In the past two days, the dozens of young eunuchs in Prince Xin's Mansion were extremely happy.
There are many wealthy families in the capital, and there are even more knowledgeable people.
Although I was a little tired, the tea money gained was not a lot at all.
As for the little eunuch Fan Gan, he visited a total of 20 wealthy businessmen in two days, and collected 200 taels for the errands alone.
The most generous among them was undoubtedly the Fan family in Shanxi, who spent 100 taels of silver in order to help introduce the prince. And there will be a huge reward after the promise is fulfilled.
Fan Gan, who was knocked unconscious by the silver, naturally took the silver with a smile.
Afterwards, the more he thought about it, the more something was wrong. Fan Gan hurriedly reported the matter to Manager Wang.
Wang Chengen, who had been unconscious in the palace for many years, immediately realized something was wrong and hurriedly reported the matter to Zhu Youjian.
"Shanxi merchants, the eight imperial merchants, the eight traitor families, I'm so sorry that I forgot about you when I was recalling them before!" Zhu Youjian couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart after hearing Wang Chengen's report.
"You dare to inquire into the palace. It is an unforgivable crime. Go and investigate and see who else has received such benefits. After you find out, leave it to Wei Zhongxian to deal with it."
Under Zhu Youjian's instruction, Wang Chengen began a rigorous investigation of the eunuchs and maids in Prince Xin's Mansion.
It doesn't matter if you don't check, but when you check, you will be shocked. Among the 50 or so eunuchs who went out of Prince Xin's Mansion, 10 of them actually received various bribes. Eight of them were bribed by Shanxi merchants.
Except for Fan Gan, who reported to Wang Chenen in advance, the others were all sent to Dongchang.
That night, Wei Zhongxian visited Prince Xin's Mansion again. When he came, he gave Zhu Youjian a banknote of 100,000 taels.
Needless to say, these one hundred thousand taels of silver must have been extorted from those ten wealthy businessmen.
Although those wealthy businessmen have quite deep backgrounds, even the current Wei Zhongxian has to stay away from them. But Wei Zhongxian was still blackmailed out of one hundred thousand taels of silver.
"It's up to you to keep these 10,000 taels of silver notes for your share of the profits of the East Factory." Zhu Youjian took out the 10,000 taels of silver notes from Wei Zhongxian and handed it to Wei Zhongxian.
In Zhu Youjian's view, Dongchang took the blame, so why not give him some benefits?
"Your Highness, this..." Wei Zhongxian did not put the banknote in his arms.
To be honest, he really wanted to accept the 10,000 taels, but he was afraid that Wang Xin, who regarded wealth as his life, would settle the score later.
"Just keep it, you will have to work hard in the east factory later. But you have to remember, there is still 50% of my eldest brother's shares in it, so don't take it less."
"Don't worry, Your Highness, everything Dongchang handles will never be short of a penny."
...
"Wang Chengen, how did you do with the things you were asked to handle?"
"Don't worry, Your Highness, it's been packed over there. You can start at any time."
"Tomorrow, when you hold the auction, you must not say clearly that this is His Majesty's work, do you understand?"
"clear."
...
"Isn't this the second master of the Fan family? Long time no see? I wonder where he got rich recently." A fat man wearing silk products at the door of Qiming Auction House greeted him with a smile.
"Second Master of the Jin family, long time no see," the man known as the Second Master of the Fan family replied.
"The Fan family has great magical powers, how much do they know about Qiming Auction?"
"I'm sure I know something about it, but it's confidential and I won't disclose it to anyone. The auction is going to start soon, so let's go in first and talk about it," said the second master of the Fan family.
Merchants value profits, and as a Shanxi merchant who relies on smuggling to raise prices, the Fan family values profits even more. This time Dongchang directly extorted 10,000 taels of silver, which really made the second master of the Fan family heartbroken.
But there's no way around it. Although there are many high-ranking officials behind the Fan family, the second master of the Fan family knows very well that these backends really don't work in this matter.
The prince who bribed the eunuch of the royal palace is still the prince who is favored by His Majesty. Once he is found out, without Dongchang taking care of it, the forces behind the Fan family will swallow up the Fan family first.
Businessmen are so helpless against officials.
In the eyes of the second master of the Fan family, those civil servants were simply representatives of shamelessness. After all, businessmen still know the word "integrity". Those officials can show off their integrity. The key is that you can't refute them.
"Well, this pastry is good. But after eating it, my stomach felt a little full and my mouth felt a little dry. Maybe it was because Guanyin soil was added to it."
The second master of the Fan family muttered in his heart.
“Now I declare the first auction of Qiming Chamber of Commerce to officially begin.
There are no other requirements for the auction, and everything goes to the highest bidder. Anyone who dares to use force to suppress others should not blame us for being rude," Wang Chenen said on the stage.
"Now leave the auction to our Miss Shishi." Then Wang Chengen, accompanied by the guards beside him, turned and entered the backyard.
He only needs to show up for this kind of thing and say that this is King Xin's property, and leave the rest to professionals.
Everyone looked for the sound and saw a girl wearing a light green dress slowly walking out from the backstage.
Behind her were two beautiful women in palace attire, each dragging a tray.
The tray was covered with a piece of valuable red satin.
"You must have tasted the "compressed biscuits" next to you. "
"I don't need to say much about how they taste. These "compressed biscuits" are a tribute from Tianluo Kingdom to our Ming Dynasty. They are made of precious raw materials. It is said that regular use of "compressed biscuits" has the effect of prolonging life."
The girl named Shishi explained from the side.
This girl was originally just an ordinary maid in Prince Xin's palace, and her name was not Shishi. She was discovered by Prince Xin because of her eloquence. At Prince Xin's request, she changed her name to Shishi and could not afford the stage name Shishi. An auction started.
The tribute from Shenma Tianluo Kingdom, how to prolong life. She made it all up, just to sell it for more money, yes, to sell it for more money.
Anyway, the prince said that those who came this time were not good birds. You're right to trick them.
"Each group is 100 bags, a total of 5 groups, the starting price is 100 taels of silver, and each increase in price must not be less than 1 tael of silver."
"I offer 102 taels"
"I'll offer 105 taels."
.....
In the end, five sets of compressed biscuits were sold for a sky-high price of 800 taels of silver.
"The auction below is from the Song Dynasty..."
...
“Now finally comes our finale.
A Taishi chair made by Master Qiming himself, the starting price is 10,000 taels of silver, and each increase in price must not be less than 100 taels.
"Pfft!" The second master of the Fan family spit out a mouthful of hot tea.
"What the hell, a grand master's chair costs 10,000 taels of silver. You think it's made of gold. Even if it's made of gold, it's not worth so much money." The second master of the Fan family roared in his heart.
"I will pay 10,000 taels." A young man in gorgeous clothes said next to the second master of the Fan family.
"Brother, you are crazy. 10,000 taels is not a small amount of money. If you buy a Taishi chair, you are not afraid that dad will go back and break your legs."
"You know nothing. I heard that Master Qiming may be the current Holy Emperor. If you buy it back for 10,000 taels, Dad will definitely..."
Although the two people's voices were not loud, they clearly reached the ears of several wealthy businessmen nearby.
This situation happened in several places where wealthy businessmen gathered.
"I will pay 10,500 taels." A slightly fat middle-aged man next to the young man said directly.
"I will pay 11,000 taels."
"Eighteen thousand taels..."
In the end, the second master of the Fan family bought the Taishi chair for a high price of 30,000 taels of silver.
