The convoy entered Qingzhou City mightily. Instead of transporting the official salt to the governor's mansion, Bai Shan lived in the post station. It was not enough for their cars to fill up the post station. Captain Dong could only run up to the second floor of the post station. Looking for Bai Shan, "My lord, I can't let go of the station."
Bai Shan looked down and said: "Take the share that should be given to the Governor's Mansion, let's go, let's go to the Governor's Mansion."
Ming Da and Bai Erlang had already gone directly to the governor's mansion to look for the crown prince, Bai Shan and the others had to be slower in escorting Yan, and went directly to Guo governor when they arrived.
Guo Inspector also went to see the official handover.
Originally, this was a trivial matter, not enough for Governor Guo to come forward in person, but this batch of officials was a bit special, and since the crown prince was living in the governor's mansion at this time, he came to see it in person.
Governor Guo stood aside and watched the clerk open the salt bag to check the quality, and after making a note of a first class, he weighed it and had it carried into the warehouse.
Because there would be loss during transportation, Bai Shan deliberately packed more than ten catties of salt. In the end, there were still more than nine catties of salt left, and the guards put it in cloth bags and returned it to the people in Beihai County.
The yamen servants in Beihai County looked at Bai Shan, who nodded slightly, and said to them, "Take it back and hand it to Mr. Cui for credit."
The yamen servant should go down.
Governor Guo raised his eyebrows slightly, and said with a smile to Bai Shan, "Magistrate Bai has strict rules."
Bai Shan said respectfully: "When it comes to salt tax, the lower officials dare not ignore it."
Guo Inspector then looked at the guards in the courtyard and knocked: "I have heard the words of County Magistrate Bai. The important matter of salt tax must not be ignored. From now on, even if we don't keep an eye on it personally, we must keep the accounts clear and not fool around."
The guards responded quickly.
After they put the official salt into the warehouse, Governor Guo asked Bai Shan, "I heard that you brought a lot of official salt this time?"
"Yes," Bai Shan said, "Beihai County is poor, it needs to build roads and water conservancy, and it is short of land, so it needs a lot of money. The governor also knows that Beihai County can't afford anything except salt. So the lower officials can only make up for it.”
Regardless of whether Guo Inspector believed it or not, he just nodded and reminded, "The magistrate of Shouguang County is also here. Does he also live in the inn?"
Bai Shan lowered his head and smiled, "I haven't had time to visit other colleagues yet."
This is the reason why he likes to live in the station. Doesn't Bai Shan have the money to buy a house in Qingzhou City
It's just because it's more convenient to live in an inn.
He went to see the prince first, but the prince was busy, so he didn't have time to see him, so he happily went back to the post station, carrying a jug of wine along the way.
Zhou Man stared at him when he saw the wine.
Bai Shan immediately said: "I don't drink it, I want to invite other county magistrates to drink it."
In addition to County Magistrate Lu, County Magistrate Sun of Bochang also has a residence in Qingzhou City, but perhaps considering that other colleagues live in the post station and have better information, County Magistrate Sun also does not live in his own courtyard. Instead, they also squeezed into the station.
This is convenient for Bai Shan.
Bai Shan asked someone to bring out a bag of official salt for them to taste.
The yamen servant dug up a plate of official salt and put it in the middle of the table. The six people looked at the white plate of salt on the table together.
County Magistrate Sun rubbed it with his thumb and forefinger. The grains were very uniform. Judging by the size of the grains, they ranked in the upper middle. He asked, "Is this the salt produced by sun-dried salt?"
Bai Shan nodded and asked: "The busy farming is coming soon, it's time to work hard, don't you adults take this opportunity to buy some official salt?"
Several county magistrates looked at each other and asked, "Can your Beihai County supply so much salt? I remember that the output of your Beihai County was only enough for this county and Qiancheng County of Linzi County, right?"
Bai Shandao: "The salt field has expanded, although it is a little nervous, but if you want it, I can squeeze it out."
The other five county magistrates looked at him suspiciously, and asked after a moment of hesitation: "Is it all of this quality?"
Bai Shandao: "I can't guarantee that it will be the same, but I can guarantee that it is qualified, even if it is inferior salt, the quality is also higher than before."
The magistrate of Bochang pondered, "What is the price?"
Bai Shan smiled slightly and said, "The price is still the same as before."
Then someone looked at Qian Cheng's county magistrate and said, "This is not right. In the past, you had to burn fire and consume firewood to make salt, but now it is directly exposed to the sun."
Bai Shan said with a serious face: "Now there is no need to consume firewood, but the manpower consumption is also higher, and we have to reclaim salt fields and dig ditches, which consume a lot of materials and take up a lot of resources. land..."
"Two-one offset, in fact, the cost is about the same."
At that time, Governor Guo only took Lu County Magistrate to Beihai County. Although the county magistrates of other counties had heard that the salt field in Beihai County is now drying salt instead of boiling salt, they did not know how to operate it, so Bai Shan did this. They said that although they had doubts, they could not find any evidence.
Bai Shan reminded: "You buy salt from other places at the same price, and you have to transport it yourself. We are both from Qingzhou. The distance is short, so the cost is not lower?"
"No," said Shouguang County Magistrate Sun, "Shouguang bought salt from Qizhou, not only the road is shorter, but the official road is also easier."
Bai Shanlue thought about it, it is true that Beihai County is close to the sea, it is too far away, it seems to be quite far from Shouguang County.
With a troubled look on his face, Bai Shan gritted his teeth after being silent for a long time and said, "Okay, then I'll make it cheaper."
Everyone sat up straight together and asked him, "How much cheaper?"
Bai Shan said: "One fight, I'll give you two penny less."
County magistrate Sun leaned back, "Magistrate Bai, you are too stingy."
The other county magistrates also took a breather, and said in agreement: "That's right, that's right, it's only two pennies for a fight."
Bai Shandao: "Now the governor's office has not asked to lower the salt price, what I have less now is all earned by you."
"That's too little. It's a long way to go from Shouguang to Beihai County."
Bai Shandao: "A small amount makes a lot. Whose county government does not use carts to enter the official salt? How much is this?"
The other county magistrates insisted, "No, it's too little."
Bai Shan asked, "Then how much do you say?"
The five county magistrates looked at me and I looked at you. In the end, the magistrate of Bochang County, who had the thickest skin, said, "One fight costs ten money!"
Bai Shan: "...you robbed? That's not okay, I'll give you three coins at most."
County Magistrate Sun: "Ten Wen is not too much, County Magistrate Bai, think about it, you used to only provide official salt for two counties, but now you can provide six counties at once, which is how much more you earn. You eat meat, You have to give us soup too, don’t you?”
"You can't just watch me make money, you can't see me spending money," Bai Shan said, "I spent so much manpower and land resources to build the salt fields, so I can't go back to buy food? Will you be able to lose me in food? "
"Oh, grain is different from salt. Salt is official salt, but grain has to be bought from grain merchants."
"Yeah yeah."
"That's why my lords are also considerate and considerate of me. If you lose ten cents for a bucket, it's all the blood of the long-term workers in the saltworks."
"That's all, everyone take a step back, how about a fight and less money?"
Bai Shan: "Five words!"
Everyone spent a long time worrying about the two pennies, but in the end it was County Magistrate Sun and the others who took a step back. The main reason was that Bai Shan didn't behave like a son of a family at all when he bargained for the price. Isn't it just two pennies?