A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Chapter 168 Buying Land
Li Yu's selection of this place is also very quintessential.

Needless to say, the status of Jing’an District in later generations of Shanghai is one of the core districts, and housing prices can easily start at ten or so.

But at present, it is true that the southwest corner of Jing'an District is really a piece of wasteland, and it does not belong to the concession, but the roads in the concession have indeed been repaired.

The road was able to be repaired partly because of the Mausoleum of Hartung's wife Luo Jia. She believed in Buddhism very much and often went to Jing'an Temple.

In a few years, even if this piece of land does not belong to it in name, it will basically become a substantive part of the concession.

Building a school in this kind of place does not completely belong to the concession, and there is still a certain degree of freedom, which can be regarded as a "grey" area.

But soon foreigners will also come to this area. After all, it is cheap, and not all foreigners are rich.

Even if the Japanese aggressors launched the Songhu Battle decades later, the Japanese did not dare to blatantly move the concession a few years ago.

Anyone who understands Sihang Warehouse must know.

But in fact, some shells fell into the concession during the war.

After the Pearl Harbor incident in 1941, Japan and the United States completely tore apart their skins, and they openly occupied the concession.

At least there is a lot of buffer time in the middle, which can be transferred.

Of course, apart from this piece of land, there are also places that are close to the concession and are cheaper, such as the edge of the East District of the Shanghai Public Settlement.

The East Area of ​​the Public Concession is the area along Pingliang Road in Shanghai to the east, surrounded by the Huangpu River.

On the north side of this road is the area next to the concession, especially in the most northeast direction, where there are only one or two hundred taels per mu.

But it is too far away from the current center of Shanghai.

——Of course, after more than 100 years in that place, it will be terrible.

But Li Yu can't wait that long, he still has to consider the most urgent immediate issue.

Looking at it now, the place Li Yu chose is already the best solution. It is very close to the current center of Shanghai, and it is relatively convenient in all aspects. Moreover, in the next few years, the surrounding areas will develop.

Hartung took a deep puff on his cigar: "Are you sure about this number?"

Li Yu said, "I'm sure."

Hartung pondered for a while. To him, that piece of land was nothing more than an empty-handed deal. It really didn't belong to the concession. Li Yu would bear the risk of future problems, and he had no risk.

The current leading body of the concession is called the Ministry of Industry, which is equivalent to the concession government.

The Bureau of the Ministry of Industry is led by a board of directors. The board of directors generally has nine directors, which can be understood as the nine most powerful people in the concession.

Hartung is one of them.

In the future, the board of directors of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce will also have Chinese as directors, which is the so-called Hua Dong.

One of the more famous Hua Dong is Du Yuesheng in Shanghai Bund.

Hartung was a real estate developer, and he was most familiar with real estate-related matters.

He understood that there were not many procedures to go through to sell the land, and it was not from the concession anyway, which saved a lot of trouble.Otherwise, it would take a long time for such a large transaction to be deliberated by the Board of Directors of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

The most important thing is that it can be used to test the attitude of the Qing court again.

After thinking about this, Ha Tong's thoughts became clear: "The amount you want is not small, although I can lower the price for you, but considering the management cost, I can only pay you 460 taels at least, and this is only the land price. , in addition to land tax, deed tax, income tax, and in the future there will be stamp duty, value-added tax, business tax, etc.”

After all, it is a concession, and the tax system is actually not much different from later generations.

If you do the math, the complete tax will account for [-] to [-]%. This is the initial period, and there will be a lot of regular taxes in the future.

And in the future, there will be more taxes in the concession, such as additional taxes, education taxes, local teacher taxes, board of directors funds, self-government fees, middle-level fees...

Anyway, the Bureau of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in the Concession will not do loss-making business. If the largest value-added tax is placed there, it will not worry about how the land price will rise in the future. The lowest part of the price increase can also charge a 20% value-added tax. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, it was collected once every ten years.

So 20 mu is almost the upper limit of Li Yu.

Li Yu knew that he couldn't bargain too much with him, so he said, "I accept the price."

Of course, Li Yu must know that this land will rise sharply in the future, and Hartong said 460 taels. As for how he shares with the directors of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, it is his own business, and he should be left with some room for manipulation. .

Hartung didn't expect Li Yu to be so happy. After all, buying the land itself was a risky investment, and Li Yu didn't want to invest. Who knows how much money building a school can make?

But as a Jew, Hartung should not consider what the client wants to do, and making money is the first priority.

Hartung said: "In this case, we can sign a contract, and you don't have to go through the subsequent procedures, I will handle it by myself. But if the water and electricity need to go through, the money will have to be calculated separately."

Li Yu knew that it was a good thing for Hartung to set up a project. Anyway, he was not familiar with how the Ministry of Industry and Bureau operates, so he could only leave this matter to Hartung, so he said: "No problem, of course water and electricity are needed, and you can pay according to the market price. It must be."

Unexpectedly, today a big deal was brought about so casually. Harton happily said: "Mr. It may take a while to develop a piece of land, and it will take a few more trips to Shanghai."

Li Yu asked casually, "What's the house price in Shanghai now?"

Hartung said: "If you want to buy a house around Nanjing Road, it's about [-] taels for a house."

Li Yugan was almost scared. This is just a house. According to the current construction model, this kind of house is usually three to four hundred square meters, that is, one house can catch up with 20 acres of land on the edge of the concession!

What a joke!
So Li Yu resisted and said: "Actually, I don't come here much, renting a house is also very good!"

Hartung added: "That's no problem. Now the best house rental in the surrounding area is my Hartung Co., Ltd."

Well, it turned out to be a take-all.

In fact, many years ago, Hartung had spotted the current imbalance in the rent-to-sale ratio in Shanghai, and most of the houses he built were only rented and not sold.

Anyway, the rent in Shanghai is also very high nowadays.

Subsequent people such as Lu Xun suffered from high rents and high housing prices in Shanghai. Lu Xun said in his diary that renting a house with a yard costs 160 oceans a month, which is much more expensive than Beijing.

Regarding rent, many friends who rent a house in Shanghai in the 21st century feel that it is actually not much different from 100 years ago...

So if we start to watch Shanghai’s real estate market from now—no, it can be pushed back another 20 years—after the Sino-French War, we will not see the day when prices will drop after more than 100 years of waiting.

Later generations, Beijing and Shanghai house prices are comparable, but now the gap is really several times.

As for the reason why Shanghai (concession) housing prices are so high, like later generations, it is of course hype.

Fifty to sixty percent of the UK's investment in Shanghai is now in real estate. Can it not be speculated?

Although Li Yu knew that if he really took out 1 taels to buy a house, it would rise to about 20 taels in 4 years, and the receivers were basically foreigners.

It doesn't even take that long, just five years later, Nanjing Road will usher in a big development, and the house price will almost rise to 3 to [-] taels.

But he really doesn't have the spare money now.And I bought all the land, wouldn't it be nice to build another apartment building by myself?

Hartong quickly brought a contract: "Look at it, the specific land area has not been written yet, but there are no problems with other terms. As for the land, we can go to see it tomorrow. I am still familiar with the area around Jing'an Temple. Yes, I ran all over there."

As the second generation of big real estate developers in Shanghai, he is really the most familiar with the land conditions in the concession.

After discussing the meeting place for the next day, Li Yu said his goodbyes and went to Zhang Yuanji's office at the Commercial Press.

After Zhang Yuanji saw Li Yu's handout manuscript, he was in a good mood: "Your efficiency is really high! With such thickness, I feel that it can be divided into three to four years for teaching."

Li Yu took out a supplementary manuscript of mathematics lectures: "This is my introduction to Western mathematical notation, which is very necessary as an introductory material."

"Mister is really considerate!" Zhang Yuanji said, "Fortunately, the new school now teaches English, so the acceptance level must be better."

Li Yu said: "Currently, they can only be promoted in some new schools that also teach English."

Li Shanlan's set of celestial stems and earthly branches to replace mathematical numeral symbols is indeed too troublesome. The key point is that it is very unfriendly to the follow-up teaching of mathematics, especially for those who are interested in studying abroad. Foreigners do not need this set of text symbols.

Zhang Yuanji said: "I looked at it during this time, and your mathematics lectures can also be divided into two to three years."

Li Yu said: "I will continue to add in the future, and strive to go all the way to high school, oh, the mathematics and physics content before university will be compiled."

Now that I can complete the content of the nine-year obligation of future generations, it is enough to go to university!
Zhang Yuanji added: "Don't forget about chemistry."

"Don't worry," Li Yu said, "I will sort it out for you."

It is enough to be able to produce the most elementary content in a short period of time, after all, the students in the new school have to study for several years.

The next day, Li Yu came directly outside Jing'an Temple to wait for Hartung as agreed.

Jing'an Temple may be most famous in later generations for its incompatibility with the prosperous surrounding area and the title of the most expensive temple in the country. The housing prices in the surrounding areas are all around 15w, and the land value of Jing'an Temple is close to 30 billion.

Open the door to the world of mortals, and close the door to the mountains and rivers, there is a feeling of a lonely lotus blooming alone in the bustling city.

Anyway, the Jing'an Temple of later generations is very luxurious, and it looks resplendent and resplendent. It is said that the guardrails are all made of white marble.

Of course, although the roof of Jing'an Temple is shining with gold, it is really not made of gold.It is called copper tile and golden roof, that is, copper alloy. The advantage is that it will not rust and will last forever.

Not long after, Hartung and his wife Luo Jialing drove over in a car. This is also a rare thing. There are not many cars in Shanghai at present, and it is an absolute top luxury.

And just this year, the Shanghai Public Concession Industry Bureau has just issued a formal car license.

"Mr. Li Yu, I didn't expect you to be faster than me." Hartong said after getting off the car.

Li Yu said, "I just arrived too."

"Let's go and have a look," Hartung pointed ahead, "it's over there."

Mrs. Hartong Luo Jialing said: "Go and see, I want to go in and chant sutras to the Buddha."

Although the Jews did not believe in Buddhism, Hartung still respected his wife's faith, and said in a dignified manner: "My Buddha is merciful, and I wish to save all living beings, Amitabha."

Of course Li Yu didn't believe that the Buddha could really save the common people. Even all the Buddhas are not equal, so how can we talk about the equality of all living beings.

He feels that the best effect of this kind of belief is to calm people's hearts and have an effect on personal cultivation.As for the so-called "Mahayana Buddhism" that saves the world, I am afraid it only exists in "Journey to the West".

Anyway, seeing Luo Jialing dressed in gold and silver, Li Yu could only sigh with emotion, the Buddha saves the rich.

In his eyes, seeking Buddha is not as good as seeking oneself, and only hard work can prosper the country.

After walking around the land he bought, Li Yu found that it was as barren as imagined.

Although 20 mu of land does not sound small, it is actually not that big. It is about the size of an ordinary middle school, and it is still not that big.

However, with Li Yu's current financial resources, he can only buy such a large one first, with a foothold, and then continue to buy in the future.

Moreover, the enrollment scale of the current school cannot be too large, so there is no need to buy too much land as soon as it comes up.

The point is that even if you have money, buying too much at one time will cause too much attention from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

The future long-term plan is naturally to start with at least two hundred acres.

In addition, Li Yu thought that it was almost time for the United States to return the boxer indemnity, and it would be great if he could get some of it.

The United States does not occupy the bulk of Boxer indemnities, but the money is still quite a lot.

In short, Li Yu still has a lot of ideas, and it is necessary to occupy a pit in advance.

Hartung said: "Yesterday, I have arranged for a surveyor to measure the land as a whole, and it is 22 and a half acres."

Li Yu glanced at both sides. It was almost a 100×150 lot, but it was quite square. "It looks pretty good."

"Of course not bad," Hartung said, "I heard a Chinese saying that it is morning bell and evening drum. This place is so close to Jing'an Temple, it's really a good place."

Hartung naturally wanted to boast more, but what Li Yu thought was different from him, so he said along the way: "Mr. Hartung also understands Chinese idioms."

Hartung said: "I have lived in China for so many years, if I still can't speak idioms, I am really sorry for my wisdom."

After seeing the land, Hartung was able to fill out the contract completely, and Li Yu took another look:
The land price of 22.5 mu is 10350 taels;
The tax is 3600 taels,
The cost of connecting water and electricity is 3000 taels.

A total of 16950 taels.

But this time, we only need to pay half of the land price and water and electricity fees first, and Hartong has to go through the relevant procedures, which will take two to three months at the earliest.

So actually Li Yu only delivered 8175 taels and got the contract.

After all, it's a big deal.If the procedures are not complete, Li Yu would not dare to use the land.

This "Southern Tour" really cost a lot. Of the 1 taels deposit in Huzhou before, 5000 taels were paid by Li Yu, and today, more than 13000 taels were spent all at once.

Almost half of Li Yu's deposit was emptied in an instant. It was really a waste of money, and it was impossible to think of ways to make money.

(End of this chapter)