It didn't take long for Xue Qing, the Governor-General of Jiangnan, to arrive, and Guo Zheng, the Censor who had been dawdling in the backyard, finally walked to the front hall. At this point, the four high-ranking officials in charge of and supervising the opening of the Neiku bids were finally all gathered in one place. Guo Zheng was no longer the glorious Left Deputy Censor-in-Chief of the Imperial Censorate in the capital, but he still had certain powers when inspecting various regions. His old grudges with Fan Xian had not been resolved, so it was inevitable that they felt awkward when they met. When the four high officials exchanged greetings, they always felt that Fan Xian's calm and indifferent gaze contained a hint of danger.

Among the four high officials present today, Huang Gonggong, who came from the capital, naturally represented the palace, Xue Qing, the Governor-General of Jiangnan, represented the officialdom, Guo Zheng, the Censor-in-Chief, represented the censorial system, and Fan Xian... represented quite a few forces, such as the Neiku Transportation Department, the Overwatch Council, and even the Imperial Clan Court, which managed the imperial family.

Of course, everyone represented the imperial court and His Majesty.

Fan Xian sat on the second chair, smiling and talking to Xue Qing, but he saw today's situation very clearly. Too many people were staring at this matter, and no matter who it was, no matter which force, it would be difficult to complete the underground transactions single-handedly. The Neiku bid opening procedure formed by history effectively guaranteed fairness.

At least superficial fairness, as long as the merchants had money, they could compete for the resale rights of Neiku's sixteen items.

That's what he thought, and so did the other three. Huang Gonggong and Guo Zheng exchanged glances. Although they felt a hint of unease, they believed that Fan Xian would not be able to play any tricks in front of everyone. What they had to ensure was that the Ming family could still obtain the same share as in previous years.

The eunuch and the censor were originally two classes that were incompatible like fire and water in history, but today they stood in the same camp with great tacit understanding. However, these two did not understand many hidden secrets, nor did they pay enough attention to Xia Qifei, the last boss who entered the Neiku gate.

Xue Qing, on the other hand, the Governor-General of Jiangnan, watched the giant merchants under the stage and the people around him with a show-watching mentality and a peaceful face. Watching a play was not afraid of a high stage, it was always easier than the people performing the play.

A stage for several people to sing.

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The thick doors of the Neiku mansion slowly closed again, and the soldiers and Overwatch Council officials outside the door set up a tight defense. In previous years, the Neiku bidding usually ended in one day, but the rules of the imperial court actually allowed each business to bid for two days.

A loud bang.

Fan Xian smiled, covered his ears, and looked at the spring thunder that soared into the sky outside the mansion.

The spring thunder rushed straight into the sky and exploded under the light clouds, its sound clear and crisp, spreading far to the ground, shocking countless people.

The Qinglou girls in Suzhou City who had worked hard last night were awakened by the thunder, cursed a few dirty words, and then burrowed into the quilt and fell into a deep sleep. The children who were asking their parents for money to buy sugar figurines on the street thought that the heavens were saying that they were not behaving well, and that the thunder was punishing them, and they cried out in a wail. The black dog in the backyard, who was squatting and peeing on the old tree root, was startled by the thunder and shivered all over. It lowered its front legs to the ground and buried its dog head in the furry package, imitating an ostrich.

People's reactions were inherently different, but this spring thunder had another meaning in the ears of some people. Whether it was the scribes and shopkeepers of various families gathered at the Beicheng Wharf in Suzhou City waiting for orders, or the residents of Suzhou City who were discussing the bidding in the teahouse today, everyone looked towards the southern city, towards that invisible mansion, knowing that the Neiku bidding had begun.

The Neiku bid opening in the new spring of Qingli six years actually started off particularly un smoothly.

First, the Neiku Transportation Department made a summary of the profits and losses of each business last year, naturally with a lot of encouraging words. Ma Kai, the Deputy Envoy of the Transportation Department in charge of the speech, finally sternly announced the imperial court's investigation and handling of the Cui family. This was a warning to the merchants under the stage not to think that the imperial court was not watching them.

These were all the rules of the past, and no one cared. But when Ma Kai talked about the specific matters of today's bidding, the mansion was in an uproar. The merchants stood up to express their opposition, and even the four high officials sitting in the main hall began to argue.

Because the Transportation Department suddenly decided to divide the original sixteen items into thirty-four smaller items, and there would be no more bundled bidding this year.

This change seemed small, but for these merchants below, it was simply unacceptable!

The reason was simple. In the three months before each bidding, these giant merchants of Jiangnan had already colluded privately, drafted the boundaries and divisions between each other, and kept out of each other's way, so as not to hurt each other's harmony, and even more so because raising prices would hurt their wealth. For example, what the Xiong family of Lingnan must compete for this year was the liquor category to the north, while the Sun family of Quanzhou wanted to obtain the overseas sales rights of porcelain.

If today, according to the Transportation Department's intentions, the sixteen major items were divided into thirty-four small items, although on the surface, everyone could still stick to their bottom line, but the eight major items that were supposed to belong to the Ming family were bid in two bundled batches. After all were broken down, who knew if any merchant would suddenly get red eyes and want to grab some of the Ming family's share? After all, after no longer being bundled, the most profitable items did not seem to require too much money.

And once someone was tempted by the Ming family's share, what would the Ming family do? They would definitely turn around and grab other people's shares. This was determined by the merchants' profit-seeking nature. I'm afraid today's opening of the Neiku bidding would be a mess.

These Jiangnan merchants... what they were most afraid of now was chaos. The Ming family had already said that they would not interfere with the share originally belonging to the Cui family. These merchants could already eat several more bowls of fatty meat today, so of course they did not want anyone to disrupt their plans.

In their opinion, the reason why the Imperial Envoy had such a change was actually very simple. First, he wanted everyone to get into a bloody fight in the chaos and raise the price. Second, he wanted to thin out the required fixed silver for each item after subdividing the items, so that... Xia Qifei, who entered the mansion last, could also get a share!

These cunning merchants had already realized that Room Yi-Si, which had been silent all along, was the spokesperson intended by the Imperial Envoy.

It's just that we can understand if you, the Imperial Envoy, want to make money, but you can't use this seemingly fair but actually vicious method!

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"Lord Fan, this suggestion is inappropriate." After Fan Xian cut him down, Huang Gonggong still behaved calmly enough, squeezing out a smiling expression on his fat face and said, "According to the rules of previous years, sixteen items are sixteen items. How can they suddenly be subdivided? This matter must be decided by the capital."

Fan Xian frowned, said a few words, and then turned his head and said to Xue Qing in a low voice, "Governor-General, dividing them into smaller items and no longer bundling them is actually just to allow more people to be eligible to enter... This matter is always beneficial to the imperial court."

Xue Qing pondered for a while, showing a difficult look on his face, and said, "Although that's true, this matter is no small matter. I think Lord Fan should report it to the imperial court and submit it to the palace for discussion before slowly promoting it next year."

Seeing that Xue Qing also expressed his opposition, Fan Xian felt a little unhappy. Looking at the chaotic merchants in the hall, a trace of pity and hatred flashed in his mind. In fact, the reason why he was going to prepare to subdivide the items today was not the reason that these merchants thought.

Indeed, he wanted to test whether it was possible to dig out the two most profitable items from the Ming family's eight large items bundled together and give them to Xia Qifei. But the really important reason was actually for the sake of these merchants.

These merchants were always thinking at this time that the six items left by the Cui family were theirs for the taking, so they would not compete with the Ming family... But in a while, Xia Qifei would definitely swallow all six of the Cui family's items. These merchants would only be able to eat those pitiful two items. There was intelligence beforehand that the Xiong family of Lingnan and the Sun family of Quanzhou had prepared a large sum of money this time, sharpening their knives and preparing to accept the Cui family's line. Once they ended up with nothing, these merchants would suffer a big loss.

Due to the collapse of the Cui family, the number of merchants who came to bid at the Neiku today was three times more than in previous years. Fan Xian's original intention was to ensure that these merchants also had something to eat, so he made the suggestion of subdividing the items. He did not expect that no one would appreciate it - although he understood that it was because these merchants did not know how the situation would develop in a while that they would strongly object. But Fan Xian still couldn't suppress the feeling of frustration of being like Lü Dongbin.

He argued with Huang Gonggong and Guo Zheng around him for a while, explaining for a while, and found that the merchants still insisted on handling things according to the usual practice, and the other three high officials were also sticking to the word "rules" and dared not let go. Fan Xian finally decided to give up. The so-called retreating to advance is sometimes this kind of reasoning.

Deputy Envoy Ma Kai looked back at Fan Xian with embarrassment. Fan Xian waved his hand, indicating that the matter should be dropped.

The merchants were overjoyed and bowed deeply, saying that the Imperial Envoy was wise. Fan Xian glanced coldly at these merchants and couldn't help but shake his head, thinking that they shouldn't cry in a while.

Xue Qing sat next to him, smiling and stroking his beard in silence, but his eyes were watching the room closest to the main hall and the farthest room. The field had been noisy before, and the most peaceful ones were those two rooms. He knew that Xia Qifei was Fan Xian's man, but he didn't know where Fan Xian had prepared the money from, and how the Ming family was going to deal with it.

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Not long after the bidding began, some merchants had already begun to regret it, and the head of the Xiong family of Lingnan became the first pitiful fellow who almost cried.

The Neiku Transportation Department official stood on the high steps and announced the gifts. Then each room began to bid. Bidding could not be shouted out like bidding for girls in the Qinglou - fifty taels! One hundred taels! - The imperial court's actions always had to have some rules, so if they were interested in a certain bid, such as the cotton yarn to the north, the merchants would calculate the previous year's profits and this year's trends after the official announced the gifts. Then their old shopkeeper would make a detailed calculation, write an accurate number on the paper, seal it in a kraft paper bag, and have the Transportation Department official below hand it over to the flower hall on the left hand side of the main hall.

Merchants had three chances to bid, and it was an open bid, so if someone bid higher than themselves the first time, these merchants still had the opportunity to increase the price again, with the third time as the final result, a very simple bidding principle - the highest bidder wins. Then the winning merchant had to take out as much as 40% of the fixed silver in the first time, either happily or with a stomach ache, and hand it over to the flower hall - the flower hall was staffed with the accounting personnel of the Transportation Department and the old accountants transferred from the Ministry of Revenue in Kyoto. They were responsible for comparing the numbers submitted by each merchant and verifying the silver notes submitted by the winning merchant. It had been many years since a merchant had foolishly carried a dozen boxes of silver to open the bid...

From this level, the Neiku bidding was not much different from bidding for a popular courtesan in the Qinglou, except that this Neiku girl was a bit expensive. Whether it was the merchants or the busy officials, they were no strangers to this scene.

At this time, in the mansion, officials were busy running around, holding the envelopes submitted by each family in their hands, and the Overwatch Council officials were vigilantly watching everything to prevent the fraudulent incidents that were already difficult to happen.

At this time, the bid for the liquor category to the north was being opened, and it was already the third call.

The person who came to the Xiong family of Lingnan today was Xiong Bailing, the current head of the family. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, looked at the other party's bid in the first two times, and his facial muscles twitched, feeling a bit tearful. The Xiong family of Lingnan had always been trading in the south of Qing, and due to geographical and opportunity issues, they had never had the opportunity to extend their tentacles to the north, so the situation of their business was extremely difficult to open up. This year, due to the downfall of the Cui family, these merchants were given the opportunity to seize the northern sales rights, so Xiong Bailing was determined to win this bid. He was also the most enthusiastic one in opposing Fan Xian's subdivision of projects earlier.

...However, at this time, he began to regret it. It was clear that he had asked the clan to prepare enough silver, but the first two bids were actually suppressed by someone!

Xiong Bailing's eyes were red, and he was anxious. If he couldn't win this bid, it wasn't a question of how much money he would earn less this year, but the family's pace of advancing north, bypassing the Ming family's mountain, would be forced to slow down. So he really hated the person who didn't abide by the rules and dared to compete with him for the bid to the bone. But beyond the hatred, there was also countless vigilance, because he knew that that person had the Imperial Envoy as a backer. But the problem was... where did the other party get so much money?

"Yi-Si!" He looked hatefully at the quiet room in the back. Xia Qifei and his party in Room Yi-Si had been extremely quiet, but they were very ruthless when it came to snatching the bid. The most important thing was that the other party didn't know what kind of expert was helping them, and they had calculated the annual profit of the liquor business in the north so clearly, and they also estimated his family's bottom line very accurately. Each of the first two bids was just one head higher than his own.

Xiong Bailing felt a sense of frustration in his heart for no reason. Was he, who had been doing business for generations, not as good as a bandit leader?

The old shopkeeper next to him looked defeated and reminded him, "Master, we can't add any more. If we add any more... there won't be any profit to be made."

Xiong Bailing thought for a while, and his eyes flashed fiercely. It was a small matter for the Xiong family to make money from this bid, but opening up the business route was the big matter. He decided to fight the bandit in Room Yi-Si.

"Report this price directly." Xiong Bailing made a gesture, made up his mind to burn his boats, and said with a gnashing of teeth, "Bandits don't feel sorry for the money they steal... but there's no need for them to lose money and compete with me for business."

At this time, the courtyard had become quiet. There were no other people participating in the third bid, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the Xiong family of Lingnan and Room Yi-Si.

Although Huang Gonggong and Guo Zheng had doubts, they glanced at Fan Xian, but they still didn't take it seriously enough, because this was only a small item after all. Maybe Fan Xian just wanted to make some money, as long as it didn't hurt the Ming family, it would be fine to hurt their own interests.

Two officials each took out two kraft paper bags from these two rooms and entered the flower hall in silence.

Everyone waited nervously for the result. Although this bid was not the biggest and most profitable bid among the sixteen items, the people in the courtyard at this time had already begun to feel the strangeness of Room Yi-Si, so everyone wanted to know whether this Room Yi-Si had come to snatch the bid, or whether it was the Imperial Envoy using it to raise the price as a decoy.

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"Room Yi-Si, Xia family, three hundred and seventy thousand taels, wins..."

The Transportation Department official in charge of announcing the gifts stood on the stone steps and announced the result expressionlessly, singing it very beautifully. Even the last word "wins" swayed, singing out a bit of the flavor of the stage.

The courtyard fell into dead silence all of a sudden. After a moment, people seemed to wake up from this shock and issued a deafening exclamation.

Three hundred and seventy thousand taels! Just selling liquor to the north... If calculated according to previous years, this would definitely be a loss-making price. The Xiong family of Lingnan reported three hundred thousand taels, which was already competing for the bid by smashing the pot and selling the iron. Unexpectedly, they still lost to Room Yi-Si!

However, as a result, the merchants also knew one thing, Xia Qifei of Room Yi-Si was definitely not a decoy used by the Imperial Envoy to raise the price, but was really going to compete with them for business.

For a moment, everyone didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

At this moment, a muffled sound came from the room of the Xiong family of Lingnan, as if something heavy had fallen from the chair to the ground.

Everyone looked at that room with lingering fear.

Xiong Bailing, the master of the Xiong family, got up from the ground, took a cup of cold tea and poured it into his stomach with great difficulty, and said breathlessly, "That bastard... Damn it, he actually bid three hundred and seventy thousand taels. This bandit is still a bandit, and he's still so bandit-like when he does business. I'll admit that you're ruthless."

Fan Xian sat on the grand master's chair in the hall, lowered his head slightly, but he was not happy with this price. This price was indeed too high. The previous two bids were called extremely beautifully by Xia Qifei, just one head higher than the Xiong family. But this last price was actually seven thousand taels of silver more.

Even if he had more money, he couldn't spend it like this - he sighed in his heart, but he also knew that the bidding thing was definitely not Xia Qifei's decision. He had placed several sly old officials of the Ministry of Revenue in Room Yi-Si, who were masters he had secretly asked his father in Kyoto for. It just seemed that those officials of the Ministry of Revenue had overestimated the determination of the Xiong family of Lingnan.

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Before long, a brocade box had been taken out from Room Yi-Si and handed over to the flower hall for inspection. It was indeed a full 150,000 taels of silver notes, issued by the Taiping Qianzhuang, and the seal was not fake.

At this time, everyone knew that the person sitting in the quiet Room Yi-Si was a merchant among bandits, and a bandit among merchants. He didn't give any face when snatching the bid, and would only smash people with silver in a bloody manner. Moreover, the other party really had so much silver.

It's just that I don't know how many bids the bandit in Room Yi-Si is still planning to snatch.

The development of the situation next made everyone except the Ming family despair. Xia Qifei, the head of the Jiangnan Water Village, perfectly carried forward the style of a bandit, using silver notes as a knife and superb bidding as a fist, and forcibly cut a bloody path among the surrounded merchants. Amidst the officials' announcements on the stone steps, the brocade boxes were constantly being delivered to the flower hall. People seemed to see countless extremely beautiful silver notes flying in the air, while Xia Qifei was holding a large knife, shouting lewdly, "Who is richer than me?"

Two hours passed, and except for missing a small bid that was not too important, Xia Qifei actually won four bids in a row, including the three bids of the northern line originally belonging to the Cui family. Not only did he kill Xiong Bailing and make him fall to the ground, but he also killed the Sun family of Quanzhou with a pale face. The rest of the merchants were even more frightened, thinking that they had come here today not to seize the bid, but to watch the bandits kill people.

It was not until this time that the merchants regretted not accepting Fan Xian's initial proposal. If they were split up, there would be ten major items behind, and even if the Ming family was watching, they would have a chance to eat something.

It's better to tear your face and compete with the Ming family than to face the bandits in Room Yi-Si. This was the biggest feeling of the Jiangnan merchants today.

Fan Xian sat on the grand master's chair with a calm face, talking to Xue Qing, but in fact he was jealous of Xia Qifei in his heart, thinking how could this lovely game of smashing people with silver not be his turn to play, but you were lucky to die.

Huang Gonggong and Guo Zheng had already escaped from the shock of the previous moment and looked at each other with a smile that was not a smile. They thought the same thing in their hearts: Where did Fan Xian... get this money from? I'm afraid that Minister of Revenue in Kyoto is not clean.

The fifth bid began, which was the glass products from the northern line originally belonging to the Cui family.

The door of Room Yi-Si was pushed open again, and another kraft paper bag was handed out.

At this time, no merchant was willing to play with this bandit, so they were all quiet, only hoping that the bandit could get full sooner.

And at this moment, the door of Room Jia-Yi, which had been unusually quiet, was pushed open. The Ming family... for some reason, made a move in advance!

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"Don't seek to win the bid, but to delay time, at least until the end of today." Ming Qingda closed his eyes to rest and said to his son next to him, "The other party's momentum has been formed, we must be careful and leave ourselves enough time to respond overnight."

Ming Lanshi was silent, knowing that his father was also beginning to worry about the seemingly bottomless amount of silver in Room Yi-Si, and was preparing to raise funds again at night.

Ming Qingda didn't open his eyes, but he was thinking about the bandit in Room Yi-Si in his heart. Why did he make him so uneasy? Why did that Xia Qifei look a bit familiar?

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