedly that she was really in trouble now. The family was always full and hungry. Even if she worked hard to manage the family every day, the whole family was still in a state of not having enough food or clothing. In addition, there was very little source of life, and this family was not easy to be a family. She really wanted to earn some money so that her family could have enough food and meals. The family's land tax has been owed for several years, and the tax collectors in the town were urging them tightly. I'm afraid I couldn't delay this year. If I could earn some money, it would be really good.

Yang Ximei has four children at home, as well as her parents-in-law, and they all rely on her and her men to raise them. She is now at home, in addition to helping men with work in the fields, she also has to do housework and do some needlework for others. She keeps going every day and makes chickens crow at night before resting for a while. This way she can earn a few cents a day.

Her family of seven people eats four and a half liters a day. In order to make the men at home fill, she and her mother-in-law are often half hungry, and the children are often so hungry that they cry. A month ago, there was no sewing work, which made Yang Ximei even more worried.

In addition to these, there are also land taxes and land affairs. According to some of the fields in Yang Ximei's family, it is designated as middle fields. Each acre of land requires 2 cents of silver, including all the consumption and additional taxes, as well as the service distributed into the land. In previous years, when the weather was good, the tax generally accounted for one-thirty of the farmland income. It can be paid every year to leave some grain and rice at home, so you can eat enough during the New Year and the holidays.

However, starting a few years ago, the year has not been good. The income from the land is getting smaller and smaller. A few mu of grain can't be collected for a mu of land, and some of them still have no grains in the past year. In addition, the tax grain is more expensive to collect, and when selling grain, the merchants lower the price and exchange it for less silver. The price of silver is too high, which makes the land in their hands less and less. In addition, the land is not collected. In the end, the tax grain at home is in arrears every year, and this year is the fifth year.

Although tax grain arrears are not due to Yang Ximei’s family, but a common phenomenon in Gaojiahui Town, the common people are always afraid of worrying in their hearts, and it is best to be able to pay the tax grain.

At this time, after hearing Lu Chunjie's words, Yang Ximei was happy and said, "We are afraid of doing some work. As long as we can make money, we are not afraid of no matter how hard we work."

Then she said strangely: "Sister Chun, when did someone pick up wool in the town? I have never heard of this before. I have seen those sheep farming places, and no one has ever collected their wool?"

Sister Lu Chun said, "I don't know about this sister. I heard that a few times ago, a few old men from the state city came down to collect the wool, trimmed the wool, and then transported it to Wuzhaibao. They said that Wuzhaibao had built a wool spinning factory and needed a lot of wool. You said it was strange. What do you do with this kind of wool spinning factory?

Yang Ximei just murmured: "Five Village Fort..."

Sister Lu Chun saw Yang Ximei's appearance and smiled and said, "Ximei, do you miss your man? I heard that your man went to Wuzhaibao to work a few days ago?"

Yang Ximei said: "Yes, my man heard from people from other villages that Wuzhaibao has run many workshops and factories, and is recruiting people everywhere. As long as he is willing to work, everyone will want to do it. Now, the farming season is slack, and my man is thinking about earning some wages. A few days ago, he and a few strong men in the village went together."

Sister Lu Chun sighed, "Yes, the men in the town have been exposed recently, which makes my men also tempted. They say they want to go to Wuzhai Fort to see if they can earn some money. Alas, somehow, that Wuzhai Fort is so good, they all run there?"

Speaking of this, she said, "Okay, let's go quickly. If it's too late, Mrs. Sun will be unhappy." She pointed to a big house in front and said, "Look, this is coming."

The two of them rushed over there and then rushed into the big house. There were also a group of women in the town who came after hearing the news. In addition, there were a few businessmen who were coming out of the house and directed a group of people who looked like friends to carry bundles of wool into the carriage, adding a bit of commercial atmosphere to the town.

That big house is not far from the tax collector's house in the town. Generally speaking, in order to collect land taxes, various prefectures and counties in the Ming Dynasty would set up branch tax stations in various villages and towns. Gaojiahui Town also had a tax collector's house, with two tax collectors in it, one named Li Sancang and the other named Wang Dengxuan.

Watching Yang Ximei, Lu Chunjie and other women walking into the room, tax collector Li Sancang said, "It seems that Mrs. Sun's business is very prosperous. I counted these days and there were almost two hundred women entering the Sun family to do business. And almost today, two groups of businessmen were setting up their wool and set off."

The tax collector Wang Dengxuan said, "We cannot manage the affairs of Mrs. Sun and those merchants. We do not have the capital or the way, and we do not have envy. It is good that the women in the town make money. It is good that their family's tax bank is always owed. If they pay the money, we can also pay the money."

Tax collector Li Sancang sighed, "I hope I really don't want to do this chore. If you don't urge me, you can't collect taxes and get scolded by the superiors. You should use force, if you force someone to death, it's amazing, I don't want to be like Brother Qi and the others."

The taxation of land and land in the Ming Dynasty is divided into summer and autumn. The tax in a year can be paid in seven times. The general land tax is based on the upper field, middle field, and lower field. The land tax ranges from five cents to five cents of silver. After the tax is collected, a correct three-couple receipt will be issued: one couple to the tax collector. One couple to the tax payer, and one couple to the local officials to archive.

Most of Gaojiahui Towns have middle fields. Each family usually collects one cent to two cents of silver per mu of land. But even so, in this current year, there are few companies in Gaojiahui Towns that do not arrears land tax. Each company has arrears of land tax for five or six years, and even the highest is thirteen years.

Gaojiahui Town. The two former tax collectors were forced to the old man who had been owed to the thirteen years of land tax, which made the old man's father jump into the river. He was sued by the gentry in the town to Kelan Prefecture City. After investigation, the two former tax collectors lost their jobs. So now the new tax collectors Li Sancang and Wang Dengxuan in Gaojiahui Town have learned lessons. Just live a while. Anyway, it is not the one who arrears the tax bank, but the common phenomenon in the entire Kelan Prefecture. The law does not blame the public.

The two of them were discussing, and they both felt that their current work was boring. When they talked about the hot wool acquisition trend in various parts of Kelanzhou, they were all a little excited and were planning to make some money. Let’s change their careers.

The two of them were chatting enthusiastically. In the other side, Yang Ximei and Lu Chunjie had already entered the big house of Mrs. Sun.

"Don't chatter. Work quickly."

After Sister Lu Chun took Yang Ximei into the house, it was a large courtyard. At this time, the front and back of each house were full of people, mostly women wearing coarse skirts. These people laughed loudly and did their work quickly. They all sat on the ground to pick the wool and selected the slenderest part of the wool. Among these people, many of them were also known to Sister Yang Ximei and Sister Lu Chun, who were all neighbors in the town, and now they all went to the Sun family to do their work.

Among the people sitting, there were only a few people standing. One of the women was less than thirty years old, wearing silk and rosy face. It was Mrs. Sun, the owner of the house. A woman beside her was shouting loudly, urging the women in the house to work faster. It was Mrs. Sun's personal servant Wang.

Sister Lu Chun took Yang Ximei to Mrs. Sun, bent down and smiled, "Madam, I brought my good sister to work, and invite her to give her some food. Ximei, this is Mrs. Sun, come and meet her quickly."

Yang Ximei hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Hello, Mrs. Sun."

Mrs. Sun looked at Yang Ximei and said, "Well, it seems like a clever person, just accept it. If you work hard, you will not give you less wages."

Yang Ximei and Lu Chunjie were both overjoyed and said, "Thank you Mrs. Sun, thank you Mrs. Sun."

Soon, Yang Ximei started her handicraft workshop career at the Sun family. According to the wages given by the Sun family, she picked up a pile of wool every day and gave a penny of silver. If her hands and feet were fast, she would get three cents of silver a month. For Yang Ximei, this money could be said to be a long drought and rain, so she worked very hard. Soon, she adapted to her current life.

According to the standards of Wuzhaibao, the purchased wool is determined by the price of wool treatment. Mrs. Sun’s treatment is only the second step in wool treatment.

Generally speaking, before being used in textile, wool fibers must undergo preliminary processing, such as wool picking, wool splitting, wool washing, and wool elasticization.

Collect the wool that falls on the ground and call it wool picking. Collect wool from sheepskin, which is called wool picking. Like wool in northern Shanxi, wool can usually be picked twice a year. After picking the wool, you need to divide the wool and select the slender part from the coarse wool. Then wash the wool, because the wool contains grease and sand, it must be removed before spinning. There are many methods, and you can fry and boil the soup. Or put the wool into the yellow sand and rub it with your hands or tools to achieve the effect of removing grease.

After washing and drying the wool, it must be loosened into a separate and loose state of single fibers, and some impurities are removed for spinning. The ancients used bowstrings to sprinkle wool, called elastic wool. Finally, after the initial processing of wool fibers, they are straightened out and then rubbed strips to spin and weave cloth. Finally, dyeing and wool textile is done.

Nowadays, many such family-like handicraft workshops have appeared in Digulanzhou. After the wool is started, they usually divide the wool and wash it, and then transport it to Wuzhaibao to get a lot of money. Therefore, many wealthy families act quickly. In addition to making money by themselves, they have also unexpectedly increased employment opportunities in many places.

Family-hand workshops like Mrs. Sun are just one of the many people in Kelan Prefecture, and people like Yang Ximei are just one of the many female workers.
Chapter completed!