This is a very deep mansion, but it is located in the most prosperous area of Chang'an East City, it is precisely because of these that Li Xiu set up the auction house here, this house was originally used by people, but now it has been transformed into an auction house by Li Xiu, and the useless buildings in it have almost been demolished, only the garden and some necessary buildings are retained, the most important of which is naturally the hall for the auction.

This hall was originally the front hall of the house for guests, and it was built very grandiosely, in fact, this was originally the courtyard of Li Shimin's younger brother Li Yuanjing, so the whole hall was also built according to the specifications of the palace hall, enough to accommodate hundreds of people to hold auctions here, and there are also small side halls on both sides, which can also hold some smaller auctions, or let the guests rest and eat.

Li Xiu has been staying in this renovated auction house since yesterday, and he also slept here at night, and this morning he prepared for another morning, and waited until after noon, the auction house opened, only to see a group of invited merchants immediately pouring out of the Zhengnan Building opposite, these merchants have a low status, and being able to participate in such an auction with the nobles is also a great attraction for them, and when they come to the door, they must show the token and check that it is correct before they can enter inside.

With the entry of the first batch of merchants, one after another carriages also came to the auction house, and some of the nobles who had been invited also got off the carriage, and Li Xiu did not come forward to greet him, after all, this was an auction held by the financial supervisor in the name of the imperial court, not a private party held by him, so he did not plan to come forward at all.

The nobles and merchants who had been invited were immediately invited into the auction hall, and each of them was given a catalogue of the items to be auctioned, so that they could be mentally prepared in advance and make their bids at the auction.

Before the auction began, the people who received the invitation had already arrived, but the status of merchants and nobles was different, even if Li Xiu didn't care, but he had to take into account the national conditions of the Tang Dynasty, so the nobles sat in the front, while the merchants could only sit in the back, and there was even an obvious separation between the two, and for this arrangement, both the nobles and the businessmen took it for granted, and naturally there would be no objections.

The light in the auction hall is very dim, and you can barely see people, which is also deliberately done by Li Xiu, it is said that the darkness can inspire people's courage, and in addition, it can also protect people's privacy, so that people can dare to bid.

The innermost part of the auction hall is a platform that has been built, when the guests come, the master of ceremonies of the auction also comes to the stage, the master of ceremonies is a middle-aged man in his forties, with good facial features and figure at noon, at a glance it is the kind of middle-aged man who is very trustworthy.

This middle-aged man's name is Wang Liang, who was personally selected by Li Xiu, Wang Liang used to be the bank's palm-eyed gentleman, and he was clear about the prices of various items, and his eloquence was good, and he could be said to be alive if he died, and he was the master of ceremonies, in fact, he was the most suitable host.

After Wang Liang came to the stage, he first cleared his throat, and then said loudly: "Thank you for coming to our auction house, Wang Liang, the current master of ceremonies of the auction house, will preside over this auction for you today!" ”

When Wang Liang said this, he explained the rules of the auction again, although when he invited the guests before, he had already sent a copy of the rules of the auction, but for fear that someone would misunderstand, so he took the trouble to explain it again in detail.

After talking about the rules, Wang Liang announced the official start of the auction, and then a young official came to the stage with a small car loaded with a half-person tall thing, and a red cloth was covered on it, so that people could not see what was loaded on the car?

Li Xiu was also sitting below at this time, because Ma Ye and Qin Qiong also came before, and there were also the eldest grandson Wuji and others, at this time, their group of civil and military ministers were all sitting in the first row, and Ma Ye, who was sitting on his right hand, couldn't help but ask: "Boy, when will my Uzi Treasure Knife be auctioned?" ”

"Uncle Ma, don't worry, it's only the first auction item now, the Uzi Treasure Knife you want is so valuable, naturally it has to be put at the end for the finale!" Li Xiu replied with a smile at this time.

"General Ma is good at picking things, but I also take a fancy to that Uzi treasure knife, so don't blame me for not giving in then!" As soon as Ma Ye's words fell, I saw that the eldest grandson Wuji, who was sitting on Li Xiu's left hand, said with a smile, although he was a civil servant, he had also led soldiers to fight before, of course, his record was a little worse, but it was precisely for this reason that he was also very fond of weapons and armor, and this time he participated in the auction for the same sword.

"Hehe, Qi Guogong wants to compete with the old man for this treasure knife, then let's see who has the highest bid in the end!" Ma Ye did not give an inch, he had long regarded the Uzibao Knife as something in his bag, and naturally it was impossible to give it up easily.

Hearing Ma Ye say this, the eldest grandson Wuji smiled slightly at the moment and didn't say anything, but Li Xiu keenly noticed that when the eldest grandson Wuji and Ma Ye mentioned the Uzi treasure knife, the surrounding Qin Qiong and others also showed an expression of interest, and it seemed that they also coveted this treasure knife very much, but their financial resources may not be able to compare with Ma Ye and the eldest grandson Wuji, which made several people also show disappointed looks on their faces.

"Alright, everyone, this is the first item to be auctioned by our auction house!" At this moment, I saw Wang Liang on the stage say loudly again, when he said this, I saw him reach out and grab the red cloth, and then suddenly lifted the red cloth, revealing the exhibits below, but everyone in the audience couldn't help but exclaim.

I saw that on the trolley on the stage, there was a red coral placed in the wooden bracket, only to see that this red coral is more than three feet high, and the whole body is blood red, there is no half of variegation, the shape is very beautiful, the general red coral can reach two feet, it can be called priceless, and this red coral is as high as more than three feet, even close to four feet, such a treasure I am afraid many people have not even seen.

"Everyone, this is the first auction item we auctioned, up to three feet seven inches of red coral, this red coral is blood-red all over, without half a point of variegation, what is even more rare is that the shape is beautiful and chic, it can definitely be called a priceless treasure, and our reserve price is two thousand, and each increase shall not be less than one hundred!" Wang Liang was also very satisfied with the amazement of the people below, and immediately introduced loudly again.

"Now I announce, the auction begins!" Immediately after that, Wang Liang announced the start of bidding, signaling the people below to start bidding, but what he didn't expect was that he didn't know if the people below didn't understand the rules, or they were shocked by this priceless coral, but no one bid for a while, and the entire auction hall was silent.

Seeing this situation, Wang Liang and others on the stage also showed anxious looks, after all, this is the first auction item, if no one bids, then it can only be unauctioned, but this is not a good thing, after all, business is a sign, if the first one is not sold, then the business will definitely be affected.

Li Xiu in the audience also showed a worried expression when he saw this, but he was also a little strange at this time, with the value of this coral, the market is definitely not less than 5,000, and now the reserve price is only 2,000, which is definitely a low price, of course, the bank only sold 2,000 when it was mortgaged, after all, it is impossible for the bank to follow the market price, and the price of the auction items is also according to the original mortgage price, anyway, the bank must not be allowed to suffer.

Just when Li Xiu was hesitating whether to bid by himself and buy this coral directly, he suddenly heard someone in the merchant seat behind him whisper: "Two thousand and one hundred guan!" ”

The bidder behind him did not bid loudly, but because the auction hall was very quiet, it also reached Wang Liang's ears, which made his eyes light up immediately, and when he pointed out the bidder, he said loudly: "This rich merchant bid two thousand and one hundred guan, such a big coral, if no one bids, then it will belong to this rich merchant, and there is no one else to bid?" ”

As soon as Wang Liang's words came out, it seemed to detonate the atmosphere all of a sudden, and I saw that someone in the group of businessmen bid again: "Two thousand two hundred yuan!" ”

"Two thousand three hundred!"

"Two thousand five hundred!"

"Three thousand!"

……

The merchants in the back and the nobles in front sat together, and they were a little weak from the beginning, so the voices of the bidders at the beginning were obviously a little lacking in confidence, but later after the atmosphere rose, the voices of these people became louder and louder, and the price was rolled up, and soon exceeded the market price of 5,000 guan, but at this time, the bidders were also significantly less, and finally a merchant in the southwest corner of the venue came up with a high price of 6,300 guan, and no one shouted for a while.

"That No. 109 guest went out to 6,300 yuan, is there a higher price than this?" Wang Liang asked loudly again on the stage, but he asked several times in a row, and no one bid again, and finally he repeated the price three times, and immediately picked up the wooden hammer next to him and knocked on the table and said, "Six thousand three hundred, deal!" ”

Each guest has their own number in their hand, and with a transaction, a staff member will immediately write down the other party's number, and when it is over, they will find the other party to check out.

The first auction item was successfully auctioned, which made Wang Liang and others feel more confident, and then continued to start the auction, although the next auction items are not as valuable as red coral, but they also have their own characteristics, and also attracted the following people to bid, even the eldest grandson Wuji, such a calm person, finally couldn't help bidding for a piece of jade from the Han Dynasty.

There are hundreds of auction items prepared for this auction, and the reserve price is not high, after all, they are all bank collateral, as long as they do not exceed the high price, buying it is equivalent to taking advantage of it, of course, there are a few lots like red coral that exceed the market price.

Seeing that the auction was about to go to the end, that is, when he was about to auction the Uzi Treasure Knife, Li Xiu, who was sitting below, frowned slightly at this time, because he found a problem from the auction just now.