Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 200: The Unique Business of Selling Houses and Land (Part 2)

On the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month, around 9:00 AM, the warm sun seemed to have dispelled much of the chill in the capital.

The neatly arranged mansions in the northern outer city, resembling a military formation, were still bustling with people.

At this moment, hundreds of light cavalry suddenly emerged from Desheng Gate in the inner city, galloping towards the soon-to-be-completed residential area.

Zhu Jue looked at the endless stream of people on the street, a complex expression involuntarily appearing in his eyes.

He seems to have underestimated the wisdom of people these days.

He originally thought that not many people would see the intricacies of this novel thing, let alone be as prescient as him to know how much appreciation potential this ready-made house contained.

It seems that there are many shrewd people these days.

Many people may not see the ending, but they can see how crazy the beginning was.

Now that this business has started, it must be kept under control; otherwise, the money will be taken away by others.

In fact, the profits here are quite large, especially at the beginning, when the profits are simply astonishing.

The reason he hadn't thought of doing it before was because he had done it in his previous life, and he had seen the final result.

Now that he's done this by some twist of fate, he's determined to make it his own business and not let anyone else do it.

At the very least, this money will become a driving force for the development of the Ming Dynasty in his hands; who knows what others will do with it if they earn it.

He pondered all the way and soon arrived at a residence in the northern outer city, roughly in the middle.

At this point, these houses were almost finished, but many were still in their rough state, with no plaster inside or out, and some had not even been paved with red bricks.

The residence he came to was different; there were hundreds of craftsmen working on renovations, and the area outside was filled with soldiers from the Beijing Garrison, making it impossible for outsiders to enter.

As for why such a big fuss was made, it wasn't because he was coming; those who were supposed to come had already arrived long ago.

As soon as he entered the main hall, Lu Xiangshan, Bi Maoliang, Yuan You, Wei Zhongxian and others came forward to greet him with bows and salutations.

These people had arrived long ago, and they were all marveling at the interior decoration.

No one understood why such an ordinary house was decorated like the inner courtyard of a royal palace.

Zhu Jue examined it closely and couldn't help but nod slightly.

The mansion was indeed well-decorated. The windows were all made of glass, and the window frames were made of Phoebe zhennan wood. The main and side doors were made of fine sandalwood. Although the beams were not carved, they were painted with flowers. The floor was made of smooth white marble slabs, and the walls were painted with high-grade plaster used only by the imperial palace. Any place that was not very nice was decorated with calligraphy, paintings, and even silks and satins.

He nodded slightly, then asked, "Father-in-law, can we finish today?"

These hundreds of craftsmen are all experienced masters who repair the imperial palace, so decorating a few rooms is a piece of cake for them.

Yuan You nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, that's about it. We should be able to finish by the afternoon."

Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then asked, "Jiandou, what about the other houses? When will they be completed?"

Lu Xiang-sheng pondered, "The other residences are also nearing completion; they should all be finished in three days at most."

Zhu Jue then asked, "Shi Gao, are the land deeds ready?"

Bi Maoliang nodded repeatedly and said, "The land deeds have all been printed. We just need to fill in the head of household's name and place of origin and then include them in the 'Tax and Labor Register'."

Then let's sell them quickly and try to sell them all before the Lunar New Year.

This stuff sells like hotcakes the faster it goes on; those who know, know.

Zhu Jue looked around the lobby again, then pointed to the lone desk in the middle and said, "Selling this desk is too slow. Selling a few hundred sets a day would be the best we can do. That's too slow."

"Shi Gao, you need to set up as many desks as possible for selling. Make sure the entrance is clear, and fill the other three sides with desks. Use smaller desks, ideally twelve in total, so they sell faster."

"Well, that would sell out quickly, but it's also easy for things to go wrong." Upon hearing this, Bi Maoliang cautiously said, "Your Majesty, one set costs two hundred taels of silver, one hundred sets would cost twenty thousand taels, and several hundred sets would cost tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of taels. If twelve tables are sold at the same time, that would be hundreds of thousands or even millions of taels."

"There's so much silver, it probably won't even fit in this main hall. And even if it did, it wouldn't be safe. These days, even tens of thousands of taels of silver will attract unwanted attention outside, let alone hundreds of thousands or even millions."

Are you kidding me?
Who can steal my money or even rob me in the capital?

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then decisively said, "Jian Dou, send several hundred soldiers to surround the courtyard, and have the people who want to buy houses line up and come in one by one."

Cheng'en, send two squads of Imperial Guards here to collect the silver. Once one set is sold, store the silver in the two bedrooms. Order people to prepare plenty of empty boxes and pack all the silver into them.

Zhongxian, send two hundred Imperial Guards to escort ten carriages to transport the silver. Once the silver here reaches one hundred thousand taels, take it to the Imperial Treasury.

You must keep the accounts accurate; there can be no discrepancy of even a single tael of silver. Every tael of silver sold by Shi Gao must go into the inner treasury.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng, Wang Cheng-en, and Wei Zhong-xian immediately bowed and agreed.

Bi Maoliang nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise, there is no problem now."

There are still problems.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then carefully instructed, "Shi Gao, you also need to hang a large plaque on the gate of this courtyard that reads 'North Outer City Residence for Sale,' so that people will know where it is."

Uh, just selling houses?
Upon hearing this, Bi Maoliang couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, shouldn't we sell the shops together? Many people are actually interested in the shops. Even if we haven't started construction yet, they believe we can definitely finish building them before the lockdown is lifted next year. Selling them for 400 taels a set at this time is no problem at all. This way, we can recoup our costs faster."

There's no need to rush this.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "Shi Gao, you don't know, it's most harmful to start selling before it's even built. In the future, some people will take advantage of this trick to make money out of thin air. They'll just draw a frame on the ground and start selling. Once the money is misappropriated, it's the ordinary people who will suffer."

There's another trick!

However, it seems that this is indeed the case.

If the sale were to begin now, the eight million taels of silver could be acquired before construction even started. If those eight million taels were spent without being used to build the shops, the buyers would be in deep trouble.

This precedent must not be set.

Upon hearing this, Bi Maoliang nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and then advised, "Shi Gao, you need to write down the notice as soon as possible, clearly stating the time, place, price, and required documents for the sale. Then have Zhongxian send the Embroidered Uniform Guard to post it on all the main streets of the capital. It should be done this afternoon so that it can be sold quickly."

You think it's not fast enough?
Upon hearing this, Bi Maoliang cautiously reminded him, "Your Majesty, even if we don't post notices, people who want to buy will come one after another. If we post notices everywhere, the streets outside will probably be packed with people coming."

You don’t understand this.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "Shi Gao, you'll understand later. The more people selling this kind of thing, the better, and the faster it sells, the better. It's the same principle as scarcity increasing value. Do you understand?"

Scarcity makes things valuable?

Oh, I see.

So many people rushed to buy it, and it sold out in just a few days. Doesn't that prove that this thing is rare and therefore valuable?

Bi Maoliang nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise, I understand."

There are many tricks to this business.

There are still many things you don't understand.

However, none of that matters; the important thing is to sell as soon as possible.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and said, "Alright, write on the notice that we will open for business at 7:00 AM tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)