The Hidden Immortal Chapter 26: Buying Shops

Over a month later.

Li Shoutian, Chu Xun, Zhang Anxiu, and the Zhang Sanchun couple brought the child to Pingshui Town.

The once fairly bustling town was now completely desolate.

The Lin family had been executed along with their nine familial exterminations, and their family property was confiscated, which implicated and affected the livelihood of the town.

The shops near the Lin family's old residence, which used to be bought and sold for tens of thousands of taels of silver, now had absolutely no one asking about them.

It was said that the last person to take over was also arrested and interrogated for having business dealings with the Lin family, and I'm afraid he won't be coming back.

Whether this shop was confiscated or not, there was still no news to this day.

As for the other shops, their prices fell like a waterfall.

From the initial thousands of taels, to hundreds of taels, and now to the present.

A shop about ten feet deep only cost forty taels.

A large shop thirty feet deep cost less than a hundred taels!

However, no matter how cheap the price was, there were very few people coming to buy.

After all, the forr Pingshui Town was mainly populated by the Lin clan mbers. Now that they were taken away, the population instantly decreased by more than half.

Although Pingshui Town was not a rich and fertile land, there were many refugees passing through here.

Perhaps seeing that the town was quiet and had many houses that were nominally confiscated and uninhabited, they stayed here.

Walking along the way, they only saw a large number of sallow, emaciated, and skin-and-bones refugees kneeling on the ground begging.

But in the entire Pingshui Town, there were more people begging than those maintaining a normal livelihood. Where could they beg for money?

Many people were so hungry that they went out to look for wild grass and gnaw on tree bark.

In the cold winter months, even wild grass was hard to find, which made the snakes, insects, rats, and ants in the town suffer a disaster.

Once discovered, there would definitely be a large group of people scrambling for them.

Looking at the refugees who were dizzy from hunger and had lifeless eyes, Zhang Anxiu couldn't bear it.

But she didn't have any good solutions either. Her family only had over three acres of farmland, which had to be used to maintain her eldest brother's family's livelihood.

Although she ate and drank with Chu Xun, Chu Xun's silver wasn't blown in by the wind.

Forty-seven acres of land could earn two hundred taels of silver a year.

Over the years, he had accumulated quite a lot, but wanting to relieve these refugees was tantamount to a drop in the bucket.

The newly appointed County Magistrate was this year's Second-Place Scholar and had quite a lot of ambition.

A month ago, he gathered all the Village Honored Guests and Village Chiefs from the surrounding ten miles and eight villages together and held a banquet.

There were no good dishes, just a bowl of tofu, a bowl of pickled vegetables, and half a bowl of clear porridge.

This young County Magistrate nad Tang Shijun substituted clear porridge for wine and spoke loudly and clearly.

"Zhangnan County is now waiting to be rebuilt from ruins, and I have to rely on everyone's hard work. Each village should be led by the Village Chief and Village Honored Guests to maintain a good livelihood."

"In addition, Pingshui Town has many confiscated assets. This official has already morialized the Ministry of Revenue to sell these assets and then return the funds to the state treasury."

"But there has always been no one asking about them. I ask everyone to generously open your purses to repay the state's grace!"

The words sounded nice, but in reality, it was asking people to take out silver to buy the Lin family's confiscated assets.

Farmland was sowhat better; it could be rented to tenant farrs.

Houses, however, were dead objects. It was useless for the imperial court to take them; they had to be converted into silver.

However, in order to stimulate everyone's enthusiasm, Tang Shijun still gave so benefits.

For buying houses and shops, ten taels of silver could be exchanged for the qualification to buy one acre of fertile farmland, with no upper limit.

The only condition was that the newly bought land must be handed over to tenant farrs to rent and cultivate, and could not be taken back for at least six years.

Although Tang Shijun didn't spell it out explicitly, who among the crowd dared not to give the new County Magistrate so face?

In case he was angered, and he gave you the 'three fires of a new official taking office', you wouldn't be able to bear the consequences.

Moreover, being able to buy fertile farmland after buying a shop wasn't considered too much of a loss.

Food is the paramount necessity of the people. As long as one had farmland in hand, they could earn it back sooner or later.

Today, Chu Xun was with Li Shoutian to look for so shops to buy.

The refugees emitted a sour, slly, and moldy odor that stung people's eyes.

Li Shoutian couldn't help but cover his nose and said, "Why didn't the County Magistrate drive them away?"

Throughout the ages, what every official feared the most was the gathering of refugees.

If not handled well, it would trigger a riot, which was a thankless task.

But Tang Shijun had no intention of driving the refugees away, and even sowhat allowed them to inhabit here.

Chu Xun said, "Our County Magistrate is indeed extraordinary. His long-term vision is beyond the reach of ordinary people."

Lin Qiaoxi was also covering her nose. Hearing these words, she looked over and asked, "Why does Little Uncle say this?"

Chu Xun answered, "The sharp decrease in Pingshui Town's population is one of the root causes why houses and shops have no one asking about them. Although these refugees have no worldly possessions, they themselves can be used to supplent the population."

"If we rent them an acre of farmland, or have them work as shop assistants, or serve as servants for wealthy households, they can maintain basic food and clothing."

"Once the population is replenished and accumulates over the years, in a few years, there will be hope for this place to prosper. This is called the demographic dividend."

"So the reason the County Magistrate said the newly bought farmland must be rented to others to cultivate for more than six years is exactly this. He wants to keep these refugees and transform them into a driving force for the developnt of Pingshui Town, and even the entire Zhangnan County!"

The few of them listened in a daze. Demographic dividend?

It was their first ti hearing this term.

After careful consideration, they all felt that the theory Chu Xun spoke of seed to make so sense.

Lin Qiaoxi asked in surprise, "Little Uncle doesn't seem to have attended a private school, how could you know such principles? You can even figure out the County Magistrate's thoughts clearly."

Before Chu Xun could speak, Zhang Anxiu had already raised her head and said proudly, "Our Brother Xun has always been very smart. Even without attending a private school, he is no worse than a scholar!"

"Our family?" Hearing this, Lin Qiaoxi covered her mouth and chuckled lightly, "When did Little Uncle beco a mber of our family? Could it be that Little Sister-in-law conferred it upon him?"

Zhang Anxiu reacted and imdiately felt her face grow hot, but she didn't refute it, only looking eagerly at Chu Xun.

She had a stubborn personality and was very bold.

If it weren't for Chu Xun closing his bedroom door every day when he slept, she might have even taken the initiative to slip into his bed and cook the raw rice into cooked rice.

Chu Xun coughed and said, "It was just a casual remark, no need to take it seriously. Let's first find a few suitable shops."

This ti buying shops was mainly centered around Chu Xun.

Although Li Shoutian was the Village Chief, he didn't have much silver. He only planned to take out thirty taels to buy a small shop about ten feet deep.

This way, he could buy three more acres of farmland.

As for Chu Xun, he planned to spend at least five hundred taels.

This almost accounted for forty percent of the silver he had accumulated over the years. The remaining silver was naturally to be used to buy farmland, or for shop renovations and daily needs.

Learning that Chu Xun could take out so much silver, everyone felt surprised, but not unexpected.

After all, with forty-seven acres of fertile farmland in hand, although it had rained more in recent years, it had hardly affected Chu Xun's harvest.

Just from these farm properties alone, he could harvest over two hundred taels a year.

Coupled with the fact that he would "pick up" so good things in the woods when he had nothing to do, selling them to subsidize household expenses was also a considerable windfall.

Although he felt that the demographic dividend Chu Xun spoke of made sense, Li Shoutian still advised him to buy fewer shops.

After all, refugees were refugees; there were hardworking ones, and there were also lazy ones who loved to eat but hated to work.

Counting on these people to develop and expand Pingshui Town and even Zhangnan County, who knows how much ti and energy it would take.

If he really wanted to buy shops, it wouldn't be too late to buy when he saw signs of improvent.

However, Chu Xun didn't listen to the advice. Li Shoutian was worried that the ti would be too long and the gains wouldn't make up for the losses.

But for Chu Xun, ti was the thing he lacked the least.

As long as he didn't actively seek death, he could live for a very, very long ti.

Under such a premise, naturally, the earlier he bought, the less he spent, and the more cost-effective it would be.

[End of Chapter]