It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

When it comes to paying taxes, we have to mention the tax system of this dynasty.

The laws of this dynasty stipulated that men aged 18 and above were considered Ding men, and each Ding man had to pay two shi of grain to the court every year.

In addition to grain, if you choose to pay two zhang of silk and three liang of cotton, of course the amount of cloth to be paid is not fixed and needs to be adapted to local conditions.

For example, in Qishui County where Song Zhi was located, as long as they mainly grew hemp, they could pay 25 feet of linen cloth and 3 pounds of hemp.

The family had good quality hemp yarn, but because they had no loom and were always busy with various businesses, they had never had the time to go to the village to weave cloth.

Seeing that her son had already prepared the tax grain, Wu said, "I'll take the spun hemp thread from home and go to the village to exchange it for some woven linen. Prepare these first, and then you won't have to rush when you leave!"

Song Youshan nodded and asked, "The harvest is good this year. I've calculated that after paying the Wang family's rent and taxes, we'll still have 1,500 kilograms of wheat left. This is definitely enough for our family to eat for a year."

"Mom, do you think we should take some to the county town to sell?"

Without waiting for Wu to speak, Song Zhi said, "Uncle, we won't sell it."

"As the saying goes, if you have food at home, you won't be worried. We don't need the money from selling food right now. Besides, the border is unstable right now. We never know when another war will break out."

"I'm thinking that not only can we not sell the grain at home, but if the price of grain is low, I would like to buy some and store it at home, so that I can use it for cooking later."

Since they were going to make food, there was nothing to object to. The whole family was easily persuaded by Song Zhi.

At this time, Yang came out of the kitchen carrying a clay pot, "Mom, the corn porridge is ready, it's time for dinner."

So everyone stopped talking and hurriedly stood up to serve the dishes and get the bowls and chopsticks.

After working continuously for more than half a month, everyone was very tired. After dinner, the whole family went to bed early.

After a good night's sleep, Song Zhi waited until the next morning, picking up some cakes and preparing to go out as usual.

Seeing her granddaughter about to leave, Mrs. Wu subconsciously reminded her, "Azhi, your mugwort has been sitting on the shelf for a long time. Now that we're done with our family, do you want to take the mugwort soap to the county magistrate?"

Song Zhi slapped her thigh and said, "Look at me, I completely forgot about this!"

"Then I'll send it over today. The empty space is just enough to make one more batch."

After saying that, she went straight back to the house to get the backpack. In order to prevent it from being damaged, Song Zhi put some old clothes under the backpack.

After packing up her things, Song Zhi said something to her grandmother and was about to take her things into the city.

Seeing her granddaughter carrying so many things, Mrs. Wu hurriedly called her back and said, "Wait a minute. I'll ask your eldest brother to go to the county town with you."

"Brother, I have to go to the village to help the needy with their crops soon. These things may seem like a lot, but they're actually not heavy. I can do it all by myself!"

After saying that, without waiting for her grandmother to say anything else, she carried her things and walked out the door.

Now the summer harvest is nearing its end, and unlike in the past, there are few vehicles and pedestrians on the official road.

Along the way, Song Zhi saw many people, some carrying loads on their shoulders, some pushing carts, walking in groups of three or five, carrying food towards the county town.

Everyone was talking and laughing, full of energy.

From their faces, Song Zhi saw the joy that only comes after a good harvest.

The aunties who were sitting on ox carts carrying baskets of linen to sell in the city also chatted with each other. "Hey, have you heard? The price of grain collected in the shops this year is even higher than last year!"

"Really? How much more per pound? I thought the price of grain would go down with the good harvest this year!"

"How could this be false? They don't have to pay taxes. I've been going to the county town every day these days to sell linen, and I've heard it myself. How could it be false? A pound of wheat is now a penny higher than last year!"

"But you have to go to the Qianji Grain Shop in the city to sell them. When I was in the city a few days ago, I only heard that only the newly opened Qianji Grain Shop charged high prices."

"Other grain stores don't have such high purchase prices. As for what's going on today and whether other grain stores have followed suit and raised their prices, we'll have to ask them first."

This was of course a top priority for the women, and everyone nodded in agreement.

Song Zhiyue seemed to be lost in thought.

The aunt just now said that the purchase price of grain this year will be higher than in previous years, and her heart skipped a beat.

This is obviously contrary to common sense. This summer is a good year and it can be considered a bumper year.

It is somewhat unreasonable that the price of grain rises instead of falls in places where there is plenty of grain.

Unless there is a war outside, it is necessary to purchase a large amount of food.

But the aunt said again that it was the newly opened Qianji that did it?

Could it be that they are competing to seize market share?

This also makes sense.

How can a newly opened shop attract people to sell grain to it? The simplest and most brutal way is to raise the price.

Song Zhi felt a little relieved and temporarily suppressed the uneasiness in her heart.

With the help of an ox cart, Song Zhi quickly arrived at the county town.

Today's entrance to the city is also occupied by a long line of grain transport teams.

Song Zhi waited patiently outside the city for about half a cup of tea before she was able to enter the city with the slowly moving team.

Looking around the city streets, they were all filled with people transporting food.

Song Zhi squeezed in and out of the grain transport team, and it took her a quarter of an hour longer than usual to reach Wei Yue Fang.

After delivering the cakes, Song Zhi deliberately asked Shopkeeper Zhou, "Shopkeeper, Mr. Zhou ordered some mugwort soap from me last time. It's ready now, and I want to send it to you today."

"But I see many people coming into the city to pay taxes today. I wonder if you are at the county office right now."

When Shopkeeper Zhou heard that it was something ordered by his young master, he immediately showed great importance to it.

He is just the owner of a pastry shop, how could he know the whereabouts of the young master?

So he suggested: "I really don't know whether the young master is in the county government office right now. How about this, Miss Song waits here for a while. Liangtian will come here to get cakes later. Then we can ask him and know."

Song Zhi quickly agreed, "Then I'll bother you, Shopkeeper Zhou!"

It would be best if Zhou Yu's servant could help pass on the message.

Shopkeeper Zhou asked Song Zhi to wait in the reception room for a while, and then personally brought tea and pastries, politely asked her to drink tea first, and then left.

About half a cup of tea later, Liangtian came over.

When Liangtian heard Manager Zhou say that Song Zhi brought the mugwort soap that the young master had ordered, he hurried into the reception room to see Song Zhi.

"I heard that Miss Song has made all the mugwort soap that my master ordered earlier?"

Song Zhi nodded. "I noticed many people were coming into the city to pay taxes today. I'm worried that you're busy and don't have time to inquire about this matter. I'd like to ask Brother Liangtian to help inform you first."

Liangtian knew that this mugwort soap was related to the future of the state-owned shop, and the young master attached great importance to it.

Liang Tian did not dare to neglect it and said hurriedly: "Okay, okay, then please come back to the county government office with me, Madam Song!"

In this way, Song Zhi once again carried the backpack and followed Liangtian to the county government office.