"To be honest, I want to compost on the riverbank where there is sludge."
Liu Wenke thought for a while and said: "I know a river beach with a depression in the terrain. Whenever the river washes away during the flood season, the depression will be filled with silt. This sludge is often dug by nearby people to make fertilizer, so it is It’s getting concave.”
"And there is a dirt hill next to this river beach, which is suitable for building a house. However, there are no homes nearby and there are no arable fields. In addition, the water often rises during the flood season, so this land is considered wasteland."
"If you want to use it, you don't need to buy it. You just need to open up wasteland. The county has an order that anyone who opens up wasteland will be exempted from food tax for three years."
"Three years later, this land will definitely be flooded. It will be regarded as a disaster field, and no more grain taxes will be collected. However, if the land is registered, the land will be considered yours."
"In this way, you don't have to spend money to buy land. However, you can't farm this land, it will be flooded every year."
Liu Wenke was familiar with the county laws and gave Zhao Cheng a trick.
Zhao Cheng quickly thanked him: "If I hadn't met Brother Liu, I might have spent a lot of time and energy searching for it, and if I found it, I might have spent a lot of money in vain. Thanks to Brother Liu's help this time, I'm waiting for you Now that I’m not busy, I’ll definitely invite Brother Liu to have a few drinks with me.”
Although Liu Wenke is a sociable person, he does not socialize with everyone. Firstly, Zhao Cheng is a neighbor, and there is a degree of friendship that cannot be seen when looking up. Secondly, there are people living by the river, fertilizing, and farming. If the fields are damaged, , the imperial court will have disaster relief funds.
Of course, all this disaster relief money comes from the Cheng of Hewu County, so it is also an income.
Liu Wenke summoned a loose scholar and asked him to take Zhao Cheng to see the lot: "Brother Zhao, I am busy with river affairs here, so I won't accompany you. I will take this loose book to accompany you to see the lot. As soon as the business procedures are completed, he will know."
A short and fat man in Tsing Yi in his forties came over and bowed to Zhao Cheng: "I am Yu Tong, please come with me."
Zhao Cheng said goodbye to Liu Wenke and followed Yu Tong along the river.
Yu Tong was not a talkative person, so he didn't say much along the way. He just led Zhao Cheng on the road. After walking for half an hour, he had already left the city. On the deserted beach outside the city, there was indeed a low hillock, and the river beach next to it. It is indeed in the shape of a depression, because the flood season has passed, and the sludge that came up has long been dug up by the nearby people.
Yu Tong stopped and pointed to the low hill and said: "You can build houses there without fear of flooding. When the water level is at its highest, it is less than half of the low hill."
"The big pit next to it is where sludge washes away all year round."
Anyway, there is no need to spend money on this land. All Zhao Cheng has to do is to move the warehouse that produces MSG here. The most expensive thing is to rebuild the warehouse.
"This will help my brother. I will open up land here. I just don't know how many acres the fields are registered in."
Yu Tong blinked: "The people who come to decide the number of acres of wasteland are all the masters of the households. And it won't be decided this year. It will be calculated based on the area of green seedlings when the land is planted next year."
"But I can go and say hello first. The officials are just building houses, no one will come to ask."
Zhao Cheng nodded: "Thank you brother, then I will buy building materials and prepare to build a house."
Yu Tongtong: "But we have to do it as soon as possible, otherwise the speed of the craftsmen will be greatly reduced when the weather gets cold."
After Yu Tong said goodbye, Zhao Cheng stopped him and said, "Please wait a moment."
"Brother Yu must have been in river affairs for a long time and has often been in charge of river defense works. He must know many masons and carpenters. I want to hire people to build a house anyway, so why don't you introduce some to me, so I can save my worries."
As he said that, Zhao Cheng took out two cents of broken silver from his arms and handed it to Yu Tongtong: "Brother Yu, please go through the formalities for me and find a craftsman. I'll use this money to buy a few pairs of shoes."
Yu Tongxi took it with a smile: "Don't worry, officer, these craftsmen are all very skilled in craftsmanship, and they will definitely not miss the officer's business. Please also leave the address of the officer so that the craftsmen can come over."
Zhao Cheng thought for a moment and said, "Go to the Zhao family at the red Ruyi gate in Fenghuang in the north of the city."
Yu Tong thought for a moment: "Isn't that next door to Mr. Liu?"
"Exactly!"
"Please rest assured, officer, the craftsmen will come to your door tomorrow."
At this time, in the gloomy prison, Li Fu and Li Dashan were huddled in a corner of the cell. This was a large prison with seven or eight people in it, each with different reasons. However, the mental state of these people was not bad. Only Li Fu was about to collapse.
"Master Heaven... let me out, I can do anything!" Li Fu's cry was particularly miserable.
It has been less than half a month since he was imprisoned. There is no good flesh on his body, two fingers are broken, bamboo sticks have been inserted into each finger, and there are at least five or six marks of being burned by a soldering iron all over his body.
He could no longer hold on. After being imprisoned, his wives had visited him many times. Every time they visited him, the family's property would be reduced by 10%.
Now Li Fu has no other hope. If the money is gone, it is gone, but his life cannot be lost.
So he tried his best to cooperate. Some of them were not available and he had already recruited them all. The only thing he couldn't do was the MSG issue.
In fact, Li Fu also knew in his heart that in all likelihood, it was Mr. Hong who was behind the trouble that he ended up in this prison. In the final analysis, it was all about MSG.
Therefore, he no longer dared to tell nonsense this time. No matter how severely tortured he was by the arrester Hong, he did not dare to admit it.
Seeing his family fortune slowly being emptied, Li Fu also understood that these evil wolves would not give up until he was bitten to the bones, so he said to his wives and concubines: "Leave the last five hundred taels of silver." , don’t spend any more. If I die in prison, I will leave it to you and my children. If I can still come out alive, these five hundred taels can be used as a means of recovery."
After he said these words, his wives and concubines did not come to see him again. These days, Li Fu often thought that he might not be able to get out alive.
As for the case of the rogue Li Si suing Li Fu for owing money, all the testimonies for the case have been concluded at this time, and Li Fu confessed to owing money.
Regarding the house deeds, Li Fu also admitted that he had stolen many real estate title deeds more than ten years ago, and now he is willing to return them one by one.
Capt. Hong has been busy with these things these days. He has dug out all the property deeds of Li Fu's family and verified them one by one. The best fertile fields and real estate belong to the county magistrate Pan Zhuo, then to the county captain Chang Xiaoman, and again to the Lord. No matter how ruthless the book is, in the end it is Dian Shi Luo Xianwei.
After everyone has been assigned, if there is anything left, it will be considered as evidence to close the case.
Of course, it is said to be a distribution, but it is not as clear-cut as the distribution of cakes. It requires the cooperation of several important houses in the Yamen. The household houses have to be "bigly moved" on the fields, and the execution chambers have to "blur the narrative" in the confessions. In the end, it falls to On paper, the land deeds that Li Fu embezzled must have returned to their original owners.
But the real whereabouts, after a few more twists and turns, fell into the pocket of the gentleman.
