The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 815 Protection and development of courtyard houses?
How many Siheyuans are there in Beijing?

No one can tell.

According to the "Complete Map of the Capital during the Qianlong Period of the Qing Dynasty", there were more than 26000 courtyard houses of various sizes at that time.

As time went by, by the 20s, according to statistics from the Beijing Ancient Architecture Research Institute, there were about 80 courtyard houses in Beijing, of which more than 6000 were relatively well preserved.

As an ancient capital with a history of more than 800 years, the historical culture of Beijing consists of two aspects: imperial culture and urban culture.

The carriers of imperial culture are the Forbidden City and numerous altars, temples, tombs, gardens and palaces.

The carriers of urban culture are hutongs and courtyards.

It can be said that the capital's hutongs, courtyard houses and the Forbidden City have equally important historical and cultural values.

Siheyuan originated in the Yuan Dynasty, developed and matured in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and gradually perfected and reached its peak in the mid-Qing Dynasty. After the Yuan Dynasty established its capital in Beijing, it ushered in a new era of urban construction in Beijing. As a world-famous metropolis at the time, the construction of Yuan Dadu included large-scale residential buildings, and alleys and residential courtyards became the basic connotation of Yuan Dadu.

There was a poem at that time that went like this: Clouds open up the gates of the houses three thousand feet high, and fog darkens the towers of millions of houses.

This "million-dollar home" is the courtyard house in Beijing.

In the late Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, with the tremendous social changes, especially the modernization of contemporary cities, the material form of the courtyard house gradually withdrew from the stage of history.

However, Liu Tao believes that the Siheyuan has great historical and cultural value. Whether it is for studying ancient architecture, studying history, or from the perspective of the culture of the capital, the value here is enormous.

He believes that this area needs not only protection but also development.

At the meeting, Liu Tao approached the capital.

"Are you Panshan Group really willing to invest a large amount of money to protect the courtyard house?" The leaders from Beijing were pleasantly surprised.

The capital city naturally recognized the value of the siheyuan, but also racked its brains over how to protect it.

The protection of the Siheyuan can be said to be the most troublesome issue for the capital.

It would be great if Panshan Group is willing to enter the market.

Anyone who knows something about it knows that Panshan Group is as wealthy as a country and has strong financial resources.

"It's not just about protection, it's also about development. Relying solely on protection means there's only investment but no return, and it won't last long!" Liu Tao said, "But before that, I have to first understand how many Siheyuans there are in Beijing and how they are distributed?"

Although statistics were collected once in the 80s, Liu Tao had no idea what the statistical criteria were or what the latest data was.

Chen Tong smiled and said, "This is a simple matter. I'll call the person in charge over and we'll know the answer after asking him."

Then, Chen Tong picked up the phone and made a call: "This is Chen Tong, ask Comrade Tan Fei to come to my office."

Taking advantage of this time, Chen Tong introduced Tan Fei to Liu Tao.

Tan Fei is now in charge of urban construction planning. When the Beijing courtyard houses were being counted, Tan Fei was the person in charge and personally led the team to do this.

It can be said that the person who knows the number and situation of siheyuan courtyards best in the city is Tan Fei.

"Comrade Liu Tao, how do you plan to develop the courtyard house?" Chen Tong asked curiously.

Liu Tao said: "It is divided into three parts. One part has high historical value and can be developed into a scenic spot as a tourist attraction, mainly collecting tickets. The tickets collected every year should be used to maintain operations and maintenance; one part can be developed into residential buildings, and there should be many wealthy people who buy them to live in. For example, I live in a courtyard house, which is very comfortable to live in. The last part can be used for commercial operation and can be rented out to people to open shops, such as tea shops, clothing stores, restaurants, etc., which can generate some rental income every year."

Liu Tao was deeply impressed by the bustle of the ancient street and its booming business.

It can be said that there is great potential in this area.

"But to do this, we have to buy all the courtyard houses except the office buildings!" Liu Tao said. Chen Tong sighed, "That will cost a lot of money. Nowadays, even a large courtyard house costs a lot of money, and there are many people and complicated relationships."

"As long as the problem can be solved with money, it is not a problem!" Liu Tao said with a smile.

Chen Tong was stunned.

Then he burst into laughter.

A lot of money needs to be spent on this, and even the capital city cannot afford such a sum of money. The financial revenue of the capital city has increased a lot in recent years, but the capital city also has a lot of things to do every year. The money available for the protection of the siheyuan courtyards is squeezed out.

But this amount of money is just child's play for Panshan Group.

Just as the two were chatting about the courtyard house, Tan Fei entered the office.

"Hello, leader!" Tan Fei said quickly.

"Comrade Tan Fei, can you please tell us about the current situation of the courtyard houses in Beijing? How many courtyard houses are there in Beijing now?" Chen Tong said.

Tan Fei said: "There are currently 6000 courtyard houses in the entire capital, of which 3500 are well preserved."

"Comrade Tan Fei, let me ask, what is the standard for counting as a quadrangle?"

Tan Fei said: "There are strict criteria for the inclusion of Siheyuan in the statistics: they must be residential buildings, and imperial palaces, royal mansions, and temples are not included; they must have a Siheyuan architectural structure, 'four beams and eight columns', and a complete courtyard, including the main house, east and west wing rooms, and the back house."

Liu Tao immediately understood.

This means that slums and many dilapidated courtyard houses are not included in the statistics.

Afterwards, Liu Tao found out how many courtyard houses there were with property rights and how many were without property rights.

Later, Liu Tao and Chen Tong reached a consensus that Panshan Group and Jingcheng City would jointly set up a company - Jingcheng Siheyuan Development Company, to protect and develop Jingcheng Siheyuan resources.

Panshan Group provided the money, and Beijing City provided the manpower and land.

The preliminary solution reached by both parties is to adopt two compensation methods.

One is cash redemption, with different unit price standards set according to different locations, areas, degree of preservation, etc. As long as anyone is willing to sell, they will be bought.

One is the resettlement method, which is to build a large number of resettlement houses and replace them according to different replacement ratios under different situations.

Of course, the two can also be used together.

Liu Tao believes that at least 70 to 80 percent of people would be willing to do so in this way.

As for the remaining 20 to 30 percent of the people, special measures need to be taken.

The next day, the matter was brought up for review and approved by the Beijing Municipal Government. That afternoon, the Beijing Siheyuan Development Company was registered.

Panshan Group holds 70% of the shares, while Jingcheng City holds 30% of the shares.

Both parties acted quickly. When Liu Tao left Beijing, the company's office location had been decided, the sign had been hung up, and the personnel transferred from Beijing had all arrived.

Liu Tao transferred Lin Zhenhua from Panshan Group. Lin Zhenhua was Liu Tao's secretary when he was working at Panshan Machinery Factory. Later, he was transferred to a subordinate company and is currently the deputy general manager of Beijing-Kowloon Railway Company. This time, he was transferred to serve as the general manager of Beijing Siheyuan Development Company.

Since Panshan Group holds a 70% stake in the Beijing Siheyuan Development Company, the general manager will naturally be someone from Panshan Group.

This time, Lin Zhenhua has been promoted to a higher level, taking an important step and officially entering the ranks of senior cadres.

(End of this chapter)