A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 86 Princess House

Early in the morning,

Li Yi was looking at houses.

The broker first took him to Pingkangfang in Dongcheng. Li Yi was determined to buy a house in Chang'an. He had a lot of cash on hand, and the housing prices in Chang'an happened to be very low, so it was a good time to buy at the bottom.

Li Yi also specially brought Ji and Wang Dalang to look at the house together. Ji was the daughter of a famous family, and Wang Dalang was a money-grabber, so they were both more experienced than him.

"You can't go wrong buying a house in Pingkangfang. It's the most lively place in Chang'an. The terrain is high and open, and the scenery is beautiful."

Chang'an City is very large, but it is not completely flat. When the Sui Dynasty built Daxing City, the six east-west loess ridges were not leveled, but were laid out according to the six lines of the hexagram to form a Qian hexagram.
The yang lines are nine, from the first nine to the ninth five and the ninth nine.

The northernmost Longshouyuan, on the ninth day of the first lunar month, the latent dragon was useless, and it became the imperial garden.

Nine two, see the dragon in the field, the imperial palace will be built here. Nine three, the gentleman is diligent, this place will be built as the imperial city, all the government offices in the capital will be here.

Jiuwu, the flying dragon in the sky, has a respected position that is not available to ordinary people, so the Daxingshan Temple and Xuandu Temple were built.

"Our Pingkangfang is located on the 94th Heights, and it is the best ward on the 94th Heights.
Nine four, or leaping in the abyss, is particularly auspicious.

Therefore, since the construction of Daxing City in the previous dynasty, Pingkangfang has been home to many nobles and aristocrats’ mansions.”

The terrain of the entire Chang'an City is high in the southeast and low in the northwest. It is said that several areas in the northwest were flooded due to heavy rains in recent years, and the people in those areas could see the sea from their homes.

Pingkangfang is located on a high ground, with the East Market to the south and the Imperial Palace to the north.

The Upper Town, which is located at a high altitude, is equivalent to Hong Kong's Victoria Peak.

Enter the square from the north gate,
"To the east of the North Gate is the famous Donghui Sanqu, a place of music and prostitution, a place of romance." The broker in narrow sleeves was very eloquent. "And to the west of the North Gate, there is a great history. It is the former residence of Li Mu, the Grand Tutor of the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the Grand Master of the Sui Dynasty.

Back then, he was a veteran of four dynasties, possessing a red-lettered iron certificate that allowed him to avoid death a hundred and ten times."

Li Yi thought he had heard wrongly. He had heard of forgiving one death or two deaths, but could he forgiving one hundred and ten deaths?
Ji, however, whispered beside him, "Yuwen Tai once granted Li Mu an iron certificate, exempting him from ten death sentences. Later, Li Mu supported Yang Jian and became the first meritorious official of the Sui Dynasty. Yuwen Tai also granted Li Mu an iron certificate, exempting him from ten death sentences."

By this calculation, the two iron certificates can indeed save you from death 110 times in total. As General Yu said, the interception rate of one missile is 70%, and that of three missiles can be increased to 210%.

Li Mu had the privilege of being praised or worshipped without being named, and being immortal without rebellion. More than a hundred of his sons and daughters served as officials, and even babies were given the title of Yitong, not including those below the fifth rank.

"The northwest corner of Pingkangfang used to be Li Mu's residence," said the broker.

That occupied a quarter of the entire block. Pingkang Block covered nearly a thousand mu, and Li Mu's house covered more than two hundred mu.

This is on the 94th Heights, in Chang'an City, in the most prosperous area, where every inch of land is worth a lot of money. His house covers more than 200 acres.

Li Yi asked Ji about the current situation of the Li Mu family. Ji told him that the Li Mu family was almost wiped out by Yang Guang. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, there was a nursery rhyme that said that the Li family should be the emperor. At that time, people believed that this Li family referred to the Li Mu family.

Li Mu had ten sons, but his eldest son, Li Jing, died before him, so Li Jing's son, Li Yun, inherited the title as the eldest grandson. Li Yun was a stingy man, and his uncle, Li Hun, was very dissatisfied with him. He instigated his nephew, Li Shanheng, to secretly kill Li Yun.

Li Hun asked his brother-in-law Yuwen Shu to help him fight for the inheritance rights, and promised to give half of the fiefdom income to his brother-in-law every year after the success.

But after getting what he wanted, he only gave Yuwen Shu the benefits he had promised for two years and refused to give any more.

Yuwen Shu therefore bore a grudge against his brother-in-law.
Later, when Yang Xuangan rebelled, many children of aristocratic families joined him. Yuwen Shu took the opportunity to frame Li Hun by saying that a member of the Li family should be the emperor. Yang Guang asked him to try the case. Yuwen Shu made a huge injustice and directly wiped out the entire Li Mu family.

Even many of the people from the two branches of Li Mu's younger brothers Li Xian and Li Yuan were destroyed.

Li Mu's 200-acre mansion was later taken over by Yuwen Shu.

"A few days ago, the emperor issued an edict, bestowing upon Li Minguan the title of Duke, and upon Li Jincai the title of Duke of Shen."

This Li Jincai is Li Hun. Li Yi inexplicably understood why Li Yuan wanted to posthumously confer titles on these two people.

The Li family is about to rise, and the blessing of heaven is coming.
Li Yuan appeared to be redressing the injustice done to the two, but in reality he wanted to take the blame for the prophecy that Li would be the Emperor.

As the saying goes, when one is appointed to rule the country, one must be determined to do justice, redress grievances and reward the good, and never forget to do so day or night. By the way, he also spit on the corpse of his cousin Yang Guang.

Li Yi didn't care about the posthumous rehabilitation of his cousins Li Hun and Li Min. What he cared about was who owned the 200-acre house now.

"It was originally acquired by Yuwen Shu. After Yuwen Huaji killed the king, Your Majesty stripped it of its official position. Now it is vacant. Maybe it will be granted to a prime minister, prince, or princess in the future." said the broker.

In fact, if Yuwen Huaji had not committed regicide and rebellion, Li Yuan would not have confiscated the house. Yuwen Shu was Li Yuan's uncle and married the daughter of Dugu Xin. He was a brother-in-law of Yang Jian and Li Bing.

Li Yuan, Yang Guang and Yu Wenzhi were all cousins.

If he had not rebelled, he would certainly have retained his title of duke if he had returned to Chang'an, but he committed regicide and rebellion, so Li Yuan had to confiscate his house.

The house Li Yi wanted to see was in the southeast of the town.
Facing the southeast small cross street, there is a black head wall facing the street. The rammed earth wall is only half a person's height. This wall is very exquisite and can only be built by officials of the fifth rank and above.

Officials of the fifth rank and above could build another Wutou Gate outside their houses, with Wutou Walls on both sides of the gate.

"This house was once owned by the Li Mu family. It was built by one of Li Mu's grandsons. Although it only covers eight acres, it is very elegantly constructed."

The Wutou Sect still exists, but the glory of the Li Mu family is gone.
After passing through the gate, there is a horizontal front yard with corridors, houses and trees. After passing through the middle gate and entering the inner yard, this yard is even bigger, with corridors on all four sides and a hall in the middle.

"There's another courtyard on the east side, with a similar layout, and the courtyard on the west side is a garden."

Eight acres of land is actually very large, as big as a small football field.

The central courtyard is the main courtyard. The east wing houses stables, warehouses, a study, guest rooms, and other facilities for entertaining guests. The family's private school is also located here. The west wing is a pure garden, with rockery, lotus ponds, and many other flowers, plants, and fruit trees, including cherry, crabapple, and pomegranate.

Li Yi fell in love with this house at first sight.

It is August now, and the sweet scent of osmanthus fills the courtyard.
Compared to his two courtyards in the countryside, this house is really luxurious and elegant.

"Li Daizhao, you are a fifth-rank baron, and the previous owner of this house was also a baron, so the construction specifications are all available to you. The main hall has five rooms and seven frames, the hall has two buildings at both ends, and the gatehouse has three rooms and two frames, with a black-head gate.

There are no double-arched caissons or central rooms, so you can move right in without making any changes after purchasing it, saving you a lot of trouble.

"Look, this entire house is actually very well maintained, and not a single flower, plant, or tree has withered."

Li Yi was very tempted. "Didn't you say that this house originally belonged to one of Li Mu's grandsons? Who has been maintaining it all these years?"

"To be honest, this house was indeed owned by Li Mu's grandson. Later, Li Mu's descendants fought among themselves and the family fell into ruin. The house also fell into the hands of Yuwen Shu and became a separate residence for his second son Yuwen Shiji. Therefore, it has always been taken care of by doormen and gardeners until it was dismissed from office not long ago."

Li Yi asked Ji, "What do you think of this house?"

"Is it a bit big? It might not be cheap." Ji said.

Li Yi looked left and right. There were two entrances and two spans in the inner courtyard alone. The hall had five rooms and seven frames, six pillars on the front, and seven purlins in the front and back. The five rooms were more than 200 square meters.

"How much does this house cost?"

When the broker heard this, he immediately became excited and said, "Li Daizhao, this house is only about ten years old and was completely renovated a few years ago.
This is in Pingkangfang, and the land alone is now worth 70,000 yuan per mu. These eight mu of land would cost over 500,000 yuan. Furthermore, all these courtyards and gardens were built at the expense of Yuwen Erlang. You should also know that Yuwen Erlang was the consort of the eldest daughter of the Daye Emperor, and this mansion was designed by the Chief Architect himself.

"Just state the price directly." Li Yi didn't like beating around the bush.

He brought the house he had just walked through with him. It only took him half an hour from viewing the house to paying the deposit.

As a man, you cannot hesitate and must be decisive.

"Li Daizhao is really a generous man. Including the land, house, furniture, trees, flowers, plants, and rare stones, all included, it comes to 1.2 million coins."

Li Yi was not too surprised by this price.

Sun Fujia's house in Daningfang has 20 acres of land. My senior brother said the market value is about 2 million.

The location, decoration, age, etc. are all similar, so the market value of this eight-acre house should be around one million yuan.

If it weren't for wars and other reasons, in fact, during the Kaihuang and early Daye periods, such a house in such a location would have been renovated several times.

Ji tugged at his clothes. Li Yi turned his head and she shook her head slightly.

Ji said to the broker: "The world is not at peace. The most worthless thing is a house that cannot be eaten, drunk or taken away. The fields can be used to grow wheat and beans, but the house is just a dead object that cannot be moved.

The land in Pingkangfang is not as valuable as you say. It was worth 70,000 yuan per mu, that was more than ten years ago when the world was peaceful. Now it may not be worth even half of that.
Since the Sui Dynasty, how many wards in Chang'an have been left empty?"

Ji's words gradually froze the smile on the broker's face. He had thought that Li Daizhao was very straightforward and that the deal could be completed smoothly, and he could easily make some money.

"Madam, this is Pingkangfang, not the south of the city. This place is adjacent to the East Market in the south and close to the Imperial Palace. Every inch of land is worth a lot of money."

"If every inch of land were truly worth a fortune, we would have sold it long ago. Why would we wait until now?" Ji was unmoved. "My husband, Alang, likes the location, but he's not entirely satisfied with the house, furniture, and garden. We'll need to renovate it later. The land price is 300,000 yuan, and the house and trees on the land are also included in the price, for a total of 600,000 yuan."

The dealer complained bitterly and said it was impossible.

"At this price, you can't buy such a big and nice house even if you go to Liquanfang or Huaiyuanfang in Xicheng. One million and two hundred thousand, you just cut it in half. No young lady would bargain like you."

Wang Dalang, who had been silent the whole time, finally spoke up at this moment. "Let's each take a step back and add 50,000 coins."

The dentist shook his head like a rattle.
"My senior brother works as a censor in the Censorate. His Majesty has just rewarded him with a 20-acre house in Daningfang. Even if the decoration and furnishings are no worse than this one, it is only worth 2 million. He originally lived in Xicheng, and the 3-acre house was only sold for 100,000 coins." Li Yi said with a smile.

The broker was helpless and said, "One million, no less."

At this time, Wang Dalang used his ability to catch money and talked to the broker. In the end, he successfully reduced the price to 800,000 coins.

"If we can sign the contract now, we'll do it at this price, but we have to pay less in gold and silver."

"That's no problem. We can sign the contract now."

The broker pretended to be very helpless and reluctant. "Do you need to borrow money for the incense collection? I am familiar with the stewards of the incense collection funds of several major temples such as Chang'an Daxingshan Temple. I can arrange it immediately."

This is another way for brokers to make money. Not only can they broker the sale of houses, but they can also arrange loans and make money from it.

"How much is the interest on the incense offerings at Daxingshan Temple?"

"For a six-month period, the monthly blessing is four cents; for a one-year period, the monthly blessing is five cents; for a two-year period, the monthly blessing is six cents; and for a maximum of three years, the monthly blessing is seven cents. The incense money from Daxingshan Temple is much lower than the money from the imperial court. The maximum for three years is only seven cents, while the money from the imperial court is directly eight cents per month." said the broker.

Wang Dalang specializes in this, so he's well aware of the tricks involved in temple kitchen contributions. "Government funds earn double the interest at best. You've borrowed a thousand over the past three years, and you'll have to pay back three thousand five hundred and two hundred, more than double the interest. Furthermore, some temples even return the principal on their kitchen contributions. They claim it's four percent, but it's actually much higher."

Returning interest as the principal is compound interest, which is expressly prohibited by the imperial court.

Li Yi shook his head and said that these money lenders were really not to be trifled with.

"I'll pay with silk. Is the current price of silk still 360 coins per piece?"

When the broker heard that Li Yi did not need to borrow money, he was very disappointed and lost another profit.

"The price of silk has been this this year."

"That's a little over 2222 horses, I'll pay you 2223."

The ivory dealer reminded me that there was also ivory money, "According to the industry rules, the buyer pays three percent and the seller pays two percent."

This broker Wei Liulang was an official broker. The imperial court stipulated that transactions of land and houses must be based on a broker's guarantee. Violators would be treated as thieves. This was mainly done to prevent the loss of tax revenue.

The yamen has the functions of intermediary, assessment, deed signing and title confirmation, as well as supervision of tax payment.

"Isn't the tax rate four points?"

"The field is three, the house is four, and the extra dot is the money, so it is three for the whole and two for the whole."

This five-point tax was another extra expense, and he had to pay another 67 pieces of silk.

But since I have already spent a lot of money, I don’t care about these three points of tax.
There is nothing wrong with successfully bottom-fishing and being an excellent taxpayer of Datang.

This house is now confiscated imperial property, so the transfer is very simple. You just need to go to the relevant government office to register and sign the deed, then pay the house price in silk and the tax in silk.

Sign and fingerprint,
Finally, Li Yi obtained a red deed. With this deed with the official seal, he officially became the owner of the Pingkangfang house.

"Congratulations to Li Daizhao for adding joy to his family's life, for his good fortune in his new home, for his virtuous neighbors, and for his rising career!" The brokers and clerks all congratulated Li Yi.

Li Yi looked at the red contract and felt very excited.
I also own a villa in Chang'an City.

Thinking that he still has a lot of savings, maybe he can buy a few more houses at a bargain price?

"Wei Liulang, I want to buy two more small houses of two or three acres in Xishi. Do you have any suitable houses?"

Wei Yazi was shocked. This Li Daizhao was a very talented person. He just spent 800,000 yuan without any loan to buy an eight-acre mansion. This was not enough, and he wanted to buy two more houses. He treated it like buying vegetables.

However, he quickly recovered and said with a smile, "Yes, yes, there are still many good houses in West City and East City. Let's take Taizhao to see them now. You will definitely be satisfied."

"Then I'll go take another look. If I find something suitable, I'll buy two more."

A small house of two or three acres in the West Market generally costs about 100,000 coins. Even without the gold he saved, he could buy several houses with the silk he had.

(End of this chapter)