Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 271 Government Control of Capital
"Have you heard that Ge Laocai's family has added three rooms, and their walls are all coated with cement. Wow!" Xue Jin, a hundred-year-old from Guangzhou Prefecture, said to his good friend Horn in a tea stall in the wild.

"Of course I heard about it. My eldest brother came back and said that the government said that even if cement and bricks were used on one's own land, the road in front of the house, and the dam, double compensation must be paid. Now the government has money, and because the emperor is in charge in Guangdong, the officials under him dare not be too bad to the people! That's why they are so generous. By the way, have you built a house?" Horn also took over the conversation.

"I just borrowed money to build a house, and I'll wait for compensation from the government when the time comes. We common people can't beat the government anyway, and we have to move anyway. More compensation is naturally good!" Xue Jin replied with a smile.

"Yes, I plan to go to my uncle's house in the neighboring village to borrow some more silver dollars, cover the land at home with cement, and plant more trees. After all, the government notice says that the trees must be compensated." Horn said

……

Villagers in the entire Guangzhou Port relocation area started discussing the matter after dinner.

Even some big clans began to pay attention to this matter.

Shi Bangzhu, who lived in the area to be relocated to Guangzhou Prefecture, also heard that the government was going to build Guangzhou Port and his village was going to be demolished. However, as he was a concubine of the Shi family, he naturally had no say in whether to build additional houses or not.

What's more, if the clan does not agree, he, as a concubine, does not have the financial resources to do so.

But at this time, Shi Juren, the eldest son of the direct line, personally called Shi Bangzhu over and said, "Fifth brother, the clan has heard that your family has many people and that you have a hard time making a living and have no money to build a new house. I have discussed with several elders in the clan and decided to gather the clan members to help you build a house on your land. However, half of the compensation you receive in the future must go to the clan as clan property. Are you willing?"

When Shi Bangzhu thought about how his family was poor, how they made a living by doing hard labor at the dock, and how they lived in a straw hut, which was not worth much, he thought that even if he gave half of the compensation to the clan, it would still be a good deal for him, so he agreed.

Therefore, the Shi clan prepared to use the whole clan's strength to help Shi Bangzhu and other poor illegitimate members of the clan build cement brick and tile houses.

Soon, Kuang Zhou, a local squire in Guangzhou who had served as a county magistrate, found Mr. Shi and said, "My friend Shi, I heard that your clan is building a large house. Although I am not so lucky as to own land in this area, you have to use our cement and bricks, so I will certainly not fail to benefit you."

"Please forgive me, Mr. Kuang. I have already promised my wife's family, Luo Hanlin, to use their cement bricks and tiles."

Mr. Shi said apologetically.

……

This phenomenon continues to occur in the Guangzhou area.

The common people built houses, and the gentry took the opportunity to open factories and workshops to make money.

And because of this.

Soon.

The gentry and common people in the Guangzhou area have no spare money.

The gentry with middle and upper incomes used the money to buy government bonds or open factories.

The middle and lower income people used the money to build houses.

Even the poorest people, with the help of their clans, spent the meager income they earned every day.

Almost all private capital was transformed into bricks, tiles, cement, furniture, and two ounces of freshly cut pork and half a basket of fresh fish in the hands of the workers.

……

About half a year later, almost all private capital had been transferred to industries such as cement, bricks and tiles, and wood processing, and the provincial governors of Guangdong and Guangxi also began to issue decrees to calculate the total amount of demolition funds needed.

Yun Lizheng from Sanhe Village came to the home of fisherman Lin Fu with account books and writing materials and asked Lin Fu directly: "Old man Lin, how many cement brick houses, how many trees, how many boats, how many people, and how many acres of land do you have?"

"Go back to the village head. My family has only a cement brick house, three trees, a boat, and three people! Five acres of land, three acres of land!" Lin Fu replied.

"Nonsense, you clearly have two and a half rooms. Let me measure for you. You have four trees, right? No, six. These two saplings count as one. You have three boats, one for each person. You have three or four chickens and ducks, so fill in five for each."

As he was talking here, he began to measure, and then wrote in his account book: "Head of Sanhe Village: Lin Fu, three cement brick and tile houses, a total of 20 feet and 7 square meters, eight trees within 100 meters of the house, four boats, seven chickens, six ducks, four people in the family, three adults and one person! Seven acres of farmland, six acres of land."

Just as he finished writing here, he said, "Old Man Lin, look, is this the number? Don't report less. It's okay to report more. Don't let yourself suffer a loss. The government will pay for it anyway. If it is, just put your fingerprint on it."

Lin Fu had not dared to cheat, but after hearing the village head's reminder, he said hurriedly, "It seems that my family still has more than half an acre of mountain land. I was planning to plant some, but I can't afford it."

"How could you forget this? I saw that your mountain land is not just half an acre. It's clearly top-quality dry land, a full two acres!" After he said this, he added three acres to the account book and asked Lin Fu to confirm.

Lin Fu was illiterate, but because he knew that he had benefited from the care of the village head, he happily stamped his handprint: "Thank you, village head. Why don't you eat tonight before leaving? I can just let my wife catch you some fish!"

"No, I have to go to another place. The higher-ups are urging me to register! I have to finish the registration quickly." He said this and left.

A few days later, the real account book arrived in the hands of Tai Dianli of Guangzhou Prefecture: "Master Dianli, this is the account book of Sanhe Village, please take a look!"

Tai Dianli nodded and said nothing more. As soon as the local official left, he handed the local official's account book to his subordinate clerk and said, "As usual, immediately make a new account book based on the records here, and double the number of people, fields and houses!"

……

Under the manipulation of the common people and clerks, the demolition compensation for the entire Guangzhou Port construction area increased again and again.

Because of this.

Although everyone had lost their money, they lived with more hope than before and were looking forward to getting more money from the government.

And this time.

Guangdong Left Governor Zhang Run and Guangzhou Prefect Yao Long and other officials approached Zhu Houzhao and said, "Your Majesty, the compensation for the demolition has come out, but the amount is not small. The more than 4 million silver dollars raised from the sale of government bonds is not enough to pay for the demolition."

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, it is all due to the false reports made by the cunning clerks. The court treats the people with good policies, but the people are ungrateful and only care about the benefits of the government! In my opinion, it is better not to ask how many houses and fields the family has, but just compensate each household with a certain amount of silver dollars!"

At this time, the Inspector Liang Zhi couldn't help but speak.

Zhu Houzhao said, "It is human nature to be profit-seeking. Clerks will naturally do so when they get this opportunity. You are all well-read people, so you should understand that the evil of clerks has a long history and cannot be dealt with severely at once. We can slowly settle the accounts in autumn. But we should not throw the baby out with the bathwater and compensate everyone regardless of their wealth. That will only be detrimental to both the rich and the poor. Besides, the money of the government comes from the people, so it is okay to use it for the people."

"Besides, although many of these numbers are false, as long as they are not too excessive, we should accept them as such. What is certain is that even if the clerks are cunning and the officials cover up, even the poorest people will benefit. In this way, they will not resent the government for moving, but will feel guilty or even grateful to the government, thinking that the government is good, and there will be no civil unrest, which will make it easier for the government to do anything in the future!"

"In addition, I have also said that only by doing this can the government benefit the people and avoid a widening gap between the rich and the poor and deepening public resentment. As for the money from the unruly people and the clerks, the government will naturally have a way to recover it! The clerks and corrupt officials who have committed serious crimes must be dealt with severely!"

Zhu Houzhao decisively ordered: "Pay full compensation! If the money is not enough, ask the Royal Bank for a loan! Use the tax silver from the future opening of new routes as collateral!"

"We obey your order!" replied the officials from Guangdong and Guangxi.

At this time, Zhu Houzhao said, "Before the demolition funds are issued, the high-end residential area in Xinjian Port must also start construction. The number of houses should not be too large, just a few more than the number of houses to be demolished."

then.

Not long after, when October arrived, a number of magnificent houses were built on a piece of government land near Guangzhou Port. All of them were made of cement inside and ceramic tiles outside, with courtyards equipped with pavilions, towers, flowers, plants and trees. In addition, famous doctors and gentlemen in Guangzhou were moved here to open clinics and schools, and the place was even named Jieyuanfang.

"Have you heard that the big square opposite was built by the prefectural governor to improve the image of Guangzhou City and compare it with Yangzhou Prefecture and Chengdu Prefecture. So the mansion left by a former Pingzhang was specially rebuilt into Jieyuan Square. It is a Feng Shui treasure land, and a geomancer was specially invited to calculate it. Therefore, the prefectural governor decided to build Jieyuan Square here to allow more people to settle there. He said that he wanted to produce more outstanding people in Guangzhou, and specially invited the only Jieyuan Gong in Guangzhou Prefecture, Mr. Lei, to open a school there. A total of three masters who were Jinshi graduates in Guangzhou Prefecture also moved there;

I heard that the prefectural governor issued a notice that all the people in Guangzhou can buy houses and become owners of Jieyuanfang. The name of owner is new, but Liu Xiucai, who bought a house and moved in, said that there is a property management company that provides running water and protects your home. If there is anything broken in your home, you can ask the property management company to repair it for you. Being an owner here is like being an official!"

"There is such a good place to live? There is a clinic run by a famous doctor, so you don't have to worry about seeing a doctor. There is a school run by a top scholar, so you don't have to worry about studying. There are also guards? So you don't have to worry about pirates coming to make trouble. Can common people like us really live in such a place?"

"It's true. Liao Mazi, an oil seller from the neighboring village, moved in and became a neighbor of Master Jieyuan. Now his children are attending Master Jieyuan's school. They say it was arranged by the government. The school opened by Master Jieyuan is a government-run school, and all the children in Jieyuanfang are arranged to study there."

"A place like this isn't cheap, is it?"

"Of course. A square meter of land would cost two hundred silver dollars, and a whole yard would cost tens of thousands of silver dollars! Of course, there are small houses, but they also cost thousands of silver dollars! And you have to pay one silver dollar every month, which is called property management fee!"

"One silver dollar is not much. I can work at the dock for a few days and then come back. But this house is too expensive. Even if I get the compensation, I will have to spend all of it to buy it!"

"If we can buy it, we'll buy it. When this house is demolished, we'll have to move somewhere else, but we won't have anywhere to live, and we'll have to leave our hometown. It's better to stay here. It's close to home and convenient for working at the docks. Anyway, we'll live like an official, so we won't suffer any loss!

There are other benefits too. Liao Mazi, the oil seller, now has many customers who come to buy his oil every day because he lives in Jieyuanfang. They often buy several kilograms at a time. Liao Mazi has doubled the size of his oil-pressing workshop and is now making more money than before!"

(End of this chapter)