Lawless in Great Song

In the third year of Jingyou, during Emperor Renzong's reign of the Song Dynasty, an unruly young man fell into the back garden of the Great Song Imperial Palace, thus beginning a life that wou...

Chapter 149: Making Money and Huainan's Affairs

But now all government affairs are handed over to the Constitutional Council. The morning court only discusses things happening across the country. It is not as busy as before, and the court ends much faster.

Zhao Jun and his companions did not go to the Constitutional Court, but to the Chongde Hall.

Now with the establishment of the Constitutional Yuan, morning court meetings tend to gather national government information, and the specific solution is for the Constitutional Yuan to hold small meetings.

Today's small meeting is still to discuss specific matters.

Inside the Chongde Hall, in Zhao Zhen's study in the rear hall, it is a bit like the Shangshufang of the Qing Dynasty. Zhao Zhen's desk is by the window, surrounded by many bookshelves and notebooks. This is where Zhao Zhen usually reads books or handles government affairs.

A faint sandalwood scent emanated from the three-legged incense burner in front of the desk. Several armchairs were placed on both sides. After Zhao Jun and others came in, they first saluted Zhao Zhen before getting Zhao Zhen's permission to sit down.

"Grandson, I heard you rescued tens of thousands of people this time. You did a great job."

After Zhao Zhen and everyone were seated, he spoke, "Just as Lord Fan said, although this raid on the Ghost Fan Tower in Wuyou Cave has achieved unexpected results, how should we deal with the aftermath?"

Zhao Jun had already thought of a countermeasure and replied, "There are three main points in the aftermath. The first is to resettle the victims, the second is to eliminate the remaining underground evil forces, and the third is how to prevent the underground forces from emerging again after they are completely wiped out."

"Did the eldest grandson have an idea already?"

Zhao Zhen asked.

"Um."

Zhao Jun said, "As for the victims, we will first help them find their families and reunite them with their relatives. For those whose families cannot be found, they will be supported by the court. Later, I will find a way to improve the looms and open a spinning mill, where women can be employed as spinners. Children can work as newspaper boys while the court supports their education and learning new knowledge."

Most of the victims of Wuyou Cave and Guifan Tower were women and children. A few, like Ping'er or children with broken legs who couldn't even walk, had to be raised in welfare homes. But for women and children who had limbs but were homeless, there were naturally other options.

For example, opening a spinning mill or going to school.

Zhao Zhen frowned and said, "I'm afraid it will cost a lot to resettle these ten thousand people."

“So I’m going to make money.”

Zhao Jun said, "This time the seizure was quite substantial. The cash and money alone amounted to over three million strings of cash. The rest of the land, shops, and mansions combined are probably worth over six million strings of cash. The court could definitely put these to good use."

Six million strings of cash?

Zhao Zhen's face lit up at first, but then he became furious and said, "How could these people have amassed so much wealth? I wonder how many people have been harmed by them."

Zhao Jun shook his head and said, "After all, these places have been occupied since the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, a century ago. It's normal for those people to have accumulated so much wealth over time. All we can do is try to compensate the victims. Let belated justice heal their wounds."

"What is Da Sun going to do?"

Zhao Zhen asked.

Zhao Jun said, "We can use the seized shop space to open a store."

Many brothels such as Yingchunyuan were not given to madams like Liu Mama, but were under the jurisdiction of the government and managed by them, which was similar to becoming official brothels.

In the future, under the legal framework of the Song Dynasty, Kaifeng Prefecture and the Imperial City Administration will provide them with convenience to ensure tax revenue and profits.

In addition, Guifanlou and Wuyoudong have a large number of other shops that can still be handed over to others to operate or even rented out for rent. This is also one of the common ways for officials in the Song Dynasty to make money.

Lü Yijian was a prominent figure among them. He nodded slightly and said, "Although it might seem to undermine the dignity of the imperial court to open a shop, it's not impossible."

“These are all hung under the Constitutional Court.”

Zhao Jun added, "And I plan to open another street market in Xianningfang."

Open another street market?

Lü Yijian and the others looked at each other. Wang Zeng said, "It's probably going to be difficult to reopen the market. Let alone opening a market, even if the court wants to redesign the market, or the royal family wants to expand the palace, it would be extremely difficult to buy houses from the people."

"Indeed, and nowadays, it's common for residential buildings to occupy the streets in various streets and markets. As a result, the roads are becoming increasingly narrow. Even when Taizu went to Tonglifang to have a banquet with ministers, he was blocked by the encroaching residential buildings on his way back. Let alone now."

Wang Sui had a good memory and said, "During the reign of Emperor Taizong, he wanted to expand the palace, which caused widespread public outrage. During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, he ordered Xie Dequan to expand the streets, but this was opposed by all the civil and military officials in the court. Opening a street market is much more difficult than expanding the streets."

Don't think the Song emperors could do whatever they wanted. During the reign of Emperor Zhao Guangyi, the imperial palace was too small and he wanted to expand it, but the people dared to ask for an exorbitant amount. When Emperor Zhenzong of Song wanted to expand the streets, officials and people opposed it.

At that time, the emperor wanted to demolish and rectify the illegal buildings in Kaifeng Prefecture, and he had to pay a lot of money for compensation. In addition, there were even stubborn residents who blocked the demolition. The people did not take the emperor's orders seriously at all.

Although Zhao Jun has a good reputation among the people in Bianliang, if he dares to touch the interests of the people and demolish their houses, he will become a useless official in no time.

"To open this street, we don't need to occupy residential buildings. Instead, we can use the mansion of the owner of Guifan Building that was confiscated this time."

Zhao Jun said, "I've seen that place. It's a huge area, right on the bank of the Jin River, and very close to Liangmen. Rather than letting it become a riverside mansion for the rich, it would be better to renovate it and turn it into a riverside commercial street."

"oh?"

Zhao Zhen became interested and asked, "How does the eldest grandson plan to operate?"

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