Several days have passed since the last cabinet meeting, and finally, the Maritime Trade Department has set a time for the official auction.
And today is the official day of the auction!
At this moment, the auction site is very lively. Everyone who is qualified to participate in the auction is a wealthy businessman with considerable wealth.
Some people even did not hesitate to sell off all the property in their name just to get such an invitation, and thus qualified to participate in the bidding.
Since this auction was organized by the imperial court, the security at the site was extremely tight. There were serious-looking soldiers at the door, responsible for verifying the identity of the visitors. If there was any abnormality, they would immediately capture it!
In addition, from time to time, a group of officers patrolled by, without any pattern.
And this is just security on the surface, there are countless pairs of eyes staring at this place secretly.
The security work at the scene naturally fell on the head of Shuntian Prefecture Yin Ding Shichang!
At this moment, he was angrily scolding his subordinates.
"Tell me, where are the people from the Five Cities Military and Horse Division?"
Ding Shichang looked at his subordinates angrily and asked.
"Report...report to Mr. Fu Yin, the people from the Five Cities Military and Horse Division sent news earlier, saying that they are already on the way."
Seeing Ding Shichang's anger, the subordinate who was scolded put on a respectful and cautious expression and responded.
"We're still on the road, and we don't even know what time it is!"
"Humph, if they delay things, I will never spare them."
After Ding Shichang finished speaking, he walked aside angrily and began to look at the passing merchants.
At this moment, a large number of guards gradually approached the location of the auction, and with them, there were three sedan chairs of different colors.
When Ding Shichang saw this, he thought to himself, this is a big shot coming, maybe he is the cabinet minister!
Immediately, Ding Shichang quickly led his men to greet him respectfully.
After a while, three sedan chairs of different colors stopped at the door of the auction.
Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and Yan Shifan got down from the sedan.
"Yin Ding Shichang, the lower official of Shuntian Mansion, has met several adults!"
Upon seeing this, Ding Shichang suppressed his excitement and immediately saluted the three of them respectfully.
"Well, how is the situation at the scene?"
Gao Gong stopped and asked Ding Shichang.
"Report to Mr. Ge, the situation at the scene is normal and no suspicious persons have been found!"
Facing Gao Gong's inquiry, Ding Shichang immediately cheered up and answered.
"Yeah, well done."
After listening to Ding Shichang's report, Gao Gong nodded, and then followed Zhang Juzheng and Yan Shifan into the auction site.
"Lord Fu Yin, they have already entered!"
After Gao Gong had entered for a long time, Ding Shichang still maintained the same posture as before, with the humility on his face unchanged. Seeing this, the subordinates on the side reminded him softly.
"Ahem, of course I know, and you still need to remind me?"
Seeing this, Ding Shichang cleared his throat to relieve the embarrassment.
Immediately, Ding Shichang looked at his subordinates with a rather arrogant expression and said slowly.
"Your moral conduct is not enough. You must learn more from me."
"Yes, Master Fu Yin taught you that we should learn more from you!"
When the subordinates on the side heard this, their faces were full of flattery, and they immediately complimented.
"You guys, go over there and have a look..."
…
The auction site occupies a large area and is divided into two floors. The lower floor is responsible for receiving ordinary merchants, while the upper floor is not only luxuriously decorated, but also has dedicated maids to serve attentively.
From there, you can have an unobstructed view of the entire auction site, but the upper floor is not open to the public.
As soon as Gao Gong and others entered the auction site, someone was assigned to guide them, and then they were taken to the upper floor where they had the widest view.
The three of them immediately sat down on their seats, with a small table next to them.
From their location, they could overlook the entire auction site.
When the maid on the side saw this, she poured hot tea for the three of them with a smile on her face. The whole process was smooth and without any mistakes.
"The sightline here is pretty good."
Yan Shifan withdrew his gaze and said.
"Yes, the view here is the best."
Zhang Juzheng on the side saw this and followed up to talk.
Gao Gong, on the other hand, had no desire to communicate at all. From the moment he sat on his seat, he began to close his eyes and meditate.
Time passed like this minute by minute. When everyone present was a little impatient, the old man in charge of hosting the auction appeared, and behind him, there was also a man with a rather unpleasant appearance and temperament. A common maid.
The old man coughed twice, and after focusing everyone's attention on himself, he spoke unhurriedly.
"Ahem, I kept everyone waiting for a long time!"
"As we all know, any industry related to maritime trade must be a hugely profitable industry."
"This auction is organized by the imperial court. The purpose is to auction the first batch of thirty sea voyage certificates."
"This auction is guaranteed by the imperial court, so you don't have to worry about safety issues! After the auction is completed, there will be a dedicated person to escort you out safely."
"Why are you talking so much nonsense? Let's just get started!"
"Yeah, that's right, stop talking nonsense!"
While the old man was explaining the rules, someone in the audience couldn't sit still and urged him.
"Okay, since everyone is so eager, I declare that the auction has officially begun!"
"The auction for the first sea-going certificate is now starting. The base price is 10,000, with no upper limit!"
After the old man finished speaking, he immediately stepped aside so that the people in the audience could see more clearly what the sea voyage certificate looked like.
"I'll pay fifteen thousand!"
As soon as the old man finished speaking, a fat-bellied businessman raised the No. 10 sign in his hand and called the price.
"No. 10, bid 15,000, are there any more..."
Before the old man finished speaking, he was interrupted by a voice.
"I'll pay thirty thousand!"
The old man looked around and saw a lean old man holding up the number plate in his hand.
"On the 15th, the bid is 30,000. Do you have any more..."
Before the old man finished speaking, he was interrupted again.
"I'll pay 80,000!"
"I'll pay 120,000!"
"I'll pay 170,000!"
The old man was originally a storyteller, so the atmosphere at the scene quickly became heated. The merchants were seen raising the numbers in their hands with enthusiasm and reporting astonishing numbers one after another.
Generally speaking, by the end of the auction, its nature has changed!
From bidding on items, it has become just a matter of anger, adhering to the idea that if I don't have a good time, you can't have a good time either.
Both parties increased prices crazily, eventually raising the price of the items to a prohibitive level!
At present, this is the case for the first overseas voyage certificate, which was finally sold for 420,000 taels.
I saw the face of the businessman who successfully took the first sea voyage certificate, and couldn't hide the joy on his face.
Then he turned his attention to the previous opponent who had been bidding against him and failed in the bidding, and made a mocking expression.
This move successfully made the latter so angry that he wanted to rush forward immediately and start an unrestricted fighting competition.
The first sea voyage certificate was sold at such a high price, which doubled the old man's confidence. He then turned his attention to the many merchants in the audience and reminded him.
"Everyone, in this auction, only thirty sea voyage certificates will be auctioned! Now, there are only twenty-nine certificates left."
The old man's words successfully aroused an inexplicable sense of crisis in the hearts of all the merchants present!
Let them secretly make up their mind to take a photo of the next sea voyage certificate.
I wanted to post a single chapter to explain it before, but it turned out that I posted it wrong. Please copy it again. The author just received a notice that he had to go back to school to write a thesis. Therefore, the update time will not be stable in the future, but the author will Try to ensure two updates every day. After all, I haven’t taken a day off since the beginning of the book. I will resume three updates after the paper is finished. O_o
(End of chapter)
