After going through many hardships and dangers, falling into despair several times and rekindling hope several times, Yang Ji and Chen Zhuangshi finally returned to the capital.
The walls of the capital are in sight.
Chen Zhuangshi was so excited that he galloped on his horse.
His riding skills are no longer what they used to be.
The nearly ten thousand miles round trip was enough to make him a good enough rider.
It can be said that he can kill the enemy with a sword when he is on horseback, and kill people with a pen when he is dismounted.
"Brother Yang, why aren't you excited? Isn't Brother Yang happy to return to the capital? The capital is so wonderful, a world of entertainment and revelry every night. I've missed it for a long time."
Yang Ji was calm and restrained by nature. "Even if you're excited, you don't have to show it."
"Brother Yang's temperament is a little too dull. This is not good, this is not good. I wonder if anyone will come to the city gate to meet us."
"It saves a lot of trouble and eliminates the need for pick-up and drop-off."
Chen Zhuangshi sneered, "Brother Yang, why don't you just become a monk?"
Yang Ji said seriously, "I did once think about becoming a monk. But my mother wouldn't allow it, so I had to give up. But I chose a Buddhist name for myself."
"What's your Dharma name? Brother Yang, tell me quickly."
"Mr. Yuanshan."
puff!
Chen Zhuangshi laughed heartily. "Brother Yang and I traveled to the Western Regions together, witnessing the exotic customs firsthand. I was deeply moved. Brother Yang clearly had ambitions and aspirations, otherwise he wouldn't have agreed to go to Xiliang to do great things. Why, now that we're in the capital, is Brother Yang pretending to be indifferent to worldly matters? It's truly shameful to me."
Yang Ji's mouth twitched, "You don't understand, this is called being unperturbed by praise or criticism."
Pooh!
High-sounding.
I'm not surprised by praise or criticism.
I just like to act like a superior person so that others can look up to me.
It's so vulgar, so why bother to act like a hermit?
Chen Zhuangshi took a sip of sweet potato wine and asked, "Has anyone ever said that Brother Yang is being pretentious?"
Yang Ji glanced at Chen Zhuangshi and said, "Brother Chen, you talk too much. Shut up!"
Chen Zhuangshi burst into laughter.
Feeling proud of having successfully angered Yang Ji.
Yang Ji was speechless.
Chen Zhuangshi is simply a disaster.
The city wall is just ahead.
The two men dismounted and lined up to enter the city.
"There are too many people. I don't know how long the queue will take."
"This number of people is nothing. The South Gate is the busiest. To save time, everyone deliberately bypasses the South Gate and enters the capital from the West Gate."
A traveling merchant chatted with Chen Zhuangshi.
"You two are both from other places, right? Is this your first time in Beijing?"
The traveling merchants looked at the two men leading the horses with great envy.
Chen Zhuangshi grinned, revealing his white teeth. "My brother and I visited the capital many years ago. I didn't expect it to have changed so much after so many years. Even waiting in line to enter the city gate is so long."
The peddler was clearly a chatterbox. "More and more people are coming to the capital these days, so queues are inevitable. The most abominable thing is that rents in the capital are rising every year. A shack with drafts all around dares to ask for 400 coins a month. It's simply robbery."
Are you two looking to rent a place? I see you're both well-off. If you're looking for a place to stay, don't choose a place in the city. Go to Xinmin County. The houses in Xinmin County are all newly built, solid, well-ventilated, and have private bathrooms. And the rent isn't expensive. If you're a scholar, Wenqing Bookstore or Shanhe Academy are both very convenient places to stay.
Speaking of houses, everyone who was queuing together joined the group chat and started chatting.
People are constantly complaining about the housing prices and rents in Beijing.
The houses in the south city had been in disrepair for years and were in a dilapidated state, yet they still dared to ask for exorbitant prices. For a dilapidated house, they would ask for seven or eight hundred coins a month, and some even asked for one or two taels of silver a month.
absurd!
"What's even more hateful is that some people pretend to be landlords and rent out their properties. Once we've paid the rent, the real landlord comes knocking on our door, and a dispute ensues. Tenants like us are caught in the middle and suffer. We might even be evicted and not even get our rent back."
"My brother-in-law's cousin, who's my younger brother's eldest brother-in-law, works at the Sihai Trading Company. He heard that the houses in that area of South City are a mess. The ancestors bought property, and the sons divided it among their sons, who then divided it among their grandsons, who then divided it among their grandsons. Over the generations, a perfectly good house has been divided among dozens of families. You have a room, I have a room. A whole family lives under one roof, all passed down from the same ancestors, and there are constant disputes all day long. Even the Sihai Trading Company doesn't want to deal with this group of people."
"People like me who are from other places shouldn't rent a place like this. It's noisy all day long, and we can't have peace. We also have to be on guard against petty theft and gossipy people. It's better to rent a place in Xinmin County, where we can enjoy peace and quiet. For example, the tenants in Xinmin County Phase II are all scholars, and you can feel the atmosphere of culture everywhere you walk in."
"Xinmin County Phase 1 is also quite good, even though it's full of refugees. However, the refugees have simple families, few people, and less conflict. Living there is not only cheap but also quiet."
"Those refugees in Xinmin County were incredibly lucky. If I'd known there were such benefits, I would have given up my family and become a refugee. I heard that refugees bought houses one by one, for a few hundred coins."
"A few hundred coins is the down payment. The cheapest room costs six or seven taels of silver."
"We rented a house in the capital, and it cost several hundred coins a month. After a year, we could have bought a house back then. It's a pity that we didn't have the opportunity to do so."
"I heard that Xinmin County just released 1,000 houses in Phase 6 yesterday. If anyone has money, they might as well take out a loan to buy a house. I also heard that Xinmin County gives priority to ordinary people like us and offers the most favorable loans."
"After buying a house and buying some furniture, you can rent it out. The rent can offset the loan, and there will still be enough money left, enough for the family to live on."
“Buying a house in Xinmin County is really worthwhile.”
"It's a pity that I'm short of money and can't come up with ten taels for the down payment."
"You can't buy a house with ten taels of silver these days. The down payment for the sixth phase of housing has been raised to fifteen taels. For larger houses, the down payment is a full thirty taels."
"Thirty taels, it takes years to save up."
"Yeah! It's too expensive."
"If you don't have thirty taels, think of fifteen, there's always a way. I tell you, if you miss this opportunity, you'll never get it again. Houses in Xinmin County will only get more expensive in the future, don't expect them to drop in price. Buy one now while you can still afford it. I came to the capital to borrow money from my relatives. If the loan goes smoothly, I'll buy a house too."
"Thousands of units have already been sold in Phase 6. I heard that many of them have been rented out, all to scholars coming to Beijing. Next year is the imperial examination year, and there will be even more scholars needing to rent houses. Buying a house now is just in time for the imperial examination year, so there will definitely be no worries about renting it out."
"That makes sense!"
Yang Ji and Chen Zhuangshi listened with great interest to the common people chatting about gossip in the capital.
Chen Zhuangshi whispered to Yang Ji, "I didn't expect houses in Xinmin County to be so popular. Brother Yang, would you consider buying one in Xinmin County as well?"
Yang Ji nodded, "That's exactly what I meant."
Houses in Xinmin County are not expensive unless they have gardens.
It costs a few hundred taels per set. You can buy it and use it for your family or rent it out.
The two of them went to Xiliang, and they were both wealthy people.
Scholars from the Great Zhou were a rare sight in Xiliang. The nobles vied with each other to invite them, offering them gifts of money, gifts of gifts, and even women.
A set of color-printed hardcover edition of "The Love between Humans and Ghosts in Past and Present Lives" can be exchanged for one hundred taels of gold in the Xiliang Royal City.
Things from the Great Zhou are very valuable in Xiliang.
Books are worth a fortune.
With the opening of trade in recent years, the nobles of Xiliang have longed for the culture of the Great Zhou.
The books of the Great Zhou Dynasty are treasures to them.
Yang Ji is indeed a top student.
During his one year in Xiliang, while busy planning his future as the Imperial Master, he also translated several books. His translations of the Great Zhou language into the Xiliang language were elegant, earning him the favor of the Xiliang nobles.
The King of Xiliang once wanted to keep Yang Ji in Xiliang and even offered him high positions and generous salaries to tempt him.
Of course, the barbarian land of Xiliang could not keep the ambitious Yang Ji.
The King of Xiliang felt very sorry and gave Yang Ji a thousand gold coins to let him leave.
Yang Ji is now a wealthy man with plenty of money.
Chen Zhuangshi is also not short of money.
Just by relying on his mouth, he tricked a lot of good things out of the Xiliang nobles.
The poor farming student back then is now rich and well-dressed, but he has never forgotten his original aspiration.
The team moved forward slowly, and finally it was their turn.
After checking their travel permits and paying the city gate tax, the two entered the capital smoothly.
After entering the capital, I paid another health fee.
The capital city became more prosperous.
The two of them went directly to the home of the chief scholar of the Academy.
When they arrived at Shi's house, they received the warmest hospitality.
"I have already sent someone to inform Madam. She will surely be delighted to learn that you have returned to the capital. You two should rest for two days, and then I will take you to see Madam."
"Thank you, Headmaster!"
"Everyone, sit down. Tell me about the customs and people of Xiliang."
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