Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 266: Fierce Auction

Two burly men with weather-beaten faces came out with halberds in their hands and stood on the left and right sides of the gate.

"The first auction of Anhan Trading Company has officially begun. Tickets are required for entry. Only two people can enter per ticket!"

Admission by ticket was also a solution Liu He came up with.

The ticket price was not expensive, it was just a specially made bamboo slip, ten cents each. It was not that Liu He wanted to make money from it, but he just used this practice to establish the first rule of the business.

The vast majority of people obediently took the tickets they bought and walked into the venue. However, there were always a group of people who did not follow the rules and tried to sneak through. They were all caught by the people from the trading company, handed over to the patrol guards, and immediately expelled from Yinguan City in public.

Seeing that the business rules were strict and the city was in good order, those who chose to abide by the rules felt a sense of security in addition to some fear.

Fortunately, Liu He had a "bad reputation" after all, and there were very few people who dared to cause trouble and break the rules in Yinguan City, so the entry process was relatively smooth.

The company covers a huge area and consists of several buildings. At this time, everyone was taken to a huge auction hall by a group of internal staff of the company. There was a high platform in the front and rows of chairs were set up below, with hundreds of seats.

There was a number written on each person's ticket, corresponding to a seat in the venue. Everyone followed the instructions and took their seats according to their numbers. Soon the auction hall was filled.

"Why hasn't it started yet? Hurry up and start the auction."

"That's right. We can't wait any longer. We have to buy a mine and a mining license today."

"My Chen family has been in the salt business for decades. The shortage of salt in the north means we often have to travel thousands of miles to Liaodong and the Jianghuai area to buy salt. I've heard that there are a lot of saline-alkali lands to the north of Bingzhou, so there must be salt mines. If we can bid for one or two today, my family's business will surely prosper!"

"Hey, my Lu family operates more than 30 restaurants in Ji, Bing, and Yanzhou. Yinguan City has developed rapidly in the past two years. It won't be long before its prosperity is no less than Jinyang. I must seize this opportunity!"

Everyone couldn't help but start clamoring, urging the auction to start as soon as possible.

Just as they were being urged, a middle-aged man in a brocade robe suddenly walked out from the platform in front of the auction hall. He walked to the center of the platform and saluted to everyone with his fists.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long. I apologize to you all! My last name is Zhang Ye, and I'm the person in charge of this auction. I will be in charge of the auction of the thirty licenses."

The people in the audience shouted, "Stop talking nonsense. We came here from afar, not to listen to you. Let's start the auction quickly!"

Zhang Ye smiled amiably and said, "Okay, okay, I won't waste your time. Let's get started. The first item to be auctioned is a winemaking license!"

He waved his hand, and two people came onto the stage and unfolded a roll of brocade that was three feet square.

"Everyone, this license was issued by the prefectural governor's office. It says that this restaurant is allowed to brew wine, and it is also stamped with the prefectural governor's seal. However, this license alone is not valid. The person who bids for it must open a restaurant in the city and then come to our company with this license and write the name and address of the restaurant on this license. Only then will it be considered a complete license."

As soon as he said this, people on the field had doubts again.

"Does that mean that one license can only be used for one restaurant? If I want to open a second or third restaurant, don't I have to buy more licenses?"

Before Zhang Ye could answer his question, someone next to him started laughing.

"You are so stupid. If your own restaurant is close, you can just transport the wine from the licensed restaurant and sell it back. If the distance is too far, just apply for a second license. It's not a problem."

The person who asked the question seemed to realize that his question was a bit stupid, and his face turned red with embarrassment.

Another person asked, "What if the restaurant I run needs to change its name and address in the future?"

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "It's very simple. With the deeds of the new and old restaurants, you can exchange for a new license in my company. The fee is not high, 500 coins per time within the city, 1,000 coins per time outside the city within the same county, and 3,000 coins per time outside the county."

The procedure is very simple. Although the fee is a bit high, for someone who can open a restaurant like this, this amount of money is just the cost of a meal.

"Not bad, not bad. It's very convenient."

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "If you have no other questions, I will start now. The starting price for a wine-making license is 10,000 coins, and each bid must not be less than 500 coins. Let's start!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of bidding spread throughout the auction hall.

"Ten thousand and five hundred!"

"Twelve thousand!" "I'll give you thirteen thousand!"

"You are all too stingy, I will just increase it to 20,000!"

"Twenty thousand is nothing, I'll give you thirty thousand!"

"I'll give you 40,000!"

"fifty thousand!"

"Sixty thousand!"

The price continued to be called up to 108,000 before the bidding rate began to slow down.

Zhang Ye looked at everyone with his small eyes and suddenly slapped his forehead.

"Oh, I am negligent. I forgot to tell you something important."

Everyone is unhappy now.

"What's going on? What kind of tricks are you playing at this auction?"

"This is really a rip-off. What on earth have you forgotten? Don't think of ripping us off. We've all seen the world and we're not that easy to bully!"

Zhang Ye saw that the crowd was excited, but he was not panicked at all.

"I forgot that this wine-making license has an additional benefit. That is, the taxes paid by the restaurants holding the wine-making rights to the prefectural government will be collected in the future. Prefect Liu calls this tax the business tax, which is 2% of 10. For other restaurants without a license, the tax rate is 3% of 10. The subsequent licenses also have similar functions, but the tax rates for different industries are different."

"what!"

The atmosphere, which had originally been a little dull, suddenly became intense again!
You should know that during the Han Dynasty, agriculture was emphasized and commerce was suppressed. Various taxes and fees were imposed on commercial activities. The total amount of all taxes and fees often reached four or five out of ten, or even higher!

"Damn it, why didn't you say so earlier!"

"My family's restaurant in Shangdang has to pay taxes on at least 40% of its annual revenue, and we have to spend a lot of extra money to build relationships in order to get the opportunity to reduce some tax items. Here, there is a unified tax item, and it is only 20%. I will bid for a license no matter how high the price!"

"Can we trust Liu He? Don't cheat us out of our money and then regret it. Otherwise, we will suffer a huge loss, right?"

"Hey, who cares about these now? It's just a few hundred thousand dollars, and our Zheng family can still afford the loss. Besides, although Lord Liu has always been notorious, he has always been against the bullies who oppress the village. He has a good reputation for treating the people and us merchants. Didn't his two sworn brothers marry the daughters of the wealthy Zhang and Su families?"

"No matter what, I have to buy this license today! I'll pay you 120,000!"

"I'll give you 150,000!"

"One hundred and sixty-six thousand!"

In the blink of an eye, the first wine-making license was sold at a high price of 234,000 coins!

Finally, the license was bought by a businessman from Shangdang County who specialized in restaurant business, who paid a full price of 250,000 yuan.

"Hateful, hateful!"

Those who didn't take the photo were filled with regret. Some people looked at the businessman proudly showing off the license in his hand and even had the urge to snatch it away. However, after looking at the circle of sturdy guards standing around, they gave up the idea.

"Okay, let's start the auction of the second restaurant license."

Zhang Ye's words immediately reminded them.

"Yes, how could we have forgotten that there are ten winemaking licenses being auctioned this time! Why are we in such a hurry? We will definitely be able to bid for the next one later."

Everyone started to get excited, even the businessman who had just taken the first photo was still enthusiastic. Who would complain about having too many licenses? If you don't have the money to open a second restaurant, even if you increase the price and sell it to others, there will always be someone who wants it. Even if others don't buy it, you can keep it and save money for a few years to open a second restaurant. It's also a perfect choice.

(End of this chapter)