Di Ming

Chapter 75 Renting a House
People without property can only rent or pawn their homes.

Renting and pawning both involve living in someone else's house, but the differences are significant.

Renting a house means paying rent monthly, quarterly, or annually, and usually involves renting for several months or years.

A pawned house is a house that is pawned by the homeowner.

If the homeowner needs money, they will pawn the house. The pawner pays the full amount upfront and can move in, but there will be no deed.

The homeowner will return the entire loan amount to the pawnbroker when the homeowner redeems the property, and then the pawnbroker can move out.

If a house has been mortgaged for three years, then once it is redeemed, the pawner has lived there for free for three years.

The essence of pawned properties is actually a loan transaction, which falls under the financial category.

The pawnbroker seems to be staying for free, and will eventually get their pawn money back. However, if the pawn money is lent to the homeowner in a lump sum for their use, no interest can be charged.

Which method is more cost-effective depends on whether you have spare money.

If you have plenty of spare money, then of course it's more cost-effective to pawn your house, since you can live there for free anyway.

But if you don't have spare money, then you can only rent it out.

"Rent." After hearing Zhu Yin's explanation, Ning Caiwei chose to rent a house without hesitation.

It's true that she can live in the pawned house for free, but her money is all tied up in cash and can't be idle.

Renting a place would minimize the amount of her working capital tied up.

She manages the money and knows better than anyone that money is actually tight.

The money the traffickers left on the ship was worth about seven thousand taels of silver. The adoptive father only kept two thousand and left five thousand for his beloved adopted son.

As for the gold and silver obtained from the Japanese pirates on Shuangyu Island, it was the public property of the Daishan Army, and Zhu Yin and Qi Jiguang did not take a single tael.

So, now, with the money she has, plus what she brought from Liaodong, after deducting all expenses, she still has a little over five thousand taels left.

In other words, the silver brought from Liaodong has been spent.

The remaining five thousand taels of silver still need to cover the food, clothing, and lodging of more than a dozen people, as well as the feed for several horses.

Then there are expenses for starting a business, buying goods, hiring people, and dealing with various parties.

She hasn't even made any money yet, but she's already making a huge investment. Many of her business plans rely on this money from her and her son.

How can we not be frugal?
However, there are some expenses that absolutely cannot be spared. For example, image packaging.

When it comes to economic matters, Zhu Yin always listens to Ning Caiwei and is too lazy to think for himself.

Ning Caiwei mentioned renting a place, so he immediately opened a map, searched for a while, and said:

“There’s a large pharmacy in Dayoufang Lane, south of Wuding Bridge. Let’s go take a look.”

The group then left Xianqian Street, headed south along Huashi Street, and turned left into Xiaoyoufang Alley.

Instantly, a rich, irresistible aroma of pressed oil enveloped every passerby.

The horses pulling the carriage twitched their noses greedily, and the little dog Black Tiger poked its head out from inside the carriage, its nose twitching.

smell good.

Zhu Yin and the others looked around and saw that the streets were lined with oil shops with various storefront signs.

As the sun sets, smoke rises from chimneys above the city, the aroma of food wafts from every household, and the streets are filled with the warmth of everyday life.

The shadows of pedestrians on the street were stretched long by the setting sun. They walked hurriedly, no longer at their leisure.

The wife or mother at home has already prepared the meal; it's time to hurry home.

But then a pretty young woman, dressed in a ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), with her hair in a bun, holding an oil ladle in her hand, gracefully raised her fair wrist and called out:
"Please wait a moment, esteemed guests. Would you please come in and have a look?"

"Freshly pressed oil!"

"The soybeans, sesame seeds, and cabbage seeds that were just harvested this fall were delivered to the city this morning, and they were pressed into oil this afternoon. They smell so good!"

"Gentlemen, why not come in and take a look at the food? Since you're passing by, don't miss out. How about buying a jug to take home?"

"Hey, little brother or sister, why don't you go get a jug of oil to take home? The adults will praise you for being so thoughtful."

Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei shook their heads with a smile, "Next time."

The young woman chuckled, raised her oil ladle, and pointed to the signboard at the door, "Then remember, don't forget, Gu Family Oil Mill!"

Zhu Yin waved her little hand and said without turning her head, "I'll remember!"

Little Oil Girl covered her mouth, arched her eyebrows, and chuckled softly, "Chasing the sun, huh? You're in such a hurry."

Zhu Yin and his group went to Dayoufang Lane again and found that most of the shops there were selling tung oil, vegetable oil, and wax oil.

The smell was a bit pungent.

Many oil buyers were artisans in the city, buying oil in large barrels.

At the very end of Dayoufang Alley, we finally found the 'Oil Alley Brokerage'.

This brokerage firm is quite large, with three storefronts, and many people are coming and going.

A stone-carved mythical beast sits at the main entrance; it is the Pixiu, a creature believed to bring wealth and good fortune, reminiscent of the lucky cat of later generations.

Zhu Yin parked the carriage directly by the roadside and led Ning Caiwei into the brokerage firm, where they found a very long L-shaped table.

Just like the banking business of later generations, a row of more than a dozen men dressed in blue jackets and wearing hats with the characters "Unifying the Six Directions" sat inside.

In front of each person were lamps, abacuses, steelyards, clippers, account books, teapots, seals, and other items.

The guests inside include people renting houses and buying land, renting cars and boats, hiring people and horses... all sorts of people.

Zhu Yin went straight up, found an empty seat and sat down. Before he could even speak, the broker behind the counter opposite him put on a big smile.

As he poured tea for Zhu Yin, he asked, "Young sir, would you like to inquire about any business?"

"Renting a place," Zhu Yin replied.

He disliked the cup for being unclean, and although he politely picked up the teacup, he didn't drink from it.

The broker's smile faded somewhat. "Young sir, how big a room do you need? How many people will stay? Do you have horses or mules? And what's the price?"

He had already discerned that Zhu Yin was not from Nanjing, but from another place.

Zhu Yin ignored the other party's changing attitude and said directly:
"It needs to accommodate more than a dozen people and at least five horses, within the inner city."

"The price? The monthly rent is no more than ten taels."

Although he settled in Chunhua Township, he did not necessarily have to live there.

"Oh dear, it's not easy to rent out." The broker looked troubled. "It needs to be a yard of at least eight-tenths of an acre! One acre isn't even that big!"

"What kind of place is Nanjing? You may not know, but it was once the capital of the emperor, the capital of Hongwu Emperor. Every inch of land there is worth its weight in gold, even more expensive than Beijing!"

"With less than ten taels a month, where can you rent such a large house in the city? It's difficult! Even the city walls would be hard to find."

"More expensive than Beijing?" Zhu Yin was a little surprised. "Beijing is the capital."

"Beijing?" another broker sneered, while Hongwu Zhengyun spoke in a clear and resonant voice:
"Can Beijing compare to Nanjing? How can you compare them? Nanjing is the birthplace of the Chinese dynasty! Do you understand, young sir?"

"Emperor Taizu ascended the throne in Nanjing and ruled the country for decades, and Emperor Yongle also sat on the throne in Nanjing for more than 20 years!"

"Both of the great emperors of our dynasty ascended the throne in Nanjing."

"The Xiaoling Mausoleum of Emperor Taizu is located in Nanjing!"

"Nanjing is the real capital, you know that, young sir."

"Beijing? It's nothing... Hmph."

The broker who had previously received Zhu Yin said, "Alright, stop talking."

He then said to Zhu Yin, "Houses in Nanjing are in very high demand. Especially those with a courtyard of eight-tenths of an acre or more, they are even more sought after."

"Renting is actually not cost-effective. If you have enough money, you might as well buy a courtyard. A courtyard of one acre, with a building less than ten years old, can be had for two thousand taels!"

"This is Nanjing, the most expensive place in the entire dynasty. Two thousand taels for a house per mu is really a good deal."

Zhu Yin chatted for a few more minutes and learned more. He knew very well that in ancient times, the most expensive thing was not buying houses and land, but bribing government officials.

The more money is used in gray areas, the less valuable it becomes.

Four hundred taels of silver could buy a small courtyard house of 132 square meters in Nanjing, a city where land is incredibly valuable, enough for a family of five to live comfortably.

This shows that silver has great purchasing power.

But if you bribe the government office once to do some shady business, a few hundred taels of silver is just a drop in the bucket.

For example, he bought a household registration today. In this kind of gray market transaction, money is practically worthless.

The purchasing power of several thousand taels is frightening, but it's nothing when it comes to bribing government officials.

The most expensive expense was litigation, where wealthy merchants could spend tens or even hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Many wealthy merchants in the late Ming Dynasty went bankrupt because of the money they spent on lawsuits.

By this time, even tens of thousands of taels of silver were worthless.

However, although silver is very valuable when used normally, Zhu Yin had no intention of buying a house.

It's normal for houses in Nanjing to be more expensive than in Beijing, given the denser population and more prosperous commerce.

But Ning Caiwei definitely wouldn't agree to spend so much money on a house.

"Let's rent instead of buy," Zhu Yin shook his head, rejecting the suggestion to buy a house in the city.

The broker shook his head. "If it's for rent, an eight-tenths acre house in the inner city would cost at least twenty taels a month, and the house is quite old."

"If it were newer and better, it would cost twenty-five taels to rent. Moreover, according to Nanjing custom, for a house of more than half an acre, you have to pay at least one year's rent and also pay a deposit of twice the rent to prevent losses in case of fire."

"If you want to rent a house with an octane rating of 8 or above, the rent plus a fire deposit will cost you about 700 taels at a time."

More than seven hundred taels! Zhu Yin's face darkened upon hearing this.

He never expected that a house of more than half an acre would require at least a year's rent, plus a deposit equal to twice the amount due to a fire!

"What about the pawnshop?" Zhu Yin asked again.

"Pawning a house?" The broker laughed. "Pawning a house for three years or more, and the deposit is doubled. There's no way around it, houses in Nanjing are just too scarce, much more expensive than in Beijing, Yangzhou, Suzhou and Hangzhou."

"And this is without a storefront. A house with a street-facing storefront would cost twice as much!"

Zhu Yin was in a real bind, and his momentum immediately weakened. He stood up and offered his seat to Ning Caiwei.

He dislikes haggling and has grown impatient.

As soon as Ning Caiwei appeared, everyone in the brokerage firm turned to look at her, because this girl was simply too outstanding in appearance and temperament.

But when he saw her feet, which were at least six inches long, he couldn't help but look at her with regret, and he couldn't be bothered to look at her again.

From the Jiajing era onwards, foot binding became fashionable, with a pursuit of even smaller, three-inch golden lotuses, and girls as young as three years old began foot binding.

Currently, nine out of ten women in the city bind their feet, and five out of ten women in the countryside outside the city also bind their feet. Only in remote small places are there fewer people with bound feet.

Nowadays, if you have big, unbound feet, no matter how beautiful you are, you'll look cheap and would be ashamed to be a concubine for a rich young master.

A ten-year-old girl's feet are usually no more than three inches long, but this little girl's feet are six inches long, twice the size!
scare!
Even if you try to cling to her now, it's too late. You've wasted your beautiful face!

Ning Caiwei initially saw that everyone's gazes were somewhat amazed, but when they looked at her feet, they revealed undisguised disdain and pity, which made her furious.

Damn it!

She simply couldn't understand why she had become someone like an "ugly monster".

What she didn't know was how important "three-inch golden lotuses" were during the late Ming Dynasty.

It's a different face.

True beauty requires both faces to be beautiful. Lacking even one makes it a "defective product."

Ning Caiwei suppressed her anger and said gracefully:

"Then let's rent a house in Chunhua Township, as long as it's close to the city. From the house to the inner city wall, it shouldn't be more than ten li."

The other person nodded and said, "That's the city and the countryside. Hmm... let me see."

He flipped through some booklets and then said, "Qingqiao Lane is located at the foot of Dongshan Mountain, and it's the lane closest to the city wall."

"In that village is the Zhou family's country villa, which covers an area of ​​1.8 mu. It is only three li away from Chunhua town, nine li away from Fengtai Gate of the outer city, and six li away from Shuangqiao Gate of the outer city."

"And it's right near the official road."

"Whether you go through Fengtai Gate or Shuangqiao Gate, if you're on horseback, you'll be in the inner city in 45 minutes. If you're on a fast horse, it won't take more than 45 minutes."

"Of course, if it's raining or snowing, that's a different story."

Ning Caiwei didn't ask about the rent, but instead asked, "Why does the Zhou family want to rent it out? Don't they like it?"

The broker was taken aback, then sneered:
"Why? Master Zhou went to Guanzhong to take up an official post, and his family followed him. Not to mention the country villa, even the house in Nanjing has been rented out. You think it's a haunted house and want to bargain?"

In the Ming Dynasty, officials were not allowed to bring their families when they took office. But now it's different; they can bring them if they want, and the emperor doesn't care (he can't control it).

"How much is the annual rent? There's no deposit, right?" Ning Caiwei was defeated by this broker.

The broker said, "The deposit is also double. Such a nice house, if it catches fire and even the residents are burned to death, how can the homeowner seek compensation? Of course, they should collect the fire deposit."

"The rent is 120 taels per year, and the first payment is 360 taels. For a house of 1.8 mu, it's really a good deal."

"This is the most suitable one."

Ning Caiwei patiently tried to bargain, but the broker not only refused to negotiate, but also gave her a "take it or leave it" look.

"This is the price set by the Zhou family, there's no room for negotiation."

"If you don't want it, it might be gone tomorrow or the day after. In recent years, many merchants have come to Nanjing, and houses are in high demand."

“Alright. Then we need to go take a look tomorrow,” Ning Caiwei said, realizing that her business acumen was useless in front of this kind of person.

They're clearly taking advantage of you: rent it or don't.

This shows they are indeed in high demand. There's no shortage of rental options.

Ning Caiwei is a business negotiation expert, but others don't discuss prices at all.

Upon hearing that Ning Caiwei wanted to look at houses, the other party shook his head and said, "Going out of the city to look at houses will take up half a day round trip."

"We are too busy."

"Here's what we'll do. You can go see it yourselves tomorrow morning. After you've seen it, you can go back to the city and sign the contract. In my opinion, there's no need to see the house at all; I guarantee you'll fall in love with it at first sight."

"However, I can only wait for you until noon at the latest. If there are other guests before noon, I will rent it to someone else."

Having settled these matters, Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei left.

We'll talk about it after we see the house tomorrow morning.

Zhu Yin was eager to sign the contract immediately. Ning Caiwei, however, insisted on seeing the property first.

This is her trading habit; she must inspect the goods first.

As soon as the two reached the door, a young man dressed in fine clothes walked in, followed by several people.

The boy was only seventeen or eighteen years old, and looked like he had been indulging in excessive drinking and womanizing. The moment he saw Ning Caiwei, his gaze became somewhat intense.

It was an undisguised desire. They seemed to have overlooked the fact that Ning Caiwei was only ten years old.

But when his gaze fell on Ning Caiwei's feet, his expression froze.

Ok?
He blinked, then looked at Ning Caiwei in astonishment. The fervor in his eyes vanished completely, replaced by a hint of disdain.

Then, he didn't look at Ning Caiwei again and simply walked past her.

Zhu Yin couldn't help but whisper, "You wouldn't believe it, would you? Not binding your feet has this kind of advantage."

Ning Caiwei: "..."

Should I be happy, sister?

What a load of crap!

P.S.: Available September 1st. Thank you, goodnight. Regarding the late Ming Dynasty's aesthetic standards for bound feet, this is not me criticizing the Ming Dynasty, but a historical fact. References include abridged versions of *San Yan Er Pai* and *Mou Mou Mei* (the abridged version I read).
(End of this chapter)