"Your Majesty, if we take the residential buildings of Luoyang as the standard and have the royal construction team build it, the cost, including materials and labor, should be around 50,000 coins!"

Liu Hong nodded. "Fifty thousand coins... So, if the selling price is two hundred thousand coins, the profit margin isn't low!"

Cao Song shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, that is only the initial cost. If you include land and property taxes, the profit of a house is only about 50,000 coins!"

Of course, if the construction of civilian houses is handled by the imperial court and government officials, then the latter fees can be waived; 200,000 coins will suffice!

Liu Hong pondered for a moment, then said:

"So, according to this logic, a worker with the lowest wages would need to save for ten years to buy a house?"

Cao Song nodded in agreement. "Yes, Your Majesty, this is already quite good. You must know that before these factories and workshops existed, even if ordinary people farmed their entire lives, they could never afford to buy a house in Luoyang!"

Yuan Feng also spoke up, saying, "Your Majesty, this is only within Luoyang City, where labor and materials are expensive. If it were outside the city or in the countryside, the cost would be lower, and most people could afford it after working for five years!"

"Furthermore, most people in the countryside build their own houses, which is much cheaper, and a worker can build one in two years!"

"That's good...!"

Liu Hong nodded. People could accept saving for five or ten years; it was much better than having people carry decades of debt and not daring to spend.

But all of this depends on the fact that housing prices must be brought under control.

Liu Hong then looked at Chen Fan and said in a deep voice:

"Grand Tutor, the housing prices in Luoyang are so high now, and the impact is enormous. The imperial court must take action to suppress them!"

Chen Fan nodded in agreement. "Your Majesty is right. With the Royal Merchants' guarantee, plus the trade and various commercial taxes, the national treasury is not short of money. Lower housing prices will not have a significant impact on the court!"

"That's right. With less pressure on ordinary people to buy, they can spend more money to purchase various goods from the Royal Merchants. This is a positive cycle!"

"Absolutely. In the long run, low housing prices are a win-win situation for both the government and the people, with the advantages outweighing the disadvantages!"

The people inside the hall also spoke up to express their opinions, showing strong support for controlling housing prices.

Liu Hong nodded, then glanced around at everyone and said in a deep voice:

"Since you all agree, let's discuss how to effectively control housing prices!"

Yuan Feng also stood up and said respectfully:

"Your Majesty, houses, like food, are crucial to the well-being of the people."

Your Majesty, I believe the court should immediately establish a law stipulating that all future real estate transactions must be conducted through the court and government offices, and that corresponding documents must be signed.

It also stipulates that the selling price of a property cannot exceed four times the cost price; otherwise, the transaction will be considered invalid!

"Yes, Sikong is right, this must be kept in the hands of the imperial court!"

"Do any of you gentlemen have any further comments?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Qiu stood up and said in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, in order to thoroughly control real estate transactions, a new punitive law must be added."

In real estate transactions, any sale price exceeding four times the cost price will have all excess proceeds confiscated by the imperial court and government!

"Yes, Yang Qing's method is good. It can effectively control transactions and also motivate officials to work more diligently and responsibly!"

Liu Hong smiled and nodded, clearly satisfied with Yang Qiu's suggestion.

Afterwards, Liu Hong discussed with the others the issue of reducing and controlling real estate costs.

Ultimately, the focus of the discussion centered on the land.

In any era, land is the most direct embodiment of all value. If land prices are too high, everyone will focus on land, which will further exacerbate land consolidation.

When the government and powerful clans join forces, the lives of ordinary people will become even more difficult.

The most frightening thing is that it could very likely trigger the phenomenon of "land hoarding" in later generations, waiting for land prices to rise, and large tracts of land to cease production, which would be extremely detrimental to the country and its people.

Liu Hong and the others in the hall quickly realized this drawback.

To avoid all of this, the only option is to use strong measures to suppress and control land prices, making land worthless.

Furthermore, lower land prices will also reduce the costs of a range of related products.

Although this will reduce the land output of those self-sufficient farmers, it will also protect their land from being annexed, and the lower prices will reduce their financial burden.

(Take our area as an example. Wheat only increased by 20 cents per kilogram, but a bag of flour instantly went from 50 yuan to 70 yuan! No matter how you look at it, it's a loss!)

This doesn't even include seeds and fertilizers; those have seen even bigger price increases!

After discussion and deliberation among the people in the hall, several decrees were finally finalized regarding restrictions on land prices.

Most importantly, strict standards were set for land prices, stipulating that the transaction price of one mu of land could not exceed the price of thirty shi of grain.

The government also strictly regulated the price of grain sold to the people, stipulating that it should not exceed ten coins per pound, in order to prevent people from going bankrupt due to disasters.

In short, the imperial court and government could subsidize the purchase of grain and land, but the selling price could not be too high.

To put it simply, the imperial court would spend fifteen coins to buy grain from farmers, and then sell it to people engaged in other industries for ten coins.

It may seem that the imperial court lost money, but the people have money to buy other goods, which can greatly stimulate consumption and revitalize the economy. The imperial court can completely rely on commerce to earn back the money that was subsidized.

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!