Chapter 644 Deliberately Inflating Prices
Cheng Wanwan walked in from the entrance.
She walked first, followed by County Magistrate Zhao and Zhao Tiezhu, then Manager Yan, and Cheng Jia and Cheng Yi came in to maintain order.
As soon as she entered, all the merchants present stood up and bowed in unison.
"I have met Lady Sui."
Lady Sui is now a fourth-rank court lady and also serves as a sixth-rank official. For someone of such status to personally receive them, a group of lowly merchants, made them feel that they had received the highest honor. Even if they did not obtain the business rights, even if they made a wasted trip, it was still worth it.
"On behalf of Dahe Town, I welcome all the guests." Cheng Wanwan stood on the main stage with a warm smile. "Please be seated."
The businessmen sat down in unison, and although the venue was crowded, it was strangely quiet.
“We’ve all gathered here for the same purpose, so I’ll get straight to the point.” Cheng Wanwan sat down and began methodically, “This is the first investment promotion conference in Dahe Town. I’m very happy that everyone is here to participate. Each person’s number is unique. The auction will be conducted using this number. Each time you raise your paddle, you are participating in the bidding. This process is called an auction. The highest bidder will win the operating license for the shop.”
“After obtaining the operating rights, you can carry out commercial operations in Dahe Town. The specific business you do must be subject to the unified command of Dahe Town. There is one point—” she changed the subject, “This shop belongs to Dahe Town. Therefore, after paying taxes, two-thirds of the profits from operating the shop must be handed over to Dahe Town. Anyone who has objections to this can leave now.”
This is something all businessmen can understand: as long as they can make money, who cares about two layers of profit?
Seeing that no one had any objections, Cheng Wanwan nodded in satisfaction: "Then let's start the bidding for the first shop now."
Zhao Tiezhu moved the screen aside, revealing a white wall with a map of Dahe Town hanging on it. The new market was highlighted, and each shop was marked with a number.
"Shop number one, located on the east side of the market, connects to the old market. It's the first shop from the east and is the entrance to the new market." Zhao Tiezhu recited his lines with great expression. "This shop has three floors and can be used as a teahouse, tavern, or even a money exchange and pawnshop. No matter what business you do, you're guaranteed to make a profit... That concludes the introduction of shop number one. Now, let's announce the starting bid: one hundred taels of silver!"
One hundred taels of silver is indeed a huge sum of money that a villager could hardly save in a lifetime, but it is nothing to a businessman.
For a relatively small amount of money, you can own the operating rights to a shop; it's a sure-fire way to make money.
But soon, those present realized they had been overthinking things, because the starting price of one hundred taels of silver did not mean that only that much money was needed.
"Two hundred taels!"
"Four hundred taels!"
"Six hundred taels!"
"..."
The merchants below were like they'd been injected with adrenaline, raising their paddles one after another, afraid that if they were a step too slow, the price would skyrocket.
County Magistrate Zhao, Zhao Tiezhu, and Manager Yan were all stunned.
When Sui Gongren proposed this plan, they were worried that no one would participate, but they did not expect that these merchants would be so enthusiastic.
It's just the operating rights of a shop, not the shop itself or the land, yet it's selling for a thousand taels of silver, and the price is still rising!
"I'll offer two thousand taels of silver!"
A voice suddenly rang out, and prices plummeted.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Old Master Qian.
Everyone here knows that since Old Master Qian started cooperating with Sui Gongren, the Qian family has become different from before. Their status and position have risen far above that of ordinary businessmen. As a result, Old Master Qian has also joined the Huzhou Chamber of Commerce and become its vice president.
Once he opened his mouth like that, who would still argue with him? Everyone gave up.
"Gentlemen, thank you for your kind offer." Old Master Qian stood up, cupped his hands in greeting, and then sat down with a satisfied smile. He then said to the people beside him, "If you want to win the right to operate a shop, you have to suddenly raise the price before everyone can react, to intimidate everyone. Otherwise, you won't be able to snatch a single shop."
The person beside him was Master Leng, the head of the Leng family who threw the embroidered ball for his daughter in Huzhou.
After that incident of throwing the embroidered ball, the Leng family became the laughing stock of the entire Huzhou. His daughter was also the subject of various gossips and accusations. To this day, his daughter has not found a good husband, and the Leng family's business is declining day by day. Therefore, he had no choice but to come to Ping'an County to seek new opportunities.
Firstly, Dahe Town in Ping'an County truly has great potential; secondly, if they could get on the good side of Sui Gongren, the Leng family would suffer less from gossip and rumors...
Old Master Qian was on good terms with the Leng family and naturally knew about their situation. He had subtly inquired about Lady Sui's attitude, but Lady Sui didn't care about the Leng family at all. Therefore, he invited Master Leng to Dahe Town to try his luck.
On stage, Zhao Tiezhu continued, "Shop number two is adjacent to shop number one... The starting price is also one hundred taels of silver."
Before anyone else could raise their paddle, Master Leng stood up and said, "I'll bid three thousand taels of silver."
"hiss!"
"Three thousand right off the bat? That's deliberately inflating the price!"
"Who is this person? He's deliberately disrupting the market. Get him out of here!"
In response to this situation, Magistrate Zhao was pleased and said with a smile, "The rule here is that the highest bidder wins. Those who are willing to bid higher can raise their paddles again, and those who are not willing can move on to the next shop. There are still seventeen shops available, so there is no need for you to rush."
Master Leng adopted a confident and determined demeanor, and no one dared to compete with him, so they immediately gave up.
Thus, the operating rights of the second shop fell into the hands of the wealthy Leng.
He looked up at the stage, just as Cheng Wanwan was looking over. He quickly bowed and gave her a salute.
Cheng Wanwan nodded gently. She had heard about the Leng family before. Because of the incident involving the tossed embroidered ball, the Leng family's business gradually declined. Business was secondary; the main problem was that the sickly young lady of the Leng family was plagued by rumors and remained unmarried to this day… an innocent…
It's truly a pity that such a young girl's life-changing event was ruined.
Since Master Leng sincerely wanted to break the ice and make friends, she wasn't such a narrow-minded person.
The auction continued, with the starting price for the largest shops in the center being 300 taels, while the rest were 100 taels.
All nineteen shops were auctioned off, with the highest price being 6,000 taels of silver and the lowest being 2,000 taels of silver. The total revenue of Dahe Town this time reached more than 60,000 taels of silver.
This number left the village management staff of Dahe Town speechless with shock, and Cheng Wanwan was equally stunned.
She truly hadn't expected these merchants to be so wealthy; the auction of nineteen shops had yielded such a huge profit, completely exceeding her expectations...
According to the original plan, half of the funds were to be allocated to the finance department of Dahe Town to be responsible for the daily maintenance and management of the market, while the other half was to be invested entirely in the canal fund.
Including the funds raised previously, the total amount is 115,000 taels of silver.
They were only 35,000 taels short of the budgeted 150,000 taels of silver.
Cheng Wanwan smiled; this amount of money was not too difficult for her.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
