Reborn in 1977

Chapter 526: The Wealthy and City Bricks

“In the old feudal society, there was a saying that the east was rich, the west was noble, the south was poor, and the north was lowly.

It meant that more wealthy people lived in the east of the city, and more nobles lived in the west.

Therefore, the old houses in the east city were exquisite, but the regulations were not large, generally based on three-entry courtyards, and some that could be built to five entries were considered relatively large.

As for the houses in the west city, most of them had higher regulations, covered a large area, and had more houses and gardens.

There are statistics that there are as many as 132 royal palaces in the capital, but more than 70 of them are located in the west city.

Of course, now they have become residences for ordinary people or office places for units.

It's just that the changes in recent years have not been small, especially the earthquake the year before last, which damaged many old houses.

Some houses are dilapidated, even the beams have collapsed, and they have not been repaired.

Some are because the original units have moved away, and the old addresses have been vacated and handed over to the Housing Management Bureau for unified redistribution.”

A middle-aged male comrade in his forties, wearing a Zhongshan suit, looking like a cadre, pointed to a location on the map, “Please look here.”

Zhang Xuansong, Lin Yuanxiang, Li Shangde, and Chen Fan gathered around.

Chen Fan frowned, “Director Li, do you have a larger map? Grandpa Li's eyes are not good, he can't see clearly.”

Li Shangde was just about to say it was okay when Director Li quickly patted his head, “I'm confused, yes, yes, I'll get it now.”

Saying that, he squatted down and found a hand-drawn map from the cabinet, with the Forbidden City as the center, encompassing the entire inner and outer city.

The old capital was divided by city walls, roughly divided into four layers, namely the outer city, the inner city, the imperial city, and the Forbidden City.

The so-called “Four-Nine City” refers to the four gates of the imperial city and the nine gates of the inner city.

The outer city is the former Chongwen and Xuanwu districts, and the inner city is the Dongcheng and Xicheng districts.

The so-called going out of the Four-Nine City means being a country bumpkin, that's how it came about.

(Four-Nine City, the frame above is the inner city, and the frame below is the outer city)

Director Li spread the map on the table, put his finger on the north side of the imperial city, and said with a smile, “Look here.”

Chen Fan leaned over, “Shichahai?”

Director Li nodded and smiled, “Yes, there are two courtyards here that meet the requirements of Comrade Zhang.”

While speaking, he cautiously looked at Zhang Xuansong.

Just after starting work this afternoon, Secretary Zhang from the Municipal Party Committee brought these people over to ask him for help, saying that they wanted to buy a larger courtyard, and the buyer was his own father.

Who doesn't know that Secretary Zhang came from the military compound and formed a circle with a group of young comrades with deep backgrounds?

If he embarrassed him, it would be equivalent to offending a large group of people…

Needless to say, just think about the fact that the person in front of him is his own father.

People are simply not young talents, but the Buddha himself came forward.

He, a small deputy director of a section of the Municipal Construction Committee's Housing Management Bureau, didn't know how many levels he was below, so how dare he not serve him carefully?!

Zhang Xuansong stared at the location on the map and nodded slightly, “Then talk about it.”

In fact, what he wanted most was to wait until the Taoist Association could resume activities, and then get a piece of land separately, and then build it according to the original regulations of the Taoist temple.

But now the time has not come.

Whether it is in the name of a private person or a Taoist temple, it is impossible to buy land.

There is only one way to get land, that is, the unit applies and the superior approves!

It's better to listen to the apprentice's opinion and buy a courtyard first, even if it's dilapidated.

When the Taoist temple can be reopened in the future, he can sell the courtyard to get a piece of land outside the city to build a new one, or he can directly transform this courtyard.

Lest the house prices get higher and higher in the future, as he said, and the money is not enough, that would be bad.

He didn't want to be so old and still have the nerve to borrow money everywhere.

Director Li took out a booklet, opened it to a certain page, and said, “This house is located on the west side of Shichahai, that is, in the Xicheng District.

It used to be a very large courtyard, with five entries in the front and back, and several cross-yards and a back garden, but later it was divided.

The houses have been distributed to several nearby units as staff dormitories, and there are still many people living in them.

However, several gardens were separated separately and used by the sub-district office as a match factory and warehouse.

However, there was a fire last year.

Although it didn't cause a major incident and was quickly extinguished, the people were not at ease.

So this year, the sub-district office found another place and moved the match factory away, and this place was vacated.

If you want to spend money to build a new dormitory building, you don't have the money.

The money has been spent almost on relocating several production units, including the match factory, and other places are waiting to use the money, so in the end, the sub-district office held a meeting and decided to put this place up for sale.”

He said, glanced at Zhang Xuansong, and smiled, “This courtyard covers a total area of 4 mu, about 2800 square meters, do you think it is suitable?”

If it were two years ago, he would not dare to introduce such a large courtyard to a private person.

In the past two years, although private house transactions are still not allowed, underground “house swaps” have long been rampant, and public units selling houses to private individuals have also started.

This courtyard is just “slightly” larger, but it does not violate the regulations, otherwise he would not dare to take it out.

Zhang Xuansong stared at the map for a while before asking, “Is there anything else?”

“Yes.”

Director Li immediately pointed on the map, “Not far away, just across the street, next to Nanluoguxiang, near Baimi Xiejie, there is a courtyard in Lechunfang, which also belongs to the sub-district office.

There are also a dozen rooms that were moved away with the match factory, and the courtyard is empty there, but it is a bit small, only more than 800 square meters.”

Zhang Xuansong snorted twice, “It is indeed small.”

Director Li chuckled twice, “The others are smaller, so I didn't take them out.”

Chen Fan was a little envious, stretched his neck and looked at it.

If he bought that place and renovated it, could he see the sea?

There is no ancient building protection law this year, especially for this kind of private house.

As long as you buy it, you can change it as you want, and you can tear it all down and build a small western-style building.

Don't say, there are really many small western-style buildings in this ancient building complex, and I don't know when they were built.

Director Li heard Zhang Xuansong say no, first explained, then moved his finger down, “Then here, the east is Jingshan, the west is Beihai Park.

A long time ago, it was the property of the Qing Dynasty's Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was a large area of warehouses, but it was no longer easy to use because it was old and dilapidated.

If you want to buy here, you have to spend a lot of effort to transform it.”

Zhang Xuansong pursed his lips, “It's a good place, it's okay to transform it, anyway, those bricks and tiles can still be used, it just takes a little manpower.”

The cheapest thing this year is labor, but the materials are not easy to buy.

With the old bricks and tiles of those old houses, it can really be used a lot.

He raised his head and asked, “How big is it?”

Director Li looked at the information, “More than three mu, almost exactly 2,000 square meters.”

Chen Fan glanced at it, it was clearly 2024.8, how could it be exactly 2,000?

Looking at the three, Zhang Xuansong thought for a while, and then asked, “Is there anything bigger?”

After a pause, he said again, “I don't pick a place, it's okay outside the city.”

Director Li showed a wry smile and explained cautiously, “Comrade Zhang, there are such big places, but I don't dare to show them to you.

They are all factory buildings of factories and units.

If you want to buy them, the buyer must also be a factory to invest in production.”

Accurately speaking, it is allocated by relevant departments, and the sub-district office only has the obligation to cooperate and has no power to intervene.

As for the homestead of farmers in the production team, it is not allowed to be transferred, unless it is almost the same as the people in the production team.

Moreover, the general rural mansion is only about one mu in size, which cannot meet Zhang Xuansong's requirements.

Hearing Director Li's words, Zhang Xuansong didn't care, and looked up at Li Shangde and Lin Yuanxiang, who had been silent, “Give me some advice.”

Li Shangde squinted at him, “Advice? If you want me to choose, the bigger the better.”

Lin Yuanxiang nodded in agreement, “I agree.”

Zhang Xuansong rolled his eyes, “Asking is like asking nothing.”

Then he turned to look at Chen Fan, “What about you? Tell me.”

Chen Fan smacked his lips, raised his head and smiled, “Director Li, you have introduced it for a long time, but you haven't said what the price is yet, what if we can't afford it.”

This is the center of the Four-Nine City, inside the Imperial City, next to the Forbidden City, two thousand square meters, three thousand square meters at every turn, do we have so much money?!

Then he thought of his small western-style building in Shanghai, so little, 30,000 yuan!

How much would it cost here?

Then he heard Director Li say, “It's really not cheap, after all, it's so big.”

He gave a dry laugh, “The first one is the largest, with 2,800 square meters.

Although there are not many houses, only seven or eight, the key is that the place is big, so it will cost at least 10,000 yuan!”

Chen Fan's eyes widened instantly, “How much?”

Director Li thought he thought it was too expensive, and said with a wry smile, “Comrade Chen, this price really can't be lower!

Otherwise, the sub-district office would rather wait a few years and try to raise some money to build a few dormitories on that land, which can also solve the accommodation problem of some families.”

After a pause, he said again, “Actually, the money from selling these courtyards is also used to repair some damaged houses and prepare to distribute them.”

Chen Fan smacked his lips and looked at the map again, am I saying it's too expensive?

I'm saying the place is too small!

At this time, Zhang Xuansong waved his hand and signaled to Director Li, “You continue.”

Director Li smiled, “Although the small courtyard in Lechunfang doesn't cover a large area, only 800 square meters, it's not cheap because it has many rooms, it will cost at least 5,000 yuan.”

He glanced at Zhang Xuansong and didn't find that he meant to speak, so he continued, “Finally, there is the warehouse next to Beihai.

Although the area covered is not as large as the courtyard changed from the garden, there are many more rooms, so the price is even more expensive.”

Saying that, he carefully made a gesture, “It will cost 12,000 yuan.”

Chen Fan now understands that their prices are not calculated by land area, but by building area.

That is to say, the valuable thing is the house, not the land!

But the houses are also very cheap!

In comparison, house prices in Shanghai are really much higher.

The three old men couldn't help but look at each other when they heard the price.

It doesn't seem to be expensive, is it necessary to buy a house in advance to occupy the land?

Chen Fan turned to look at Zhang Xuansong expectantly, “Which one do you want?”

Zhang Xuansong turned to look at him, “Didn't I ask you just now, you have to decide on this matter, I'm responsible for giving the money.”

Chen Fan blinked, seeing the old man's serious face, he couldn't help saying, “You let me decide, could it be that the house deed will also be written in my name?”

“That's not possible.”

Zhang Xuansong said with confidence, "Anyway, you will be the Abbot of Chaoyang Temple in the future. Of course, you decide which piece of land to buy. It can't be me, right?"

Chaoyang Temple?

Director Li's eyes widened immediately, followed by his ears shutting, his eyes unfocused, and his mind wandering.

I can't see, I can't hear, I can't see, I can't hear...

Huh, I heard that General Xu used to be a monk. Could it be that this old comrade used to be a Taoist priest?

The organization is indeed full of talented people!

Just as he was wandering in his thoughts, he suddenly felt like someone was calling him.

Chen Fan, "Director Li, Director Li...?"

After calling him two or three times, he saw Director Li come back to his senses, "Ah? What's wrong?"

Chen Fan smiled calmly, "It's like this, we want to see the site before deciding which one to buy, is that okay?"

Director Li nodded repeatedly, "Of course, I'll take you over there."

Then, without even tidying up his things, he shouted at the top of his voice, "Xiao Wang, Xiao Wang."

A young man quickly ran in, stood at attention, and said, "Director Li, I'm here."

Director Li, "Call the driver's team to prepare. I need to take a few old comrades out to see the property."

Xiao Wang nodded immediately, "Yes."

After speaking, he turned and ran out.

Director Li saw the slightly surprised look in Chen Fan's eyes and quickly grinned.

Hmph, who isn't a leader!

Then, he straightened his clothes, put on the coat hanging on the side, and gestured outwards, "Please."

Then he walked out, head held high, following behind the others.

Taking a 'small Lada' to see the property is quite efficient.

First, they went to the first courtyard, a large garden by Houhai Lake.

This is an area by the 'sea', surrounded by a circle of courtyard walls, with access through an iron gate. The entrance opens right onto the shore of Houhai Lake, a proper sea view property.

Across the sea is the Da Zang Longhua Temple.

Zhang Xuansong didn't like it at first glance, "There's a monk temple opposite. How can we build a Taoist temple here? No, no."

Chen Fan was still walking around the courtyard. This courtyard is really not small, but the shape is not very regular, slightly curved. There are several houses at the south end of the courtyard, and the rest are flat dirt ground, looking like a large threshing ground in the countryside, with traces of wheels on the ground.

There weren't many things, and unlike a Siheyuan, there weren't several courtyards. You could see the end at a glance. Just as he heard Zhang Xuansong's voice, he walked over and said, "If you don't like it, let's go see the next one."

The courtyard in Lechunfang was too small and had already been abandoned by Zhang Xuansong, so they skipped it.

The car drove directly to the side of Beihai Lake, below Jingshan Hill.

Director Li personally took the key to open the door and walked into a courtyard.

Compared to the garden they had just visited, this was another extreme.

A path led in through the door, with a whole row of blue brick and tile warehouses on both sides, fully packed, with not much open space.

However, as Director Li said, the beams and walls of these houses had already been deformed. Unless you were willing to spend a lot of money to reinforce or rebuild them, this place was unusable.

Zhang Xuansong leaned on his crutches, walked from beginning to end, and even went around to the alley behind the warehouse to take a look.

Then he looked at Jingshan Hill to the east and looked west, um, he couldn't see anything because it was blocked by the courtyard wall.

Then he turned around and said to Chen Fan, who was following behind him, "This place is better than that place. The shape is regular, and the location is good. The south is the Imperial City, the east has a backing, and the west has running water. It's a good place to gather energy. Let's take this one."

The corners of Chen Fan's mouth twitched slightly. You said you'd let me decide?

Zhang Xuansong seemed to see what he was thinking and immediately said, "You decide, is this place okay?"

The corners of Chen Fan's mouth twitched slightly, "Okay."

"Good."

Zhang Xuansong turned to look at Director Li, "Xiao Li, we'll take this one, 15,000."

The smile that had just appeared on Director Li's face froze when he heard this, "Old comrade, this place only costs 12,000."

Zhang Xuansong snorted twice, "I don't want the lowest price. It was already against the rules for me to have my son bring me here to find you, how can I bargain?

You said that the money will be used to repair houses and allocate houses to people. Can I save this money? I said, 15,000, that's the decision."

Director Li was immediately excited, took two steps forward, and tightly grasped his right hand, "As expected of an old comrade, you are truly noble. Deal!"

Then he said, "Our Urban Construction Committee has construction companies, all from the same unit. If you want to change it into something, tell me, and I'll go find the construction company. I guarantee to complete the task with high quality, quickly, and well!"

He didn't dare to mention the words 'price discount'. Anyway, he definitely wouldn't lose money doing business with this kind of old comrade.

Of course, he didn't dare to cheat anyone. He couldn't bear the consequences.

Seeing Director Li so excited, Zhang Xuansong couldn't help but blink, "Uh, thank you for your kindness, but I don't plan to change it for the time being. We'll talk about it later."

Director Li also blinked, and when he thought of the "Chaoyang Temple" they had mentioned earlier, he instantly understood and quickly nodded, "I understand, I understand. When you want to renovate in the future, come find me, and I will definitely provide excellent service."

Having reached an agreement, the next step was to go through the formalities.

Back at the Housing Management Bureau, Director Li personally prepared the documents and went through the formalities.

Chen Fan sat on the wooden strip sofa, took off the canvas bag he was carrying, opened the bag, and directly dumped it out from the bottom.

Bundles of banknotes scattered on the coffee table, scaring Director Li.

Chen Fan stacked the banknotes one bundle at a time. One bundle was a thousand yuan, and there were 36 bundles here.

Zhang Xuansong was drinking tea on the side, curling his lips and said, "I thought it would be so scary, it made me take out all my savings, but it turned out that I didn't even use half of it."

Lin Yuanxiang also nodded in agreement, "I even brought my savings book, for fear that you wouldn't have enough money, but it turned out that I didn't need it either."

Li Shangde grinned and chuckled, "It's not that Xiao Chen exaggerated, it's that you are too rich. How much is my small courtyard worth? No matter how much you bid, it won't reach a thousand. You spent 15,000 to buy a courtyard, that's scary."

The corners of Chen Fan's mouth twitched slightly. He counted out 10,000 yuan and put it back in his bag. Then he divided the 26,000 yuan on the coffee table into two piles, looked up, and said, "Director Li, please also go through the formalities for the courtyard by Houhai Lake. I want it."

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the office looked at him.

Director Li stared blankly, "You, you want it?"

Chen Fan nodded very seriously, "Yes, I want it. Didn't you say it was 10,000? That must be a discounted price. I'll give you 11,000 here."

While speaking, he glanced at Zhang Xuansong, as if to say, 'Look, because of you, I spent an extra thousand'.

But to be honest, if Zhang Xuansong wasn't here, such a big courtyard with 8 large rooms, it wouldn't be an exaggeration for people to ask for 15,000. All in all, he still made a profit.

Zhang Xuansong was stunned at first, "What are you buying such a big courtyard for?"

Chen Fan grinned, "I'll keep it for myself."

As soon as these words came out, everyone's eyes widened.

How many people are in your family to buy such a big courtyard?

Lin Yuanxiang even asked, "Are you going to settle down in Jingcheng in the future?"

Chen Fan coughed dryly and brought out the reason he had already thought of, "This courtyard is not for me to buy for myself. For example, Lugiawan, Yunhu Cotton Mill, and the Machinery Factory may have some business in Jingcheng in the future. When they come back, they can directly build a small building there, which will save the effort of finding a place."

Have business in Jingcheng?

The three old men were expressionless. The two factories were fine. Many enterprise units have offices in Jingcheng, mainly to strengthen contact with leading units.

But you, a production team, what kind of office are you opening?

But they didn't say much. Anyway, there was a reason.

As for Director Li, he was already diligently taking another set of documents to complete the formalities.

With the help of Secretary Xiao Wang's running around, the property transfer was completed in a short time, and two new house deeds were freshly baked.

The owners were all Chen Fan!

In Zhang Xuansong's words, anyway, he will be the Abbot of Chaoyang Temple in the future, so of course the house deed should be written in his name.

When the day comes to reopen the Taoist temple, build the Chaoyang Temple, and then transfer the house deed to the temple property, it will not be too late.

As for the other one, it is naturally Chen Fan's private property.

With two courtyards in hand, from this day on, he is also a big shot in Jingcheng!

Chen Fan put away the two house deeds and said to Zhang Xuansong, "Don't look at me like that. This money is considered a loan from you, and I will return it to you when I get home."

Zhang Xuansong breathed a sigh of relief, "Cough cough, originally you are my closed disciple, the money doesn't matter, the main thing is that building a new temple will cost money..."

Then he asked in a low voice, "Do you really have so much money?"

The corners of Chen Fan's mouth twitched slightly. He didn't want to pay attention to him, turned his head to look at Director Li, "Director, I want to renovate my courtyard. What are the procedures?"

Director Li walked to the coffee table and sat down, smiling, "This is simple. You just need to tell me how to change it, prepare the money, and I will be responsible for solving the rest."

As he spoke, he looked at the three old men, "With this money, we can help the district solve many problems. It is right for me to solve some follow-up matters."

The banknotes that Chen Fan poured out just now made him a little jealous, but unfortunately, he can't build a Taoist temple yet, otherwise he would really want to get a big order for the construction company.

Now that there is no big order, getting a small order is not bad.

Zhang Xuansong did not deny Director Li's statement. He strictly adheres to principles, but he is not an old antique. As long as Chen Fan gives money, what if he asks them to help?

Chen Fan smiled, "Then thank you, Director Li. I will send the house design tomorrow, and then ask you to find someone to evaluate it and see how much money it will cost and whether it can be built."

Director Li nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, no problem."

Chen Fan added, "Another thing is, I don't know how to solve the construction materials?"

Director Li smiled, "Don't worry about this. The construction company specializes in this. They can provide the materials. They will cover everything, including labor and materials."

After a pause, he added, "Actually, if you don't insist on using new materials, we can reduce the construction cost for you a lot, and the quality is even better than ordinary bricks and tiles."

Chen Fan was a little puzzled, "Are you talking about old bricks?"

Director Li laughed and said, "I'm talking about city bricks."