Tang Ping looked towards the direction where the sarcastic voice came from.
The man was sitting in the first row, looking at Tang Ping and the two coldly.
A servant hurriedly came forward and explained: "Prince Yamabei, this is the invitation of Nakatomi Kamazu-sama..."
This person is none other than Prince Yamabeka who was defeated in the last battle for the emperor.
"Did I make a mistake? Now the Tang Dynasty and Fusang are doing business with each other. There are probably over a hundred Tang merchants in Fusang. Why not invite them all here?"
Tang Ping smiled slightly after hearing this: "Prince Shanbei, are you questioning our qualifications to participate in the auction?"
Shanbei's eldest brother didn't say anything, but what he expressed was undoubtedly what Tang Ping said.
The reason why he targeted Tang Ping in this way was actually because he knew that Tang Ping was likely to have a close relationship with the Soga Ezo family.
He was originally the designated heir of the previous emperor. It was because of Soga Ezo's overwhelming power that Prince Tamura, now Emperor Shumei, was placed on the throne.
Therefore, even businessmen from the Tang Dynasty who had a good relationship with Soga Ezo made him extremely dissatisfied.
"Young Master Qinglian, after all, today is an auction donation to help the victims of the disaster in our country, so if..." An official who knew Li Bai next to the eldest brother Wang Shanbei said.
I haven’t finished what I said, but the meaning is that if you don’t have much money, don’t come to such an occasion to avoid embarrassment to everyone.
"Yes, the amount of money needed to relieve the victims is not a small amount. There should be no items in the auction today that are worth less than ten guan."
"I heard that although the convenience store where Mr. Qinglian is located sells goods from the Tang Dynasty, they are basically daily necessities such as oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea."
It has to be said that for Shanbei Brother Wang to become one of the three major forces in Fuso, he naturally has many supporters. In addition to the pro-Datang faction in Fuso politics, there are also some who are secretly hostile to the Tang Dynasty and believe that the Tang Dynasty It squeezed their space in the East China Sea and suppressed the development of Fuso.
If Fuso wants to develop, it cannot rely too much on Datang.
Such a small auction is a microcosm of the current Fuso political scene.
Li Bai smiled slightly: "It is true that many auctions in Datang require capital verification or deposit payment. I just bought a watch last year. I wonder if my pocket watch may be used as proof of assets?"
As he spoke, Li Bai took out a pocket watch from his arms and showed it to the people around him.
"Oh my God, the pocket watch!"
"This... this is a new product launched by Datang Tang's Trading Company only last year!"
"I heard that this pocket watch is full of parts the size of rice grains. Every part is so ingenious that only the top craftsmen of the Tang Dynasty can make it."
"When my caravan came back from Datang, we said that Tang's Trading Company launched twelve such pocket watches last year, the first year."
"That's right. It is said that pocket watches like this are the strength of Tang's Trading Company, which only produces twelve pieces a year."
"It seems that one of the twelve yuan last year was sold to King Zhao and one to the prince. In fact, only ten yuan were circulated in the market."
"The price of each piece seems to be more than a thousand dollars. By the way, the twelve zodiac signs are engraved on the dial of the pocket watch. Look at this watch, it's a pig."
The auction hadn't even started yet, but the entire Royal Courtyard was in a state of excitement because of the pocket watch that Li Bai took out.
In fact, when it comes to watches, the royal family of the Tang Dynasty, important ministers and senior generals basically all had modern mechanical watches sent by Tang Ping, but they would not pass them on to the outside world.
The reason why such a batch of mechanical pocket watches were made was, firstly, for the craftsmen of Tang's Trading Company to hone their skills, and secondly, to create a new luxury product to make money.
No matter how high the technology content of this thing was in Datang, no matter how sophisticated the production was, its value was definitely not worth more than a thousand guan. Tang Ping set such a standard after the hype.
From now on, Tang's Trading Company will launch twelve numbered pocket watches every year. As long as this pocket watch production technology cannot be copied, these pocket watches will always become the top luxury goods.
This kind of thing is not available in the entire Fuso, not even the Emperor and Soga Ezo, so how can it not cause a sensation.
Li Bai showed it around and then took it back: "If we take a photo today and can't pay for it, I will pawn this watch."
"What did Mr. Qinglian say?"
"I wonder if Young Master Qinglian can buy another pocket watch like this?"
"Master Qinglian, does this pocket watch really tell the time exactly like the legend says?"
Li Bai immediately became the center of everyone's attention. Even the senior Fuso officials sitting in front gathered around him and wanted to get close to him.
Some people even began to speculate about his identity. Since his surname is Li, is he somehow related to the current Tang royal family?
I have a lot of respect for both Li Bai and Tang Ping.
"Ahem, everyone, His Majesty is coming." At this moment, Nakatomi Kamatatsu, who was organizing the disaster relief auction, walked in. He was originally doing greeting work outside, and he had just heard that Li Bai had taken out a piece of The pocket watch thing.
In addition, the emperor was indeed arriving soon, so he quickly came out to maintain order.
Although the emperor does not have too much power now, his status is still supreme in Fuso.
So everyone retreated to their seats and waited for the emperor to arrive.
"His Majesty the Emperor has arrived!" As the chamberlain shouted, the Emperor walked in surrounded by people.
Tang Ping was slightly stunned. This style of work really imitated Datang 99%. Whether it was the costumes, the ceremonial guards, or the maids, Tang Ping almost thought he had returned to Chang'an.
But thinking about the streets of Nara now, all the buildings are Tang style buildings, everyone wears Tang costumes, and everyone speaks Tang dialect, Tang Ping felt relieved.
However, Fuso's cultural identification with the Tang Dynasty does not make Tang Ping happy, because he understands this nation. When you are strong, he will bow down to you and learn everything about you secretly, but when you are weak, he will Jumping up and trying to bite the last piece of flesh off your body.
Just when Tang Ping was thinking a lot, he heard the scolding voice of the eldest brother Shanbei: "How dare you, why don't you kneel before your Majesty the Emperor of our country?"
Tang Ping woke up with a start and turned around to look at the venue. Except for himself and Li Bai, everyone else was kneeling on the ground.
Sighing slightly, how could he have forgotten this incident.
But it was impossible for Tang Ping to kneel down. He didn't even kneel down when he saw Li Shimin, so why did he have to kneel down when he came to Xiaoli?
At the very least, if he reveals his identity, he is the Duke of Pingguo in the Tang Dynasty. Who dares to ask him to kneel down?
"It doesn't matter, I'm a guest from afar, and I heard that people in the Tang Dynasty are no longer interested in kneeling down and worshiping."
Emperor Shuming looked at Tang Ping and smiled slightly: "I wonder if this is the case?"
