Wang Mingyi spread a huge map in front of Li Ze.

This is a floor plan of Chang'an, with more than a hundred yards, imperial cities, palaces, and rivers clearly marked.

"Li Xiang, in my opinion, the current situation of Chang'an is simply a waste. Look, there are only two markets in the East and West, which is a drop in the bucket for us." Wang Mingyi said.

"What do you want to say?" Li Ze looked at him curiously.

"Li Xiang, our Tang Dynasty's current emphasis on business is far greater than that of past dynasties. Moreover, among our taxes, commercial tax is of great importance to our fiscal revenue." Wang Mingyi glanced at Li Ze and said with some resentment: "Li Xiang, you have reduced agricultural tax too low. Not to mention that it is the same as the previous dynasty, even if you only retain half of the previous one, our financial resources will not be as embarrassing as we are now. You can't be generous when you sting your fingers!"

"Wang Mingyi, can you speak people's words?" Xia He, who was on the side, glanced at Wang Mingyi with some annoyance.

There were only three of them in the room, so Wang Mingyi couldn't help but become a little presumptuous. After hearing Xia He's scolding, he laughed, "You can speak, you can speak!"

"What are you going to do?" Li Ze didn't care, but was a little happy. As the current situation became clearer and clearer, fewer and fewer people dared to be arrogant in front of him. Wang Mingyi, an old friend, who did not like to be an official and only liked to do business, has also become the Left Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and has basically been appointed as the next Minister of Revenue. However, in terms of this person's nature, he is still more interested in doing business.

A person who does not want to be an official naturally has less awe of Li Ze.

"Li Xiang, we rely too much on commercial taxes. Next, I think this national policy will definitely not change." Wang Mingyi said: "If you want to increase your income, you can only further develop business and make this cake bigger and bigger, so that we can collect more taxes."

Li Ze nodded.

"Chang'an, the capital of the country, is naturally the political center of the country." Wang Mingyi said: "But at the same time, he must be one of the economic centers of our Tang Dynasty. Only in this way can he highlight his status."

"What does it have to do with these markets?" Li Ze was a little puzzled.

"Young Master, there are only the two cities in the East and West that can be traded in Chang'an. Although Chang'an has just begun to recover, a large number of merchants have begun to pour in." Xia He said: "These people are all ghost elves. Although they are doing business at a loss now when they enter Chang'an, they are here to grab territory and market share. So they don't care about losing money. You may not know that the housing prices in the East and West and West cities have soared several times. And with the influx of more and more merchants in the North, the housing prices can be said to be one price per day."

"so?"

Xia He pointed to the markets on the map: "Young Master, these walls separate each other, which is very different from Wuyi. The houses along Wuyi's streets are really valuable."

Li Ze suddenly understood: "Do you want to break the isolation of these walls in Chang'an City from various markets and make these walls into storefronts?"

Wang Mingyi nodded like a chicken pecking at rice: "Now is a great opportunity. Li Xiang, Chang'an has suffered a great population loss now. We conducted a survey and at least one-third of the houses in each market have been empty, and they have become ownerless. We are preparing to issue an announcement that within a month, if the original owners of these houses do not appear, we will take them into public ownership."

"What's next?"

"Next we will buy those houses close to the wall, and the price given is naturally higher, which is enough for these people to purchase another house in the market and have a surplus." Wang Mingyi said with a gaze: "Next, we can knock down the wall, build a storefront house on the original site, and connect it with the houses behind. The price will soar. I roughly figured out that by just renovating these hundreds of markets and selling them to those merchants, we can earn tens of millions of silver dollars. Haha, in this way, the problem of poverty and concealment of the national treasury will be solved immediately."

"More importantly, a large number of merchants entering will inevitably lead to the prosperity of the market, and we can charge more business taxes. In the long run, this money will be amazing!" Xia He said on the side.

"Renovating these 100 markets is a long-term job, and it can be done in one year or two years." Li Ze said: "More importantly, Chang'an has been living in the market for hundreds of years. Sudden changes, I am afraid that there will be a lot of opposition. At least, those security officials will definitely oppose it. This has added an immeasurable amount of work to them."

Wang Mingyi rolled his eyes: "Li Xiang, over the years, you have done little to change customs? At first, everyone was not used to it, but later they were not used to it and took it for granted? Time is the best medicine. As long as you taste the sweetness, everyone will recognize it. Just like the security officials you mentioned, they will definitely increase their manpower and salary. At the same time, naturally, the power in their hands will be greater. As long as they survive the initial difficult stage, they will be extremely happy. When Wuyi canceled the curfew, weren't there a lot of people who opposed it? Now, how much wealth has Wuyi's night market created?"

"The prospects are beautiful, and it's probably very difficult to do it." Li Ze smiled and said, "Where are you going to start from?"

"Of course, we start from the places adjacent to the East and West cities. Those places are originally commodity trading areas." Wang Mingyi said with great enthusiasm.

"This matter is too much involved," Li Ze said: "At the next joint meeting of various ministries, Xia He will propose this plan and let everyone discuss it first."

Xia He nodded, "Three days later, it will be a joint meeting of ministers. I will talk about this matter at that time."

"Li Xiang, you must hurry up on this matter! The things we started to investigate will inevitably make people smell after a long time. People in Chang'an may not have thought of them, but those from the north are all as cunning as foxes. If they were asked to know the news in advance, our work would be difficult."

Li Ze smiled. What Wang Mingyi was worried about was naturally not unnecessary. If the merchants learned the news, they would inevitably rush to buy houses in various markets with suitable conditions. At that time, the court would be difficult for the court to grab food from these people. The price they paid would inevitably be greater.

"You didn't think about it. As long as you start to do it, won't they know what you want to do? There are more than 100 markets in Chang'an. With our current financial resources, how much can you win?" Li Ze said.

Wang Mingyi widened his eyes, "Li Xiang, that's different. If we take action, the first step is to acquire first. When acquiring, we will naturally choose the best and most suitable market and start at the same time. We will take these resources first. As for development, as you said, it cannot be done in a year or two. We can take it slowly. As for those unimportant markets, I'm afraid there are not many people to ask for? And the planning power is in our hands. The key is that we must grab those important places and not let those profiteers snatch them into their heads, their eyes are poisonous!"

In Li Ze's opinion, this matter is still a real estate project. No matter when these industries are involved, they naturally make money. Chang'an is the capital. Although it is now dilapidated and the population has decreased by one-third due to years of wars, as he enters Chang'an, the political situation gradually stabilizes, and the prosperity of Chang'an can be said to be just around the corner. At most five years, Li Ze estimated that Chang'an City could be restored to its most prosperous time, even more so.

"Even if you approve this, you will need a large amount of funds in a short period of time. Now, does the Ministry of Revenue have it?" Li Ze asked a key question.

"The Ministry of Revenue does not." Wang Mingyi said frankly: "As long as this thing can be done, raising money is naturally not a problem. Wuwei Money House can retrieve positions, and it can also borrow loans like Broadcom Money House. In the past, we also had many positions with them in a short time, so it would not attract their attention." Wang Mingyi said.

"Short-term loan?"

"Of course, if you borrow it, it won't be worth it!" Wang Mingyi smiled proudly: "After I buy these houses in large quantities, the plan will be made public. I can pre-sale the store at that time. I believe that many people will be crazy at that time and will inevitably rush to buy it, and the funds will naturally be recovered soon."

Li Ze touched his chin and said, "You are the biggest profiteer in the world!"

"This idea was come up with Shangshu Xia." Wang Mingyi said immediately. "I am at most an accomplice."

Xia He snorted: "I don't have such a smart mind. You came up with the idea. I will support you at most."

Li Ze laughed: "You can borrow positions. I think there is no problem with the joint meeting of various departments in three days."

Wang Mingyi was overjoyed, stood up and bowed: "I'll do it right away!"

Looking at his back, Li Ze said: "This guy is a little bit hard to be the Minister of Revenue, but no one can surpass his business! What is Sun Lei busy with now?"

Xia He smiled and said, "According to your opinion, I am gradually fading out now. Although Wang Mingyi is the left minister, he is always in the way of making money. Sun Lei is in charge of the normal work of the Ministry of Revenue, so he is naturally too busy to light up the ground. This is good. Wang Mingyi makes a transition and then hand it over to Sun Lei. The two have no conflict of interest and cooperate very well. Sun Lei is still eager to issue paper money. He said that if it succeeds, it will be much better than the businesses that Wang Mingyi has every day. In Sun Lei's words, it will be robbing money at that time."
Chapter completed!