No matter which era it is placed in, land will always be a precious factor of production.
Land can produce food, grow medicinal materials, and build workshops. In key areas, every inch of land can even be said to be valuable.
Many officers of the Shenwei Army also purchased land in Lingzhou and became landlords, but not many. Overall, the Shenwei Army occupied less than one-twentieth of the land in Lingzhou.
The total amount is very large, but the proportion is very small.
This is not because the officers have no money, but because they cannot keep their money.
It is easy for officers to make a sudden fortune. During a war, what is captured must be divided among the property. Defeating an enemy army once is equivalent to making a fortune.
Equipment, ordnance, elixirs, etc., everything is available.
An army is equivalent to a mobile treasure, and no amount of money is enough.
After officers became rich, they often squandered their money through purchasing equipment, elixirs, secret books, gambling, whoring, etc. The businessmen who followed the army always found a hundred ways to empty the officers' pockets of money.
If his father-in-law hadn't started a private salt business, Chu, Huang, and Hu's family would have been ordinary military households. Apart from hard-core crops, the family had no property left.
Because most of their family property is in equipment and elixirs, if their fathers die in battle and their bodies are not recovered, they will become other people's trophies.
Therefore, the army set up a military property bureau to forcibly withhold one-tenth of their meritorious services and exchange them for property. The officers did not participate in the management and received relevant property dividends every year.
This is also one of the war guarantees of the Shenwei Army and is part of the military assets.
For a family of officers from the Shenwei Army, even if their descendants become prodigal, they still have something to eat and will not end up on the streets like Qingfen.
In addition to the army, most of Lingzhou's land is controlled by officials, aristocratic families, sects, and a small number of homesteaders.
Of course, Chu Qianqiu would not take advantage of the army's property.
The Fahua Temple also has a lot of land, but it belongs to one's own people and cannot be exploited.
The Yuanyang Sect does not have much land, mainly on a few hills, and their main business is alchemy. At the same time, their inner disciples, true disciples, are either powerful people or landowners near Baixiang Town. After the Yuanyang Sect surrendered, He can be regarded as half of his own people.
Don't rush to take action against them just yet.
After all that, only the Wang family is left.
The Wang family is a scholarly family that has been operating near Baixiang Town for hundreds of years. It is a branch of the Wang family in Jiangzhou. It is actually very powerful. It can directly pull out a group of private soldiers to destroy innate masters like Li Chengxin, and even the weapons Can be taken out.
Although he has some connection with the army, he is not loyal enough. More importantly,——
The Wang family owns nearly 500,000 acres of land.
"500,000 acres of land, Wang Baichuan, you can't exaggerate."
"Back then, Emperor Taizu only granted 3 million acres of farmland for such a great contribution to the Maha Temple."
"Does the Wang family really have so much land?" Chu Qianqiu asked the eldest brother Wang, Wang Baichuan, the illegitimate son of the head of the Wang family, a little surprised.
He is a person who knows current affairs, so when Chu Qianqiu asked him if he was willing to take revenge on the Wang family, or become his lackey to deal with the Wang family.
Boss Wang agreed without hesitation and revealed the amount of Wang family's land, a surprising figure.
"Master Chu, this is different."
"The property of Maha Temple is tax-free, but the property of the Wang family is subject to tax."
"The Wang family is a scholarly family. When they have money, they go to annex the land."
"From the earliest days, the Wang family set the rules. Shops can be sold, jewelry can be sold, but farmland cannot be sold."
"Over the past few hundred years, there have been many natural fields."
"Not only Baixiang Town, but also Yanbo Town, Qingshi Town, Ganlu Town, etc., all have the Wang family's land. The total is naturally amazing."
"Especially in recent years, more and more farmers have gone bankrupt."
"There was a famine a few years ago. The Wang family helped the government provide disaster relief and purchased a lot of land."
Boss Wang quickly revealed the details of the Wang family like he was pouring beans.
"No wonder the Wang family is said to be the largest landowner in Baixiang Town. It is indeed well-deserved."
Chu Qianqiu sneered. No wonder Mr. Wang gave birth to illegitimate children one after another regardless of his dignity. The family was really rich and he was afraid that he would not have a suitable heir.
The 500,000 acres of farmland is the stable cash flow of the Wang family, which provides a large amount of food every year. It not only supplies Baixiang Town, but also supplies food and grass for the Shenwei Army. How can it not prosper?
"Master Chu, these 500,000 acres of land are not all for growing grain."
"We also grow vegetables, herbs, and pasture."
"On average, one acre of land can earn 3 taels of silver."
"How much money can you make from farming?" Chu Qianqiu asked doubtfully. The long-term worker only earned 2 taels of silver a year working for the landlord.
It turned out that the Wang family could earn more from one acre of land, which made Chu Qianqiu a little unconvinced.
"Ordinary farmers naturally cannot make this kind of money. They only dare to grow food."
"The rice in Lingzhou is expensive. If they can't pay the royal ration, they will be whipped by the officials."
"But the Wang family is very confident. They have plenty of land to grow food, so they are not afraid of not being able to deliver the royal food."
"The profit from growing vegetables is much higher than that from grain, not to mention ginseng, angelica and other herbs."
Boss Wang is indeed the illegitimate son of the Wang family. He is so ignorant about the Wang family's business that he is like a mouse getting into the rice vat.
Very good, I really did not find the wrong person.
The Chu family lacks talents like you.
Chu Qianqiu nodded with satisfaction. Although Wang Baichuan was not a thing, he was at least literate. He was a person who came out of the Wang family private school, and he was somewhat witty.
Letting him help manage a bunch of properties is also a good choice.
If it doesn't work, you can replace it with someone else.
Wang Yinian, the steward of the Wang family, and his son Wang Liang are both talented people. It is best for the three of them to restrain each other and let Chu Qianqiu gradually control the Wang family and tie them into his chariot.
"Wang Baichuan, you are indeed a talent."
"I won't hide it from you. This time I want to buy some land from the Wang family for some experiments and operations."
"Let you come and help me."
"The Wang family will not sell land. This is the lifeblood of the Wang family." Wang Baichuan shook his head with a wry smile. Although he believed in Chu Qianqiu's abilities, he knew better than anyone else what kind of power the Wang family was.
"If I say I want to buy it, he will definitely sell it."
"Do you want to follow or not?" Chu Qianqiu said with a faint smile.
Now his identity is different, and he can give most people in Baixiang Town a reason not to refuse.
"I'll follow! I listen to Master Chu!" Wang Baichuan gritted his teeth. If he wanted to take revenge on that old bastard Wang Rong, it would be impossible without Chu Qianqiu's help.
"Then come with me."
Wang family courtyard, living room
"Do you know what you're talking about?"
The person who greeted Chu Qianqiu was not Wang Rong, the head of the Wang family, but his eldest son Wang Ren. His most famous deed was that he played a trick of robbing civilian girls on the street, and got a knife from the six-door policeman.
There is another scar on it.
Now the scar seems to be crawling on the face, showing the protagonist's anger.
"How dare you make such an opening in front of my Wang family!"
"100,000 acres of land, if converted into money, it would flood you!"
Wang Ren was so angry that he laughed. His father was not here today, so naturally he, the eldest son in the family, would come to meet the guests.
It is said that it is Chu Qianqiu, the newly appointed member of the Shenwei Army.
He was a blocking figure at that time, but he dared to blackmail the Wang family. It was simply audacious.
Don’t you know that our Wang family is related to the Prime Minister?
"Indeed, I'm here to do business with the Wang family."
"The land we want is not much, just 100,000 acres."
"Young Master Wang can't be the master of this business, so why don't you ask the head of the Wang family to speak out?" Chu Qianqiu picked up the tea cup, took a few sips, and said calmly.
"Wang Baichuan, you bitch has now recognized your master..."
"presumptuous!"
"Dad, you're here!"
"ah!"
Before Wang Ren could say anything, Wang Rong used Qing Gong, walked over quickly, and kicked his eldest son directly against the wall.
Why did dad hit me?
Before Wang Ren could react, Wang Rong had already pulled him off the wall and knocked him to the ground with a plop:
"Master Chu, dogs are ignorant, please don't remember the faults of villains!"