Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 83 Anxious

Xie Yuyan did not respond to Liu Zhi's question, only showing a faint smile on her face.

These two plots of land are located on the back mountain of Baode Temple, and belong to the South City along with Yong'anfang. After Sanhe Village moved here, it also settled outside the South City. People had to enter and exit through the South City to travel to and from Luozhou. After taking over Yong'anfang, the next step was the South City.

"Let's go to Sanhe Village."

After Xie Yuyan left the teahouse, he saw several more soldiers running towards the market.

"A spoonful fills a whole bowl, much more satisfying than a banquet that costs fifty coins per person."

"You won't get to enjoy a good feast either."

"You can eat it?"

The group chatted and laughed as they walked inside with great enthusiasm.

There were also women carrying small urns, filling them with water for washing their faces, and taking them home.

Xie Yuyan looked at the lively atmosphere and boarded the carriage with a smile.

The carriage traveled westward, and not far from the west gate was Sanhe Village.

Several men stood guard at the village entrance. Upon seeing Xie Yuyan arrive, they immediately went back to report the news, and soon the villagers came out to greet him. Such a large entourage quickly attracted the attention of people from the surrounding villages.

A moment later, Fang Fangzheng and the village head of Sanhe Village arrived.

Fang Fangzheng smiled and said, "Today is an important day. Since the government documents have been prepared, we will act as witnesses."

The village head nodded in agreement.

The two only found out this morning that Xie Yuyan had actually bought land in Sanhe Village. The land buyer and seller set their own price, but the price exceeded that of ordinary land in Daming Prefecture. Not only that, Xie Yuyan also purchased land outside the South City to relocate the villagers of Sanhe Village.

“That’s quite a lot of money,” the village head said. “It’s all thanks to a buyer like Madam Xie.”

The discovery of mineral deposits in the ground is not a good thing for ordinary people.

There are countless cases of people having their land seized under various pretexts. People who own such land are unable to mine it and still have to pay taxes. Helpless, they can only sell their land at a low price, and some even simply flee their hometowns and become vagrants.

Therefore, it was truly an incredible stroke of luck for Sanhe Village to meet Madam Xie.

In exchange for a piece of land in Sanhe Village, which is about the same size, the villagers will not be at a disadvantage. In addition, the villagers will receive some money from the sale of the land, which they can use to build a new house outside the south city after spring planting.

How can anyone not be envious of such a wonderful thing?
"Why don't you come and take a look at our village, madam? Maybe we have some mineral deposits there too."

"Yes, the fields in our village are not easy to cultivate either; there must be something underground."

Before Xie Yuyan could speak, the people from Sanhe Village exposed him, saying, "Lai Si, the reason your fields aren't growing crops isn't because there are any mineral deposits in the ground, but because you forgot to sow the seeds."

“He didn’t forget to sow the seeds; he didn’t even buy any! I think you’re just trying to scam us into moving into the new house.”

Amidst laughter and conversation, the news of the land sale in Sanhe Village spread quickly.

So much so that before Xie Yuyan even left Sanhe Village, several villagers were already standing at the village entrance, holding coal in their hands, asking Xie Yuyan to go into the village and see if there were any mineral deposits.

Madam Yu, accompanied by the steward, responded to the crowd: "My mistress will send someone to investigate. If there is indeed coal, we will discuss the price separately."

Even with such persuasion, some people still followed the Yang family's carriages into Yong'an Ward. Before long, the entire Daming Prefecture would know that Madam Yang and Madam Xie had been fair in buying the land.

……

"She did this on purpose."

Before Xie Chongjun could speak upon hearing the news, Xie Chonghai, the second master of the Xie family, had already spoken.

Xie Chongjun was genuinely surprised that Xie Yuyan would buy land in Sanhe Village. Xie Chonghai said, "We just found out that Sanhe Village is full of coal mines."

Xie Chongjun looked at his second brother: "Are you sure it's true?"

Xie Chonghai was also furious, feeling that he had been tricked by the Xie family: "I have found the mine owner of that mine outside Sanhe Village. If you don't believe me, ask him!"

As soon as Xie Chonghai finished speaking, two servants helped a middle-aged man into the room.

Upon seeing the man's condition, Xie Chongjun frowned: "Why has it turned out like this?"

The merchant was placed on a chair by his servants, but because of the wound on his buttocks, he dared not sit down. He could only lean back and keep wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.

Xie Chonghai replied on behalf of the merchant: "He instigated the villagers to harm others, was flogged by the yamen, and almost lost his life."

The merchant seemed to have lost his soul; his face was deathly pale. It took him a long time to regain his composure and he stammered out the whole story.

When the villagers of Sanhe discovered mineral deposits while reclaiming land, he received the news and colluded with the clerks of the government office to buy the land and hire the villagers of Sanhe to mine for him.

It was also during the mining that an even larger deposit was discovered in the village.

Buying all the land in the village was too expensive, so he came up with a plan: to lure the villagers into mining illegally, causing the land to collapse. In that case, everyone in Sanhe Village would die, and the land would be taken back by the imperial court. He would then spend some money to bribe officials and buy the land.

"Not many people are willing to use coal, and it doesn't fetch a good price, otherwise I wouldn't have come up with this idea."

"If I had known that crushed coal could be made into lotus root charcoal and sold, I would have bought it that day and resold it for a good price."

Now, not only have they not made any money, but they've also been beaten half to death, and the land they fraudulently acquired has been awarded to Sanhe Village.

The merchant was filled with deep regret.

"You sent people to investigate in the village? How much coal is beneath that village?"

The merchant held out his hand: "There are so many. We dug less than nine feet and found the mineral layer. We dug several holes and found the same thing."

Hearing the merchant's words, Xie Chongjun wished he could strangle him. Since the mineral deposits had already been discovered, why create unnecessary trouble? Otherwise, how could the Xie family have gotten their hands on them?

Now that the land is in Xie's hands, it's all too late.

The servants led the merchant away.

Xie Chonghai said in a deep voice, "I heard before that Xie Yuyan's lotus root charcoal was made from crushed coal paid by the mine owner to Sanhe Village. I thought that if I found the mine owner and ordered him not to sell coal to the Xie family, I could completely cut off the Xie family's coal supply. Even if I couldn't find the mine owner, the small mine wouldn't last long."

"Unexpectedly, the real mineral deposits were located in the village. The Xie family and the villagers of Sanhe Village had already secretly drafted a document..."

Xie Chonghai shook his head: "With the Xie family stirring things up like this, those who found coal in the land won't easily sell their land. Brother, we might have to think of another way."

Xie Chongjun couldn't tolerate Xie Shi for even a moment: "That woman is cunning. If we really let her go this time and let her do business, it will be even more difficult to take action against her next time."

Xie Chonghai frowned: "Then what should we do?"

Xie Chongjun stood up and paced around the room. He hadn't intended to use those people, but now it seemed he had no choice.

"Send a prospector from the west," Xie Chongjun said. "I want him to investigate carefully whether there really is coal underground in Sanhe Village."

"Besides Sanhe Village, are there any other coal mines in Daming Prefecture?"

Xie Chonghai's eyes flickered: "But Zhou Jinglue instructed that we cannot use those people at this time, lest He Tan find out."

Xie Chongjun's expression was firm: "I only need one person to survey the mine. Unless he is a god who can predict the future, it is absolutely impossible for him to find out anything."

(End of this chapter)