Daming: Mixed in Dangzhi County, Beiping

Chapter 518: Thief Guo, you are spreading rumors about me!
"Of course they all come here for the advertisements!"

On the side, Guo An was holding a cup of hot tea, and after a while he took a sip. He was very calm, unlike Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi who had been standing in front of the window, staring impatiently at the main hall.

"But how can a few dozen words be so valuable? Why are these merchants here?"

Zhu Di still frowned and thought hard.

"Your Majesty, 30 taels of treasure is really not much for these businessmen!"

Guo An smiled helplessly, "Your Majesty, at the level of these merchants, they are already considered wealthy businessmen who dominate a government or a province!
If they want to continue to run big shops and businesses, they can only go to other state capitals or provinces!

However, the common people and gentry in other states and provinces have never heard of them..."

“And by publishing advertisements through Di Bao, they can directly promote their businesses and shops to all state capitals in the Ming Dynasty... Your Majesty, in just one issue of Di Bao, 30 copies of Di Bao were distributed.

This means that in the entire Ming Dynasty, there were at least [-] scholars, gentry, officials, and merchants who read Di Bao carefully.

These scholars, gentry, officials, and merchants were the richest people in the Ming Dynasty, and they were also the most important customers of merchants like Zhengtang! "

"Your Majesty, when people buy something, they usually push it out when it is delivered to their door, but when they see it themselves, they rush to buy it!
The Di Bao was to inform the hundreds of thousands of the richest people in the Ming Dynasty about the items in the shops...

Then, let these hundreds of thousands of the richest people in the Ming Dynasty take the initiative to come to buy!

People's opinions bring gold, and doing good is like ascending to the throne.

As long as you go to the store in Dibao, it will be the best store among the same type of items in Ming Dynasty.

As long as people want to buy that item, that will be the first store that comes to mind!
Therefore, even the advertising fee of 50 taels of treasure is still profitable for these merchants..."

"Is that so?"

Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi never thought of this aspect.

Hearing what Guo An said, the two of them immediately understood and couldn't help but be shocked.

After a while, Zhu Di remembered something and couldn't help but look at Guo An again, "Guo Qing, when the Dibao was first built, did you already think of this matter?"

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

Guo An responded slowly.

Zhu Di's eyes widened and he couldn't help but sigh: "If Guo Qing is in business, he will be as rich as the country!"

"Your Majesty is wrong!"

Guo An smiled slightly and said with great self-awareness: "If a humble minister goes into business, he may be completely swallowed up by an official or powerful person! Even his family may be destroyed!"

"..."

Zhu Di's face froze, and then he said slowly: "Guo Qing is still so unfounded!"

"Weichen always feels like he wants to harm Weichen."

"..."

Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi were speechless one after another.

At this time.

A steward came to the door and knocked on the door.

"Master Marquis, Shopkeeper Shen sent a servant to inform the Marquis and several nobles that the auction is about to begin. Please also invite the Marquis and several nobles to go to the side room behind the main hall to watch!"

"understood!"

Guo An responded and looked at Zhu Di.

"Your Majesty, do you want to go to the wing to hear how much advertising fees those merchants will pay?"

"Go ahead!"

Zhu Di said this and went straight out.

Guo An and Zhu Gaochi followed closely behind.

Wait until Guo An, Zhu Di and others enter the ear room.

When he saw the steward coming back, Shen Zhuang stood up straight away.

The originally noisy main hall suddenly fell silent, and all the merchants looked at Shen Zhuang with burning eyes.

"You all are here this time for the purpose of advertising for me. It's getting late now, and most of the people who should come are already here, so Shen won't waste your time!"

"What Shopkeeper Shen said is absolutely true!"

"You all know the regulations for the advertising auction of Dibao, right?"

"Manager Shen, just start shooting, we already know it!"

"Exactly. Shopkeeper Shen, let's start right away. If someone fails to understand the auction regulations in the past two days, it's an unintentional auction!"

"Exactly..." All the merchants were immediately impatient.

Seeing this, Shen Zhuang didn't introduce it too much. He took out a small purple gold wooden hammer and tapped it lightly on the small table beside him.

"This time, the second advertising space in Dibao is auctioned. The base price is 30 Baobao. Each increase in price is [-] Baobao. There is no upper limit. Malicious combinations to lower the price are strictly prohibited!
If discovered, they will never be allowed to enter the Dibao advertising space! "

"Don't worry, Manager Shen, we will never dare to join forces privately!"

"Good over there!"

Shen Zhuang nodded slowly, "Please bid!"

"The Li family in Suzhou offered 35 treasure banknotes!"

"The Wang family in Jiaxing offered 38 treasure banknotes!"

"Haha, I'm paying 40 yuan from the Zhang family in Nanchang!"

"I, the Wang family of Taiyuan Prefecture, offered 46 treasure banknotes..."

"..."

Listening to the crowd of people wearing white linen outside, the numbers coming out of their mouths became more numerous than the last.

Zhu Di's eyes widened, full of surprise, and he suddenly shuddered hard.

Guo An couldn't help but be surprised. Was Zhu Laosi too excited?
"Are all the merchants of my Ming Dynasty so rich?"

"Yes, teacher, these businessmen can actually shell out 52 yuan for an advertising space!"

Zhu Gaochi was also full of surprise.

"It's already 60 million!"

Guo An smiled lightly, "Your Majesty, Your Highness the Crown Prince, our Ming Dynasty has a population of nearly [-] million. As the richest merchants in the Ming Dynasty, it is reasonable for these merchants to be able to spend so much money!"

"Hmph, it's all the people's blessings!"

Suddenly, Zhu Di snorted coldly, his face filled with resentment.

Guo An smiled bitterly and did not respond.

Zhu Di frowned slightly and looked at Guo An, "Do you think what I said is inappropriate?"

Guo An responded quickly: "Your majesty is wise, he said that it is the people who care for the people, but it is the people who care for the people!"

Zhu Gaochi's face changed slightly.

"you……"

Zhu Di's eyes turned cold and he said in a cold voice: "What you say is true, Guo An, do you want to be a sycophant?"

"Weichen has no such intention!"

Guo An quickly shook his head and said, "Your Majesty knows it clearly, a humble minister would never dare to be a sycophant!"

"Then you clearly think what I said is inappropriate, why do you still agree with me?"

"Weichen thought...that His Majesty wanted the money of these merchants. Therefore, as a minister, Weichen knew that what His Majesty said was inappropriate, so he should share His Majesty's worries!"

Zhu Di was stunned for a moment, then suddenly became furious, with his face still slightly red, "You... Guo Thief, you are spreading rumors about me! When did I want the money of these merchants?"

Guo An looked innocent, "Your Majesty said that these merchants' money comes from the people's wealth, which means that these merchants' money comes from improper sources, so their homes should be confiscated!"

"..."

Zhu Gaochi looked at Guo An in surprise, with a trace of excitement flashing in his eyes.

He couldn't remember how long it had been since the teacher had criticized his father!

Zhu Di cursed at Guo An, "Guo thief, how dare you misinterpret our meaning?"

Guo An quickly apologized, "Since His Majesty did not mean this, it is the fault of the minister. It is the minister's evil intention and random speculation on His Majesty's thoughts!"

"okay!"

Zhu Di glared at Guo An fiercely. After getting along with him for so many years, he would know if Guo An farted...

Pooh!
Zhu Di spat on the ground, and under Zhu Gaochi's surprised look, he asked Guo An: "Do you think the money of these merchants is not the wealth of the people?"

Guo An asked softly: "May I ask Your Majesty, is the money made by the Peking Chamber of Commerce, Maritime Trade Chamber of Commerce, Shipping Company, and those workshops in Jiangjun Mountain based on the wealth of the people?"

Zhu Di: "..."

Zhu Gaochi: "..."

(End of this chapter)