The Ming Dynasty started with caution

Zhu Houzhao did not go to Fengtian Hall, but only sent eunuch Gu Dayong to report.

When he heard that Duke Dingguo was sent to Gansu Guard, the retired emperor Hongzhi savored it carefully and had an indescribable feeling. He could not help but look at Yan Chengjin.

"Why did the new emperor send Duke Dingguo to Gansu?"

"It should be to deal with the Turks."

For a while, the officials frowned.

It seems that the new emperor has fought with the Turks. In the memorial sent back by Gansu Guard, the Turks invaded Hami and looted property.

The retired emperor Hongzhi thought about it and was too lazy to care about it. He sighed and ordered all officials to withdraw from the court.

In March of the sixth year of Zhengde, it had been a month since Duke Dingguo left the capital.

The snow in the capital has not melted yet, but it does not affect the construction of East City, North City and West City.

In terms of scale, East City alone can accommodate 5,000 households, while North City and West City can accommodate 6,000 households and 7,000 households respectively.

The mansions were not covered with rubble, but the people couldn't wait to take a look, hoping to live there.

…

Yongqing County,

"Sir, Li Chao submitted a memorial. Now that the people are out of trouble, you should also submit a memorial!" The county magistrate urged.

Gu'an County was originally worse off than them.

However, Li Chao was not afraid of death. He submitted a memorial to the court. Just relying on the merchants from the south and the north to settle in Tangchi, he made a lot of money.

Now, people from Gu'an have come to Beijing to buy mansions.

Han Song was a more anxious person. He shook his head: "Gu'an has Tangchi, but Yongqing has no geographical advantage. What's the point of reporting it?"

After saying that, he couldn't help but sigh. Yongqing was all mountains and forests, and there was not much arable land.

Even if the court saw the decree, it would only issue some relief silver.

"How do you know if you don't submit a memorial? I heard that Sir Yan is very strategic." The county magistrate was disappointed.

Han Song looked at the four treasures of the study on the desk and nodded.

The county magistrate quickly ground the ink and handed the pen to Han Song. As long as this memorial was submitted, maybe Lord Yan would come to Yongqing to take a look.

"What to write?"

As a county magistrate, he couldn't be so thick-skinned as to ask the court for governance strategies.

Now that Yongqing County is free of disasters, he can't beg for relief silver.

"Just write about the current situation of the people, Lord Yan will definitely understand."

The county magistrate was thoughtful.

Thinking that Shuntian Prefecture might not necessarily submit the memorial.

Even if it was submitted, it would probably fall into the hands of other elders, or be kept in the palace, so it would be better to submit it directly to the Yongqing Censor.

...

Capital, East District.

Yan Chengjin took a sedan chair to walk around here, leaving behind a few houses that he was satisfied with in terms of layout and location, and then ordered the Ministry of Revenue to sell them.

Wang Bushui came to the Ministry of Revenue to preside over the official sale.

The most sought-after ones are the three types of mansions, six in and six out, eight in and eight out, nine in and nine out...

They are meant for good luck.

The price ranged from 50,000 taels to 90,000 taels.

These officials and gentry made a lot of money from overseas trade, and Wang Bushui didn't feel bad at all, and charged another 10,000 taels as a handling fee.

But they are still very popular.

The cheapest mansion, which costs 200 taels of silver, has four rooms, hidden in an alley, and has no storefront.

In just a few days, most of the pedestrians on the streets of the capital were gone, and they were crowded in the Ministry of Revenue.

The court had to issue deeds for the purchase of mansions in Shuntian Prefecture and the Metropolitan Procuratorate for the people to settle down.

"Reporting to the emperor, more than 6,000 households settled down yesterday, and a total of more than 13 million taels of silver were collected."

Wang Qiong's arms were shaking slightly.

This is because his hands were cramped from counting silver.

Among the six thousand mansions, one thousand of them are sold for about 10,000 taels, which is the price of an ordinary three-in-three-out mansion in the capital.

As if a cool breeze blew through the hall, the retired emperor Hongzhi suddenly became energetic, "How many people are there in the capital now?"

"More than 1.2 million."

When the retired emperor Hongzhi heard this number, he couldn't control himself and his lips began to tremble slightly.

During the Hongwu period, there were only 140,000 people in Kyoto.

After he ascended the throne, the population of the capital was 680,000, and now it has doubled.

The gentlemen looked at Wang Qiong almost reflexively.

It turned out that the way to increase the population of the capital was to expand.

"My son said that the population of the world would double, and now, the promise has been fulfilled."

Zhu Houzhao said seriously.

Some of the gentlemen did not believe Wang Qiong's words, but now, the accounts are in front of them, and the more they compare, the more frightened they are. Where did so many people come from?

"The world gathers so many people to the capital, and I am afraid that it will hurt farmers."

Jiang Mian naturally did not think that these people were native people in the capital.

Most of them are from other places. If they want to be included in the Yellow Book, there will be more people in the capital, and fewer people in other places.

It's the same as fighting a war.

"Maybe, maybe not."

Yan Chengjin believes that what Jiang Mian said makes sense. The continuous gathering of gentry in the world in the capital is a process of urbanization.

It means that there will be empty nests in prefectures and counties, and they will gradually decline.

But this may be inevitable in the prosperous era.

Today, the capital has only more than 1.2 million people, far less than the more than 20 million people in later generations, and it can continue to gather.

But after that, it will not be so easy.

"When Mr. Yan said this, I am a little worried."

The retired emperor Hongzhi flipped through the newly entered Yellow Book, staring at every number intently, and the more he compared, the more shocked he was, because the population had doubled directly.

This is something that only several generations of emperors can do.

Seeing that the Emperor Hongzhi was wavering in his resolve, Yan Chengjin said, “The lowest price of a mansion in the capital is two hundred taels, which is not affordable for farmers. Most of them are landless people who have lived in the capital for a long time, so it won’t hurt farmers for the time being.

As for the future, I don't know. "

When the retired emperor Hongzhi heard this, he was still a little worried.

It's comfortable to be a businessman and farm.

The court arranged the status of the people into scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, because it was afraid that everyone would go to do business and no one would farm.

Wang Qiong took his attention away from Yan Chengjin, "Retired emperor, what are the remaining unsold houses and money?"

At the beginning, the court only paid more than 12 million taels.

Now it's all back.

Should the extra silver be given to the Liangxiang Chamber of Commerce, or continue to belong to the court?

He and Yan Chengjin have a deep friendship, and talking about silver hurts their feelings, so the retired emperor has to decide.

The hall suddenly fell into silence.

Yan Chengjin said: "Liangshang also spent more than 4 million taels to purchase land, plus more than 1 million taels invested by Chengguogong..."

"How many vacant houses are there?" The retired emperor Hongzhi said.

"More than 10,000. "

The gentlemen's eyes widened a little.

More than 6,000 were sold for more than 13 million taels, which means there are still two more than 13 million taels.

Yan Chengjin's eyes moved slightly, these mansions will slowly increase in value.

Perhaps, they can be sold for far more than this number.

But it will take a long time to sell.

Zhu Houzhao touched his chin, his eyes showed some spirit, "I think that half of them should be given to good merchants. The gentry of Liangxiang will naturally hope to get silver if they handle this matter. "

Anyway, it's for the fool to fight the Turks.

The gentlemen were silent for a long time, secretly blaming Zhu Houzhao for turning his arm outward.

Although they knew that the mansions made money, the amount of money earned was far beyond expectations.

It can't be given for free!

Seeing Yan Chengjin looking at him with strange eyes, the retired emperor Hongzhi squinted slightly before speaking: "The court takes 7,000 households, and the remaining 5,000 households belong to good merchants. "

Although I want to give all of them to the court, it's too ugly to compete with good merchants for profits.

Yan Chengjin was slightly happy.

I thought the emperor would give one thousand households, but I didn't expect him to be so generous.

"I thank the emperor."

Five thousand households of mansions can probably be sold for about ten million.

The gentlemen and Wang Qiong felt as if a piece of meat was cut out of them, and they felt very distressed.