In the hall, Li Tai waved his hands to everyone and said with a smile:
"I hereby announce that the first bidding conference of the Tang Dynasty has officially begun. I will invite Deputy Director Ma of the Roads and Bridges Department to come to the stage to announce the bidding rules."
"Please give me a round of applause."
The crowd in the audience had already mastered the art of applause. Before Qin Ming and Li Tai could take the lead, thunderous applause erupted in the hall.
Below the stage, hearing the warm applause from around him, Ma Zhou, who was also wearing a green official robe, quietly wiped the sweat on his waist and hands.
Taking a deep breath, Ma Zhou straightened his back and walked onto the stage.
Ma Zhou bowed and took the tin trumpet from Li Tai, then bowed to the audience and said:
"My surname is Ma Zhou, and my courtesy name is King Bin. I am currently the right deputy director of the Road and Bridge Department."
"It's an honor to read out the bidding rules here."
“This time the Road and Bridge Department is inviting bids for the contracting rights of Changluo Cement Road for a period of 30 years.”
"Changluo Cement Road, with a total length of 800 miles, is divided into six sections, namely the section from Chang'an to Weinan, the section from Weinan to Tongguan, the section from Tongguan to Xiazhou, the section from Xiazhou to Shengchi, the section from Shengchi to Xin'an, To the Luoyang section."
"The specific mileage and future toll rates for cement roads have been stated in the announcement and will not be repeated here."
"I will explain the rules below. The bidding at this time will be in the form of an auction."
"Each section of cement road has a minimum contract price of 10,000 yuan."
"Later, a maid from Ximeng Tower will give you a number plate. Everyone present can raise the plate to bid. The minimum bid is one thousand guan each time."
"The contracting right goes to the one with the highest price."
"During the bidding process, malicious price increases are not allowed. If found, the family's future contracting rights in the Roads and Bridges Department will be revoked."
"After the bidding is successful, the contract payment must be paid within three days. If the payment is not paid within three days, the Road and Bridge Department will announce the family's behavior to the entire Datang and give up the contracting rights to the family with the second highest bid. "
"..."
It took Ma Zhou a quarter of an hour to explain the bidding rules, and another quarter of an hour to answer questions for everyone present.
Seeing that no one asked any more questions, Ma Zhou said loudly:
"I'm inviting the Director of the Department of Roads and Bridges to come on stage to preside over the bidding for the Changluo Cement Road."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone who had been impatient for a long time applauded.
Qin Ming walked quickly to the stage, followed by three maids behind him. The middle maid held a tray covered with red cloth.
Qin Mingchao smiled slightly, reached out from the table, picked up the auction hammer and knocked twice.
"Everyone, I have announced that the bidding has officially begun."
While talking, the two maids behind Qin Ming pulled out a red banner with several large characters written by Qin Ming in thin gold.
The contracting rights for the section from Xin'an to Luoyang.
The merchants in the audience raised their placards one after another when they saw this, and the scene was slightly chaotic for a while.
Qin Ming held a trumpet in one hand and an auction hammer in the other, shouting the price in an orderly manner.
"On the 30th, the bid is 20,000 yuan. Isn't there any higher price?"
....
"On the 45th, I bid thirty-one thousand guan."
"..."
At first, most of the people holding placards and shouting prices were merchants on the first floor, but as the prices got higher and higher, the wealthy families on the second and third floors couldn't bear it anymore and gradually came out.
"Cui family of Qinghe, bid 60,000 yuan."
.....
"Bo Lingcui clan, sixty-five thousand strings."
.....
"The Li family in Longxi, seventy thousand guan."
.....
"The Sun family of Guanlong has eighty thousand strings."
....
As the prices were shouted out one by one, there were more and more exclamations downstairs.
The wealthy families participating in the auction gradually discovered that this was actually a good publicity opportunity.
So the bidding became more active.
"The Zheng family in Xingyang has ninety thousand swords."
...
In the hall in the middle of the third floor, Li Shimin looked at Qin Ming on the stage with excitement through the gap in the window.
"Guanyin Maid, did you hear that? It's already ninety thousand strings! Ninety thousand strings!"
Empress Changsun gave Li Shimin a blessing and said with a smile:
"I congratulate Your Majesty."
When she lowered her head, Queen Changsun's mind was still echoing with the words "Changsun's family offered eighty thousand guan".
Empress Changsun sighed silently and thought for a while. When Li Shimin wasn't paying attention, she turned her head and whispered to Yuechan:
"Yuechan, on my behalf, please send a message to the eldest grandson, Shangshu, asking him to stop raising prices."
"Yes, slave, I'll do it now."
...
At this moment, in a private room on the second floor, a middle-aged man in rich clothes waved to the young man at the door and said:
"It's also time for the Liu family's name in Hedong to be resounding throughout Chang'an. Dalang, go ahead."
Liu Yiliang looked happy when he heard this and said respectfully to the middle-aged man:
"Yes, father."
After speaking, Liu Yiliang picked up the number plate, opened the door and walked into the corridor.
"Liu from Hedong, offer one hundred thousand gold."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the hall took a deep breath and raised their heads to look towards the second floor.
I saw a handsome young man, holding on to the railing, looking at Qin Ming on the stage with a smile on his face.
Zhang Jiulang was like frost hitting an eggplant after hearing this. His entire net worth was only one hundred thousand guan!
[The price for the first section of the journey reached 100,000. I thought there would be no chance this time. ]
Qin Ming raised his head and nodded towards the second floor.
[One hundred thousand strings? Well, it’s almost reached its limit. ]
Then he raised the auction hammer and asked loudly:
"Hedong Liu's price is 100,000 yuan. Is there any higher bid?"
"One hundred thousand passes..."
"One hundred thousand pen twice..."
Just when Qin Ming was about to drop the hammer, a thick voice sounded outside Wang's box in Taiyuan.
"Taiyuan Wang family, bid 110,000 yuan."
As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Sanlang frowned, raised his number plate again and said:
"One hundred and twenty thousand strings."
Wang Sanlang raised the number plate again and shouted:
"One hundred and thirty thousand strings."
Then Liu and Wang called out the price twice more, and the price reached 150,000 yuan.
At this time, Liu Yiliang had already lost his initial calmness. He raised his eyebrows, pointed at Wang Sanlang on the third floor and said:
"Is the Taiyuan Wang family going against my Liu family?"
Wang Sanlang curled his lips and said:
"Hmph, I guess it's you, the Liu family, who wants to go against my Wang family, right?"
Liu Yiliang was about to say something, but someone suddenly held his shoulder.
"Father."
The person holding Liu Yiliang's shoulders was none other than Liu Wenbo, the head of the Liu family of this generation.
He shook his head at Liu Yiliang and said:
"Da Lang, you go into the house first, and my father will take care of it here."
Liu Yiliang's lips moved slightly, and a trace of unwillingness flashed in his eyes.
"My child obeys."
Liu Wenbo smiled and cupped his hands towards Qin Ming downstairs and said:
"Liu has met Director Qin. I wonder if Director Qin can ask Liu to say a few words?"
Qin Ming nodded and said:
"please."
Liu Wenbo smiled and nodded, and then said to Wang Sanlang on the third floor:
"My son is young and talks a bit wildly. The Liu family has no intention of becoming an enemy of the Wang family. Please don't blame me."
Wang Sanlang was one generation lower than Liu Wenbo. When he saw the head of the Liu family apologizing, he could only hold up his hands and say:
"My words are also inappropriate. I hope Master Liu will not blame you."
Liu Wenbo smiled and waved his hand and said:
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter."
Qin Ming, who was in the audience, saw that the two of them were chatting away. He coughed lightly and asked:
"Master Liu, look..."
Liu Wenbo cupped his hands towards Qin Ming, smiled apologetically, and said:
"Hedong Liu's bid is 170,000 yuan. If there is a higher price than Liu's, then Liu will withdraw from the bidding."
As soon as the words fell, everyone in the building started talking.
This price has exceeded the authority given by Wang Gui. Just when Wang Sanlang was about to enter the house to ask for instructions.
Wang Gui opened the door and walked out.
He nodded towards Wang Sanlang, then with a smile on his face, he cupped his hand towards Liu Wenbo downstairs and said:
"The Wang family withdrew from this bidding."
Liu Wenbo cupped his hands and returned the greeting:
"Thank you very much, Liu. Your Majesty, please be merciful."
Qin Ming waited for a while and saw that no one came out to bid. He shouted three times for 170,000 yuan, and then made the final decision and said:
"Congratulations to the Hedong Liu family for winning the contracting rights for the cement road from Xin'an to Luoyang at a price of 170,000 yuan."
.......
