novelhk Page 1823
Page 1823
"Larger houses in the capital are now ridiculously expensive,"
"They want to buy land and build houses there."
"Shortsighted fools,"
"Then let's follow the size of the houses the imperial court previously bestowed upon them,"
"We can sell them the land for a lower price,"
"But it cannot exceed the original area."
"There's no rush to auction off the remaining land,"
"Make it known publicly that the Ministry of War has already bought them all."
"I want to build houses for the veterans of Liangshan,"
"So that after they retire,"
"I can't afford a house in Beijing."
Jiang Jingdao said, "The total land area is only about a thousand mu."
"I'm afraid we won't be able to build many houses."
Zhao Yuan laughed and said, "If one floor isn't enough, we can build several more."
Jiang Jing shook his head and said, "This probably involves issues of etiquette as well."
“The people in the Ministry of Works should know this.”
Zhao Yuan nodded and said, "Yes."
"I'll have someone from the Ministry of Works plan it out later,"
"At least we should settle the Liangshan veterans who want to settle in the capital."
Jiang Jing cupped his hands and said, "King Liang is benevolent and righteous."
"It is the greatest fortune of the Liangshan brothers to be able to follow King Liang."
Zhao Yuan shook his head and said, "If it weren't for the old brothers from Liangshan,"
"Without the Great Liang Dynasty we have today, there would be no such world."
"To have the brothers of Liangshan following me,"
"That would be my good fortune, and the good fortune of the world."
"It's a pity that some brothers won't live to see the Great Liang Dynasty."
Speaking of which,
Zhao Yuan felt even more strongly that starting a business was difficult.
He immediately sent someone to invite the official in charge of the construction of the houses from the Ministry of Works.
Jiang Jing sat down for a while.
He then took his leave.
The Ministry of Revenue was very busy.
But he couldn't afford to sit idly by.
When the official in charge of housing construction arrived...
Zhao Yuan had already come up with a plan.
The official in charge of the Ministry of Works initially thought that the King of Liang wanted to repair the Liang Palace or another palace.
Hearing that it was for building houses for the veterans of Liangshan, he couldn't help but say...
"The Ministry of Works has no shortage of craftsmen,"
"But the Ministry of Revenue must allocate funds first before construction can begin."
Zhao Yuan thought for a moment and said, "This money will be paid by the Liang King's Palace."
“You guys make a budget,”
"I'll transfer the money directly to you from the Liangwang Palace,"
"The blueprints are here."
If the money has to come from the Ministry of War
Therefore, it would be inappropriate for the houses to be exclusively enjoyed by the veterans of Liangshan.
But if it benefits all the soldiers,
The imperial court has the financial resources.
Even the capital city doesn't have that much land.
Therefore, Zhao Yuan decided to fund the project himself.
After it was built, it was sold at a low price to veterans of Liangshan.
It won't cause him to lose everything.
The Royal Bank has expanded to all the prefectures of Daliang.
Branch offices were also established in a few prosperous counties.
Moreover, banknotes were already circulating throughout the country.
The money exchange no longer needed to transport large sums of cash back and forth between various places.
In the second year of the Tianqi reign, the royal bank made a profit of over 20 million strings of cash.
This was partly due to the imperial court auctioning off land in the north.
However, after the Tianqi Emperor suppressed Christianity in the third year of his reign...
More land was auctioned off.
no doubt,
The third year of the Tianqi reign (1623)
The Royal Bank will be more profitable.
The profits of the Royal Bank alone in the last two years,
The wealth of the Liang Palace was comparable to the national treasury surplus when Cai Jing persuaded Zhao Ji to indulge in pleasure.
Of course, the wealth of the Great Liang treasury is even greater.
So no one bothered with the Liang Palace anymore.
Zhao Yuan did not design any tenement buildings.
Instead, it was designed as a detached house with its own courtyard on the second floor.
The first floor is used as the living room and kitchen.
The second floor will be used as a bedroom.
The courtyard wasn't large, but in Bianjing (Kaifeng), families with large courtyards were all either very wealthy or of high status.
Many ordinary people built these small two-story houses.
The official in charge of the Ministry of Works understood immediately after taking a look.
"These kinds of houses aren't difficult to build,"
"But I don't know what kind of material to use?"
"Adobe bricks are the cheapest,"
"Timber is in the middle, and blue bricks are the most expensive."
Zhao Yuan, of course, wouldn't think of cutting corners, and asked,
"If you fire the bricks yourself,"
"Is it impossible to reduce costs?"
Chapter 1570 Bullshit Etiquette
The official in charge of the Ministry of Works shook his head and said, "Even if we build a kiln to fire bricks,"
"The cost of blue bricks is also very high,"
"The labor costs and the amount of charcoal consumed are both very high."
“Even wealthy households in the countryside rarely use blue bricks.”
Zhao Yuan thought of the red bricks that were very common in later generations and couldn't help but ask,
"Can that be used to make red bricks?"
The official in charge of the Ministry of Works nodded and said, "Red bricks are easier to fire than blue bricks."
"The cost can also be reduced significantly,"
"However, according to the rules of etiquette, ordinary people cannot use red bricks to build houses."
Zhao Yuan hadn't considered this question, and after a moment's hesitation, he said...
"I will solve this problem,"
"You arranged for craftsmen to build kilns and fire red bricks,"
"All the houses were built with red bricks,"
"There's no need to make a budget either,"
"As long as the accounts are kept well,"
"I'll have someone check it later."
Even if it weren't for the Liangshan veterans,
Just to lift the taboo against red bricks for the common people,
It's worth spending a little more money.
The official in charge of the Ministry of Works naturally had no doubt that Prince Liang could not resolve the issue with the Ministry of Rites, and respectfully replied,
"Yes, I will arrange for craftsmen to build the house immediately."
When the first batch of red bricks appeared in Bianjing (Kaifeng),
The people in the city learned that the imperial court had permitted them to use red bricks.
They then went around asking about the price of red bricks.
Merchants in the city saw that red bricks could be profitable.
They then set up kilns outside the city to fire bricks.
For a time, red bricks could be seen everywhere in Bianjing (Kaifeng).
People with better financial means began to rebuild their houses with red bricks.
Blue bricks are expensive.
Apart from a few high-ranking officials and nobles who used blue bricks to build their houses.
Most people use earth and wood structures.
Those who were wealthier used wooden houses.
They look equally nice, but once a fire starts, it can easily spread rapidly.
It was burned to the ground, leaving only white ruins.
Ordinary people can't afford an all-wood structure.
The only option is to build houses using a combination of earth and wood.
Those who were better off used mud bricks.
Some of the poorest families can't even afford mud bricks.