After entering the inner room, there were also a few people who were settling accounts. Li Xiang could call out the names of these people. Each of them was in contact with the fifteen people outside and was considered a middle-level cadre.
"Greetings, Your Highness."
Zhou Huairen was so excited when he saw Li Xiang. Although he had been reporting to the Crown Prince recently, it was Li Xiang who changed his fate. Zhou Huairen saw clearly who his boss was.
Li Xiang looked at Li Chengqian in the inner room. Li Chengqian was very busy at the moment, so Li Xiang didn't go over to disturb him. Li Xiang gave this job to him because he saw that Li Chengqian liked money. Seeing the treasury at home full every day was the most satisfying thing for Li Chengqian, not to mention that he was indeed talented in accounting.
"We have done well in the past period. Various industries have developed well and the profits we have earned are also good. The main task in the next stage is to grow crops."
When Li Xiang said this, Zhou Huairen scratched his ears, as if he hadn't heard clearly. "We've invested so much money in business, shouldn't we continue to develop it? How can we transfer it to food?" Besides, growing food isn't very profitable these days. Compared to real business operations, the money is too little.
"Your Highness, our business operations have already reached a certain scale. Now is the time to expand and grow crops..."
Zhou Huairen wanted to say that growing crops was a small matter, and the profit was not enough, so there was no need to waste time on it. However, when he saw Li Xiang's eyes, he swallowed his words again. Thinking about Li Xiang's brilliant ideas in business, it was definitely beyond his level of understanding.
"Food is the foundation of a country. Currently, a large amount of land is controlled by the Five Clans and Seven Families. Therefore, if we want to fundamentally reverse this situation, we must have a large amount of grain-producing land. Didn't you buy enough land during my time in the southwest? Are you going to let them sit idle?"
Li Xiang actually knew how to defeat these major families a long time ago, but he never had a proper plan. Now that he finally has time, he should put this plan on the agenda.
"Your Highness, you don't need to personally handle the grain farming. Every farm has its own headman, and we can completely delegate the matter to them. Our main focus should still be on our commercial complex. Although we only have a dozen or so shops open at the moment, we are definitely making a fortune every day."
Zhou Huairen quickly took out an account book. In fact, Li Xiang was referring to Wanda in the 21st century. They built a commercial center in the city center of every city. Now Li Xiang has also moved to Datang. Here you can eat, stay, and even have a place to drink. In short, after you come here, you can basically do everything. Although it is impossible to build a commercial building in this era, you can buy a piece of land and build a commercial street behind it.
It has now started operating in more than a dozen major cities across the country. In addition to the daily rent we receive, the most important thing is the increase in surrounding land prices. Li Xiang is well aware of the importance of real estate, so when building this commercial complex, he bought all the surrounding land, and now the prices have increased several times.
"A commercial complex must rely on a large population. Currently, they have opened in major cities across the country, but the remaining cities do not have the conditions to open. If we continue to decline, we may start to lose money."
Li Xiang's words also caught Zhou Huairen's attention. In fact, Zhou Huairen had already felt that in the last two projects, they could still maintain profitability in state-level cities, but in the last two cities, their profit margins had dropped significantly. The main reason was that the local economy was not prosperous enough. If they continued to expand in other cities, they might not be as good as these last two cities, and they might face losses at that time.
"Your Highness has given those poor areas to them?"
Zhou Huairen understood instantly that this kind of commercial complex must be opened in an economically developed area. If it is also opened in an economically underdeveloped area, then he will only expect to lose money. After all, the initial investment is not a small amount, and coupled with the respective business operations, a lot of energy and money are invested. Since the major families are jealous of this piece of land, Li Xiang is ready to give it to them.
"You're a smart guy. Let's hold off on expansion for now and let them expand into the remaining cities. When they can't continue operating, you can step in and buy the commercial complex, originally worth 100 taels of silver, for 50. Perhaps when they run into an economic crisis, they'll be willing to sell it for 30 taels. Our costs will be reduced several times over, and no matter how well they manage, we'll be able to recoup a third of our costs."
When Li Xiang explained this, Zhou Huairen was so happy that he almost jumped up. No wonder our prince did not plan to continue expanding. Recently, his subordinates had also received news that several major families had begun to follow suit and were going to build commercial complexes in some cities on their territories, and had already notified the local authorities to prevent Zhou Huairen's people from entering.
At that time, Zhou Huairen felt that his road was difficult. If the local officials blocked him in the future, although we have official background, we will definitely not be able to catch up with these big families in the local government. I don’t know how to explain to His Highness. Now I understand that His Highness is opening a dead end for you.
"Of course, restaurants and lodging can continue to operate. These kinds of things that are truly needed by the people are still viable. I also need them to gather information for me across the country. Even if they're not profitable for the time being, we can allocate funds to them to make up for it."
Li Xiang wanted to establish a nationwide information network very early on, and opening stores was the best way to do that. However, it has only developed in large cities and has not yet penetrated into small cities.
"Don't worry, Your Highness. I have already arranged for my men to do it. Is it just farming?"
Zhou Huairen understood everything else, but he didn't understand what Li Xiang said about farming. How did Li Xiang want to farm?