Red Sparrow chirped excitedly, "So many merchants have come looking for us these past few days, all fighting to work with us!"
"Merchants alone won't do. We need the people from every region involved too. That's when things will really get lively!"
Good laughed.
By using Orochi's name, he had given Hakumai's city construction a massive publicity boost. In this small country, word had spread at an astonishing speed.
Now it was time to reveal his true intentions!
"Red Sparrow, and the rest of you, contact the merchants immediately and have them print news sheets. I need you to plaster them across all of Wano Country as fast as possible!"
"I'm going to sell Hakumai City's properties in advance!"
Chapter 39: Witness the Terror of Real Estate
Early morning, just as dawn was breaking.
The people in each region began their busy day.
When they stepped onto the streets, they soon noticed something strange.
Walls, pillars, alleyways...
Everywhere they looked, little advertisements covered the streets.
"What's this?"
Curiosity drew the townspeople closer.
"Hakumai City... presales?"
News that Hakumai was building a city had long since spread throughout the country. Even the impoverished country folk knew about it.
But what did presales mean?
"Hey, can someone explain what this presale thing means?"
"I know!"
With an educated person's explanation, the villagers soon understood the details, and an uproar broke out.
Hakumai City would sell and lease properties before construction was finished. These included not only large numbers of shops and factories, but residential homes as well. People could also visit Hakumai to view the model homes.
But all that was secondary.
The most important thing was the price. Taking residential housing as an example, a two-story home cost only fifty gold, while the same house in the Flower Capital would cost at least a hundred!
It was a full fifty percent cheaper!
Even in other towns, a price of fifty gold was extremely competitive, at least twenty to thirty percent below normal housing prices.
Not only that, the notices included a simple planning map of Hakumai City, featuring hospitals, schools, parks, a port, and various other public facilities.
And there was something even more important!
Hakumai City's presales allowed down payments. For just twenty gold, buyers could reserve a property, then pay the remainder within the specified period. The drawback was a slightly higher total price.
This smooth little combination ignited the enthusiasm of people across every region, especially those in the Flower Capital!
"I want to buy a house!"
A large portion of the people making a living in the Flower Capital couldn't afford homes and could only scrape by in rented rooms.
Now they had hope of owning a home.
Hakumai City was very close to the Flower Capital. Even if they couldn't find a livelihood in Hakumai City later, they could still work in the Flower Capital. They would only need to spend some time commuting each morning and evening.
It wasn't just the poor. The middle class and the wealthy were also eager to get a share. Buying property was an excellent way to preserve wealth.
With housing prices half those in the Flower Capital, whether they sold the properties later or rented them out, it was a surefire profitable investment.
Hakumai, the construction site.
After nearly a month of construction, the city had begun to take shape. The model homes in particular had been built with exquisite care.
At the intersection of the main roads on the edge of the construction site.
A lavish three-story mansion occupying a full thousand square meters had been declared complete. Several workers stood beneath the second-floor eaves, carefully mounting a sign.
"Careful, don't let it tilt!"
"Good, good, just like that!"
"That's it!"
Once the workers stepped aside, seven large golden characters came into view.
[Hakumai City Property Sales Office]!
Clap, clap, clap!
Good clapped vigorously.
Perfect. Absolutely perfect!
This was exactly the effect I wanted!
By his calculations, it wouldn't take long for this sales office to become the busiest place in Wano Country.
So crowded that people wouldn't even be able to squeeze inside!
Shimotsuki Yasuie stood behind Good, looking up at the extravagantly luxurious sales office, then at the residential district behind it, where only the foundations had been laid.
Even though he considered himself well versed in the world, he couldn't help feeling deeply shaken. Everything he had understood throughout his life seemed to have been trampled underfoot.
Th-this... could this really work?
Shimotsuki Yasuie's mouth went dry, and he couldn't resist asking, "Lord Good, will people really come to buy houses that haven't been finished?"
"Of course."
Good glanced at Yasuie.
"Do you think houses are all I'm selling?"
"Huh?"
Shimotsuki Yasuie was baffled.
If he wasn't selling houses, what was he selling?
Good grinned.
"Old Kō, let me ask you. Back when you were a daimyo, if you had vouched for this construction site, would the people of Hakumai have trusted you?"
"They would!"
Shimotsuki Yasuie caught on.
With Wano Country's shogun and the daughter of its Guardian Deity jointly vouching for the project, and construction progressing steadily, could the people still doubt that Hakumai City would be completed?
Impossible!
Besides, the prices were so low.
"Hiss!"
Looking at Good, Shimotsuki Yasuie couldn't help sucking in a breath.
He was selling credibility too!
A genius, a genius!
Such methods were unheard of!
He still had one question.
"Lord Good, since these houses are certain to sell, why set the prices so low?"
Fifty gold couldn't buy a large house in any other town. It wouldn't even cover the cost.
If Hakumai's workers hadn't all been prisoners who needed no wages, and if more than half the building materials hadn't been obtained for free through logging and quarrying...
At this price, every house sold would have meant a loss of twenty gold. As the head foreman, he knew perfectly well that no corners had been cut on Hakumai's homes.
"Well..."
Good studied Shimotsuki Yasuie.
The old man's mind probably wasn't as sharp as it had been in his youth.
Good asked with a smile, "Old Kō, think carefully. What does this city need most? Money?"
"What it needs most..."
Yasuie frowned in thought for a moment, then his eyes widened.
"People!"
"Exactly!"
Good burst out laughing.
The man had been a daimyo, after all, and had read plenty of books. He had simply lived in a feudal society and never seen the wider world.
The selling price wasn't important. He could even let people live there rent-free. To develop the city, population mattered above all else. Otherwise, even once completed, it would be nothing more than an empty city.
That was why he intended to seize the population!
In this feudal country, people were the foremost productive force.
With enough people, they could cultivate more farmland and produce more food, thereby creating more wealth and even manufacturing more weapons.
Once Hakumai City grew and prospered, taxes alone would earn him a fortune. Or rather, collecting taxes was simply another form of collecting rent!
Good raised his hand and pointed toward the Flower Capital.
"Look!"
"Whoa, so many people!"
Shimotsuki Yasuie looked toward the Flower Capital and stared in stunned disbelief. A dense mass of black dots was surging toward them like an advancing swarm of ants.
They were all people!
"There are more to the west!"
Large numbers of boats appeared on the western waterway.
Clearly, the people of Wano Country who had heard the news all wanted to join the excitement. As they approached Hakumai, the crowds converged.
"Get ready to welcome our customers!"
Good called out loudly.
"There'll only be more homebuyers from here on out, so make sure you keep order. Acho, throw out anyone who dares cut in line!"
"Understood, Lord Good!"
Acho and her subordinates, who had long been ready, answered loudly. They had rehearsed dozens of times for this day.
But the vast, dark mass in the distance still gave them quite a fright.
Just how many people were there?!
And Lord Good said the number of homebuyers would keep increasing?
Surely that couldn't be possible!
"I have something else to take care of. I'll be leaving first."
Good promptly slipped away. He had no intention of staying to suffer through this.
He had seen crowds of homebuyers like this before. The wilder things became, the more people wanted to buy, terrified of being a step too late. Before long, the homebuying frenzy would sweep across all of Wano Country.
"Da-da-da~~"
Good hummed a little tune, skipping along with cheerful steps.
"Jehehehe, Orochi must be beside himself by now!"
Chapter 40: How Can You Suppress Bandits Without Money?
The Flower Capital, the shogun's castle.
Before you continue