In the past, the upper echelons of the Qing Dynasty did not know and did not care what copyright was.

Everyone here today has figured out that this thing is worth a lot of money! The old man Li Hongzhang dares to ask for the price of his teacher's books, and now with the British foreign devils, it is reasonable to ask for the price of their country's books, right?

Zheng Ruilin smiled faintly: "This gentleman." You should be aware of the rules of the auction, we are only responsible for finding the consignor's lot to the buyer. As for the source, we don't care and we don't care about it. If you want to get further information, you may wish to contact Mr. Yang Hao. ”

Johnson was speechless.

If he was a dumbfounder, no one would dare to do anything to him if he was fooled on the spot. But who made him a teacher for a future prince? At least a gentleman's demeanor must be maintained, and he is not the only one who makes a fool of himself and has a bad reputation on such occasions.

Nodding cautiously, Johnson returned to the box with a stomach full of anger.

Pu Wei was young and old, and smiled at him: "It is enough for Mr. Johnson to show concern." If you want to sell a favor to Black Press, you can provide them with a message. If you want to negotiate in person, you can ask the British Legation. I believe that Boss Yang will give face. For now, let's get the important things done first. ”

Johnson's old face flushed, realizing that he had lost his temper.

What did Pu Wei do when he invited him today? It is to help the scene with a long eye, and the goal is the Chinese translation of this "Encyclopedia Britannica"!

I thought it was another good show, but it turned out that the foreign devil was a turtle with a shrunken head. A group of spectators was called unhappy. At that time, he shouted: "What a broken book!" What does it matter to us about the British? Withdrawn, withdrawn! This is a hard time on a hot day! ”

"Hehe, the third brother is going to withdraw first? It's good to go, don't send it! I heard that there have been a lot of new things on Zizhulin Street recently. Do you go and open your eyes first? ”

Ridicule and ridicule smashed one after another. The third brother sat down instead: "Master is not willing to go with your wishes." I've got to see it today! ”

In the midst of the uproar. Everyone's eyes turned to Zheng Ruilin's body. He continued, "Since you have no other doubts, our auction will begin immediately. The original English version of this set of books costs hundreds of pounds. It is equivalent to more than 1,000 taels of silver. However, the original text is more than 40 million words long, and it involves countless specialized fields of knowledge, and the cost of translation is unimaginable. Therefore, the auction price of this first set was set at 5,000 taels of gold! ”

Five thousand taels! Not dark enough. But it's definitely not cheap!

Especially after the price was announced, everyone had a feeling that there was a huge gap. The British, in particular, knew that this set of books, which represented the cultural authority of the British Empire, sold seven or eight thousand copies in England alone. How can a professional "Bible" that is rated as "second only to God in authority" sell for less than a Chinese book in one day?

Foreigners in China, in the process of learning Chinese, must not be able to bypass the "Siku Quanshu". But after learning about it, I was very disappointed, that set of huge classics of 700 million words, most of the content is far from practicality of various principles and principles, and most of the spiritual and cultural materials. It is far less relevant to practical needs than the Encyclopedia Britannica.

More critically. The text inside is too ancient to understand, and there are no broken sentences. This will hardly be read by the average person. And how can you apply what you have learned?

Later they figured out that this was only for their so-called "noble class", as for the industrial and commercial and peasant classes? Nobody paid any attention.

This seemed inconceivable to the British, who were founded on industry and commerce, and it made them even more despised. At least this perception is not the same as the information fed back by those ancestors who came to the Ming Dynasty more than 200 years ago.

The origins of the people present are distinct. The group of noble people, when they heard the comparison of the results, immediately shouted disapprenousively: "What kind of broken books dare to sell so expensive!" Five thousand taels of gold might as well build a garden, and raise two troupes to be happy! ”

"That's it! But a thousand taels of things, you dare to sell 100,000 yuan, not so black! I see, it won't sell at all! ”

"Yes, yes! I think it's better to disperse as soon as possible. What the hell, it's a waste of time! ”

The businessmen below know too little after all. The English version was not popular in the Qing Dynasty at all, so naturally few people knew about it.

However, they can judge from the attitude of Johnson, the Englishman, that the origin of this set of books should be extraordinary. Boss Yang can use it as the finale, which shows that he knows the weight of it. Regardless of whether it is worth five thousand taels of gold or not, it must be the right thing to do first.

At the moment, it was just a short-term cold scene, and then some people raised their cards again and again, pushing the price up little by little.

But this time, it's not as crazy as "Siku Quanshu", and it's basically 12,100 taels up. After more than a dozen times, it was only at the price of 20,000 taels, and the pace slowed down significantly.

At this moment, I suddenly heard a loud quotation in Prince Gong's box: "Thirty thousand taels!" ”

The flag-man pile exploded!

"The kid from the sixth master's family is very smart on weekdays! It's hot and muddled today, isn't it? Thirty thousand taels of gold, that's not silver! Do you want to buy such a set of broken books and go back to make a bed? ”

"That's not right. How do I think he came with ulterior motives? Didn't you come here for this set of books? ”

"That's not going to be able to pay such a big price! Could it be that there is gold in that book? Got beautiful women? There is still a future! ”

When it comes to the future, the brain suddenly reacts, yes! That's what it's all about! Prince Gong has been idle for some years. Now the Prime Minister's Yamen managed by Prince Qing is in a mess, and the Empress Dowager Xi is very unhappy. Isn't it, you're going to resurrect the sixth master again?

This is big explosive news!

The devil Liudongshan is making a comeback, and the Manchurian high-level will inevitably undergo a earth-shaking change. Even if it doesn't cause a lot of trouble, the situation between the DPRK and China will inevitably change!

The key may be another signal - Lafayette is delegating power to the emperor in advance, does this mean that he wants to meddle in collecting me again?

Nothing can stand up to pondering, and the fault of the wise man is this. You just have to think about it. Anything could happen.

Now. It's not just a group of clan nobles. The people of the minister's family couldn't sit still! Among them, people such as Sun Yuwen and others in the post-party immediately had to think clearly about how to team up with the devil six in the future. Or listen to the government again, how to seize power.

The emperor is in a hurry! They finally looked forward to the emperor's pro-government, and it was only a few days after they were in high spirits. If Prince Gong gets up, many people will have to defect at any time, and with the support of the Queen Mother of the West, this will immediately have to be beaten back to the way it was!

It's true. One stone stirs up a thousand waves.

Just a book, the fate of a little guy will make a big wave. Inside and outside the auction hall, there was a lot of discussion, like a hornet's nest moving.

When Zheng Ruilin saw this scene on stage, his heart was full of absurdity. It's just such a group of flies and dogs, gathering on the heads of hundreds of millions of people all day long, knocking bones and eating marrow, and doing all kinds of evil. In their minds, there is no national economy and people's livelihood at all. It's all about fighting for power, and politics is tilting!

As the main executor of this time. His knowledge of the Chinese translation of the Encyclopædia Britannica is very deep. This book has an incomparable role in inspiring the wisdom of the contemporary people and attracting the intellectual power of the whole country from blindly studying the imperial examination to technology closely related to the people's livelihood and national strength.

Previously, the "Guowen Bao" continued for several months, starting with the introduction of basic technology and basic knowledge, and slowly cultivating the literacy of a cultural class. Ben is to lay the foundation for this, so that all readers have a little idea in their minds.

The following set of books can be used as evidence for them to seek external knowledge systems, and they can read and find them at any time, and absorb the beneficial elements of Western civilization from them.

More importantly, it can improve the literacy of readers, broaden their horizons, and no longer have a black eye.

This is a very important section in the whole great cause of enlightening the people's wisdom that began with the "National News". Unexpectedly, it was only used as a tool for power and profit within the Qing court.

Woe!

The storm of speculation was still expanding, and everyone quickly thought, what are the people from Prince Gong's family doing when they come to buy this set of books? Purely for Western studies? Obviously not worth it. Later, when it is published in large quantities, I will buy a copy.

Then there must be other plans! It's not to let out a rumor, it's to use this set of books for some purpose.

It is obviously impossible to curry favor with the Queen Mother of the West. Lafayette wasn't in the mood to see a bunch of foreign gadgets.

Then the rest of the people are only Emperor Guangxu! But here's the problem, the devil six went to curry favor with the emperor, not afraid of attracting the displeasure of the Empress Dowager of the West? Unless you have permission to do so. As a result, things become more and more complicated, and people are a little confused .......

Although the people present are smart, they are far from the best. They are not old foxes who stay in the center, and after thinking too much, they begin to have their heads swollen and faint.

Pu Wei didn't expect it to cause such a discussion, and when he heard everyone's various speculations, his little face suddenly turned pale - he really didn't expect so much beforehand!

What Prince Gong thinks of himself, he doesn't know when he is a grandson. It's just to come out and do errands. It's really as everyone judges, his small body can't bear it!

In the midst of the entanglement, the situation on the field changed again.

The three major business groups that have just shown their skills suddenly bid! And the amplitude changed from the previous cautiousness, and after repeated times, it rose straight to the price of 50,000 taels!

Such a sudden change in the situation caught Pu Wei and others off guard. When I looked at the price code, I couldn't help but have a headache. The amount of authorization they received simply can't reach such a high level! What to do?

Yang Hao, who stayed in the monitoring room, was also a little underestimated about this. Originally, his target was the vampires of the Qing court. He wants to take this opportunity to squeeze out a little oil and water, and add a little chaos to their interior by the way. I didn't expect the businessmen to give face like this.

The results soon became clear.

The price rose to 100,000 taels of gold and was won by the Jinshang Group in one fell swoop. After the boss of Rishengchang waited until the final decision, he stood up and made a circle around: "Thank you for agreeing!" This set of books, we will dedicate to the current emperor! ”

Those who couldn't figure it out suddenly became enlightened: "I'm cǎo! The ambush is here! (To be continued......)