Northern Song Dynasty: Starting from the son of Song Renzong

Chapter 99 Internal Logic
The next day.

The room was filled with people of all kinds.

This is somewhat of a fuss in order to clarify the price issue.

This place is 200 miles away from Kaifeng and close to the Yellow River.

Zhao Xin would never believe it, it's just worth this little.

and……

This is the uppermost part of the lower reaches of the Yellow River.

Even if the Yellow River bursts its banks and floods Kaifeng, it is unlikely to flood here.

then……

After Zhao Xin's questioning, the local official immediately revealed his true colors.

He looks inexplicably nervous, there must be something fishy going on!
In addition, Zhao Xin confessed everything after a little threat.

Normally!

It must be two guan per acre.

but……

If it is collusion between officials and businessmen, then it will definitely be low.

However, Zhao Xin also heard some different voices. For example, the people around Kaifeng don’t like to farm and prefer to escape.

Because if you have a piece of land of your own, it might be a disaster for you, because in that case, you will not only have to pay various taxes, but also have to do corvee labor.

As for corvée labor, people have had to find ways to escape it since ancient times.

For example, during the reign of Emperor Taizong Wen, some people would rather cut off their hands and feet than perform corvee labor.

This is enough to show how terrible this corvee was.

therefore……

If Zhao Xin could look further, for example, to Jingxi Road, a place further southwest, the land price there would be so high that one acre could be purchased for even one hundred wen.

There are vast tracts of wasteland with no one cultivating it.

A very famous person from the Three Kingdoms period once lived there.

Yes!

Zhuge Liang!
I am a commoner, tilling the land in Nanyang. In that area, all the people have fled, and the land is only sold for one hundred coins per mu. The key point is that even at such a low price, no one is willing to buy it.

of course!

It is almost six hundred miles away from Kaifeng.

Zhao Xin also asked Ouyang Xiu and others: "Is what he said true?"

Ouyang Xiu also replied: "The people of our Song Dynasty are indeed fleeing in great numbers."

Zhao Xin asked, "What is the reason? Why don't they want to stay there and flee instead?"

Ouyang Xiu said: "It may be that the taxes and corvée are too heavy."

Zhao Xin said: "It may be because the corruption is too serious."

Taxes and corvée labor service are not terrible, but if they are coupled with corruption, it becomes extremely terrible.

According to the report of the clerk in charge of the auction, originally, the local government and local merchants planned to lower the price of the land worth 15,000 strings of cash to 10,000 strings of cash before selling it.

But who knows...

Suddenly a eunuch appeared and bought it when the price reached 11,000 strings of cash.

and……

When the government learned that it was only 11,000 strings of cash, which was too little, out of guilt, they raised the price to 15,000 strings of cash.

Although Zhao Xin was only five years old, he used his sharp eyes and once he threatened the other party, he immediately revealed all the details.

However, this can only be regarded as hearsay at best, and cannot be regarded as conclusive evidence.

therefore……

Even if Zhao Xin wanted to severely punish someone, it would definitely be impossible.

Du Yan, Ouyang Xiu and others also saw all of this.

Compared to the easily fooled emperor, His Royal Highness the Prince of Yu is really a little harder to fool.

He decided that the land here should be worth two guan.

If it's not worth two kan, there must be something fishy.

If you tell him that this place is close to the Yellow River and that it might burst its banks, he will remain skeptical. Even...

He would also use this to scare the other party, saying, if you say so, I will go to investigate. If the dam has never burst, then the responsibility will be all on you.

Those who were not strong-willed enough were frightened by His Royal Highness Prince Yu and confessed.

of course!

The land here is indeed not as expensive as Zhao Xin imagined.

I feel that at most, if we follow the market price, it would be about five or six hundred coins per mu.

This leads to a very strange phenomenon.

In the Song Dynasty, there might still be some people within 200 miles of Kaifeng, and the fields were almost all occupied.

But if it is more than 200 miles away, within the range of 600 miles, the land is basically sparsely populated and the land is not fully productive.

This is very different from what Zhao Xin imagined, that land would be annexed and the people would all lose their land.

But it seems that there are some things that can be explained.

For example, in later generations, everyone is trying their best to move to big cities because there are more opportunities to make money in big cities.

On the contrary, in rural areas, the land is basically abandoned.

Has our Great Song Dynasty reached this point?
If those landless people could be relocated to Xuchang, Runan and other places, Xuchang, Runan and other places are just 200 and 400 miles away from Kaifeng.

How many exiled people can be accommodated here?

Or……

The situation in our Song Dynasty is not that bad. It's just that once the common people go to the cities to work, who would be willing to work hard on the land?

Just think about it, Wu Dalang, who sold sesame cakes, could marry Pan Jinlian. Do you have a future if you farm?

And the key is...

If you move to a big city and become a landless client, you may not even have to perform corvée labor.

Yes! You just need to pay the business tax!

All the corvée labor was handed over to the soldiers living around the big cities.

Seeing that there was still so much vacant land in the Song Dynasty, Zhao Xin felt much more relieved.

And it’s only one hundred coins per mu, which is quite worth it.

of course!

As I said, it’s not that the people of the Song Dynasty didn’t want to farm, but the taxes were too high and the corvee labor was too heavy.

If you choose farming as a career, it is basically equivalent to waiting for death.

From now on, all the hard and dirty work, heavy taxes and levies, as well as the exploitation of some officials, will fall on your head.

Zhao Xin has also been thinking hard about how to save the country recently.

Taxes are too high and corvee labor is too heavy, so can we reduce them a little?

The interests of vested interests cannot be touched.

So it definitely won’t work!
But there is one thing...

Zhao Xin might be able to do it.

That is, he bought up the entire Song Dynasty bit by bit. Under his protection, all the land was his land, and the people were his people. He could decide how much tax to impose on the people and how much corvee labor they should perform!

Other households collect at least half of the tax, but if Zhao Xin said he only collected 20%, it would be a great benefit to the people.

Next, Zhao Xin took people to inspect the surrounding environment.

A mill has been built in the river, and the supporting facilities are relatively complete.

There will be no situation where there is no place to process grains after they are harvested.

only……

If I wanted to build some water-powered facilities, I would probably have to demolish some of the mills.

After all, a river has only so much 'power'.

Du Yan, Ouyang Xiu and others followed behind Zhao Xin when he was inspecting.

No one knew what Zhao Xin was thinking at this moment.

Do not!
Rather, they didn't even know what the purpose of their trip was.

Is it for state affairs, or just to accompany His Royal Highness Prince Yu to visit this manor?

(End of this chapter)