Chapter 47 Land

"Your Highness, Yuan Li has returned to Fanyang. Read М"

The next morning, at the gatehouse.

Zhao Xu was worried about having to accompany Yuan Li to eat, drink and have fun again, and he felt uncomfortable all over.

Liu Fu's words made him feel relieved immediately.

"This Yuan Li, he didn't even say hello, he came and left as he said, he really thought Yan County belonged to his Yuan family." Liu Fu was very angry.

The situation in Yan County was originally very good.

With Yuan Li's behavior, the Zhang family's tail, which had been clamped tightly, was about to rise again.

"After all, in Dasong, it depends on who has the bigger fist. We are weak now, so naturally we are looked down upon." Zhao Xu felt that there was no point in getting angry.

Glancing at Liu Fu, he continued, "Don't worry about this anymore. What the palace needs to do now is to win the hearts of the people in Yan County. How is the land distribution going?"

"The land of the Huang and Du families has been divided, but there are still many people who have no land to farm. In addition, the news that His Highness only collects low rents has spread to other counties. Now there are many refugees from other counties coming here, and the land is even less." Liu Fu was worried about this.

Yan County has a small population, and it is not easy to attract some people with a good reputation.

It would be a pity if these people left because they had no land to farm.

Zhao Xu paced out of the gatehouse.

What Liu Fu could see, he could see naturally.

In his opinion, the most important thing about the fiefdom is of course the population.

Having a population is equivalent to having labor.

Only with labor can wealth be created and a steady stream of soldiers can the army be provided.

That's why he couldn't wait to buy the pawnshop and make himself a slave trader, trafficking people from all over Dasong to Yanzhou.

"This king now has a way, but I don't know if it will work." Zhao Xu pondered.

This was a method he had thought of long ago.

It was just that this method could not be implemented because of the lack of strength.

But now the time has come.

"Your Highness still has the most ideas for Yan County." Liu Fu laughed.

Every time he thought there was no way out, the King of Yan always gave him a surprise.

"I just don't know if the nobles will fall for it. So, go and invite all the nobles in Yancheng first." Zhao Xu ordered.

Liu Fu responded and went there happily.

Not long after.

The nobles came to the palace one after another.

Now he dared not neglect the order of the King of Yan, as someone's head was still hanging on the city gate.

"No, Your Highness asked me to wait for you. What's your order?" Dong Yuan spoke first.

He came here after receiving the letter, and he didn't even tell his son Dong An, clearly competing with his son to show his face in front of Zhao Xu.

It's not that he is guarding against his son, but the business that the King of Yan casually abandoned made the Dong family make a lot of money.

The son is going to suppress me.

In addition to the Dong family, people from the Yang family and the Lu family have come.

Lu Chang's father was more proud than ever.

His son joined the royal army and became a lieutenant, which made him look proud.

In addition to these slightly larger noble families, there were some small noble families.

Zhao Xu remembered the Liu family, the Chen family, etc. these days.

What surprised him was that the Zhang family did not come this time.

There were also several noble families close to the Zhang family who did not come.

Zhao Xu sneered.

Yuan Li's arrival in Yan County made some people bolder.

But it was just right.

Because what he did today would have a long-term impact on Yan County in the future.

"Please sit down." Zhao Xu asked everyone to sit down.

His eyes swept over everyone, and he said, "A few days ago, because of the ice-making matter, this king asked you to set up a business. You all run it together and share the profits in the future."

Everyone nodded, and someone said, "I think it should have been sold in Jinling for a while now."

"Someone will come back next month, and then the accounts and silver will be shipped back."

"..."

The nobles were all excited to think that they would get their share of the silver immediately.

Zhao Xu nodded.

After receiving the share from the Huang and Du families, the palace almost accounted for 60% of the current dividends of the Chamber of Commerce.

He was the happiest.

But the focus today was not this.

He changed the subject and said, "But you must understand that the art of ice-making is very easy to leak. This king is worried that once it is leaked, the profits of the Chamber of Commerce will become thinner and thinner."

Everyone looked worried when they heard this.

Although they swore, there was no guarantee that others would not rob them outside.

After all, there are many powerful people in the south, and many of them are more noble than the King of Yan.

But since the King of Yan brought up this matter, he must have something to say.

So they waited for the King of Yan's next words.

"So, in order to protect the interests of all of you, this king decided to include the wine of the palace in the sales of the Chamber of Commerce and give priority to supply."

Zhao Xu's words made the heartbeat of the nobles suddenly accelerate.

Now everyone knows that the wine of the palace is a business that can make a profit without loss.

And it won't be as troublesome as selling ice, and it can only be sold in summer.

"Your Highness, this... is this true?" A small noble was so happy that he was about to faint.

Zhao Xu nodded.

But of course he couldn't give it away for free, so he said: "However, this requires you to exchange something..."

"Your Highness, please tell me, what do you need?" A noble said.

The huge profits brought by wine are foreseeable, and they are willing to bear it as long as they can get a share of the wine.

"Your land." Zhao Xu no longer concealed his purpose.

Unlike the Huang and Du families, these nobles all support him.

It is not appropriate to seize their land like they did to the Huang and Du families.

So, he decided to take out some of his business interests.

In addition to gaining more land, he also had another purpose in doing this.

That is to build an interest group around him.

In this way, he can get more support.

"Land?"

The nobles looked at each other.

They could all feel the obsession of the King of Yan with land.

In recent years, they have occupied a large amount of land among the people.

Some land is even vacant.

Now that the King of Yan is in charge of Yan County, it is very easy for him to want these lands.

After all, the examples of the Du and Huang families are right in front of us.

Now, it seems that there is nothing wrong with the King of Yan exchanging interests for them. It is much better than investigating the evil deeds they did in the past and seizing them.

At that moment, a timid noble said, "Your Highness, our Chen family has 20,000 acres of land, and only 500 acres are left for our family members to cultivate. The rest are willing to hand over."

"Very good, for each acre of land, this king will give you six taels of silver, which will be deducted from the profit of selling wine." Zhao Xu smiled.

The Chen noble was surprised and said, "Then how much profit can our Chen family get from selling wine."

Zhao Xu is not a fool.

With the current sales of the palace's fine wine, a few million taels a year is not a problem. As the reputation spreads, the income will increase.

He couldn't give them too much.

So he decided to take out only a small part of the bonus from selling wine, and let these nobles share it according to how much land they gave.

So he said: "I will only take out 20% of the profit, and each of you will share this 20% according to how much land you handed over."

"20%..." The nobles whispered.

"It is said that the palace has sold 60,000 jars of wine during this period, which is 900,000 taels. After deducting the cost, there must be at least 500,000 or 600,000 taels. In this year, there are 3 or 4 million taels of silver. 20% is also 500,000 or 600,000 taels. If it is more..."

"This wine has silver every year, but our land does not have a good harvest every year."

"We make money."

"..."

After discussing for a while, the nobles seemed to have reached a consensus.

They stood up together, "Your Highness, we are willing to hand over the land in exchange for a share."