12dz Chapter 526: The Regent Princess is Smarter Than She Thought
Chapter 526: The Regent Princess is Smarter Than She Thought
The enclosure ban issued in the name of the Regent began to be implemented in Suzhou, except for a few noble families who took out their property deeds to the government to remeasure their private property and handed over what did not originally belong to them.
All other noble families protested strongly and refused to hand over the property deeds.
Fu Jinyuan ordered all the yamen runners not to confront these aristocratic families forcefully. If they refused to hand over the house and land deeds, they should wait for the Ministry of Household's records to arrive before re-measuring them.
Shen Suian is also busy with commercial land in Yingzui Bay.
Sitting in the spacious carriage, we slowly drove out of Suzhou City.
Outside the car window, the streets were bustling with people coming and going, but she had no intention of appreciating the lively scene. Her mind was only on the matter of building a commercial street.
After being in Suzhou for many days, she has roughly understood that the nobles of Suzhou are still taking a wait-and-see attitude towards Fu Jinyuan, the regent. As a vassal king, it will take time for Fu Jinyuan to truly take full control of Suzhou.
Their foundation is not stable yet, but as long as the port in Eagle Bay can successfully develop trade, it will not only consolidate the power of the royal palace, but also benefit the people.
She had to do this.
Last time she took a fancy to a piece of wasteland, she found out after asking around that the land belonged to a branch of the Wei family. That branch forcibly exchanged the wasteland with Old Man Liu and even beat him up. Now Shen Suian wants to buy the wasteland into her own hands.
Originally, this matter was assigned to Zhao Jiuling, but Old Man Liu did not dare to sell the wasteland without permission, for fear that the Wei family would come to take it back.
Shen Sui'an also wanted to buy some land nearby, so he invited Madam Sun and several other officials' wives to come to Yingzui Bay together.
"If the princess needs land, just tell us. Why do we need to talk about the sale?" Mrs. Lin said stiffly.
In fact, most of the land here is wasteland. Not to mention that Shen Suian wanted to buy it from them, even if he gave it to them for free, they couldn't wait to send the land deeds to the palace.
"I'll take you to see Eagle's Beak Bay later, and then you can make a decision." Shen Suian said with a smile.
Zhao Jiuling was already waiting for them on the official road. As a line of carriages slowly approached, a faint smile appeared on his handsome face.
When the ladies saw Zhao Jiuling for the first time, there was a flash of amazement in their eyes.
"This is my adopted brother, Zhao Jiuling. I may need your help in the future, so please give me a favor." Shen Sui'an introduced Zhao Jiuling.
Madam Sun said, "Princess, you are joking. I can tell at a glance that your brother is not an ordinary person. We may need his help in the future."
Zhao Jiuling was dressed in green clothes today, looking handsome, elegant and noble. He didn't look like a businessman at all.
"Princess, is this... the future Suzhou Wharf?" Suddenly, Mrs. Hu, who was walking at the end, exclaimed.
"Yes, there is not only a port here, but also a commercial street for overseas trade." Shen Sui'an said with a smile.
"I wonder if you have heard of Tianhe City. I hope Suzhou can reproduce the grandeur of Tianhe City in the past."
Madam Sun's eyes lit up. "I've heard that the Yong Dynasty did not ban maritime transport at the beginning, and Tianhe City had frequent trade exchanges, a prosperity rarely seen in the world."
"I heard that at that time, the annual tax revenue of Tianhe City was enough to cover one-third of the national treasury tax revenue."
Hearing what Madam Sun said, everyone else exclaimed, "Really?"
"Even if it's fake, it won't be much different."
Shen Sui'an listened with a smile, "In the Southern Dynasty, only Suzhou can access the sea. As long as this place is opened up, Suzhou's prosperity in the future will not be inferior to Tianhe City."
Several ladies were moved by what he said, their eyes flickered and no one knew what they were thinking.
"Then...what is the purpose of Princess Commercial Street?" someone finally asked.
When they heard that Shen Suian wanted to use these wastelands to build a trading house, although they said they agreed, they actually disagreed. They just thought that Shen Suian did not understand Suzhou and was too naive.
Now seeing the river channel that has been dug and looking at the dock in the distance, they feel that they are the ones who are ignorant and foolish.
"Princess, can I invest in your trading company?" Madam Sun asked in a low voice.
Shen Sui'an secretly praised Madam Sun in his heart for being smart and being able to guess the purpose of her bringing them here today.
It is not impossible for the Regent's Palace to take on such a large commercial street alone, but it will only be beneficial for the Palace to share some of the profits and attract more support.
Only win-win can last long.
"Don't you all have fields here? Why not invest in the company by using the fields?" Shen Sui'an said with a smile.
Now everyone was excited.
Mrs. Sun didn't know what she was thinking about, and a meaningful smile appeared in her eyes.
"I'll tell you in detail later. Now let's go and take care of a small matter." Shen Sui'an said with a smile.
Zhao Jiuling brought them to a pavilion. Soon, the servant came back with an old man in tattered clothes and haggard face.
This old man is Old Man Liu.
Old man Liu looked nervous and frightened, and fell to his knees with a plop.
Seeing this, Shen Sui'an quickly stood up and said in a gentle voice: "Old man, please stand up quickly. I invited you here today to discuss the purchase of your land. Don't worry, the palace will never treat you unfairly."
Old man Liu stood up tremblingly, and after hesitating for a long time, he said, "Princess, that piece of land...that piece of land I can't decide."
The princess frowned slightly and asked in confusion: "Why is this? Aren't you the owner of the land?"
Old man Liu sighed, his eyes reddened, and he said in a tearful voice, "I was originally the owner of that piece of land, and my ancestors have been farming there for generations. But a few days ago, the Wei family suddenly came and said that the land would belong to them from now on, and drove us away with the land deed. We refused, so they ordered people to beat us and even injured my son. We, the little people, really can't fight them!"
Shen Sui'an knew about this, but he still looked angry. "How could this happen? Why did the Wei family seize your land?"
Old man Liu said helplessly: "They said they have a new land deed, and they also said that this land was originally wasteland and they reclaimed it. But it was clearly the fertile land that our ancestors have cultivated for generations!"
Shen Sui'an turned to look at Zhao Jiuling, "Jiuling, what's going on?"
"Sister, I asked someone to check the Wei family's side branches. They reduced taxes, colluded with the former governor, and registered wasteland as good farmland. They also forcibly occupied the real good farmland of Uncle Liu to confuse the accounts."
"It's not just the Wei family, there are other places like this. The Wei family is the leader of this unhealthy trend, relying on the family power to bully Suzhou. And among the fertile land they occupied, there are some that should have belonged to the royal palace. In the past few years, Suzhou had not yet become a fiefdom, and the government offices were negligent in management, so they took advantage of the loopholes."
When the women behind Shen Sui'an heard this, they looked at each other in bewilderment. How did this involve the Wei family?
In the past, they didn’t dare to go against the Wei family.
However, Madam Sun glanced at Shen Sui'an and curled her lips. She thought that who would have the final say in Suzhou in the future might have to be changed.
The Princess Regent was much smarter than she thought.
Bringing them here today without leaving any trace not only gave great benefits to other families and allowed them to participate in her great cause, but also allowed them to see the crime of the Wei family secretly enclosing land.
It is estimated that after everyone goes back today, they will spread the Wei family’s crimes.
I’m really curious about the upcoming showdown between the Princess Regent and the Wei family.