Chapter 691 Buying a Property

Chapter 691 Buying a Property

Chapter 691 Buying a Property
"December 30th over there is the fifteenth day of the first lunar month here." In the suburbs of Bianliang, another Buddhist temple was rising from the ground, and the construction progress was faster than that of the Liang Palace. At this moment, two people were chatting there.

This is the second Buddhist temple in Bianliang, one in the south and one in the north, facing each other from afar.

The manpower needed to build the temple was the able-bodied men and women of the Chenliu refugees.

The land needed to build the temple was donated by wealthy families.

The money and food needed to build the temple were also raised by believers.

The speed at which Buddhism develops is truly astonishing.

As the two were talking, a Buddha statue was being carried into the temple.

The Buddha statue is 16 feet tall and golden in color. He wears a sun and moon pendant around his neck, which means that he can change in any direction and penetrate into everything, so he can transform all things and save all living beings.

Some believers followed beside, burning incense and walking - since the Han Dynasty, lighting lamps, burning incense and scattering flowers have been the conventional means of worshiping Buddha.

"The monks and alchemists do have some skills." Feng Pi sighed, "I heard that there is an alchemist named 'Fotucheng' who has many followers in Yecheng. A rich family planted more than ten acres of flowers and sent people to deliver flowers to the Buddha every day as an offering."

"Most of them are just shameless." Cao Yi snorted coldly and said, "Fotucheng pretends to be a god to attract fools. We disdain to do such tricks."

Tianshi Dao also has some tricks to attract believers, but they are not as diverse, subtle, and down-to-earth as Buddhism.

In addition, the Tianshi Dao had been severely suppressed recently, and believers in Qingzhou had repeatedly revolted, resulting in heavy casualties, which made them disliked by the government, so they could not compete with them.

Putting aside other things, the Tianshi Dao teaches people to rebel, while the Shaman appeases people's hearts. Which one do you think the superiors like?
"Mr. Cao is right." Feng Pi said with a wry smile.

The two of them looked around for a while and then entered the city.

Of course, it is not quite correct to say that one entered the city, because Bianliang did not have city gates or city walls, so there was no such thing as "entering the city", but the various neighborhoods in the urban area had already been divided into different parts.

The two men brought their entourage with them and did not take a carriage. They entered from the Golden Light Gate on the north side, slightly west of the center, and walked slowly along the north-south street.

On the right side of the street there is a huge half-built building: Cangcheng.

As they passed by, the two couldn't help but stop.

A lot of people gathered in Cangcheng, most of them were the elderly, the weak, women and children among the refugees from Jizhou.

The main force in building Liang Palace and Bianliang City was refugees and captives. Last July, due to the locust plague, the construction of Bianliang was suspended, and many refugees were resettled. The captives were also reorganized into a group and sent to Shanfu County, Jiyin County, to be settled as a garrison army.

But there are still many who stay. If nothing unexpected happens, the construction of Bianliang City and Liang Palace will continue this year. After all, with so many refugees, it is suitable to use work instead of relief. I just don't know where the money and grain for relief will come from.

"Lord Cao, I heard that Lord Liang intends to appoint you as a military officer. I wonder..." After looking at Cangcheng for a while, Feng Pi suddenly asked.

"It is true." Cao Yi did not hide it and admitted it openly: "There is nothing else to do. I will just take the post of officer. What else can I do?"

The post of the military officer was under the charge of the military officer general Yu Liang. If nothing unexpected happened, Cao Yi's main job would be to assist Yu Liang in building Bianliang. This was a job he liked. He had been deeply involved in the construction of Guanggu City and had a lot of experience, so he could provide many suggestions.

Furthermore, as a surrendered person, Shao Xun gave him an official position because he respected him. It is not appropriate to refuse a surrendered person, because it will make the superior think that you are resentful.

Compared to Wang Jun, he was much luckier. The latter lost all his family property, his three daughters died unexpectedly, and his teenage son was missing, while he, Cao Jun, had all his family members and an official position, so he should cherish them.

After passing Cangcheng, the two walked south while looking around.

The right side of the road is basically the territory of Liang Palace.

The Liang Palace is located in the northwest of Bianliang, covering the sand sea. It has swamps, lakes, forests, grasslands, gardens and palaces. Duke Liang would enjoy it.

However, the current palace is no different from a wilderness, and it may need to be built over many years to alleviate the pressure of money and food as much as possible - of course, if you conscript hundreds of thousands or even millions of people for free at one time, it can be built quickly.

After passing the Liang Palace, there is a shallow ditch in front, called "Daliang Canal".

This canal connects to the Shahai in the west and the Bian River in the east, making it convenient for grain ships to enter Bianliang directly to transport supplies and personnel.

In addition, the Daliang Canal can also inject water into the sand sea to maintain its water body, or serve as a river channel for the accumulated water in Bianliang to drain out, so it is also called the "Xiecheng Canal".

At this time, the Daliang Canal had not been actually dug, it was just a trench with a simple wooden bridge on it for pedestrians and vehicles to pass through.

After passing Daliangqu, the front is the Lifang residential area similar to Yecheng.

The group went straight to Shangshanfang.

The wall has been built, with gates on all four sides, enclosing this residential area.

Cao Yi's house was given by Lord Liang himself. It was located to the west of the house of Su Shuyan, the Chief Protector of the Barbarians. The two families were neighbors.

There were several soldiers on duty outside the gate. They were troops under the direct command of Weiwei Chen Jing - in fact, the entire internal security of Bianliang was under the charge of Weiwei.

Before entering the door, Cao Yi turned around and looked at Jishanfang opposite (west).

This block does not have a wall yet, but several houses have been built, which are very grand.

It is not easy to build a house in Bianliang.

Prime Minister Yu Chen issued the "Order to Allow Building Houses" in the first year of the Shengui reign. However, to actually buy land and build houses, officials had to be sent to inspect and approve, and finally a permit document had to be issued. It was not something that could be built casually.

The most imposing house in Jishanfang belongs to Liu Shanzhi, a supervisor under the General's Mansion.

As for Mr. Liang's uncle, it is understandable. He was granted a large piece of land, and then he recruited refugees and built it roughly in one year. At this time, his family had moved here from Xuchang.

Because there was no wall to block his view, Cao Qi could see clearly.

The several courtyards facing south occupy almost one-fifth of Jishanfang. In front of the gate there are stone lions and lanterns hanging. Servants in brand new clothes holding knives and sticks are looking at the dark inner courtyard with boredom.

For some reason, the word "upstart" suddenly popped up in Cao Yi's mind.

Grand mansions and servants in fancy clothes were common scenes in Luoyang, but now Bianliang is also slowly taking shape.

Cao Yi turned around, smiled at Feng Pi and said, "Let's not look at it anymore. Let's go to my house and sit for a while." Feng Pi agreed with a smile.

He did not live in the city of Bianliang, but bought a house outside the city. Every day he rode a donkey to the Longxiang General's headquarters, which was temporarily located in a manor in the countryside of Junyi County, to work.

After walking a few steps, the group arrived at Cao's mansion.

Cao Yi entered the door first, and ordered the servants to boil water and make tea, and prepare candied fruits and pastries, and then he pulled Feng Pi into the study.

After they sat down opposite each other, Cao Yi asked directly, "How is the matter you inquired about earlier?"

Feng Pi sorted out his thoughts and said, "It's very troublesome."

"How can we solve this problem?" Cao Yi asked anxiously, "It is not a solution to live on nothing."

When Cao Qi surrendered, Lord Liang promised that he would not take any property or women, so he came to Bianliang with a large amount of money. He tried to sell all the rough items that were inconvenient to take away, the Guanggu mansion and estate, and even the stored grain.

Cao Yi is rich now, extremely rich, but he has a strong sense of crisis. He knows that without income there will only be expenditure, and this family will not be able to survive sooner or later.

Therefore, he needed to buy land near Bianliang to build a manor and recruit refugees to farm to provide him with a steady supply of food.

"I have been asking around for a long time..." Feng Pi groaned for a moment and said, "The old lands of the noble families before the establishment of Liang State will be cleared up slowly. The practice of the Land Department is to temporarily ignore the lands before Yongjia, and to see if the lands occupied after Yongjia are in compliance with the rules. If they are not in compliance with the rules, they must be handed over."

"What kind of compliance law is this?" Cao Wei asked.

"If Lord Cao is to appoint him as a military officer, this is a sixth-rank official. According to regulations, he can only occupy 25 hectares of land." Feng Pi said.

"According to the system? According to which system? The Jin system or the Liang system?"

"It is both the Jin system and the Liang system," Feng Pi said.

After saying that, he briefly explained the land occupation system of the Jin Dynasty - a system that encountered huge resistance when it was first introduced and was not seriously implemented.

According to this system, a first-rank official was allowed to own a maximum of 50 hectares of land, and the amount was reduced by 5 hectares for each lower rank.

Cao Yi was a sixth-rank official and could only own 25 hectares of land.

In terms of exemption from taxes and labor service, Cao Yi could protect three households from paying taxes and serving in the military service, but households exceeding three would not have this privilege.

Theoretically, the system of the Jin Dynasty still imposed certain restrictions on aristocratic families. But why, after fifty years of development, did the aristocratic and powerful families have vast territories and numerous retainers?

Putting aside other things, people like Shi Chong became rich during the reign of Emperor Wu.

Who was Emperor Wu? He was the de facto founding monarch. But how much land did Shi Chong have? I'm afraid no one can tell.

During the reign of Emperor Hui, Shi Chong openly killed merchants and annexed land. He may have owned thousands or even tens of thousands of hectares of prime farmland. His Jingu Garden was extremely luxurious, and he became famous for competing with others in wealth.

Where did the extravagance of the imperial aristocracy come from? It was because these aristocrats, like Shi Chong, possessed a large amount of land, population, military force, and wealth.

After listening to Feng Pi's explanation, Cao Yi thought about it and said with some displeasure, "In other words, the lands previously occupied will no longer be taken care of. From now on, the fifteen counties of Liang will follow the system of the Jin Dynasty?"

Feng Pi nodded, then shook his head and said, "Actually, it depends on the situation. But in your situation, Cao Gong, you should only be able to occupy 25 hectares of land."

"Where are Shao Xun's officials?" Cao Yi asked.

"The warriors under Lord Liang's command have only been around for a short time, and most of them have not yet reached the limit of land they can occupy." Feng Pi said, "Under Lord Liang's watch, they probably won't have the chance to occupy much land."

This is the problem of wealth accumulation.

Most of the warriors started from scratch, and were originally very poor, not to mention money, they didn't even have servants. They rose to power too quickly, and they didn't know how to run a business, so they didn't actually have any money or land.

For example, General Jin Zheng of the Right Army could theoretically own 35 hectares of land, but his family only owned 13 or 14 hectares of land in Xiangcheng, Jiaxian and Kunyang, which were managed by the relatives of his wife Li.

In Liang County, there was a vegetable patch of more than 60 mu. Several disabled soldiers were hired as gardeners, and all the proceeds from the sales belonged to them.

I have three hectares of land in Xuchang.

One hectare accounts for one hundred acres, totaling 1,700 to 1,800 acres of land. This is Jin Zheng’s main property.

He is definitely qualified as a rich man, but he is not really a wealthy family.

His wife, Li, was born in a poor family. There were limited talents in her family and she could not provide much help. Jin Zheng's own family was even worse. And managing a manor requires professional talents, which is the biggest shortcoming of the new warriors.

Buying land requires money, and if you start from scratch, the development speed will be too slow. Only because Jin Zheng often made meritorious deeds and received many rewards, and after going to war, as a senior officer, he could also get a lot of spoils of war. Otherwise, he would not have the current scale of nearly 20 hectares of land. After all, Liang County, Xiangcheng, and Xuchang are all orderly places, and it is impossible for you to rob by trickery.

"Mr. Liang is too stingy." Cao Yi sighed, "There are so many wastelands in the world, but there are only 25 hectares. I think 250 hectares would not affect the livelihood of the people."

"Twenty-five hectares of land is actually enough." Feng Pi said with a wry smile, "Recruiting fifty refugees as farmhands is enough to maintain Cao Gong's dignity."

"Decent?" Cao Yi shook his head.

There is no standard for decency.

If it is the dignity of a noble family, it cannot be supported by just 25 hectares of land.

For example, if his house was not given by Lord Liang, how many years would it take to afford it with the income from the 25 hectares of land? No, the houses in Shangshan and Jishanfang are unlikely to be circulated on the market.

"If Lord Cao wants to buy a property, he should go to the fifteen counties outside Liang State and find a way." Feng Pi said, "It doesn't matter there."

Feng Pi knew very well that the reason for not caring about anything other than Liang State was to avoid provoking too much conflict.

"That's the only way." Cao Yi sighed and said, "We have to find a place close to the river so that the grain and cloth from the manor can be transported to Bianliang by water."

"This is the correct principle." Feng Pi responded.

(End of this chapter)