auction.
As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang entered the store, and after asking clearly what his purpose was, Zhu Yuanzhang was taken to an auction hall.
The auction hall looked a little dark. Even with many oil lamps lit around it, there was still not enough light.
It seems that it is too dark here, and even the light cannot shine in here.
The auction hall looked very simple. At the front was a large platform with a middle-aged man talking nonstop.
After that, it’s just one seat after another, and these seats are all occupied.
After Zhu Yuanzhang arrived, the waiter added a few more seats in the last row for Zhu Yuanzhang.
After Zhu Yuanzhang sat down, he finally listened to what the middle-aged man in front of him was saying:
"Gentlemen and ladies, the next auction is the core item of our auction house, ten healthy and strong men."
"After diagnosis by doctors at our auction house, these ten men are absolutely healthy and do not have any hidden diseases."
"Not only that, these people are all between 20 and 30 years old, in their prime, and their use period is definitely more than ten years."
"These people have been absolutely tamed by our auction house, please feel free to use them."
"If a slave injures someone, our auction house is willing to compensate."
As he spoke, the middle-aged man waved his right hand lightly and continued:
"These ten strong men will be auctioned at a price of one hundred taels, and each increase in price shall not be less than ten taels of silver."
Seeing the middle-aged man's gesture, someone quickly invited these ten men to the platform.
These men simply wore a pair of underpants, and they all looked very strong and well muscled. Indeed, as the middle-aged men said, they were in their prime.
"One hundred and ten taels."
As soon as these people came on stage, bids started to come out.
But this scene shattered Zhu Yuanzhang's outlook on life.
What's happening here? Buying and selling people? ? Still so upright?
Slavery? Haven’t we long ago abolished selling people into slavery?
What is going on?
Zhu Yuanzhang just felt that his brain was not full today, and he really couldn't understand the saucy operation of the Shanghu County magistrate.
Not only Zhu Yuanzhang, but also Liu Bowen, who had always been good-tempered, felt very angry.
I didn’t expect that in an era when Ming civilization was so developed, there would still be people who dared to go against the grain and practice slavery.
No matter how great this person's achievements are, if he sells the people of the Ming Dynasty into slaves, he deserves to be killed! !
"Dad, what does this mean? Are you going to sell these people into slavery?"
When Zhu Biao next to him saw this scene, he felt that his world view was completely shattered, and asked Zhu Yuanzhang in disbelief.
Is it true that there are people in this world who would sell other people into slavery?
Zhu Yuanzhang did not answer, but the atmosphere on the court had already reached a climax.
"Two hundred taels!!"
After several rounds of competition, the ten men on the field had been auctioned for a high price of two hundred taels.
"Two hundred taels once, two hundred taels twice, deal!!"
The middle-aged man kept hitting the pad on the table with a mallet. After three times, these men were photographed away by a fat wealthy businessman.
"Please ask this guest to pay money backstage, and then we can take these people away."
"From now on, they will be your most loyal slaves, working as cattle and horses for you."
The middle-aged man continued to talk eloquently, and after taking pictures of these slaves, the wealthy businessman stood up excitedly and walked behind the scenes.
It seemed that the wealthy businessman was just going to pay the money and leave.
"Dear guests, don't be anxious, we have better things coming later, so don't be impatient."
"The next thing is ten young women. All of these women have graceful figures. They are rare and of the highest quality. I hope you will not miss them."
The middle-aged man then dropped another bombshell.
"These women are the result of our hard work..."
"Without further ado, the bidding starts at 300 taels, and each increase in price must not be less than 30 taels. The auction begins."
The middle-aged man kept introducing the situation of the ten women, but Zhu Yuanzhang was no longer in the mood to listen any more.
He only felt that he was almost fuming with anger.
After seeing that ten women were actually brought up from the backstage, Zhu Yuanzhang felt himself furious and couldn't bear it anymore and shouted:
"You are openly trading people here, selling people as slaves, and letting others abuse you. Do you still have humanity?"
As soon as these words came out, everyone turned their heads and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang in the back row with strange eyes.
But what is surprising is that the women on the stage did not react at all when they heard these words.
The people at the auction house reacted quickly. When they saw someone making trouble, more than 20 people rushed in from outside the auction hall and immediately surrounded Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang was not afraid at all and glared at these people, wishing he could issue an order right now to pull them all out and behead them.
Soon, the auction house supervisor came to Zhu Yuanzhang. Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's fearless look, the supervisor also frowned slightly.
"I wonder if the guest officer has some misunderstandings about us?"
"What misunderstanding? You treat people as animals and trade them. Don't you think there is no royal law?"
Zhu Yuanzhang loudly rebuked the behavior of these people, obviously disgusted with this behavior.
We, the people of Ming Dynasty, are all like dragons, how can we be insulted by you in this way?
Seeing so many customers looking here, the supervisor knew that there must be an explanation for today's matter, otherwise he would be afraid that his auction house's sign would be ruined.
So he said loudly:
"Our auction house is a regular store. Behind our auction house, the county magistrate also has a stake."
"Not only that, our auction house has always been law-abiding and the taxes we should pay have not been less than a penny."
"As our county magistrate said, paying taxes is legal. How can we say that we are violating the law?"
"If you have any dissatisfaction, you can go to the county magistrate to report us. We will accept any punishment from the county magistrate."
"But now, please leave immediately, you are not welcome in our auction house!"
At the end of the conversation, the supervisor started to drive Zhu Yuanzhang and others away.
It is these people who affect his business. If it were not for the extraordinary clothes of these people, the supervisor would have had these people beaten out.
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard that it was Li Jin who was behind all this, he became furious.
Li Jin, we must kill you! !
However, when he saw that the supervisor wanted to drive him and others away, his temper suddenly rose again. He was about to step forward to argue, but was stopped by Queen Ma.
Now the situation is stronger than the people on the other side, and there are many people on the opposite side. If there is a fight, my side will definitely suffer.
Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang was the emperor, so if something unexpected happened, this would be the greatest damage to the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Yuanzhang glared at the supervisor reluctantly, and was pulled out of the auction house by Queen Ma and others.
As soon as he left the auction house, Zhu Yuanzhang yelled:
"Let's go find Li Jin. We will cut this dog official into pieces."
