Cement has been deeply rooted in the people through the advertising of the "Ming Imperial Daily", and it is almost a household name, but due to the limited production capacity of cement, there are still many people who have not even seen what cement looks like.

However, after the cement investment advertisement was launched, it attracted the attention of many businessmen. And Zhang Guoji has now completely become an authentic businessman, although Zhang Guoji is not the richest businessman in the Ming Dynasty, if only in terms of financial strength, he may not even be ranked in the top 50, but Zhang Guoji is definitely the most influential businessman in the Ming Dynasty, and his identity determines his status in the business circle.

It's just that Zhang Guoji didn't have much communication with these businessmen at the beginning, but after Zhang Guoji organized the ocean-going caravan, there were more and more businessmen who dealt with Zhang Guoji, and at his level, they must be businessmen with status and status who can deal with him in Daming.

When Zhu Youxiao publicized the cement investment promotion in the "Ming Imperial Daily", many businessmen had a strong interest in cement, and Zhang Guoji was the shopkeeper of the cement workshop, which made the first reaction of interested businessmen was to go to Zhang Guoji to learn about the specific situation.

There is Zhang Guoji's part in the cement business, he must praise the performance of cement, of course, even if he has no part, this business is Zhu Youxiao's, he doesn't dare to talk nonsense, Zhu Youxiao beheaded his cronies back then, and after that incident, he didn't dare to have the slightest disrespect for Zhu Youxiao.

Zhang Guoji even made up a product story for cement after consulting Zhu Youxiao, the main content is that the formula of cement comes from Zhu Youxiao, and Zhu Youxiao was taught by God in his dream. This product story, coupled with the rumors of the reincarnation of Emperor Zhu Youxiao, has cast a shadow of mystery on cement, and more and more people are interested in cement.

Before the official start of the investment promotion meeting in November, businessmen from all over the Ming Dynasty gathered in Beijing. The purpose of these businessmen to come to Beijing is not only to participate in the investment conference, but also to come to the exchange to have a look, and by the way, apply for qualification certificates. According to the regulations, those who want to participate in the investment conference must have a certificate of qualification from the exchange.

After a few months of development, the average daily trading volume of the current Imperial Exchange has exceeded 100,000 silver dollars, which can provide Zhu Youxiao with an income of 6,000 silver dollars a day, and an income of more than 2 million taels of silver dollars a year. The exchange is now in the business circle of Daming, it can be said that everyone knows it, no one knows it, and even the businessmen who are far away in Batavia already know that there is a commodity exchange in Daming.

It's just that the exchange now has a clear determination that people other than Daming are not allowed to participate in the exchange for the time being. The Dutch, Spaniards, and Grape people are now ready to ask Zhu Youxiao to allow them to trade on the exchange. It's just that Zhu Youxiao is still thinking about this matter.

On December 10, the cement investment conference officially began. Although Zhu Youxiao attended the meeting, he did not show up. The heavy responsibility of presiding over the meeting naturally fell on Zhang Guoji.

This investment promotion conference is actually an auction, Zhu Youxiao used the bidding method, and in order to adopt this method, Zhu Youxiao even specially trained Zhang Guoji for a day. Moreover, Zhu Youxiao directly attracted investment according to the division of two capitals and 14 provinces (one more Hebei Province), and Zhang Guoji, at the request of Zhu Youxiao, has also withdrawn from civil cement production.

According to the rules of the Merchants Association, once the merchant wins the auction, the royal family will ensure that the person will obtain a five-year monopoly on the production and sales rights in a certain area, that is, a five-year franchise. Of course, Zhu Youxiao also has to extract 10 percent of the profits from cement production. Zhu Youxiao also promised that if someone changes the formula of cement and causes the performance of cement to improve, as long as it is reported to the imperial court, he will enjoy the patent right for another 20 years.

"The first auction area is the Yunnan Domain, the reserve price is 10,000 taels, and the price increase is not less than 1,000 taels per round, please bid!" After Zhang Guoji read out the investment rules, the auction officially began.

The reason why Yunnan Province was the first to choose Yunnan Province is mainly because it is the first province in Yunnan Province to use cement in large quantities, and compared with other provinces, Yunnan and Sichuan provinces have the highest recognition of cement.

And the use of Zhang Guoji to host, this is because Zhang Guoji has an advantage that others do not have, that is, he is now a businessman and can be recognized by the businessmen present.

"Ten thousand taels!" As soon as Zhang Guoji's words fell, someone raised his hand.

"Eleven thousand taels!" When the voice of "11,000 taels" was still echoing in the hall, someone immediately quoted the price of "11,000 taels".

"Fifteen thousand taels!"

"Sixteen thousand ......" is just that before the offer of "sixteen thousand taels" was shouted, it was covered by another voice, "Twenty thousand taels!" ”

"Twenty-one thousand taels!"

……

The bidders for the Yunnan franchise were not only from Yunnan, but also from Sichuan and the Jiangnan region. The price of the auction soared very quickly, soaring to 50,000 taels in a dozen breaths.

Such a soaring speed made many people present stunned and even a little caught off guard. Although the people who came to participate in this auction today have all been verified by their qualifications, some of them have only heard of cement, and have not even seen real cement, and suddenly the price of the franchise has increased from 10,000 taels to 50,000 taels, and such a huge price change is indeed a bit unexpected.

After the price of the franchise in Yunnan Province soared to 50,000 taels, the speed of quotation gradually slowed down, and it was not as tense as it was at the beginning.

"Sixty-five thousand taels!" After this price was quoted, no one finally quoted again, and the quotation was from Liu Qi, a jewelry merchant from Yunnan. Liu Qi is engaged in the jewelry business, has traveled back and forth between China and Myanmar for many years, and has a deep understanding of cement.

"Sixty-five thousand taels! Is there anything higher than this? It's a five-year franchise in one province. Zhang Guoji asked loudly. Although it was the first time for Zhang Guoji to preside over such an auction, he was stimulated by the current warm atmosphere and showed a performance that exceeded the standard.

Liu Qi saw that Zhang Guoji also announced the final result for a long time, he couldn't help but secretly scolded Zhang Guoji in his heart, in fact, sixty-five thousand taels was already beyond his budget, he expected that the franchise in Yunnan Province should be between three and fifty thousand, and he didn't expect it to exceed sixty thousand taels in the end, but even if it exceeded sixty thousand taels, it was within his acceptable range.

"Sixty-five thousand taels! For the first time! If there's anything higher than that, hurry up and place a bid! Zhang Guoji said loudly.