Ye Panjiu smiled and lifted the curtain. "Go ahead, I'm listening."
She wanted to hear how the capital city Su Yan described differed from that of Prince Shengping.
The carriage moved forward smoothly.
After leaving the capital region, we gradually began to see ordinary people.
"Most of the people in the suburbs of Beijing are relatives of officials in the capital. These fields are usually bestowed upon ministers and then cultivated by tenant farmers. In the end, the master takes 60% of the harvest, so the tenant farmers have a hard life."
It was the time for transplanting and watering rice seedlings, and the tender green rice seedlings shimmered in the sunlight in the paddy fields.
Many farmers took off their shoes, waded into the water, and bent over to work.
"People who always have to work hard to make a living have it tough; 60% is too many," Ye Panjiu sighed.
Making money from land simply involves renting out the land, and the income is more than that of tenant farmers.
Su Yan replied, "The land rent in the suburbs of Beijing is the highest. In other places, 50% is already considered high, and 40% is more common."
Ye Panjiu didn't ask why; there was no need to ask.
It is not illegal for officials in Beijing to take 60% of the profits.
Even tenant farmers living near the capital had to be careful, because offending a single official in the capital could lead to a whole host of trouble.
This is the capital city.
The place where power is most concentrated.
They are closest to the emperor, yet furthest from justice.
"That's why you like to ask the people so many questions, so that you can know the answers and solve the problems," Ye Panjiu said with a smile.
“In the past, there were people who waited for me to finish court at the Meridian Gate, or near my carriage. There were also people who slipped petitions under the door of the Su residence. The power of the people is great.”
The carriage did not enter the capital, as Ziling Villa was already located in the capital.
"This land was originally granted by His Majesty to a top scholar. The scholar brought his family here, but because he was already married, he refused the Wang family's daughter. The Wang family held a grudge and first killed his wife. Then they found a pretext to attack the scholar. I went to Jizhou at the time, and when I came back, the scholar's whole family was gone, and the Wang family had taken over the land."
Ye Panjiu looked at this desolate land, which occupied such a good location but no one had cultivated it.
“The Wang family openly owns thousands of acres of fertile land, and has privately embezzled countless more. I’ve heard that the harvest from the government’s official land has always been very low.”
The waters in the official lands are even deeper; anything that can be done in the official lands requires endless sums of money.
After that, they could take the government-owned land as their own and rent it out layer by layer.
A lucrative position where one can reap the benefits without lifting a finger.
Su Yan said calmly, "If the water is too clear, there will be no fish; greed is human nature."
Ye Panjiu looked at the people working and said, "There was once an emperor who killed nearly 150,000 corrupt officials."
Su Yan turned to look at her, utterly shocked. "Fifteen thousand?"
Ye Panjiu nodded. "He was a founding emperor, a commoner who became a monk later in life, and had a very rich life experience. However, simply killing corrupt officials won't stop them; we need to get to the root of the problem."
Su Yan continued to ask, "Pan Jiu, tell me more about this emperor."
Ye Panjiu smiled and continued recounting what she remembered.
Strangely enough, the two got along well and time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, they arrived at a gate.
"My lord, we have arrived at Ziling Manor."
Ye Panjiu lifted the front curtain of the carriage and looked up.
The villa's main gate is made of marble, covered with climbing vines and blooming with pale purple flowers, their fragrance filling the air.
A large stone stands beside the gate, engraved with two characters: "Ziling".
There was no one guarding the door, and Ye Panjiu called out, "Let's keep going in."
The horse trotted forward and entered the interior, where white walls surrounded the area and green willows hung down all around.
After passing through the moon gate, there are covered walkways on both sides.
The courtyard was paved with bluish-white pebbles, with several rocks standing horizontally in the center. On both sides, two kinds of rare and exotic plants were properly trimmed, making the area lush and verdant.
There are two flying towers on the east and west sides, with eaves soaring into the clouds. The gilded ridge beasts are lifelike, with honest faces and eyes looking down at the villa.
The carriage traveled straight along the road, and after passing the main courtyard, there was another bamboo grove.
The wind whistled, the water flowed from the depths, and bamboo tapped against the stones.
Mixed in with this chorus of sounds, there were also a few discordant voices.
After the carriage had been traveling for a few minutes, the view suddenly opened up before us.
A clear spring, steaming hot, is flowing gently.
There were two people in the hot spring, splashing water very loudly.
Ye Panjiu pulled the curtain down.
Su Yan still saw it, and Ye Panjiu's face quickly turned red.
He Si blushed too; he was still a young man!
"Cough cough!" He coughed loudly.
"Aaaaaah!" The naked woman in the water screamed and hid behind the man.
The man covered his face with both hands, shouting, "Where did this savage come from! Is this a place you can come to?! Get out of here!"
Ye Panjiu's face turned cold. This is so unreasonable!
They had sex in her place and then turned around and accused her, saying, "This is Ziling Manor, the land deed is in my hands, you two are shameless! You've defiled my place!"
The woman climbed onto the man's shoulder and spat at him, but she wasn't far enough away and spat into the hot spring.
"Bullshit! This is your grandma's land. Whoever gets here first gets it!"
Ye Panjiu was stunned. "Guards, throw these two out and send them directly to the government office."
At this moment, the soldiers with swords following behind the carriage quickly stepped forward.
The pair of lovers panicked and grabbed the clothes, putting them on.
The man cried out, "I know I was wrong, please have mercy on me!"
The woman quickly knelt down and kowtowed, pleading, "Have mercy! I've been wronged!"
Ye Panjiu frowned deeply, "Injustice?"
Seeing that there was a chance, the woman quickly said, "No one has come to this villa for a long time. We are tenant farmers from this area. We had no other houses to stay in, so after observing for a few days, we came here to stay."
It's been uninhabited for a long time, so what's wrong with them staying here for a while?
It's a waste to just leave it sitting there!
Ye Panjiu didn't want to say anything more to the two of them. "No need to send them to the authorities. Throw them out. If they dare to come back, don't blame me for being ruthless."
The woman tried to argue, but the guards immediately stepped forward, grabbed the two of them, and dragged them outside.
"If you let go of me, will officials be able to touch me however they want?"
Ye Panjiu waved her hand, signaling to leave quickly, as there was no point in arguing with such a shameless and immoral person.
The little incident has passed.
Ye Panjiu lifted the curtain again and looked at the still clear hot spring, but she had no desire to go down there anymore.
Su Yan smiled and took her hand, "This villa is still quite beautiful, please have two or three people guard it."
Ye Panjiu nodded, "Originally, I wanted to make some money with this villa, but seeing how beautiful it is, I gave up on that idea."
The person hired must also be skilled in martial arts; otherwise, given the remote location, it would be difficult to keep such tenant farmers in check if they cause trouble again.
Ye Panjiu pointed behind her, "I just saw a thatched hut in the bamboo grove, shall we go there?"
"good."
Fortunately, there was a path through the bamboo forest that a horse-drawn carriage could pass through, leading all the way to the thatched hut.
Su Yan jumped off the carriage on one foot and commanded, "Someone, spread the soft couch inside the house in front of the house."
He was delighted to see this forest.
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