The teahouse where Yang Shen, Zhu Hao and Yu Chengxun are.
After the auction starts.
The three people standing at the window on the second floor stopped talking and watched the bidding process with bated breath. Unexpectedly, after Tang Yin revealed the reserve price, no one bid in the square below for a long time.
Yu Chengxun laughed: "Knowing that the auction is a coal mine owned by a relative, your Majesty still intends to participate in the competition. Who would be so free to cause trouble for his family? We are all waiting and watching."
Zhu Hao said: "There will always be people who come out to bid, right? Maybe those people don't understand the rules yet and want others to take the lead."
Yang Shen thought for a while. Although Yu Chengxun's words were not unreasonable, it was obvious that Zhu Hao had a better understanding of the nature of the matter... It didn't matter if others didn't come out to bid, at least the emperor and the merchants Yang Ting and the merchants he had found would definitely participate in the bidding.
"Twenty thousand taels of silver!"
Just as everyone was looking around, someone in the crowded crowd finally raised his hand and shouted.
Yang Shen immediately looked at it, but he didn't know whether it was Hui merchants or Shanxi merchants, and he didn't know which family the next bidder belonged to.
Tang Yin raised his eyebrows and said loudly: "Okay, someone bids 20,000 taels, who else bids?"
Someone has started it, so it will be easier to talk about it next.
"Twenty-one thousand taels..."
"Twenty-three thousand taels..."
"Twenty-four thousand taels..."
The bids continued to rise until someone called out the number of thirty thousand taels, and the scene became quiet again.
For most people, 30,000 taels of silver is an astronomical figure. Unless you really want to start a mine and think you can make a lot of money from it, and you have a strong background to support it, you will no longer participate in the competition with the intention of picking up the slack.
.
"Thirty thousand taels, is there anyone else bidding?"
Tang Yin continued to shout loudly.
Yu Chengxun pointed to the merchant below who was shouting "30,000 taels", and said hesitantly: "That person... seems to be the steward of the houses of Marquis Qingyun and Uncle Chang Ning?"
Both Qingyunhou and Changningbo came from the Zhou family of their maternal relatives.
The Empress Dowager Zhou was Xianzong's biological mother. Emperor Hongzhi was cared for by this grandmother when he was young. This made the two relatives of the Zhou family the core figures of the capital's nobles since the Chenghua Dynasty. In the past, the only nobles in the court who could follow
The Zhang family was the only one who was not at a disadvantage when a large-scale fight broke out, and the Zhou family was the only one.
At present, Qingyunhou Zhou Ying and Changning Bo Zhou Dajing are both grandsons of the Empress Dowager Zhou. However, the Empress Dowager Zhou passed away in the 17th year of Hongzhi. After the Zhengde Dynasty, the Zhou family now lacks strong help in front of the new emperor.
When participating in the coal mine bidding, the Zhou family wanted to slap their competitors in the face.
Aren’t you Zhang brothers very capable?
In the past, when you were strong men and horses, our Zhou family was not afraid! Now that you have been stripped of your wings by the new emperor and become disgraced, our Zhou family will buy your coal mine back and run it to see what you can do to us.
"It's exciting now."
Yu Chengxun watched with excitement, hoping that this auction would be a dog-eat-dog show.
…
…
Not only Yu Chengxun who was upstairs discovered the Zhou family, but also Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling who were hiding in the crowd.
"Wow, I'm so angry. The coal kiln with the largest output in Xishan was wanted by me. I finally hired talented people from the green forest to take over the coal kiln with the largest output. This time they want to fish in troubled waters... Huh,
You want to take over our coal mine for only 30,000 taels, and are you looking for death? Hurry up and ask people to bid, and we will never let them succeed!"
When Zhang Heling found out that his relatives, members of the Zhou family, were causing trouble, he immediately became furious.
We must not suffer this loss!
Jiang Lun was also the type to stir up trouble. He winked at the merchant not far away who was invited to bid. The merchant understood what he meant and immediately raised his hand: "Thirty-one thousand taels."
"Forty thousand taels!"
The Zhou family made another bid.
"Kill him!"
This time Zhang Yanling couldn't help it anymore. If it weren't for the fact that he didn't bring many servants with him when he left the Marquis' Mansion, he would have rushed over to fight with the opponent now.
Tang Yin on the stage said: "Okay, forty thousand taels. Someone called out forty thousand taels. Is there anyone who bids?"
"Crush him to death!"
Zhang Heling said arrogantly.
Jiang Lun smiled and said: "Two princes, please be patient. They are offering you high prices, which is equivalent to giving you money. Why are you nervous?"
After hearing this, the Zhang brothers thought about it, yes, anyway, neither of us would suffer. They couldn't help but look at each other, as if they were seeing white money in each other's eyes.
"Forty-one thousand taels."
Before Jiang Lun's men could bid, Shanxi merchants finally took action.
In fact, the people present had very little information. At this time, merchants were gathering, and they could not determine who the bidder was. In short, they followed the established strategy and bid at a price that they could bear psychologically.
Zhang Yanling grinned: "Does this mean we are going to get rich?"
Zhang Heling scolded: "Boy, have you never seen any silver or something? You've made a fortune with just tens of thousands taels? I've said that the market price of the coal mine is 50,000 taels. If you don't sell it for 200,000 taels, you'll be losing money."
"
Jiang Lun looked over with contempt.
It's still two hundred thousand taels, why not say one million taels?
Are you two brothers crazy about money?
…
…
The subsequent auctions are gradually getting back on track.
The bidders from all parties were basically very restrained. Even the Zhou family participated in the bidding and stopped after their bid reached 60,000 taels.
The one who offered a higher price than the Zhou family was the Shanxi merchant who offered sixty-one thousand taels.
"It looks like it's almost done."
When Yu Chengxun saw this scene and saw that no one had called out the price for a long time, he said something to Yang Shen.
Yang Shen frowned slightly: "It can't be so easy, right?"
Now Yang Shen has figured out who is one of his own, but he is very unfamiliar with the other merchants bidding, and he is even less clear about who was introduced by the emperor.
"Seventy thousand taels!"
Once again, someone broke the silence. It was a new face, not familiar to those present.
In fact, this person was arranged by Zhang Heling.
Zhang Heling couldn't bear it. Seeing that the coal kiln that he expected to sell for 200,000 taels was about to be taken away by someone else for 61,100 taels, he was naturally unwilling to accept it. Despite Jiang Lun's strong objection, he still asked people to bid.
"Seventy-one thousand taels..."
"Eighty thousand taels!"
This sudden bidding method really made Shanxi merchants participating in the auction unbearable.
The value of eighty thousand taels was obviously beyond the psychological endurance of Shanxi merchants.
Zhu Hao, who was watching with cold eyes, was as clear as a mirror. Although the Zhang brothers hid in the crowd and did not show up, with their greed, they could not remain calm at all, and they would definitely come out to cause trouble.
In this case, it was just a good opportunity to test Yang Tinghe's determination and Shanxi merchants' loyalty.
If the coal mine was taken over with only 60,000 to 70,000 taels of silver, Shanxi merchants would still have an advantage, but 80,000 taels would definitely exceed the value of the coal mine itself, and there would be huge risks.
The question now is if no one comes out to fight for it, wouldn’t Yang Tinghe be suspicious?
The Zhang brothers took the initiative to raise the price, which was much better than the emperor's people coming forward.
If the auction is ruined, that is the problem of the Zhang family brothers themselves, and there is no need to use the money of the inner government... You Zhang family brothers don't want the auction to be successful, who is to blame?
Will these coal mines be put up for auction next time?
No need!
Just seal it there and see who loses the most!
For Zhu Hao, the best part of today is yet to come.
…
…
"Eighty-one thousand taels."
The Shanxi merchants gritted their teeth and made another bid.
This is almost the limit of what they can bear.
Even if someone offers another one thousand taels, they will definitely not follow. Even if they want to make a political donation to Yang Tinghe, they must have a limit. The loss of 20,000 taels of silver is already the limit.
Zhang Heling was about to let people continue to bid, but was stopped by Lu Song who rushed over.
"It's you?"
Zhang Heling glared at Lu Song, who was holding his hand tightly. He had already seen this Jin Yiwei Qianhu in Shouninghou Mansion before, and knew that he was from Prince Xing's Mansion, so he immediately shouted in a stern tone.
Jiang Lun hurriedly tried to persuade him: "Houning Hou, stop bidding. If you raise the price again, it will be much more than the value of the coal mine itself. No one is willing to be taken advantage of!"
"If you don't come out, I won't come out. I thought I was afraid of them..."
Zhang Yanling still wanted to persist.
Lu Song said with a straight face: "Your Majesty has an order and is not allowed to bid!"
The Zhang brothers were stunned upon hearing this.
"Where is your Majesty?"
Zhang Yanling looked around and asked.
Lu Song said: "I can't tell you anything, but I ask you two princes to restrain themselves."
The Zhang brothers wanted to bid again, but they were a little frightened. They were stunned for a moment because they had completely offended the emperor.
Tang Yin on the stage seemed to feel that he could not delay any longer, and made the final countdown according to Zhu Hao's arrangement: "...If no one bids again, then it will be 81,100 taels. Once, twice... the deal is done!"
Bring someone up!"
There were already Jin Yiwei at the scene to lead people to prevent others from causing trouble. After placing the bid, they turned around and ran away.
Today is the first time we hold an auction, and we are not fully prepared. If we hold this kind of auction in the future, we must be fully prepared. The bidding will be placed on a more serious occasion, and deposits will be required in advance, as well as payment.
Number plates and so on... At present, this is the only way to go without formality.
…
…
"it's over."
Yu Chengxun smiled and said, "Eighty-one thousand taels, pretty good."
Yang Shen nodded.
He was wondering in his mind whether the people who had called out 70,000 taels and 80,000 taels earlier were sent by the emperor.
Why didn't the other party persist at the critical moment?
Zhu Hao smiled and asked: "Brother Yongxiu, do you think there is anything wrong?"
Yang Shen looked at Yu Chengxun, who was also looking at him with a puzzled expression. He seemed to feel that there was no outsider at the scene, and sighed: "Actually, the money that the inner government can dispatch is only 60,000 taels at most."
Yu Chengxun suddenly realized: "This doesn't just mean that His Majesty wanted to buy the coal mine, but found that he was unable to do so... Haha."
"I'm afraid it's not that simple."
Yang Shen always felt that something was wrong.
Especially when I saw that the square below was still crowded with people and had not dispersed.
"There is a group of people over there... who are clearly businessmen, gathered here. I thought they would stand up to compete, but no one thought that there was not a single bidder. The auction is over now, and they are not in a hurry to leave..."
Yang Shen pointed to a group of people on the edge of the square.
At this time, the situation in the square changed again.
Tang Yin asked the Shanxi merchants who had acquired the coal mine to go into the armor factory to apply for a "mining license", but he himself picked up the loudspeaker and shouted:
"Everyone, there is also a coal kiln here, which was discovered by my officials after the year. The reserves are extremely rich, and have not yet been officially mined. Due to the use of advanced technology provided by the imperial court, as well as preliminary exploration and other investment, this coal kiln will produce more in the future.
Twenty percent of the coal produced must be handed over to the court..."
"ah?"
The merchants present who didn't know what was going on and were about to leave were shocked when they heard this.
Is there anyone who sells minerals like this?
Why don't you go grab it tomorrow?
Someone immediately questioned: "We didn't agree to sell a few coal mines in Xishan today, why would we sell other mines?"
Tang Yin said: "The coal kiln that is about to be auctioned is also in Xishan, but it is different from the previous completed kiln. Because only one will be auctioned at a time, the starting price will not be too high, so the starting price is five thousand taels of silver. The same
It’s one thousand taels of silver plus the price.”
Many people present looked at each other.
A dilapidated coal kiln that has just been explored and cannot produce coal yet dares to openly put it up for auction?
Do you really think we are being taken advantage of?
Yang Shen, who was upstairs, felt that something was wrong: "It's broken, it's broken. Your Majesty may not be doing this to sell off the coal mine owned by Zhang's relatives, but has other motives."
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