Liang Xingxia pointed to the audience and asked nearly a hundred buyers upstairs: "Fifty Lintao cows, one thousand one hundred taels, is there any increase in price? Is there any more?"
Another person in the audience raised a placard, and Liang Xingxia immediately said: "One thousand one hundred and fifty taels, are there any more?"
Zhao Ran raised his sign again.
"One thousand two hundred taels!" Liang Xingxia shouted: "Is there any more? Once! Twice!"
With a sound of "Bang!", Liang Xingxia obviously accelerated the pace of this bidding, and immediately dropped the hammer: "Deal!"
Zhao Ran was quite satisfied. He paid twenty-four taels for each cow. After the transaction, he paid another fifty taels and asked the owner of the cow to send the cow from Lintao to Baihe, and then he could receive the goods. Regardless of whether the price was high or low, he could buy it.
Arrival itself is a major achievement of Zhao Ran’s trip!
In the subsequent auction bidding, Zhao Ran bought another 600 sheep.
Zhao Ran has already given some thought to how Hongyuan should be developed. There are large tracts of broad meadows here, which can be said to be rich in water and grass. It is uniquely endowed with the development of animal husbandry. Half of the people from the three tribes who originally lived here are here.
Herding cattle, sheep, and horses was only destroyed by the Baima Mountain War that lasted for eight years, and now it can be said that "the people are in dire straits."
Nearly four years have passed since the Battle of Baima Mountain, but the situation in Hongyuan has not changed much. The cattle and sheep that were all over the grassland before the war have disappeared, and the tribesmen are still hiding in the mountains, forming strongholds to protect themselves.
Zhao Ran didn't quite understand why he hadn't recovered, and he didn't know how the abbot Zeng Zhili of the White Horse Court and Yuan Hao of the Supervisory Court handled government affairs, but it didn't stop him from taking pictures of a group of cattle and sheep here first, and he would investigate them in detail after he officially took office.
Because.
The auction progressed very quickly. After the bidding for the previous twenty-two lots ended, at the end of the half, the chief auctioneer Liang Xingxia stepped down - he only auctioned high-value bulk lots, and the groceries and low-value lots in the second half were left to other auctioneers.
Responsible.
Liang Xingxia returned to the box, and there was a lot of excitement again. He congratulated Zhao Ran and Gu Lebuhun for the successful bid, etc. In the midst of the commotion, Cheng An stuffed another note into Zhao Ran's palm, and Zhao Ran didn't move.
The voice suddenly stopped.
The second half of the auction soon started again, and most of them were items with a total value of less than two hundred taels, or goods that Liang Xingxia did not want to get his hands on.
For example, three good horses from Dawan were sold for 160 taels of silver, and naturally it was Zhao Ran who sold them. According to the agreement with Tianlongyuan, he can bid for 100 cows and 10 horses at Jinbo Auction House every year.
, these three Dawan horses are in such good condition and the price is so low, of course we cannot let them go. We will at least double them when we return to Daming!
Another example is a pair of tooth carvings from Lou Lan, which sold for eighty taels of silver. Zhao Ran was not interested in such goods, so he was unmoved.
Another example is that Safi's ten exquisite tapestries were auctioned for only one hundred and twenty taels of silver. Zhao Ran saw the long-bearded owner with a depressed face...
These goods were all displayed on the spot. Among them, there were thirty Qingtang horses that moved Zhao Ran's heart. Zhang Juzheng was also greedy to see them. However, Tianlongyuan did not allow him to buy so many horses, and the owner of the horses was unwilling to take them apart.
To sell, Zhao Ran had no choice but to give up with regret.
When it was the turn of lot 36, the owner of the goods strung ten slaves with a rope and put them on stage for display, seven men and three women. The owner introduced that these slaves were the domestic slaves of a nobleman of the Feiting family, and there were sixty-three in total.
, all young and middle-aged men, who have worked in this noble man's ranch for ten years, and are all good herders. Under the management of these slaves, this noble man's large ranch has prospered, and the harvest has been good, which has made his fortune
How rich and so on. It's just that because the noble man has made great achievements and obtained a new fiefdom, he wants to move to a distant place, so he plans to sell all these slaves at once, so he gives a very low price. I hope everyone can take care of these slaves.
A piece of business.
The auctioneer on the stage took over. He said that these slaves were all Ming people. There were forty-three men and twenty women, aged between sixteen and thirty-eight. The ones displayed on the stage were random.
The samples taken were not good at concealing defects.
Zhao Ran stared at these Ming slaves, all of them had dark and yellow skin, their faces were full of weathered color, their eyes were slightly dull, showing a sense of numbness and helpless desolation.
Zhao Ran sighed softly, he couldn't take you away four years ago, but now he can let you go home...
Cheng An whispered from the side: "These slaves were all captured from near Baima Mountain ten years ago."
Zhao Ran nodded. Ten years ago, the Xia army broke through the White Horse Mountain Formation and captured an unknown number of people from the Ming Dynasty. Counting their ages, the youngest of these Ming people was only eight years old and the oldest was less than thirty. As for the
Those who are older must have turned into a handful of loess...
Zhang Juzheng had veins popping out on his forehead, staring straight at the stage, clenching his hands into fists and biting his lips without saying a word.
There were sixty-three slaves, with a starting price of 250 taels, an average of about 4 taels per person. The price was really not high, much worse than that of cattle and horses. It was obvious that the nobleman of the Feiting family was eager to sell them.
When someone raised a placard to bid, the price increased by ten taels at a time, and the price climbed all the way from 250 taels to 360 taels. Among them, the businessman from Safi, the far west land, made the most enthusiastic bid.
When the Safi businessman shouted the price to four hundred and twenty taels, no one in the audience quoted him. This price was basically close to the market price of Ming slaves in Xingqing Prefecture. It was not economical to buy in large quantities. Safi
The businessman had a smile on his face, stroking his beard and looking at the stage, nodding frequently.
The auctioneer shouted: "Four hundred and twenty taels, once! Is there any increase in price? Twice..."
Just as he was about to drop the hammer, Zhao Ran stuck the number plate out of the window and waved it.
"Four hundred and thirty taels! New offer!"
The Safi businessman looked back at the private room on the second floor. All he could see were a few heads and shadows in the window. But they must be all powerful people sitting in the private room. He couldn't help but hesitate, but then gritted his teeth.
——Ming slaves from the East have always been in high demand in the Western Regions. The rich and wealthy merchants are proud to have Ming slaves. If you sell one, you can get the price several times, which is a huge profit. What's more, these slaves can still be on the road.
Helping him carry the goods directly saves the porter's money, why not?
As for the dignitaries in the box upstairs... buy it first, they really want it, and they will consider it when they come back to find me. At the worst, sending it back may be a way to make friends!
"Four hundred and forty taels!"
Zhao Ran raised his sign again without hesitation.
"Four hundred and fifty taels! No. 9 raised a sign of four hundred and fifty taels. Is there any increase in price?"
"Four hundred and sixty taels! No. 33 raises the sign for four hundred and sixty taels!"
Zhao Ran leaned forward, glanced at the number 33 holding the sign downstairs, looked at each other with the Safi merchant, turned back to Liang Xingxia and said: "Shopkeeper Liang, please just ask for five hundred taels."
The purpose of increasing the price is to frighten the opponent, show your determination to win, and let the other party consider whether they are willing to offend you.
The Safi merchant raised his sign again - five hundred and ten taels.
Zhao Ran asked Liang Xingxia to continue shouting: "Five hundred and fifty taels!"
Now the Safi businessman really hesitated. It was not that he couldn't afford the bid. He made money even if he called out eight hundred taels. But from these two bids, he heard the determination and displeasure of the distinguished guest in the box on the second floor, and he started to start again.