Chapter 162 Bidding

On May 22 of the 17th year of Zhaowu, I believe that all the southern gentry will not forget this day.

It rained heavily during the night, and it didn't stop until midnight. This rain washed away the bad luck and blood stains of Jingzhou City. As soon as people open the door in the morning, a new world of sunny houses and beautiful flowers and plants comes into view.

Breathing in the fresh morning air, a man in a brand new green coat is standing beside a large sedan chair with a cluster of gold and silver tops, holding a clean rag and carefully wiping the shiny sedan chair pole. There are more than a dozen small sedan chairs behind this sedan chair, and some people are also wiping them. There was a sound of dense footsteps in the backyard, and the man hurriedly put away the rag and knelt on the ground respectfully.

A white-haired old man in a purple duke's costume walked out of the backyard, surrounded by more than a dozen men. The men were richly dressed, young and old, all with nervous and excited faces.

The old man is Xu Chang, the prince of the Great Qin Jingguo, and the man next to him is the male of the Xu clan. At this time, a man in his forties was whispering: "The two million taels of treasure money from the second master of the capital have been delivered, plus the four million taels sent by the third master of the east a few days ago, the total amount of silver treasure money we have in hand is nine million taels." ”

Xu Chang groaned: "It's said to be about the same, but you didn't see that scene yesterday, it's really exciting." I'm afraid that those guys who were going to get a council qualification will join forces to fight for a standing meeting. ”

The confidant who was called Guochang slandered: Why didn't you say it when you came back yesterday, isn't this about getting on the sedan chair and piercing your ears and eyes? But the family is the head of the family, so he can only think about it, and said softly: "We are not as good as the Xu family, and we don't have so much living money." If we draw it from the books, it will be difficult for us to make a living. ”

Xu Chang is a standard shopkeeper, he shook his head and said: "The old man doesn't believe it, our Xu family can't make up a few million taels?" ”

Guochang secretly scolded this old man in his heart for feeling too good about himself, do you think we also have a canal? said helplessly: "If we take out our silver cave ditch, we can still top five million taels." ”

Xu Chang reluctantly said: "Are you sure there aren't many mines in that place?" ”

An old man on the side chuckled and said, "In the past two years, a total of one million taels have been opened, but others don't know." ”

Xu Chang nodded and smiled: "That's just the opportunity to offset the high price of it." The people on the side praised the wisdom of the family master in unison.

While speaking, the group got into their own sedan chairs, and the foreman kneeling on the ground got up and sang: "Get up the sedan chair ......" The sedan chair drivers steadily lifted the sedan chair and went to the front yard. Out of the main gate, the sedan chair joined up with a team of guards, and marched in the direction of the governor's palace.

This kind of scene is frequently staged in the east and west cities of Jingzhou Prefecture. Last night, the two hundred gentry rushed from their respective mansions to the governor's palace in a sedan chair and with their retinue. There are countless farmers and businessmen who followed to see the excitement.

The Jingzhou Mansion vacated the large school field next to the Governor's Mansion and parked the sedan cars for these old men. There is still half an hour before the venue opens, and the huge school yard has been filled with cars and horses. Those who were late for the shelf turned around and couldn't find a vacant seat, so they had to get off the sedan chair first and let the sedan chair driver carry the sedan chair to the nearby street.

Of course, Xu Chang's identity does not need to get off the sedan car in the big school field outside. When the doorman saw his duke's sedan chair, he respectfully opened the main door and asked Jing Guogong to enter in advance. The bustling crowd outside had no other emotions than envy. This is what people should enjoy at that level.

Of course, it was impossible for a team of more than 200 people to enter the house at the time of leaving the house. The tender will stipulate that each family can only bring one person into the house except for the head of the family. Xu Guochang, as the chief steward of the foreign government of the Xu Mansion, was in charge of the silver money in the house, so he naturally followed into the venue. After the rest of the people said goodbye to the old man, they went to the opposite of the governor's palace and waited in the restaurant they had chartered in advance.

After the two sedan chairs fell, one large and one small, Xu Guochang came down first, ran to the front to open the sedan curtain for the old man, and then respectfully stretched out his hand to help Xu Chang. He has been meticulous in his face for decades, even when he is full of complaints. If it weren't for this, how could he, a side branch, sit in the position of the chief steward of the foreign government for twenty years.

The prefect of Jingzhou Mansion dressed in a brand-new official uniform came to greet him, and for this kind of four-grade prefect, Xu Chang naturally just smiled faintly, and let Xu Guochang go to win over his feelings.

The prefect of Jingzhou led the two to the door of the venue, and an expressionless black-clothed guard blocked the way and said, "Please show the invitation." Xu Chang smiled and said, "The old man will take it personally." As he spoke, he took out a delicate invitation with a blue velvet cover from his sleeve and handed it to him. The black-clad guard opened the invitation, took out one of the red papers, and handed it to the paperwork on the side. Only then did he return his hands to Xu Chang, and said respectfully: "Please sit in the first room on the second floor of the grandfather." ”

Seeing that Qin Lei gave enough face, the old man couldn't help but feel good, nodded and smiled: "Thank you, little brother." Guochang, tip. ”

Xu Guochang in the back said in his heart, old man, are you crazy? When I came to bid today, I didn't have a single piece of silver with me. But the old man's face was important, so he quickly touched his sleeve, found a treasure note with the smallest denomination, and handed it to the black-clothed guard with a painful face.

The black-clothed guard with a grim face hugged his fist to Xu Chang and said, "Thank you, old man, for rewarding." "I didn't even look at the denomination, and I received it in my sleeve.

Xu Guochang followed Xu Chang in, and his heart also wailed, Bodhisattva, a thousand taels of silver have not been exchanged for a smile.

But he had wronged the guard. In fact, after being laid off, the first thing this guard did was to go to a place where no one was. He pulled the treasure money out of his sleeve, looked at the denomination, and his mouth opened wide. gasped and said: "*** is rich, which is equivalent to Lao Tzu earning three years......" There are clear regulations on rewarding silver, whoever receives it is considered whoever, but more than one hundred taels must be reported to the chief of the guard. So as long as he reports to Shi Dang, he can take it into his pocket, and he doesn't have any psychological burden at all.

Xu Guochang, whose heart was like a knife, followed Xu Chang into the venue. The venue has two floors and is tall and spacious. On the lower floor, there are rows of long tables covered with green tweed tablecloths. At intervals on the table, there was a brass name tag engraved with words such as "Zaoyang Zhao Family" and "Yuzhou Ma Family", which seemed to indicate identity. Behind each nameplate is an elegant carved wooden box, and there are teacups and fruits on the side, neatly placed. Behind the table is a comfortable Taishi chair, and it seems that the organizers are really attentive considering that most of the participants are elderly and pampered.

Xu Guochang also forgot to feel distressed, he only felt as if he was in a foreign country, obviously it was still those things, but it was so neat and tidy, it looked neat and capable, giving people a positive and enterprising feeling, and he couldn't help but appreciate the wit in the heart of the principal.

They came late, and the venue was basically full of gentry from Shannan and Jiangbei, and when they saw Xu Chang coming in, they were all busy and said hello. Xu Chang responded with a smile as he followed the guards who led the way.

The Xu family's seat was on the second floor, and when the two of them walked up the stairs, they saw that the upper side was full of private rooms that were separated. Xu Guochang counted, except for the obviously much larger and much more gorgeous room in the middle, there are a total of twelve, that is to say, a total of thirteen, and you can enjoy this kind of superior treatment.

The waiter upstairs led the two into the one on the left side of the large room, and sure enough, there was a sign of A number one hanging on it. It turned out that the big room belonged to the prince, and the two of them said in their hearts.

When I entered the room, I saw that the decoration of this small room was very simple and elegant, and there was a set of pear blossom wooden tables and chairs in the front place, and there were also wooden boxes of tea and food on it, but it was just more upscale. The most satisfying thing for the old man is that there is an easy chair behind the table and chair, which can make his old bones suffer less.

After walking this way, the old man in his seventies was also a little tired, so he sat down on the easy chair, adjusted his comfortable posture, squinted his eyes and said: "Don't look at our prince's young age, but he is very old-fashioned in doing things, so you can't find fault at all." ”

Xu Guochang knelt on the ground and pinched the old man's feet, and said with a smile: "It really makes people feel that it is worth the money, and it is comfortable in the eyes of the heart." ”

While the two were talking, they heard someone coming upstairs again. Xu Chang mouthed Nunu at the door, and Xu Guochang got up and looked out through the crack in the door. After watching it for a long time, he turned around and said softly: "It's from the Xu family." ”

The old man nodded, and then asked, "Which room did they enter?" ”

"Jia Qi." Xu Guochang smiled a little gloatingly, "It seems that their silver bullet didn't let the prince give more face." ”

It didn't take long for the hour to arrive. Looking down from the box, all the tables were already full, and Zhuo Wenzheng, the governor of Jiangbei, was already standing on the stage, and it seemed that it was finally about to start.

Zhuo Wenzheng also changed into a new three-grade dress today, standing on the stage with a hundred times more energy, looking at the crowded audience, and looking at himself expectantly when he saw the familiar or unfamiliar faces. He couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion in his heart, it was very difficult to meet these bigwigs here in the past, let alone gather them. On that day, the scene of him and the governor of Koji eating behind closed doors and sitting on a cold bench is still vivid. Unexpectedly, after the prince came, he easily turned these cunning fox-like, treacherous and ghost-like, and amazing old men with big shelves.

He said that he was going to have a meeting, but some people would rather risk their lives to pass through the area controlled by the Maitreya Sect and rush over for fear of missing it.

He said that he would pay a deposit of 10,000 taels for registration, and suddenly more than 3 million taels of silver came into his account. It is said that you will accept it happily, but he will not have a primary election, directly eliminate more than 100 of them, and return the silver intact.

Although I don't understand the intention of the prince to do this, but seeing these guys sitting behind the long table honestly, they are all satisfied and proud, it seems that the selection at least satisfied the vanity of the gentry present - as long as you can enter this room, it means that you are one of the top 200 in the south.

Behind the curtain, there was a slight cough from Koji Yanwu, pulling Zhuo Wenzheng back from his emotion. He cleared his throat, swept his gaze across the stage, and waited until everyone was quiet before loudly announcing the start of the bidding meeting for the post-war reconstruction of the two provinces.

Qin Lei came to the stage with a smile, he looked at the people in the audience, his heart was full of pride and some apprehension. After a while, he smiled and said, "Are you all excited?" ”

Everyone in the audience smiled and nodded.

Qin Lei also smiled and said: "Lonely's excitement is no less than the slightest bit of everyone here, our yamen has spent a lot of energy from the beginning of the conception of the Lone King to the argument with the four governors." Koji-sama's hair is white. ”

There was a good-natured chuckle from the audience. The rear-stage Koji Yanwu could only shake his head and smile bitterly, he had never been involved in this matter from beginning to end, but whoever made those three adults have no white hair, he only had this merit.

Qin Lei continued: "And this yamen can pass the court, register in the ministry, and be affiliated in the Shaofu, needless to say, everyone can understand that it is infiltrated with the Queen Mother, Your Majesty, and the Lone King, how much hard work, right?" ”

Everyone looked at it with deep contempt, and if it weren't for the arrival of the decree and the letter of the ministry, they would still think that they were dreaming......

"I want to ask everyone here, is it worth it?"

Everyone nodded desperately, how could it not be worth it? This kind of thing that was originally a luxury in a dream has really come true today. Many of them stayed up all night, some because they were excited, and some because they had to plan more investment overnight

"Why the value? Because from today onwards, the south has finally united, twisted into a rope, clenched into a fist, and thought in one place and worked hard in one place! Finally, I can let those northerners listen to the voice of the south. Qin Lei waved his hand violently and said loudly: "Don't think about bullying people anymore!" ”

The gentry seated, regardless of their age, felt that there was something in their chests that was swelling, and if they did not vent it, they would definitely burst their chests.

I don't know who finally couldn't help but clapped his hands vigorously, this way of expressing enthusiasm was subtle and unassuming, and it was quickly recognized and resonated by the people on the side. Immediately after the second, the third...... The applause gradually became one from thin to dense, and when the applause also sounded in the upstairs box, it finally converged into a resonance.

Qin Lei looked at the few nurseries in the audience with a smile on his face, and he was infinitely relieved in his heart, he always felt that he almost applauded and was not enjoyable when he spoke, and finally passed it on through this opportunity.

It's just that the people in the audience don't know how to applaud yet, and they desperately tap their palms on each other without saying anything, and they don't know how to stop. Qin Lei believed that these scholars would be able to come up with a complex set of rules when they turned around. So he didn't do anything to correct it, just raised his hand and motioned for everyone to stop.

The gentry in the audience stopped clapping their high-fives, although their hands were red and swollen, they felt much more comfortable, and all the accumulated emotions were vented, and even their spirits seemed to be stronger.

When the applause was scarce, Qin Lei said loudly: "Gu announced, the bidding in the morning has officially begun." I hope you all will be able to enter the Assembly. ”

Another round of applause......

Qin Lei, who went to the private room upstairs, couldn't help but sigh in his heart, these people's learning ability is really strong.

When Qin Lei and the three governors sat down in their respective boxes, the bidding began. Zhuo Wenzheng, who acted as the host, repeated the rules first: "As the rules you got earlier, there will be more than one winning bidder in this auction. To do this, you just need to put the number of shares you want to buy and the maximum amount you are willing to pay for each of them into a wooden box on the table. ”

"When all the wooden boxes have been collected, they will be supervised by the representatives of the people present, and the scribe of the house will write all the prices on the white wall behind the official in order of the highest to the lowest. The highest bidder gets all the shares he needs; The next highest will get what he needs from the remaining shares, and so on, until all the four thousand are all gone. ”

Then someone asked, "Isn't that the same thing at different prices?" Someone on the side chuckled and said, "Brother Tai, didn't you read the rules?" In all of the 4,000 bids, all the winning bidders will be traded according to the lowest successful bid, which is fair. ”

The brother who asked the question said embarrassedly: "I was going to score a five, so I didn't look carefully." ”

Everyone here understands and is convinced by this ingenious method. First of all, this method is fair and open, and it cannot be faked in black and white, and the one with the highest price will get it. A big family like the Xu family and the Xu family are very satisfied, this kind of one-priced, irremorable auction has put an end to malicious price increases. People like them who target thousands of shares at every turn are most afraid that someone will raise the price in the auction, forcing them to have a lot of bloodletting, not to mention wasting money in vain. Sometimes I have to cut my flesh and give up part of it. And now everyone has to do what they can, and they don't dare to shout the price all over the sky, as long as they quote the highest price they can accept, the result will not be too bad.

This kind of practice of not having to pay the total price compared to the unit price is even more good news for those smaller families, anyway, they want less shares, as long as the price is higher, they will always get it.

No one in the room objected to this approach.