Ang Lee talked about the benefits of the mobile houses and the serious situation facing the capital in detail, and he quickly got the emperor's nod of approval. Many of the ministers also agreed, but there were also many who did not agree in their hearts.
However, they did not think that these simple mobile houses could solve any problems, and they did not think that the launch of these mobile houses could bring a fundamental change to the housing shortage in the capital. In their view, this was just a farce. The housing prices in the capital would not change much because of these simple mobile houses. Even if they were put on the market, they would be laughed at by the people. Therefore, naturally, there was no reason to object. Who asked the emperor to approve of it?
"These mobile houses seem to be able to temporarily alleviate the housing shortage. We can give it a try."
"We can give it a try."
"I second the motion."
The ministers agreed very smoothly, and no one raised any objections. Perhaps they didn't think it was a big deal. At the same time, they also wanted to see what would happen after this thing was launched, how much effect it could have, and what kind of scene would appear in the capital.
However, there were also areas to discuss in launching this kind of mobile house, such as whether to sell or rent, whether to sell to the aristocrats for rent, or to rent directly by the imperial court.
Ang Lee's opinion was naturally that the imperial court was directly responsible for renting, because once it was sold to the aristocrats, the rent would immediately increase, and it would be meaningless.
In addition, when renting out the house, they had to investigate the tenant's information in detail. They also had to have enough insurance. If the tenant escaped with the mobile house, someone had to be responsible. In addition, once they were caught, they would be sentenced, and the sentence would not be low.
In addition, after renting the mobile house, they would sublet the mobile house in private, and then rent it again. In this way, the rent would be raised again, which was obviously very inappropriate. Therefore, supervision must be strengthened. Only certain groups of people were eligible to rent the mobile house, which was the workers who did not have a place to live. The people who had a house in the capital were not eligible to rent it. The servants of the aristocrats generally lived in the master's house, and they were also not eligible to rent it. The same person could only rent it once, unless one returned and rented it again.
In addition, the mobile house must be protected and not allowed to be maliciously damaged. Otherwise, the compensation would be according to the price. It was believed that this kind of thing would not happen under normal circumstances.
Of course, in order to prevent the threat of the storm, the quality of all mobile houses must be up to standard. If the quality of the house was not up to standard, it would fall apart after a gust of wind. That would be troublesome.
What was more, although there were six brackets and two wheels under the mobile house, it still needed to be reinforced to a certain extent after determining the anchorage location. The four corners of the house had iron rings that could be tied with ropes. One end of the thick rope was tied to the iron rings, while the other end was tied with a large iron bolt. After that, it would be deeply embedded in the soil. In this way, the stability of the mobile house would be greatly improved, and they would not have to worry about it no matter how strong the storm was.
If there was really a strong wind that could blow down such a sturdy mobile house, then the houses built by ordinary people would not be safe, because the quality of many thatched houses was far inferior to mobile houses. Even many brick houses were not as sturdy as mobile houses. The strong wind tested the quality of all houses, not just mobile houses.
A series of problems, such as the quality of the house, the strict management of the rental and sales, and how to prevent theft, all needed to be seriously considered. If any aspect was not considered thoroughly, it would cause a serious blow to this cause. Thus, the good idea proposed by Ang Lee would exist in name only and lose its original meaning.
In view of the huge population of Beijing, the first batch of mobile houses proposed by Ang Lee to be built was as high as 100,000 units. It could be said that the number was extremely large, and there would be more in the future.
The more units were built, the lower the cost of a single mobile house. Any product had such a characteristic. The more units were built, the lower the cost of a single mobile house.
Since the first plan to solve the housing shortage in Beijing had been approved, then the second plan should be considered, which was to establish a compulsory housing guarantee system for workshops. All newly built workshops had to solve the housing problem of at least 80% of the craftsmen. Various restaurants and shops also had to solve the housing problem of their employees. This was compulsory and not something that could be casually negotiated. This was to ensure the housing problem of a large number of workers.
When Ang Lee made this request, all the ministers were shocked. They did not expect Ang Lee to make such a request. They knew deeply what the consequences would be if this system was enforced. It was estimated that the housing problem in Beijing would be greatly improved.
However, if the housing problem in Beijing was greatly improved, then the interests of some people would be greatly damaged. Many people who hoarded houses would suffer a great loss. Therefore, there were naturally people who stood up to oppose.
The Emperor looked at the expressions of the ministers and asked calmly, "Dear ministers, if you have anything to say, say it!"
"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, this seems to be inappropriate. If the workshops are willing to give up a piece of land to build a house for the craftsmen to live in, it is fine, but they cannot be forced to do so. It is better if they are willing to do so!"
"That's right! Your Majesty, it seems unreasonable to make such a request! Since ancient times, when has a workshop been forced to prepare a place for the craftsmen to live in? There has never been such a request before! I am afraid it will be criticized. "
"The land for workshops is precious. If a part of it is used to build houses, there will be less land for production. This does not seem to be cost-effective! There must be people who are very unwilling. In addition, some workshops have a lot of craftsmen. If we want to solve the housing problem of more than 80% of the craftsmen, we need to give up too much land. This will seriously affect the workshop's production. It is inappropriate, very inappropriate. Although the housing problem in Beijing is very serious, we can't come up with such an unrealistic idea. This method is really inappropriate and can't be so radical. "
"Your Majesty, I also feel that it is inappropriate. It is a bit too much to force such a high request. However, we can suggest that the people who open workshops do so. Whether they comply or not depends on their own decision. It is too much to force them to live in Beijing. It is really too much. It is inappropriate."
"Your Majesty, I agree, I agree."
"Your Majesty, I agree, too."
Most of the ministers did not quite agree with Ang Lee's proposal, but they felt that it could be proposed, but it should not be enforced. As long as it was not enforced, the proposal was not very meaningful at all. At this time, many workshops in the Tang dynasty had prepared residences for the craftsmen. It was just that there were not many workshops like this, and most of them did not have this kind of preparation.
After hearing this, the Emperor did not show any expression. Instead, he looked at Ang Lee.
Ang Lee had already expected these guys' attitude, so he did not panic at all. Ang Lee had plenty of ways to deal with these guys.
"Your Majesty, in fact, I have a better way. If this method does not work, then we can only use this more powerful method."
Ang Lee said.
"Oh, what is it? I am listening respectfully."
The Emperor asked happily.
Ang Lee replied, "Your Majesty, I think we should implement a real estate tax in the capital. According to the rank of nobility, each family can only own a certain amount of real estate in the capital. As for the extra real estate, at least 10% of the house price should be paid every year to crack down on people who occupy more real estate for no reason and reduce the house price in the capital."
After saying that, he looked at the ministers.
As soon as this strategy was proposed, not only were the ministers shocked, but even the Emperor was stunned. He probably felt that Ang Lee's idea was too bold and unbelievable.
"What does Assistant Minister Li mean? He's trying to rob us! "
"Your Majesty, you can't do that. If you charge 10% of the house price every year, then if a person has ten houses, then wouldn't he lose one house a year? If a person has a hundred houses, then he would lose ten houses a year. This is robbery, robbery! Such a policy will definitely be criticized. "
"Your Majesty, this is absolutely not possible! Assistant Minister Li really dared to think of such a robbery policy. "
"What does Assistant Minister Li mean? What is he trying to do? This is forcing people who have houses to their deaths! "
When the ministers heard Ang Lee's idea of a real estate tax, they were all frightened. If it was really implemented, they, who had hundreds of houses, would be in big trouble. They would lose a lot of money every day.
Ang Lee knew that these fellows would have such expressions. He smiled and said, "Everyone, I don't want to propose such a strategy, but you all know how high the house price in the capital is. Let alone buying a house, even renting a house is very stressful. My colleagues also know that the reason why the house price in the capital is so high is because there are more and more people in the capital, and there are not so many houses in the capital. This has caused a housing shortage. In fact, there is another reason that is adding fuel to the fire, and that is that some people have hundreds of houses. Even if a person's family is big, they don't need to live in hundreds of houses! If there are many people who have nothing to do and hoard hundreds of houses, then the commoners who need houses will have no place to live. Right now, the housing situation in the capital is so tense, and the commoners are complaining about the high house price. Shouldn't those who have houses pay more taxes and force them to buy houses? As long as the people who have maliciously hoarded a large number of houses spit out the extra houses in their hands, I believe that the house price in the capital will definitely change greatly. At the very least, it won't be as expensive as it is now. "
When the emperor heard Ang Lee's analysis, he nodded and said, "What Minister Li said is very reasonable. Some people have hoarded hundreds of houses. What are they doing? Can one person live in them all? What's the use of the extra houses? Isn't this hoarding? If it's a big merchant, it's fine, but if it's a member of the imperial court, how many houses can he buy with his salary? "
Obviously, the emperor was very clear about the corruption of some officials. He knew that some officials liked to be greedy for money and bought more houses than they earned. If they weren't greedy for money, how could they buy so many houses? Wasn't this very problematic?
Hearing the emperor say this, some of the officials present felt guilty. If the emperor really investigated, some people would be unlucky. Those who hoarded houses would have to bear the consequences.
In the eyes of these officials, the annual property tax of 10% for the extra houses was scary, but what was even scarier was that before the property tax was collected, the imperial court first had to know how many houses each person owned and how many were over the limit. As long as a census was conducted, the fact that some people were corrupt could no longer be hidden, and they would be in big trouble.
No one was willing to be in big trouble, so these guilty officials began to think about how to solve the problem in front of them. Ang Lee's words just now provided them with a very good idea.
Ang Lee had said very clearly that if his proposal of forcing workshops to provide houses for the craftsmen couldn't be implemented, he would propose a more radical plan, which was to collect property tax in the capital.
Compared to collecting a high property tax, forcing workshops to provide houses for the craftsmen didn't seem to be a big deal. Comparing the two, forcing workshops to provide houses was more reliable. Therefore, these people immediately changed their faces.
"Your Majesty, this humble subject thinks that it is more reliable to force workshops to provide houses for the craftsmen proposed by Assistant Minister Li. Collecting property tax would involve too many people and would cause trouble. On the other hand, letting workshops provide houses isn't too big of a problem."
"That's right! Your Majesty, those who can open workshops won't mind spending some money to build houses for the craftsmen. As long as the imperial court forces it, they should be able to accept it. Moreover, if workshops can solve the problem of housing for the craftsmen, it will be more attractive to recruit craftsmen. Even if the wages are lower, they can still recruit craftsmen. This is also beneficial for those who open workshops! "
"Your Majesty, this humble subject thinks so too. The main reason for the continuous increase in the capital's population is that there are too many workshops. Without these workshops, the commoners wouldn't be able to find a way to make a living and definitely wouldn't stay here. Since the main reason for the shortage of houses in the capital is these workshops, it is reasonable to let them provide houses for the craftsmen."
"Your Majesty, this humble subject agrees."
"Your Majesty, this humble subject also agrees."
Previously, the officials had strongly opposed the imperial court forcing workshops to provide houses for the craftsmen. Now, because Ang Lee proposed an even more terrifying property tax, these fellows were willing to compromise and accept Ang Lee's request for workshops to provide houses for the craftsmen. In any case, this method could only alleviate the shortage of housing in the capital and wouldn't have too much of an impact on the high property prices in the capital. At the very least, it wouldn't infringe on their interests. If the property tax was introduced, many people would be in big trouble. Those who bought property in large quantities might not even have a way to survive.
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