"Swap out?" The businessman was stunned when he heard this, he went to other places to do business during this time, and the first two had just returned, so he didn't know much about the recent things in Chang'an, and he couldn't understand what the third brother was talking about.

The young scholar has been studying in Chang'an, and he knows what his third uncle means, but he also asked with a solemn face: "Third uncle, you have to think clearly, although the imperial court has promulgated the land replacement law, and the proportion is still extremely high, but the land in Liaodong and Goguryeo is really not easy to manage!" ”

"Da Yan, I have been thinking about this for several days, and it is very clear, our Zhou family's land is mainly near Luoyang, and there are more than 5,000 acres of land together, and hundreds of farmers are usually hired to cultivate, but now you also know that many farmers are not willing to rent land to plant, but are ready to work in the factory, although they are usually tired, but the income is more cost-effective than farming, our Zhou family's tenants have been renting since last year, and now there are hundreds of acres of land because no one planted it, and if it goes on like this, I'm afraid that the fields around us will have to lose money and operate. ”

Hearing the words of the third brother and his nephew, the merchant seemed to understand, and asked a little anxiously: "Third brother, I know very well about the decrease in farmers, and the newly opened factory here has also been recruiting people, but what kind of land exchange did you talk about with Da Yan, what is going on?" ”

Hearing the merchant's question, the fat rich man and the scholar glanced at each other, and finally the scholar explained: "Uncle, the land replacement law is a new decree issued by the imperial court, didn't we destroy Goguryeo some time ago, the land over there is now ours, but there are fewer people there, and the climate is also a little worse, so a large amount of land is uncultivated, so the imperial court is in Guannei, Hedong, Hebei, Henan several densely populated roads." A land replacement law was enacted. As long as someone is willing to hand over the existing land to the imperial court, the imperial court will set aside a piece of land for this person in Liaodong or Goguryeo. And depending on the quality of the field, the area of the land is also different, but the minimum is ten times that of the original land. ”

"Da Hao. So what is the proportion of this replacement? The merchant immediately asked again.

The scholar immediately replied: "Uncle, this ratio is very complicated, but to put it simply, it is one to twenty in Ueda, one to fifteen in Nakata, and one to ten in Shimoda, but because the quality of land in Liaodong and Goguryeo is also different, there will be changes in the middle, for example, if we exchange Ueda for the cheapest mountain land in Liaodong." Maybe the ratio will reach 1 to 30 or even higher. ”

Hearing this land exchange method, the merchant pondered for a while before he spoke: "The third child." Our ancestors originally lived by farming. After several generations of hard work, the 5,000 acres of land were saved. Although the income of the industrial and commercial sector I am responsible for has increased greatly, and I don't pay much attention to the production of the 5,000 acres of land, but it is also the foundation of our fortune, can you really bear to exchange it like this? ”

Hearing the eldest brother's serious words, the fat rich man also muttered, there are three brothers in their family, and the eldest brother is not a son-in-law, so he can only be responsible for industry and commerce that are not valued by the family. The second brother is the eldest son, but he is extremely smart, embarked on the road of studying, and became a petty official of the eighth grade, but unfortunately he died of illness a few years ago, fortunately, the eldest nephew in front of him inherited his father's intelligence, and he has been admitted to Xiucai at a young age, maybe in a few years, their old Liu family can have another official. And as his father's youngest child, he is also the most loved, and the ancestral business of the family is inherited by him, of course, all the expenses of the second brother's family are borne by him and the eldest brother, so he has the absolute right to dispose of the land in the family.

Just when the two elders were pondering, the young scholar suddenly spoke: "Uncle, I think the third uncle's plan is good, although our ancestral business is important, but if we can exchange it for a richer family property, the ancestors' spirits in the sky will definitely agree." ”

When the fat rich man heard that his nephew supported him, his eyes immediately lit up, he was a person who had no opinions, and when he heard the opposition of his eldest brother, he immediately forgot about his previous plans, and now when he heard his nephew's words, his mind suddenly cleared up, and he rarely showed a firm expression and said: "Big brother, I have decided, instead of letting the fields left by my ancestors be barren, it is better to exchange some of them for the land of Liaodong and Goguryeo, maybe I can take the opportunity to make a fortune." ”

After being a brother for so many years, it was the first time for a shrewd businessman to see the third brother's expression like this, and he couldn't help but be a little surprised in his heart, but he was not a person who was easy to change his mind, so after thinking about it, he still opened his mouth and objected: "Third brother, have you thought about it, in ghost places like Liaodong and Goguryeo, even if there is a large piece of land, what can it do?" Not only is there not only a small number of people, but the climate is also poor, let alone hiring people to farm, it is estimated that even if you find people, the annual harvest will be a big problem! ”

"Big brother, listen to me first!" When the fat rich man heard the words of the eldest brother, he saw the encouraging eyes of his nephew, so he plucked up the courage and said, "I think so, our family has more than 5,000 acres of land, of which only 20% is the upper field, 30% is the middle field, and the other 50% is the lower field, anyway, it is not easy to find tenants now, and the harvest of the lower field is low, then we will simply hand over the lower field, more than 2,500 acres of lower field, can be exchanged for more than 25,000 acres of land, think about how big a piece of land it must be!" ”

Twenty-five thousand acres, that is, two hundred and fifty hectares, such a huge piece of land, not only the fat rich man looked greedy, but even the shrewd businessman was a little moved, but thinking that these were all useless wasteland, he still shook his head with a firm face.

But I only heard the fat rich man continue: "Big brother, as for the harvest you just said, I have inquired about this clearly, although the climate in Liaodong and Goguryeo is a little different, but in spring and summer, you can still plant a crop, whether it is wheat or soybeans, it can grow very well, and I also heard that the land there is extremely fertile, more than our place in Guanzhong, if it is planted well, one mu will be a lot more than here......

Hearing the third brother's chatter, the shrewd merchant was a little impatient and interrupted, "What about the person? ”

The conversation was interrupted by the eldest brother, but the fat rich man was not angry at all, and said with a smile: "Big brother, don't worry, manpower is not a problem, have you forgotten where Goguryeo is close?" ”

Hearing such a rhetorical question from the third brother, the merchant was also stunned. He usually runs a lot of places for business. Although I haven't been to Goguryeo, I have been to Dengju and know that Dengju and Goguryeo face each other across the sea. And thinking of Dengzhou, he immediately had a feeling of sudden enlightenment, and blurted out: "Third brother." You want to buy slaves to farm. ”

"The eldest brother is really a big businessman, and he guessed it on time at once!" The fat rich man exclaimed excitedly.

However, the merchant immediately said with some concern: "Third brother, although it is a good way to use slaves to farm, but you have more than 20,000 acres, if you want to cultivate them all, you need at least a thousand slaves, not to mention the cost for the time being, even if we have money, it is not easy to gather so many slaves!" ”

"Uncle. There is no need for so many people at all, and now the imperial court has promulgated the law of land replacement, and also recommends the use of the law of rough seeds. You don't have to be so delicate about the field. The links at the time of farming can be saved, plus the use of more animal power. The land that a person can cultivate is three or four times that of the past, and more than 20,000 acres of land are only a few hundred slaves, and the third uncle is not just arable land for so much land! Seeing that the third uncle was a little difficult to explain, he simply rushed to say.

"Oh, what else can you do if you don't farm?" The merchant asked, curiously.

Seeing that the eldest brother was a little loose, the fat merchant and the scholar glanced at each other, and then said excitedly: "Big brother, you may not have read the recent newspapers, the newspapers have said that Liaodong and Goguryeo are rich in minerals, especially the coal mines and iron mines, which have been discovered in several places, if we can also find a mineral on the land we replaced, then our family is still afraid of lack of money?" ”

"Just kidding, people say you believe it?" Merchants have also heard of newspapers, but they haven't had time to learn about them yet.

"Uncle, you don't understand this, the newspaper is run by His Royal Highness the King of Qi, and the words on it are almost real gold, and I also heard that the people of the Qi Wangfu have discovered a large iron ore in Goguryeo, and it is open-pit mining, and the reserves are very amazing, and now many families in Chang'an City are discussing cooperation with His Royal Highness the King of Qi to open a mine!" Hearing the uncle's slander of the newspaper, the young scholar immediately said with a displeased face, he is a loyal reader of the Datang Daily, almost every issue must be read, and he has always regarded Li Su, the king of Qi, as the most suitable heir to the throne of the Tang Dynasty.

"His Royal Highness King Qi!" As soon as Li Su was mentioned, the shrewd businessman was immediately shocked, after all, this prince is the god of wealth in the minds of businessmen, no matter what kind of business, as long as he is involved with King Qi, he will immediately be able to make a lot of money.

"Da Yan, since you know about His Highness's investment promotion, can you let our family also participate in it?" The shrewd merchant asked as he took his nephew's hand with a fanatical expression.

As soon as he heard the uncle's words, the scholar immediately smiled bitterly: "Uncle, I also heard this news from a classmate, people are from a family of eunuchs, but they are not qualified to participate, with the little family resources of our Liu family, how can they participate in such a big business?" ”

The merchant was also overjoyed just now, and when he heard his nephew's words, he immediately came to his senses, hurriedly let go of his nephew, and smiled a little embarrassedly, but he still asked with some hesitation: "Third brother, although there are many mines in Liaodong and Goguryeo, what if the mines can't be found, don't you have to farm in the end?" ”

The merchant didn't notice that his current tone had exposed his heart, obviously he had agreed to the exchange of land, and thinking that the land he had exchanged might have minerals, he was no longer satisfied with the income from farming.

"Big brother, I have also thought about this, I can find the best minerals, if not, then buy some slave seeds for good fields, and most of the other land, we don't have to spend a lot of effort to cultivate, but build a pasture, let the slaves graze, and then you build a canning factory there, and the cattle and sheep produced in the pasture are slaughtered and made into canned food, and then transported to the mainland for sale, anyway, it is near the sea there, and it is cheaper to take the sea route!" The fat rich man said excitedly. With so much land, the money earned from grazing alone is more than the original income of more than 2,000 mu of land.

The merchant didn't expect that his younger brother was really thoughtful, no matter what the replaced land was done, it seemed to be more cost-effective than the more than 2,000 acres of lower fields, and then he finally had no reason to object, so he thought about it and had to say: "Okay, anyway, my father left all the fields to you, and you thought about it so thoughtfully, so there is no reason for my brother to object, but ......"

Speaking of this, the shrewd eyes of the business swept over the fat rich man and the young scholar, and said with a little dissatisfaction: "But Da Yan, this idea is not like what your third uncle can think of, it must be you making trouble again, right?" ”

"Hehe, uncle is worthy of being an uncle, so I know that this trick of the little nephew can't hide it from you!" After hearing this, the scholar said with a hippie face, these days he has learned a lot about the policies of the imperial court through the newspaper, coupled with the newspaper's reports on Liaodong and Goguryeo, so he quickly saw the opportunity, so he picked up the third uncle in his hometown and replaced part of the family's land, but he was worried that the uncle would not agree, so he partnered with the third uncle to perform such a scene.

While the three uncles and nephews were talking happily, there was a young man of seventeen or eighteen years old sitting at the table by the window behind them, listening attentively to all their conversations, and on the opposite side of the young man, a child of about ten years old was also listening very attentively.

"Ninth brother, now I understand why I want Yanbei to add so many descriptions of Goguryeo and Liaodong's local customs in their coverage of the Goguryeo War, right?" The young man suddenly asked with a smile, he is naturally our His Royal Highness the King of Qi.

"I see!" Li Zhi on the other side nodded, "When the newspaper reported on the Goguryeo War, it took a lot of pen and ink to describe the minerals and fertility of Liaodong and Goguryeo, which seems to be a useless description, but in fact it is a very critical step, so that those who read the newspaper, while being attracted by the Goguryeo War, unknowingly, have a general understanding of the customs and customs of Goguryeo, know what kind of food can be grown there, and what kind of minerals there are, so that after the introduction of the land replacement law of the imperial court, The first thing that comes to people's minds is the rich minerals and fertile land of Liaodong and Goguryeo, so that more people can be attracted to participate in land exchange! ”

"Haha~, what the ninth brother said is good, but with the agreement of the newspaper report, we also have to strengthen the information that these people go to Liaodong, so I sent people to find out a few minerals, and openly recruited people to join the shares, so that Liaodong and Goguryeo have many mines to become a fact, so that those who have doubts will dispel the doubts in their hearts, and there will be more people who are willing to go to Goguryeo!" Li Su said with a smug face.

"Sixth brother, are there really so many minerals in Liaodong and Goguryeo?" Li Zhi asked a little worriedly.

When Li Su heard this, he smiled and said: "You can comprehend these by yourself after returning to the palace, now you come with me, the sixth brother will take you to see the real world today!" ”