Since ancient times, food is the most important thing for the people. There is a star in The Book of Rites: "The vassal states don't kill cows, doctors don't kill sheep, scholars don't kill dogs, and officials don't eat treasures for no reason." In this case, let's study how humble raw pork was in ancient times and why it was worth the income in the middle year.

Although pigs and "horses, cows, sheep, dogs and chickens" are called six livestock, they seem to have the same influence, but they are actually divided into three, six and nine. Needless to say, in ancient times, even kings could not kill cattle at will, and horses also played an important role. The key was based on war and freight logistics. Therefore, everyone's daily meat products mainly come from sheep, pigs and chickens. That kind of raw pork was obviously humble in ancient times, but why was it enough to pay for a family's middle income in the Han Dynasty?

The theory of salt and iron in the Han Dynasty said: "The meat of a pheasant will be harvested by middle-aged and elderly people." The so-called "annual income" is learned from the History of Food in Hanshu: "One-third of it, and the rest is 300 stones." At that time, "fifteen loads of millet (one stone equals ten loads) is half a month's grain in Dingmen". In other words, if you only use grain crops to buy a pig, you need to pay an adult 100 month's grain to a man, but it is an indispensable delicacy in the recipes of the royal family and its bourgeoisie.

It is worth mentioning that according to the historical book Juyan Bamboo Slips, the price of pork has risen to 700 RMB per 100 Jin during the period from the third year of HarmonyOS system of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty to the sixth year of Liu Xiujianwu of Emperor Guang of Han Dynasty, which is actually a catty of pork and needs 14 yuan. No wonder a catty of gold was equivalent to 10,000 pence in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Even in the Western Han Dynasty, there was a nursery rhyme in folk customs: "There are three hospitals, two hospitals and five hospitals, but only pigs." It's about the queen of Liu Zhuang, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty. There are five brothers in her family, and their influence is extremely noble, but they all manage the great cause of reproduction.