King Luhuang of the Ming Dynasty: My father, Ming Taizu

When saying this, the businessman from Suzhou was obviously lacking in confidence.

This also makes many Suzhou people feel even more humiliated.

the other side.

The merchant from western Zhejiang who offered 30 taels of silver sneered.

"I thought you were so rich!

The price will be increased to 40 taels of silver!

It turned out to be nothing more than that. He gritted his teeth and stomped his feet and added 5000 taels!
That's it?

Ah!
They say you Suzhou people are poor, and you are indeed poor! "

This statement came out.

The field suddenly became more lively.

Zhu Yuanzhang saw all this clearly in the box.

He looked at Zhu Tan and sneered, "Old Ten, this merchant from western Zhejiang is a spy arranged by you, right? It's really a good trick. In this way, those Suzhou people will go crazy and take this glass wine set!

You can’t lose face too much!”

Zhu Tan laughed dryly and said, "Father, the Suzhou businessman who is close to him is also a trustee arranged by me!"

Zhu Yuanzhang:
He couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"You are really ruthless. These merchants are going to fight to the point of jealousy. Do you have people behind every chamber of commerce?

Will they then have to fight each other to the death just for the sake of face?"

Zhu Tan nodded and said, "The Fujian merchants and the Huizhou merchants have also been arranged.
There will be many more lots to be auctioned later, and they will all pop up at that time.”

Zhu Yuanzhang:
"I'm afraid this is not what a gentleman would do, but father is the emperor, not a gentleman, so father supports you!"

Zhu Biao:.
He thought somewhat sadly.

What's going on in this world?
The propriety, righteousness, integrity and honor that Master Song Lian taught me seemed to be completely absent from my father and my tenth brother!
It just so happens that these two people have abilities far beyond his own.

Shouldn't we value propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame these days?

Really
It’s hard to describe in one word!

at this time.

The Suzhou merchants who were ridiculed immediately refused to work.

Someone stood up instantly.

He bowed to the merchant who had just bid three hundred and five thousand taels of silver.

"My dear brother, I am Wang Jinmo from Suzhou!"

As soon as the words fell, everyone present couldn't help but exclaimed!

"Wang Jinmo! It's him! It is said that most of Suzhou's silk trade is in the hands of the Wang family! It is no exaggeration to say that he is as rich as a country!"

"Not just in Suzhou! I heard that Wang Jinmo is one of the richest people in Songjiang, Huating and other places! He is very rich!"

"Even Yingtian has many assets of Wang Jinmo, which is really powerful!"

Wang Jinmo said calmly: "Brother, since we are here to represent the face of Suzhou merchants, we cannot lose this face!
Originally, I thought this set of wine utensils was not worth so much money. However, since some people look down on us Suzhou people and think we have no money, I will offer a small price!

This set of wine utensils costs four hundred thousand taels!
I want it! "

The words fell.

Everyone was shocked!
It increased by another 10 taels, reaching 40 taels!

Scary, this price is really scary!
Of course, for these big businessmen, 40 taels is not a big sum. The turnover they handle every year may be as high as tens of millions of taels of silver.

But it would be too extravagant to just use it to buy a small set of wine utensils.

From now on, I’m afraid it would be a waste to use this set of wine utensils to hold fine liquor!

I'm afraid only the nectar from heaven can be put into this wine glass.

Upon hearing the offer of four hundred thousand taels of silver, the man who had just claimed to be a merchant from western Zhejiang was instantly speechless.

His face flushed red as he stammered, "Four hundred thousand taels? Mr. Wang is really rich! Then this set of wine utensils belongs to Mr. Wang from Suzhou!"
But it’s not that I can’t afford it, I just don’t think it’s worth it. We people in western Zhejiang have plenty of money!”

After saying this, the whole audience couldn't help but boo.

It's obvious that this person can't afford the wine utensils, so why is he still being stubborn?
It would have been fine if you hadn't said this, but now that you say it, it makes people from western Zhejiang seem even more stingy!
The businessmen from western Zhejiang present were also getting a little restless.

The so-called western Zhejiang is the area occupied by Zhang Shicheng back then, mainly including Hangzhou, Huzhou, Jiaxing and other places.

After Zhu Yuanzhang established the country, he took his anger out on the people of western Zhejiang who were loyal to Zhang Shicheng. He imposed heavy taxes on these places and severely punished quite a number of merchants.

This caused these merchants to be unable to recover for quite a long time. It was not until the Ming Dynasty became more and more stable and prosperous that western Zhejiang, which was already a land full of wealth, gradually recovered and a large group of wealthy merchants emerged.

Originally, they and Suzhou were enemies and they disliked each other.

Now that there are so many people watching at the auction, both sides are secretly wanting to compete for the top spot.

at last.

Fang Qingchen, president of the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce, stood up.

He said calmly: "There is more than just the one in Zhexi!

I didn't buy it because I felt that this set of wine utensils was not worth so much money!
However, it seems that I have to buy it now.

We can’t let some cloth sellers steal the limelight!”

The words fell.

The venue suddenly became lively again!
This Fang Qingchen's reputation is no less than that of Wang Jinmo from Suzhou!
Fang Qingchen is more involved in the business.

They were involved in rice, noodle, and oil businesses, and even iron smelting, silk, salt, and tea!

Some people even say that Fang Qingchen is a distant relative of Fang Guozhen!
He can also conduct overseas trade, so he has countless amounts of silver in his hands!

"Hiss! President Fang has taken action. I'm afraid Suzhou will be in trouble!"

"President Fang's business is much bigger than Wang Jinmo's. Tsk tsk!"

"I heard that President Fang has a good relationship with those people at sea! As for this silver, you can get as much as you want."

"It looks like Wang Jinmo is going to lose!"

Fang Qingchen said calmly: "A mere 40 taels of silver cannot scare us Zhejiang people!

50 million taels!

60 million taels!

70 million taels!

I'll pay 70 taels of silver for this set of wine utensils!"

The words fell.

The whole place seemed to be in an uproar.

For just a set of wine utensils, he actually paid 70 taels of silver. When this number got out, it was simply shocking and unimaginable!

And now it is happening right in front of everyone.

Apart from the fight for face and loyalty, I'm afraid no other matter would make people pay such a high price.
When Wang Jinmo heard Fang Qingchen's words, his face suddenly turned dark.

This price is really outrageous and the increase is too high. Wasn’t it agreed that the maximum increase could only be 10 taels of silver?
However, Wang Jinmo thought about it again.

Fang Qingchen's behavior doesn't count as violating the rules.

I added 10 taels at a time, all the way up to 10 taels, no problem!
Wang Jinmo was somewhat unwilling.

He looked at Fang Qingchen and snorted, "Eight hundred thousand taels!"

hiss--!
There was a sudden gasp from the entire audience.

He actually added another 100,000 taels!
The price has reached 80 taels!

This price is really scary!
Before the Ming Dynasty, the annual tax revenue was only around 10 million taels of silver.

This small set of wine utensils in front of me has now been sold for 80 taels of silver by these people! It is almost equivalent to one tenth of the annual tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty!

This is too exaggerated!

Of course, the annual tax revenue of Ming Dynasty is close to 4000 million silver now, thanks to Zhu Tan's efforts.
Fang Qingchen sneered.

"Nine hundred thousand taels! One million taels! Wang Jinmo, you can't win in a money contest with me!"

Hearing this, Wang Jinmo fell silent.

Yes!

Fang Qingchen's business scale is much larger than his own.

No matter how hard I fight him, I'm afraid I'll still lose in the end.

Wang Jinmo said calmly: "I just don't want to see Suzhou people being humiliated by you people from western Zhejiang for no reason!

Now the goal has been achieved. Since Mr. Fang likes this set of wine utensils so much, just take it!"

Fang Qingchen nodded with a calm expression.

But his heart was also bleeding.

One million taels!
One million taels!
With such a huge sum of money, I’m afraid all my years of work will be wasted!
Of course, the reason I was able to take a picture of this set of wine utensils was, on the one hand, because it was precious enough, and on the other hand, the atmosphere at the moment had been set to this point. As long as I could forcefully snatch this set of wine utensils, I would have a lot of face in the future.

This will be of great benefit to expanding your business nationwide!

After all, the merchants who came to participate in the auction today came from all over the country!
Once they see my strength, they will definitely be willing to cooperate with me.

Just when everyone thought that Fang Qingchen could get this set of wine utensils.

suddenly.

Another voice sounded.

"Mr. Wang! What are you afraid of? Let's fight those Zhejiang people!

Anyway, we must not let them think that we Suzhou people are poor!
Hasn’t the bid already reached 80 taels of silver?

I also have 30 silver coins in my hand and I am willing to sponsor it to Mr. Wang!

Let’s raise the price to 110 million taels of silver!

Let's see if Zhejiang people are really wealthy and can they still afford it?"

The words fell.

Suddenly the whole place became lively again!
The price has been raised again, the price has been raised again!
Wang Jinmo said with some embarrassment: "Brother, let alone the 110 million taels of silver, even 200 million taels of silver or 300 million taels of silver, I can afford it!
But is this wine set really worth that much money?

There is no need for us to waste so much, let’s just forget it!

The dispute of arrogance ends here, we have suffered enough losses!"

Hear this.

Fang Qingchen's originally gloomy face finally improved a lot.

He bowed to Wang Jinmo and said with a smile, "Thank you, Brother Wang!"

suddenly.

Not far behind him.

A sarcastic voice sounded.

"What nice words, 200 million taels of silver, 300 million taels of silver!

Can you really afford it?

This is what Suzhou businessmen are capable of!

He's great at talking, but he's clueless when it comes to taking the money!

It’s absolutely true that you are poor!”

As soon as the words were spoken.

Wang Jinmo was so angry that he felt dizzy!

How can you still look down on others?

I have already offered 70 taels of silver to buy a set of wine utensils, and you still dare to say that I am poor?

Damn it!

Wang Jinmo instantly became motivated.

He looked at Fang Qingchen and said coldly: "Mr. Fang! There is nothing we can do! Things have been forced to this point today. If you want to blame someone, blame the ignorant guy behind you!
No matter what, I must take down this wine utensils today!
One million and two hundred thousand taels of silver!"

Fang Qingchen frowned and looked at the person behind him. He just felt strange. As the president of Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce, how come he had never seen this person before!
Logically speaking, a person who could take out 30 taels of silver to bid for wine utensils should be quite powerful. At least his family should have over a million taels of silver. This can be considered a big businessman in Zhejiang. But as the president, why don't I know him?

suddenly.

Voices were also heard among the merchants in Suzhou.

"What are you saying? I can't compare with you in terms of money. I think you are no better than me! Don't blame us Suzhou people for provoking you. It was you Zhejiang people who started it first!
If you can't afford it, forget it. If you can't afford it, just go home and farm or do business. You are not cut out for it!"

In the box.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Tan with a complicated expression.

"The two people you hired are both great people! The original reserve price was only 30 taels of silver, but now it has been raised to such a high price. They can even raise the price by fanning the flames!

Incredible, really incredible, where did you get these two talents from?"

Zhu Tan smiled bitterly and said, "I just said that as long as the base price of 30 taels of silver is reached, they can get a share of 1000 taels of silver. However, if the price of each item is 10 taels higher, their share will increase by 1000 taels. I guess these two people are also crazy about killing."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was speechless.

"It is true that money can move people's hearts!"

at this time.

Auctioneer Zhao Chunlai has become a spectator, and now the two are performing.

They were jumping around, adding fuel to the fire.

In an instant, the people from the two major business groups in Suzhou and West Zhejiang were all so angry that they gnashed their teeth and wished they could kill each other with money.
finally.

Fang Qingchen bought this set of glass wine utensils at a sky-high price of 200 million taels of silver.

Although the Suzhou side did not get the glass wine utensils, they felt that they had regained their face when they saw Fang Qingchen suffer heavy losses.

For a moment, they felt that they had won and celebrated.

Of course, the Zhejiang businessmen felt that they had won, after all, this was a display of strength.

In short, it is a win-win result.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Tan were also extremely happy in the box.

Such a large sum of money coming in far exceeded expectations and is a win-win-win situation for all parties!
The subsequent auction was equally astonishing.

Different from the previous glass wine set.

The next item to be auctioned is something that everyone has seen, but has not seen before.

Glass mirror!

soon.

A mirror about the size of a person was brought up.

Zhao Chunlai smiled and said, "Everyone! The next item is also very precious! Allow me to introduce it to you!"
Glass mirror! "

The words fell.

Everyone looked at the so-called glass mirror.

To most people, a mirror is nothing more than a piece of copper or iron that produces a blurry reflection that tends to become duller due to oxidation over the years.

When Zhao Chunlai slowly uncovered the red silk covering the glass mirror, a square, crystal clear mirror appeared before everyone's eyes. At that moment, the entire place fell into shocked silence.

The surface of the glass mirror is as smooth as water, and every detail reflected is extremely clear, and the color restoration is almost perfect. It is completely different from those traditional bronze mirrors! (End of this chapter)