Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 774: Merchant Requests Meeting
The businessman surnamed Zhao and his cousin, the middle-aged man whom he had specially written to come to the capital from the south, hurried to the governor's office early in the morning. But when they arrived, they found that they were not the first to arrive. Three people had arrived before them, and they all knew each other.

"Brother Zhao is here too?"

"Brother Liu! Brother Luo! And Brother Lu, haha, you came really early." Upon seeing the three people, the businessman surnamed Zhao bowed with a smile on his face, and the middle-aged man next to him also followed his cousin to salute the other party.

"It's the same with you. Brother Zhao is well-informed. You came just as I arrived."

"Hahaha!"

They were all businessmen and old friends who knew each other well, so it was natural for them to joke around when they met. They smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries, then talked about the business of the moment.

"It is said that our Ming soldiers made a lot of gains in Liaodong this time, and the governor intends to sell the captured goods. Is this true?"

"That's true!" Seeing that the merchant surnamed Lu couldn't help asking, the merchant surnamed Zhao smiled and nodded: "The day before yesterday, the news came from the dock that more than ten of Marshal Zheng's warships returned fully loaded, and the materials brought back filled several warehouses. The governor asked us to come here today to sell these captured goods. Otherwise, how could you and I come here so early in the morning?"

"I've heard about this, too. I also heard that there are a lot of good things involved." said the businessman named Liu.

"What exactly are those things? Brother Liu, do you know?" The merchant named Lu was not as well-informed as them, so he asked hurriedly.

"Let's not talk about the Liaodong specialties such as ginseng, sable fur, and fungus. Horses and grain will not be sold this time. The governor wants to use them for military purposes. But apart from these, there are also a large number of gold and silver utensils and jewelry. In particular, do you know about the Liaodong-produced Dongzhu? It is said that there are 32 Dongzhu, each as big as a finger, which is extremely rare."

"Really?" The businessman surnamed Lu asked anxiously, his eyes shining.

"Of course I take it seriously." The merchant surnamed Liu, who had been silent the whole time, took over the conversation: "Eastern pearls are rare. In the early years, they were tributes. Since Lao Nu started his rebellion, the Eastern pearls from Liaodong have never been imported. These items are all in the hands of Jian Nu."

"This time, our Ming soldiers crossed the sea to attack the slaves, and among the items seized was a batch of Eastern Pearls. It is said that this batch of Eastern Pearls was originally prepared for the slave bandit Huang Taiji, and they were all top-grade, but I didn't expect that they fell into the hands of our Ming soldiers before they were sent out. Now this batch of Eastern Pearls is in the governor's office. I wonder if the governor will sell them together with other items. If I can get them..."

At this point, the merchant surnamed Liu gave everyone a meaningful look, and everyone nodded silently to show that they understood. Since they were all doing business, they knew what the merchant surnamed Liu meant. Even if the price of this batch of Dongzhu was higher, it would be worth it as long as they could get it. Dongzhu was extremely rare, not to mention the finger-sized Dongzhu. As long as this thing arrived in the capital, there would be no fear that no one would want it, and there would be people who would buy it even at a high price.

It would be even more amazing if it was sent to Jiangnan. The local wealthy families in Jiangnan are never short of money. It is possible to resell it at a high price several times the price. This would be a great deal.

In addition to the Eastern Pearls, ginseng, sable fur, and fungus are also top-quality commodities. Because Liaodong has been in the hands of the Jiannu for so many years, many materials could not be brought in, resulting in these things becoming scarce and expensive, and their value also soared.

The Governor's Office selling these supplies this time was a great opportunity for them. All these merchants came here eagerly after hearing that Shandong was going to open the sea. They originally thought that they would have to wait until the sea was officially opened before they could reap any rewards. But who would have thought that before the sea was officially opened, the Shandong navy was suddenly sent to fight. When they heard about this some time ago, they were very disappointed. They thought that if the court transferred the Shandong navy to cross the sea to fight, the opening of the sea might be delayed. No one knew when the sea would be opened again. They might have come to Shandong in vain.

But things changed so quickly that in less than a month, first news came from Liaodong that the Ming army had won several victories in the rear of the Jiannu, and then information was received that a large amount of captured materials were being transported from Liaodong to Shandong.

Moreover, they received a message from the Governor's Office last night asking them to come here today. If they didn't want to sell these things, why did Li Xin ask them to come here?

They were chatting excitedly when several more businessmen arrived. As time went by, more and more businessmen came, and the businessman named Zhao and others couldn't help but frown.

These people are really well-informed. I originally thought that not many people knew about it, but I didn't expect that almost all the merchants in Laizhou would come. With so many people, things become a little tricky. Under competition, not only will the price be higher, but the probability of getting it in your hands will also be reduced.

Most of these merchants are not considered wealthy merchants among the merchants in the north. Most of them are just medium-sized merchants. After all, the wealthy merchants are now busy with the border trade in Shanxi. The border trade in Shanxi is now in full swing, and the profits are simply jaw-dropping. However, such a monopoly trade is not something that merchants of their size can squeeze into. At best, they can only get a small share of it. So Shandong is another opportunity for them. In addition, the wealthy merchants cannot take care of this place for the time being, so they have the opportunity to try their luck here. When Shandong officially opens to the sea and a large amount of sea trade is shipped, it is estimated that those wealthy merchants will not give up this place. Now these merchants are just playing a time difference and taking the lead.

Therefore, for them, taking the initiative is the most important thing. They will make as much money as they can by taking advantage of the initiative. Even if big merchants intervene here in the future, at least they will be able to gain a lot. They may even take this opportunity to develop rapidly and eventually squeeze into the ranks of big merchants.

So the more people came, the more ideas they had in their minds. The businessman surnamed Zhao rolled his eyes and whispered a suggestion to them. In this situation, the best way was to unite with each other and jointly take over this batch of goods to squeeze out other competitors. As long as they could get a profit from this sale, they could not only establish a good relationship with the governor's office and lay a solid foundation for the next sale, but also take this opportunity to prepare for the future opening of the sea.

After hearing this, everyone thought it made sense and they immediately agreed. So the five of them decided to join forces to compete with other businessmen and distribute the profits according to the proportion of their investment. They discussed the shares on the spot.

Just as they finished their discussion, the door of the governor's office opened and an official walked out. Seeing the many merchants waiting outside, he couldn't help but smile, cleared his throat, and said that the governor invited everyone to come into the office to discuss the sale of materials. After hearing this, everyone became energetic and lined up to walk inside.

After entering the yamen, they counted the number of merchants who came today and found that there were a total of thirty-seven merchants. They then registered each merchant one by one and compiled a list.

After recording, Li Xin, as the governor, personally came forward and met with everyone. He informed everyone in front of them of the purpose of having them come today, and made it clear that this was a formal sale of supplies. The specific supplies for sale were all seized from Liaodong. All supplies would go to the highest bidder, and would be auctioned in batches according to the type and quantity of the supplies.

After that, someone sent a list of supplies to the thirty-seven merchants. When they saw the densely packed names of the supplies on the list, including the quantities behind them, these merchants instantly became excited and eager to get started, wishing they could pay the money immediately to take all the goods home.

Li Xin left after he finished speaking. After Li Xin left, the official in charge of the auction announced the procedures and rules of the auction in front of everyone, especially reminding everyone that they must auction according to the rules. Anyone who violates the rules will be directly disqualified from the auction. If the auction fee cannot be paid within the specified time after the auction, not only will the materials be confiscated directly, but even the deposit paid in advance on site will not be refunded. Please pay attention to this.

Seeing that no one had any objection, the official announced the start of the auction. As the well-prepared runners brought samples of the auctioned materials in different categories and allowed everyone to inspect the goods on the spot for confirmation, the formal auction process began.

The auction was extremely intense from the beginning. All these merchants knew that the items being auctioned were good things, and even ordinary Liaodong products could make a lot of money by reselling them. So the prices kept rising as the merchants went back and forth. As batches of items were auctioned off, the official presiding over the auction was almost grinning from ear to ear. He had not expected that these things would be sold at such high prices. It was much more than he had expected. This was truly a pleasant surprise!
Moreover, Li Xin had already said that as long as the auction was successful, he would directly take out part of the proceeds to reward everyone, and the officials who presided over the auction would take a large proportion of the reward. This was not a small amount of money! The higher the price, the greater his profit. The generous reward of dozens or even hundreds of taels made him blush with excitement.

The entire auction took nearly a whole morning, and in the end all the auction items were sold out after fierce competition. When the official presiding over the auction excitedly took the final auction results to report to Li Xin, looking at the amounts that were nearly twice his original expectations, even Li Xin was very surprised, but at the same time very happy.

"Well done. I will issue the rewards I mentioned earlier once the money arrives. You still have to work hard in the future."

"Thank you, Your Excellency the Governor! I will do my best and will never let you down!" The official was so excited that his back teeth were exposed while laughing. He patted his chest and made a promise to Li Xin.

"In that case, just do your job well." Li Xin smiled faintly and waved his hand.

The official did not leave immediately, but hesitated and stopped talking.

Seeing him like this, Li Xin asked him directly if there was anything else he wanted. The official hesitated for a moment before saying that after the auction was completed, a businessman came to find him and asked to see Li Xin. He hoped that the governor would give him a chance.

"You want to see me? What do you want to see me for?" Li Xin asked back.

"I don't know, but this person said it would be beneficial to the governor, and it is related to the current war in Liaodong. I have to tell you after I see you, your humble servant... your humble servant..." the official replied nervously.

Li Xin frowned slightly. A businessman came to him and mentioned the Liaodong war. What did this mean? However, Li Xin was also curious. It was okay to meet him, so he agreed immediately and asked the official to bring the businessman over. He wanted to hear why the other party wanted to see him.

(End of this chapter)