Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 201 Selling Houses and Land: A Unique Business (Part 2)

The next morning, before dawn, lights began to appear in the inner city of the capital and even in various outer cities, and these lights seemed to be gradually converging in one place.

This was just like when the morning court session was held. Before dawn, thousands of court officials in the capital would rush to the imperial city with lanterns in hand.

However, this time the number of lights lit up was not just thousands, but probably more than tens of thousands, and the lights were not converging on East Chang'an Street and West Chang'an Street in the south of the imperial city.

These lights seemed to be converging towards Deshengmen in the north, and the main street inside Deshengmen gradually became as bright as a river of lights.

Around dawn, just as the sky was beginning to lighten and Deshengmen Gate had just opened, countless people flocked to the northern outer city.

Before long, a crowd gathered in front of the sign that read "North Outer City Residence for Sale," and the crowd kept growing until the main street of the sales office was completely packed with people.

Fortunately, Bi Maoliang had anticipated this situation, so last night he ordered a bed to be set up in the bedroom of the mansion and slept there. More than ten of his disciples, as well as two teams of Imperial Guards responsible for collecting the silver, also slept on makeshift beds in the main hall and another room.

Since there's heating here, sleeping on the floor is much more comfortable than sleeping on a heated kang. If they were to sleep in their respective residences in the inner city, they would have to get up early in the morning to rush over, which would not only be very cold, but they also wouldn't know if they could squeeze in on time.

They had a hard time getting in, but hundreds or thousands of soldiers from the Beijing garrison got in very easily.

Before Chenshi (7-9 AM), shouts from the Beijing garrison soldiers could be heard outside.

Before long, the residence was surrounded by layers upon layers of soldiers from the Beijing Garrison.

The soldiers of the Beijing garrison outside had all started lining up to buy houses, and only then did Bi Maoliang order the gate to be opened.

Fortunately, the soldiers of the Beijing Garrison were there to let people in one by one in a queue; otherwise, the small courtyard would probably have been bursting at the seams in no time.

There are so many rich people in the capital! These people don't ask any questions, they just take out their money and buy the right place without saying a word. Some of them even bring gold and want to buy several or even ten sets at once!

Zhu Jue had anticipated this situation. Anyone who wanted to buy many sets, or even more than ten sets, was clearly buying them to speculate, which was definitely not allowed.

He wants to make this money, but he can't let people drive the price up so wildly that it ends up harming people.

Therefore, he had already told Bi Maoliang that each account could only buy one unit, and buying more than one was strictly prohibited.

Business was booming. Bi Maoliang and his disciples had to take turns going to the outhouse. Even though each table could sell more than ten sets every fifteen minutes, and they were selling for an hour, people were still constantly coming in. The flow of people outside never stopped.

Around 9:00 AM, Zhu Juecai led Wang Chengen, Fang Zhenghua, and others out of Desheng Gate and saw the long queue.

The queue was so long that you couldn't see the end of it, and people were still adding to the end. Those who bought a house were overjoyed, as if they had found a treasure, while those who hadn't bought one looked anxious, as if they wouldn't be able to live without one.

At this rate, they'll probably be sold out in less than two days.

He truly hadn't expected that people in this era could be just as crazy as those in later generations.

Perhaps, this business really should be done properly.

However, he needs to think things through before acting, lest he end up in a bad situation.

He pondered this all the way, and before he knew it, he had arrived at the house for sale.

People buying houses here have to queue to get in, but they don't. Just by looking at their military uniforms, they can walk right in. People just assume they're there to maintain order or guard the gold and silver.

Zhu Jue went in and quickly estimated the progress.

These days, buying a house doesn't cause any trouble for future generations. You just need to specify the location, pay the money, get the land deed, sign your name, have an official in the inner court register it, add the property to the "Tax and Labor Register," stamp it, and that's it.

This is because at this time, information about every household and even every individual is registered in the "Tax and Labor Register," including land, houses, shops, etc. As long as you have the land deed and it is also in the "Tax and Labor Register," you can prove ownership, and no one can take it away.

The process is incredibly fast. As long as it's not too complicated, it takes less than a minute. That means with twelve tables selling at the same time, at least ten sets can be sold per minute, at least six hundred sets per hour, and even if it's sold for five hours a day (ten hours), at least six thousand sets can be sold. These ten thousand sets can be sold out in less than two days.

He only glanced at it before going into the room next door where gold and silver were stored to ask. Sure enough, more than a thousand sets had already been sold in just over an hour.

These days, business is really easy. He quietly took a stroll around and then went back, just like a military officer from the capital garrison coming to inspect.

The following afternoon, around 3 PM, he once again brought Lu Xiangshan, Wei Zhongxian, Wang Chengen, Fang Zhenghua, and others to the residence.

At this time, all ten thousand houses had indeed been sold out, and Bi Maoliang and his disciples were packing up to go back.

Seeing this, Zhu Jue raised his hand slightly and said, "Shi Gao, stop what you're doing and come, let's sit down and have a chat."

Upon hearing this, Bi Maoliang looked up, quickly walked over, cupped his hands, and bowed in greeting.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then ordered Wang Chengen to bring chairs for everyone to sit down before asking, "So, Shi Gao, is this business doing well?"

Bi Maoliang nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, this business is too easy to do. I originally thought that these people would think about it after the price rose to two hundred taels, but I didn't expect that they would buy it without even asking any questions, as if they were afraid of not being able to buy it."

In the early stages of this business, everyone buys without thinking, buys frantically, and buys impatiently. All they think about is buying. They believe that buying will make them rich.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then said solemnly, "There is a lot to learn about this business, such as the location of the house or the shop."

If we build our houses in the wilderness or in poor counties with inconvenient transportation, we might not be able to sell them even for 100 taels a set.

The reason why these houses sold so quickly, almost like they were being looted, is actually largely due to our early development efforts. We acquired so much land in the capital and built so many factories. The capital was becoming increasingly prosperous, and houses built in such locations sell well.

Therefore, if we want to develop any area in the future, we should first acquire all the land that is available, including land for building factories, residences, and shops. We should build factories first, allowing the area to gradually prosper, and then build residences and shops later.

This is indeed closely related to the development of the capital. Before the capital was developed, such houses cost only about one hundred taels each, and the market was lukewarm, with no one scrambling to buy them.

Upon hearing this, Bi Maoliang nodded thoughtfully and said, "Your Majesty is wise, I understand."

Actually, the most troublesome part of early-stage development is land acquisition, but fortunately, they have specialized personnel.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then instructed, "Zhongxian, you will be in charge of acquiring land. From now on, you will be responsible for acquiring land wherever it is acquired."

Oh dear, now I don't have to worry about falling out of favor.

Wei Zhongxian quickly cupped his hands and said, "This servant obeys the decree."

Zhu Jue then instructed in detail: "There is another point, which is the price. In fact, we can also increase the price through some gimmicks."

For example, relocating the canal wharf to the northern outer city would be a huge gimmick. Even if the price of shops didn't double, it would definitely be in high demand, with people scrambling to buy a unit for 500 taels.

This shop can also raise prices through the canal terminal!
Why didn't I think of that before?
Upon hearing this, Bi Maoliang nodded with admiration, then said with interest, "Your Majesty, why don't we arrange for some soldiers from the Beijing Garrison to go and dig around the moat to the north after the New Year? Even if they only manage to dig a row of shallow pits, we can still raise the price of a shop to five hundred taels per set."

This money is definitely worth making. Each set adds up to 100 taels, and with over 20,000 sets, that's over 2 million taels! In that case, the shops in the northern outer city alone could fetch over 10 million taels.

If he adds the residences here and the residences that will be built in the northwest and southwest outer cities, he will not only be able to recoup his costs but also make a small profit.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully and then asked, "Jian Dou, how many people do you think you can spare after the New Year to widen the moat in the north and build a new canal wharf?"

"Shi Gao is right. We should do something small, send some people to dig around and confirm the news that the canal wharf is going to be moved here. That way, each shop can earn an extra hundred taels of silver."

Do we have to wait until after the New Year for this?

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng replied without hesitation, "Your Majesty, we can start digging tomorrow. The soldiers all want to earn more money. Didn't you say that the rations and pay would be doubled for working in the freezing cold? They don't want to rest; they just want to work."

The salaries of the soldiers in the Beijing garrison were indeed quite low, amounting to only one tael of silver and one shi of grain per month, which was far less than that of the artisans.

It looks like we need to find a way to help them earn more money.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue frowned and fell into deep thought.

(End of this chapter)