A Red Dead Redemption Story

Chapter 250 The Auction Begins

The auctioneer in charge today was a bearded man. He stood on a moved wooden box and rang the 'auction bell' in his hand, which was a copper bell with a wooden handle.

"The auction is about to begin. Gentlemen, come around. Come around."

Everyone approached him one after another and stood in front of him.

The auction process is very simple, and the auctioneer will not say too many irrelevant things. Basically, anyone who has passed the capital verification at the bank that cooperates with the auction house can get a number plate, raise the plate to increase the price, until no one increases the price in the end, the auction will be over. it's over.

After the auctioneer saw that everyone had gathered, he began to read out the auction rules and the status of the land to be auctioned as usual.

To be honest, there was no need for Arthur to do this himself. It seemed that he could leave it to anyone. It was just a matter of holding the sign to the end.

what?
What if someone bids higher?
No, the price of land today is not as high as it was later. This is land in the west, and there are still large areas of vacant land. It is a problem if you cannot leave the land idle after acquiring it.

So don't worry, no one will be willing to pay a price as high as Arthur's.

And the biggest reason that prevents Americans from owning land in the West is never the acquisition. The Homestead Act clearly states that as long as you are a U.S. citizen over 21 years old, you don’t even need to pay the registration fee. Receive a piece of western land not exceeding 160 acres and cultivate or live in it for 5 years. The ownership of this land will be yours.

Therefore, a large part of the reason that troubles an American citizen to own a piece of land in the West is actually the high land tax that needs to be paid regularly after acquisition.

Most of the reasons why farms go bankrupt are because they cannot afford to pay land taxes and lose their land due to natural or man-made disasters.

Of course, there are too many things to think about this and that, and Arthur didn't forget that he still had to hold up the sign.

"No. 2, okay, I saw No. 2 raising a sign, is there any more? This is a large piece of ready-made plantation land. Although the main house collapsed in the fire, who knows whether you will be in it after buying it back. What did you find? Okay, No. 10 raised his sign..."

Arthur is not in a hurry to continue raising his cards. In theory, his real opponent in today's auction is Baird, who represents the state government. However, after listening to what Baird said when he finally came to him, he asked him to withdraw. , obviously, the upper limit of his available funds is not high, so he made himself withdraw.

So until the number of people holding placards slowly dwindled, many people began to give up. Even the auctioneers began to tell the story of the so-called 'Civil War Gold' to try to make people participating in the auction believe that buying the land Afterwards, it might be possible to dig out the gold hidden by the Brewster family.

Arthur then slowly held up the sign.

"Okay, Mr. No. 2 has a long-term vision!"

"No. 1, No. 2, No. 1..." After the auctioneer called No. 2 several times, he realized that Arthur's hand holding the sign never put down.

The current price is about to exceed the final transaction price estimated by their auction house, and only Baird and Arthur are still competing at the scene.

To be honest, Baird had the idea of ​​maliciously raising the price at this time. After all, the words Arthur whispered in his ear just now have left a deep impression on him to this day. Just imagine that the governor of a state is He's going to get a "nothing" from there, so as the governor's secretary, doesn't that mean he's not even a fart?

"..."

In the end, Baird gave up his plan to maliciously raise the price with Arthur. After all, this was an offending thing. Although Arthur seemed to be in a storm now, who could know whether he would be determined in the end? Will it be sunk in the storm?
As the auction bell rang again, the auction ended, and the auctioneer congratulated loudly in a high-pitched voice:
"Okay, let us congratulate Mr. No. 2 for finally acquiring this land."

Arthur could tell that the auctioneer's congratulations were sincere. He probably had a commission from the auction amount in his salary. Who cares, after signing the notarized document, Arthur was ready to leave. Everything else after that Just let people handle things for you.

Finally, Baird found Arthur who was about to leave, and he said:
"Mr. Callahan, are you really okay with this?"

"What did I do? Do you mean participating in a fair and open auction and then obtaining a piece of land that was auctioned?"

Baird watched the other people passing by pointing towards him and Arthur, and he said helplessly:

"Mr. Callahan, don't you know me yet? I am also thinking about you. If you offend the governor, you will get into a lot of trouble. At least give me an excuse so that I can explain to the governor when I go back."

Seeing Baird's subdued look, Arthur smiled and put his arm around his shoulders, and said as he walked out:
"You see, when you sit in the right place, you will find that many problems that were originally difficult to solve are actually easy to solve. For example, if you look at it from the governor's side, you have screwed up the governor's Not only will you not be able to get the job done after you go back, but your ability to work will also be questioned. But if you stand on my side, you will find that you have done me a favor, and I can also help you solve the governor's problem. dissatisfied……"

I have to say that after hearing what Arthur said, Baird did feel a sense of enlightenment?

Just listen to Arthur continue:

"Let's go back to Rhodes for a drink with me. I still remember the ugly face you pretended to be drunk in my office last time. This time I want to take a closer look at your drinking capacity."

Baird did not refuse, but he was still waiting to hear what Arthur said about how to resolve the governor's dissatisfaction.

……

(End of this chapter)