Chapter 21 The Glass Night Pearl of the Land of Women
Zhu Houzhao exaggeratedly cried out about poverty, and Gu Dayong and others secretly added fuel to the conflict to blame the civil service group, making the people more sympathetic to the royal family.
At this time, Zhu Houzhao also started to get down to business: "Now I am going to start exhibiting and selling royal merchandise. I will let them offer a low price and implement an auction system. Interested buyers can increase their bids to compete. If there is no one to sell an auction price after three times, If you increase the price, the transaction will be completed at this price! Now let Liu Jin, the eunuch of the Bell and Drum Division, preside over the auction!”
After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, he handed the big brass trumpet to Liu Jin, and then sat back with a kind smile on his face, without any hint of treachery.
Liu Jin also started shouting at this time: "Let's start the first session, the luxury goods auction! The first item to be auctioned is the glass luminous pearl of the Daughter's Kingdom! If the luminous pearl is placed in the house, it will make the bright room shine, and the official career will be prosperous. If you do business, you will have a lot of money. The diameter is one foot, and there is a fairy in the Yaochi. The starting price is five thousand taels! "
The so-called daughter country glass luminous pearls are actually large-diameter glass beads made by casting molten glass in a mold. The fairy inside the glass bead is just a fairy carved by the palace carpenter and put into the mold. The cost is less than one tael of silver. Zhu Houzhao is now directly auctioning it at a high price of 5,000 taels of silver, which is equivalent to directly increasing the price by thousands of times based on the cost price.
Although Zhu Houzhao was smiling at the moment, he was still quite uneasy in his heart. He knew that the Ming Dynasty did not yet have such large-scale glass product manufacturing technology. Even Wang Xifeng's glass kang screen in Dream of Red Mansions was regarded as a treasure, and even Ningguo Mansion did not have it. He had to ask Wang Xifeng to borrow it for display, so Zhu Houzhao dared to directly price it at five thousand taels!
Five thousand taels is not a small amount in this era. Zhu Houzhao is worried about whether the rich people of the Ming Dynasty have this purchasing power. People who want to live in the capital are just like those who live in the third ring road of Beijing in later generations. They are either rich or noble. , I should be able to get this money.
Wei Bin, who was standing behind Zhu Houzhao, felt a little unsure. He knew the manufacturing process of these glass beads and knew that these things were just turning stones into glass. The emperor said that it was silica, the same as stone. Anyway, it's not worth a lot of money. Now the bidding starts at a high price of 5,000 taels. I don't know if anyone can see through it.
"Your Majesty, do you think someone will offer five thousand taels to buy it?" Wei Bin couldn't help but ask.
Zhu Houzhao did not answer, but at this time, a large glass bead with a diameter of one foot was carried up by the eunuch on a wooden tray covered with brocade. The clean and transparent glass ball shone with luster, and it also highlighted the ice-cold beauty inside the glass bead. Therefore, the glass bead caused a sensation as soon as it was brought to the front.
"Oh my God, such a big glass bead. The key is that this glass bead actually has a fairy. How did it grow in? This kind of treasure can only be found in the royal family, but it is only worth five thousand taels. So I think it’s at least ten thousand taels! I’ll pay six thousand taels!”
At this time, a rich man wearing a brocade robe with a copper coin pattern shook his fan and shouted.
Zhu Houzhao couldn't help laughing when he heard someone bidding six thousand taels. At first, he was worried that the people of the Ming Dynasty did not have such great purchasing power, but he did not expect that as soon as the auction price was called out, someone added a thousand taels. This shows that the Ming Dynasty was indeed rich. As for the people, everyone in the world has money, but he, the emperor, is the poorest, so he underestimated the purchasing power of the people of Ming Dynasty.
Wei Bin also looked back at Zhu Houzhao with surprise on his face: "Your Majesty, someone has offered six thousand taels! It seems that there is really a fool who wants to buy it."
"They are not fools. They think this is a royal treasure. Now it is worth five thousand taels, which means it will be worth ten thousand taels if taken to Jiangnan!"
Zhu Houzhao said with a smile, and at the same time he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. He believed that as long as the first person was willing to buy, it meant that the people of Ming Dynasty had the purchasing power, and he naturally did not worry about not being able to sell anything at the Royal Exposition. .
Liu Jin was originally a little worried that no one would be willing to spend 5,000 taels on the crappy stuff made of stone from the Royal Industrial Company, but he didn't expect that someone would increase the amount to 6,000 taels so quickly, thinking that he had a share in the Royal Industrial Company. Yes, if these 6,000 taels are sold, it means that the Royal Industrial Company has made nearly 6,000 taels, and he can get more than a hundred taels from it! But in fact, without doing anything, he could earn more than a hundred taels from glass beads that cost less than one tael. Thinking of this, Liu Jin also laughed excitedly and was about to knock on the board and say, "Six thousand taels for the first time." ! ”
But before Liu Jin hit the gavel in his hand, a rich man wearing a watermelon hat shouted: "I will pay seven thousand taels!"
Before Liu Jin could react, another servant shouted: "My master is offering eight thousand taels!"
"Nine thousand taels!"
"Ten thousand taels!"
Gu Dayong was the shill arranged by Zhu Houzhao. He originally thought that no one would be willing to spend 5,000 taels to buy the glass luminous pearl that cost less than one tael of silver, but he did not expect that someone would increase the price to 6,000 taels and then 7,000 taels so quickly. One thousand taels. When I came back to my senses, the price had been increased to ten thousand taels.
One of Gu Dayong's tasks as a sitter was to drive up prices, so he quickly shouted: "Thirteen thousand taels!"
In this way, Gu Dayong directly tripled the price increase, but he still looked around hesitantly, fearing that no one would continue to follow. "Fourteen thousand taels!"
"Fifteen thousand taels!"
Unexpectedly, as soon as Gu Da said the words, the price had already been increased to fifteen thousand taels.
Without saying a word, Gu Da shouted without hesitation: "Twenty thousand taels!"
But at this time, perhaps twenty thousand taels was indeed very high, and people hesitated for a moment, but even so, perhaps because considering that this was a royal treasure and a pearl that had never been seen before, some people still shouted: "Two thousand taels" One thousand taels!”
Zhu Houzhao on the stage no longer knew what to say. He tried his best to suppress his excitement and pretended to calmly watch the price soar to 20,000. But in fact, he knew what 20,000 taels was, which meant that he used a few I bought a big house in the center of Beijing for 100 yuan!
But the auction price was still rising. Wei Bin was stunned to the point of speechlessness, but at the same time he was so excited that he wanted to turn around and shout to Zhu Houzhao now: "Your Majesty, it's already twenty thousand taels, and someone is actually willing to spend twenty thousand taels to buy this." Stuff! ”
Liu Jin no longer wanted to knock the gavel. He was afraid that if he hit it too quickly, he would miss the opportunity to continue to increase the price of the glass luminous pearl, because at this price, he could already earn more than 400 taels!
"Twenty-five thousand taels! I must take a photo of this thing. None of you want to snatch it. I will sell it to Jiangnan. By then, if I sell the thirty thousand taels, I can make five thousand taels!"
Gu Dayong followed the method given to him by Zhu Houzhao and started the last bid. On the surface, he was very domineering and wanted to buy. In fact, he was deliberately luring these people to continue to increase the price, and he directly explained the reason why he wanted to go to Jiangnan. Selling to make money instead of making more money makes some wealthy businessmen who are somewhat sensible continue to increase prices crazily.
"Twenty-six thousand taels!"
"Twenty-seven thousand taels!"
However, this time when the auction price rose to 27,000 taels, no one continued to shout. After all, the current price was too high. Even in the capital, more than 20,000 taels could be obtained at once. There were not many wealthy businessmen, not to mention that this was still the eighteenth year of Hongzhi when there was not enough silver.
Liu Jin came to his senses after a long time, and then slapped the gavel with some reluctance: "Twenty-seven thousand taels, the first time!"
After a long time, no one responded, so Liu Jin had to take the second shot slowly. He was now looking forward to someone raising the price again: "Twenty-seven thousand taels, the second time!"
When Liu Jin saw that there was still no one, he just sighed and looked back at Zhu Houzhao.
"Knock it on, I'm satisfied, twenty-seven thousand taels, more than twenty thousand taels for nothing," Zhu Houzhao nodded and smiled.
Liu Jin nodded, thinking that no matter how much he said, he had earned more than five hundred taels, and he should be satisfied. After all, the actual value of this glass bead was less than one tael.
However, just when Liu Jin was about to knock for the third time, Xu Jing hurriedly shouted: "Thirty thousand taels!"
(End of chapter)