Economically backward Republic of China period

I saw an old title deed in Daxing, Beijing, saying that it was on October 10 of the lunar calendar in the Republic of China. There was a tenant named Liu in Kangying Village, Daxing, who bought four acres and three points of land from the landlord, and spent a total of seven oceans. In other words, one acre of land is not worth two oceans.

The purchasing power of the ocean is very strong, but no matter how strong it is, during the Republic of China, an ocean could not buy 100 Jin of rice, which is equivalent to 200 yuan now. What about two oceans? 400 yuan at most. Spend 400 yuan to buy an acre of land, isn't it daydreaming?

It's really not daydreaming. Rural land was so cheap during the Republic of China.

Not to mention the countryside, even the land price in Beijing is surprisingly low. I saw another old title deed in the library of Peking University, which said that in the 16th year of the Republic of China, a Eight Banners named Song Hai broke down and sold a piece of land outside Dongzhimen and inside Guimen, covering an area of one acre and five cents. The selling price is 36 dollars. As far as I know, at that time, the real professor of Peking University earned a monthly salary of 260 yuan, who taught for one month and bought ten acres of land.

Beijing is only as cheap as Beijing and Daxing land? No, this Spring Festival, one of my fellow villagers and colleagues dug up more than 40 title deeds from his old house, from 16 to 36 years of the Republic of China. Look at the land transaction price shown above, which is pitifully low.

For example, in March of the 25th year of the Republic of China, Liu Zongqi, a farmer from Levin Township in Qixian County, bought Han Cai's land in his village, a total of five acres of land, and sold it for 100 yuan. In July of 35, Liu Zongqi bought three acres of land in his village from Zhang Ruiyun, with a turnover of 47,000 yuan. 47 thousand seems expensive, but it's not an ocean, it's legal tender, and after 35 years of anti-Japanese war, the legal tender has been seriously depreciated. If converted by purchasing power, 47,000 yuan of legal tender is equivalent to several thousand yuan at most.

In 30 years of the Republic of China, the Statistics Bureau of the General Accounting Office of the National Government published the book Statistical Analysis of Land Problems in China. The first section of the sixth chapter of the book lists the average land prices of China provinces, all of which are converted into oceans. An acre of land in Guizhou is less than one dollar, that in Gansu is less than ten dollars, and that in Henan is thirteen dollars. The average land price in Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces is the highest, only $50 per mu. As a result, the low land price in that era became a common phenomenon.

Why is land so cheap? Because in the vast rural areas and some cities, the output of land is too small, but the cost of taxes and fees is too high, and it is extremely uneconomical to operate land, so people who buy land are reluctant to pay a big price. In Wu Zuxiang's short story "1800 burden", a typical example is given: a businessman in Nanjing lent a rural oil mill owner 2000 yuan, and he received some interest every year. Later, the oil mill went bankrupt and the boss committed suicide. The businessman went to collect debts. The family of the owner of the oil mill said, "Do you want money or not? Are we going to use land to pay off debts? " The businessman said, "Our family also has 100 mu of land. On the contrary, we paid dozens of foreign grain taxes last year. What I want is money. What do I need your land for? " A lawyer next to them came to help them: "This year, the earth is a bad thing and a plague, and everyone is afraid!" " "You see, what everyone is afraid of, of course, can only be sold cheaply.

But not all land is worthless. During the Republic of China, regional development was extremely unbalanced, a few big cities were abnormally prosperous, and other places were basically bankrupt. The land in the vast rural areas and the lifeless old capital Beijing is very worthless, but in Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and other places, an inch of land is precious. Take Shanghai as an example. From the founding of the Republic of China to the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the land price of public concessions almost doubled every year. At the most expensive time, an acre of land can be sold for 3 million. There is also Guangzhou, the most prosperous shop on both sides of Aihui Road, selling theoretical wells, each of which reaches 400,000 yuan. compare

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, criticizing big landlords became popular in rural areas. In fact, economically speaking, the big landlords in rural areas are far less cost-effective than the small landlords in big cities. As long as you own a piece of land in a big city and rent it to a developer to build a house, you don't have to worry about anything. Even if you sleep every day, you can continue to receive amazing rents. When the lease term is up, you can even put the house built by the developer in your own name for free (