Originally, I wrote an article saying that it was difficult for a senior official like Bai Juyi to buy a house in Chang 'an, the capital of his time. At the level of "40,000 to 50,000" when he was the director of the Beijing Municipal Finance Bureau, he also needed to work for ten years without eating or drinking. In the era of Bai Juyi, inflation was much more serious than in the early Tang Dynasty. However, in the heyday of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, many senior officials, including the prime minister, were in no hurry to buy a house.
According to Ming Taizu Miscellaneous Notes, in the fourth year of Kaiyuan (7 16), Lu Huaishen, the deputy prime minister, could not afford to be ill for a long time and asked for leave to rest at home. Song Jing and Lu Cong want to wait for friends to visit Lao Lu's house. I heard that Lao Lu's family is in the suburbs, and I haven't found the deputy prime minister's home for a long time. Later, it was discovered that Lao Lu actually lived in a humble house. It hurts to look at it when you enter the house. Lao Lu was lying on a broken mat, and there was a broken mat hanging on the door, which was used as a curtain. The book records that "lying on a single seat without curtains on the door, every time the wind and rain come, two friends are surprised." At least he is also the deputy prime minister. How can he live here? Look at the furniture and kitchen utensils, which are also not good-looking. The broken table creaked on the bench without a leg. The spoon is still leaking. Life may be a little better than the "flashlight" in Zhao Benshan's sketch. The book says, "the house is extremely frugal."
This state of life is not only inconsistent with the prosperity of Chang 'an, the capital, but also with the status of Lu Huaishen. In fact, at that time, the imperial court only provided government officials with work quarters, but as for their own houses, they still had to solve them themselves. It is impossible to expect the government to allocate housing for free or cheaply.
The deputy prime minister is like this, and the prime minister is not much better. At that time, Premier Yao was also in the suburbs. According to the Book of Old Tang Dynasty, "(Yao) worships the first because it is close to the guest house". In other words, because Yao Chong's home is remote and her commute time is too long, she has to rent a house in a hotel near her work unit. This exemplary story of "touching the Tang Dynasty" reached the ears of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, who allowed the prime minister to stay in luxurious foreign-related hotels. Yao Chong was flattered and never dared to live again. "(Yao) worships building a big library and dares not live in it." . Later, the court paid for a house specially built for the prime minister in Xingning Square in downtown. But Yao Chong only has the right of residence, not property rights.
Why can a country's prime minister only live in a humble room? Is the salary too low, or the house price too high, or too honest? Elder martial sister checked some information and made a little calculation. In the era of Lu Huaishen and Yao Chong, the monthly salary of a first-class official was about 8,000 yuan, plus food allowance 1800 yuan and office supplies 1200 yuan, totaling 1 1000 yuan. The prime minister is only equivalent to a second-class official, with a monthly salary of about 9500 yuan. So, can this salary level afford to buy a house in Beijing?
At this time, there happened to be historical data of selling houses in Beijing. A 39-room, 2.9-acre villa in Beijing only sells for 1.38 million. The total price, according to Yao Chong's income, only takes one year without eating or drinking. Some people will say that it is unnecessary for Yao Chong's family to live in such a big villa. Actually, 39 rooms are not too many. A prime minister, his family, servants and followers are hundreds of people, plus horses and warehouses. Living in such a house is not extravagant at all.
Then, with the income level of the Prime Minister at that time, how about buying a house in Beijing today? Let's do another simple calculation. At that time, the price of rice in the first-tier metropolis and Luoyang in the east was 10. A barrel 12.5kg, today, it costs at least 35 yuan RMB to buy 1 2.5kg. That is to say, at that time1was about equal to 3.5 yuan. Then, the Prime Minister's monthly salary of 0.95 Wan Wen is equal to 33,200 yuan. This income level is relatively high.
Today, a house in the Third Ring Road in Beijing, according to the house price of 80,000/square meter, 100 square meter is 8 million. The prime minister of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty had to work without food or drink for at least 20 years before he could live in such a house.
A great prime minister can buy a house, but live in a humble room. From our modern perspective, there is something wrong, or pretending to be poor. But the social environment and political system before 1300 years ago are obviously beyond our understanding.