Chapter 142 Buying a House in Guancheng
Hearing this, Zhu Mingqing wanted to curse.
There were no people and no environment, so the start was a mess.
No wonder Guancheng is a place of exile. After living there for a long time, all ambitions and aspirations would have been worn away.
"Luckily, we don't have to work in the mines." Luo Xiao was relieved. "I heard that almost all the criminals exiled here go to the mines. So, the emperor is still showing mercy to us."
"Tsk—" Zhu Mingqing snorted and sarcastically said, "Not having to go down to the mine is showing mercy?"
Luo Xiao scratched his head and didn't dare to speak.
Wen Baolu smiled and said, "Madam, my brother Xiao and I have been looking at two farms outside the city these days. One is owned by a wealthy businessman who is about to leave Guancheng, and the other belongs to the Guancheng government. Both have about 500 acres of land. Why don't we go and take a look tomorrow? If there are no problems, we can buy them soon."
In addition, they also bought a restaurant and waited for Zhu Mingqing to arrive before officially opening it.
"So, where have you been living these days?"
She asked curiously.
Wen Baolu's face froze and he looked at Luo Xiao, but the other party was looking up at the roof, as if there was some strange scenery there.
He curled his lips and said, "Stay in the inn."
"Haven't you bought a house?" Zhu Mingqing glared. Didn't they agree to buy a house first when they came to Guancheng so that they would have a place to stay when the time comes?
Wen Baolu was helpless: "There is no decent house in this Guancheng, but there is a piece of land in the west city, it's a bit big, and the government office has never sold it, so it can be used to build a house."
"How old?"
"Three thousand acres."
"Cough cough..." Zhu Mingqing choked on his saliva.
Three thousand acres?
What concept?
The modern Summer Palace covers only a little over 4,000 acres.
There is actually such a large piece of land in this Guancheng.
She asked, "What's the origin of this land?"
Wen Baolu: "I heard it also belonged to the Guancheng government office. At that time, it seemed that they wanted to turn it into a farm, which would solve the people's livelihood problems and generate income for the government office. However, due to the change of prefects, the matter was shelved. It is not easy to sell such a large piece of land as a whole."
Zhu Mingqing: Build a ranch in the city?
It's very rare.
"But you can't buy it now. Come out with me in the afternoon. We'll buy a small yard first and settle down. We can talk about the future later."
Although I was very tempted by that piece of land, it would really attract attention if I rashly acquired such a large piece of land!
In the afternoon, just as Zhu Mingqing was about to go out, Liang He told him that the formalities had been completed and they could go to apply for settlement.
If you want to settle down in Guancheng, each person needs to pay an account fee of twenty taels of silver, but if you go to other counties and towns in Guancheng, the price will be lower.
"Our whole family will stay in Guancheng." Zhu Mingqing took out the account fees for eight people, including Prince Luo.
The second and third branches of the Luo family also decided to stay in Guancheng. After all, this place is so dilapidated, not to mention the counties and towns below.
Zhu Mingqing and Luo Huai went to the government office to register their household. The head of household was written as Luo Huai, but Zhu Mingqing didn't say anything. After all, this was ancient times, and it would be quite troublesome for her to register as a female household separately.
After leaving the government office, the two met up with Luo Xiao and Wen Baolu at the inn, and the four decided to find an agent to look at houses.
"Huai'er, wait a minute." Old Prince Luo walked out of the inn, patted him on the shoulder, and whispered, "Did you receive the jade pendant?"
Luo Huai nodded: "Grandfather, what are your instructions?"
Old Prince Luo sighed, "I know you're going to find a real estate agent. If there's a suitable house, buy one for Grandfather. It doesn't have to be particularly large, just enough to accommodate your second and third uncles' families."
After paying the account fees, they really don't have much money left.
It was precisely because of this reason that Prince Luo decided to pay for the house.
After all, we can't really end up on the streets.
On the way to the pawnshop, Luo Huai told the old prince what he had told him, and then said embarrassedly: "Mother, I may need you to lend me some money first. I will definitely pay you back later."
Zhu Mingqing didn't care. After all, the old man had given her son such a large sum of money, so she could still afford to buy a house.
It was called a pawnshop, but inside it were just a couple, a man and a woman. One was dealing in houses, and the other in livestock and living creatures.
The couple's business is slow on weekdays and they can only make a living.
As soon as he saw someone coming to his house, he wanted to buy two houses, and his requirements were not low. Both houses had to be able to accommodate more than ten people.
The couple looked at each other and were overjoyed.
Big business is coming!
Although Guancheng has a small population and an underdeveloped economy, it has a vast land.
In the early years, there were still some wealthy businessmen living in Guancheng, but later they moved away for various reasons, and the houses they left behind became empty.
After three to five years, some of them have become abandoned houses, but some have been entrusted to real estate agents, who clean them regularly and sell them when the opportunity arises.
"Sir, do you have any price limit?" the owner of the dental clinic asked immediately.
"Take us to see the house first." Zhu Mingqing said.
The couple immediately picked up a few bunches of keys, pulled out a carriage, locked the door, and took a few people to the west of the city.
The first courtyard is quite old. It was left by a scholar. The house has a strong musty smell and the yard is overgrown with weeds. Although there are no spider silks, Zhu Mingqing still has a bit of cleanliness obsession when he has the conditions to be particular.
She shook her head: "It's too old, change it."
Hearing this, the pawnbroker couple's eyes lit up and they took them to the second house.
This is a two-story house. The previous owner was the owner of a cloth shop, and now he has gone to the provincial capital to develop his business.
The house was relatively clean, but considering the future situation, the number of rooms was still a bit small, so Zhu Mingqing still shook his head.
The couple working the pawn shop were a little confused. Did they just not like it or could they not afford it?
Hoping that the former was more likely, the couple took them to the third house.
This is a three-courtyard house. The owner was a businessman who traveled around. He wanted to settle down in Guancheng to do cattle and sheep business, but because the climate in Guancheng was really bad, he suffered heavy losses. Later, he went back to his old business and thought about disposing of this house.
Although the yard has been built for three years, it looks no different from a new one because few people have lived there and the owner has servants to clean it regularly.
"Madam, how do you like this house?" The proprietress of the pawnshop had been observing her expression, but couldn't see anything, so she asked tentatively.
Zhu Mingqing asked the children for their opinions, and after some discussion, he finally bought the three-courtyard house for 236 taels of silver.
Compared with those mansions in the capital that cost thousands or even tens of thousands of taels of silver, this courtyard is really cheap.
It was also a coincidence that the merchant happened to be in Youzhou Prefecture. It only took him a day to ride over on horseback. After exchanging the money and goods, and going to the government to change the owner of the household, Zhu Mingqing finally had a place to stay in Guancheng.
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