Daming: I can’t kill such a greedy prince-in-law?

Li Shanchang stroked his beard and chuckled, "You are joking, my dear husband. I am just speaking for the gentry in Jiangnan." He suddenly turned to Lan Yu and asked, "What do you think of this price, Duke Liang?"

Lan Yu touched the golden hilt, his eagle eyes sweeping across the room: "If you ask me -" The scabbard suddenly slammed on the floor tiles, "Forty thousand taels!"

“Forty thousand taels?!”

The entire auction hall exploded in an instant, with the sound of tea cups clinking, gasps, and whispers all mixed together.

"This is crazy! This price is enough to buy half of Baoding City!" A Shanxi merchant widened his eyes and the abacus beads in his hand fell to the ground with a "click".

"Duke Liang is determined to take this piece of land," the small official from the Ministry of Revenue shrank his neck and whispered to his colleagues, "I heard that Huaixi has collected a lot of money and is waiting for today..."

A few Hui merchants in the corner whispered to each other: "Who dares to bid at this price? Unless the prince consort personally bids the price."

Before he could finish his words, his companion covered his mouth with his hands: "Be careful with your words! Didn't you see the Jinyiwei people watching you?"

Li Shanchang squinted his eyes and scanned the whole room. His skinny fingers tapped lightly on the table, making a "thump thump" sound.

The Huaixi salt merchants behind him were already showing confident smiles, and some even began to calculate in a low voice: "At this price, if we sell it to Jiangnan cloth merchants, we can at least double the profit."

Lan Yu crossed his arms, with the golden sword leaning against his shoulder and a sneer on his lips.

His eyes swept across the beaded curtain on the second floor - it was so quiet there that even the sound of Ouyang Lun cracking melon seeds had stopped.

"It seems that the prince consort has also become a coward," said a Cao Gang man with a grin, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

The reporter of the Commercial Daily was recording frantically, the tip of his pen almost piercing the paper: "A shockingly high price! The Duke of Liang's 40,000 taels shocked the whole audience"

Suddenly, there was a crisp "crack" sound from the second floor - someone crushed the teacup.

Everyone's neck tilted upwards involuntarily.

Behind the beaded curtain, Ouyang Lun slowly wiped his hands and chuckled to Zhou Bao beside him: "Go tell the people in Prince Yan's Mansion." He paused, "It's time to raise the price."

The sound of teacups breaking came from the private room on the second floor.

The maid of Prince Yan's Mansion suddenly lifted up her hat: "One hundred thousand taels!" What she was holding in her fingertips was the dragon-patterned jade order of Prince Yan's Mansion!
"Ridiculous!" The official of the Canal Transport Office slammed the table and said, "The Regulations on the Prohibitions on Princes clearly prohibit this."

Ouyang Lun suddenly walked out from behind the beaded curtain, the jade pendant on his waist jingling, "Is this lord not reading the newly promulgated "Railway Special Law"?" He slipped a roll of yellow silk from his sleeve, "Your Majesty has granted the princes permission to participate in the commercial development of the area around the station." He deliberately unfolded the imperial edict in front of Li Shanchang, ".

Li Shanchang's pupils suddenly shrank - the ink of the red-letter comment had not completely dried yet!
In the corner, the editor of the Ming Code suddenly screamed, "This clause is in the footnote of Article 72!" The magnifying glass in his hand fell on the Railway Weekly, just illuminating a line of tiny calligraphy.

Lan Yu's scabbard suddenly lay in front of Ouyang Lun. "You are so cunning, my dear Prince Consort!" He approached with a grin, "You can even use the imperial edict..."

"Duke, please be careful with your words." Ouyang Lun flicked the scabbard with his fingertips, revealing a half-ivory plate in his sleeve - that was the secret spy order of the Jinyiwei! Lan Yu's face instantly turned pale.

"Fifteen thousand taels!" Li Shanchang spoke directly.

The maid in Prince Yan's mansion suddenly shouted, "Two hundred thousand taels!" She opened the second layer of the brocade box, revealing a thick stack of large-denomination silver bills!
"This is crazy!" The representative of the Provincial Administration Office slumped in his chair, "This is equivalent to the province's monthly expenditure."

Wang Tiechui's copper hammer was hanging in the air, and suddenly he found that Ouyang Lun was pointing three fingers at him.

An inspiration suddenly came to him, and he shouted, "Two hundred thousand taels for the third time!" Before the hammer fell, the people from Prince Yan's mansion had already stuffed the land deed into the embroidered bag.

Li Shanchang's skinny fingers suddenly grabbed Ouyang Lun's sleeve and said, "How much benefit did the Prince of Yan give you for this drama?" He lowered his voice.

Ouyang Lun smiled and pried open his fingers: "My Lord, you are joking." He suddenly leaned close to Li Shanchang and whispered, "The advisor you sent to Liaodong to investigate the coal mines." His fingertips trembled, revealing half a piece of blood writing, ".Did you sleep well in the Jinyiwei prison last night?"

Li Shanchang's face turned gloomy.

Li Shanchang threw away his sleeves and raised his voice suddenly: "Your Majesty, you have great authority!" He looked around the room and sneered: "Since the Prince of Yan can buy it, and the merchants can buy it, can't I, a dignified Duke, buy it? In this Ming Dynasty, can you only eat meat and not let us drink soup?"

Lan Yu pulled out a half-broken golden knife with a swish, and the cold light reflected on his ferocious face: "For the next piece of land, I'll see who dares to grab it!" The blade shone coldly under the candlelight, and several timid businessmen had already shrank their necks.

Ouyang Lun clapped his hands slowly, the crisp applause was particularly harsh in the silent hall: "Good! The Duke is happy!"

"It's been a long time since I've encountered such a passionate event. I still say that this is a land auction. It was approved by His Majesty. The highest bidder wins!"

"We are not worried about anything else, except that the two Dukes do not have enough money in their pockets. But the two Dukes do not need to worry. If you two really do not have enough money, and the people below cannot make up the difference, you can go to Kaiping Silver Safe to open an account and apply for a loan. You can work on the spot and the money will be deposited into your account immediately!"

"You all know that I, Ouyang Lun, have no interest in money at all. To me, money is just a number."

"Thank you for your kindness, Prince Ouyang. I don't need it!" Li Shanchang was very angry at Ouyang Lun's words.

"Your Excellency is very generous! If that's the case, then let's stop nagging!" After saying that, Ouyang Lun turned around and winked at Wang Tiechui, with a faint smile on his face: "Continue the auction - Baoding Station West District Plot No. 2! Lord Wang, you have to keep a close eye on it."

"Three hundred thousand taels!" The manager of the Kaiping silver cabinet was the first to raise his sign, his voice so loud that it seemed as if he wanted everyone to hear it. The accountants behind him all opened their account books, revealing the large vermilion seal of the Ministry of Revenue, the bright red ink was particularly dazzling under the light.

Just as Li Shanchang was about to speak, Lan Yu suddenly held his arm and whispered, "Duke, give this piece to them." He stared at Ouyang Lun grimly, with a dangerous light flashing in his eyes, "There are better ones later. We can't waste all our money here."

The first thing he asked for was three hundred thousand taels, which immediately made many people give up the idea.

Kaiping Silver Casket is the greatest God of Wealth in the Ming Dynasty!

Wang Tiechui's hammer dropped heavily: "Deal! Kaiping Silver Cabinet has won plot number two!" There was a sense of relief in his voice, and beads of sweat oozed from his forehead. "Plot number three, starting price twenty thousand taels!" Wang Tiechui's voice trembled a little. He stole a glance at Ouyang Lun behind the bead curtain on the second floor, and saw that the other party was leisurely sipping tea, which made him feel a little relieved.

"Two hundred and fifty thousand taels!" A businessman in a long silk gown stood up suddenly, the railway pattern embroidered on his cuffs faintly visible under the light. This was Zhao Dechang, the president of the Jiangnan Textile Guild supported by Ouyang Lun, with a determined smile on his face.

The scarred man from the Cao Gang looked so ugly. The starting price was 20,000, and you directly asked for 250,000. Why would I risk my life to bid? Just as the scarred man was about to give up bidding, Li Shanchang suddenly coughed heavily.

The man with the bad face could only grit his teeth and raise the sign, "Two hundred and sixty thousand!"

He muttered, "Damn southern barbarians. Are you so poor that you only have money left?"

He glared at Zhao Dechang fiercely, his fists clenched so hard that they made a creaking sound.

"Three hundred thousand taels!" Zhao Dechang raised the price again, with a hint of provocation in his voice. The guys behind him had already opened the boxes, revealing the white silver ingots.

The man with the face was directly smashed.

Twenty-six thousand taels would cost him his life, and three hundred thousand is really unaffordable!

Wang Tiechui looked around the room and saw that no one was bidding again. He dropped the hammer heavily and said, "Plot No. 3 belongs to the Jiangnan Textile Guild!"

Zhao Dechang proudly bowed to everyone around him, but his eyes never left Li Shanchang and others.

He thought to himself: The Prince Consort is indeed very good at predicting things, and the Huaixi Party is indeed planning a big move.
"Plot No. 4—" Wang Tiechui's voice suddenly rose, "It's a prime location next to the official road!" He unfolded the map, his fingers trembling slightly, "This is the most valuable plot today!"

The representative of the Beiping Provincial Government smashed the teacup, and the porcelain pieces flew everywhere: "Forty thousand taels!"

"The Peking Provincial Government is planning to build a large bazaar here. Please make way for us!" Every word was sonorous and unquestionable.

Lan Yu was furious, and he smashed the corner of the table with his golden knife: "Bullshit! Fifty thousand taels!" Amid the flying wood chips, the scar on his face looked particularly hideous.

The governor's man slowly brushed the dust off his sleeves and said, "Fifty-five thousand taels." His tone was nonchalant, as if he was just talking about today's weather.

"Sixty thousand!" Li Shanchang personally called out the price, and slapped his dry hands on the table, knocking over the teapot. The hot water splashed onto the "Auction Rules", blurring out the three words "deposit". His eyes burned with anger, but he was calculating rapidly in his mind: This piece of land must be acquired, otherwise how can he save face in front of the Huaixi Party?
"One hundred thousand!" the representative of the Peking Governor continued.

"One hundred and fifty thousand!" Li Shanchang bid again.

"Two hundred thousand!" The representative of the Peking Governor seemed like a ruthless bidding machine.

"Two hundred and fifty thousand!" Li Shanchang gritted his teeth.

"Three hundred thousand!" There was no fluctuation in the eyes of the representative of the Peking Governor.

"Four hundred thousand!" Li Shanchang stood up. "If you want more than four hundred thousand, I'll give it to you!"

Amid the dead silence, Ouyang Lun suddenly chuckled, "Duke, are you sure you want this piece of land?" He elegantly unfolded his folding fan, "It's next to a mass grave behind it." The four big characters "Observe everything" on the fan were particularly eye-catching.

Li Shanchang's face instantly turned pale, and he turned his head to look at the master behind him, who was frantically looking through the map. When he saw the location of the plot, the master's face suddenly turned pale - they actually forgot to survey the terrain in advance!

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your reminder. Then this piece of land will be given to Duke Hanguo!" The representative of the Beiping Governor bowed to Ouyang Lun, his eyes full of respect.

When the bronze hammer fell, a crisp sound echoed in the hall. Lan Yu's golden knife fell to the ground with a clang, and the pearl bestowed by the emperor on the handle rolled far away.
The Huaixi Party members then discovered that the plot of land they had bought at a sky-high price was facing the back wall of the toilet at the train station. A wave of stench drifted in with the wind, and Li Shanchang's face turned from green to black, and then from black to white. He stared at Ouyang Lun, his eyes almost spitting fire: "Prince consort. What a calculation."

Ouyang Lun bowed gracefully and said, “Thank you for the compliment, Duke.” As he turned around, a piece of paper slipped out of his sleeve. On it were densely written the true value of each piece of land. Behind plot number four it was written “next to the manure pit, valued at no more than five thousand taels.”

In the corner, the reporter of the Commercial Daily frantically recorded all this, his pen leaving deep marks on the paper. He was secretly happy: Tomorrow's headline will be: "Four hundred thousand taels to buy a manure pit, the Duke lost all his money"!
The door of the Duke of Korea's mansion was slammed shut with a loud bang, shaking the lanterns under the eaves violently. The hem of Li Shanchang's purple python robe swept across the threshold, bringing with it a sharp sound of wind.

"How dare you do that!" Li Shanchang overturned the rosewood tea table in the hall, breaking the tea set to pieces. The boiling hot tea splashed onto the hem of his dragon robe, leaving a dark stain, but he was completely unaware.

Lan Yu's golden knife chopped into the hall pillar with a clang, and the blade vibrated: "I'm going to take the troops to tear down that crappy train station!" Veins bulged on his forehead, and the scar on his face glowed a terrifying red in the candlelight.

Hu Weiyong took out a copy of "Railway Weekly" from his sleeve with a gloomy face and pointed at the portrait of Ouyang Lun on the front page: "Look, everyone, how this guy humiliated us today!" The newspaper was printed with a detailed report of the auction, and also accompanied by a satirical cartoon of Li Shanchang buying the "manure pond land".

"Please calm down, Duke." A sixth-rank official from Huaixi advised tremblingly, "Ouyang Lun is just..."

"Shut up!" Li Shanchang suddenly grabbed the inkstone on the table and smashed it over, splashing ink all over the man's face. "You idiots! You didn't even find out the location of the land!" His skinny fingers tightly gripped the armrest of the armchair, his knuckles turning white.

Several staff members in charge of surveying the terrain were already kneeling on the ground in the corner of the hall. The old man in the lead was shaking his gray beard and said, "My Lord, please understand. Ouyang Lun deliberately changed the number of the plot before the auction. On the old map that this old slave got..."

"Bullshit!" Lan Yu kicked the kneeling aide over, "I spent 400,000 taels of silver to buy a manure pit!" He suddenly pulled out the golden knife on the pillar, and with a flash of cold light, half of the old aide's hat was cut off.

Hu Weiyong narrowed his eyes and suddenly smiled sinisterly: "Why are you all so angry?" He slowly unfolded a secret report, "I just received news that the silver in Ouyang Lun's 'Da Ming Silver Cabinet' may not be clean."

Li Shanchang's eyes flashed, and he suddenly calmed down: "Oh? What do you mean, Prime Minister Hu?" He took the secret report, and his skinny fingers gently stroked the four words "Liaodong private mine".

Lan Yu came over to take a look and suddenly grinned: "Great! I'll go to the Censorate right now."

"Wait a minute!" Li Shanchang raised his hand to stop him. "This matter needs to be discussed carefully." He walked to the window, looking at the faint lights of the capital in the distance, and said in a cold voice: "Ouyang Lun thinks he can do whatever he wants with the help of Prince Yan and Jinyiwei? I want to let him know that the world of the Ming Dynasty has not changed!"

A young and energetic Huaixi boy suddenly slammed the table and said, "Uncle, why don't we send someone to the railway?" He made a gesture of wiping his neck. (End of this chapter)