Mu Wanqing knew nothing about the situation in the capital, so naturally she had no way to analyze it.

She enthusiastically sent out twenty invitations, inviting wealthy merchants from the three countries and envoys from Northern Chu and Xiwu.

King Yan looked at the words on the invitation letter and couldn't believe it. What? Selling water trucks? Auction? The highest bidder wins?

Really good at playing.

Hu Tu, who was sitting opposite him, also received an invitation letter. "King Yan, you seem very surprised. Haven't you heard about this beforehand?"

King Yan put away his strange expression and looked at him calmly, "How could it be? I just didn't expect that she would invite so many people."

He took the initiative to suggest, “Let’s agree in advance not to bid against each other and not to raise the price too high.”

Hutu had already emptied his wallet, so naturally he didn't want to spend a lot of money to buy a water truck.

"Of course, we have to communicate with the merchants in our country."

"Okay." The King of Yan agreed immediately, and an alliance was formed in an instant. "However, the merchants of Qi are difficult to control. If they raise the price..."

The two looked at each other, and Hutu immediately called someone over, "Go check who else has received the invitation. No matter what means you use, make those people obey you."

"yes."

They were determined to take the initiative in the auction and control the pricing power in their own hands.

But, can it be achieved?

Three days later, the auction was held as scheduled in the newly opened clubhouse.

The club covers a large area and has ten conference halls with different styles for everyone to choose from.

There are also tea rooms, restaurants, gyms, chess and card rooms, libraries and other leisure and entertainment projects. These novel ways have attracted the attention of many people.

This is a membership system with an annual fee of one thousand taels, which seems like a sky-high price, but businessmen are flocking to it and many people apply for the card.

This is not only entertainment, but also a platform for making friends.

Look, it’s easy to gather together the top businessmen from Chu and Wu, and even the prince is present.

It’s worth the money.

When Prince Yan and his entourage visited the club, they couldn't help but be fascinated. When it comes to having fun, Mu Wanqing is still the best.

I’ve decided to build a club when I get back.

The guests invited were all big businessmen from various countries, very wealthy ones, but the merchants from Chu and Wu were absent-minded and their attitudes were very cold.

The Da Qi merchant was also a little absent-minded, but Guo Er was in high spirits and followed closely behind Mu Wanqing.

Mu Wanqing saw it all. She first gave a warm speech to welcome everyone, and also presented a gift, a big cream cake that was incredibly beautiful.

She cut the cake herself and served pieces of cake to everyone.

Everyone present had seen the world, but had never seen such snacks.

Tasting the sweet and delicious cream cake, Hutu couldn't help but be amazed, it was so delicious! Sweet but not greasy, dense and smooth.

He wolfed down a piece, still not satisfied, "Lord, I want to order a hundred cakes."

He wanted to give a taste to everyone in his family, including the emperor, his concubines, princes and princesses, relatives, friends, close officials, etc. A hundred people might not be enough.

Mu Wanqing refused without hesitation, "Sorry, cakes are not for sale. They are too complicated to make and difficult to store and transport. I am usually busy and don't have time to make them."

The snack street has everything except cakes.

Hutu was stunned. "Did you do this yourself?"

How can she be so capable? She can do everything.

Mu Wanqing took a bite of cake and a sip of tea, perfect. "Yes, I haven't made it for a long time, so my skills are a little rusty, please forgive me."

She said this modestly, but everyone fell in love with the cake and kept praising it, "This is so delicious, you are worthy of being the head of Qingping Township, you are so capable."

Even the Prince of Yan, who didn't like sweets very much, silently ate up his share.

"I've never seen this dessert before, it's so delicious. When I think about not being able to eat it in the future..." Hu Tu sighed deeply, and suddenly an idea flashed in his mind, "How about selling me the cake recipe?"

Everyone looked at him. He was too bold to even covet the village chief's secret recipe. This was not on Xiwu's land.

"This is a family heirloom, passed down from generation to generation. How can I sell it so easily?" Mu Wanqing said righteously, and suddenly changed the subject, "Of course, if there is 500,000 taels, I would still be happy to do so."

The short shelf life of cakes greatly limits the market, and it is impossible for her to open a cake shop in other countries.

It would be better to sell it for money.

"Five hundred thousand taels?" Hu Tu gasped. Why didn't she just rob the money?

It's just a snack, how can it be worth this money?

There is no standard for secret recipes. If you say it is expensive, it is expensive. If you say it is cheap, it is cheap.

Although others thought it was too expensive, they didn't dare to say anything.

Mu Wanqing said calmly, "We can buy together. Find ten companions, and each person only needs to pay 50,000. We can earn back the money in one year by opening a cake shop. Our descendants can rely on this to make a living in the future."

Hutu rolled his eyes rudely, "How is that possible? Money is not that easy to make."

Mu Wanqing glanced at him indifferently, her eyes actually looked a little contemptuous, "I'm sorry, it's not difficult for me, we are different."

Hu Tu's face turned red with anger. Was he saying he was stupid? "Then tell me, how do you make half a million dollars a year from cakes?"

Mu Wanqing said casually, "It's very simple. Open a cake shop in a busy town, unify the management, and create momentum. Set a price of one hundred taels of silver for each cake. If ten cakes are sold a day, that's one thousand taels, and three hundred and sixty-five thousand taels a year. This is the performance of one shop. What if there are ten shops? A country must have ten busy cities, right?"

She made a very good argument, but she couldn't convince Hu Tu. "It's hard to sell something this expensive. Who would want to eat a cake for no reason?"

Mu Qing was a little impatient. "Stupid, do you know what luxury goods are? What is hunger marketing?"

She looked at the bewildered crowd and sighed softly, "Forget it, you don't know anything. Considering this rare fate, I will teach you a trick, which is my unique secret trick for doing business."

Everyone sat up straight and pricked up their ears. Mu Wanqing's way of making money was much better than that of ordinary people.

Mu Wanqing pondered for a moment, "Let the royal family be the spokesperson. Every festival, event, or birthday must be celebrated with a cake. This will create a trend from top to bottom. Let everyone feel that this is the most upscale celebration. Which rich person doesn't want such a noble feeling? Is it the cake that is being eaten? No, it's the sense of ceremony, the sense of dignity!"

Positioning cakes as luxury goods, are you still afraid that no one will buy them?

"The royal family must have good spending power, and there are many wealthy people in the capital. Are you still worried that you can't afford the cake?"

Everyone's eyes widened, and their worldviews were greatly impacted. How could business be done like this in this world?

They finally understood why she made a lot of money while some people found it difficult to make money.

Mu Wanqing was still imparting skills, "Also, instill in the public the idea that giving cakes as gifts is the most respectable. Are you still worried that you won't be able to sell them? Usually the gifts you receive will not be less than one hundred taels, right?"

King Yan subconsciously remembered that he had received vases, paintings, flowers, jades, etc. If he could replace them with cakes, it seemed feasible.

Her tricks are difficult for ordinary people, but for royal relatives, they are not difficult to operate.

Mu Wanqing's eyes swept across everyone's faces, some looked enlightened, some were confused, and some were extremely happy.

"If you still don't understand, you are just a piece of rotten wood. I sincerely advise you not to do business. You will definitely lose money."

Guo Er stood up and bowed to the ground, "Thank you for your advice, village master. Listening to your words is worth ten years of reading."

Jiangnan's Guo Er comes from a business family. His family has been businessmen for generations and his business is very big. Mu Wanqing's words touched him the most.

I understood some of them before, and I had a vague feeling about some of them, but there was only a veil between them. But after Mu Wanqing's guidance, they became clear.

Enlightenment!

The other businessmen looked at Mu Wanqing differently, as if they were looking at a god.

Mu Wanqing stood on the shoulders of her predecessors, so she was naturally more forward-looking than these people. "Is this move worth 500,000?"

"It's worth it, it's really worth it." Guo Er looked at her eagerly, "Village Master, I want to buy it, I want to buy it!"

Before Hu Tu could figure it out, someone got there first. He immediately got anxious and said, "Wait a minute, don't grab it from me. I made the promise first."

How could such a person be missed? I didn't know beforehand that he also got the invitation letter, and now it's bad news.

"Who told you that?" Mu Wanqing said with a smile, "No."

"I want it." A low voice sounded, and everyone looked up. It was King Yan.

Hu Tu was very depressed. "Prince Yan, you'd better forget it. Your family is not rich and probably can't afford this amount of money."

Prince Yan glanced at him coldly, what a bastard! "How can a prince like me be short of money?"

He specially borrowed it from a businessman in his country for the auction.

Guo Er took the initiative to suggest, "Since everyone wants it, why not auction it off and the highest bidder wins."

"That won't work." It was Hutu's voice.

"I don't think it's appropriate." King Yan also spoke up, "We didn't mention the auction before, it's not good to change the rules without authorization."

Mu Wanqing rolled her eyes and said, "How about this, I will only sell it once to each country, for 500,000, no bargaining."

"Okay, I'll go first." Guo Er immediately asked someone to take out 500,000 silver notes and put them in front of Mu Wanqing.

Mu Wanqing asked someone to count them, and after confirming that they were correct, she nodded, "I will start teaching tomorrow. You can learn by yourself, or you can choose someone to come and learn with you."

"good."

Hu Tu and King Yan looked at each other and exchanged glances.

"I want one too."

"Give me one." Get the secret recipe first. As for the money, there is always a way to get it back.

In this way, 1.5 million silver coins went into Mu Wanqing's pocket.

When the auction officially started, Mu Wanqing asked someone to bring the horizontal model over. "There are ten water trucks in total. Let's auction the first one first. The starting price is 50,000, and the price will increase by 1,000. Let's start."

King Yan deliberately said, "Fifty-one thousand."

As soon as he opened the price, no one competed with him. Just when he was about to win with great confidence, Guo Er rushed out and said, "One hundred thousand."

King Yan's face darkened. This bastard was ruining his plans again!

Mu Wanqing's lips curled up slightly. She had expected this to happen, so she had made a backup plan. "One hundred thousand for the first time, one hundred thousand for the second time... Is there anyone else bidding? No one? One hundred thousand for the third time, congratulations, Mr. Guo."

"Thank you." Guo Er proudly bowed to everyone.

The same situation happened several times in a row. Both countries were unwilling to increase the price and kept it very low. However, every time, Guo Er would interfere.

Mu Wanqing praised sincerely, "Our Great Qi is really powerful, with amazing financial resources, far surpassing other countries. Not bad, not bad, it is really something to be proud of."

Hu Tu couldn't help it, "This is not fair, how can you sell to the same person continuously? I heard that this businessman is very close to you?"

Mu Wanqing asked confidently, "Does it matter? You can choose not to buy it, but you still control whether I sell it or not? You are really nosy, haha."

"Besides, I'm only selling it this once, and I've made enough money anyway."

These words made everyone present feel suffocated. Yes, she earned millions in just a few days.

Hu Tu simply argued, "Why do I feel that you are using this method to transfer the things to him? You don't really want to sell it to us. This is too much. What do you think of us?"

Mu Wanqing spread her hands and said, "You can think so. The opportunity is right in front of us. Everyone has a chance."

Her eyes fell on the merchants. The merchants felt very aggrieved. They wanted to buy very much, but... they didn't dare to offend their benefactors.

The merchants of Da Qi avoided looking at each other.

Hutu: ...

Mu Wanqing didn't care about their thoughts at all and continued with the process, "Start bidding on the fifth item..."

This time, Hutu did not hesitate, "One hundred thousand and one hundred thousand."

"One hundred and fifty thousand." Guo Er deliberately raised the price.

Hu Tu gritted his teeth secretly, "160,000."

King Yan winked at him. Didn't we agree on this? Why did he change his mind without permission?

Hutu ignored it and said, "190,000."

"Two hundred thousand."

Finally, Hu Tu successfully bought one.

No matter what, I have to buy one and take it back to report.

When the King of Yan saw that he changed his mind without thinking and destroyed the alliance, he was so angry that he vomited blood, but he had no way to deal with him.

Now that they have Xiwu, they in the State of Chu must have it too.

Otherwise, what would the emperor think if this matter got back?

Forget it, let him buy one too and take it home to open and study it.

Anyway, he has a second plan. He will take it step by step and he doesn't believe that he can't take down Mu Wanqing.

If you can gain both people and money, you will be the biggest winner.

In the end, he also bought one for $200,000.

Everyone thought the auction was over, but Mu Wanqing clapped her hands and spoke in a relaxed tone.

"Okay, now that we've done the main business, let's try something different. I have some secret recipes for food that I want to auction off, so please come and show your support."

As soon as the snacks such as mochi, toast, croissants, puffs, cookies, crepes, and macarons were served, they immediately attracted everyone's attention.

The starting price for one piece is 20,000 yuan. Compared with the previous price, this price is as cheap as cabbage, which makes everyone present excited.

This time, the oppressed merchants couldn't help but get involved. They tolerated the big items, so they should be able to try their hand at these small things.

Prince Yan and Hutu could not continue to force their way through. The waterwheel issue could be justified by national interests, but this was not the case with these little desserts.

Cutting off someone's source of income is like killing their parents. Even the humblest businessman will rise up in anger and resist.

You must always leave some room for others, and also leave a way out for yourself, and you can't do things to the extreme.

Once the repressed businessmen let themselves go, they immediately engage in revengeful spending.

In the bustling atmosphere, every item was auctioned at a sky-high price, and almost everyone had a share.

Of course, the biggest winner is Mu Wanqing.

Looking at everyone so happy, Prince Yan always felt that something was wrong, as if he was being led by Mu Wanqing. Was it an illusion?

He thought for a moment, "Master Qingping, this auction was a great success, you have to buy everyone a drink."

Mu Wanqing said generously, "Okay, come on, invite everyone to the reception room for a banquet."

She bowed to everyone and said, "Everyone, enjoy your meal. I will leave you alone."

Before anyone could react, she turned and left.

King Yan blocked her way, "No, you're just going to leave like this? You're the master of the house."

Mu Wanqing pointed at her pretty face and said, "I'm a woman. How can I drink with a bunch of men like you? I'm going to get married. Bye."

The corners of Prince Yan's mouth twitched. Why didn't he feel there was something wrong when she was holding a grand auction?

"That's your excuse."

Mu Wanqing put her hands on her hips, glared, and nodded confidently, "Yes, the money is already in hand, why should I socialize with you? It's a complete waste of time."

She has drained all their money! It's worthless!

The King of Yan was stunned. How shameless! What a scumbag!

On the other side, Commander Ji and his family of three, who had been hiding in the dark and watching the entire process, watched with shining eyes.

As soon as Mu Wanqing came in, the Ji family couldn't wait to ask, "Wanqing, how did you expect that they had reached a consensus? Did you arrange for Guo Er to be the agent in advance? He was not on the invitation list before, so you deliberately confused them, right?"

"Put the cake first, then the waterwheel, and finally the dessert. What's the point of this order?"

"Why do I feel like the whole rhythm was carefully planned by you? Did you predict their reactions in advance?"