Liao Yingzhong did not show off, and said directly: "The name of this new type of liquor was approved by the current emperor, and it is called 'Chinese Imperial Liquid',"
"Chinese Imperial Liquid,"
"China, imperial liquid, or the emperor's decree,"
"Such a fine wine is indeed worthy of the word "royal liquid,"
"Just hearing this name makes me want to take a few sips,"
After everyone whispered for a while, they quickly accepted the name.
The name Zhonghua comes from the fact that the Chinese nation originated in the Yellow River Basin in ancient China and lived in all directions. It has a developed culture and a long history, so the place is called China or Zhonghua. After that, the territory became increasingly wider, and all its territories , all called China, also known as China.
The word "Zhonghua" was compounded from the two names "China" and "Huaxia" by philosophers who believed in the concept of "unity of nature and man" in the Wei and Jin Dynasties in 300 AD. "Zhong" focuses on nature. (Heaven), meaning the world; "Hua" focuses on the nation (people), meaning the Chinese ethnic group (the predecessor of the Han nationality).
I named this liquor "Zhonghua Yuye" in order to instill in the public the idea of "China". For thousands of years, dynasties have changed frequently, but the name of China has never changed.
"In Fujian Province, the base price for the auction of the agency rights of 'Zhonghua Yuye' liquor is one thousand Guan Huaxia coins, and the term is one year. The amount of each price increase shall not be less than one hundred Guan Huaxia coins. The bidding will begin below," while everyone was still there During the discussion, the voice of Liao Yingzhong, the Minister of Commerce, who personally served as the moderator, sounded again.
It's not that there are no other officials in the Ministry of Commerce who can serve as hosts, but Liao Yingzhong believes that as the Minister of Commerce, one should personally practice various business behaviors in order to better manage the world's commerce.
As soon as Liao Yingzhong finished speaking, someone held up a sign and said: "One thousand two hundred Guan Hua Xia coins."
"One thousand three hundred strings,"
The southern part of Fujian Province has basically not been affected by the wars between Song, Mongolia, Song and Jin. It is also adjacent to Zhejiang and Zhejiang. It has rapid economic development and strong business awareness. It has always been at the forefront of the prosperous areas in the Southern Song Dynasty, so the merchants who came to compete were not there. few.
"Fifteen hundred strings,"
"One thousand six hundred strings,"
Lin Zhixiong raised the sign for the first time and shouted: "Two thousand Guan Hua Xia coins,"
After a moment of silence in the venue, someone else said: "Two thousand and two hundred pieces."
After the auction price exceeded 2,000 Chinese coins, the bidding speed slowed down significantly. Most of the previous bidders began to hesitate. Although most of them were optimistic about the market and prospects of Chinese liquid medicine, the agency rights alone cost 2,000 yuan. They all knew that Lin Zhixiong was very powerful in the business community in Fujian, and it was very difficult to compete with him, so the number of times he raised signs became less and less.
When someone called for 3,100 guan, Lin Zhixiong and Zheng Huchen beside him discussed it briefly, then raised the sign again and said: "Four thousand guan,"
"Sir, it seems that Boss Lin is determined to win the agency power in Fujian Province,"
"Well, Fujian is its base, and judging from the sales of MSG, Lin Zhixiong should have tasted the benefits. Xiao Tian, why is Zheng Huchen here too?"
Xiao Tiandao: "Yes, Young Master, they came to see me this morning, hoping to cooperate with us on the contract manufacturing of farm tools, and asked me if Young Master was free, saying they wanted to meet you."
"I thought he had switched to trading," I laughed, "Okay, let's make an appointment with them tomorrow night."
The production of farm tools is not complicated. Zheng Huchen owns the largest ironware workshop on Jiangnan East Road. Even in the country, it is one of the best. In some aspects, Suzhou's ironware production technology even surpasses the imperial weapons workshop. Song Wuxin's large ship The design drawings have been completed, and we are looking for partners for the production of iron parts. I think Zheng Huchen's workshop may have this capability.
After careful consideration, other merchants who bid for the agency rights on Fujian Road gave up their bids. Lin Zhixiong obtained the exclusive agency rights of "Chinese Royal Liquid" in Fujian Province for a period of one year at a high price of 4,000 guan.
After announcing that Lin Zhixiong's bid was successful, Liao Yingzhong continued: "The following is the bidding for the agency rights of Liangzhe West Road. The base price is three thousand Guan Huaxia coins,"
The administrative seat of Liangzhe West Road is in Lin'an, which was the richest road in the Southern Song Dynasty. According to the terminology of later generations, the GDP of Liangzhe West Road accounted for more than 40% of the entire country's GDP. From this auction, In terms of base prices, the starting price of Liangzhe West Road is also the highest, three times that of Fujian Province, and the area under its jurisdiction is far smaller than Fujian Province.
The bidding for Liangzhe West Road was the most intense in this auction. It is not an exaggeration to describe it as brutal. Starting from the low price of three thousand Guan Huaxia coins, many merchants shouted to five thousand without any pause. Through.
Compared with the merchants in Fujian Province, there are two obvious differences between the merchants in Lin'an City. First, their understanding of this kind of liquor is far better than that of other merchants. Before the bidding, all the business figures in Lin'an City They have all tasted the Chinese Royal Liquid at Tongle Building. Although the price is very high, the scene of long queues waiting for a table at Tongle Building has continued for more than a month. For this reason alone, these businessmen are all jealous; in addition, One difference is that most of the merchants in Lin'an have inextricable connections with officials. Although the court did not explicitly stipulate whether officials could do business, the emperors of the Song Dynasty ignored this and followed it arbitrarily. By the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, The merchants and officials in Lin'an City have been closely integrated for a long time. The merchants are in the front and the officials are in the back. Therefore, the strength of these merchants is quite strong, which is far from comparable to the merchants in other provinces.
Although he cannot be compared with the Quanzhou Pu family, Lin Zhixiong is a tycoon-level figure in the business field in Fujian Province. Despite this, in Lin'an, where merchants gather, he can only be considered to be in the middle and upper reaches. He has always been Lin Zhixiong wanted to transfer the key business of his firm to Lin'an, but he never found a suitable entry point.
"Eight thousand Guan Hua Xia coins," Lin Zhixiong's voice was not loud, but he was not sloppy.
This made many bidders dumbfounded, and their eyes were all focused on Lin Zhixiong. After a long time, another voice sounded: "Eight thousand one hundred guan," and then someone shouted: "Eight thousand two hundred guan," just The voices of these two people already made people feel a little trembling, obviously they lacked confidence.
With a smile on his face, Lin Zhixiong held up a sign and said: "Nine thousand strings."
"Nine thousand strings,"
"It really reaches nine thousand strings,"
"Are you sure, Lao Lin?"
This time the silence lasted longer. When Liao Yingzhong saw that no one was raising a sign, she loudly said: "This is the first time for nine thousand Guan Hua Xia coins."
"Nine thousand Guan Hua Xia coins for the second time,"
The venue was completely silent, nervous and excited. Whether it was participants, bystanders, or staff, they all had these two feelings. Everyone held their breath and thought to themselves, "Is this how the trump card is revealed?"
Liao Yingzhong was also very excited inside, but she had always been calm and her face remained the same, without any clues. Just when Liao Yingzhong was about to shout out nine thousand guan for the third time, a hoarse voice came from the corner and remembered: "Nine thousand five hundred guan, "
Following everyone's gaze, I also looked towards the person who made the sound.
"This is the first time this person is bidding," Yuan Ji, whose hearing was amazing, whispered in my ear. Before I could see the person clearly, I heard Lin Zhixiong quickly say: "Ten thousand Guan Hua Xia coins,"
"Wow, we have exceeded the 10,000-guan mark," everyone thought in unison.
The person in the corner seemed to think about it for a moment, and the hoarse voice sounded again after a moment: "One thousand and five hundred strings,"
Lin Zhixiong didn't seem to give the man any room to think, and immediately responded: "Twelve thousand Guan Hua Xia coins,"
The time from 3,000 guan to 5,000 guan was very short, and the atmosphere was very lively. Onlookers felt that it was very enjoyable. Ever since Lin Zhixiong shouted the high price of 8,000 guan, time seemed to pass very slowly.
Will that person continue to hold up the sign? Will the price be 12,500 yuan?
Just as everyone was guessing, Liao Yingzhong's voice sounded: "Twelve thousand Guan Hua Xia coins are the first time," and everyone realized that it turned out that the critical point had been reached and the person did not continue to follow up.
"Twelve thousand Guan Hua Xia coins for the second time,"
"Twelve thousand Guan Hua Xia Coin was sold for the third time. Congratulations to the bidder No. 16 for winning the exclusive agency right of Zhejiang West Road Zhonghua Royal Liquid for a period of one year."
When merchants participating in the auction enter the venue, everyone will get a wooden sign with a number on it. This number is also the participant's code. Lin Zhixiong's wooden sign is 16. People who know him know that he is Lin Zhixiong. People who don't know him know that he is Lin Zhixiong. , such as Liao Yingzhong, will identify bidders by number.
"Ah, it's over,"
"Is this old Lin crazy?"
"I think it's worth it. If I had so much money, I would fight for it."
With the help of Zheng Huchen, a wealthy man in Suzhou, Lin Zhixiong successfully obtained the sales rights of Zhejiang West Road, Jiangnan East Road and Fujian Province's Chinese Royal Liquid at a price several times higher than the auction reserve price. These three areas are also Lin Zhixiong's sure-to-get places. .
In his earliest plan, there was also the matter of agency rights for Liangzhe East Road and Huainan East Road. Later, after careful discussion with Zheng Huchen, he felt that he might bite off more than he could chew, so he did not fight for it with all his strength. The agency rights for these two places were eventually eliminated. The other merchants obtained it at bidding prices of 7,000 guan and 2,500 guan Huaxia coins respectively. Among them, the person who obtained the agency right on Huainan East Road was the person sitting in the corner. According to the information I obtained after the meeting, this firm is called bud.
Other liquor agency rights were quickly divided up by many trading houses at different prices. As for the export business of liquor, it was obtained by Quanzhou Pushi Trading Company without any suspense, even though the export tariff of Zhonghua Royal Liquid was as high as the price of the goods. 1.5 times, the auction price is also rising all the way, but Pu Shousheng, the representative of Pu's Trading Company, raised his placard to win it over again and again without hesitation. In the export trade business, Pu's family is the only one, and there is really no one who can compare with it. Competitors, one can see from the performance of Pu's Trading Company in this auction how powerful it is. No wonder it once accounted for as much as one-tenth of the entire Song Dynasty's tax revenue.
As the meeting progressed, Liao Yingzhong, who was the protagonist of this auction, had more and more smiles on her face. Just these agency fees were an extremely huge amount of income, not to mention the sales of Chinese Royal Liquid itself. high profits as well as normal taxes on sales.
Regardless of Liao Yingzhong's political orientation, as Minister of Commerce, she will naturally be happy with her performance improvement.
"Let's go, it's time to go back to Lion Peak, there's still a lot of fun waiting there,"
"It's lively, brother, what's so lively? Why don't I know?"
"Ling'er, I only found out about this in the morning. Someone will challenge Wen Zhang in the backyard of Shifeng in the evening."
"Little Wenzhang," Fang Ling said with a smile, "With Wenzhang's martial arts, there are still people who would challenge him. Brother, how old is that person?"
"About one or two years older than Wen Zhang,"
"Ah, at such a young age, I thought he was an adult master,"