Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 265 First Auction
Just when everyone was about to leave, a voice suddenly rang out.

"Wait a minute, everyone. Our company has an important announcement to tell you!"

Everyone stopped in their tracks. Driven by curiosity, everyone wanted to hear what this business, which had made such a big fuss about its opening but actually had nothing to sell, was planning to do.

"Everyone, I'm sure you've all seen the notices posted everywhere in the city. From today on, all counties in Yanmen County will implement a 'Salt, Iron and Wine Monopoly'. Anyone who brews wine, mines and forges iron, or sells salt without permission will be severely punished!"

This notice has been posted in the city for more than ten days. Even if many people have not seen it, they have heard others mention it.

This matter is not new, but the law and order have been corrupted in recent years, and many families and businessmen of all sizes have taken advantage of the situation to occupy iron mines, forge pig iron, occupy salt mines, sell private salt, hoard grain, and brew fine wine, causing grain prices to rise higher and higher. If ordinary people want to make some iron tools, they can only buy pig iron from them. If they want to eat salt, they can only buy private salt from them. The goods are getting worse and worse, but the prices are getting higher and higher, and the people can do nothing about it.

Out of their trust in Liu He over the years, many people originally welcomed this notice. However, after more than ten days, there was no follow-up progress. Everyone thought it was just empty talk and that Lord Liu was also obstructed by certain families with related interests, so it could not be implemented for a long time.

Now, when we heard about this newly opened business and the first notification mentioned this matter, everyone immediately became interested.

"With the authorization of the prefectural governor's office, our company will auction ten wine-making licenses, ten mining licenses, and ten salt-making licenses in twenty days, which is the eighth day of next month. The starting price is 10,000 coins per license. At the same time, we will also sell ten salt wells, ten iron mines, 100,000 shi of fine grain, and ten deeds to restaurants in various counties of Yanmen County. The starting price is 20,000 coins per license!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was shocked!
"What? The auction rights for the license are in the hands of this company?"

"The starting price for a license is only 10,000 yuan! Although I'm not a wealthy family, I might be able to get one if I scrape together some money. I'll go for it!"

"Hey, I don't have any money, but I have a relative who has quite a bit of assets. I'm going to Jinyang City to find him right away. If he can take the picture, maybe I can get a piece of the pie!"

"You guys are dreaming. The starting price is 10,000, not the marked price. Now our Yinguan City has a population of nearly 100,000. The weather has been good and the harvest has been good in the past two years, and everyone's life has become better. Apart from other things, if you open a restaurant here, the annual profit will probably be more than 100,000 yuan. How can it be so easy to bid for it?"

"My ancestral blacksmithing skills are of inferior quality. The pig iron and iron ore I bought before are of poor quality and I cannot use them to my full potential. If any of you take a picture of the mining license, you must remember to cooperate with me!"

"You have such a narrow vision. The one with the greatest profit is, of course, salt! We don't produce salt in Bingzhou, so salt can only be shipped from other states, so the price is frighteningly high. This business is so large, it seems to have quite a bit of capital, and he dares to say that he has a salt mine for auction, I'm afraid it's true. As long as we can take over a salt well, hehe, then we won't have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of our lives!"

Among these things, the salt production license and the ten salt mines are undoubtedly the most attractive! Even ordinary people know how crazy the benefits are behind these things!
Just such a brief notice from the business company instantly caused a huge commotion in Yinguan City, and it was quickly spreading to the surrounding counties.

A group of larger families in Yanmen County had all been exterminated by Liu He, but some smaller families, or those that were relatively well-behaved and had not committed any major mistakes, began to stir at this time.

Not only that, Liu He also secretly asked the hundreds of rangers of the Flying Eagle Guard to spread the news of the auction everywhere. Soon, the news spread to many states and counties.

Not long after, some families in Taiyuan County, Xihe County, and even in Jizhou east of Taihang Mountain, as well as many businessmen, sent people to Yinguan City to inquire about the news. After confirming that the news was true, many people flocked here.

Two days before the auction, many inns in Yinguan City were already full of people. Yinguan City, which was rarely visited on ordinary days, was now hard to find a room.

Everyone gathered in the prefect's mansion and the atmosphere was very joyful.

Although Cui Jun is now nominally the prefect of Yanmen, the other five counties have not yet been recovered. Therefore, the Anmin Army still trains troops and handles government affairs in Yinguan City, and the owner of the prefectural government is still Liu He.

"Brother, you are really smart. With just a few words, you have attracted so many people to come to our remote Yanmen. I am impressed."

Cheng Liang looked excited.

Zhen Yi sighed, "When Lord Liu proposed this plan, we thought it was a bit absurd. Today we know how wise it is. We have been in business for many years, but we are not as sharp as Lord Liu. It's really shameful."

Liu He smiled and said, "Mr. Zhen, you are too kind. I know the situation in Yanmen best. In the past two years, Yanmen has maintained stable public security, the population has grown greatly, and wasteland has been continuously reclaimed. People's families used to be hard-pressed to get enough food and clothing, but now many diligent people have some surplus food and money. Once people have enough food and clothing, they will naturally have other needs. The need to drink, the need to eat in restaurants, the need to eat better refined salt, the need to use more iron tools instead of wood and manpower when working in the fields, and so on. If it were another city, people would not be so enthusiastic about these licenses."

"Lord Liu is very far-sighted. The larger the population, the better the living conditions. The more profit we can make by opening these specialized businesses, and the more people will be willing to invest. We have lived in Zhongshan for a long time, and we have only heard about the situation under Lord Liu's rule, but have never experienced it in person. Therefore, we judge based on what we have seen and heard in the past, which will naturally lead to fallacies."

Su Shuang stroked his beard and said.

"But it's fine if you just sell the licenses, but why do you also sell the grain, salt wells, and iron ore? Wouldn't it be better if we just keep those things for ourselves?"

Zhu Ye looked puzzled. "Haha, Dehui, you don't understand this. How can we make wine with only a license but no food? How can we mine ore to make pig iron without iron ore? How can we make salt without salt wells? We said that we will not personally participate in the operation. First, we are not professional. Even if we do it, we may not be able to do it well, and it involves a lot of energy. Second, if we only have a license, but these resources are in our own hands, the enthusiasm of those families and business travelers for the license will be greatly reduced."

"Although we don't have much food at the moment, it's enough to last for a few months. Although 100,000 dan of food is not a lot, it won't have much impact. The price of food in Yanmen is 400 coins per dan now. If we sell it now, I'm afraid we can only sell it for 500 or 600 coins. However, as the food production in our jurisdiction continues to increase, those who run restaurants will definitely find ways to transport food from other places. At that time, the price of food will definitely drop. We have money in our hands. At that time, we can buy back 150,000 or even 200,000 dan of food with the same money. Isn't that better?"

Zhang Ding nodded and said, "Yes, if it were me, I would definitely be worried. After spending a huge amount of money to bid for the license, I would have to spend a lot of money to buy these resources from the prefectural government. Wouldn't that be a waste of effort? The license, the restaurant, the grain for brewing, the salt well, and the iron ore are all prepared for them, eliminating their worries. As long as they bid for something, they can immediately start production and operation and start making money to return their investment. This is what businessmen value most."

Zhu Ye suddenly realized: "So that's how it is. Alas, doing business is really troublesome. It's easier to fight a war."

Qian Li was also in the conference room at this time. He now had an intelligence of 86 and a political score of 89. With such attributes, it would be a waste of his talent for him to continue staying in Langtiao County, so Liu He transferred him to Yanmen not long ago.

When he saw Zhu Ye's expression at this moment, he couldn't help but tease him.

"Haha, General Five, do you think this is too much trouble? There are more benefits here than just that."

"These things are auctioned together. Those who won the licenses in the front will definitely not wait to transport these materials from other places, which will be time-consuming and costly. So these people will definitely choose to bid for the materials later. For example, those who won the winemaking rights will definitely want to get a restaurant so that they can open it after a few days of preparation. Therefore, it will indirectly increase the price of the materials auctioned later."

"So that's how it is. What's wrong with your brains? I, Zhu Ye, have read a little over the years and barely understand some things about marching and deploying troops, but I'm afraid I won't understand the things you're talking about even if I study for another half a lifetime."

"Haha, General Zhu, just focus on winning the battles in the front and leave these mundane matters to us."

Everyone laughed heartily, and Zhu Ye also laughed shamelessly.

Guan Yu, on the other hand, seemed to have thought of other issues and said, "Brother, among those who are here to participate in the auction, there may be some unscrupulous merchants with bad intentions. If we let them take away the license, wouldn't it bring disaster to the people in the future and bring disgrace to our Anmin Army?"

This matter was indeed a trouble. Everyone looked at Liu He, wanting to see what his attitude was.

Liu He smiled.

"I have already made preparations for this. The three military advisors, Huo Qing, and Qian Li have worked out a series of requirements and regulations for future operations, which will be announced at this auction. I will allocate 10,000 soldiers to maintain the city's law and order and will not let anyone off lightly if they break the law."

Seeing that Liu He was well prepared, everyone felt relieved.

The eighth day of September arrived very quickly. Hundreds of people had gathered at the door of the business early in the morning. All of them were eagerly waiting for the business to open.

"Why isn't the door open yet? I've been waiting for more than half an hour."

"Who do you think you are? I have been waiting here since dawn."

"You guys are just too idle. The notice clearly states that the doors will open at 3:15 pm. Who told you to come so early?"

"Hey, with such a big thing waiting for us, how can we sleep? We might as well come here early and wait. Maybe the person in charge of the company will see that we are sincere and give us the license directly."

"You have a nice idea, kid."

Everyone was talking, trying to use the momentum of conversation to resist the chill of this late autumn morning.

I don't know who was the first to shout, "Look, the door is open!"

Everyone instantly focused their attention over there, and saw that the two heavy doors of the business, which appeared to be made of pure copper, were slowly opening.

3300 words chapter

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(End of this chapter)