When the emperor arrived, the bidding meeting officially began. According to the process that Lin Chong had given to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they also found a decent host. Lin Chong and Yuan Qingfang were not far away, and the host was probably
I have never had the opportunity to be so close to the emperor, and I was so nervous that I sweated on my forehead.
Following Lin Chong's signal, the host cleared his throat and raised his voice: "My lords and bosses, please be patient. Now that the emperor and empress have given orders, our auction will officially begin soon."
As the announcer on the stage slowly explained the rules, the voices in the entire hall gradually became quiet.
Although I have never participated in such a formal auction meeting, the people present are all well-known and big businessmen, and they still know the rules of bidding. Therefore, after the announcer explained it, everyone almost understood the rules of this bidding meeting.
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Their gifts had been handed over to the Ministry of Rites a long time ago. The Ministry of Rites presented them to the emperor for review, and then His Majesty personally selected the items to participate in the auction. After the list was finalized, the Ministry of Rites handed it over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which prepared it.
The following matters.
Half of the invited list was determined by the Ministry of Rites, which was determined by officials at all levels, and the other part was determined by the Ministry of Household Affairs, which was responsible for private merchants. Lin Chong did not deliberately conceal the list of gift boxes that were collected to participate in the auction.
Anyway, these people have already been eliminated by spreading the word, so there is no need to deliberately hide it from them.
After roughly explaining the rules, the bidding officially started. Before bidding, Lin Chong carefully selected all the items that were brought up. After excluding all the items that he felt were not suitable for auction, the rest were basically
It's all here.
His original intention was to let Yuan Qingfang pick from the pile to see if there was anything he liked, but after a quick glance, Yuan Qingfang expressed that he was not interested at all. Since the heroine was no longer interested, then Lin Chong would be interested in someone.
If you are interested in something, naturally you cannot express it.
Anyway, if he likes it then, he can directly participate in the bidding, which can be regarded as embodying the spirit of fair competition. After all, no one dares to really snatch things from the emperor, so Lin Chong is confident that he can get the things back at the lowest price.
The officials invited are basically suppliers of these things, and the merchants invited are the top fifty selected by the Ministry of Household Affairs based on the taxes paid every year. Wei Changqing was originally ranked first, but this year due to fraud,
There was a surprise attack from Pijiang. Zheng Ying made up a large amount of money he owed in previous years and surpassed him to become the number one.
When Wei Changqing saw Zheng Ying, he hurried forward to congratulate him and said, "I didn't expect that Brother Zheng paid so much tax this time. He is really the pillar of the country and a role model for our generation."
Zheng Ying looked at his gloating face and wanted to rush up and tear him apart, but on the surface she still had to suppress her anger and responded with a smile: "This is what we businessmen should do.
, that is, we should think more about the people and always put the people first, unlike some people who only think about how to deal with the government every day." After saying that, he shook his sleeves and left.
Wei Changqing raised his eyebrows. They had just found out the letters between this guy and the court officials two days ago. They were eager to hug him. They really didn't expect that he would be able to say what he said now without shame so soon.
Zheng Ying was naturally envious and jealous of Wei Changqing's ability to easily hug the emperor's lap. He had known that Wei Changqing had come from the capital before. But at that time, everyone said that he was because of his crimes in the capital.
That's why I came to Nanjing. Now it seems that this is not the case.
After the auction officially started, the items participating in the auction were also taken out one by one. Because it was the final ceremony, everyone worked hard to find some good things to give away.
If any one of them is taken by the emperor or empress, wouldn't it be possible to use this opportunity to build relationships? Of course, there are many people who hold this idea.
The businessmen who came to participate in the auction had similar thoughts. They already had a list of names in mind as to which adults had given them something, so now was naturally a good time to show off.
When everything was almost packed, Lin Chong planned to leave. Unexpectedly, before he had taken a few steps, the commander behind him suddenly ran over. "Your Majesty, I have something very important to report.
"The announcer's voice was muffled.
Probably because there were too many people, it was difficult for the bustling Lin Chong to hear clearly what he said.
"There are too many people here, why don't we come out and talk." After Lin Chong finished speaking, he took the lead and walked outside.
As a result, the man did not follow: "Your Majesty, what I want to say is very important. If I say it too late, I'm afraid your Majesty's life may be in danger."
Lin Chong frowned and stopped: "Then tell me what is so important that you must report to me now."
The commander, probably afraid that he could not hear clearly, leaned closer and whispered: "Your Majesty, you..."
Lin Chong was listening attentively when the guy suddenly took out a dagger from his waist and said: "Your death has come!"
As he spoke, he stabbed Lin Chong with lightning speed. The incident happened so suddenly that no one around him had time to react. Only Lin Chong seemed to have expected it, and actually ducked to avoid the blow.
The commander was immediately stunned, as if he didn't expect that he could avoid it so easily, but if he failed in one blow, he had to try again immediately.
Since she was dressed up today, Yuan Qingfang's movements were seriously hindered. She didn't bring her own weapon, so she touched the wooden sign next to the person next to her to block it.
The seemingly bulky wooden sign easily blocked the dagger, and Yuan Qingfang grabbed Lin Chong and pushed him behind him. At this time, a sharp arrow was also shot from this place, pointing directly at Lin Chong's throat.
"What else?" Lin Chong really didn't expect it this time. Just as he was about to lose his ability to dodge, the wood quickly dodged out of the corner and changed the direction of the arrow.
So the arrow that was supposed to be aimed at Lin Chong hit the pillar steadily, and the tail of the arrow was still shaking slightly.
Lin Chong let out a sigh of relief, but the vigilance in his heart has not subsided. This will happen again and again, and maybe it will happen again and again.
The emperor was assassinated at the auction meeting. The officials and merchants present were in chaos. Some wanted to come out and some wanted to go in. Some shouted to catch him quickly, and some said it was important to protect His Majesty first.