After Laba Festival comes the New Year.
Suddenly, news came from the palace that Concubine Xue had died suddenly.
The capital city, which was originally full of joy due to the approaching New Year, seemed to be poured with a bucket of cold water and cooled down instantly.
The death of Concubine Xue brought back memories of a coup a few months ago, in which many people died.
The Jingxi Camp alone was almost paralyzed.
During that period, it seemed that every household in the capital had a funeral to attend.
Furthermore, the 2,000-strong Tianlang Army led by Pei Meng was stationed at Jingxi Camp. It was said that they trained all day long, without a single day of slacking off.
Everyone came to their senses and realized that the palace coup would not be over until the Tianlang Army left.
Oh, can we still celebrate this New Year?
In a few days, the capital was in chaos and bloodshed again.
"That's impossible! The crown prince has been appointed, so there will definitely be no chaos. Concubine Xue's death was a worthy one."
Early in the morning, low-ranking officials from the Ministry of Revenue gathered together to chat.
"While Imperial Concubine Xue certainly died a worthy death, why did the palace spread rumors of her sudden death? Couldn't there be another reason?"
"Who knows? Perhaps His Majesty didn't intend to kill Concubine Xue, but Concubine Xue died because she couldn't bear it anymore."
“Ahem…”
"The Lord is here."
"Greetings, sir."
"What are you all doing here? Why don't you get to work?"
The Minister of Revenue had a stern face, and he looked intimidating without even getting angry.
They still have time to get together and chat and gossip, but it seems there are still too few tasks to do. I need to assign them more tasks.
The Minister of Revenue has been a little worried recently.
The emperor's health was deteriorating and he could no longer get out of bed.
You never know when it will happen...
The emperor spoke with all his might, requiring the funeral to be held in a grand manner.
The money used for funeral arrangements must be paid by the Ministry of Revenue.
But the Ministry of Revenue's treasury was so empty that even a mouse could escape. Where could they find 500,000 or 600,000 taels to hold the emperor's funeral?
Next year's taxes have already been distributed, not a cent left. The salaries of officials in Beijing are still in arrears, and with the New Year approaching, we must make up this year's salaries so that everyone can have a less shabby New Year.
Money, money, he is almost worried to death.
They are all financial and taxation departments. The Shaofu next door is very rich, but the Ministry of Revenue is extremely poor.
The legal advisor knew the Minister of Revenue's heartache and offered him a suggestion, "Sir, the Ministry of Revenue is short of money, but there's a lot of silver outside the South City Gate. Millions of taels of silver have been invested in such a large construction site, so a mere few hundred thousand taels is just a small amount."
The Minister of Revenue snorted, "Don't worry about how much money there is outside the South City Gate. That's not the Ministry of Revenue's money."
The lawyer had an unyielding look on his face, “Your Excellency, please ask for permission to establish a county. Let’s set up the county government office before the New Year. Then, we can collect the first payment from outside the South City Gate when the New Year begins.
After that, once all the taxes and fees were collected, it would be a considerable income. I heard that the market outside the South City Gate was extremely prosperous, with merchants from all over the world rushing there to do business, and the daily turnover was astonishing.
But because there was no county, the land still belonged to Madam Zhao. The tax collector could only collect her share of taxes. He couldn't collect a penny from the market taxes or the registered refugees. These were all hard-earned silver.
Watching the huge sums of silver passing by but unable to collect them, the lawyer was very hurt and heartbroken.
The Minister of Revenue was also heartbroken.
He asked his advisor, "Is the market outside the South City Gate really that popular?"
"I dare not lie to you, sir. Every day, the market is packed with people, all rushing to buy cheap, high-quality goods. Even many people in the capital are willing to walk an extra seven or eight miles to shop at the market outside the South City Gate. As a result, many merchants in the capital are complaining that their business has been taken away."
The Minister of Revenue thought for a moment and said, "Have someone prepare the carriage and horses. I want to go to the South City Gate to take a look myself."
The lawyer smiled happily and quickly asked people to make preparations.
After the Minister of Revenue got on the carriage, he left the city directly from the South Gate.
Not far from the city gate is the slum area where refugees gather.
In the past, the Minister of Revenue had come here several times, but at that time it was all to provide relief to disaster victims.
He hasn't been here since Gu Jiu started running the business outside the South City Gate.
The shantytown that I remembered as dirty, messy, and disgusting enough to make you vomit your leftover food was now unbelievably clean.
The children running and jumping in the slum area are all wearing thick cotton coats and cotton shoes.
Compared with the miserable scene of countless refugees who were naked and died of hunger and cold every day, it is like heaven and earth.
He still remembers that when he came here for inspection last winter, there were also children running and jumping on the road.
The child was wearing only a single layer of clothing, barefoot, with a runny nose and covered in dirt. His eyes, when he looked at people, were filled with a hungry, cannibalistic glint and deep hatred.
Those children have hated the government since they were young.
In just one year, in the same place, with the same refugee children, they all had smiles on their faces, happy and bright smiles.
They wore thick cotton coats and newly made cotton shoes, and ran, jumped and played on the clean and tidy ground, carefree.
The children's eyes are no longer filled with desire for food. They have escaped hunger and are full of hope for the future.
The Minister of Revenue got off the carriage and did not allow any other carriages to follow him. He only took a few followers and advisors with him.
He focused on the shantytown area.
The shack area was half the size of what I remembered.
The place that was originally full of garbage dumps has been surrounded by a wall, and inside the wall are rows of completed houses.
The master said beside him, "Sir, this is the second phase of the project, which is for sale to the public, mainly for the residential needs of the common people in the capital."
The Minister of Revenue hummed, "Have the houses here been sold?"
As he was speaking, a group of neatly dressed common people came out of the gate of Phase II, chatting and laughing.
The Minister of Revenue stepped forward and asked, "Excuse me, who should I contact to buy a house?"
"Are you here to buy a house too? Unfortunately, you're late. The first batch of houses in Phase II were sold out half a month ago. We're here to get the keys today and start moving tomorrow. We'll spend the New Year in the new house."
"You all bought houses here?" The Minister of Revenue was a little surprised.
These people were all neatly dressed. But judging by the material, the uppers of their shoes, and their appearance, it was clear that they were ordinary people in the capital, working day by day for a day's pay. Their earnings were barely enough for food and drink, not enough to buy a house.
"The houses here are good, solid, cheap, and surrounded by walls. They're not far from the South City Gate. If you have money, of course you should buy one."
"My family consists of eleven people from three generations, squeezed into two rooms. It's so cramped that there's no place to stay. The children are growing up and about to get married. We need to buy a new house, at least to give the children a separate room. Otherwise, the girls won't be willing to marry us."
The Minister of Revenue tried to ask, "Houses here are not cheap, are they?"
"Of course it's not cheap, one house costs over a hundred taels. Luckily, you can get a loan to buy a house. As long as you pay ten taels of capital silver, you can get the keys and move into your new house."
"The loan interest is so high..."
"Not very high, not very high." An old man interrupted the Minister of Revenue. "Nowadays, many money houses are following the example of the Shaofu Bank, offering a monthly interest rate of only 1.5%. That's already very cheap. But mortgages are even cheaper than this. How much interest does the Shaofu lend out per year?"
"The annual interest rate is 3.5 percent."
The Minister of Revenue and his entourage all gasped.
The annual interest rate is only 3.5%, which is not only a conscience price, but also a losing business.
A house costs one hundred taels, and even if the loan is taken out for ten or eight years, the interest is only a few dozen taels.
No wonder the common people in the capital, who only have a few taels of silver in savings, dare to spend money to buy a house.
The old man was cheerful, obviously happy that the group of people in front of him were shocked.
"You're all from out of town, right? A lot of people like you react the same way when they hear about such low interest rates. But you came at an unlucky time; all the houses here are sold out. If you want to buy, you'll have to wait until next spring for new houses to come on the market."
"Thank you for letting me know." The Minister of Revenue said politely.
"You're welcome. Come on in and take a look around. There are model apartments, so feel free to look around."
The Minister of Revenue walked into the gate of Phase II with curiosity.
Phase II is divided into two parts: one side is the construction site, separated by wooden boards, and the other side is the already built, neatly arranged rows of small second-floor buildings.
Find the model house and go in for a visit.
From the perspective of the Minister of Revenue, the house has no aesthetic appeal at all, but it is sturdy, compact and has everything it should have.
Each apartment has at least four bedrooms and up to seven or eight, enough for a family to live in.
The price varied, and some houses came with small gardens and wells. Such houses would cost more than two hundred taels of silver. Compared to the prices in the capital, it was still shockingly cheap.
Some houses only had a small courtyard for light, and no wells. Water had to be drawn from public wells. Such houses, at only a hundred or so taels each, were still incredibly cheap.
The interior of the house is all painted white.
The houses are lined up neatly like soldiers in a row.
"This Gu Jiu is indeed very thoughtful."
The Minister of Revenue sighed.
The lawyer said, "This small house with a garden is quite nice. It's so cheap that I'm tempted. I want to buy one. If I don't live in it myself, I can rent it out."
The other followers nodded repeatedly, they had the same idea.
The house is solid, neatly planned, and beautiful. It may be small, but it has all the necessary facilities.
It's not expensive at just over a hundred taels. It would be great to buy a few buildings and rent them out to merchants traveling from north to south, or to candidates going to the capital.
The Minister of Revenue laughed heartily. "After hearing what you said, I'm a little tempted. Let's go and take a look at the first phase of the project."
The lawyer hurriedly explained, "The first phase is occupied by refugees, and half of them have already moved in. I've heard that according to Madam Zhao's plan, the shantytown will be demolished by the beginning of next spring, and all refugees must buy houses and move out. If they don't buy houses, they won't be able to work and earn money on the construction site."
"Gu Jiu has used one method after another to deal with these refugees. If she wants to forcibly demolish the shantytown, isn't she afraid that the refugees will cause trouble?"
The lawyer laughed, "Of course they are not afraid. Those refugees have long been tamed by Madam Zhao's guards."
oh?
The Minister of Revenue was full of curiosity.
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