A few days later, Mi Zhu came to Huangmen Pavilion.
Mi Zhu usually doesn't show off his wealth, but at this time, he can see the Mi family's financial resources.
Carriage after carriage drove slowly on the post road, with two thousand servants in front and behind, moving slowly from left to right, blocking the road.
The elders of the Deng and Shen clans, Shen Chen and others were already waiting for them on the road. It was not until they got closer that everyone noticed that Mi Zhu brought so many people here not to show off his financial resources, but to do surveying and mapping.
Most of the carriages were made of bamboo slips, and half of the servants following them were the cleaners who checked the number of fields, and the other half were farmers, field slaves, apprentices, etc. who inspected the quality of the fields.
Some of them had pens and ink, and some had shovels. More than 18,000 acres of land was not a small amount. For the Mi family, it was already one-tenth of the land.
"Chief!"
Shen Chen, Deng Mao, Deng Hong and others greeted him and saluted respectfully.
In essence, the Deng and Shen families can only be regarded as small landlords, not even big landlords, let alone compared with those aristocratic families.
Mi Zhu was not only a wealthy man in Xuzhou, but also a powerful landowner. He was also in the state government, and his status was not at the same level as them.
People can look up to the elders of Huangmenting Township simply because Shen Chen's talents are appreciated by Tao Qian, Liu Bei and others.
If it were normal times, even if Huangmenting Township wanted to sell his land, he would not necessarily come in person.
After getting off the carriage, Mi Zhu came over with a smile, cupped his hands and said, "You must be the elders from Huangmenting."
"Deng Mao, Deng Hong has met the chief."
"You're welcome. Mr. Tao is very sad to hear that you are moving south. There will be fewer Dingkou in Xuzhou again."
"Alas, the world is difficult, so we have to do it as a last resort."
"Then I can only wish you all a smooth journey."
"Thank you, sir."
A few people exchanged casual greetings. Mi Zhu expressed his regret for the migration of Huangmenting Township elders, but the smile on his face never stopped.
If they had sold the land when Cao Cao was harming Xuzhou, Mi Zhu would never have chosen to buy it at this time.
Because after buying it, if Cao Cao occupied Xuzhou, no one could tell who would own these lands in the future.
But the problem is that the current situation looks good. There is trouble in Cao Cao's rear. Yuan Shu in the south has never attacked Xuzhou before, and both sides have become peaceful.
What Xuzhou lacked before was not elite soldiers, but capable generals.
Tao Qian's Danyang soldiers were still very capable, but they just couldn't use Cao's command and tactics effectively.
Now Liu Bei is here and has made up for this shortcoming, so Mi Zhu thinks that as long as he gives Tao Qian some more time to reorganize the prefectures and counties and recruit soldiers, Xuzhou will be peaceful in the future.
As long as the world is peaceful, the value of the land he owns will skyrocket. Take advantage of this time to buy a large amount of land around Shan County, and it will be wealth in the future.
At this time, Huangmenting sold a large amount of land. Not only was it close to Shan County, but it was also good land. Naturally, Mi Zhu was very excited.
However, if your heart is full of excitement, the price should still be suppressed.
At the invitation of Deng Mao and others, Mi Zhu came to Deng's old house, and his servants, led by Deng Zhao, Chenzhen and others, went to inventory the fields.
Starting at three o'clock in the morning, this work continues until near the beginning of the day in the afternoon, which is almost three and a half hours.
That is to say, the number of servants Mi Zhu brings is enough and the efficiency can keep up. According to the ratio, each person only needs to be responsible for ten acres of land. If other powerful families do not have so many servants, the efficiency is estimated to take several days.
At the ancestral home of the Deng family, everyone chatted with Mi Zhu for a long time, and even had lunch together. At the beginning of the day, the servants came to report the situation. The statistics were correct, and the quantity and quality of the fields were consistent.
At this time, it was finally time to start talking about business. The two sides sat across from each other in the middle hall. No one took the main seat, but sat face to face. Deng Shen and others sat on the right side, and Mi Zhu and others sat on the left side.
There are four representatives on both sides. The Deng family has Deng Mao and Deng Hong, and the Shen family has Shen Xian, an elder of the Shen family, and Shen Chen.
On Mi Zhu's side was himself, a clan brother with the surname Mi, either his biological brother Mi Fang, or a clan brother, and two stewards who were responsible for clearing accounts and accounting for land.
After the two sides sat across from each other, Deng Hong coughed and said first: "Sir, the soil has been cleaned up. I don't know if it is still satisfactory."
One of Mi Zhu's housekeepers was holding a bamboo slip and whispering to him. When he heard Deng Hong's words, he turned around and said with a smile: "It is indeed 18,762 acres, and there is no difference between them. What do you think?" How much is the price?"
Deng Hong, Deng Mao, Shen Xian and other clan elders looked at each other, took a deep breath, and then Deng Hongcai said: "The average price of the lower fields is one thousand yuan, the average price of the middle fields is three thousand, and the average price of the upper fields is eight thousand. What does the chief think of this price?"
"Well"
Mi Zhu touched his chin and groaned. Everyone was quite nervous.
After a while, he shook his head and said: "It's a bit expensive. In normal times, this price would be more reasonable, but now."
Deng Hong said hurriedly: "The price can still be negotiated. If the principal is satisfied, what price do you think is appropriate?"
"Cut in half."
Mi Zhu said calmly.
Halfway?
When this word came out, the faces of Deng Hong, Deng Mao and Shen suddenly darkened.
According to the records of "Land Purchase Coupons for Fan Lijia of the Han Dynasty" and "Land Purchase Coupons for the Moqing of the Han Dynasty", the price of land in the Han Dynasty fluctuated greatly. The price of inferior and inferior land ranged from a hundred to two thousand yuan, while the price of high-quality fertile land ranged from 100 yuan to 2,000 yuan. About 3,000 yuan to 15,000 yuan.
But the so-called inferior farmland cannot actually be counted as fields, but should be counted as the leftover vegetable plots around the fields. Because vegetable plots, mulberry forests, and ponds were all subsistence resources at that time, they were also counted in the fields.
Huangmenting's more than 18,000 acres of land naturally includes these survival resources. However, you must know that Huangmenting is not a small corner at the foot of a mountain, but a large plain in the Huaibei region of Xuzhou. The land here is not like the mountainous areas in the southwest. Most of them are low-quality soil from the mountains.
Even ordinary bad farmland is dry land on the plains. According to the market price, the average price should be around 1,500 yen. The price of high-quality fertile land should also be 10,000 yen. Especially fields such as mulberry forests and ponds are very expensive.
According to the previous market price, the total value of these fields in Huangmenting may be hundreds of millions of dollars. This does not include the surrounding houses and pavilions that were directly given away. However, the current bidding price of Huangmenting Township elders is already very low.
As a result, Mi Zhu cut the price in half as soon as he opened his mouth. In other words, after the original market price was cut by one-third, another half was cut, which is equivalent to one-third of the original total price.
The value of the land was reduced from 100 million to 30 million, which is no different from giving it away for free. The villagers in Huangmenting learned that their land was so cheap, so it would be strange not to explode.
"Master, this price"
“The price is very reasonable.”
Just as Deng Hong was about to refuse, Shen Chen suddenly interrupted: "But I have a small request. I also ask the boss to convert the money into grain, pig iron, and salt at market prices. Considering the wealth of the Mi family, the boss shouldn't refuse."
"oh?"
Mi Zhu thought thoughtfully, shook his head and said, "These are important materials."
Shen Chen smiled and said: "In that case, there is nothing we can do. A few days ago, the Miao family of Lanling, the Wang family of Xiangben, the Cao family of Yancheng, and the Chen family of Xiapi were all interested in these fields. If the person in charge thinks that we have moved If we leave, these fields will become ownerless land, and then the boss will think too much."
"Well."
Mi Zhu began to think again. He did have such an idea at first, dragging or lowering the price. Anyway, the Deng Shen family was in a hurry to leave, so they sold it at a low price. He paid the price of cabbage, and there was no loss no matter what.
The problem is that among the powerful families in Xuzhou, the Mi family can only be considered extremely wealthy, and it is not ranked at all in terms of status and heritage.
The Miao family in Lanling and the Wang family in Xiangben are just like each other, but the Cao family in Yancheng and the Chen family in Xiapi are the families of Cao Hong, Cao Bao, Chen Gui and Chen Deng. These four people are all close associates of Tao Qian, and their status is especially high among Mi Zhu. If you want to buy it at a low price, you may not necessarily be able to get it.
After all, people are indeed in a hurry to take action because they want to leave, but that doesn't mean they will just leave the fields alone and let others take over them.
Even if that were the case, how much land could the Mi family grab? It would be better to buy it directly and have the title to take the initiative.
Shen Chen's choice to exchange materials was a smart choice. Xuzhou was indeed damaged this year, but the reason for the damage was not natural disasters but man-made disasters. It was Cao Cao's several eastern expeditions to Xuzhou that caused Xuzhou to fall into war.
Tao Qian appointed Chen Deng as the captain of Dian Nong School a few years ago, and vigorously developed agriculture, which made Xuzhou not short of food. It is also close to the coast. Guangling Yandu County is a well-known salt-producing hometown in the south.
Therefore, the so-called prosperity in Xuzhou means that there is no shortage of daily necessities such as grain and salt, and the prices of grain and salt have tended to be stable and not too high.
After all, it is recorded in later history books that only Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Huainan and other places experienced large-scale famine due to drought. The only occurrence in Xuzhou later was that "the army was prepared in Guangling, hungry and trapped, and the officials, big and small, were eating each other."
But that happened a few years later. At that time, Guangling was devastated by Zhe Rong and was really poor. Moreover, when Liu Bei went to Guangling, his army only had no food, and he did not plunder the people. The soldiers ate the corpses of his own people.
This only proves that Xuzhou fell into a food crisis due to war a few years later.
At present, because there is no drought and no loss of governance due to the invasion of Yuan Shu and Lu Bu, after Cao Cao's withdrawal, Xuzhou has restored stability and the price of grain and salt has not increased.
If Shen Chen used the money from selling the land in exchange for these materials, their value in Xuzhou would indeed be low, but don't forget that Deng Chen was going to move away.
These things left Xuzhou and went to Henan and other places. Once they were resold, they not only doubled, but dozens of times.
For example, Cao Cao and Lu Bu faced off in Yanzhou. Both sides were short of food and grass, and the price of food increased rapidly.
So Shen Chen wanted supplies instead of money, which was indeed a better choice.
But the problem is that the regional stability of grain prices in Xuzhou is only relative. For example, when Cao Jun came, grain prices skyrocketed. They, the big grain collectors, often chose to store grains and wait for grain prices to rise before selling them.
Now that Shen Chen wants food and grass without money, it seems that Mi Zhu has made a profit, but once the price of food rises again, he will make a lot less money and lose a lot. This transaction does not seem to be a good deal.
But so much land...
After pondering for a long time, Mi Zhu sighed and said: "Children are indeed smart. They need food and grass without money. Sometimes money is just scrap metal, which is not as affordable as food and grass. If you transport the things out of Xuzhou and sell them, the value will more than double. Ten times that."
Shen Chen said in a deep voice: "There are wars everywhere now, and businessmen from all over the country dare not risk their lives to travel and do business. The lack of circulation of materials will cause different prices in different places. I am also risking my life. Do you dare to do it?"
"You are right. To make big money, you have to take greater risks. I recently heard that the price of grain in Yanzhou has exceeded 6,001 dendrobium, but I dare not transport grain to Yanzhou. This is the difference."
Mi Zhu nodded, appreciating Shen Chen's courage, and said, "Okay, I'll do as you wish. I'll trade grain, grass, pig iron and salt for the fields."
Although you may make a lot less money in the future, the land can produce food again, so this transaction is not a loss!