Northern Dynasties

Chapter 1365: Chang'an is Difficult to Live in
The first impression many people had when they came to Chang'an was that the city was too big. It was not only bigger than they had seen, but even bigger than they had imagined. Many people even felt that it was unnecessary to build such a large city. Especially during the initial period of the city's opening, most of the hundreds of squares in the city were not fully inhabited, and many of them were even sparsely populated. The entire city seemed somewhat empty and deserted.

However, as time went by, Chang'an City became increasingly prosperous, and people moved in one after another in various neighborhoods. In particular, some neighborhoods with excellent locations and environments soon became overcrowded and it was difficult to find a room.

Chang'an City is located on the Longshou Plain. The dragon head is where the Taiji Palace is located. To the south, a dragon ridge runs through the entire city, and the location of the dragon ridge is Zhuque Street.

The terrain in the city is high in the east and low in the west. Many plateaus such as Leyouyuan and Shaolingyuan are located in the east of the city, which makes the east of the city high and comfortable to live in. But the west of the city also has its own advantages, that is, the water resources are relatively abundant. Several canals are mainly distributed in the west of the city, which is convenient for ships to enter and exit to transport materials.

Due to different geographical environments, the city has gradually formed the East City as the main residential area with many mansions, while the West City is a prosperous commercial area. In addition to the extra-large market of West City, there are also many workshops, warehouses, etc.

Of course, some special places, such as those around the Taiji Palace, do not follow this rule, but are crowded with powerful people because they are close to the power center.

Although the areas west of the Taiji Palace were low-lying and became damp and stuffy in the summer, their proximity to the imperial city made them a second-best option for some court officials when they could not find a better place to live.

After all, they had to attend court and work in the government office every day. If they lived too far from the imperial city, they would spend a lot of time on the road every day, which was very inconvenient. In particular, the court stipulated that officials were not allowed to ride in carriages or sedan chairs unless they were over 60 years old or had special circumstances such as illness. They could only travel to and from the imperial city on horseback or on foot.

Walking in and out of Chang'an City was extremely inefficient, but riding a horse would increase the cost of buying and raising horses. For some lower-level officials with relatively poor family conditions, it was also a considerable burden, so living near the imperial city became a relatively cost-effective option.

High-quality resources are always scarce, and this is particularly evident in Chang'an. Although the city planning has reached the limit of what can be done in this era, comfortable and well-located houses are still increasingly scarce. Many people can only choose one of the following when choosing a place to live in the city, but even more people cannot choose any of them.

Duke of Liang Xiao Zhao was once a member of the royal family of Southern Liang, and now he serves as prime minister. Naturally, his house is located in the best area in the city, and it is also quite large, directly occupying half of the land in the city. The house is divided into several courtyards in front and back, with more than a hundred houses of various sizes.

Such a huge mansion was more than enough for Xiao Zhao's family to live in. Even with the dormitories for the servants, there were still many empty rooms. After Jiangdong was pacified, many people from Jiangdong went north to Chang'an, either actively or passively. These foreign visitors naturally had no fixed residence in the capital, so they either stayed in inns, or lived in Buddhist temples or Taoist temples, or went to old friends like Xiao Zhao who were also from Jiangdong but had settled in Chang'an for a long time.

Xiao Zhao was in a prominent position and his house was so magnificent that there was an endless stream of people coming to him to seek shelter.

Although Xiao Zhao had limited friendship with most of these people, after all, most of them were dependent on his seventh uncle Xiao Yi, and he and Xiao Yi were in a hostile state. However, these past events have changed with the passage of time, and there is no point in brooding about them. Most of the people from Jiangdong who came to visit him would be treated with some courtesy, so for a while Xiao Zhao's house was crowded with people.

In the east wing of Xiao Zhao's house lived a family who had fled from Jiangdong. They were Wang Chong of the Wang family of Langya and his wife, children and family members.

After the war in Jiangdong was settled, although Chen Chang, the Lord of Chen, and his officials temporarily stayed in Qin County in Jiangbei, the military and political affairs of Jiangdong had been completely taken over by the Tang Dynasty. In addition, the court issued several conscription orders to summon some of the famous people from Jiangdong to Chang'an. Wang Chong himself had an outstanding family background, and he was also the nephew of Emperor Wu of Liang, Xiao Yan, so he was naturally included in the list of conscription by the court. It is unknown whether he was happy to rush north to Chang'an with his family and children.

Wang Chong held a high position in the Southern Chen Dynasty, but naturally he did not enjoy such treatment after coming to Chang'an. Especially now that the court was focusing more on handling the military and political affairs of Jiangdong, they were only given a vain title of Sanzhi for the Jiangdong people who came to Chang'an, and no actual appointment had been made.

Wang Chong's family didn't even have a place to live in Chang'an. If Xiao Zhao hadn't taken them in because of their relationship, their life in Chang'an would have been even more miserable. But living under someone else's roof wasn't a pleasant experience after all. In addition, the disparity in fate made Wang Chong quite sensitive, so he often felt depressed.

On this day, Wang Chong went out to visit a friend. After returning to the courtyard where Xiao Zhao stayed, he frowned and said as soon as he entered the room, "It's so cold in the house. Why don't you light a fire and warm yourself up!"

It was already late autumn, and the weather in Guanzhong was beginning to get colder. This was naturally hard to bear for Wang Chong, who had lived in Jiangdong for a long time, so whenever he stayed at home, he would ask his family to light a fire to keep warm.

However, just as he finished speaking, the family member next to him said with an embarrassed look: "My lord, today the steward of Liang Gong's mansion came to complain that too much firewood and charcoal were used. Heating will have to wait until after the frost falls, and then an additional hour will be provided every ten days."

Wang Chong's face changed slightly when he heard this. He sat in the room for a long time before he stood up and sighed, "I have been bothering you for a long time. I am afraid that we will become enemies if you continue to stay. You can leave now!" He did not have much intention to blame Xiao Zha, but he felt a little sorry for himself. You must know that he has more than 30 sons, plus his slaves, wives, concubines, children and family members. It is a big family of hundreds of people. They have lived in Xiao Zha's house for several months, occupying more houses than the host family. Xiao Zha has not spoken out to drive them away, which can be regarded as doing his utmost.

Although he felt that he should leave tactfully, Wang Chong did not dare to return home directly. Today, he went out to inquire about the news and learned that the cultural relics, ritual vessels, ceremonial processions and other items of the Southern Chen court had been sent to Chang'an. It was said that Chen Chang, the Lord of Chen, would also formally submit to the court at the end of the year, announcing the official end of the Southern Chen dynasty. At that time, they, the people of Jiangdong, would also be sent to the court to be resettled.

At such a time, Wang Chong naturally did not dare to leave Chang'an easily. Not to mention whether he would miss the imperial court's arrangement for conferring titles, he was summoned here by name, but he left Chang'an privately. If he was impeached and reported by the censor, he would inevitably be charged with disobeying orders. At that time, it would not be as simple as just a blow to his self-esteem.

In fact, Wang Chong was not completely ignorant of the situation. His family was a prominent aristocratic family with generations of officials, so naturally they had quite a bit of savings. This time, when his family moved north to Chang'an, they brought a lot of family wealth with them. They planned to settle down in Chang'an, so after arriving in Chang'an, they had been looking for houses.

However, his family was too large, and they had many requirements for the living environment, so the choices were too few, and he had not found a house he liked.

This time, Xiao Zhao's servant had already lost face. Regardless of whether it was the master's instruction, Wang Chong also realized that if he continued to refuse to do so, his relatives might become his enemies.

So he picked out some valuables from the supplies he brought, found an excuse and sent them to the front hall of Xiao Zhao's house. Then he called his son and said seriously, "You must try your best to choose a house and move out within a month. If there is really no better choice, the second best will also do. Chang'an is different from Jiankang. There is no Wuyi Lane for families to live in, but it will be fine as long as it can accommodate me."

"If you don't want to be close to the imperial city, there are several suitable places to live in the south of the city. There are also several places along the Qujiang River in the southeast, where many people from the south of Wu settle down. They are even called Wu'erfang by people in the capital. When I went to the Wannian County Office to inquire a few days ago, I saw several houses for sale. Some of the houses are more than hectares in size, but the price..."

When Wang Chong's son heard his father say this, he quickly responded respectfully.

There are many rules for buying and selling houses in Chang'an City. First of all, only those who are registered in Chang'an can own a house in Chang'an. The government will issue one mu of house land to each adult male if they are registered and pay three years of rent in advance. However, the location of the house land is determined by the government and cannot be freely selected. If the location is not to your liking, you can only buy it.

If a resident wants to sell his house, he must first inform the ward director, who will then announce it to the ward. Only if the residents do not object, will the information be recorded by the two county offices and publicly displayed in the county offices. Therefore, if you want to buy or sell a house in Chang'an, you can go directly to the county office to handle it. If a private transaction is found, both the buyer and the seller will be fined and exiled.

“Price is not an issue, as long as it is done quickly!”

Wang Chong just wanted to move out of Duke Liang's Mansion as soon as possible and didn't care about other issues.

The son nodded in agreement after hearing this, and then hurried to the Wannian County Office to handle the formalities, but soon returned with a dejected look on his face, lowering his head to avoid his father's inquiring gaze, and just said in a hoarse voice: "It's too late for me to leave. Several houses in the south of the city have all been bought..."

After Wang Chong heard this, his face suddenly fell. He didn't bother to scold his son, but hurriedly asked, "Who is the buyer of the house? Can we go visit him to discuss it?"

"I heard it was Wei Ding of the Jingzhao Wei family."

Hearing his son's answer, Wang Chong frowned slightly, "Wei Ding? He used to be an official under the Shaoling King of the Former Liang Dynasty. After the death of Shaoling King, there was no news about him. There was no news of him serving in the Chen Dynasty. How come he came to Chang'an?"

During the Southern Dynasties, the same people came and went. Although Wang Chong had little friendship with Wei Ding, he knew a little about him and his affairs. When he heard that the buyer was Wei Ding, he wanted to visit him and make a request based on their identities as people from Jiangdong. He immediately ordered his son to arrange carriages, horses, and gifts.

He was still thinking that Wei Ding's family had been in decline for a long time, unlike the Wang family of Langya, who had not been at the center of the Jiangdong situation for a long time. This visit might be used to introduce Wei Ding to old acquaintances in Jiangdong, and to persuade them to sell the mansion to him. However, he did not expect that this visit to Wei Ding would give him a huge shock.