The emperor's primary task is always to maintain his own rule.
The most difficult task facing Shenzong at present is the financial issue.
It is said that there are three disasters of redundancy, but the consequence of redundant soldiers and redundant officials is redundant expenses. It can be seen that the three redundancy are all reflected in the finances.
To put it bluntly, it's money.
Song Shenzong initially preferred Wang Anshi's suggestion. Since selling houses was so profitable, why didn't the court do it itself? Compared with those unscrupulous businessmen, the court was more sensible and could curb the rise in housing prices.
There is nothing wrong with this logic.
But in the end, Song Shenzong still accepted Zhang Fei's drunken words, because of Zhang Fei's words, if taxes can be raised, if you really want to make money, can you guarantee that housing prices will not rise
In fact, building public rental housing can also make money, but it’s just not as fast, and there is also an invisible profit.
After repeated consideration, Song Shenzong believed that even if the court did it itself, the profits brought by the housing prices would be difficult to make up for the financial shortfall.
No matter how good you are at real estate nowadays, it’s just like that, not like... ...
This ultimately depends on reform, so why not take a long-term approach to building the house
After receiving the order, Wang Anshi immediately released the news to the public, stating that the court would allocate land to build public rental housing.
In fact, renting public housing has little to do with people who buy houses.
People who live in public housing cannot afford to buy a house.
But it is a signal.
It means that the court does not want to see house prices rise.
Middle and low-level officials are very supportive of this.
They are people who are determined to buy a house.
The Ma family also said that they would only recognize the Chen family's contract. As the intermediary, the Chen family put pressure on the seller, telling him not to raise the price arbitrarily. If you want to raise the price arbitrarily, I will be the one who gets scolded. I cannot afford to offend the seller, so you should go find another one.
But other families can’t get loans.
This immediately fell into a vicious circle.
House prices, which had been on an upward trend, began to slow down again.
But price reduction is impossible.
After all, the demand is here.
The previous housing prices were real and not inflated, but now with the emergence of mortgages, there is some room for price increases, but it has been suppressed for the time being and has only increased a little bit.
The instigator, Zhang Fei, is now also struggling to find a house, but he is renting, not buying one. He doesn't want to live in a cheaper one, but he can't afford an expensive one, not even the down payment.
Today, Chen Maoqian's nephew Chen Decai brought Zhang Fei and Li Si to Yinan Bridge west of Cai River in the outer city.
“The environment here is great!”
Zhang Fei stood in the courtyard and looked around. There was a small courtyard in front, a small waterside pavilion in the back, and a guest room on each side. It looked bigger than Xu's house. He couldn't help but ask Chen Decai, "Are you sure it only costs twelve strings of cash a month?"
This place is in the southwest corner of the outer city. Although it is some distance away from Bianhe Street, it is still in the city after all. The entire Bianjing is very expensive!
Chen Decai nodded and said, "Yes. The monthly rent here is only twelve strings of cash."
Li Si asked timidly, "Has anyone died here?"
He has been hanging out with Zhang Fei these days, hanging out with wealthy people who would give him hundreds of strings of cash at any time. Now, he would not be scared by a few dozen strings of cash. The ancients were more superstitious, so haunted houses were generally very cheap.
"No no!"
Chen Decai hurriedly said, "How dare I rent the haunted house to you? You two are new to Bianjing, so you may not know that the rent west of Caihe River is relatively cheap. If it is east of the river, the rent will increase by three or four times."
Now he doesn't dare to show off in front of Zhang Fei, he is so respectful!
Zhang Fei wondered: "Why is this?"
Chen Decai said: "This is because the martial arts school is located in the west of the river, while the Imperial College and Imperial University are both located in the east of the river. Therefore, the rent there is very expensive, not much cheaper than Bianhe Street."
Although the Northern Song Dynasty emphasized culture over military affairs, it still preserved the martial arts passed down from the Tang Dynasty.
"I see."
Zhang Fei nodded.
It is a well-known fact that the Northern Song Dynasty valued culture over military affairs, and this is directly reflected in the housing prices. Although they are both in the outer city and separated by only a river, there is a world of difference between the two sides.
The literati and the rich all lived in the east of the river. It was very prosperous, with all the high-end brothels and restaurants built there. The west of the river was also quite lively, with quite a few people, but most of them were peddlers and hawkers.
Of course, these peddlers and hawkers can serve the rich people on the other side and make a living.
"This is it."
Zhang Fei laughed.
On the contrary, he didn't like to be with those literati.
On the same day, both parties returned to the pawnshop and formally signed a lease contract. Although the rent was twelve strings of cash, due to the pawnshop's high commission and the taxes that had to be paid to the court, the final amount reached fifteen strings of cash.
Just to rent a house, you have to pay this much money...
Even so, the Northern Song government was still extremely poor. In the feudal dynasties, the deficit of the central fiscal budget of the Northern Song was unprecedented and unparalleled...
But then again, there were many aspects of the Northern Song Dynasty that were more humane and not all negative. For example, the imperial court stipulated that rent would only be calculated five days after the contract was signed. In other words, you were given five days to move in.
From these details, we can see that the Northern Song Dynasty was actually a highly commercialized society with relatively complete services.
After everything was arranged, Zhang Fei asked Li Si to clean the new house first, while he went to Xu's house to formally bid farewell to Xu Zun.
"Are you in such a hurry to move out because of my daughter?" Xu Zun was really reluctant to leave Zhang Fei. With Zhang Fei around, he could often discuss some legal issues with Zhang Fei at home. The key was that he could benefit a lot every time he talked with this guy.
"of course not."
Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "In fact, Madam Xu is very good to me, and I will continue to maintain a cooperative relationship with her. It's just that I want to start my own business. Now that Li Si is following me, it is even more inconvenient to live here. At the same time, my business may also bring unnecessary trouble to you, the benefactor. After all, it is inevitable that rumors will arise when you are in such a melon field and plum field."
Xu Zun nodded slightly.
Since the mortgage appeared, Zhang Fei has been involved in more than a small lawsuit. If Zhang Fei continues to live in Xu's house, then everything he does will arouse speculation as to whether it is Xu Zun who is manipulating it behind the scenes.
This would be very uncomfortable for both of them.
We have to take each other into consideration in everything.
But they each have their own ambitions.
It's indeed time to separate.
Xu Zun smiled and said, "It's up to you to decide. I'll come to congratulate you another day."
Zhang Fei bowed and said, "Zhang San is waiting for your visit at home."
Just at this moment, Xu Zhiqian came to the hall, and Xu Zun immediately said, "Qian'er, you've come just in time. Please see Zhang Fei off for me."
Zhang Fei half-jokingly said, "Mrs. Xu will definitely be happy to help with this."
Xu Zhiqian pursed her lips and smiled: "That's why I came here. Please! Zhang Erbi."
Zhang Fei's face suddenly fell, "Can you change your name?"
"no."
"Why?"
"Because you hate this name."
"... ... You really hold a grudge."
"snort!"
Xu Zun watched the two of them bickering as they walked out of the hall, and could not help but shake his head with a wry smile. They were already about to leave, yet they still had to quarrel.
After leaving the hall, Xu Zhiqian suddenly said, "You have offended so many people. You must be careful when you go out."
Zhang Fei glanced at her and said, "Why do you sound like a curse when you say such a nice sentence?"
"I don't have time to curse you." Xu Zhiqian looked depressed, feeling that her kindness had been wasted.
Zhang Fei laughed and said, "Today is our big day, let's stop arguing, okay?"
Xu Zhiqian pouted: "Who is happy with you?"
"Of course not. You finally kicked me out, and I finally escaped from your clutches."
Xu Zhiqian was speechless in rebuttal.
Zhang Fei suddenly said seriously: "No matter what, I am very grateful to Madam Xu for her tolerance these days. As for the trouble I have caused Madam Xu, I am very sorry for it."
Xu Zhiqian hummed softly: "This sounds like human language."
Zhang Fei laughed and bowed, saying, "Madam Xu, please stay. I'll leave first!"
"Let's go!"
Zhang Fei got on the rented horse and suddenly turned his head to look at Xu Zhiqian inside the door and said, "Madam Xu, you should know where I live, right? If there is anything, you can ask Qingmei to inform me."
Xu Zhiqian turned around and went back.
How can you be so cool!
Zhang Fei rolled his eyes and rode away.
He was very happy today, and he would not get angry no matter what Xu Zhiqian said.
At this moment, he felt like a free bird, swinging in the air, swinging...!
I thought to myself, moving is a big event, and we are not going to hold a fire banquet, so why not invite a few singing girls to our house tonight to have some fun alone. Is this a little too hasty, and does it make me look a little thirsty, but this seems to be the truth. I have been staying in Xu's house these days, eating tea and eating light meals all day, and I am almost going to die. Well, I will ask Li Si about it later.
The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became, and the more he urged the horse on.
After walking for half an hour, he arrived at his residence.
"Li Si! Li Si! Eh? Isn't this guy at home?"
Zhang Fei got off his horse and shouted three times at the door. Seeing that no one answered from inside the house, he pushed the door open and walked in.
"Mmmmm!"
As soon as he entered the room, he saw Li Si tied to a big tree in the yard, with a piece of white cloth stuffed in his mouth. His eyes were bulging and he was shaking his head wildly at him.
"Li Si, what are you...!" As soon as he said this, Zhang Fei suddenly felt something was wrong and turned around to run. However, just as he turned around, a large hemp bag fell from the sky.
Suddenly, he felt a black screen in front of his eyes, and before he could react, he was kicked hard on the buttocks. He cried out "Ouch" and fell straight to the ground, landing on his head first. He immediately saw stars.
Before he could even recover, someone stepped on his stomach again. He couldn't help but raise his head and feet together like a river shrimp in a pot. He almost vomited his breakfast.
After this series of moves, Zhang Fei completely lost his resistance.
Bang bang bang!
"Help! Help!"
Zhang Fei, who was trapped in a sack, was beaten so hard that he covered his head with his hands and could only shout loudly.
Suddenly, someone outside the door said, "It sounds like someone is shouting for help... Ah! It sounds like Brother Zhang's voice."
"Don't be afraid, Brother Zhang San, the little horse is coming!"
Then I heard someone whisper in front of me: "Oh no! Someone is coming!"
“Go!”
... ...
Then I heard a arrogant voice: "Don't run, thief."