Yongle Emperor's grandson: Zhu Yuanzhang with cheats, Zhu Di went crazy

Chapter 166 Otherwise, you can ascend the throne tomorrow
"Welcome to the Veterans Chamber of Commerce. Today we will hold a grand auction to entertain guests from all over the world."

With the strong support of Zhu Zhanjun, the Veterans Chamber of Commerce has developed rapidly.

In less than a year, there were branches in all major cities in the South.

As the headquarters of Jinling, the Chamber of Commerce is no longer the two small stores it once was.

Half a year ago, Qiu Yuan bought a large house next to Xuanwu Lake. After several months of renovation, it became the headquarters of the Veterans Chamber of Commerce.

After the Double Ninth Festival ended, Qiu Yuan waited at the door and sent invitations to envoys and ministers from various countries.

The invitation stated that the Veterans Chamber of Commerce would hold a grand auction to celebrate its one-year anniversary.

Early in the morning, the envoys came excitedly.

The hundreds of seats in the venue were packed, and everyone was looking forward to what good things would appear at the auction.

Qiu Yuan stood at the auction table, introduced himself with a smile, and talked about the great achievements of the Veterans Chamber of Commerce in the past year.

"Hey, Old Qiu, we are here to auction things, not to listen to your bragging. Can you hurry up?"

"That's right, there are some black women coming to Chunyue Tower, we want to go and take a look, please don't waste our time."

"Hahaha……"

A burst of noisy teasing rang out, and Qiu Yuan shook his head helplessly.

"Okay, since everyone can't wait any longer, let's officially get started."

Qiu Yuan turned around and waved behind him. A beautiful girl came to the stage with a hammer in her hand.

"Dear distinguished guests, I will now auction the items for you."

"Hey, this girl looks familiar, where have I seen her before?"

"How could she not look familiar? Isn't this Miss Lianci from Wanjing Tower? She is this year's most beautiful girl. I heard she was going to get married some time ago, and I prepared some money. But before I could attend, she said she was redeemed by someone. I didn't expect that she was kidnapped by Old Qiu and brought to the old Chamber of Commerce."

"What, Old Qiu? Don't you know that our Crown Prince has a hobby of collecting? Last year's Jinxiu and this year's Lianci are both top-notch courtesans. From now on, we won't be able to meet courtesans anymore."

"bump!"

The small hammer knocked gently, and the area below became quiet.

The auctioneer smiled tenderly and said in a voice as sweet as an oriole: "The first item to be auctioned is the latest product developed by Tiangongfang, the Phoenix brand bicycle."

As the girl spoke, she turned sideways, and a man riding a beautifully designed bike came onto the stage.

Out of everyone's curiosity, it circled the stage several times and stopped at the display stand in the middle.

The girl explained compassionately, "This is the most advanced research product of Tiangong Workshop. It is the latest walking tool. On its own, it can travel twenty miles in an hour. If two people take turns riding it, it is no problem to travel a hundred miles a day."

"Hiss, what a beautiful artifact! This thing is faster than a horse and can travel a hundred miles a day. Is it a lie?"

Looking at the exquisite bicycle, there was a whispered discussion below, and some people raised questions.

"It's true. His Majesty has one. His Majesty told my father that it can travel a hundred miles a day without any problem."

A second generation loudly boasted to the people around him.

When everyone heard this, their eyes lit up instantly and they looked towards the stage.

The girl waited for a moment, raised her hammer and said, "There are nine Phoenix brand bicycles in total. The base price for each is ten taels of silver. Each bid must not be less than one tael of silver."

"I'll give you twenty taels."

As soon as Lianci finished speaking, a second-generation person raised his hand and doubled the price.

"You want to buy the same travel tool as the emperor with only twenty taels, Brother Wu, you are too stingy."

One person sneered and raised his hand and said, "I'll give you thirty taels."

"Mr. Zhang offers thirty taels. Is there a higher price?"

She smiled sweetly and praised the guy named Zhang in her pleasant voice.

Following the pitying compliments, the second generation who wanted to show off couldn't help themselves and started to quote their prices.

In the end, the first bicycle was sold for eighty taels.

"Grandpa, I think the price I offer you is cheap."

In the most distinguished room, Zhu Zhanjun and the old man sat side by side, eating melon seeds and chatting while watching the auction below.

"Hehe, there are only a few of them. I bought them in batches. How can the price be the same?"

The old man looked at every bidder below without moving his eyes.

Ji Gang, who was standing next to them, held a small notebook in his hand and kept writing down names.

Soon, nine cars were sold.

Although the envoys from various countries wanted it very much, the second generation were determined to compete and did not give them any chance at all.

The bicycle was sold and several more vehicles were pushed up.

This time it's not two wheels, but three wheels.

Some have carriages, some have sheds, and some are fully enclosed.

"Why haven't you introduced this before?"

When the old man saw the new tricycle, he became dissatisfied.

"It is used to transport goods and people. It is not as fast as two-wheeled vehicles, and it is very bumpy to ride on."

Zhu Zhanjun was not talking nonsense. Due to the poor quality of iron, it is impossible to make strong spring steel, so spring iron sheets can only be used instead, and the shock absorption effect is really poor.

It's okay if you're driving on a good road, but if you're driving on a bumpy dirt road, the people sitting in the back of the car will have their dinner thrown out.

The old man didn't care about that and pointed to the two-person tricycle.

"Build me one. When your grandmother and I go back to Peking in a few days, we can ride it out for fun when we have nothing to do."

Just as Zhu Zhanjun was about to speak, the old man pointed his finger at him and said, "Don't ask for money from me."

The new tricycle caused another quarrel.

They were bought by this bunch of second generation people at various high prices.

They don't care at all that three-wheelers are more expensive than two-wheelers.

After all, it has an extra wheel and so much more iron, so it is normal to be a little more expensive.

There are many, many items up for auction today.

In addition to the products produced by Tiangongfang, there are also various gems and pearls.

One of the pearls, which was as big as a child's fist, caused a sensation.

It was bought by a wealthy man from Champa for nearly 800 taels of silver.

Next came silk and brown sugar, as well as glassware, porcelain, tea, pepper and various spices.

These things were prepared for these foreign envoys after some price reduction and bargaining.

The envoys of each country signed some documents to a greater or lesser extent.

"Good boy, you made money this time."

Hearing the bids and quantities one after another, the old man was drooling. Just now, he made a simple estimate that the orders reached in today's auction alone were as high as nearly 300 million taels.

Assuming 1/10 of the profits, the Veterans Chamber of Commerce would have earned 30 taels of silver.

Zhu Zhanjun sighed and said, "What's the point of making money? It's a loss-making business. This is all for the Ming Dynasty to make friends with a foreign country."

"My role as the Crown Prince was not in vain. I lost a lot of money for the sake of Ming Dynasty."

Although he said this, Zhu Zhanjun was already very happy in his heart.

He knows best how much these things cost.

The price reported to the outside is one price, but in fact the real cost price must be at least discounted.

He can earn at least 90 taels from these orders today.

The only thing that made Zhu Zhanjun feel sorry was that most of these foreign envoys had no money and were planning to use other things to pay for it.

When all was said and done, Zhu Zhanjun only got about 100,000 or 200,000 taels of silver at most.

Seeing the old man's keen interest, Zhu Zhanjun rolled his eyes and whispered, "Grandpa, I have already opened a government office, and I am short of people to stand guard. Can you transfer the Shenji Battalion here first? I will use it for a while."

The old man, who was attracted by the glass craft of Horse Stepping on Flying Swallow, instantly withdrew his attention after hearing these words and shook his head repeatedly.

"No room for negotiation. The three camps are the main force of the court. I can't give them to you. I still need them."

Zhu Zhanjun looked depressed and said, "But I don't even have an army under my command. How can I get the gold and silver in the future?"

The old man glanced at Zhu Zhanjun and said, "Don't you still have people from Zheng He's fleet? Aren't they enough?"

Hearing this, Zhu Zhanjun became even angrier.

"Their people are not needed at all. These foreign envoys are going to be sent back this year. They also need to help deliver the goods. They are of no help at all."

Zhu Zhanjun cautiously probed: "How about this? We can draw soldiers from various garrisons, let the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue pay some money, and form a new army."

The old man shook his head directly: "No money."

Zhu Zhanjun's face turned dark. This old man is really a miser.

Apart from giving him a title and a few people, I don't want to give him a penny.

"That won't work. What do you think we should do? The gold and silver are all waiting for us. The Japanese won't give them to us just by talking."

The old man thought about it and agreed.

If for no other reason, this army must be formed for the sake of Japan's gold and silver.

The three major camps were his foundation and the main force for his northern expedition to the grassland, so he was reluctant to give them up.

After a moment's silence, the old man slapped his thigh and said, "How about this? Grandpa allows you to form an army."

Zhu Zhanjun's eyes lit up, "Thank you..."

"Don't thank me yet." The old man stretched out his hand to stop Zhu Zhanjun who was about to express his gratitude.

"I allow you to form an army, but the court will not pay a penny for food and weapons. You have to pay for it yourself."

"Moreover, this army must obey the orders of the court. Once the court needs it, you may not refuse with any reason."

"Grandpa, you're going too far." Zhu Zhanjun said with a dark face, "I paid the money and I hired the people, but you didn't pay a penny and you want to take it away directly."

"If I fix this and you take it away right after, I won't even have anywhere to cry."

"Why?" The old man said with a straight face, "In your mind, Grandpa is just like this."

"Humph!"

Zhu Zhanjun snorted twice. Although he didn't answer, his meaning was clear.

The old man looked unhappy, but after thinking about it, he couldn't tell for sure.

With the ability of this brat, the army he forms will definitely not be bad. If he gets jealous, he might even be able to withdraw.

"How about this, three years. Grandpa will not move this army within three years. After three years, I will give an order and the entire army must obey."

"Three years is too short. You're leaving right after I finish training here. That's the same as not having any training at all. At least ten years, or I'll suffer."

"Ten years is too much for you to say. Do you think I can live another ten years? You want me to go to the underworld to rule this army. Four years cannot be more, or else forget it."

"Eight years, eight years or not."

"Why are you bargaining with me, you little brat? Is this something that can be bargained for?"

"Okay, okay, you are the emperor, you are the boss, four years is four years, you are not allowed to regret it!"

Zhu Zhanjun stretched out his hand, and the old man snorted coldly and patted him.

"Am I the kind of person who doesn't keep his word? I said four years, so it's four years."

Zhu Zhanjun was very happy about the agreement they made, but he still did not forget to ask the most important question.

"Do you have any rules regarding the number of people?"

The army has been decided, but the number of troops has not yet been determined.

Without the old man's tacit approval, if Zhu Zhanjun recruited too many people, the old man would definitely use this as an excuse to go back on his word.

"How much do you want?"

The old man did not say the number of people, but instead asked Zhu Zhanjun.

Zhu Zhanjun thought about it for a while and made a number eight gesture.

"Eighty thousand!"

"puff!"

The old man who was drinking water spit it out and glared at him, "Why don't you ascend the throne tomorrow? It's a pity you can say 80,000. The maximum is 30,000. Not one more."

"Okay, thirty thousand is thirty thousand."

Zhu Zhanjun agreed immediately and readily.

The old man holding the teacup looked at Zhu Zhanjun and felt depressed.

Damn it, he was fooled by this brat. The number of people he thought was definitely less than 30,000.

Zhu Zhanjun pretended not to notice the old man's expression, picked up a pear next to him, and bit into it with a crunch.

He would not tell the old man that the initial number in his mind was 20,000.

I didn’t expect the old man to be so generous and directly gave 30,000 places.

Thirty thousand people may not sound like a lot, but if you add in auxiliary soldiers, civilians, and other miscellaneous personnel to form an army of a hundred thousand, that is already an understatement.

The old man claimed that he had 500,000 troops in his northern expedition this year, but there were less than 80,000 actual combat soldiers, and the rest were auxiliary personnel.

In the current world, an army of 30,000 combat soldiers, except for the Ming Dynasty, the dozen or so small countries in Europe combined are not enough to be defeated by Zhu Zhanjun alone.

Zhu Zhanjun felt excited at the thought that he would soon have an elite army of 30,000 soldiers under his command.

Once a year at most, the Sun and Moon flags of the Ming Dynasty will fly over the islands of Japan.

(End of this chapter)