The world is bustling, all for profit; The world is crowded, all for profit.

Two hundred years ago, Ma Qian of Taishi Company wrote in "Historical Records. This sentence is written in the "Biography of the Cargo Colony". One sentence points out the nature of people in the world to pursue interests.

Two hundred years later, in the side hall of Chang'an Mingguang Palace, there was a crowd of wealthy businessmen, which seemed to confirm Sima Qian's words again.

Originally, it was stipulated that the investment promotion conference would be held at the right time, but these businessmen had already arrived. It is in response to the saying that businessmen cannot afford to be profitable.

It's just that not everyone in the palace can enter, a notice was posted at the gate, the entrance fee was 100,000 yuan, and this is only the threshold fee for entering the palace, as for whether you can get the right to sell porcelain, you have to pass the bidding. If you fail in the end, the 100,000 yuan will not be returned to you.

In the society of the Han Dynasty, 100,000 yuan could buy ten acres of fertile land, or five beautiful maids, which could support ten ordinary sergeants for a year. (The high-paying army of the West Park Army does not count.) ）

I said I would accept it, and I didn't return it. Isn't that a money grab?

Most of the businessmen smashed their tongues. However, the notice also said that in addition to the sale of porcelain like clear water on a sunny day, there were also colorless and transparent glass participating in the bidding.

The merchants began to boil again. Colorless transparent glass, that is an expensive bleeding thing, only sold by the Hu merchants in the Western Regions, if you can get this plus that new style of porcelain, you can't be rich and rival the country?

At this time, these merchants did not think that if glass or porcelain began to be mass-produced, the price would inevitably fall, and they only saw that huge profit. Some people began to weigh the pros and cons, and those businessmen with low capital naturally had to sigh with admiration, while those wealthy businessmen began to move, and finally took out money to pay the entrance fee.

After the end of the investment promotion conference, the entrance fee alone will be 10 million yuan. Liu Wei laughs in his dreams in Weiyang Palace.

Nearly a hundred merchants who had paid the entrance fee were invited into the side hall of Mingguang Palace, and tables and chairs had already been set up inside.

It's just not free. The menu is in front of them, and they order what they want to eat.

A businessman flipped through the menu and looked at it, his eyes widening. The wine and food on it are ridiculously expensive. A bottle of pear wine or red fire is only sold for 200 yuan per bucket in Diaoyutai Restaurant, but it costs 500 yuan here. If you are full of wine and food, you will get three or five thousand yuan for a meal of wine and food.

There are also many businessmen who come in to make money and make profits, but they are also quite a headache in the face of Liu Wei's brazen and all-encompassing behavior.

However, since these merchants are willing to pay 100,000 yuan for the entrance fee, they don't care so much about the meagre three or five thousand yuan for food. The people who can come in are all big businessmen and high-rollers, and it is impossible for everyone to have the opportunity to do business with the emperor, if you want to attract attention, you must show your strength, if you even eat a meal, who will take a straight look at you.

With this kind of thought, although there is some dissatisfaction in my heart, no one complains, and some people rush to pay the bills for others in order to show their strength. Fortunately, the wine and food are still relatively good, some novel dishes are not even available in Diaoyutai Restaurant, and there are singing and dancing performances presented by students of Hongdu Gate School on the table in front of the wine table, and this meal is also worth the money.

After the morning food is used up, the investment promotion conference officially begins after the wine and food are removed. First of all, Chang'an Ling and Gaoling Marquis Zhong Xuan took the stage to speak.

Although Zhong Xuan is a standard scholar, he is not pedantic to the point of being a gentleman. In particular, the surroundings of Chang'an were destroyed by himself, and this investment conference was to raise funds for the reconstruction of Chang'an. As the initiator and the supreme administrator of Chang'an City, Zhong Xuan naturally came forward to say two sentences to show the government's support for the conference.

After the battle of Chang'an, Zhong Xuan's reputation was greatly enhanced. Whether in the official career or in the Han literary world, Zhong Xuan's status is rising. These businessmen have a warm attitude towards the appearance of Zhong Xuan, although it is not popular to sign things like this time, but for cultural celebrities like Zhong Xuan, there are not a few businessmen who ask for words after the meeting.

Zhong Xuan's speech was mainly to thank these businessmen for their arrival and welcome them to come to Chang'an to invest and build factories. After finishing speaking, he walked off the stage, and an old man who was over half a hundred years old and had gray hair walked up again.

"The next surname is Jin, he is the village head of Luoyang Jin Village, and he is also the person in charge of the Luoyang porcelain kiln. The old man's voice was loud and full of confidence.

Then the old man beckoned, and two attendants brought out a case and placed it beside the old man. Two more young girls came to the stage, both wearing uniform pink skirts and holding a box in each hand.

One box contained a set of azure porcelain tea sets, and the other box contained a set of eight hexagonal transparent glasses.

The side hall was silent for a moment, and the eyes of all the merchants were attracted by the two boxes. Isn't that why you went through so much effort to come in?

Jin Lao unhurriedly took out a piece of paper from his arms, and read it according to the content of the paper in a frustrated manner:

"If you can come here, you must be a person with a long-term vision and extraordinary ability. The benefits of porcelain and glass can be understood without saying much about the princes. However, there are two things to explain to you. First, the public is gracious, and those who come are like clouds, and they are grateful. However, the production process of this azure porcelain is extremely meticulous and labor-intensive, and the output is not too high, so in order to ensure the interests of everyone, the right to sell this transparent glass is bundled with the porcelain. The production of glass in our Jincun has a long history, and now it has gradually become a scale, not only in Luoyang, Hongnong have workshops, and soon will be built in Chang'an to build a large glass workshop, mass production is absolutely no problem. Second, in order to ensure your franchise rights, we will divide thirteen agent sales areas based on the Dahan states, and the agency sales rights will be obtained with a base price of 1 million yuan, and the price of each sign cannot be less than 100,000 yuan. The right to sell as an agent is for a period of five years. In addition, His Majesty has issued an edict to hold a banquet in Weiyang Palace tonight, and anyone who has obtained the power of agency will have the honor to have a dinner with the Son of Heaven. ”

What the? Eating with the Emperor? The crowd exploded in an instant. These businessmen came all the way to come for the huge interests of porcelain, and in addition, didn't they want to have anything to do with the emperor?

In the side hall, there was a lot of discussion.

Seeing that everyone was very excited, Jin Lao nodded with satisfaction, and then said, "If you don't have any problems, you can start now." “

"There's a question below." It was a slightly chubby, man in his thirties. "What if I get the agency right in a certain state, but there are other agents who bring the goods to me to sell?"

Jin Lao seemed to have expected that someone would ask this question, so he smiled confidently and said, "Each porcelain or glassware will have a different production batch number depending on the state, and we will also have representatives in each state to check the market situation." The appearance of a small number of commodities with different batch numbers is a natural law of commodity flow. We will not pursue it, if someone flees goods in large quantities, we will inevitably punish them once they are investigated. The light is to reduce the supply volume, and the heavy one is to withdraw the agency. Moreover, the volume of porcelain is not high, and although glass will be mass-produced, it will not be inexhaustible. I don't think anyone would go to another state without even meeting the needs of their own state. ”

After Jin Lao finished speaking, he looked at everyone again, and when he saw that no one had any doubts, he officially announced the start of the bidding.

Jin Lao walked off the stage, and a man in his thirties with a gavel walked up, stood in front of a wooden box, announced the rules of the bidding, and each merchant was issued a wooden sign for bidding. Then the bidding begins.

With such a big stake**, the bidding is naturally very fierce. However, this is not the case in all states, such as You, Jiao, Ji, and Liang, because they are located on the border, sparsely populated, lack of resources, and have been in a state of alien invasion for a long time, so there are very few people who are interested.

Because Bingzhou and Liangzhou were directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, and the signing of the "Han-Hungarian Treaty" and the "Han-Qiang Treaty" made the border troubles of these two states gradually calm, and the situation was slightly better. Youzhou and Jiaozhou simply responded to the few, and the agency was traded by the Lu family of Zhuo County and the Shishi of Bingzhou for 1.5 million yuan and 1.2 million yuan. The Lu clan of Zhuoxian County is a member of Lu Zhi's clan, and it is a very influential clan in Youzhou. Lu Zhi personally wrote to ask them to come, firstly, to support Liu Wei's chamber of commerce, and secondly, to increase the family's income. The Jiaozhou Shi clan is also a local clan, and its head Shi Xie is the Jiaozhi Taishou, and the family has lived in Jiaozhou for a long time and has a huge influence. It's interesting to send someone at this point.

Mi Zhu, who sat among the merchants, thought that the Jiaozhou Shi's trip to make profits was secondary, speculating in the imperial court, and taking the road of the Son of Heaven should be the main thing. However, what caught his attention was that the descendant of the class Chao he met a few days ago also paid money to come in, and he also obtained the agency of Liangzhou.

The shift to get the agency of Liangzhou immediately made Mi Zhu think of the Silk Road. Because of the gradual weakening of the imperial court in recent years, the Han Empire lost control over the countries of the Western Regions, coupled with the ups and downs of the Liangzhou Qiang Rebellion, which made the Silk Road increasingly abandoned.

However, the great success of the Han-Qiang peace talks made large-scale Qiang rebellion no longer possible, and the resumption of the Silk Road was just around the corner. The shift got the sales agency right in Liangzhou, that is, the agency right to sell porcelain to the Western Regions and even further countries, and the huge business opportunities of the Silk Road are a big cake that makes people look blushing.

However, although he was jealous in his heart, Mi Zhu also understood that it was not so easy to restart the Silk Road, and the countries of the Western Regions had cut off contact with the imperial court for so long, and no one could guarantee what attitude they had towards the Han at this time. At this time, foreign trade through the Silk Road will face huge risks, and only the descendants of Ban Chao, who is quite prestigious among the countries of the Western Regions, have the qualifications and ability to do so, and it is unlikely that they will be the Mi clan of the East China Sea.

Mi Zhu still put more of his mind on other states and counties.

Like the four states of You, Merge, Liang and Jiao, Yizhou, Jizhou and Qingzhou are also discouraged by all businessmen. Yizhou is also adjacent to the border, although the products are rich, but Yizhou Mu Liu Yan cut the land to defend himself, and he did not bird the court at all. Similarly, Yuan Shao of Jizhou gradually became bigger in the local area, not only with the governor Han Fu, but also with the imperial court, and the merchants who were afraid of the outbreak of war were quite hesitant about these two states. And the gradual deterioration of the civil unrest in Qingzhou is not their first choice.

The most fierce competition is still Silizhou, Yan, Henan, Xu, Yang, and Jing. Among them, Mi Zhu relied on his wealth and wealth, and even single-handedly bid for the four prefectures of Yu, Xu, Yang, and Jing, but when bidding for the agency of Yanzhou, he encountered great obstacles.

Yanzhou's agency has been raised to five million dollars, and even the 30-year-old host in charge of the auction is sweating profusely and his voice is hoarse. Mi Zhu felt that he had been able to dominate the five million yuan, but he didn't expect that someone would raise a card.

"Five million and one hundred thousand dollars!" The host said excitedly. "Do you have 5.1 million dollars?"

Mi Zhu glanced at the person holding the sign dissatisfied, it was the person who asked Jin Lao question just now. This person has been fighting with himself, which is why he raised Yanzhou's agency to such a high level. asked Mi Fang beside him in a low voice, "Who is that?" ”

After coming to Chang'an, Mi Fang has been responsible for inquiring about the news of all parties, and has also made some inquiries about other businessmen who came to Chang'an. ”

Mi Fang alluded to the two people next to Wei Zi and said: "These two are Cao Song, the father of Cao Cao, the general of Zhendong, and Cao De, the second brother. ”

Mi Zhu nodded slightly, it turned out to be the head snake of Yanzhou, no wonder it was so imperative for Yanzhou's agency. However, Mi Zhu was not such a good person, and he raised the card and shouted: "Five and a half million dollars!" ”

The audience was in an uproar, and everyone was talking. Or they are amazed by the wealth of the Mi clan in the East China Sea, or they are puzzled whether Mi Zhu can recover the cost by raising the price so high.

Wei Zi also seemed to be angered by Mi Zhu's bullying, and as soon as Mi Zhu's words fell, he immediately raised his card and raised the price: "Six million dollars!" ”

The exclamation sounded at one time, and everyone present focused their eyes on Weizi and Mi Zhu. Mi Zhu also lost his temper, and was just about to raise his card to bid, when a young man behind him said lightly: "Doing business and making money, why fight to lose both!" ”

Mi Zhu was suddenly startled, and suddenly he woke up. Such a random bid regardless of the cost, I am indeed a little impulsive. I have already obtained the agency of the four states, and the purpose of demonstrating strength and attracting attention has been achieved, so why bother to be obsessed with the momentary anger in this fight for both sides?

Thinking of this, Mi Zhu smiled and arched his hand at Weizi, no longer bidding. Weiz also politely replied. Seeing that no one was shouting the price, the host made a final decision to return the agency of Yanzhou to Weiz.

Cao Song, the father of Cao Cao beside Wei Zi, congratulated him and said: "Zi Xu (Wei Zizi) has obtained the agency of Yanzhou, congratulations!" ”

Weiz replied with a smile: "Although I have obtained it, it is also quite tortuous. This East China Sea Mizhu is also a character! ”

Cao Song said disappointedly: "The old man came here with the excitement, and he wanted to win the agency of a state, so that he could prosper the family industry, and he could also have the opportunity to win the face of the sky. Who knew that it turned out to be a pipe dream now. ”

Wei Zi comforted him and said: "Brother Meng De is deeply trusted by His Majesty, and he is already a feudal official in Yanzhou, and the Cao family is just around the corner. Why should my uncle care about this petty profit and increase his troubles? ”

At the mention of Cao Cao, Cao Song laughed with satisfaction, waved his hand again and again, and said humbly: "The son has some achievements, but it is not enough to worry about it." ”

The two were talking, and Si Lizhou's agency was also determined. The winner was the young man who had just persuaded Mi Zhu.

The bidding for the agency rights of the thirteen states has been completed, and Jin Lao once again came to power. said a lot of words of thanks for participating, and invited the winning bidder to move to Weiyang Palace to attend the dinner of Liu Bian, the son of heaven. And comforted the unsuccessful bidders that the Son of Heaven will have a lot of new things coming out, and they will still have a chance in the future.

Several merchants and wealthy families who won the bid walked out of the side hall under the guidance of the palace people, and there were already prepared carriages waiting for them outside.

The crowd stepped into their carriages. At this time, Mi Zhu came behind the young man who had just dissuaded him and stopped him before he got into the car.

"Brother Tai walks slowly."

When the young man heard the voice, he turned around, and saw that it was Mi Zhu, and hurriedly bowed his hand and said, "What is the matter with Brother Mi?" ”

Mi Zhu is not surprised that young people know themselves - they are so high-profile after coming to Chang'an, it is strange that they don't know him!

also returned the salute and said: "Thanks to Brother Tai's persuasion just now, Mi Zhu suddenly woke up." Dare to ask the name of Brother Tai, Mi Zhu Hao remembered it in his heart, in order to repay him. ”

The young man smiled slightly and said, "Brother Mi is serious, why bother with just raising your hands?" In Xiawei, it is a Hedong clan. ”

Mi Zhu was slightly stunned. Although I have never heard of Wei Qi's name, the name of Hedong Wei is like thunder. Unlike Wei Zi, the rich man of Chen Liu, the Wei clan of Hedong is a real family of the Han Empire. Its ancestor was Wei Qing, a general during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, although he had experienced vicissitudes in three or four hundred years, he had a solid foundation and stood tall.

Whether it is Wei Qi or Mi Zhu, he is like an upstart in front of this real family. In particular, Wei Kai's gestures revealed a gentle and elegant style full of Confucian style, which made Mi Zhu feel a little inferiority complex for a while.

Fortunately, Mi Zhu is also a person who has seen the world, and after a little stagnant mood, he recovered, and said with a smile: "Hedong Wei's reputation is prominent, and he has been admired for a long time. After the banquet of the Son of Heaven, if you enjoy the light, you can come to the Zhichen Pavilion in the next residence to drink the wine. ”

Wei Qi smiled and said: "Brother Mi invited, but I didn't dare not go." It's going to be bothered. ”

The two made an appointment, then got into the carriage and followed everyone to Weiyang Palace.

To be continued, stay tuned for the next chapter.