Jiang Chong shook his head. Huo Guang, standing beside him, said calmly, "Each piece of fine honeycomb coal costs five coins, and ordinary honeycomb coal costs three coins."

Jiang Chong couldn't help but gasp. This price was really expensive.

Although it doesn't seem to cost much, the consumption over the winter is an astronomical figure. Even if the high-quality honeycomb coal they produce has a long burning time, at least thousands of pieces are needed over the winter.

Oh, these thousands of coins are for middle-class households. Rich households need bigger houses, which requires even more. Not to mention nobles. As for the imperial palace... Liu Tan provides it for free. Anyway, his father, mother and brother will not treat him unfairly.

Liu Che and Chen Ajiao found an excuse to give him money. Although Liu Ju didn't have much money, he could help in many other areas.

If you calculate based on an average household, you'll need at least a thousand honeycomb coals in one winter. Even if you calculate it at one thousand yuan, it will still cost five thousand yuan!

With the current living standards of people, if you are a self-sufficient farmer, you only need a few hundred dollars a year. If you live in a large city and cannot be self-sufficient, you only need about three thousand dollars a year.

This winter, the honeycomb coal costs are almost as much as a family’s living expenses for two years!

Seeing Jiang Chong's surprised expression, Liu Tan laughed.

Why did he insist on selling the honeycomb coal to Chang'an first? It was obviously colder in Shuofang City and needed the coal more.

Ultimately, it was because they could get a higher price if they sold it to Chang'an. The people in Shuofang not only needed temporary warmth, but also needed to improve their living standards.

These honeycomb coals all belong to Liu Tan. It is impossible for him to put his own money into the national treasury. Even if he doesn't care, the people below will not agree, as this will affect the ecological environment of the Northern Border Country.

If he can do this, will the Northern Kingdom no longer exist?

This is not surprising at all. If a prince has no descendants, his country will be destroyed. And in today's world where Liu Che is constantly concentrating power, a prince without a son is considered to have no descendants, and adoption is not an option.

Therefore, Liu Tan was not sure how long the Northern Border Kingdom could exist, so he had to support the entire ecology of the Northern Border Kingdom so that the counties could develop smoothly after the country was abolished.

After these honeycomb coals were sold to Chang'an, the more money was earned, the more taxes Liu Tan paid, and the national treasury would naturally be filled. If we only look at the money, it is estimated that no vassal state could earn so much money at one time.

Jiang Chong quickly calculated the current tax rate and, though no longer worried, said, "But this isn't enough. There isn't much land in the city... belonging to the imperial court."

Huo Guang, who had been silent the whole time, asked, "Then who owns all that land?"

Jiang Chong's face darkened: "Most of them belong to the four households in the city."

Of course, those four households refer to the wealthy people in Shuofang City.

Liu Tan smiled, as if he didn't take these people seriously.

Huo Guang asked, "Do you think they have the land deeds?"

Jiang Chong: ?????

According to Han law, it was impossible for these four households to own so much land in Shuofang City. They were more likely to engage in land annexation. However, if they wanted to buy land from the people, they would have to pay taxes, so they would directly occupy the land in the hands of the people.

It is impossible to buy it, and it is impossible to have a private agreement. If they can forcibly occupy it, why should they pay more?

Sometimes the gentry are more hateful than the nobles and wealthy people in the capital. The nobles and wealthy people in the capital and the royal capital usually eat better. Even if they want to do something illegal, they will hide it from others. They will not do it if they are not sure.

However, in a place like Shuofang City, the law is not strict, and these wealthy families are basically blatantly encroaching on the houses and land of good people, and the former Shuofang County Magistrate did not dare to intervene - it is said that several county magistrates have died here due to "water and soil incompatibility".

Not only did he not dare to control these people, he also had to make friends with them, so these people became increasingly arrogant. Before Liu Tan came, people in Shuofang City basically only knew about the four great gentry but not the emperor.

In fact, Liu Tan had been eyeing them and wanted to deal with them for a long time, but he just hadn't had the time to do it before. As a result, now... it saved him the trouble.

So what if the gentry could not produce the title deeds to the land they had occupied, it was terra nullius and naturally had to return to the court.

Therefore, the court actually did not have to spend much money on purchasing land, which was why Liu Tan dared to say that he would give some subsidies to the people.

Without subsidies, these families will be wiped out, and their businesses in the city will be gone. They still have to save money to buy houses after the city is built. How can they survive?

As for things like demolition creating a millionaire, that basically doesn't exist because there's only so much money in the national treasury!

Jiang Chong reacted and smiled, saying, "There's no need to worry about that."

After he finished speaking, he hesitated and asked, "So... Your Highness wants the court to build houses for the entire city? This... is also..."

Jiang's face was filled with disbelief. He had never heard of a city being built in this way. Usually, most cities were built by building official residences, and then planning out where to use them. The next step was to sell the land, and after that, let those people build whatever they wanted. Of course, there would be certain regulations, but as long as they did not exceed the rules, those people could build however they wanted.

Liu Tan leaned on the table and said, "No, not all of them. My current idea is that we should build the East and West Markets and these commercial blocks ourselves. At the same time, these four blocks in this row are your residences, so you can manage them yourselves. The remaining blocks in the second row near the palace will also be kept. I will use them to build houses. The rest can be put up for sale. Hmm, this row... is enough for everyone... right?"

Liu Tan was a little hesitant. In his design, each block could have four families in it for people of the rank of Prime Minister Huo Guang, or people of a lower rank. If the rank was even lower, five or six families would be enough. For ordinary people, then this block could accommodate at least twenty or thirty households.

The four empty blocks should not be too small.

However, Mr. Liu Tan was worried that he would not have enough houses in the future and it would be difficult to arrange for new visitors.

Huo Guang glanced at Liu Tan and said, "It's not a small amount, but it's not a lot either. Your Highness should buy the second row. If the rest is for public use, the court can buy it back. If it's for personal use, it's up to you."

Liu Tan was about to nod when he suddenly looked up at Huo Guang and said, "I think you want to use my money to fill the national treasury!"

He expanded Shuofang City so much in one go. According to the current scale, a large area may not be used or sold for a while. It will be idle anyway, so it is better to let their highness buy it first.

Liu Tan rolled his eyes and said, "Leave the first two rows empty, and give me the third and fourth rows!"

Huo Guang smiled and said, "That's a good feeling."

Li Buyan rubbed his hands and said, "Then... I... I want to buy one too."

Liu Tan turned around and looked at him in surprise: "What are you buying?"

Li Buyan said firmly: "Father said, whatever His Highness does, I will follow if I can, and I will learn even if I can't!"

Liu Tan looked helpless: "Don't mess around, I'm not afraid of losing money. If you buy now, it may take a long time before you can make money."

Li Buyan tilted his head and thought for a moment: "Isn't that what buying a property is like?"

Liu Tan was silent for a while, then asked a soul-searching question: "So... do you have money?"

Li Buyan was stunned: "Huh?"

Liu Tan pointed at the blueprint and said, "Don't be fooled by its small size on the map. The actual area of ​​a block is not small. It's only slightly smaller than my palace. Have you ever thought about how much it would cost?"

Not to mention whether Li Buyan can afford it with his salary, it is even a question whether Li Xi can afford it now.

After all, their house had been ransacked.

Li Buyan faltered and whispered, "Then...then I'll go ask Dad."

Liu Tan said: "There is no shortage of houses in the early stage. If you want to buy some, you can buy some land, but you have to do it within your means."

Li Buyan smiled brightly upon receiving Liu Tan's instructions: "Okay!"

Huo Guang also said: "General Li can't afford it, but I can still afford it. I might as well follow His Highness and take a chance."

Jiang Chong also laughed and said, "I don't have that much money, General Li, why don't we buy a block together?"

Li Buyan's eyes lit up: "Okay."

Wei Buyi, who was standing by, also joined in the fun: "Count me in!"

Liu Tan was immediately at a loss for words: "I say, enough is enough, it's not that bad, it really isn't that bad."

Li Buyan wanted to buy it perhaps because of Li Xi's instructions, but he could see that Huo Guang and others bought it purely to give him face, fearing that after the city was rebuilt, it would be too spacious and he would look bad.

But is Liu Tan the kind of person who cares about these things?

Just as everyone was chatting and laughing, Miao Rui walked in and said, "Your Highness, Gongsun Ao requests an audience."