On December 28, the first auction in the history of the Ming Dynasty was held in Hall 1 of the Tongzhou Special Economic Zone Market! Tian Jingming and they made careful preparations for this auction, numbered all the shops that were ready to be rented, and took the registered merchants to inspect them on the spot in advance, so that they knew what to expect.

On the day of the auction, the No. 1 hall of the trade market was vacated as an auction hall, and a rostrum was set up at the south end of the venue, on which were tables and chairs prepared for Wang Qiang, and a gong was hung above the table. A large blackboard is placed behind the side of the rostrum, which is used to publicize the quotation. Under the rostrum, there are chairs, and each chair also has a hand card, which is prepared for the merchants participating in the auction.

There is no need to pay taxes to do business in the Special Economic Zone, and it is also a place where businessmen gather and rich people gather together, and almost all merchants are optimistic about the business here, so businessmen from all over the country are rushing to participate in the auction of those shops in the Special Economic Zone.

When the hour came, the auction site was already full, and those who did not have seats were crowded in the back. Shang Dayong first stepped onto the rostrum, read out the rules and precautions of the auction loudly, and finally Shang Dayong raised his voice and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, everyone stands up and bows to today's auctioneer, Lord Wang Qiangwang." ”

As soon as the words fell, only a gong sounded, and Wang Qiang swaggered out from behind the scenes. This Wang Qiang wears a black cylindrical top hat, a Chinese-style cotton jacket on the upper body, a pair of fat sprinkling pants on the bottom, high-top cowhide boots, and a big wooden hammer in his hand. This set is an auctioneer's costume specially made by the tailor according to Wang Qiang's description, Wang Qiang's description is vague, and the tailor can only grope to do it, which is naturally nondescript. So as soon as Wang Qiang appeared, he had a full house, everyone applauded and laughed, and the atmosphere became lively.

Wang Qiang smiled, looked around the venue, and said in a loud voice, "Everyone, please take a seat." After saying that, he sat down first. Everyone sat down one after another, staring at Wang Qiang.

Wang Qiang said slowly: "Ladies and gentlemen, the emperor ordered the official to prepare for the establishment of the special zone, in order to prosper the economy and benefit the people. Yes! This, this, this big market is to promote trade between the north and the south, and everyone has seen the benefits. But after this big market, there are more merchants coming and going, everyone has to eat, stay in the store, and some want to listen to music and drink tea, right? Everyone smiled and nodded.

Wang Qiang coughed and then said: "If you want to eat and drink tea, someone has to run these restaurants and shops, and now, these shops have been repaired, so I need to find someone to run them." There is no need to pay taxes here, and the second is that there are many rich people and business is easy to do, so there are many people who want to operate, and there are still fewer stores. Later, when everyone bids, you must think about it, don't bid too high, you can't earn it back, don't shoot too slowly, a good shop let people rob it, and regret it, this adult's three gongs are a foregone conclusion, a rent for three years, and the rent will be paid at one time, and no credit will be paid. There is another one, these shops are allowed to do any business, but this casino can not be opened, this as the saying goes, there is no winner in gambling for a long time, everyone is here to do business with silver, if you are involved in gambling, the cost of operation is lost here, this adult is afraid that he will have to complain, so say in advance, this, this is not to be unpredictable. ”

Everyone agreed in unison.

"Okay, now the auction of the No. 1 courtyard will begin, the reserve price of the rent for a year is five hundred taels of silver, is there a higher bid?" Wang Qiang began to shout. This No. 1 courtyard is located at the corner of two streets in the Special Economic Zone, the terrain is very good, a three-story small building with a large courtyard with two entrances, any business is suitable, and the most people have registered to participate in the auction, so Tian Jingming ranked this courtyard in No. 1.

As soon as Wang Qiang's words fell, a Shanxi businessman sitting in the fourth row raised his hand and responded: "One thousand five hundred taels!" The crowd began to whisper.

A merchant in the second row replied, "I'll pay 1,700 taels." ”

A merchant from the capital in the first row then replied: "One thousand eight hundred taels." ”

Next, a few more people quoted, "three thousand two hundred taels", "three thousand four hundred taels", "three thousand six hundred taels", "four thousand taels".

"Eight thousand taels." Shanxi people have made another offer.

"Ten thousand taels!" Several Northeast merchants sitting on the right hand of the rostrum began to join the battle group.

"Fifteen thousand taels!" The Shanxi man seemed to be bound to win, and shouted loudly.

The Northeast businessman didn't expect the Shanxi businessman to increase the price so ruthlessly, and he hesitated for a while, and the meeting room also began to talk about it. Seeing this, Wang Qiang said with bad intentions: "Well, I'll just say, the boss of Shanxi is rich, and the northeast is remote, so he is still poor!" ”

"Twenty thousand taels!" The Northeast merchant was obviously a temper tantrum, and was aroused by Wang Qiang, holding up the number plate and shouting.

The Shanxi merchant did not hesitate to fight back: "Twenty-five thousand taels!" ”

"Thirty thousand taels!" Northeast merchants also unambiguously markup. It's starting to be vindictive!

"Sure enough, it's a man," Wang Qiang said with a thumbs up. What he wants is this situation, to make everyone angry, so that the rent of the shop can go up, and the first shop can be rented at a high price, and the back shop has a reference, and the rent can also go up.

The rent of this shop is not low at 30,000 taels of silver. The crowd began to talk again.

The Shanxi merchant was silent for a moment, and shouted fiercely: "Thirty-five thousand taels!" ”

The Northeast businessman blushed, twisted his neck and shouted, "Forty thousand taels!" ”

Wang Qiang saw that he was afraid that something would happen if he continued like this, so he saw the opportunity and said: "Okay, 40,000 taels, 40,000 taels is not low, is there any price increase?" ”

The Shanxi merchant glared at the Northeast merchant angrily, raised his hand, and finally put it down, and recognized the bear in frustration.

Wang Qiang's eyes swept around the venue, and when he saw that no one was willing to increase the price, he raised the gavel and struck it on the gong, and opened his mouth to shout: "Forty thousand taels for the first time!" Forty thousand taels for the second time! Forty thousand taels for the third time! ”

When Wang Qiang raised the drum hammer in his hand and was about to knock it down, he heard a slightly immature voice in the last row of the field: "Fifty thousand taels!" ”。

Wang Qiang hurriedly put away the drum hammer, the venue buzzed lively, everyone turned their heads to look back, only to see the last row sitting a young man dressed as a rich man, shaking the fan calmly, this person has beautiful eyebrows, fine skin and tender meat, eighty percent is a girl dressed as a man, everyone pointed and discussed, but the Northeast merchant sighed as relieved, and refused to increase the price.

Wang Qiang saw that the bidder was very young, and couldn't help but be a little worried, don't come out to play behind his own adult's back, so he pointed to the man and said: "I said this little boy, this auction is not child's play, this silver has to be cashed on the spot." Did you negotiate such a high price with the adults in your family? ”

There was a burst of laughter.

The boy smiled slightly, got up and stepped forward from behind, and said as he walked: "Bidding for the next exit is naturally not child's play." I can make my own decisions with this little money, and I don't have to consult anyone. This rent seems to be more expensive, but think about it, if the rent of the same shop is more than 80,000 taels on Qianmen Street, is the prosperity and wealth of this Tongzhou Special Economic Zone worse than that of the capital? ”

What he said was reasonable, and everyone was convinced. Hearing this person say this, Wang Qiang was relieved, the gavel fell on the gong fiercely, and with a "dang" sound, the No. 1 courtyard had been owned by the young man. When the young man approached Wang Qiang, he looked at him curiously, which made Wang Qiang a little embarrassed, and the young man and his family immediately handed over the silver taels, and signed the lease, and then happily turned around and sat back.

With the reference of No. 1 Courtyard, everyone also has a bottom on the prices of other shops, and the next auction is also extremely fierce, for a whole day, more than 180 shops were sold out, Wang Qiang was also tired and exhausted, shouting so loud that his voice was hoarse.

The lowest rent of more than 180 shops is more than 10,000 taels of silver, and the rent of three years has recovered a total of more than 4 million taels of silver, and it is enough to return the silver of the first phase of the treasury bonds, and Wang Qiang is happy that he has not slept all night. The next day, Wang Qiang left for the capital early to report the good news to Chongzhen.