The reason for this was naturally because the cross street had a certain width. A width of fifteen meters ensured the smooth passage of vehicles and also allowed peddlers to set up their stalls on the street, gathering more people. On the other hand, those small alleys that were two to three meters wide were too narrow. The small cross street that was five to six meters wide was also relatively narrow, making it difficult to form a lively atmosphere. During the Spring Lantern Festival, even the lanterns couldn't be displayed. As such, the large cross street that was fifteen meters wide gradually became the busiest street in Ping Kang Square.
Of course, this included the mediation of the imperial court and the joint participation of many big businessmen. Some of the big businessmen who originally opened their restaurants in small alleys had changed their deployment and opened their restaurants on the side of the main road that faced the cross street. This made it more convenient for customers to travel by car.
Generally, when there weren't too many customers, it was naturally better for the streets to be narrower. This would facilitate the formation of a bustling and lively atmosphere. If the streets were too wide, it would be disadvantageous. For example, if there were only a few pedestrians on the street, a width of two to three meters would be enough. Once there were vehicles coming and going, the width of the street had to be at least five to six meters. Otherwise, if two cars couldn't cross each other, how could there be business? It would be very difficult to form a better street. As the number of people increased, the disadvantages of narrower streets became apparent. They needed wider streets to satisfy the needs of a large number of customers. They even had to relocate the location of the street to adapt to the new situation.
When Ang Lee was young in his previous life, the streets in his hometown had undergone a change. The original streets had been in disrepair for a long time and were too narrow. Every time it was the time for the market, it would be extremely crowded. Moreover, with the convenience of transportation and the improvement of the people's living standards, people from villages further away would also come to the market. As a result, the pressure on the market increased.
For this reason, the village leaders could only build a new street in another place, which was a new street. This new street was parallel to the old street, only about a hundred steps away. The length was also the same, but the width of the street was doubled. The road was smoother, and the shops on both sides of the street were more neatly planned. There were even greenery and street lights.
Because the old street could no longer bear the burden, the new street replaced the old street smoothly. Most of the peddlers moved to the new street, but the shops on both sides of the old street were unlucky. They were fixed houses and could not be moved. They could only continue to stay there. With the gradual departure of the peddlers, the old street became more and more deserted. The people went to the new street. As a result, the business of the shops along the old street was greatly affected. Slowly, the doors and windows along the street were blocked, and the shops along the street became ordinary houses. In fact, these shops along the street were ordinary houses before, but because of the formation of the street, the people living on both sides of the street saw a business opportunity, so they transformed their ordinary houses into shops along the street that could be used to do business. They did their own small business or rented it to others to collect rent. Their lives were much better.
The replacement of the old street by the new street obviously greatly damaged the real interests of the residents of the old street, and it was also met with some resistance. However, this was the common interest of the village leaders and the general public. A small number of people whose interests were damaged were useless and would not have much influence. Everyone could see that these people who opposed the new street were doing it for their own interests, not for the interests of the general public. Therefore, they naturally would not support these few people. Thus, the voices of the opponents were quickly drowned out. The new street smoothly replaced the old street and slowly became prosperous.
Of course, in the process of the new street replacing the old street, there were also many beneficiaries. In addition to the original residents on one side of the new street, a large number of newly built shops along the street on the other side of the street were the houses of the village cadres at all levels. They used the new street to replace the old street and successfully got the shops along the street. In this way, the families of these cadres could use the shops to do business. It was a real benefit.
This was the only unfair part in the process of the new street replacing the old street. Because the leaders and cadres could get the information in advance, so before the construction of the new street started, they all bought land on one side of the new street and immediately started to build two houses along the street. Among them, the first floor was naturally the storefront house, and the second floor was for living. Some of them even built a third floor. In this way, there was an extra storey that could be used to store goods.
Of course, the length of the street was still very long, and the number of leaders was very limited. Therefore, on the open space on the other side of the street, the leaders could only get a part of the land to build their own houses. More of the land was occupied by the relatives and friends who had a good relationship with the leaders. They could also get the news in advance, so they could quickly take action and buy the idle and useless land at a lower price. When the new street started to operate, the price of the originally cheap land would increase greatly, and the price of the newly built houses would also increase greatly.
In the face of this situation, many people would definitely feel very uncomfortable in their hearts. They hated the leaders and were envious of the people who bought the land on the new street earlier. However, they also knew that the land was going to be sold, but they did not know that the street was going to be moved. They did not see the value of the wasteland that was going to be sold. When they finally saw it, the opportunity was completely lost.
Sometimes, opportunities were very rare. For example, when the new street replaced the old street, not only did many leaders and their relatives gain great benefits, but the original residents on the other side of the street also benefited greatly. Their houses could be transformed from ordinary residential houses into shops along the street, and the cost of this transformation was very low. After the transformation, the price could increase by a lot, and their fixed assets would increase by many times. Such a good opportunity was hard to come by in a lifetime.
The replacement of old streets with new streets caused some of the commoners to suffer heavy losses, but there were also some commoners who benefited greatly. This was a very common thing in any era. And once the imperial court dug a canal or built a strategic road to pass through a town, then this very ordinary town would very likely immediately soar and become a very developed place.
For example, there was a very inconspicuous small fishing village in the future. Because the imperial court attached great importance to it and invested a lot of manpower, material, and financial resources in this direction, this small fishing village suddenly rose and became a megacity comparable to the capital city. It was like an old hen turning into a duck in the blink of an eye. The change was too fast.
There was also the excavation of the ancient Grand Canal, which directly made the cities along the Grand Canal develop greatly. Many cities that were not very good before developed greatly and became very prosperous cities. For example, Yangzhou in the Tang dynasty became extremely prosperous because of the existence of the Grand Canal. Without the Grand Canal, this city would absolutely not develop so fast and become a very representative and important prosperous city in Jiangnan.
The gradual decline of Yangzhou in the future was also caused by the continuous decline of the Grand Canal as the main waterway transportation. In the future, there were aviation, railways, and a very perfect road system, so the Grand Canal as a waterway was reduced to a very secondary position. The prestige of these famous cities that relied on the Grand Canal to prosper naturally decreased accordingly, and it was inevitable that their prosperity was surpassed by other important cities.
Of course, in addition to the transportation and commerce that would change an area, the school district was also a very important factor. In the later era, the people attached great importance to their children's education and hoped that their children could become dragons among men. Therefore, the investment in education was regardless of the cost.
The most important stage of a child's learning was the foundation stage. If the foundation was not solid when they were young and the learning habits were not developed, then it would be difficult to form good learning habits when they were in high school. Their grades would decline, and even various measures would not be able to make up for it. The most important step in the foundation of primary school was to choose a good school. In the future, the schools were allocated according to where they lived, and they were admitted according to the houses around the school.
In this way, there would be too many people competing for the houses next to these good schools, and the price of the houses would naturally rise. It was simply doubling. It was not wrong to say that it was outrageously expensive.
Some good schools would be relocated from the old campus to the new campus. After the relocation, the prices of the houses around the new campus would increase by several times overnight. Thus, the people who bought the houses there earlier would benefit greatly, while the prices of the houses near the old campus would fall to a certain extent, resulting in heavy losses.
In short, as long as a person's fixed house was close to the business district, transportation hub, good school district, and scenic area, then the house's price would definitely increase greatly. If there was nothing around it, then the house's value would be greatly reduced, and it would become a worthless house.
The relocation of Ping Kang Lane Street would inevitably benefit some people and cause others to suffer losses. The people who benefited were naturally very happy, and the people who suffered losses were helpless. After all, the street outside the house belonged to the imperial court. Who could say anything if the imperial court wanted to set up a new street in the Great Cross Street?
Ang Lee walked and walked until he reached the center of the Great Cross Street. This was also the most prosperous place. The prosperity of the Great Cross Street was gathered here, so the degree of prosperity was naturally doubled.
A hawker selling sachets attracted Ang Lee's attention. This hawker was young and looked very thin. He was wearing men's clothes, but he looked like a woman. As for whether he was a man or a woman, Ang Lee could not tell at first. After walking closer, he realized that it was indeed a woman. It was just that ordinary people really did not notice it, and it was not easy to see the woman's true gender.
"Young lady, how much is this sachet?"
Ang Lee walked over lightly and asked.
The young lady was stunned for a moment, but she did not refute. She asked with a smile, "If you really want to buy it, I'll sell it to you for three hundred coins."
"Three hundred coins, so expensive! What's so special about this sachet? Why is it so expensive? "
Ang Lee asked.
The young lady replied, "Sir, the sachets I sell are all of the best vanilla, and the embroidery on this sachet is the best. It's definitely worth the money."
Ang Lee nodded and asked, "The embroidery is really good. Did you embroider it yourself?"
"Sir, you must be joking. With so many sachets, how could I make it in time? They were all embroidered by the sisters next door. These sisters are not only beautiful, but their embroidery is also excellent. "
The young lady said.
"Oh, I see. Judging from your accent, you're not a local. You should be from Hebei! How long have you been in the capital? "
Ang Lee asked.
"Sir, you guessed right. I'm from Hebei. I've been in the capital for almost a year."
The young lady replied.
"It's been a year. I'm afraid you're renting a house!"
Ang Lee asked.
"Yes, houses in the capital are too expensive. What else can I do other than rent?"
The young lady's business was not very good. After all, this kind of expensive sachet was not something that ordinary people could afford. Only rich people like Ang Lee would be willing to spend money to buy it. Therefore, she was very willing to chat with Ang Lee since she had nothing to do.
"How many people are in your family? There must be a lot of people from your hometown!"
Ang Lee continued to ask.
The young lady did not evade. She told Ang Lee that there were more than ten people in her family. Other than her parents and brothers, there were also her elderly grandparents. Because they could only rely on renting a house in the capital, her two brothers who were of marriageable age had not married yet. This really worried her parents and grandparents, but it could not be helped. After all, they did not have a house of their own. If they did not even have a place to live, how could they marry and have children? Moreover, their large family of more than ten people lived in a very small space. If they married, there would be more people in the family, and the pressure would be even greater.
This kind of family with so many sons and daughters made Li An sigh. Two adult sons, two young sons, and three daughters. They had a total of seven children, and the youngest was only six years old. It would be strange if they didn't have a lot of pressure.
The reason why they left their hometown and came to the capital was that many people from their hometown came to the capital to develop. Some of them even made a lot of money. Their family was encouraged by the success of their fellow countrymen, so they came to the capital regardless of everything. However, not everyone was lucky. Their family had been here for almost a year, but they did not make a lot of money. In fact, they could not even make ends meet. Not to mention buying a house to settle down, even renting a house was very stressful.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
