Chapter 222 221【Buying a House】

From Lvjuhe back to Tianjin, the journey was smooth and smooth, with only a little accident.

The soldiers Zhao Yunxiang sent out to scout the road collided with a few private salt dealers who were stalking in the dark. Both parties were taken aback. The smugglers thought they were trying to seize the private sector, dropped more than 200 catties of smuggled salt and ran away, making people dumbfounded.

In the early years of the Republic of China, because the customs was controlled by foreigners, the salt tax accounted for a large proportion of the central tax revenue.

The national salt tax accounts for about 24% of the central tax revenue, and the Changlu salt tax accounts for 24% of the national salt tax. Therefore, as soon as Chu Yupu withheld the Changlu salt tax money, he immediately collapsed the Beiyang government's finances.

The situation of private salt in Henan and Hebei is very serious, especially in Tianjin.

The land here is mostly saline-alkali land. When the climate is dry in spring and autumn, it is very suitable for making soil salt and nitrate. Due to poor crop yields in saline-alkali land, farmers have left the land idle, scraping the soil and drenching it in the sun to make nitrate salt.

This kind of private salt tastes bitter and hard to swallow, but its advantage is that it is cheap, and it is the first choice of poor people at the bottom.

"Leave it for others, it's not easy." Zhou Hexuan looked at the salt bag by the roadside and smiled. He also thought about using scientific methods to help Tianjin farmers control saline-alkali land, but after learning about the actual situation, he immediately canceled this plan.

The investment in saline-alkali land treatment is too large, and it is particularly troublesome. Farmers are naturally more willing to scrape the soil and dry the salt.

Zhao Yunxiang secretly stuffed a handful of receipts into Zhou Hexuan's hand, and said in a low voice, "Mr. Zhou, the 480,000 yuan is yours."

Zhou Hexuan buried his head in counting and found a total of 610,000.

That is to say, Zhao Yunxiang kept 260,000 oceans and shared 130,000 with Zhou Hexuan each, and Sun Liangcheng would not know about the money.

The other 70,000 yuan will be distributed to 50 soldiers who contribute, and each person can get 1,400 yuan, which is enough for them to serve as soldiers for ten years, and it must be under the condition that the officer will not deduct their military pay.

Even if Sun Liangcheng knew about this, he wouldn't say anything, because this guy could pick up 720,000 for nothing.

Everyone waited for the dawn and passed through the concession checkpoint safely.

Zhao Yunxiang sent the injured soldier and Chu Nanxiang to the hospital, and then returned to the hotel to share the money with his subordinates, all smiling happily.

When Zhou Hexuan returned to the rented house, Liao Yaquan immediately greeted him and asked, "Brother Zhou, are you back so soon?"

"Peking University wanted to keep me for two more days, but I refused." Zhou Hexuan laughed. His excuse for disappearing this time was that he was going to see friends in Peking.

Liao Yaquan naturally didn't believe it, she saw with her own eyes that Zhou Hexuan came back with dozens of soldiers from Shandong. It's a pity that she is a long-term latent spy and cannot follow up and inquire at any time. She is very curious about what Zhou Hexuan has done these two days.

"Where's Le Yi?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

"Sister Zhang is still on the radio," Liao Yaquan said.

"Then you stay at home, I'll go out for a while." Zhou Hexuan said.

"Oh." Liao Yaquan could only agree.

Zhou Hexuan had a huge sum of money in his hand, he thought twice and did not dare to put it at home. So he went straight to the foreign bank and spent money to rent a bank safe, which was specially used to store bank notes.

After saving things, Zhou Hexuan began to think about how to spend the money.

Playing with financial bonds is more popular these days, Zhou Hexuan doesn't want to get involved, the water inside is too deep. He is still suitable for an apartment honestly, and he will buy a few houses first.

After making up his mind, Zhou Hexuan immediately called for a real estate agent and said, "I want to buy a house in the concession area, where can I find a suitable one?"

The agent was a young man in his 30s, wearing glasses and wearing gentle manners. He smiled and said, "Mr. Zhou, it is most convenient to buy a house on Hai Avenue in the British Concession, and the price is relatively affordable."

"Tell me about the specific situation," Zhou Hexuan said.

The agent introduced in detail: "The Hai Avenue in the British Concession is adjacent to the Qiangzi River, and the French Concession is next door. The east side was the American Concession in the early years. After it was merged into the British Concession, it has not been developed for a long time, and the land has been idle. A few years ago, there was a revolution in Tsarist Russia. , a large number of Tsarist Russian nobles fled to Tianjin. The British Shannon Company and the Catholic Church saw the business opportunities and developed and built a large number of residences and pavements in this area, forming a small white building commodity area where White Russians gathered. "

"That is to say, if I buy a house there, the neighbors are all White Russians?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

The intermediary laughed and said: "Those White Russian nobles are used to enjoying, and they don't do production. How can they last long? It's not been a few years, and they have run out of money one by one, and they are so poor. Xiaobailou Commodity Area Nearly half of the houses in the neighborhood are now waiting to be sold, and you can move in immediately after paying the money.”

Zhou Hexuan frowned and said, "Hearing what you said, that place seems a bit out of the way?"

The intermediary quickly explained: "It used to be relatively remote, but it has become much more prosperous in the past two years. There are Lihe Foreign Firm, Xiannong Company, Qixin Cement Company, and Young Women's Christian Association next to it, ensuring safety and convenience. You know Shannong Company? The United States President candidate Hoover is a shareholder of Shannon!"

"Isn't Shannong a British company? Can it have something to do with the US presidential candidate?" Zhou Hexuan laughed.

The intermediary said with a smile: "Then I don't know."

...

The next morning, Zhou Hexuan deliberately left Liao Yaquan behind, and called Zhang Leyi up to look at the house together.

"The mansions here are very expensive, do you have enough money?" Zhang Leyi's family specializes in building villas, and she knows the market inside.

"Enough, I have earned some royalties from writing articles in the past two years," Zhou Hexuan pointed at the small white building, and said with some pretense, "The few rented houses I live in now are really too narrow. If you If you like it, just choose two buildings.”

Zhang Leyi was surprised: "Buy two?"

"Choose it, it's fine." Zhou Hexuan also wanted to buy a few shops facing the street for rent.

The real estate agent smiled apologetically, "Mr. Zhou is so proud! If you have spare money, I suggest you buy a few more. The Northern Expeditionary Army is about to occupy Tianjin, and the foreigners in the concession are a little scared. The house prices have been falling recently."

Zhang Leyi picked and chose, and finally chose a three-story white building with a total of 18 rooms upstairs and downstairs (not including bathrooms), with a lawn and a small garden.

"How much is this building?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

The intermediary laughed and said, "The landlord asks for 50,000."

"It's too expensive, up to 30,000." Zhang Leyi opened his mouth and bargained for 40%.

The agent was a little speechless: "Miss, you bought a house here ten years ago, and you could buy two houses for 30,000 yuan. But it's different now. The surrounding land has been developed, and the house prices in this area will naturally rise."

"My family specializes in repairing western-style buildings, so don't fool me," Zhang Leyi put on an air of an expert, "tell me the lowest price."

The agent gritted his teeth and said, "48,000, if it is lower, we have to discuss it with the homeowner."

Zhang Leyi said: "Then call the owner!"

When the white Russian aristocratic landlord appeared, Zhou Hexuan finally saw Zhang Leyi's ability.

Zhang Leyi decided that the other party had no money and wanted to sell the house, so she actually cut the 50,000 yuan house into 35,000. The Belarusian homeowner just wanted to cry when he signed the contract.

Zhou Hexuan was overjoyed, and spent money to buy a few shops facing the street. Anyway, he had a lot of money, so he was idle when he was idle.

Before they could move into their new home, news came from the Northeast—something happened to Zhang Zuolin.