Daming: Mixed in Dangzhi County, Beiping

The next day.

Guo An, Zhu Gaochi, Ma He, Shen Zhuang and others went to the auction house of the Maritime Trade Chamber of Commerce.

In the huge auction room that could accommodate thousands of people, Zhu Gaochi looked depressed.

"I always feel that the teacher is deliberately arranging things for me to make me tired!"

Ma He and Shen Zhuang couldn't help but look surprised.

Guo An was also full of surprise, "Your Highness has misunderstood. How dare I arrange affairs for Your Highness?"

Zhu Gaochi looked unbelieving.

"Ever since the teacher thought I was obese, I have been busier and busier every day. Every day, I have to walk tens of thousands of steps without touching the ground. I feel like I am losing weight every day!"

"Now, the teacher wants me to come over to inspect the auction items..."

Guo An did not admit it at all and shook his head repeatedly.

"Your Highness is overthinking it. I just think that Your Highness is the Prince of the Ming Dynasty. He sits in the deep palace all day long. He doesn't eat the fireworks of the world. He doesn't know all kinds of common sense outside. I want His Highness to know more about it.

Especially the rare treasures in the auction room. Although Ma He, Shen Zhuang and others are loyal to His Majesty, they will not take them greedily.

However, in the future, when those incompetent people take over the auction, seeing so many rare things, they will inevitably have thoughts that they shouldn't have! "

"Your Highness, please read more and know what kind of regulations the auction house has, so you don't have to be easily deceived in the future!"

Zhu Gaochi frowned slightly, "Teacher, will all the managers of the auction house be greedy for money in the future?"

Guo An smiled slightly, "Your Highness, I forgive you, I don't know, this is just to prevent trouble before it happens!"

Zhu Gaochi didn't say much, just nodded slightly and started walking around.

On the side, Shen Zhuang still had a tense face and did not dare to say a word.

Coincidentally.

At this time.

Two laborers carried two bags of goods from one side and headed to the warehouse behind the auction house.

And there was a strong aroma coming from the bag.

"What is this?"

Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but ask.

Shen Zhuang took a look at the bag and quickly replied: "Reporting to His Royal Highness, this item should be pepper!"

"black pepper?"

Zhu Gaochi's eyes lit up, and then he frowned slightly.

"If it's pepper, why is it so rough to carry?"

The appearance of pepper is similar to that of Zanthoxylum bungeanum, but in the eyes of Ming people, their status is completely different.

Pepper not only has the medicinal value of eliminating phlegm, lowering qi, and replenishing deficiency, but can also be used as a spice to season meat. It is mostly used to relieve the fishy smell of beef and mutton. All the gentry and dignitaries ate.

Even for the prince Zhu Gaochi, pepper was an extremely rare spice.

And now.

The two bags of pepper were carried carelessly by the laborers like weeds.

"Your Highness taught you a very good lesson. It was the humble minister who was negligent!"

Shen Zhuang respectfully admitted his mistake.

The two force servants were standing there cautiously now, with expressions of bewilderment on their faces.

How did they know that this fragrant bag contained spices and peppers that even His Royal Highness valued highly?

Guo An realized something and asked, "How much pepper did you bring back this time?"

Shen Zhuang glanced at Guo An gratefully and replied hurriedly: "Back to the Marquis, I brought back a total of [-] boxes of pepper, about [-] bags!"

Zhu Gaochi was immediately shocked, "Fifty thousand bags? Are they all this kind of bag?"

On the side, Ma He also said: "Reporting to Your Highness, it is exactly this kind of bag!"

Zhu Gaochi asked hurriedly: "How many pounds does this weigh?"

"Go back to Your Highness, each bag is fifty kilograms, totaling about two and a half million kilograms!"

"hiss……"

Zhu Gaochi took a cold breath and said, "There are so many?"

Then, thinking of something, he hurriedly asked: "How much did it cost to buy these peppers?"

Ma He replied: "To report back to Your Highness, ten pounds of pepper, one pound of grain, or one hundred pounds of pepper, one tael of tea, or one tael of refined salt, one piece of glassware..."

"..."

Zhu Gaochi's eyes widened.

"How could those barbarians abuse these rare spices so much?"

The corners of Ma He's mouth twitched slightly as he remembered something.

"Your Highness does not know that these peppers are everywhere in those barbarian lands.

In addition, these peppers only have fragrance and cannot be eaten as food, so they will be regarded as dung by the barbarians.

If it weren't for the Song and Yuan Dynasties, our Central Plains merchants had purchased these peppers from them, letting the barbarians know that these peppers still had some value.

I'm afraid, these peppers can only be reduced to debris in those barbarian lands! "

"Miscellaneous things..." Zhu Gaochi's face was startled, and he couldn't help but said angrily, "The pearls are covered with dust, and the barbarians are ignorant!"

Guo An couldn't help but defend those barbarians: "Your Highness, these barbarians are ignorant and are my friends of the Ming Dynasty!"

"friend?"

Zhu Gaochi was taken aback.

Guo An chuckled, "Your Highness, in my Ming Dynasty, those Yi people would sell the pepper to the Ming Dynasty for a few cents or more than ten cents."

"More than a thousand times the profit, such an innocent and simple Yiren should be my friend of the Ming Dynasty!"

"..."

After being stunned for a long time, Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but nodded firmly.

"What the teacher said is absolutely true, those barbarians should be my friends of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Your Highness is wise!"

Ma He and Shen Zhuang also nodded.

Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but calculate again, "Two and a half million kilograms of pepper, even if one kilogram is sold for ten taels of silver, you can earn more than twenty-five million taels of silver!"

"More than twenty-five million taels?..."

Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but widen his eyes again, "You can make so much money with just some pepper?

If you include gems, ivory, dyes, medicines, deerskin, coral, etc., wouldn't it be possible to earn tens of millions of taels of silver? "

Of course, the money Zhu Gaochi mentioned was all treasure.

However, even if it is just treasure money, it can be converted into a huge fortune.

One fleet trip to the sea can earn back several years of tax revenue!
  Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but tremble in his heart as he calculated the real money. Can his father keep so much money?
  If the ministers in the court knew about it, wouldn't they all go crazy?
  "There won't be that many!"

Guo An smiled lightly and explained: "Your Highness, pepper is very profitable, but gems and ivory are also very precious in the eyes of the barbarians. Moreover, the quantity of gems and ivory is not too many!"

"Reporting to Your Highness, it is just as the Marquis said!"

Ma He said: "Gemstones and ivory are beautiful, and the barbarians seem to know that we, the Ming people, like these things.

Therefore, the price they charge is also very high.

Often, a piece of glassware can be exchanged for a piece of ivory or a few gems! "

Zhu Gaochi: "..."

A piece of glassware worth one tael or several hundred taels of silver is exchanged for an item of ivory or gemstone worth dozens of taels or even hundreds of taels of silver, a profit of hundreds of times. Isn’t this profitable?

Guo An added: "Your Highness, it is precisely because there are too many goods that the auction house is prone to corruption!"

"What the teacher said is very true!"

Zhu Gaochi nodded slightly and said to Ma He and Shen Zhuang: "Please keep a close eye on the auction house.

Although my father also knows that you are loyal, if there is any problem, even if my father is unwilling to punish you, he will send someone to investigate! "

"Please rest assured, Your Highness, I will be under strict supervision!"

Ma He and Shen Zhuang said quickly with solemn faces.

"Everyone, please don't do this. Both I and Marquis Dinghai still believe in your talents!"

Zhu Gaochi said with a gentle face.

On the side, a trace of relief flashed in Guo An's eyes.

Next, when he checked the operation process of the auction house again, Zhu Gaochi became much more serious.

And Zhu Gaochi was once again eye-opening.

Until they left the auction room and sat alone in the carriage with Guo An.

Zhu Gaochi suddenly said: "Teacher, the stewards and servants in the auction house are guarding so many rare treasures, can they control their hands and feet?

Especially those laborers and accountants, as long as they save a pound of pepper, or a gem or ivory after using it silently, they can sell it for dozens of taels of treasure! "

"Your Highness has also noticed this!"

Guo An smiled faintly, and then said: "They may be able to bear it at first, but as time goes by, they will definitely not be able to bear it!"

"How about that?"

Zhu Gaochi asked hurriedly.

Although sometimes, the law can also blame everyone.

However, those stewards and servants were willing to sacrifice their lives. Even if they killed one person and then another, they would never be able to bear it when faced with those rare things.

"Your Highness, don't worry!"

Guo An still looked calm.

“Your Highness, you only need to leave these trivial matters of the auction house to Shen Zhuang and the others!

As a wealthy businessman, the Shen family has a lot of experience in managing the managers below.

Moreover, the Shen family has a great cause, and they have finally managed to get along with His Majesty. They will definitely do their best and will not let those managers and servants act recklessly! "

"Teacher's intention?"

Zhu Gaochi inexplicably heard something different.

... (end of this chapter)