Xie Yuan knew that his bid was a trap, and he was also afraid that those powerful families would not fall for it easily.
She laid another bait—
Zheng Yurong briefly introduced the bidding prices for several technologies, and then said with a smile, "Our bidding is not permanent, but once a year."
"We won the bid for the sail blueprints this year, and next year we can participate in the bid for the blueprints for the rudder and the rotating oar!"
"The same applies to other technical drawings!"
Her words had barely faded when the scene erupted in commotion once again.
You can bid on one technical drawing each year, and then bid on others the following year!
While the actions of the Prince of Yue's Mansion might be suspected of repeatedly extorting money, they also gave the powerful clans an opportunity.
There are only a few sets of technical drawings. They can collect all the drawings by bidding for them for several years.
Once they have all the blueprints, they will have the complete technology to build treasure ships!
Treasure ship!
A maritime behemoth!
Just thinking about it makes my heart race!
The women, including Huang, were tempted. They were already prepared to "rush into the pit," and now they were even more eager.
"...Well done, Xie! She's cunning indeed!"
"Knowing it's a trap, I'll still willingly jump in!"
"Her annual auction method is really a lure, making it impossible for us not to fall for it!"
"Helian Jue is so lucky to have married such a shrewd and capable princess as Lady Xie!"
Suddenly, Huang had a thought and realized Xie Yuan's "step-by-step" scheme.
She couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Xie Yuan: ...Actually, I didn't think that much about it.
I will adopt an annual auction system in the hope of learning more shipbuilding techniques from various powerful families.
After all, the craftsmen in the shipyard owned by the person who acquired the technology may not necessarily be proficient in that technology.
Xie Yuan divided the blueprints of the entire treasure ship into six parts.
She auctioned them off separately, partly to prevent any one powerful family from becoming too dominant and creating a monopoly.
Secondly, it is also about improving technology and efficiency.
She separated each step of the process, assigning each member of a powerful family to focus on that task.
It's like setting up an assembly line.
The shipyard of the King of Yue was the chief engineer, while the shipyards of various powerful clans were the processors for each step of the process.
The rotation is done every year, which allows us to observe which company is truly skilled in which process.
It can improve production efficiency.
Six sets of drawings, six manufacturers, each rotating for a year, which would take about six years.
During this period, Xie Yuan believed that the Yue King's Mansion should be able to replicate Zheng He's treasure ship.
This period also serves as a timeframe for Helian Jue to develop and expand.
If Helian Jue's grand plan fails, they will sail out to sea in their treasure ships.
Even if they fail, the treasure ships can still help Helian Jue expand his territory.
Therefore, Xie Yuan was determined to obtain the treasure ship.
These powerful clans will be Xie Yuan's greatest helpers.
"The auction begins!"
After Zheng Yurong finished explaining all the details, the auction began.
"Blueprints for the manufacture of the sails, auction price: 200,000 timber per year. Bids increase by 1,000 each time."
Huang and the others finally heard the announcement that the auction had begun, and they started bidding frantically.
Finally, as the wife of the richest man, Mrs. Huang was wealthy and powerful, and won the bid for the first set of blueprints at a price of 230,000 kilos of timber per year.
"Blueprints for the ship's rudder and rotating oars, auction price: 200,000 catties of refined iron per year, with each bid increasing by 1,000 catties."
The Huang family is actively raising their bids again.
The rotating oars must be the core technology of the treasure ship.
It wasn't just the Huang family who thought of it; other wealthy merchants and powerful families present also had the same idea.
The competition is extremely fierce.
In the end, the second-ranked powerful clan won the bid for the blueprint at an exorbitant price of 300,000 jin per year.
"No rush! There will be another auction next year!"
This was the only way Huang could console herself.
Moreover, the Huang family had a little scheme in mind.
They were all located in Yuezhou, and were all powerful families that had been entrenched in the area for hundreds of years, each with its own network of connections.
If she can't get the blueprints, she can find a way to place people in other powerful families' shipyards.
Stealing techniques has always been a persistent problem, despite repeated crackdowns.
The auction went very smoothly.
All six sets of drawings were auctioned off at high prices.
Everyone thought the auction was over, but Zheng Yurong smiled and said:
“All the distinguished guests who win the bid for the blueprints can cooperate with Xie’s Shipyard.”
"We'll provide the raw materials, and you'll provide the workers and technology."
"Distinguished guests who cooperate with Xie's Shipyard will enjoy priority in the auction next year!"
Huang et al.: ...
No wonder they were still a bit confused just now.
Princess Xie only won the bid for raw materials using blueprints. She had neither a shipyard nor shipbuilding craftsmen, only raw materials. How could she build a treasure ship?
So they had planned this all along and were waiting for them here.
Using the priority right to be auctioned next year as bait, they once again lured everyone into the trap that the Prince of Yue's mansion had dug.
After all that trouble, Princess Xie only got a blueprint for the treasure ship, but she solved all the problems of raw materials, craftsmen, technology, trial and error time, and so on.
This person has truly mastered the art of "borrowing a hen to lay eggs" to the extreme.
Even though they had guessed everything, they still had no choice but to obediently comply.
"In addition, you are all experts who deal with the sea year-round, so you should have nautical charts at home."
Zheng Yurong strictly followed the "process" set up by Xie Yuan, revealing her sharp claws step by step.
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