A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 565 The Ninth Adopted Son

"The surname Cui is secretly investigating the field."

Pang Xiaotai found out the news and immediately came to tell Wu Huaiyu.

"Just check it out, anyway, it's not a shameful thing. This frontier of Youfu is sparsely populated, and urgently needs to be developed."

Wu Huaiyu is not guilty. He is indeed buying a large amount of land in Youzhou. Not only he buys, but Huaiyi also buys it, let the warrior brothers buy it, and let Wu Fatty Wu Junbo buy it. In addition, Zhao Yi, Zhao Xin, Chen Xing, Chen Shenghou Xu Siye, brother-in-law Ma Zhou, brother Cheng Chumo, etc., close relatives and friends, Wu Huaiyu all wrote to them to buy land.

It’s not about encroaching on the people’s fields, but most of the land they bought was frontier land. Many of them had former owners, but they were abandoned during the war and became raw land, and some of them were pastures and grasslands at all.

Especially in Shanhou and Yingping, many of these lands were occupied by the Xi people at the end of the Sui Dynasty, or by the border people for self-government, or by the Sogdian Hu, basically without a formal rule.

Nowadays, the rule of the imperial court is basically restored, but the population is small and there is a lot of open space. Now the imperial court is becoming more and more prosperous, and the military garrison on the border has also increased. Even the opening of border markets has boosted border trade and the demand for food on the border. Big increase.

It is not cost-effective to transport grain from the interior, and it is actually the most cost-effective to reclaim wasteland on the spot.

Wu Huaiyu also encourages the people to move to the frontier. People in the interior who have no land and little land, as long as they are willing to move, a young man will be given [-] acres, and if a young family with a couple and children is directly given [-] acres.

A family with a large number of people can get at least [-] mu of land, and the more strong men, the more shares of Yongye land.

In addition, commercial villages are also encouraged, allowing the purchase of frontier land for reclamation and cultivation in the name of a business name, at an affordable price.

Frontier troops are also encouraged to bring their family members to the border and share as much land as possible.

Under these policies, local officials, generals and schools, as well as local gentry, tyrants, and merchants, can all purchase land without much restriction or even encouragement.

It is certainly profitable for Wu Huaiyu and the others to buy land now. First of all, there is more land and it is cheaper. Moreover, if you buy it first, you can not only choose as you like, but you can even get large tracts of land to facilitate planting.

In the future, these lands will definitely appreciate in value gradually, and even the operation will be equally beneficial.

This approach is not the first of its kind.

In fact, when Wu Huaiyu was in Shuofang, he implemented this kind of policy of granting and garrisoning border land. He also bought more than [-] hectares of land in Shuofang.

Before him, Li Daozong in Lingzhou, Duan Decao in Suizhou, and even Yang Gongren in Liangzhou had implemented similar policies, which were not only to reclaim wasteland but also to provide some benefits to officials and soldiers.

Some of them even invaded the former official land, the good land with no households, and the unclaimed land abandoned by the war, and directly changed it into their own. That is called occupation.

People like Wu Huaiyu spend money to buy land, and most of them even buy wasteland and raw land, and they have to reclaim and cultivate it for several years before it matures. That is really called spending money to do practical things, which is beneficial to the country and the people.

The upfront investment is not small.

The emperor would not pursue this situation at all. Although the powerful nobles took the opportunity to acquire large amounts of land, which would be a hidden danger in the future, for the moment, this behavior was actually beneficial to both sides of the court.

Just like the Tanghe Valley, Chaohe Valley, Puhe Valley, Liuhe Valley and the valleys of their tributaries that Wu Huaiyu is about to take back from Beishanxi, these were all pastures of Beishanxi in the past hunting grounds,
After taking these lands, it is impossible and they will only be used as pastures. So many lands are still suitable for farming, and in the Yanshan area, there will be many troops stationed in the future, and there will be many post stations and border markets. Food self-sufficiency is urgent.
But now it is unrealistic to try to reclaim the land through immigration.
Only aristocratic powerful people like the Wu family and the Lu family can take the lead in development. Those who enter the game first will naturally get the benefits first.

Cui Dunli insisted on finding fault with this matter, but he picked the wrong place. Maybe he thought that Wu Huaiyu would not be so honest and spend money to buy land, and he thought that Wu Huaiyu would be like many nobles and relatives, taking advantage of his position , using power for personal gain, will encroach on official land, public land, and even embezzle people's good land. This kind of thing is indeed very common.

I haven't found it yet, but there will definitely be, and the problem will be serious.

But what he didn't expect was that Wu Huaiyu did buy a lot of land, including land purchased by the Wu family himself, as well as commercial land purchased in the name of various businesses, and many relatives and friends were also brought in to buy the land.
Even Princess Yang Muyun of Huainan bought dozens of hectares of land in one go, while Lu 35 Niang, Gao Shier, and Wu Huaiyu let them use their dowry as their dowry, and took advantage of the current policy to take some land.

But there is really no such thing as Cui Dunli thought about using power for personal gain and encroaching on the rich land of the government and the people.

Although Wu Huaiyu presented the Jiangdong plow to the emperor, which can improve the efficiency of farming, and there are more cattle and horses in Youzhou and are cheaper, but the most important thing for reclaiming wasteland and farming is still labor.

This is still a relatively labor-intensive industry, and there is a shortage of unemployed people to employ. The main thing is to rely on slaves to manage the plantation manor, and also develop some pastures, and then do mines, workshops, and trade.

However, raising slaves and planting these on manors cost a lot in the early stage. A fan Ding slave costs at least [-] to [-] yuan, but now the annual output of an acre of land is only two or three stones, and the price of grain is low. Stone grain can buy a slave, which requires an annual output of at least [-] mu of land.

In contrast, hiring a long-term worker, the food and wages for a year is about ten mu of land a year.

It's just that keeping slaves is like raising cattle and horses. They can also be paired to reproduce and increase value. Slaves can also be engaged in other things to increase benefits, but the initial investment is huge.

Buying a hundred mu of land can cost as much as ten thousand yuan, but at least two dinnus are required to cultivate it, but two dinnus cost five to sixty thousand yuan, and they also need to buy cattle, horses, farming implements, seeds, etc.

Although the long-term efficiency is not bad, ordinary people certainly cannot afford it. Therefore, if you want to speed up the development of frontier land reclamation, it is most reasonable for noble officials, nobles and powerful officials to take the lead.

"Let him check it out and ignore it,"

"I also want to buy some land in Youzhou," Pang Xiaotai said with a smile.

"Aren't you afraid that Cui Dunli will impeach you?"

"I'm afraid he's a bird, this stupid bird, and a hero of five surnames and seven families, I don't know how this kind of person can be appreciated by a saint." Pang Xiaotai scolded.

"You don't understand now," Huaiyu laughed, without pointing him out. Don't look at Cui Dunli's passiveness in Youzhou now, and he doesn't dare to leave the door, because someone really threw shit at him secretly.

However, even if this guy offended the superior of Youzhou, he was definitely a plus for the emperor of Chang'an. For the emperor, of course he also liked Wu Huaiyu and the soldiers of Youzhou, but ministers like Cui Dunli were... also need.

Cui Dunli was nitpicking and did all sorts of investigations. Even if nothing was found, he was still doing his job seriously and safeguarding the interests of the emperor. Of course the emperor would be happy.

So Wu Huaiyu didn't think Cui Dunli was stupid at all.

This guy might have done this on purpose. If he came to Youzhou with an order, it would be impossible to be amicable. He really only came to announce the reward, so it must be effective.

That's less than three years, from the sixth rank of You Xiaowei Changshi, all the way up to the current fourth rank of the Minister of the Ministry of War,

Before that, he had worked in the important position of Zhongshu Sheren for almost two years, which was an important position known as the prime minister and in charge of five flowers and judges.

How can you call such a person stupid?

It can only be said that Cui Dunli made a choice. He chose to offend Wu Huaiyu in exchange for the emperor's appreciation for him. He was a truly smart man who knew who was his boss.

Although Wu Huaiyu's holy family is very prosperous now, he will not befriend Wu Huaiyu, especially during this mission.

In fact, this point was also analyzed by her when he was eating Yuanxiao with Yang Muyun last night. Yang Muyun has been working in the grassland for 12 years, but He Dun has experienced it for a long time and is used to intrigue, so he immediately saw through Cui Dunli's intentions On the contrary, Wu Huaiyu thought that Cui Dunli had been instructed by someone, even the emperor, to do things on purpose.

"It's no problem if you want to buy land. There are a lot of land here now, but if you really want to buy it, I advise you not to worry. Wait for a while to clear Beishanxi. There is a large piece of good land there, because it is a newly conquered land, and It is the former Beishan Xi's land, there will be a risk of conflict, and the land will be cheaper at that time,

When you get there, you can directly acquire a large river valley, buy it and keep some slaves, and get some tribesmen from your hometown to take care of it. You can cultivate food and herd livestock, and do some border trade on the side. The future is still very good.
Of course, this land will also have some risks, if Beishan Xi or Xi people in the future rebel or something, these lands will be dangerous,"

Pang Xiaotai was more direct, "I listened to Enxiang. Those Xi people can still change the world. As long as we, the Tang Dynasty, occupy these lands, then this place will always be the land of the Tang Dynasty and the Central Plains. The Xi people will never think about it again." Take it back, and even if there is an occasional rebellion or something, don't worry, they won't be able to take it."

"Eun Xiang, can you count me as the one who makes fun of Beishan? I really don't want to follow that idiot Cui Dunli anymore. It just so happens that he doesn't like me either."

"Your mission is to send envoys to the Turkic tribes and assume the important task of protecting the envoys."

"Enxiang gave a memorial to the saint, just keep me here."

Huaiyu patted him on the shoulder, "You'd better finish this errand first. Anyway, the fighting won't start for a while. If you finish the errand and the fight doesn't start, then I will request an order to keep you in Youzhou." , if you can stay, just in time to finish defeating Beishan Xi, and then fight Jieli, you can also achieve some military exploits."

"As long as I can follow the benefactor, I don't care whether I make meritorious deeds, but staying in Chang'an is quite boring."

When he first arrived in Chang'an, he had only thirteen sons, but now he has eighteen sons. Because he was too bored in Chang'an, he gave birth to five more sons and more than a dozen daughters.

"Then I will let my brothers Zhongtai, Liangtai, and Houtai stay in Youzhou and follow Prime Minister En to accompany them around."

"If Enxiang doesn't dislike him, I still want to worship Enxiang as a foster father."

Seeing this Lingnan hunk who is ten years older than himself, has 33 sons and [-] daughters, he is not satisfied with being his lackey and wants to be his adopted son, he is a little speechless.

Sure enough, she is thick-skinned and invincible in the world.

"Your eldest son seems to be more than ten years old this year?"

"That son of a bitch is sixteen years old, and his name is Yanzhang."

Wu Huaiyu was very convinced. People humbled themselves and called their son a dog, but he called him a dog more bluntly.

"Why don't you let Yanzhang stay with me," Wu Huaiyu wanted to accept as a student,

Pang Xiaotai thumped, "On behalf of that brat, I thank my foster father for taking me in, thank my foster father."

"What?"

"I called for him,"

This guy knows how to beat a snake and follow the stick.
"Okay, let Pang Yanzhang stay in Youzhou,"

"Young one, go ask him to kowtow to En Xiang, and change your surname to Wu immediately."

"It's just a adopted son. There's no need to change the surname. It's better to be called Pang Yanzhang. The name is wise."

Wu Huaiyu now has a lot of righteous sons under his command, most of them are bearded youths, including down-and-out bearded youths like Yuwen Chengdu and An Lushan, and sons of Mohe leaders like Li Keyong and Wu Sigong.

Of course, there are also Li Heluohu, the son of Tuli Khan, Li Pidi, the son of King Xi Keduzhe, Li Kuge, the son of Khitan Khan Mohui, Li Guicheng, the son of Li Aocao, the handsome Khitan,

Now it's okay to take another Pang Yanzhang, the son of the barbarian king of Lingnan.

Pang Xiaotai hurried to call the puppy, in fact he was quite strong, like a younger Pang Xiaotai, he thought it was his younger brother, he said he was only sixteen, but he was quite mature, he looked like he was in his 20s.

When I came to see Wu Huaiyu, I was still carrying a wrapped iron spear,

"From today onwards, you are my ninth adopted son, follow me and learn some tactics of war,"

Pang Xiaotai slapped his son on the back, "Hurry up and thank your adoptive father."

(End of this chapter)