novelhk Chapter 300: A Face-to-Face Demonstration?
Chapter 300: A Face-to-Face Demonstration?
Although they were outmaneuvered by the four major commercial banks, things still progressed as Wen Zongji had envisioned.
The small and medium-sized merchants were vying for the remaining six courtyards, bidding fiercely and aggressively. As long as they had money, they would bid, and no one would give up and wait for the next round of bidding.
Since there are only six courtyards in total, giving up means missing one more opportunity.
They only had so much money, so they went all in at once. If someone else had more than them, they would just accept it.
With this mindset, each merchant bid against their own bottom line, without trying to guess others' bottom lines. They simply told you clearly: if you have more silver than me, the courtyard is yours; otherwise, I won't be polite.
With such a fierce bidding war, no courtyard ever fetched less than one million at auction.
Zhou Shiyue was stunned when he heard the offer of one million: "They're willing to spend one million taels of silver to buy a small courtyard house?"
Wen Zongji corrected, "The one million is for the Crown Prince's calligraphy and the potential opportunity to connect with princes and ministers. As you just said, merchants are profit-driven, and they know exactly what that means."
He didn't think one million taels of silver was a lot.
In this world, many things are of immeasurable value.
Zhou Shiyue exclaimed, "Merchants really do have money."
Over the past few years, he has worried about money countless times, but now an auction has relieved his worries.
Although several million taels of silver is not a lot for a behemoth like the Great Chu.
The bulk of the national treasury's revenue has always come from various taxes, such as salt and iron taxes, commercial taxes, and customs duties.
In recent years, natural disasters and man-made calamities have affected tax revenue, leading to a strain on the national treasury.
With a few million more taels of silver, the Ministry of Revenue would have more money in its pocket.
Thinking of this, Zhou Shiyue's gaze fell on the four major merchant firms, his eyes turning slightly cold: "The four major merchant firms? Hmph!"
The atmosphere at the auction was tense because there were so few courtyards, but the auction actually proceeded quite quickly.
The auction ended after one incense stick had burned.
Apart from the courtyards initially auctioned by the four major merchant houses, the auction prices of the other courtyards all exceeded one million taels, averaging one million and five hundred thousand taels per courtyard.
This shows how much of the 100,000 taels spent by the four major merchant firms.
After the auction, the merchants left in twos and threes, and Wen Zongji and Zhou Shiyue also left Wangchun Tower.
An Feng, who was waiting by the carriage, saw Wen Zongji approach and said softly, "Young Master, the four major merchant guilds have just sent you invitations to Wangchun Tower for a chat tomorrow night."
Wen Zongji laughed upon hearing this: "You ruined my plans, and you still expect me to attend the banquet?"
An Feng said, "They said they wanted to apologize to the young master."
Wen Zongji waved his hand: "I'm not going. Apologizing after everything is done isn't an apology, it's a show of force. It seems that being confined to a corner for too long has made the four major trading companies inherently arrogant."
Wen Zongji snorted coldly and got into the carriage.
County Princess's Mansion
When Pei Rujing saw Wen Zongji return, she asked, "How did the auction go?"
Wen Zongji took off his coat: "Overall, it went fairly smoothly, except that we were tricked by the four major trading companies."
Simply tell Pei Rujing what happened at the auction.
Pei Rujing raised her eyebrows and said, "Doesn't the Beijing Gazette Bureau have branches in various places? Have them investigate the words and deeds of the four major merchant houses in those places."
If they are law-abiding citizens, that's fine; but if something is found out, it can only be said that they deserve their punishment.
Wen Zongji stroked his chin: "It has a sense of retaliation."
In essence, this whole affair was about Wen Zongji trying to exploit others, but the exploited people grew legs and ran away, preventing him from doing so.
Although Wen Zongji felt regretful, he would not distort the truth and say that the four major trading companies had done wrong.
However, the other party's act of inviting him to a banquet made Wen Zongji feel that the other party was arrogant and threatening.
You tricked me, fine, but you dare to come over and be so ingratiating?
Are they taking him for a fool?
Wen Zongji felt uncomfortable.
Pei Rujing has no sense of morality. She always believes that if someone makes me uncomfortable, I will make them uncomfortable in return.
"If they are upright and honest, why should they be afraid of being investigated?"
Wen Zongji said, "What you say makes sense, but the Capital Gazette Office is no longer under my jurisdiction, so I can't ask the branch office to investigate the four major merchant houses."
"However, I suspect that Minister Zhou might make a move."
Unlike him, Zhou Shiyue did not maintain a neutral attitude towards merchants.
Zhou Shiyue was known as Pixiu because he valued money very much.
The other courtyards were auctioned off for over a million taels of silver, but the four major merchant houses bought the small courtyard for only 100,000 taels of silver.
The difference between the two transactions was one million taels of silver, and the four small courtyards alone amounted to four million taels!
Four million!
Zhou Shiyue is probably so heartbroken that he can't sleep.
Pei Rujing calmed down a bit: "Then let's wait and see."
She was very protective of her own. If the four major merchant houses made Wen Zongji unhappy, she would make them unhappy in return.
……
The day after the courtyard was auctioned off, the new owners moved in.
All the courtyards were photographed in the name of the business, and they all chose to use the courtyards as the business's headquarters in Beijing, not belonging to any one person.
As for the Crown Prince's calligraphy, it was also regarded as the treasure of the business, used to enhance the business's status.
As the status of the merchant guild rose, the status of its individual members naturally followed suit.
This is the best course of action.
With the new owner moving into the courtyard, all the people from the Ministry of Revenue left.
The people from the four major trading companies gathered in a small courtyard nestled among the mountains and rivers.
"Lord Wen refused our invitation, he must be angry. I said before that there was no need to offend the Ministry of Revenue just to save face. The Ministry of Revenue is in charge of taxation and controls all merchants in the country. Why make yourself unhappy for a little bit of silver?"
"Hmph, you're just boosting the enemy's morale while diminishing our own. I never agreed to host a banquet for Wen Zongji, as if we were afraid of him. We've paid so much in taxes and are utterly loyal to the court, why should we let the Ministry of Revenue scheme against us?"
In fact, Wen Zongji was wrong. The four major trading companies did not intend to demonstrate in person. The reason they acted in a divided manner was simply because they had not reached a consensus internally.
"Alright, now that things have come to this, we're all in the same boat. Let's think about what to do next."
"What else can we do? The auction is over, and it's time for us to leave the capital. We'll just send someone to oversee things here."
At this moment, someone pointed to the Crown Prince's calligraphy hanging on the wall: "With the Crown Prince's calligraphy here, would you feel comfortable just finding anyone else to oversee things?"
"Why don't we take turns staying in the capital? Firstly, the Crown Prince's calligraphy is indeed important, and secondly, I'm very interested in the residential building that the Ministry of Revenue is currently building, and I'd like to learn more about it."
"That's fine too."
After discussion, everyone agreed on the decision to have members of the business take turns being stationed in the capital.
However, this rotation period excludes the time when Emperor Shun'an was taking refuge from the summer heat in the Western Garden.
After all, they all wanted to get close to the princes and ministers. When Emperor Shun'an was in Xiyuan for the summer, they would all come to the capital, so there would be no need for them to take turns to oversee things.