high official

Chapter 102 Crisis
"Don't even think about it!" Hearing Wang Xian's meaning, the magistrate of Wei jumped into a rage and said, "The common people's land can't be sold cheaply, and neither can these lands!" He pulled Wang Xian's arm excitedly, and pointed at the bare-chested peasant husbands who were sweating profusely. He said: "Do you know how much effort it takes to level such a field? Every inch of the terraced field is soaked with their blood and sweat, but you are going to sell it cheap! How much benefit did you take from those big families?!"

"If you don't sell these fields, there will be no food to go into the warehouse." Wang Xian said unmoved: "If after ten days, the relief food runs out, the people have no food to eat, and the big households lower the price of the land, then the government will block it." Don't stop it?"

"Of course we must stop it!" Wei Zhixian said in a deep voice, "Otherwise, there is no law of heaven and country!"

"Teacher, there is no reason to set up a pot to cook rice, but to set up a pot to cook rice." Wang Xian sighed and said, "We have no food, so how can we stop the people from selling the land? Can't we let them starve to death?"

"..." Wei Zhixian fell silent, but his face was still frosty.

"Besides, it's not really for them." Wang Xian whispered again: "It's just for them to pass by. When our food arrives, we can take the fields back."

"This is no child's play!" Wei Zhixian said displeased: "As a teacher and a county parent official, how can you use fraudulent means?"

"It's not a fraud." Wang Xian said, "It's just a matter of paying attention to the design of the contract."

"Is there any reason to spit out the fat in your mouth?" Wei Zhixian frowned.

"Because they don't have to retreat," Wang Xian said indifferently: "Weigh the lesser of two evils, they can only obediently retreat..."

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After returning, Wang Xian called for Shuaihui and Erhei, and gave them such and such instructions.

He actually asked them to spread the news again... For Shuaihui and Erhei, this is not the first time. Familiarity with the road and the famine are the best breeding grounds for rumors.The next day, rumors started to spread in the county, saying that big households joined forces to monopolize the grain in Fuyang County, trying to artificially create a shortage of grain so that they could buy people's land at a very low price!
The people of Fuyang are naturally very angry. For those who have property, that bit of land is the lifeblood, but some people want to use despicable means to plunder at a low price.It is naturally unacceptable until the end of the mountain.Those who have no products are even more angry, because those who have products can still sell their land for food, so what should they do if they have nothing to sell and starve to death?

Discussions arose in the streets and alleys, and the squires stomped their feet angrily, saying that this was maliciously spreading rumors!And asked the government to track down who made the rumor.He also swore to the sky that he would never take the initiative to buy a piece of land from the folks!

The people in Fuyang just breathed a sigh of relief, and someone came forward and said that this oath is not a burden on the big households at all, because after the famine really broke out, the common people came to the door with the land deeds and begged the big households to buy land, and no one would do it. Do the kind of worthless things that force people to sell their land.

The common people are skeptical and say anything.The rumors finally reached the ears of Weizhi County, and it turned out that on the horoscope wall outside the yamen, there was a notice that due to the busy disaster relief work, the household house was suspended from the private land transfer!

Seeing that the government wanted to block the land transaction from the formalities, the gentry sneered, but this still did not affect them.In fact, there are a large number of non-governmental land property transactions. Because the government charges too much, they will not go to the house to transfer the title, but just reach an agreement in private.Although this will often cause disputes, the big players will not be the ones who suffer.

However, the gentry's thoughts of watching the show with cold eyes disappeared in a blink of an eye, because another notice was quickly posted on the wall of the county government - the Fuyang government decided to sell the [-] mu of terraced fields reclaimed in the county!

The reason why the big households pay special attention is that they have been coveting those terraced fields for a long time, and the second is that the number of terraced fields is wrong.As far as they know, only less than [-] mu have been developed so far. Where did the [-] mu come from?

So they asked Wu Wei, the housekeeper, for confirmation, and learned that the sale was true, and it was true that they wanted to sell [-] mu.It's just that there are two types of this ten thousand mu, one is completed, and the other is unfinished or even unstarted.

Wu Wei brought the blueprints from the studio to show them, and sure enough, there was a large area under planning, with the completion time written in small letters on it as 'mid-March', 'below March', 'upper April', 'mid-April' , 'Under April' and the like...

"Can the terraced fields be sold before they are opened?" This is the first time the country gentry heard about it.

"This is called pre-sale." Wu Wei explained: "It means that the government will pre-sell the terraced fields under construction to future buyers at the current price. The future buyers must pay a deposit as the price."

"Why do we buy unfinished fields?" asked the squires.

"Because it won't be the price at that time." Wu Wei said lightly: "Everyone should know that this county has already gone to Huguang to buy grain, and it's time to return."

"How did you hear that Mr. Sima's grain boat was detained at Hushu Pass?"

"Where did you hear that?" Wu Weixin said that you guys are really well informed.He couldn't help but speculate with the greatest malice, is the big family in Fuyang playing tricks in the dark?
"It's just a rumor, it's nothing to be seen." Li Xun, the son of Mr. Li, the uncle of Li Yu and Li Xiucai, said: "Could it be true?"

"That's true," Wu Wei had no choice but to tell the truth under questioning, "My lord has already rushed to Suzhou to deal with this matter."

"I hope everything goes well." All the squires wished on the surface, but secretly smiled in their hearts. Then Wang Er really overestimated his abilities, relying on Weizhi County to call the wind and rain in Fuyang County, so he thought he was someone?I also went to Suzhou to deal with it... It really made people laugh out loud.

Even if Wei Zhixian went to Suzhou, no one would treat him as a dish, let alone a small official in green shirt.It's just self-defeating...

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After leaving the yamen, the gentry gathered in Li Xun's villa to discuss the matter while having a drink.

"It seems that the news is absolutely true, the government is really short of food!" Wang Yuanwai, the head of the Wang family, said excitedly: "That guy Du Ziteng is still stubborn!"

"Yeah, otherwise why would you be in such a hurry to sell the land!" Yu Xiucai's father laughed outside the staff: "Even selling the unfinished land, it shows how short of money is!"

"Okay, let's stop gloating." Li Xun and Li Yuanwai took a sip of his wine and said, "Let's get down to business, what should we do?"

"Hmm..." Everyone nodded, Yu Yuanwai said: "We have to look at the grain they bought first, how long it will take to deliver it."

"It can't be shipped." Li Yuanwai said decisively: "It was detained by the transshipment envoy of the two Zhejiang provinces. It is not easy for the Zhejiang Fantai to plead for mercy."

"Why?" Many people still don't know.

"The salt department seized it, what else could be the reason, it's smuggling salt." Li Yuanwai said lightly.

"So that's how it is..." Everyone believed Li Yuanwai's judgment. It was absolutely impossible for a little Wang Xian to solve the problem.

"The idiots Zhou Papi and Lu Dayan believed Wang Er's words and took out all their belongings to buy grain in Huguang. Now they will go bankrupt." Yu Yuanwai said gloatingly.

"It deserves it." Wang Yuanwai snorted and said, "A group of lowly businessmen are trying to get into the government to be equal to us, they deserve it!"

"Gloating again..." Li Yuanwai smiled wryly, "Although I am also very happy, let's get down to business, shall we?"

Everyone was amused and laughed, how could anyone take the life-saving food for the people of Fuyang seriously.

"Tell me, should we buy these official lands?" Li Yuanwai asked.

When it came time to get down to business, everyone stopped laughing, thinking quickly in their minds, Wang Yuanwai said: "It is cheaper to buy civilian land."

"But now the old man has made it clear that we won't let us buy Mintian." Yu Xiucai's father was relatively timid, "If we insist on buying it, there is no guarantee that he won't get mad."

The squires took it for granted when they heard the words. They were still worried about what happened last winter, and they didn't want to annoy Wei Zhixian again.

"What are you afraid of? You can buy and sell privately without going through the government." Wang Yuanwai said nonchalantly, "The county can't keep the transfer of ownership, can it? It will be fine to make up for it after a year or so."

"I'm afraid there will be disputes at that time." The gentry knew very well that the famine in Zhejiang must be temporary, and it would have passed in half a year at most.When the time comes, the land will return to its original price, and those landowners who sold it at a discount of [-]% will definitely regret it.The magistrate of Wei County is also famous for saying that "it is better to treat the rich than to be considerate of the common people". When the time comes, unruly people will make trouble, and I really don't know what the result will be...

Although they said they didn't care, everyone was beating their hearts, and finally someone whispered: "It's okay to buy some completed official land, it's a face for the old man."

"You didn't wear your ears just now? Fatty Wu clearly said that if you buy one acre of built-up, you must buy five acres of unbuilt ones at the same time." Wang Yuan rolled his eyes and said: "If you only buy the built-up, what else is there?" So hesitant?"

"That's what you said." Yu Yuanwai said: "Actually, it's all right. Eight thousand acres of terraced fields will be completed in at most three months."

"En." All the members nodded one after another. After all, the eight thousand acres of terraced fields are not without shadows.Nearly [-] civilian husbands, under the leadership of the old master, are constantly reclaiming wasteland and land.Those peasants can't stop. Once they stop, they will starve and cause trouble, so basically there will be no change in the eight thousand acres of terraced fields.

"But this kind of unfinished field cannot be priced the same as the completed one." Wang Yuanwai said.

"Of course, it should be at least half the price!" All the squires gradually agreed: "After all, there are still some, and we are taking the risk."

So the gentry agreed to send Yang Yuanwai and Wang Yuanwai as representatives to negotiate the price with the government. Before that, no one was allowed to buy land without permission.After the price has been negotiated, and the money is pooled to buy the fields back, then internal decisions are made on how to allocate them.

The next day, the two members approached Wu Wei to discuss buying the land. Wu Wei said that according to the market price, 20 taels of silver per mu of land, the old man meant that money cannot be exchanged for rice now, so they don’t charge money, only food.

"How much grain per mu?"

"Right now, the price of grain in the county is two taels of silver and one shi, which is supposed to be ten shi of grain, but I know that you will definitely not do it, so the old man said, [-]% off, eight shi of grain per mu of land." Wu Wei said slowly.

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　This is from last night...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)