Not long after Bailiyan (Wei Xian) left Guangxin and entered the territory of Lincheng, he took a fancy to a piece of 500 acres of ownerless wasteland, and handed over his name to the Taishou of Lincheng, showing the pioneer documents authorized by Zhao Xun, and contracting the 500 acres of land under his own name. He also spent 480 copper coins to buy ten two-year-old buffaloes from Guangxin City, five male and five female, for farming.

Buffalo and ploughing cattle are still strategic materials at present, and it is strictly forbidden to export them abroad, and it is difficult to buy ploughing cattle from abroad. The price of grain was 2,500 wen yuan per stone, which was about 2.5 million copper coins, which was about 2.5 times the normal grain price, and the price of the buffalo naturally rose.

A buffalo in a good year is different according to the age of the cow, most of them float between ten and fifteen yuan, and now a strong cow costs forty-five yuan, and the copper coin depreciates sharply, and it may not be bought, the cattle seller is more inclined to trade with silver, and the cow in the childbearing age is more expensive, if you don't buy ten in one go, it will be at least 500 yuan.

At the same time that Bailiyan purchased buffaloes, it also recruited dozens of displaced people and 30 poor peasant households from Guangxin City, totaling more than 200 people, and relocated them to wasteland for reclamation, and each household was subsidized with five copper coins to settle down.

Each household only needs to pay 20 percent of the tax burden every year, and 10 percent of the land rent, and the peasants can keep 70 percent for their own living expenses, thus reducing the burden on tenants to the greatest extent.

In late April, the displaced people set up shantytowns to clear the barren grass, and the village began to take shape. Bailiyan also purchased thousands of chickens and duck seedlings and 50 pigs from Guangxin and Lincheng for breeding, digging septic tanks to build latrines, and collecting human and animal manure for fertilizer.

In early May, the ground is basically completed, the seedlings begin to be planted in the middle of the year, the time is two months later than the spring ploughing, only the last season of rice can be harvested, the temperature drops after the autumn, the late rice is difficult to mature, Bailiyan intends to plant some other cash crops to make up for the loss of spring ploughing.

In late May, Tuntian began to take shape, Bailiyan recruited 30 more farmers, recruited 50 strong people, concentrated 100 strong people in Tunken Village, excavated a depression pond for water storage and irrigation, and at the same time let people go down to the river to touch the mussels and raise them in the pond.

On the third day of June, Xiao Er and Liu Zao were taken to Tunken Village. At night, Bailiyan's residence was full of river mussels, and Xiao Er asked puzzledly:

"Where did Brother Wei get so many mussels in his house?"

"Tonight, the eldest brother has something to tell Xiao Er to do, come over to help first."

After two months of busy work, Bailiyan just freed up his hands to plan to raise pearls.

Natural pearls are obtained by chance, so the number is scarce and precious, and people do not understand the principle of pearl formation, so they can only obtain pearls by chance, but they do not know that pearls can also be artificially planted.

It's just that this method can't be leaked, Xiao Er has followed her for many years, and she will marry in a few years, and this secret can be taught to her without reservation.

During the day, people salvaged the mussels ashore one after another, and at night, Bailiyan and Xiao'er secretly implanted foreign objects into the mussels. Wait until daytime and then throw the mussels into the pond, and so on, busy for six days and six nights.

In order to ensure the quality of pearls, only 16 foreign bodies are implanted in each mussel, and too many implants can easily lead to the pearls being stuck together after maturity and not round, or even seriously deformed.

In mid-June, Bailiyan asked people to build a kiln, let Liu Zao open the furnace, fire white porcelain, and test the color of the white glaze.

According to the requirements, the white glaze should be as white as milk, not yellow, and not clear soup and water floating on the surface like lime water. A total of seven furnaces were opened, and it cost a lot of money, and no less than 80 kinds of formulas were tried, and finally two glaze colors were selected, one was white glaze, and one gold glaze was accidentally discovered, which was an unexpected gain.

In early July, when it was scorching hot in the north, Liu Zao's only son, Liu Chuan, recovered and came to Tunken Village to join him. Liu Chuan recovered well from his leg injury, but he remained deformed, and he still had an O-shaped leg when he walked.

The father and son worked together to burn the kiln, and the technology was on par with the official kiln of the Imperial Division.

The news of Bailiyan's return to the city spread to the public mansion. I didn't see it in March, and Jiang Min, the Duke of Guangxin, almost left Bailiyan behind:

"What, he's back?"

"I entered the city from the east gate at three o'clock, and I still took that Liu Zao and drove the carriage into the city."

Wang Jiu said quickly, Jiang Minton was a little confused, he said:

"It's strange, this son has done some things to open up wasteland and farm land in the past three months, is it really a false person who is a big man?"

In the past three months, Jiang Min sent people to keep an eye on Baili Yan's every move, and knew everything about the opening of Lincheng, to say that Baili Yan has its appearance, the price of goods in March has really risen by more than fifty percent, under the blow of the new deal, Xianguo "business is not boring", three or four out of ten businessmen have not copied the family property and distribution side, and more are to take the family with their mouths and take risks to flee to other countries for refuge, according to this development, after the autumn harvest, prices are likely to more than double.

Thinking of this, Guangxin Gong asked Wang Jiu again:

"Wang Jiu, after Wei Xian entered the city, you can know what he did."

Wang Jiu squeezed his eyebrows and tried to think for a moment:

"After entering the city, I went to the Xishi vegetable market and bought pork bones, beef bones, and sheep bones, and I knew these for the time being."

"Bones?"

Jiang Min was incredulous, Wang Jiu grinned, and said again:

"Lord, from the perspective of his subordinates, this son is nothing more than that. Who doesn't know how to farm, just a little man like him can turn over flowers. ”

As soon as the words fell, Chen Yunfeng walked in:

"My lord."

"Mr. Chen, what's the matter?"

"Zhang and Guo's second sons have entered the city."

Jiang Min frowned and asked:

"Who else!"

"And the people from the Tax Department."

"The Department of Taxes? It's so fast. ”

Affected by Ding Su's going to the Tax Department to report his family property and sell his property for goods, parasitic Zhao Mansion. A large number of small and medium-sized merchants followed Ding Su's method and exchanged gold, silver and copper coins for physical goods and hoarded them at home. As a result, a large amount of gold, silver, and copper coins flowed into the market, and the market materials were greatly reduced.

The government confiscated the so-called profiteers, and all they got was goods, not gold and silver. A large amount of goods accumulated in the state treasury, and it is said that the government has benefited, and as long as the goods are sold, they can get cash, and it is a large amount of cash.

But at this time, the price of materials remained high, the merchants were hit and collapsed, and the government sold and confiscated materials, if they were sold at the current high price, the result could only be dirty water splashed on the government's own head. If it is sold at a fair price, the goods that have already been hoarded in the hands of the powerful and noble relatives will have to be smashed in their own hands and cannot be taken off.

In order to solve this problem, about a month ago, the tax envoy of the Shanling Tax Department was withdrawn, and Wang He, the upper doctor, was appointed as the tax envoy, and Guo Pan was secretly investigated by the Huangmen of the palace, and the tax department was inspected in the name of the tax supervisor, and the scope of tax seizure was expanded.

Guangxin Gong adopted the strategy of Bailiyan and hoarded a large number of goods in advance, which also attracted the tax department.

The "Zhang" of Zhang and Guo's second son, is Zhang He, the second son of Zhang Jun, the Marquis of Dingyang, and "Guo" is Guo Peng, the godson of the eunuch Huangmen Ling Guo Pan.

But whoever is knighted, the eldest son is resident in the capital with his father, and the second son and youngest son are a little prosperous when they become adults, and most of them also stay in the capital to mix up an official and a half-job. There is really no profit, and they all stay in the fiefdom and keep their business.

Zhang, Guo Ergongzi and the eunuch of the Tax Department and a group of more than 50 people swaggered through the city all the way, and stopped outside the drunken incense residence in the east of the city:

"Who the hell piled up such a cart of bones outside, and I don't know who thought that someone died and turned to ashes, phew!" Zhang He, who was wearing a purple yarn, spat on the bone pile, turned to Guo Peng behind him and said, "It's really fucking unlucky." ”

"Eldest brother, if you come, you will be safe, but it is the territory of Guangxin Gong, and no one cares, what do you do with me. I heard that the braised vegetables of this Zui Xiangju are very good, just because of the convenience of sea and land, Zui Xiangju got hundreds of jars of soy sauce last year, and launched more than ten new braised dishes. Father-in-law Xu is here today, and we are just waiting for a feast, how about Father-in-law Xu. ”

Guo Peng asked the eunuch Xu Gonggong who was in a satin green silk robe on the side, Xu Gonggong first came to the North, he was sweating hot and soaking wet inside and out, and he was wiping away the sweat with a sweat towel.

"Our legs are about to break, so let's rest quickly."

"Then Grandpa Xu, please."

Leaving more than 50 guards, Guo Peng, Zhang He, and Xu Gonggong took four guards into Zuixiangju.

"Shops, shops." Zhang He pulled his voice, and the placket on his chest was already half open, and he couldn't see the virtue of the children of the family at all.

"What do you want from the guest officers?" The shopkeeper asked diligently.

"Go, arrange an elegant place for my son, go quickly."

"Okay."

At this time, Bailiyan was sitting in the corner, and the cart of bones just now was dragged by him. Liu Zao, who was sitting on the opposite side, saw that the situation was not good, so he leaned in and whispered:

"Mr. Wei, all the people who came were from the government."

Bailiyan took a sip of rice wine and said:

"It's not a big deal, let's see first."

Zhang He and Guo Peng had never seen Bai Liyan, but the bearded one under the satin green silk robe was obviously dressed as a eunuch. The eunuch had a warm relationship with the young man in the brocade robe, and his accent came from Chenling, and he was probably from the palace.

Thinking of this, Baili Yan paid attention to the three of them while eating.

After the three people sat down in the private room, the four guards guarded the door, and the eunuch and the two young men in brocade robes ordered more than 20 dishes in a row.

At this time, a young girl came out of the door, a saro pink dress was very clear, about fourteen or fifteen, and she was handsome, and her delicate face seemed to be able to drip water with her hands.

"The king's shopkeeper, the king's shopkeeper is here."

The girl shouted coquettishly, and the shopkeeper Wang, who was immersed in settling accounts, smiled and stepped forward to give a slight salute:

"Yo, little peach girl."

"Shopkeeper Wang, have you prepared all the dishes for Miss?"

"It's all ready." As he spoke, the shopkeeper Wang took a three-layer vermilion lacquer food box from the cabinet and handed it to the girl and said, "This food box is a bit heavy, or I will have someone send it to the young lady." ”

"No, I can handle it."

The girl took the food box and couldn't help but lock her eyebrows, obviously the weight of the food box was a little heavier for the girl.

At this time, the private room was feasting and gobbling up Zhang and heard the sound, faintly through the gauze curtain faintly saw the girl's graceful posture like a swimming dragon, graceful and graceful, the slightly convex mountain peak on the chest evoked Zhang and rippling spring heart:

"I don't know whose little girl is such a water spirit in her life." Zhang said, spit out the fish bone in his mouth, and smacked his lips.

"Do you want someone to inquire?"

Guo Peng said with a playful face, not caring about the feelings of Gonggong Xu, who was sitting on the side, and talked about men and women.

When he was young, two guards outside the door followed the girl, and after about half a cup of tea, one of the two guards came back to report:

"Guo Gongzi, I have inquired clearly, the little woman just now is the maid of Xiao Chunyu, the geisha of the music workshop in the city."

Guo Peng's eyes rolled, and a hint of evil appeared on his face:

"The maidservant girl is still like this, so isn't this Xiao Chunyu ...... Hehe......" Guo Peng rubbed his hands, looked at Zhang He, but thought about how to divide it: "Brother Zhang, how about the little one?" ”

Zhang and chopsticks were put down, and a bone came out of his mouth:

"Okay, my son likes little chicks, hahaha......"

Leaning forward and closing his mouth, he saw that one of his front teeth was missing, and the evil in his heart was overturned under the urging of the commotion.