The tasting session was completely silent!
Everyone was confused and looked at each other.
Blindly shoot an entire area!
It is true that they are wealthy businessmen, but they are not fools!
Who knows what the goods in this area are？
If it’s in-demand items such as spices and jewelry, you can undoubtedly make a lot of money!
But if there are unpopular Western medicinal materials such as sulfur, rhinoceros horn, sea red, etc. in this area, it will be a complete loss of money!
This kind of bidding method is simply unacceptable to the wealthy businessmen here.
Sure, they were wealthy, but at the end of the day, they were still businessmen.
Businessmen have always been shrewd and calculating, and they make a living by pursuing profits. Naturally, they will not do business at a loss!
Seeing the slight silence, Qiu Guangde explained again, ‘We have already thought that what you are worried about is nothing more than those unpopular medicinal materials.’
‘However, the King of Han has promised that no matter who takes the photos of these medicinal materials, if they cannot be sold within ten days, the King of Han’s Palace will purchase them at the official price to avoid any loss of blood!’
After hearing this, the faces of the merchants looked better.
Hanwang’s handling of the matter can be regarded as giving them an insurance, so that they will not end up losing all their capital.
“Secondly, in order to avoid market saturation, the top three bidders in this auction will enjoy the right of priority sales in Beijing. The top five bidders will enjoy the right of first refusal at the same price in the next tasting. The top nine bidders will receive the secret recipe. A gift package…’
In order to make the first tasting a great success, Zhu Gaoxu also worked hard and tried his best.
In this first tasting meeting, selling foreign goods is just a trivial matter. Observing the financial resources of these wealthy businessmen is the most important thing.
The tasting was a great success, and the goods turned into a huge sum of money, which made Zhu Di clearly realize the terrifying earning power of Ming merchants!
Under the temptation of huge profits, Zhu Gaoxu’s real goal was to persuade Zhu Di to reform the Ming Dynasty’s commercial tax and fill the increasingly empty treasury.
Since Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, all the emperors of the Ming Dynasty have ignored commercial tax. Is it because they don’t know how profitable this thing is, especially in places such as the Three Provinces, City Shipping Department, etc., it is simply huge profits!
When the merchants heard these benefits, they immediately felt moved.
I saw one person asking loudly, ‘Old Qiu, what’s the secret gift package？’
Qiu Guangde smiled warmly and immediately dropped a piece of bombshell news.
‘That is to say, the top nine bidders will be eligible to donate to prison!’
Donate to prison？
What does it mean？
Qiu Guangde reminded meaningfully, ‘This ‘donation’ means donating money, and this ‘prison’ refers to the Imperial College!’
‘Everyone knows that the Imperial College is the highest educational institution in the Ming Dynasty. That is to say, as long as the top nine bidders are qualified, these nine can recommend outstanding and outstanding children from their clans to enter the Imperial College to study and cultivate virtue!’
As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked and looked at Qiu Guangde in disbelief!
This Prince of Han is so generous and courageous!
The imperial examination system initially established by the Ming Dynasty completely deprived or strictly limited the right of merchants, prostitutes, actors, servants, servants, and other ‘untouchables’ and their children to take the examination.
In other words, if the children of merchants want to take the imperial examination and change their humble status as merchants, there is almost no way.
Moreover, those methods may not be available even with money, they are too difficult.
Zhu Gaoxu watched with cold eyes behind the scenes, and couldn’t help but sigh when he saw the joy and excitement of these wealthy businessmen.
Scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, this is the eternal class!
Now is the Yongle period in the early Ming Dynasty. Because the great ancestor hated merchants so much, their situation was very sad.
Not to mention taking part in the imperial examination, merchants were severely suppressed by the imperial court and could not even wear brocade clothes on weekdays.
Even though his family is extremely wealthy, he can only wear coarse linen clothes outside and doesn’t dare to sneeze at all.
However, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, with the emergence of capitalism and the connivance and acquiescence of the imperial court, merchants also ushered in a golden age.
For example, Zhang Siwei, Wang Chonggu, Ma Ziqiang and other six ministers were all from merchant families, and they also sat in high positions of great importance.
Compared with them, businessmen like Qiu Guangde who were born in the early Ming Dynasty had a much miserable life.
Now that they are only given the qualification to donate prison, they are so excited and excited that they are all gearing up and eager to give it a try.
After all, the merchants in the early Ming Dynasty were rich but not powerful, and they were too miserable to be human. The merchants in the late Ming Dynasty were powerful and powerful, and they were too arrogant to be human!
Soon Zhou Chen walked in. It was obvious that he had already negotiated with the envoys and attendants.
‘Your Majesty, I’m lucky enough to live up to my fate. I’ll draw fifteen points.’
‘Almost all those merchants agreed. Rather than doing the hard work of selling, they were more willing to let us do the whole thing and give them money in the end. They also praised us for our thoughtful service.’
Good service？
I’ve become an ‘escort’？
Zhu Gaoxu’s face suddenly darkened, and he said angrily, ‘It seems that fifteen points are missing. We have to increase the amount.’
After hearing this, Zhou Chen was dumbfounded and looked embarrassed.
‘Your Majesty, this is not good. I have just reached an agreement with them…’
Zhu Gaoxu looked at him speechlessly and patiently explained, ‘Why do you think the king arranged for them to be in the Lou Jiangnan Pavilion, but arranged the tasting meeting in the Lou Jiangxi Pavilion？’
Zhou Chen was startled, and then a look of horror appeared on his face.
‘My lord, what do you mean…’
‘Only we and these merchants know the real transaction volume. How much money we will give to those merchants will just depend on their mood.’
‘You calculate an amount as soon as possible based on the basic market price and give it to them. How do they know how many points we drew？’
Zhou Chen ‘？？？’
Your mother!
Can you still play like this？
Isn’t this a waste of money？
The goods belong to other merchants and the money belongs to these wealthy businessmen. You just held a tasting party and made so much money in vain？
Seeing his dumbfounded look, Zhu Gaoxu smiled helplessly.
‘Zhou Chen, you have the talent to manage the world, but you lack practical experience. I intend to recommend you to the imperial court to take charge of the three provinces and cities in the future. I hope you will learn more from me and don’t let me down.’ !”
After Zhou Chen heard this, his face turned red with excitement.
‘Thanks to the prince’s love, Zhou Chen will definitely live up to his mission!’
At the tasting meeting, Qiu Guangde had already taken out the first number and officially started the auction.
‘In all areas, the starting price is 50,000 taels of silver, the one with the highest price will win!’
‘Now, let’s start the bidding for Area 7, which is suspected to be from Mudu Gushu…’
Fifty thousand taels, this is just a guaranteed price.
All the merchants know very well that based on the quantity of goods in an area, as long as they can be sold, the value of 50,000 taels is more than enough.
As soon as Qiu Guangde finished speaking, all the merchants could no longer suppress their enthusiasm and started bidding one after another.
‘Fifty-one thousand taels!’
‘Fifty-seven thousand taels!’
‘Sixty thousand taels!’
All of a sudden, the bidding sound was endless.
Under the temptation of being eligible to donate to prison, a group of wealthy businessmen started bidding frantically.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s money or not, I mainly want to give my children a bright future!