In an inn in Songhu County, Sun Xin was carefully sorting out the intelligence collected by his men.
This time he came to Songhu to buy land under Liu Jin's order. Naturally, he needed to have a detailed understanding of Songhu and find out the situation in Songhu, so that he could better complete what Liu Jin had told him.
task.
"What a great place. The estuary of the Yangtze River radiates to the most fertile areas in the entire Ming Dynasty. Along the Yangtze River, you can also go to Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, and South Zhili. These places are the land of plenty in the Ming Dynasty."
"To the north you can go to Shandong and Beizhili, and to the south you can go to Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, and Ryukyu. There is no other good place like this in the entire Ming Dynasty."
"In terms of ocean trade, we can go to North Korea, Japan, and the Golden Continent from the north, but we can't go to the South Sea and Australia."
"What a great place, what a great place. The young master has great vision."
After carefully studying Songhu's location, Sun Xin couldn't help but nod.
Songhu is a good place. In the past, when it was mainly agricultural and there was no sea ban, the importance of Songhu could not be seen.
Nowadays, Ming Dynasty's maritime trade is becoming more and more developed, and there are more and more ships. The position of Songhu is suddenly highlighted.
Relying on the Yangtze River, backed by the richest Jiangnan area, and located in the middle of the north and south coastlines of the Ming Dynasty, this is definitely the best geographical location of the Ming Dynasty.
"If Songhu develops, I'm afraid it will soon surpass Tianjin~"
"Well, we have to find ways to buy as much land as possible. In the future, the land here will be the same as the land in Tianjin. Every inch of land is valuable."
Sun Xin looked at the map of Songhu, and his eyes began to shine.
Nowadays, the land in Tianjin is very expensive. The key is that there is a price but no market, because most of the land is in the hands of Liu Jin. Liu Jin plans and develops the land in Tianjin in an orderly and step-by-step manner.
.
And it will not be sold to the outside world. All the land will be developed by Liu Jin himself or used for rent. In short, it will not be sold.
There is still a small amount of land in Tianjin that is in the hands of local people in Tianjin, and the price of this land has skyrocketed.
The closer to Tianjin New Town, the more expensive the land becomes. In the past, an acre of land cost as much as a few taels of silver. No one wanted the saline-alkali land, tidal flats and the like on the seashore.
Nowadays, an acre of land costs thousands of taels of silver. The key is that even if you have money, there is no place to buy it.
Realizing the importance of Songhu's location, Sun Xin knew that the land in Songhu would definitely be very valuable in the future.
"The location on both sides of the Huangpu River is the best. Large areas of ports and terminals can be built here in the future. The land on both sides of the Huangpu River will be given priority."
Sun Xin studied the map carefully and focused on both sides of the Huangpu River.
With the goal in mind, Sun Xin began to take action and began to arrange for people to buy fields on both sides of the Huangpu River on a large scale.
However, Sun Xin soon became worried again, because in this era, the transfer of fields was very rare.
Most people would not sell the land in their hands easily, because in the concept, the land is something left by the ancestors. It cannot be sold easily, but it is something that must be passed down forever.
If you sell your family's property, it is a prodigal act and you will be scolded.
This concept is deeply rooted, especially in the Jiangnan region.
Because the Jiangnan area is very wealthy and has a lot of people, as long as the family has some paddy fields, they can live a pretty good life, so the willingness to sell the fields is even lower.
"This is going to be difficult. Even money can't buy this land~"
When the news came to Sun Xin, Sun Xin couldn't help but frown.
In his hand, he held a box of banknotes from the First Bank of Ming Dynasty, but he couldn't even buy them.
He also tried many methods and took the initiative to approach the landowners and gentry here, saying that he was willing to buy their land at a price that was twice or even three times higher than the market price.
But these landowners and gentry didn't care at all, they didn't even consider it, and the land just wouldn't be sold.
This is something passed down from our ancestors and must not be sold. If you sell it, you will be a prodigal.
"There is no other way but to write a letter back and see if there is anything the young master can do."
After thinking over and over again, Sun Xin could not think of any solution, so he could only write a letter back to the capital to see if Liu Jin could do anything.
Sun Xin was worried, but the local landowners and gentry in Songhu were laughing from ear to ear. They gathered at the Songhua Building in Songhu County, drinking and chatting non-stop.
"Mr. Xu, is that Yankee looking for you?"
Zheng Liangzuo smiled and said to Xu Pu.
Zheng Liangzuo is the largest landowner in Songhu. His family owns tens of thousands of acres of fertile land, and his family’s fields are everywhere on both sides of the Huangpu River.
The Mr. Xu he refers to, Xu Pu, is a local scholar in Songhu County. He has never been able to pass the Jinshi examination. He is waiting for the government to arrange a full-time official position for him. But everyone also knows that waiting for the government to
Arrangements, unless you have money to move up and down, just wait slowly.
Although he was not an official, he was a member of the privileged class of the Ming Dynasty. Xupu also had a lot of land. In the entire Songhu County, his land was the only one with Zheng Liangzuo.
"I found him and he said he wanted to buy my land at three times the market price."
"These Yankees are really rich, a bunch of nouveau riche."
"Don't you know that this property has been passed down from ancestors and cannot be sold?"
Xu Pu smiled and said, with a look in his eyes.
"Mr. Xu is right. How can something handed down from our ancestors be sold so easily?"
Zheng Liangzuo smiled and nodded.
"And judging by his appearance, he must be very anxious to buy our land, but we refuse to sell it to them. Maybe they will pay a higher price."
"Do you think everyone is right?"
"Yes, yes~"
"If you offer a higher price, we won't sell it. We won't sell it anyway."
"They northerners can't even think of interfering with us in Songhu."
"I heard that they are going to open a factory here. Once this factory is opened, no one will be able to farm our land. A lot of fertile farmland in Beizhili will be deserted. Then we will have a northwest wind."
"Isn't that right? Here in the Beijing-Tianjin area, if you work in a factory, you will be paid at least 3 taels of silver a month, and three meals a day are included. If this factory really opens in Songhu, who will do it?
Give us some land?"
"Aren't those mud-legged people going to work for the northerners?"
Hearing Zheng Liangzuo's words, the other landowners and gentry around him also nodded one after another and followed suit one by one.
"So, we are determined not to sell our fields to these Yankees."
"In the past few years, our scholars in the south of the Yangtze River have been greatly suppressed by the scholars in the north. Many upright ministers in the court have been suppressed and persecuted. Now the northerners have the final say in the court."
"Now our southern Shilin has almost no place to stand. There are not many high-ranking officials left in the court who are from our south. Now they want to come to our south to set up factories and dream of it."
Xu Pu also followed suit.
Originally, he was from the south of the Yangtze River and had a rich family. It was not that he didn't have money to cultivate connections, so there was no problem if he wanted to hold an official position.
According to past practice, as long as the money is in place, you will definitely be able to go to a certain county to work as a boss, county magistrate, pianist, etc.
After working for a few years and using some money to help, if there is a chance, I might be able to be promoted to county magistrate. I know that it is quite promising.
But things are different now. Jiangnan Shilin has suffered a heavy blow in the court, and the right to speak is now in the hands of officials who are not from Jiangnan.
Moreover, Emperor Hongzhi's intention to suppress the scholars in the south of the Yangtze River was very obvious. Anyone who was smart could see that among the officials below, it was natural that those who were above were good, but those below were bound to be worse.
The result is that it is more difficult for officials from the Jiangnan region to be promoted than before.
When it comes to Xu Pu, a juren, he has no place to spend the money he has. It is very difficult to get an official position. It is very difficult.
"Yes, in my dreams, we must not let them come to our Jiangnan area to set up factories~"
Zheng Liangzuo nodded and said.
"Everyone has agreed that the land in our hands must not be sold to the northerners."
"Yes, if we don't sell it to the northerners, they won't be able to buy land even if they have money."
"Even if we buy the land, in the future we can make them unable to hire people even if they have money."
"That's right, this Songhu is not north of them. We have the final say here."
The landowners and gentry present also nodded their heads.
"Nowadays, the court is controlled by a group of villains, and upright gentlemen are plotted against by villains. The emperor loves villains and distances himself from virtuous ministers, focusing on profits and neglecting justice. Let's take a look at some of the things the court is doing now."
"Everyone here in the north wants to go to sea to do business, and everyone wants to go to the Golden Continent to dig for gold. Everyone only sees yellow and white things, but they have already completely forgotten the ways of Confucius and Mencius."
"This year the imperial court launched another large-scale campaign against the Japanese, forcing the vassal states to sign alliances under the city walls. Some time ago, I heard that they were sending troops to the northern grasslands. This is a militancy, and those who are warlike will be destroyed~"
Xu Pu looked at the crowd and let out a long sigh, looking worried and concerned about the country and the people.
Of course, when people around him looked at him, he was a bit depressed and frustrated. He had a lot of ambition but no way to serve the country. Although he had been promoted, he couldn't get an official position.
He could not pass the Jinshi examination and was not an official, so he often criticized the current ills and blamed all these on problems in the court.
He thought it was because the court had traitors and suppressed people like them who were born in Jiangnan, so he failed to pass the Jinshi examination and could not become an official.
I am often depressed and frustrated, and anything can be related to it.
