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Volume 1 519 The low price of grain hurts the farmers (Part 1)

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    519 Low grain value hurts farmers (Part 1)

    Shanghai County.

    The dense dark clouds over Beijing did not affect this small county thousands of miles away at all.  In the warm sunshine of winter, several streets are stacked horizontally and vertically. There are only a few pedestrians on the streets. In front of various shops, waiters soliciting customers lazily lean on the door lintel, with their hands folded in their sleeves, and from time to time they open their mouths and let out a long yawn.  .  Although it was slightly desolate, it looked peaceful.

    With the sound of creaking and creaking, an ox cart entered the county town, which surprised the clerks in the shops on both sides of the street.  But in front of the oxcart was a man sitting with a whip, and in the back was a woman with a three- to five-year-old baby in her arms.  On the fully loaded oxcart, the bags were piled high, and there were holes in them, revealing grains of rice.

    When they saw that they were selling rice, some people began to shake their heads, and some even said directly: "fellows, don't try your luck. The price of rice in this county is the same as that in the Bund. I can't bully you because you are from the country, but I'll give you a few cents less."  "

    Listening to the waiter¡¯s shouting, the man¡¯s face turned dark, and the woman behind the car looked even more worried.  Only the little baby in her arms held her fingers in her mouth, sniffing the fragrance wafting in the air, and shouted happily: "Sell rice, sell rice. Madam, buy delicious food for my daughter."

    The ox cart moved forward, and soon it arrived in front of a rice store.  After stopping the car and leaving the task of tying the animals to his mother-in-law, the man couldn't wait to rush to the counter to divine his fate.

    "Brown rice or millet? Brown rice costs one or two yuan per stone." The shopkeeper in the rice store said feebly, as if he was extremely unwilling to do this business.

    "What!" The man couldn't believe his ears.  The last good hope in my heart turned into nothing.

    "Didn't you sell three liang and one stone in June?"

    "I've sold it for four liang and eight yuan, not to mention three liang and one stone."

    "Where can there be such a sharp fall?"

    The shopkeeper shook his head silently: "They are all priced like this If you are not satisfied with the price, you can go to the Australian Bund, and you may get a few cents more."

    The man shook his head in frustration: "I just came from the Bund -" After a brief silence, there was anger.  There was no exit from the man's house, so the woman said angrily: "It's so cheap, it's better not to sell it, let's put it back home!"

    The shopkeeper still shook his head: "Whether you sell it or not, the price of this grain is the same. Even if you keep it until next spring, it will still be the same price. It is impossible to say that the new rice will become old rice, or it will be a few points less." Nunu mouth said,  Facing the Australian Bund: "Since you are coming from the Bund, have you ever seen the Australian sailing ship on the pier? The big sailing ship carries Luzon rice, which is transported by hundreds of thousands of stones and millions of stones. Every grain is plump.  It's crystal clear, so it only costs one or two six cents. You're very lucky to get this brown rice for one or two cents."

    The woman was stunned, then grabbed the man's clothes: "Why don't you sell it somewhere else?"

    "Women, please don't interfere." The man glared and said with a sullen expression: "It's the same on the Bund, and it's the same in the county. Even though the price of food in the city is a little higher, you have to go through two more checkpoints along the way. How can you live without two coins in your pocket?  ?¡±

    Hearing what the man said, a look of pleading appeared on the woman's face, and she turned to the shopkeeper: "If you do a good job, the shopkeeper will earn a few more points. Farmers are pitiful. If you do a good job, you will earn a few points less."

    The shopkeeper smiled bitterly: "You're a woman, you're a mess. I might as well tell you the truth. My boss has already told me that from now on, we will bring in rice from the Bund. We will bring in as much as we sell. We might as well not do the rice harvesting we won't make any money."  After getting a few big bucks, you still attract rats from the bottom of the warehouse. It's not cost-effective." After a pause, seeing the bitter look on the couple's faces, the shopkeeper asked: "But are you paying for food?" Seeing the couple nodding, the shopkeeper sighed.  : "It's not easyI showed mercy today."

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    I saw the shopkeeper pulling out the drawer from behind the counter, and then slapped a few Australian silver dollars on the counter: "You are selling rice here, so you should settle the bill with Australian silver dollars."

    The answer was completely opposite to what they expected, and the couple was immediately stunned.

    The shopkeeper took out his right hand and pointed at the couple: "Don't you know what's good and what's wrong? This Australian silver dollar is used to pay for food, but it doesn't cost money."

    The man¡¯s family was hesitant, while the baby in the woman¡¯s arms was making a fuss: ¡°Daddy sells grain to buy delicious food.¡±

    The little baby¡¯s shouts got louder and louder, and when the couple heard it, they became more and more irritable.  The woman couldn't bear it anymore, so she slapped the baby's butt several times with her hand: "You were born by a starving ghost, do you want to suck the flesh and blood of your parents?"

    After a few slaps, the girl burst into tears.  For a while, the children were crying and the adults were noisy, which was so sad.

    The man finally sighed, cupped his hands and said thanks: "I will just follow the shopkeeper's instructions let's unload the rice."??¡±

    The shopkeeper said hello, and several guys came over to carry the bags.  Then weigh the dendrobium one by one.  After the weighing was completed, the shopkeeper was making calculations, and then stuffed a stack of Australian silver dollars and a few copper rounds into the man's hand.  Before leaving, the shopkeeper looked pitifully, untied a paper bag, took out a piece of toffee wrapped in paper, peeled it open and stuffed it into the girl's mouth.

    In a moment, the sobbing girl turned from crying to laughing, and following her mother¡¯s words, she sweetly called out: ¡°Thank you, Uncle.¡±

    The oxcart suddenly emptied, leaving only a family of three and an empty cloth bag.  The old cow pulling the cart suddenly became brisk in his steps, leading a family of three towards the market.

    The man¡¯s family went to the county town to sell rice today. He originally had many plans.  His family originally had a few acres of thin farmland, and they had another twenty acres of paddy farmland leased. At the end of the year, the taxes paid to the government and the land rent paid to the owner's family were all being settled.  There was war in May and June, and there were floods that reduced production. He still owed a lot to his master's family.

    In June, rice cost three liang and one stone, and the owner¡¯s family lent grain.  Nowadays, the best Luzon rice costs only one or two or six dollars, but the owner smiled and asked for cash.  I borrowed two shi of grain at a five-cent interest rate, and now I have to pay back nearly ninety taels of silver!  Nine taels, according to the market price, you can buy Xiaoliu Shi worth of rice!

    Originally, I thought that the second half of the year would be smooth and we would have a rare bumper harvest.  All debts will be paid off, and the remaining money will be used to buy something.  That soap is easy to use. There are many Australian soaps, which cost ten or eight yuan.  I washed my clothes with soap and they were clean and still smelled good. I also bought several large packages of matches.  That thing is much easier to use than a fire sickle. Just rub it with a small stick and it will ignite a flame.  It's convenient and easy, and the price is not expensive; the cloth also needs to be stretched several feet. I heard that those colorful Australian floral cloths are thicker than homespun cloth, have fresher colors, and are actually a bit cheaper than homespun cloth.  The woman's family has been jealous for a long time, waiting to sell the rice today.  You have a budget for yourself and your baby; you have a budget for a woman, and she also has an Australian mirror as big as a palm.  In the past, the mirror always cost a few taels of silver, but now it is ridiculously cheap.  Some people say that if you go to an Australian shop on the Bund, you can buy a bag for one tael of silver. In addition, if you have extra money, you can buy a few taels of Australian frosting sugar and toffee.

    The young master of the host family is as big as his own baby. He always chews fragrant toffee in his mouth, which makes his baby drool for a long time.  If the price is right, weigh some.  You have money.

    ¡°It¡¯s rare that God will take care of us in the second half of the year, and the weather will be smooth, and even the little insects won¡¯t make trouble.  After being tight for a year, it¡¯s time to be a little more relaxed.  If the price of food gets better, I will bite the bullet and buy a thermos bottle.  Strangely enough, there was no fire in the thermos bottle. The boiling water was poured into it overnight. It was still hot when poured out the next morning.  Things made in Australia are really good.

    It¡¯s just that the gap between ideal and reality is too big.  Coming out of Mihang, the family was like gamblers coming out of a casino, losing again this time.  I'm afraid I won't even be able to save those few acres of thin farmland if I lose.

    On the way to the Bund Market, the woman made a careful calculation.  Government taxes are always paid. If you don't pay, you will be sent to prison. If you want to get out, you will have to lose everything.  The yamen door opens to the south. If you have no money, don't come in.  What's more, the imperial court's taxes are just and reasonable. If a poor family has no family background, how can they get exemptions?

    The land rent of the owner's house must also be paid, and the usury must also be paid.  Otherwise, if you drag it on any longer, the donkey will roll over and over again, and you will end up bankrupt in the end.  After much calculation, the money in my hand was far from enough!

    Before entering the market, the man said in a low voice: "I still have some leftover grain, why don't I sell it too?"

    "What will we eat if we sell it?" the woman screamed.

    "If you don't sell it, you won't be able to pay the usury." The man said silently.

    The woman¡¯s family immediately retorted: ¡°If the loan shark is repaid, we will starve to death.¡±

    There was silence on the oxcart, and the woman was holding her breath more and more as she thought about it. In the end, she just shed tears: "It was a good harvest year, how come we are even more at a loss than before?"

    After complaining for a long time, the woman came forward, grabbed the whip and shouted: "I won't go to the market anymore, go home! It's not enough to begin with, and it's even less enough after buying things."

    "It's bad luck!" The man pulled the woman's house aside with his arm: "There will always be bad years and good years. If it doesn't work out, I will sell this old scalper."

    "How will you plow the fields next year if you sell your cows?"

    The man sighed: "Don't you still have me?"

    The woman stopped talking and just shed tears.

    In silence, the bullock cart gradually approached the market.  Seven things to open the door, firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and tea. How can you survive on food alone?  The woman's clamoring to go home just now was just an angry statement.

    In a blink of an eye, the bullock cart was tied up.?The men walked in front with their hands behind their backs, and the women walked behind with their baskets and children in their hands.  My eyes only glance at the shops on both sides.  At the end of the year, the newly emerging Bund market is full of promotions and discounts.  The merchants used big copper trumpets and shouted at the top of their lungs.  The shopkeepers simply stood in the middle of the street to attract people and sell the samples in their hands.  Some people who saw the child in the woman's hand went straight forward and pushed small objects over to let the girl try them out.

    *
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