Beijing

General Tai House

The group spent an hour walking around, and Yang Gong's voice was hoarse. After visiting the house, Ma Jin also figured out the structure of the house.

This house is a five-entrance yard. In ancient times, the size of the house was called "deep". It is calculated based on the number of "vertical halls". Five-entrance, that is, the five "halls" in the vertical direction.

The front is the gatekeeper, and several ear rooms have been repaired on both sides, probably for the gatekeeper to rest and live.

In the center of the doorman is a screen wall, and above it is engraved with a sentence from Confucius's "The Analects of Confucius, the Practice of the Practice".

"The Master said: I am determined to study at 150, I am determined to be aware of my studies at 30, I am not confused at 40, I am not confused at 50, I am known to heaven at 60, I am obedient to my ears at 70, and I am following my heart at 70, and I am not beyond the rules."

Below is a stone painting of Confucius teaching. Confucius sat behind the river, holding the scroll to speak. Yan Hui, Zilu and other disciples looked solemn and listened carefully to the teacher's teachings.

After crossing the screen wall, it is the front yard and the outer yard. There is a hall in the middle, with two side halls on the left and right, and several tea rooms, which are usually used to entertain guests.

There are two rows of rooms on the left and right of the front yard, separated by a screen door in the middle. According to Yang Gong, this is for the yard to live in, and there is also a manger next to it to hang horses.

There is a two doors separated from the front yard and the back. After passing through the two doors, it is the atrium. This is the place to receive important guests. Usually, any major events at home, or banquets, and sacrifices will be held here.

The former owner of the house attaches great importance to this place and planted a lot of vegetation and trees, including some treasures. Now that spring is here, it sprouts and blooms, the yard is full of spring, which is very beautiful.

After passing the atrium, there is the main room where the owner of the house lives, including the main hall, bedroom, study, and the lower room. It can be seen that the former owner has a very elegant taste and the decoration is elegant and elegant.

The main room is in the middle, with two corridors on the left and right, leading directly to the east and west wing rooms. It is said to be a wing room, but in fact it is a small courtyard, one bright and two dark. The middle room is a living room and the two sides are bedrooms. The wing room is very long, connecting from the main room to the backyard.

The west wing is a guest room for visitors, while the west wing is a residence for the children of the owner.

At the end of the house is the backyard. The backyard is very large, accounting for one-third of the area of ​​the house. It is divided into two yards, east and west, with a courtyard wall between them.

The east courtyard is slightly larger, and is the yard where the main family’s women live. There are also some maid’s rooms connected to the main room, the east wing room, and some decorations such as pavilions, rockery, pools, and small nurseries.

To the west is a place to deal with debris, the laundry room, the back kitchen, the carriage room, and the servant room are all here, separated from the east courtyard and the west wing room, and there is also a gatekeeper in the middle to prevent the servant from breaking around.

At the outermost part of the west courtyard, a back door was opened, and a row of houses were built next to it for the residence and protection of the backyard.

...

After visiting the house, Ma Jin and his friends returned to the main hall in the atrium to sit down and rest. Yang Gong found the old man and asked him for some water. He said it for so long, his mouth was dry.

"Sir, what do you think of this house? Are you still satisfied?" Yang Gong asked Ma Jin after quenching his thirst.

Overall, Ma Jin was very satisfied with this house. The area, location and decoration of this house are all excellent. I am afraid that such a good house will have a good price in Beijing.

Ma Jin asked calmly, "I don't know how much silver you offer from the owner."

What does Yang Gong do? It is not an exaggeration to say that he is a human being. Although Ma Jin didn't seem to have any intention on his face, he just asked for the price.

But Yang Gong saw Ma Jin's heartbroken and was overjoyed. If this deal was done, he would at least cost a few hundred taels of silver.

"The master's family costs 15,000 silver." Yang Gong said.

Ma Jin frowned, the price was wrong.

Ma Jin said the price was wrong, not that the price was high, on the contrary, the price was slightly lower.

When Ma Jin wanted to buy a house, of course he checked some housing prices in the capital. Judging from the current market price in the capital, this five-cent house is located at the junction of the east city and north city. It has a superior geographical location and costs at least 15,000 taels of silver.

Don’t you just raise the price when selling things, and then the buyer will sell them down. Finally, the two companies discussed a suitable price transaction. Why did Yang Gong directly say a low price?

Don't have any traps...

Ma Jin looked at Yang Gong with a look of alertness.

When Yang Gong saw Ma Jin's eyes, he knew that he had misunderstood and explained the reason with a wry smile.

"Sir, I don't hide it from you. This house was originally the mansion of the former governor of Jiangxi in the capital. Later, the governor was removed from his post because of a mistake and was exiled to the Northern Xinjiang.

The family members were also preparing to follow him, so they were about to sell their property and take it to northern Xinjiang, so they sold the house.

Because the matter is urgent, the owner will not hesitate to reduce the price, but there is only one requirement, which is that he must pay the full amount."

Yang Gong did not deceive Ma Jin. After all, this is not a secret. You will know it after you go out and inquire.

If Yang Gong had used his tricks, Ma Jin would not have any grudges when he learned from other places in the future. He would not have been worthy of making enemies with Ma Jin in order to make some money. Yang Gong understood this very clearly.

"So that's how it is."

Ma Jin nodded, no wonder the price was not high, but since that was the case, he happened to use this to bargain.

The governor was sent to serve as a military officer. I don’t know what unethical things he did. Even if he was wronged, it didn’t matter to Ma Jin. If you don’t bargain for a house, you won’t have a place to spend it if you have too much money…

Ma Jin's eyes rolled and immediately found a reason. He looked embarrassed: "Since this happened to the master's family, will this... be unlucky?"

This is not Ma Jin's random search for trouble. The ancients believed in Feng Shui. Not to mention the ancients, even in later generations, as long as someone died in this house and something happened, the value would inevitably be greatly reduced.

What's more, the former head of this house was just being beaten to the end and was sent to the northern border. Of course, others would regard it as bad feng shui and not conducive to the career of the officialdom.

Ma Jin had just become an official, so there was nothing wrong with raising objections to this. If he changed to superstitious people, he turned around and left.

Although Ma Jin was not too taboo about this, it did not mean that he did not take advantage of this opportunity to kill the price.

Sure enough, as soon as Ma Jin said this, Yang Gong was a little panicked. He had been the shopkeeper of the Yashang Store for so many years, and of course he knew that officials believed in Feng Shui.

Yang Gong calmed down a little and said calmly: "Don't worry, sir, this house has been visited by a master before, and the Feng Shui of this house is excellent. As for the affairs of the master, we can only say it is fate, and we cannot rely on the Feng Shui of the house."

Ma Jin did not argue or responded, and continued to find fault with others, Yang Gong also explained patiently.

After chatting for a while, Ma Jin stood up and said, "Although this house has flaws, it's pretty good overall. Let's do it. I'll go back and consider it. Please wait and believe me."

Yang Gong nodded and smiled and said, "Sir, I'm not urging you. It's really urgent for the master to have a chance. Can you give me some time? I can reply to the other side."

Ma Jin was happy, and Yang Gong even said this. It seems that the master is really anxious, otherwise he would not have exposed his bottom.

Then Ma Jin will not be anxious, nor will heal the price. He will first raise the other party's appetite and look at the reaction. However, Ma Jin is also afraid that the other party will be dragged by him, so he will sell it to others, so he will let the other party see hope.

"That's right, go and tell the master that I am actually quite satisfied with this house, but I have some concerns about Feng Shui."

Yang Gong instantly understood Ma Jin's thoughts. He wanted to bargain, but he couldn't make a decision, so he could only look at the owner's house.

Yang Gong said: "Don't worry, I will bring you your words. I will notify you immediately if there is any news there."

Ma Jin nodded with satisfaction, and greeted Yang Gong a few more words, taking Zhu Hu and the others out of the house.

The three of them strolled around the capital for a while, and Ma Jin also ran to the gate of the Censorate in Dongcheng to recognize the door.

It was not until the evening that Ma Jin and the other three returned to Dingxiang Tower. As soon as they entered the gate, Jin Bao told Ma Jin that Zhu Yunfeng, the shopkeeper of Xiangyun Tower, had been waiting for him for a long time.
Chapter completed!