Daming 1805

Chapter 431 Ideals, interests and positions
Compared with Zhu Jingyuan's previous life, the current house price in Daming is quite "cheap".

But this does not mean that most Ming people, especially ordinary workers, own their own houses.

Seven years ago, the second industrial revolution had not yet begun, and the world war was still ongoing.

The living standards of ordinary people at that time were extremely bad, and the income of ordinary workers could barely fill their stomachs.

Except for middle-level and above managers and officials, individuals basically cannot afford houses.

Usually a family or a group of people rent one or two small rooms together.

Even in many cases, two groups of people live in one suite, one group works night shift and the other group works day shift, and they sleep in shifts at different times.

Zhu Jingyuan also knew that in the history of his previous life, the situation in the mainland of Thailand and the West during the first industrial revolution was almost the same, and it might even be worse.

On the contrary, in their colonies and emerging countries in the New World such as the United States, the living conditions of ordinary people during the first industrial revolution were better.

The reason is actually very simple. The new continent that has not been deeply developed has enough natural resources.

If you are not a worker, you can go to the western territories to open up wasteland, go hunting and fishing in the mountains and waters, and do whatever you want without worrying about food and drink.

The land on the Old Continent has been turned over countless times, and the rural land has been completely concentrated.

If ordinary people don't go to the factory to work hard to make money, they will really starve to death on the road.

The Ming Dynasty in this world has a large enough land area and a large number of overseas colonies. Compared with Britain in the first industrial revolution era in another world, the situation is actually better.

After the end of the World War, Ming's colonies expanded again on a large scale.

The second industrial revolution spread rapidly, and production capacity and efficiency also soared rapidly.

Under the influence of the combination of two reasons, the living standards of ordinary people in Daming have improved rapidly in the past few years.

The income of ordinary workers has increased three to five times compared to seven years ago, and the income of many skilled workers has reached the level of middle managers.

After several years of accumulation, ordinary workers also began to buy houses independently.

The market price of today's houses has naturally begun to rise.

Zhu Jingyuan now wants to control this trend.

Daming's territory is extremely vast, with ample arable land, and there are no strict restrictions on land use.

So in theory, even if you don't control the house price at all, it will definitely not rise to the level of your previous life.

But even if it turned into the state of Zhu Jingyuan's previous life in America, it would not be a good result.

House prices in the United States, except for apartments in the center of big cities, can be considered cheap compared to mainland China.

Abandoned houses in many places can even be transferred directly for almost no money.

But the reason for this result, besides the lack of land in the United States and the current Daming, is the double suppression of high property taxes and property fees.

If you live in a house in the United States for decades, the property tax is enough to buy another house, and the property fee can also buy another house.

If property taxes and property fees are in arrears, the house may be forcibly seized and auctioned.

As long as the auction price exceeds the arrears of property taxes and property fees, it may be sold directly, because after the tax agency and the property company get their due taxes, the rest is the homeowner.

Property fees in arrears will be auctioned off, which is essentially no different from mortgage arrears being auctioned by a bank.

Therefore, the price of buying a house can be regarded as a down payment in a certain form.

Zhu Jingyuan neither allowed the price of the house itself to soar to the sky, nor did he want to suppress the price of the house by increasing the cost of use through high property taxes.

Then it can only be realized through the cooperation of government-run manufacturers with relevant administrative means.

The typical medium that connects government-run manufacturers and government offices is all kinds of tickets that have appeared in history.

Zhu Jingyuan was not purely kind, nor did he simply not want to see ordinary people bound to houses.

Although it is inevitable to have this mentality, the key reason why Zhu Jingyuan finally made such a decision is to ensure the prosperity, development and stability of Ming Dynasty society.

Ordinary people don't spend too much money on houses, so they can spend more money in the market.

Let ordinary people take most of the money they earn from work to the market for consumption, buy what they need and want, and enjoy various products and services on the market.

This is enough to ensure the vitality of the market, promote the prosperity of the market, and in turn allow ordinary people to have more income.

At the same time, it can also improve the satisfaction of ordinary people with their current living conditions.

Finally, the state of the whole society will continue to be stable.

Only when the Ming society can maintain stability, prosperity, and development, can the ruling status of the Ming royal family be sustained and stable.

If personal ideals and real class interests converge, Zhu Jingyuan will of course do it.

It's just that ideals often deviate from reality.

But Zhu Jingyuan is not a fledgling now, and he knows that when dealing with this kind of thing, he must proceed step by step.

After Zhu Jingyuan finished talking about his plan, Edo chief envoy Chen Jian also roughly read Zhu Jingyuan's outline document, and then asked carefully with a rather tangled expression:

"Your Highness...if everyone...can only own one house without any special contribution recognized by the court, what should we do with the existing multiple house courtyards?"

Zhu Jingyuan glanced at the others, and the other officials also pricked up their ears, with serious and worried expressions on their faces.

Obviously, Chen Jian's problem was not just his own.

In the era of the first industrial revolution, officials, that is, officials and civil servants, were the upper class of the middle class in the whole society.

Their income and standard of living exceed that of most middle managers of manufacturers.

With at least a few years of working experience and a few years of income, you can basically afford your own house.

So in the era of the first industrial revolution, the bureaucratic system was still traditional bureaucracy to a large extent.

They are still the direct subordinates of the monarch, and in most cases, they are not yet the spokespersons of private capital.

Instead, it is private capital and businessmen who have to attach themselves to them.

It was in the era of the second industrial revolution that businessmen gradually and truly grasped the general right to speak.

The original discussion between Zhu Jingyuan, Zhu Jianyan, and Zhu Zhongliang was to continue to maintain the dependence of the original bureaucracy on the monarch in the era of the second industrial revolution.

Chen Jian, the most senior local bureaucrats in Edo, most of them don't just own one or two houses.

Basically, there are courtyards in the city, manors in the outskirts, and there may be holiday manors by the sea, by the lake, or in the mountains.

Of course, these properties will not all be in the place of work, because the magistrates are all rank-and-file officials.

So basically there is a big manor in the hometown, a small yard in the place of work, and a manor in the place for vacation.

Zhu Jingyuan himself is the same. There is a palace in Liusha City in Dashi Kingdom, there is a planned future resort in Dongmozhou, and there is a large-scale world garden in Xintianfu...

In addition, Zhu Jingyuan has acquired many lands all over the world, all of which have houses, and more than one.

There are manors in Baku, manors in Crete, manors in Tiannan, and manors outside the capital...

Zhu Jingyuan understood the worries of these officials, and said with a smile:

"Don't be nervous, the determination and implementation of any policy cannot be accomplished overnight.

"I've just come up with this policy now, and I've just started discussing it with you.

"How to deal with these houses is to discuss and decide with everyone.

"My idea is that you can keep it, sell it on the market, give it to relatives and friends, and decide for yourself.

"However, from the date of implementation of the policy, the original houses can be rebuilt, but new houses cannot be purchased.

"Unless the number of detached houses you own now is lower than the number of house tickets you own.

"Do you think this arrangement is reasonable? Do you have any other opinions?"

Chen Jian and the officials at the scene were obviously taken aback after hearing this.

It's not because Zhu Jingyuan's requirements are too strict, but because he thinks it's too loose...

Most officials, including Chen Jian, took it for granted that the excess houses must be sold within a certain period of time.

As a result, not only does it not need to be sold, but it can also be rebuilt...

Except that you can no longer buy new real estate, there are basically no restrictions.

But people always push their limits.

Zhu Jingyuan finally asked their opinions, and another councilor from the chief envoy asked:
"Then Your Highness... this subordinate feels that since the policy has not yet been implemented, it should only govern the houses in the future.

"Can it be stipulated that the number of existing houses is not limited by the room ticket, and there is no need to correspond to the room ticket.

"People who already own a house will not affect the number of subsequent house tickets."

As soon as the official said the words, the other officials looked at him subconsciously, expecting and panicking.

Chen Jian, the chief envoy, was a little annoyed, worried that Zhu Jingyuan would be angered by this guy's overreaching.

So Chen Jian almost instinctively began to sing bad faces:
"This is a bit too much. The recent policies of the imperial court are all for the benefit of our officials. We must be content.

"This subordinate feels that His Highness's proposal has already taken care of the existing house owner, even a little too lenient.

"The subordinates believe that the original old houses should be prohibited from being rebuilt, and at the same time ordered to sell too many houses within a time limit...

"And officials should only be able to buy houses in their hometowns, and they can live in government-run apartments at their places of work."

Several officials turned dark when they heard this. Although some officials guessed that Chen Jian was trying to make a fool of himself, they were also worried that Zhu Jingyuan would just follow his words and make a decision.

Zhu Jingyuan also instantly understood what Chen Jian meant, and waved his hands with a smile and said:
"Chen Fangbo is too strict, and this is contrary to the current policy of the imperial court.

"The purpose of the imperial court to continue to improve the treatment of officials is actually to maintain the attractiveness of official status to the new generation of talents in this era of great industrial and commercial development.

"At the same time, it is necessary to ensure that all officials are not dependent on the private offerings of private manufacturers, do not need to provide convenience for private manufacturers during office hours, and can govern as impartially as possible.

"To put it bluntly, it is to eliminate the worries of the current officials and future new officials in their lives.

"Let officials follow their ideals and aspirations, establish their hearts for the world, establish their lives for the people, inherit their knowledge for the past, and create peace for all generations.

"So you guys have to understand this, and don't deliberately do the opposite.

"Requiring officials to force the sale of existing houses will not increase the attractiveness of the bureaucracy, but will increase the anxiety and resentment of these existing officials out of thin air.

"Conversely, the proposal to exclude existing houses from the room ticket system can actually be considered."

Zhu Jingyuan paused for a while when he said this, and the scene has calmed down safely.

Before Zhu Jingyuan arrived, the officials at the scene had inquired about Zhu Jingyuan's character through their own channels.

Knowing that Zhu Jingyuan is used to telling the truth, he does things very simply and directly.

And he is very transparent and straightforward in speaking and doing things.

The key is to take care of subordinates, officials, and common people as well as possible.

Working under Zhu Jingyuan, there is no need to deliberately play tricks.

No matter what you do is out of public interest or self-interest, you can discuss it directly with him.

Zhu Jingyuan's words can be replaced by another way of saying that the imperial court will give you the best living conditions possible, so that you don't need to embezzle and accept bribes for the sake of living standards.

Let you have no worries, handle government affairs as fairly as possible, and treat the people as fairly as possible.

In order to make you willing to do this, you can make some requests that are not excessive, and it is all right.

Everyone understands that no matter how good the conditions are relative to the general public, it is difficult to reach the level of those who are truly rich.

But many of the benefits given by the government are not available even if you have money, and they are status and spiritual symbols.

All understand at the same time that such benefits, of course, cannot truly prevent corruption, but they can slow down and reduce the scope.

The point is, if His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness Prince Dashi are willing to choose this direction, then the living standards of all the officials of the Ming Dynasty in this future era will definitely be guaranteed at a very high level.

Regardless of whether the official himself is corrupt in the future... or even now, he will be grateful for the decision of Prince Dashi.

After the scene was quiet for a long time, Chen Jian cupped his hands again as a representative and said:

"Your Highness is merciful. All the officials in Edo will follow the teachings, and they must do their best and devote themselves to death."

The other officials also stood up and repeated this sentence together.

No matter what happens in the future, the current scene must be spoken out, and one's own position must be clear.

Zhu Jingyuan raised his hand with a smile and said:
"Everyone, don't be nervous, don't be excited, and don't have too high expectations for now...

"The state where everyone owns the house ticket is just my estimation of the future situation in a few years or even decades.

"When this policy was first implemented, there must have been more people and fewer houses.

"In order to ensure fairness and avoid waste of resources, we must give priority to issuing room tickets to those who do not have a house.

"In addition, officials above the county level are all low-ranking officials, so house tickets should be given priority to new officials at the grassroots level.

“When the construction capacity of the government-run manufacturers realizes that all the officials who have entered the job have at least one apartment to live in, other senior officials and old officials who already have houses can get room tickets.

"When the bureaucratic system is satisfied that everyone has at least one house, it will be sold to the whole society and the market.

"At that time, the market demand should be relatively strong, but the number of buildings of government-run manufacturers should still be insufficient, and it is impossible to meet the needs of the whole people at once. At that time, the house tickets issued to the private sector can be used as a voucher for selective purchase.

"Ordinary people who have worked in the local area for a certain number of years, and have paid income tax for a certain number of years, and have no other houses under their names, can apply for house tickets to the imperial court to buy properties built by government-run housing construction companies.

"This is a long-term, slow, continuous and ever-changing process, and you all have to be mentally prepared."

Facing Zhu Jingyuan's statement of lowering his expectations, the Edo officials headed by Chen Jian once again agreed in unison.

In any case, officials have no worries about Zhu Jingyuan's policy, and it will not directly affect their interests.

At the same time, in the long run, this policy is definitely beneficial to the society and the people.

The special request of Prince Dashi, a special prince, and it is a good thing that he will not have any direct loss of benefits, the officials must try hard to implement it.

(End of this chapter)