From a humble farmer to a great martial arts master

Chapter 137, Give It Here

"Where is Lord Lei's ancestral home?"

In the main hall of the backyard, after taking their seats, Ren Qingshan clinked glasses with him—the fourth-rank prefect voluntarily lowered the rim of his cup by three inches.

"Mr. Lei's ancestral home is Changshe Island overseas. Many years ago, he went to Beijing with his father to do business. Now he is 47 years old and has never been back. The journey is just too far."

overseas?

Ren Qingshan now knew the source of his ugliness: he was probably mixed-race, but not the mixed-race kind.

"What kind of scenery is there overseas?"

After picking up a piece of food with his chopsticks, Ren Qingshan casually asked with a smile, "The territory of this world is similar to that of my previous life, only much larger—at least that's what I know so far."

"What scenery is there?"

"These are all barren mountains and wilderness; how can they compare to the vast and abundant land of my Great Zhou?"

"When I was young, a wildfire broke out on the island, and half of the island sank. My family and I fled. Fortunately, we were registered in the Great Zhou Dynasty. When my father had some wealth, we changed our registration to the capital. However, my appearance is typical of a southerner and I can't change it. Strangely enough, my son is no different from a person from the capital."

Lei Nanchen smiled as he explained the background, but there was a hint of pride in being from the capital.

This was a kind of fanaticism among converts. Ren Qingshan smiled and echoed him for a couple of minutes, then chatted with him about other things before getting to the point: "Lord Lei should know that I own a rice shop."

"Originally, we had pledged 800,000 taels of silver and hundreds of thousands of catties of grain. But once we arrived in Qinghe Prefecture, right under the Crown Prince's nose, we had no choice but to donate them. What could we do? He's the Crown Prince, after all."

"The Crown Prince doesn't understand business. Thanks to my earnest persuasion, the situation this winter has temporarily stabilized. However, the food problem in the northern border will affect at least three years. Those abandoned dry lands, next year's seedlings, and next autumn's harvest—all these are problems. Moreover, as the old saying goes, extreme drought is followed by locust plagues."

Upon hearing this...

Lei Nanchen frowned deeply and sighed, "Yes, that's exactly what I'm worried about. Mr. Ren, do you have a brilliant plan?"

'

"Not at the moment."

"I need to stockpile a batch of land. After careful consideration, I estimate it will require about 200,000 mu."

"Yanshan Prefecture is a major transportation hub, which is suitable, but I don't have enough money on hand right now. I need to pay in installments over two years—how many more years is left in Lord Lei's term?"

With my own reputation, paying in installments is definitely not a problem.

It mainly depends on Lei Nanchen's term of office.

"I just took office this year, what a coincidence—I wonder, Mr. Ren, what is the purpose of wanting these 200,000 mu of land?"

This was a little different from what he had expected: he had thought that Ren Qingshan would offer all his brilliant plans, just like in Qinghe Prefecture, but unexpectedly, he wanted the land first.

When dining in Qinghe Prefecture, let Yanshan Prefecture pay the bill!

However, Ren Qingshan didn't take it for free; there was just an expiration date—otherwise, he wouldn't have come to Yanshan Prefecture.

Although he was slightly unhappy, Lei Chennan still had a smile on his face.

Cooperation is still possible.

"It has three uses."

"First, we need to resume cultivation and select superior varieties, drought-resistant ones. Yes, I only want dry land, not paddy fields for now."

"Secondly, we should study locusts and find ways to eradicate them."

"Third, the martial arts tournament is about to begin. Lord Lei has already been to Qinghe Prefecture, so he knows how big the scale of this tournament is. Yanshan is the first stop for martial artists coming to the Northern Territory. Although their purpose is the martial arts tournament, they will definitely have to stay in Yanshan Prefecture. I want to build a Happy Forest Martial Arts Village to provide free food and lodging for martial artists. In addition, I will open weapon shops, medicine shops, martial arts schools, gambling dens, brothels, and taverns. As long as it is managed properly, in the future, the money will flow in like water."

Ren Qingshan boasted and bragged, concealing his true intentions very well.

It's not entirely bragging, actually.

This is indeed a good business.

Such a thing certainly doesn't exist in the Great Zhou right now. Even if there are a few places that do exist, they are not significant and often rely heavily on the reputation of top martial artists.

at this time.

Lei Nanchen's eyes gradually lit up as he listened to these words.

Coming from a merchant family, he quickly figured out the ingenuity of this method. By gathering a group of martial artists and providing them with everything they needed, he could make a fortune every day. As long as the martial arts tournament existed, Happy Forest would never be without business.

As for reclaiming land and eliminating pests, these are legitimate purposes.

With these two points in mind, even if the Crown Prince investigates, it would be perfectly plausible.

"Mr. Ren, isn't 200,000 mu a bit too much?"

"The entire Yanshan region has only about 43 million mu of fertile land. Giving away so much at once puts a tremendous burden on even me."

Lei Nanchen instinctively tried to bargain, and said with a wry smile.

Ren Qingshan leaned back tactically and shrugged.

"Then there's nothing to talk about."

"I'm paying the market price, it's not like I'm not paying at all, so why are you so upset?"

"Besides, I'm sure Qinghe would be willing to do this. I just don't want to appear despicable. Otherwise, if I really had to swallow my pride and ask the Crown Prince for 200,000 mu of land, would he refuse?"

Lei Tutu, stop struggling—give it to me!

In the following days.

Ren Qingshan, under the leadership of Lei Nanchen, then conducted a survey of the entire Yanshan area.

Lei Nanchen hadn't fully agreed to the 200,000 mu of land yet, only saying that Ren Qingshan should take a look at the land first and carefully select one.

The Great Zhou Dynasty has lasted for eighty years, spanning three generations.

However, land consolidation has become a very serious problem.

The Yanshan Mountains are an important area in the northern border region.

Various princes and nobles of the capital, high-ranking military officials, retired senior officials, local powerful families and wealthy households, as well as the garrison troops bestowed by the imperial court,

The officials and soldiers of the Demon Suppression Division, numbering in the thousands, hundreds, and tens, almost completely divided up the land in the entire prefecture.

There are very few self-sufficient farmers; the vast majority are tenant farmers.

Fortunately, the land tax was levied based on the land area, which was equivalent to apportioning labor costs to the acreage; otherwise, the annual grain tax might not have been collected in full.

Moreover, due to the severe drought, many dry lands yielded no harvest, and a considerable number of tenant farmers abandoned their land. As the burden spread, many wealthy households were also selling off their land to avoid losses from paying taxes, driving prices down to extremely low levels.

Knowing these things

Ren Qingshan suddenly realized something else—Feng Jingxian's letter!

Not just for providing relief to Qinghe Prefecture!

To bypass Yanshan Prefecture!

If I had inquired about these matters when I came to Yanshan Prefecture, I probably wouldn't have gone to Qinghe Prefecture.

After thinking these things through —

Ren Qingshan clearly sensed Feng Jingxian's subtle and complex malice; the veteran had already calculated everything perfectly.

Veteran Yifeng, do you think you're very clever?

of course.

His own 800,000 taels of silver were also borrowed from the Feng family.

If it weren't for those 800,000 taels, we would have really suffered a huge loss!

Nowadays, it can only be considered a draw, with Homo sapiens sabotaging each other.

Damn it!

Fortunately, Feng Jianqin sided with outsiders!

Eight days later.

The Yanshan Prefecture government office.

Ren Qingshan and Lei Nanchen signed a thick document at the prefectural government office.

A total of 200,000 mu of dry land was acquired, valued at 480,000 taels of silver.

It can be paid in two installments, using silver and grain, with no interest.

The debt was settled in five installments.

For the next two years, 20% will be paid each time, in the spring and in the winter.

-

The remaining 20% ​​will be used to offset the debt once the Happy Forest shop is opened.

Lei Nanchen is undeniably meticulous and shrewd in his work.

Even so, it was perfectly acceptable to Ren Qingshan.

Empty glove white wolf.

That's enough for me to reach the ninth level of innate refinement!