He has a spatial ability and saves three children on his escape route.

Chapter 128 Wen Yuxia's Decision

After hearing Tang Qini and Song Ying's gossip, Wen Yuxia realized the importance of her maternal family. Xia Yichen was her sworn brother, but she couldn't rely on him to solve everything for her. Her desire to support the Wen family grew increasingly urgent.

Taking Bei Yi and Bei Er out, they searched all over the capital before finally finding three real estate brokerage firms. These firms only offered house rentals and human trafficking; they didn't have a single acre of land she wanted to buy.

Wen Yuxia then realized how scarce land was in the capital. Buying land and settling down through a real estate agency was impossible. Remembering Yunyi Tower's excellent network of information, Wen Yuxia turned and headed towards Yunyi Tower.

"Brother Jinxuan, why are there no lands for sale in the brokerage firm?" Wen Yuxia asked Zhang Jinxuan as soon as she saw him.

Zhang Jinxuan said calmly, "The land in the suburbs was divided up a hundred years ago. Who would sell their land for no reason..."

Not to mention the land in the outskirts of Beijing, every mountain in the outskirts of Beijing has an owner. If it weren't for the Emperor's strict orders to the owners of each mountain, allowing the people to go up the mountains to cut firewood, hunt, dig wild vegetables, and gather medicinal herbs, you probably wouldn't see a single woodcutter selling firewood in or around the capital.

“It was divided up a hundred years ago, so how could the Emperor have a farm to bestow upon me? Could it be that the original owner of the farm was the Emperor himself?” The more Wen Yuxia thought about it, the more convinced she became of her analysis.

Zhang Jinxuan laughed and said, "That's because you were lucky. The Emperor had just punished Gu Nian, the Minister of War. Gu Nian's entire clan was exiled, and the Gu family's property was confiscated. Your farm and the Princess's Mansion were both taken back from Gu Nian."

The Gu family owned many properties, and Zhang Jinxuan and his group had acquired some of them. Lu Mubai, who was far away in Pingyuan Pass, also wrote to Zhang Jinxuan asking him to help select two shops.

Zhang Jinxuan said with some regret, "You weren't familiar with us back then, and we didn't inform you about the sale of the Gu family's assets. Sister Yuxia, if you want to buy land, you'll have to wait for an opportunity. I'll let you know as soon as there's news."

If you wanted to buy land, shops, or residences in the capital, you could only wait until the emperor arrested corrupt officials and sold their assets; only then would you have the opportunity to purchase them.

The Ministry of Justice was responsible for arresting corrupt officials. The servants of corrupt officials were handed over to brokers for sale, and the brokers needed to deliver the money for these servants' sale to the Ministry of Justice in advance.

The properties were purchased by the Ministry of Justice, with officials at various levels being the first to receive invitations. If there were any remaining properties after the officials' selection, the Ministry of Justice would issue further invitations for wealthy merchants in the capital to purchase them.

After two rounds of purchases by officials and wealthy individuals, the corrupt officials' assets were all converted into silver. Finally, the Ministry of Justice handed over all the silver to the Ministry of Revenue.

The internal purchase policy was set by the Emperor. Wen Yuxia silently gave the Emperor a thumbs up; he was a master at raising fish. The officials and wealthy merchants of the capital were all fish in the Emperor's fishpond.

It's impossible for officials not to be greedy, and wealthy merchants can't live peacefully without the backing of officials. The emperor knew the saying "clear water has no fish," and as long as his bottom line wasn't crossed, he could turn a blind eye.

The unrecovered assets remain in the hands of Beijing officials and wealthy merchants. With the national treasury short of silver, the emperor can easily find an excuse to get rid of these officials and merchants.

"Brother Jinxuan, I'm entrusting this matter to you. Is it possible to buy a house plot in a village on the outskirts of Beijing?" Not wanting to trouble two people, Wen Yuxia directly stated her desire to buy a house plot to settle Wen Dashan and the others.

Zhang Jinxuan pondered for a moment and said, "The homesteads in the village already have owners. Why don't we bring them to your estate to live, and temporarily register their household registration under the Princess's residence..."

Zhang Jinxuan's suggestion was very pertinent. A homestead and land cannot be purchased in a short time. Wen Yuxia could simply bring the person over first, buy the homestead, and then transfer the household registration from the Princess's residence.

Wen Yuxia nodded somewhat dejectedly: "That's the only way." She immediately wrote a letter and asked Zhang Jinxuan to help send it back to Xinchuan County.

On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, Wen Dashan asked Lu Zhigang to drive the mule cart back to Xinghua Village early in the morning to deliver New Year's goods to Grandpa Wen and his wife. The mule cart stopped in front of Grandpa Wen's house.

"Grandpa, my husband has brought you New Year's gifts," Lu Zhigang shouted as he knocked on the door.

No one answered from inside the courtyard, but Lu Zhigang, standing at the gate, could still hear soft murmurs coming from within. He walked to the mule cart and whispered, "Master, no one answered the door, but I heard people talking in the courtyard."

Wen Dashan sighed. He probably didn't dare open the door because Wen Zhihua was there. "Old Lu, move your things to the gate, then knock and tell them to carry them in themselves. I'll wait for you at Zibai's house,"

“Yes, sir,” Lu Zhigang watched Wen Dashan leave, then moved the pork, pastries, candy, and cloth from the mule cart to the courtyard gate.

Lu Zhigang shouted into the yard, "Old man, put the things at the door, you can carry them back yourself!"

Old Mrs. Wen stood by the courtyard wall until the mule cart had driven away before cautiously opening the gate. Once she was sure Wen Dashan wasn't there, she quickly turned back and called out, "Boss, let's go!"

Wen Zihua and his wife, Wen Zicai, and Wen Zicai's newlywed wife sneaked out of the courtyard. Only then did Old Lady Wen have the mind to check the New Year's gifts that Wen Dashan had sent.

When Wen Dashan returned to the village, he didn't bring any New Year's gifts for the Yang family, Wen Zibai, or Wen Zihua. It was his first time spending the New Year in the city, and he wanted to invite all three families to celebrate there as well.

"You all come to the city with your father, I'll stay home to feed the livestock." It was impossible for everyone to move to the city; someone had to stay home to feed the animals. Wen Zibai volunteered to take on the task of feeding the livestock.

Wen Dashan laughed and said, "The village chief can take care of the livestock. Second brother, take two chickens to the village chief and let him know. Return the keys to him when you leave. Oh, and remember to tell the village chief he'll get ten copper coins a day for his hard work."

Wen Zibai nodded reluctantly, then turned to the chicken coop in the backyard to catch a chicken. After carrying the chicken out of the yard, Wen Zibai muttered to himself, "Feeding the livestock, only ten copper coins a day. Why can't I earn this money myself? Why do I have to let someone else do it?"

The snack shop run by the three Yang sisters-in-law had already closed, and they planned to reopen it after the eighth day of the Lunar New Year. Just then, Wen Dashan said everyone was going to the city for the New Year, so the three sisters-in-law called to their sons to start packing their luggage.

When Wen Zibai returned from the village chief's house, the luggage of the three families had already been loaded onto the oxcart and mule cart. Zhang had also caught five of her family's old hens and led away one goat, saying she wanted to take them to the city to eat.

When Yang and Hua saw this, they also wanted to return home to catch chickens and sheep, but Wen Dashan stopped them: "Let's go, if we delay any longer we'll miss lunch. The city has everything, we can buy whatever we want to eat."

All the harvest from Xinghua Village's fields belonged to Old Master Wen. Wen Dashan's food and daily necessities came from the rent from shops in town. Wen Zibo couldn't bear to ask Wen Dashan to spend money on food.

He muttered under his breath, "Just buy whatever you want to eat, you're just bragging," then loudly ordered, "Bo'er, go to the backyard and fetch two sheep."

Wen Dashan said with a smile, "Second son, don't worry, your father has money. Da Ya handed over the greenhouse vegetable business to me, and I've earned more than a hundred taels of silver from selling vegetables recently..."

He had no shortage of money or food; every month, Steward Li would send someone to deliver grain, meat, and snacks to him. Yesterday, Steward Li even sent two cartloads of New Year's goods to him.

Having earned over a hundred taels of silver in just a few months, Wen Zibai shamelessly became tempted: "Father, you're idle anyway during the winter. Next year, Zihua and I will go and help you. We don't need wages, just meals."

"Da Ya left me four people. There's enough for cooking, driving, and tending the vegetable garden. There's no work for you two. You'll just have to accompany me for a stroll, haha," Wen Dashan said proudly.

"Alright, stop showing off. If you don't leave now, you'll miss lunch," Wen Zibo said with a smile.