Conflicts between the old and new families in Jianye intensified

Chapter 94: Conflicts between the old and new families in Jianye intensify

"Master Tang, I'm sorry for the wait. I ran into something before leaving, so I was delayed."

"Your Excellency, that's not true. You are busy, so it's okay for me to wait a little longer. It's okay."

Tang Youfu looked at Lord Hu, who was two hours late, and did not dare to show his inner emotions on his face.

"Master Tang, this is no small matter. The entire court is busy with this, and there's nothing we can do about it, right?"

"Your Excellency is right."

Hu Tu stroked his sparse beard and nodded. This Mr. Tang is a man of good taste.

"I wonder why you, sir, invited me to Juxian Tower today?"

Tang Youfu already had some guesses in his mind, and he just hoped that the answer he got would not be what he expected.

"Why, even if nothing happens, Mr. Hu can't invite Mr. Tang for tea?"

Hu Tu was rarely questioned so directly, and he felt unhappy. He thought he was really a country bumpkin who had never seen the world.

"No, no, it's my great honor that you invited me to have tea."

A trace of panic appeared on Tang Youfu's chubby cheeks. He took out an embroidered handkerchief from his bosom and wiped his temples.

Hu Tu held the teacup, lowered his eyes, and drank half a cup of tea slowly before continuing to speak.

"Hu heard that Mr. Tang has a farm that he is selling."

"Hmm? I, a commoner, didn't..."

Tang Youfu looked up and met Hu Tu's gaze. The other's gloomy eyes made him stop the rest of his words.

"Snap"

The sound of the teacup being put down was not loud, but it startled Tang Youfu so much that his double chin shrank sharply.

"I, I have a farm that I'm considering selling."

After swallowing his saliva, Tang Youfu continued speaking according to Hu Tu's words.

Seeing that he could finally speak, Hu Tu's eyes softened a little.

"I, Mr. Hu, would like to invite Mr. Tang to meet here again. I would like to discuss a matter with you. The market value of this farm is one thousand taels. I do not want to take advantage of it, so I am willing to buy it for one thousand five hundred taels. What do you think, Mr. Tang?"

Tang Youfu held the handkerchief in his hand, the fine mercerized silk wrinkled into a ball.

It turned out to be this case, and the situation was even worse than that of the Wang family next door.

His farm was worth 5,000 taels, and people were already vying for it. Yet, this Lord Hu actually wanted to buy it for 1,500 taels! How is this any different from open robbery?

Hu Tu's patience gradually wore off when he saw the man pursing his lips and not saying anything. He thought that the bumpkin just didn't know how to behave.

"Master Tang, the situation in Jianye has changed. You should think carefully about this."

After saying this, he stared at Tang Youfu's blessed body, examining him from head to toe.

The cold gaze swept over him, and the sweat he had sweated out in the warm room instantly turned cold and stuck to his back.

"Yes, my lord, you are kind-hearted. I am willing to sell the farm to you."

Hearing what he wanted to hear, Hu Tu smiled.

"Mr. Tang is a sincere man. If you have any difficulties in the future, please come to me and I will certainly welcome you."

"Thank you, sir. I am deeply grateful. I will send the land deed to your house tomorrow."

Tang Youfu suppressed his anger and stood up respectfully to salute.

"No need to be so polite. That's all for today. Mr. Hu has something else to do, so I'll go ahead. Mr. Tang, please feel free to do as you please."

"Take care, sir."

Tang Youfu sent Hu Tu to the door, then returned to the private room and slumped in a chair.

His family only had one farm, which was slowly accumulated by his grandfather. He had some talent for business and more than doubled the family property in twenty years.

The land of the manor has been in the hands of three generations. Although it is not as well-known as that of a wealthy family, it is still somewhat famous in Jianye.

Now that the farm has changed hands, he feels not only resentful but also helpless. He says that if he needs help in the future, he will only come to him to get his money.

Suddenly, the family property was reduced by more than half, and the braised pork elbow in my mouth for dinner no longer tasted good.

Mrs. Tang knew the result after he returned home. She could not say anything except to comfort him that he could earn more money and that it was not easy for the whole family to live together happily.

The situation in Jianye has indeed changed, it feels like a storm is coming and no one knows what to do.

-

"Master, Lord Jiang is here again!"

"What's going on? Didn't I sell him fifty acres of good farmland last time? Why is he here again?"

"Master, speak softly, speak softly..."

The master and servant were rushing to the gate, complaining non-stop.

The Lord Jiang mentioned by the housekeeper had already walked towards the front yard without being invited.

Ge Yue's eyes twitched when he saw this.

"Your humble servant greets Lord Jiang. Lord Jiang, please come in."

He wore a stiff fake smile and didn't even want to say a word of greeting.

"Master Ge is so polite. I really like Yingshi Huanxi from the Ge Mansion. I couldn't help but come to visit again."

Jiang Min's words made Ge Yue's heart sink to the bottom.

He was originally the sixth-rank Tongzhi of Jianye. Because the emperor moved the capital here, some officials were old and frail and died of illness on the way here. He took the vacancy of one of them and is now a fifth-rank Langzhong in the Ministry of Rites.

This Lord Jiang is none other than his current superior, the Minister of Rites.

The Jiang family's roots have always been in Fengjing. Now that the emperor and his family have moved to Jianye, they don't have anything but money and not even a piece of land.

As for the land in Fengjing, with the mighty power of King Zhenbei, the land deeds must have been invalidated and distributed to the people for cultivation.

Without land to supplement his income, the money in his hands would run out sooner or later. After the court was initially stabilized, Jiang Min began to rack his brains to buy fertile land everywhere.

He was not the only one who did this. At first, he was cautious and only bought from wealthy merchants, but after it was divided among everyone, the amount was still less than one-fifth of what he had previously owned.

As for ordinary people, they didn't have much land to begin with. Some unpretentious families had forced people to buy or sell their land, leaving them with money, and the land deeds had already been processed.

Jiang Min considered himself a gentleman and how could he compete with the people for profit, so he targeted local officials from the Ministry of Rites.

"Lord Jiang, your compliments are too much. My humble house is not worthy of your praise."

Ge Yue wanted to turn around and send this plague god out immediately.

Jiang Min strolled around the Ge Mansion slowly again. His previous praise came from the bottom of his heart. The pavilions, towers, rockery and streams in the Ge Mansion were very cleverly laid out.

It is indeed a step above the Jiang Mansion in Fengjing.

Jiang Min looked more like the owner of the house than Ge Yue, so he led his people back to the main hall in the front yard and took the main seat without any hesitation.

"I heard that one of the mountainous areas in the city belongs to your family, Lord Ge. I visited it yesterday and I think building a summer resort there would be very comfortable for summer living."

"Master Ge, what do you think?"

Faced with the insatiable Jiang Min, Ge Yue no longer wanted to compromise again and again.

"Master Jiang, you don't know that the mountain was originally the ancestral tomb of my family. It was just moved here when my grandfather was still alive. It is not suitable for building a summer resort."

Jiang Min put the teacup in her hand back on the coffee table.

"Dong..."

The bottom of the cup made a loud noise when it hit the coffee table.

"Master Ge disagrees with my proposal, but I'm doing this for your sake. Building a summer resort will make your career in officialdom smoother."

Ge Yue's face flushed red with embarrassment, and his nostrils expanded and contracted. This piece of mountain land was indeed his family's ancestral grave. It had been in the hands of the Ge family for more than a hundred years, and he had never encountered such a forced demand.

It's just a matter of making things difficult for him, so he just has to do it.

"Don't worry, Lord Jiang. The Ge family will not build this summer resort."

Jiang Min's face turned pale when he heard this.

"In that case, Jiang is being rude."

He stood up, straightened his clothes, and walked out. He stopped at the door and turned around.

"Master Ge, Jiang is at your service at any time."

He stepped over the gate and left with two followers who were guarding outside the door.

The butler came in at this time, holding a cup of lukewarm tea.

"Master, please have some tea to calm down."

His master's face was as red as the bottom of a boiling pot.

Ge Yue reached out to take the teacup, drank the tea in one breath, and slammed the empty cup hard on the coffee table.

"Bang!"

"How can this be possible!"

Seeing this, the butler quickly took his master's hand off the teacup. His palm was already red from being knocked by the edge of the bowl, so he rubbed it for a long time.

He has watched his master grow up since he was a child, and he has never seen him so angry. This Lord Jiang is so shameless.

-

Similar things happened in Jianye every moment. The tense mood became more and more intense, and many sparks were flying in the morning court every day.

The Third Prince had been attending court daily recently, so he naturally noticed something was amiss with the courtiers. It was time to intervene, as the resources of the old and new families in Jianye were now nearly balanced.

Almost all the hidden fields behind them have been registered openly. Given the current situation of the aristocratic families, there is no need to worry about them colluding and uniting to fight against the imperial power in the next fifty years.

The next day, the third prince issued an edict that land transactions should be voluntary and forced buying and selling were not allowed. He then designated a large piece of wasteland and allowed those who needed land to reclaim it themselves. There was no time limit, and the common people were also welcome to go there.

It was very difficult to reclaim that piece of wasteland. There were many large and small stones in the ground, and they were also buried deep. In fact, the location was not bad. There was a small river passing by, which was conducive to irrigation.

After so many days of commotion, the local noble families naturally felt resentful when they saw that the Third Prince had gotten away with it.

The noble families who moved from Fengjing were also unhappy. They gave up all their resources in Fengjing and came all the way to Jianye, just to buy some land, which was less than one-third of the previous amount, but they began to be restricted.

This makes it difficult for them to ensure the quality of life of their entire family in the future.

That piece of wasteland naturally fell into the hands of the aristocratic families. As for the common people? The peasants were only fit to farm for them, not to own the land themselves.

If the peasants all owned their own land, who would work on their farms?

The people of Jianye were caught between the two, and soon a large number of people lost their land and houses.

At this time, news came that the King of Zhenbei distributed land and grain to the people. The people could no longer contain their longing, so they packed up their bags and ran together along the small roads over the mountains and ridges to the nearest Sizhou.

Chu Huaibei treated the people as the more the better. He distributed land to all those who came and established new household registrations.

It was worth her effort in publicity. She almost built a loudspeaker and placed it on the other side of the river and sent people to make announcements every day.

Sun Mingsi also made a great contribution here. When Chu Huaibei was making various agricultural tools, he asked Jin Yi to stay in the south to promote the advantages of the new agricultural tools, the northern border, and the King of Zhenbei all the time.

After hearing so much about it, and considering that people already had a heroic image of the King of Zhenbei, even though the King of Zhenbei was declared a rebel by the imperial court, the people still had a good impression of her.

As more and more people entered Sizhou, Chu Huaibei arranged for them to migrate to less populated areas. One reason was to get more land, and the other was to disperse the crowd for easier management.