Chapter 20 20 Big Loss
After listening to what Old Man Wei said, Wei Guangde knew that the land was hidden land, land that was not registered with the government, which meant that there was no need to pay taxes. Except for a small amount of output given to farmers, the rest belonged to the family.
But now the trouble is here. This thing cannot be exposed because the consequences are serious.
Originally, Wei Guangde should be happy to know that he still had hidden land, but now it has become a capital for others to threaten.
According to his father, this piece of land has been reclaimed for many years. If the land tax is really to be collected, it can only be confiscated, and it may not be resolved. If it is not handled properly, the official position may not be kept. It is no wonder that Old Man Wei hesitated.
"Dad, if the land is sold normally now, how much silver should be per mu?"
"No less than ten taels. After so many years of cultivation, it has long been a cultivated land with good yields."
"More than that, the Jiang family in the town sold a piece of land before, and it is said to be twelve taels of silver."
Wei Wencai spoke at this time.
Although the Wei family had a bad relationship with the gentry in the town, it was precisely because of this that he was more concerned about what was going on there.
He was naturally aware of such a big thing as buying and selling land.
Wei Guangde thought about it in his mind. The other party directly asked someone to come to the door to discuss the sale. It must be certain that this piece of land was hidden land, and the other party must have a strong background, so he would be fearless to lower the price to make a deal.
Wei Guangde quickly figured it out and couldn't resist, so he could only accept it.
Since the other party has a strong background, he is not afraid of the incident being exposed. At most, he will find a way to redeem it after the government confiscates it, and then make some moves to sell it at the price of the land.
Since the other party came directly to the door to discuss the transaction, he naturally had this consideration.
It is estimated that he didn't want to make a big fuss, so he did this. If he could avoid going to the government, he would not go to the government. Then this piece of land would still be hidden land and no tax would be paid.
After all, using the power of the government is not in vain, and it will definitely increase a lot of expenses.
"How many acres is that piece of land? I have the impression that it is very large."
Wei Guangde had never been to the piece of land that Wei Laodi mentioned, but he had an impression of it. His predecessor had been there, and he rode there with his eldest brother.
The only impression was that the piece of land was very large, covering the entire slope of the hillside. There was dry land on the slope and paddy fields below.
"More than one hundred acres."
Wei Wencai said.
One acre of land would lose at least seven taels of silver, and more than one hundred acres would be a thousand taels of silver.
After calculating this number in his mind, Wei Guangde didn't want to ask any more.
At this moment, Wei Wu, who had been sitting on the side without saying anything, said: "Or, I should go back to my mother's house and listen to what my brother thinks."
"You should go back tomorrow and tell him about it, but don't force it. Even if he knows about it, his people should be careful."
Wei Laodi had no other choice at this moment. He knew what was going on by looking at the expressions of his two sons. He had no other choice, so what else could he say.
Fortunately, he was still the official of the centurion, and he had more than a hundred soldiers under his command, so the other party did not come directly to seize the land.
You know, hidden fields are not protected.
To put it bluntly, whoever has the bigger fist owns it.
The other party was willing to pay for it, so it seemed that he should be satisfied, and it was not a waste of time.
"Dad, how about I take people to kill that Taoist priest?"
At this time, Wei Wencai gritted his teeth and said.
But Wei's father waved his hand, "He is just a lobbyist. What's the point of killing him? It will only make enemies."
Wei Guangde naturally would not say anything at this time, although he knew the Taoist priest, would it be useful?
In Jiangxi, those who dared to set their sights on them, the local snakes, must not be easy to mess with.
Although Wei Guangde was not good at studying, he had read a lot of reports and knew how the Ming Dynasty finally perished, and the emperor hanged himself.
The reasons for the fall of the Ming Dynasty were naturally mentioned in those reports, and they were all relatively concentrated, that is, the financial collapse and the court had no money.
The so-called Little Ice Age is easy to deal with, as long as there is money for disaster relief.
The rebellion in the north and the rebellion of the Jianzhou Jurchens outside the Great Wall are easy to deal with, just pay for hired soldiers to fight.
As long as there is money, all the problems of the Ming Dynasty can be solved.
There is nothing in this world that cannot be solved with money.
Money can make the devil push the mill.
One of the reasons for the collapse of the Ming Dynasty's finances was the large amount of hidden fields.
Of course, the main reason is that scholars are unreasonable, because scholars do not pay taxes.
These scholars, in fact, including the official families themselves, also help those talented poor students to take the imperial examinations in material terms through funding, and even help them get the positions they need after the imperial examinations, so that they can gain power in disguise.
They gain power through the imperial examinations, and then gradually control and even monopolize many industries to make huge profits, but they do not have to pay taxes after making money.
Their control is not only in business, but also in land. They acquire and annex land through various means.
It seems that the last years of the dynasty are the same, that is, the big families annex land on a large scale, making people miserable, and the only way out is rebellion.
Rebellion is used to reshuffle the cards, and then the land is dispersed again, and annexed again in the development of the new dynasty.
It is good to have a good reputation, because you don’t have to pay taxes. This is also the reason why Wei Lao threatened Wei Guangde that he would not buy him land if he didn’t pass the imperial examination.
Because you have no fame, the taxes on the land will ruin you, and you will have no choice but to sell the land at a low price.
If you can't even keep your family business, what kind of property can you share with me?
However, now, it seems that my father, who is an official, has also been threatened by people with greater power.
Wei Guangde let out a long sigh and tried to relieve his depressed mood.
Thinking back, Wei Guangde also felt that taking these hundreds of taels of silver was not a bad thing.
It was definitely a loss, and a big loss.
The land in Jiangxi is not better than other places.
In the current Ming Dynasty, Wei Guangde estimated that the land in the north, near the Great Wall, should not be valuable. The Tartars can fight to the capital, and those lands are not the Tartars' pastures.
In addition, the coastal lands in Fujian are not valuable either. Now there is a Japanese invasion. Who knows when a few Japanese pirates will come out.
It's not good in Guangdong and Guangxi, or in Yunnan and Guizhou. Ethnic minorities make trouble from time to time. Although there are many reasons, it is true that the place is not peaceful.
Looking across the country, Jiangxi and Huguang are really the best places, as long as there is no flood.
Wei Guangde guessed that the land prices in Beijing and the Yangtze River Basin should be the highest.
The whole family was in a bad mood that night. Who would feel good about being forced to sell land at a low price?
Wei Guangde had no intention of shooting birds any more. He even did the homework assigned by Master Sun hastily. He really didn't feel like it.