Just after noon.

The wind blowing from north of the Yellow River came to my face with a biting chill.

This kind of weather is not suitable for leaving the city. However, Wu Haogu still called Lin Wancheng, and then rode the donkey out of the Guzi Gate with the two brothers and arrived outside Kaifeng Prefecture.

Guzimen is located on the west wall of the outer city of Kaifeng Prefecture. It is located near the northeast. To the north is the northwest water gate, which is the entrance to the Jinshui River. To the south is Wanshengmen, which is where the official car drove out of the city. Not far from the Wanshengmen, it is Jinmingchi.

Wu Haogu, Guo Jing, Liu Wuji and Lin Wancheng are going to today, in fact, they are also near Jinmingchi. It is a Taoist temple located by the Bian River.

By the way, the water transportation in Kaifeng Prefecture is very developed, with a well-connected inland river network, and is connected to each other through the Hulong River (the moat of the outer city). Jinmingchi connects to the Bian River through a manually excavated river channel, which is also part of the Kaifeng Prefecture Water System.

The water system of Kaifeng Prefecture is connected by the boundary river between the Huai River, the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and the Song and Liao River through the Bian River and the Grand Canal. This has formed a huge water transportation system, which has become the basis for supporting the Central Plains economy and has also created the prosperity of Kaifeng Prefecture.

However, the prosperity brought by water transportation stopped at Kaifeng Prefecture. Due to the silt and the elevation of river channels, water transportation in the Central Plains west of Kaifeng Prefecture is very inconvenient. Therefore, the capital of the Song Empire chose this big city with plains on all sides and no dangers to guard.

After more than a hundred years of prosperity and comfort, the imperial guards who originally defended Kaifeng Prefecture had long been corrupt and reached a point of disintegration. However, the people living here, especially those relatives and noble families who were prosperous and resting with the Song Empire, did not realize the consequences of the disarming of the city, but were just enjoying the prosperity in front of them.

To the west of Kaifeng Prefecture City is the place where this prosperous and luxurious area is the most concentrated. After passing the Hulong River, the gorgeous and elegant manors, villas, temples and palaces are constantly caught in the eye. Each one has exhausted his thoughts and is built very elegantly.

However, the prices of these buildings that are exclusively for the wealthy and powerful are relatively cheaper than those in the city - the houses in Kaifeng Prefecture of the Northern Song Dynasty also have to be considered for the location.

If calculated based on the unit price of area (area area), the housing prices in the inner city are the most expensive, and then the luxury house gathering area in the outer city, the west wing, the east wing, the south wing, the north wing and the west wing of the outer city.

Although the unit price of luxury houses in the west of the city is cheap, the total price is not low, and there is basically no less than 30,000 yuan. Moreover, it is not convenient to live here, there is no market, and it takes a long time to enter and exit Kaifeng Prefecture.

"Dalang, I have visited Xiao Yi and I. Although it is not big, it is very exquisite and not old. It was built during the Yuanyou period."

While riding a donkey, Guo Jing said as he spent half a month to find a Taoist temple for sale in Hua Manshan.

Of course, it is also a private "wild temple". It originally belonged to the Gao family's generals - in fact, it was Gao Qiu's family, but Gao Qiu was a muslim, and this Taoist temple belonged to the Gao family's generals.

Gao Qi's family generals (there were two Gao family generals in the Song Dynasty) and Ximen family were actually fellow villagers, both from Youzhou Yabing Group. However, two ancestors (Gao Ba, Gao Qian and his son) were sent to the Southern Tang Dynasty by the Khitans. As a result, they were assassinated by an old man (Gao Ba), and the remaining young man (Gao Qian) was placed in Bozhou by the Southern Tang Dynasty. Later, Gao Qian defected to Zhao Kuangyin and became a small official. His son Gao Qiong became a guard of Zhao Guangyi's residence. Later, he made many military achievements, became a hero, and created a Gao family general.

There are more than one nobles in the Liao Dynasty, who have relatives in the Song Dynasty. There is also a Zhao family member who is actually a relative of the Zhao family, one of the four major families in Yanyun.

Their ancestors were Zhao Dejun, Zhao Yanshou and his son, who surrendered and became traitors after being defeated by the Khitans!

At that time, Zhao Yanshou had a son named Zhao Kuangzan (later changed his name to Zhao Zan). He also surrendered with his father and grandfather and became a traitor. Later, he followed the Khitans to fight against the Later Jin in the south and was appointed as the governor of Hezhong. When the Khitan returned to the north, Zhao Yanshou was taken away, but Zhao Kuangzan stayed in Hezhong and surrendered to the Later Han Dynasty, and later surrendered to the Later Zhou Dynasty. Later, surrendered to the Song Dynasty. Those who surrendered and surrendered became a founding hero who surrendered and was named Duke Wei, and lived until the reign of Emperor Taizong of Song.

However, although the Zhao family and the Gao family have relatives in the Khitan, there is no exchange between the relatives. Otherwise, the Song Dynasty would not be ignorant of the Liao Kingdom until now...

Let’s look back at the Gao family’s generals. When the Yingzong Dynasty arrived, the Gao family’s generals’ generals had a queen Gao Taotao, and since then they have grown their power and become the head of the Kaifeng Prefecture’s nobles.

However, after Emperor Zhezong took power, the Gao family's generals quickly declined because of the position of Empress Dowager Gao as the leader of the old party. Not only was Gao Qiu, a commoner of the Gao family, hard to find a official position, but even the Gao family's generals had to be maintained by selling houses.

"How much does the Gao family want?"

"It costs 28,000 yuan," said Guo Jing. "It's not cheap, but Xiao Yi and I have seen it and think it's acceptable. Because the land deed of this Taoist temple also includes a large area of ​​open space around it. Now many osmanthus trees are planted. If some of them are cleared out, they can also be used to build a calligraphy and painting club. One piece of land can do two things."

"Yes," Liu Wuji also said, "The Bian River is next to that piece of land, and there is also a wharf that can stop at the pleasure boat. In this way, the relatives of Kaifeng Mansion can come here on the pleasure boat."

"How big is the land?" Wu Haogu asked.

"There are a total of 180 acres!" Guo Jing smiled, "It's enough to build a house, even if you want to run a horse."

One hundred and eighty acres are placed in Kaifeng City for millions. If you are a little further away from the city, you have to price them according to ordinary farmland, at most hundreds of thousands of them... The most important thing about this real estate is the location!

"One hundred and eighty acres...is not small." Wu Haogu nodded.

He was preparing to build a piece of land in the west of Kaifeng Prefecture City. The Calligraphy and Painting Association was just the first step. Later, he also wanted to build a "Wu Family Painting Study" near the Calligraphy and Painting Association.

If possible, Wu Haogu also wanted to incite Song Huizong to move a large number of official schools such as Imperial College, Imperial College, Wushu, Medicine, Law School, Kaifeng Prefecture School, etc. out of Kaifeng Prefecture City and all moved to the west of the city.

In this way, a "college district" can be built in the west of the city, thereby driving the sales of "school district housing"...

The three of them spoke while moving forward, and soon arrived at a Taoist temple hidden in a forest of osmanthus trees.

This Taoist temple is called Baiyun Temple. It is a bit small in scale, but the building is extremely exquisite and exudes a strong atmosphere of wealth.

When Wu Haogu and others arrived at Baiyun Temple, the Taoist temple was deserted inside and outside. Except for an old man guarding the door and Huamanshan who arrived in advance, there was no other person, and there was no Taoist priest.

Obviously, this is an abandoned Taoist temple, and I don’t know who is practicing Taoism here?

Hua Manshan was outside the Lingguan Hall of Taoguan Mountain Gate (unified with the mountain gate) and welcomed Wu Haogu. He bowed and said, "Dongweng, the governor of the Gao family has something to do, and he can't come."

The current head of the Gao family is Gao Gongji, the governor of Ningzhou. He is currently on the bench. There should be nothing serious about it. Perhaps it is because he has no shame to sell his ancestral property, so he didn't come?

"Can you see?"

"You can see, you can see." The old man who was with Hua Manlou responded repeatedly.

The old man is about sixty years old, with gray hair and a very good complexion. He is wearing a slightly faded blue cotton robe, and is also quite decent. It seems that he is an old servant from the Gao family and is arranged to retire here.

"The old man has a noble surname." Wu Haogu got off the donkey and asked politely.

"I am not allowed to be proud, my surname is Gao."

Wu Haogu nodded, and the servants and master's family surnames were also common in the Song Dynasty.

"Old Mr. Gao, can you lead us to take a look?"

"Okay, come with me." Old man Gao made a gesture of Suke, then led the way in front and led Wu Haogu and the other three into the Taoist temple.

The temple was not very clean, and the snow was thick on the ground, so obviously no one cleaned it. The doors and windows of the Sanqing Palace were closed, but most of the window paper was broken, and the paint in many places was peeled off.

"It's ruined," Old Man Gao said with a wry smile, "No one has been here for many years...it's getting worse and worse."

In fact, it is very expensive to maintain villas, palaces and temples outside Kaifeng Prefecture City, and even the generals and doors in the family cannot afford it. There are many generals and doors, and if the management is not legal, it will weaken quickly.

The best way to run a general's door is to do business. For example, the Pan family general's door has a Panlou and a Pan family's gold, silver, silk shop, so that they can maintain wealth for a long time.

The Gao family's industries are mainly land and their income is limited. Once they lose power in politics, it will be difficult to maintain.

However, the hard days of the Gao family will soon end. Once Emperor Zhezong dies and Empress Dowager Xiang comes to the court, the Gao family will definitely be valued.

After passing through the Lingguan Hall, Wu Haogu followed Old Man Gao to a main temple and found that there were empty inside, no statues of gods, and no murals on the surrounding walls.

According to the ordinary layout of the Taoist temple, the entrance to the Lingguan Hall is mostly worshipped by Wang Lingguan, which is used to guard the mountain gate. The main temple is behind the Lingguan Hall, and the worshipped places is different, it depends on what gods you believe in. The main temple is usually the Sanqing Hall, which worships the highest god in the Taoist system - the Sanqing God.

"San brother, Xiao Yi," Wu Haogu stopped in the empty main temple. He said to Guo Jing who was following him, "How about enshrining the painting immortals here?"

"Draw an immortal?"

Guo Jing and Liu Wuji were stunned. Have you ever heard of this immortal?

Could it be that Wu Daozi became an immortal?

Or...Wu Haogu is a painting immortal?
Chapter completed!