Chapter 195.1
So, he summoned the official in charge of the matter.
Six days have passed. Why hasnt a single house been sold? Have you not done a good job in promoting it, leaving the common people unaware of the concrete houses?
The official immediately knelt down, fearfully saying, Your Majesty, I have been wronged! Ever since the imperial edict was posted, I have had people vigorously promote it, and it can be said that everyone in the country knows about it! The reason why they are not selling, I do not know why
Thats strange
The Great Luo Emperor frowned, If everyone knows about it, and the houses are so cheap, why are they still unwilling to buy?
Your Majesty, the Great Xia actually faced the same problem initially. They listed the houses for several days without a single sale! However, they solved the problem perfectly in the end, so we can completely follow their example!
The Great Luo Emperor urged, What solution? Speak quickly!
Your Majesty, just increase the price!
Increase the price?
The Great Luo Emperor frowned again, Our houses are priced at 35 taels of silver each, much cheaper than other tile-roofed houses, and they are not selling! Why would they sell if we raise the price?
Your Majesty, this involves human nature!
The official confidently smiled, People always look for a bargain and fear being taken advantage of! So when the price goes up, the common people fear that if they act too late, they will have to pay more, so they must make a purchase immediately! This is exactly how the Great Xia resolved the sales issue of the concrete houses, and we can certainly copy them!
The Great Luo Emperor immediately clapped his hands in approval, Good, lets do as you say and raise the price!
Thus, with the Emperors approval, the price of the concrete houses in Great Luo was raised by one tael of silver, and the promotion was intensified.
Everyone, come and take a look. The price of the concrete houses has gone up by one tael of silver!
If you dont buy a house now, the price will continue to rise higher and higher!
Be quick because the early chicken gets the worms. Dont hesitate any longer!
The common people looked on without much reaction.
The next day, the price of the concrete houses rose by another tael of silver.
Because nobody was buying houses, His Majesty became very angry, so he raised the price by another tael of silver!
What a painful lesson this is! Just two days late, and the price has gone up by two taels of silver!
Everyone, hurry up and make a move, dont let His Majesty down!
The common people took another look but still had no reaction.
On the third day, the price of the cement houses went up by another tael of silver.
Nobody bought houses again yesterday, and His Majesty is angry once more, so he raised the price by another tael of silver!
Now the price has reached 38 taels of silver, can you bear it?
If it goes up any further, you wont have the money to buy houses!
The common people still looked on without any reaction.
Following that, the price of Great Luo cement houses rose by a tael of silver every day, and before anyone realized it, it had surpassed 40 taels.
Great Luo officials promoted vigorously, but the common people remained unmoved.
It was as if they were saying, you sell your stuff, you do you, it has absolutely nothing to do with me.
After seven days, the Great Luo Emperor could no longer sit still.
Now, exactly how many cement houses have been sold?
The official, drenched in sweat, reported, Your Majesty, at present not a single one has been sold, please forgive me!
The Great Luo Emperor finally erupted in anger: Wasnt it you who said that raising prices would solve the problem of cement house sales? Why cant we sell even one now?
The official kowtowed while fearfully saying, According to the experience of Great Xia, the houses should have been sold out by now! But the people still have no reaction. Its really strange!
The Great Luo Emperor pointed at the officials nose and said, Ill give you one day to go out and investigate the reason. If you cant figure it out, dont bother coming back!
Yes, Your Majesty the official retreated in fear.
Wait, come back! the Great Luo Emperor called out again.
Do you have any further instructions, Your Majesty?
I dont trust this task to you alone! I will personally go incognito to find out the truth!
An hour later, dressed as a wealthy commoner, the Emperor left the imperial palace and arrived at the construction site outside.
Looking at the bustling scene, he felt very satisfied.
This is the spirit of an empire!
As long as everyone has work to do, food to eat, and lives in peace and contentment, the nation will surely become strong rapidly!
He believed that under his leadership, Great Luo would surely become a powerful empire!
At that moment, a group of workers came down from the construction site to rest, and the Great Luo Emperor took the opportunity to approach and inquire.
Greetings, brothers, I have a few questions to ask! If your answers satisfy me, this tael of silver is yours! The Great Luo Emperor took out a tael of silver.
A tael of silver was equivalent to 1,000 copper coins, which was about five months wages for an ordinary worker.
Therefore, this tael of silver was very tempting to everyone.
Alright, ask anything!
As long as we know, we will definitely answer you!
Thank you, brothers!
The start was very smooth, and the Great Luo Emperor was happy, smiling as he asked, The first question, do you all have a place to live now?
The group of workers looked at each other, and one of them replied, Where would we have houses? Actually, were all common people from another country without homes or money. To put it bluntly, were beggars! We heard that theres a lot of recruitment here with enough food and wages, so we came here to make a living!
Yeah, were all a bunch of beggars, where would we have any houses?
Having a place to shelter from the rain would already be great!
Your question is a bit hurtful, and it makes me dont really want to answer you!
The others chimed in agreement.
Having found his target customers, the Great Luo Emperor became even happier.
Pointing towards the capital city not far away, he said, When I left the city just now, I saw a royal notice for house sales. The houses are quite cheap, why dont you buy one?
Even if the house is cheap, it still costs dozens of taels of silver. Where would we get that kind of money?
Yes, that concrete house is indeed cheap, but it still costs around forty-something taels of silver! I dont even have one tael of silver on me, how can I buy a house?
Thats right! Its nice to look at, but that house is not something we can think about!
You can pay in installments!
The Great Luo Emperor immediately said. You only need to pay thirty to forty wen each month, and youll have a house to live in! After the money is paid off, the house is completely yours!
Isnt the money for installments still money?
That house has already gone up to 42 taels of silver, its not much cheaper compared to other houses!
A house for 42 taels of silver, Id have to work for nearly 18 years to afford it!
Even if I can pay in installments if I can pay back 50 wen each month, Id have to work for over 70 years to pay it off! But in 70 years, would I still be able to work? Would I still be alive?
The Great Luo Emperor became a bit anxious: Why didnt you buy it when it was cheaper before?
Even when it was cheaper before, it was still 35 taels of silver!
35 taels of silver, can you calculate how many years we would have to work to earn that money?
If we have to pay in installments, how many years would it take to pay off that debt?
So its better not to buy, its less worry!
The Great Luo Emperor finally understood that it was still because the houses were considered expensive.
But a house of the same quality made of blue bricks was already selling for 60 taels of silver.
Even a house made of lower quality red bricks was selling for over 50 taels of silver.
A concrete house for 35 taels of silver was already very cheap.
So how much do you think a concrete house should cost to be reasonable? the Great Luo Emperor asked humbly.
One person laughed out loud: Of course, its best if its free!
The others joined in the raucous laughter: Right, free is the best, haha!
The Great Luo Emperors face darkened.
Free?
How could that be possible?
He wasnt a charity boy!
***
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