"You really asked the right person, the inside story of this matter is generally unknown to the people in the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, because it has nothing to do with the generals."

"A few days ago, an envoy from Ryukyu came to pay tribute to the country called Yamango. As soon as the officials of the Ministry of Rites flipped through the files, they found that this country had paid tribute in the fifteenth year of Hongwu, so they accepted the tribute from this country. ”

"And this envoy was very respectful when he met His Majesty, which pleased His Majesty. It happened that His Majesty brought back a few horses from Chuzhou Horse Farm, and he wanted to reward them to Shanhou Kingdom. ”

"The envoy of the kingdom behind the clinker mountain said that their country was full of mountains, and horses were of little use; And the country is very poor, so I beg your majesty to reward some gold and silver in place of horses. ”

"Your Majesty didn't know what to think, so he ordered an auction of these horses, and the money from the sale was given to the country behind the mountain, so there will be this auction."

"I heard that there are a total of five horses auctioned this time, with the bloodline of sweat and blood, and the rest are all bloodlines of Tuyuhun horses in Qinghai, all of which are very precious horses." Chang Sheng said.

"I see." Lan Zhen said: "It just so happens that my horse is already in his teens, and it's time for a new one." ”

"It's not just your horse that should be changed, my horse is also a teenager, and it's okay to stay at home and breed, but it won't be possible if you fight." Chang Sheng said.

"Big brother, you're not authentic." Lan Zhen said.

"Why am I not authentic?" Chang Sheng said.

As soon as he finished speaking, he said: "Besides, even if I don't fight with you, do you think there will be no one to fight with you?" There are so many nobles in the capital, but they are all thinking about these five horses. Chang Sheng said.

Lan Zhen is right when she thinks about it, there is no one who doesn't like horses when he is a general, even if those ordinary generals don't dare to fight with him, there are many nobles in the capital, and they are not afraid of him, and it is not of much use for him to persuade Chang Sheng to retire.

After a while, I'll go to the yamen who sells the horses and see if I can buy them in advance." Lan Zhen thought to herself.

……

……

"The auction of five good horses on May 25 has been advertised, right?" Yun Xi and Qin Song said.

"Yes, Your Majesty, the nobles of the capital already know." Qin Song said.

"That's good." Yun Xi said again: "There must be a lot of people who come to you to intercede and want to get a few horses in advance." ”

"There are indeed a few people who have spoken about it, but they have all been rejected by the minister." Qin Song said.

"Just say no. Don't say yes to anyone. Yun Xi said.

He said a few more words to Qin Song and asked him to step back.

This time, the so-called Yamaho Kingdom of the Ryukyu Kingdom sent people to pay tribute, and the final auction of the horses was completely directed and acted by Yun Hee, so that the auction of the horses was done logically.

Now horses are very valuable in Daming, that is, ordinary adult Mongolian horses can be sold for hundreds of dollars, and slightly better horses are worth hundreds of dollars. There is no precedent for such a good horse to be auctioned this time in Daming, but such horses have been sold for thousands of times in the Mengyuan Dynasty.

Yun Xi was very dissatisfied with the previous method of rewarding the nobles without the use of the horse royal family. The Ming Dynasty gave these lords and titles a lot of money, an official position, and a large area of farmland, and even the horses were taken from the government for nothing, he felt that it was too generous.

So he decided to change the way the good horses offered and let them bid. According to the calculation of 3,000 guan for one horse, five horses are worth 15,000 guan. There are more than a dozen horse farms in the country, and there are always twenty or thirty good horses that can be sold every year, that is, 60,000 to 90,000 yuan, which is not a lot. Yun Xi can't spend so much money in a year.

But because of the Chinese tradition, he can't directly say that he won't reward you horses in the future, and wants good horses to bid for by himself. Yun Xi thought about it and came up with a way to auction horses in the name of Fanguo.

The country of Shanhou, which was borrowed by Yunxi, did send envoys to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty in the fifteenth year of Hongwu, but within a few years this country was destroyed by the Ryukyu Zhongshan Kingdom, and now there are only three countries in Ryukyu, Shanbei, Zhongshan, and Shannan, and the monarchs are all surnamed Shang, and I don't know if they are a clan.

But he was a little afraid that the magnates would 'buy' the horse before the auction. So Yun Xi handed over this task to Qin Song's Jinyi Guard. Although Qin Song's Jinyi Guard's command was only a third-grade envoy, no one dared to offend Jinyiwei.

According to Yun Xi's estimate, because the last time the minister's horses were rewarded was in the thirty-first year of Hongwu, and many of the nobles' horses were almost ten years old, so this time there will be many nobles who want to bid for these five horses, and the price is likely to exceed the average price of 3,000 yuan in Mengyuan.

'I hope you can all bid with all your might. Yun Xi thought.

……

……

It was soon May 25th. On this day, in a courtyard near Fusi in Jinyiwei Town, there was still a quarter of an hour before the horse auction began, but it was already full of people. It's a rest day, and everyone doesn't have to go to work, so everyone can come and bid on horses.

From time to time, acquaintances greeted each other: "Lao Lu, are you also here to buy horses?" ”

"Not really! My horse is 10 years old and needs to be replaced. I said Old Tang, your horse was still rewarded by the emperor in the thirty-first year of Hongwu, and this year is definitely not more than seven years old, and you came to buy a horse? ”

"It's not that my son is seventeen years old this year, and he said that he wanted a good horse, so I came over and saw if I could buy one."

"Then why did you come yourself! Just let Don Jr. come. ”

"I came with a glimmer of hope to buy a horse, and he didn't even have a glimmer of hope when he came. My son's face is tender, and as soon as you elders squeeze him, he may let his horse out. ”

"How is this possible! How can we squeeze out the younger generations. ”

"Hehehe."

Soon a quarter of an hour passed, and Qin Song appeared to say a few words to the people present, and then sat aside.

The Jinyi Wei Qianhu, who presided over the sale of horses, was a little nervous and talked about the rules of this auction of good horses, trembling for a long time before finishing speaking, and announced the start of bidding in Xungui's impatient voice.

This time, the reserve price set by Yun Xi is 500 yuan, and the price increase is at least 10 yuan each time. Although his estimated price was 3,000 kan, as long as it was more than 1,000 kan, he could accept it.

A thousand kan was soon surpassed. Guo Zhen was determined to win, and raised the price to 800 yuan as soon as he came up. But he was not the only one who was determined to win, Chang Sen immediately added 100 to 900 guan.

Not to be outdone, Guo Zhen added it to a thousand. Before Chang Sen could add it, Lan Zhen increased the price to 1,200 yuan.

Xu Qin had been looking forward to the good horse for a long time, and immediately bid to 1,500 yuan.

Others bid, and the price exceeded three thousand in a slow but determined pace.

After that, the rate of rise was much slower. In the end, the first horse was bought by Lan Zhen for 4,200 yuan.