With the arrival and consumption of a large number of people from other counties, Luoyang has once again seen a boost in its local economy and commodity circulation.
This also greatly increased the production capacity of the various factories under the Royal Trading Company, and even many small workshops around Luoyang benefited from it, making a fortune.
Zhao Zhong and the member families of the Royal Merchant Guild immediately began to deploy in the surrounding prefectures and counties, and started to improve the commercial network that Liu Hong had previously established.
On the other hand, with the completion of the Royal Restaurant, its various novel dishes and delicacies have become increasingly popular among wealthy young people from both Luoyang and other places.
A simple dish of braised pork belly sold for a thousand coins at the Royal Restaurant. Despite its high price, it was still very popular because it was the emperor's favorite dish.
Since the Royal Restaurant opened, business has been booming, with dishes in high demand and the restaurant always packed from opening to closing.
With the Royal Restaurant leading the way, the catering and accommodation industries in Luoyang are also showing signs of emerging.
On the eighth day, with the Royal Engineering Team and 30,000 laborers working day and night, a temporary stadium in the West Garden, capable of holding 80,000 people, was finally completed.
At the same time, the selection competitions of each college have officially come to an end. The two hundred top athletes selected by each college in each event will go to Xiyuan in two days to participate in the official competition.
With the excitement gone, people were even more excited for the sports meet two days later.
Meanwhile, Yuan Feng led the craftsmen from the School of Engineering to work day and night to finally complete the printing of tickets for all the projects. Through this experiment, they also discovered many printing issues and made corrections and improvements.
At this point, the Royal Trading Company also urgently set up dozens of ticket booths outside the South Palace and began to officially sell tickets for the Games to the public.
Besides the seats for the emperor, court officials, and invited guests in the front row, all tickets were also divided into different tiers according to the quality of the seating: 1,000 coins, 800 coins, 500 coins, 300 coins, 100 coins, and 50 coins.
Upon hearing the news of ticket sales, people rushed to buy them. To prevent ticket scalping, the Royal Trading Company also imposed a strict rule that each person could only purchase a maximum of three tickets.
Outside the South Palace, several lines of tens of thousands of people stretched from the palace all the way to the outer edge of the square, creating a bustling and lively scene.
The queues in the square were clearly divided. The more expensive ticket booths were crowded with wealthy students, while ordinary students and common people lined up at the cheaper booths.
While selling tickets, the ticket seller also gave detailed explanations to the ticket buyers, telling them how to find their corresponding seats according to the markings on the tickets!
"Huh? What does this date and the 'sprint' and 'relay race' mean on this ticket?"
A wealthy young man held up his ticket and asked the ticket seller.
The ticket seller merely raised an eyelid and said:
"Oh, this ticket is only valid for the day after tomorrow, and can only be used to watch the sprint and relay races! If you want to watch any of the races after that, you'll need to buy a new ticket!"
"What?! I spent a thousand yuan on a ticket, and I can only see it for one day?!"
Upon hearing the ticket seller's words, the wealthy young man's eyes widened as he looked at the ticket seller, his expression revealing his dissatisfaction.
"What? You think it's too expensive? You don't have to see it, I'll give you a refund right now!"
The ticket seller sneered and took out the money to refund the ticket.
"No, no, no need to return it!"
Upon seeing this, the rich young master quickly waved his hand, saying that he had queued for so long and finally managed to get a ticket, how could he return it?
Furthermore, these are front-row tickets, second only to the emperor and court officials, so a thousand coins is indeed not expensive.
Ticket sales were extremely brisk; in just half a day, all the tickets for the first day of the games were sold out.
Soon, the Royal Trading Company tallied the ticket sales revenue and reported it to the Emperor and the court officials.
Upon learning that nearly forty million coins had been sold for just one day's tickets, the officials in the court were immediately excited.
It should be noted that this sports meet will last for ten days. If this trend continues, ticket revenue alone could reach 400 million yuan. After deducting construction and labor costs, the final net profit could be at least 300 million yuan.
As promised by the Emperor, each person would receive a minimum reward of 200,000 coins. If the goods sold by the Royal Merchant Guild during the Games were also included, each person would receive over a million coins.
For a moment, the officials in the court were also extremely excited. This huge income was even faster than embezzlement and breaking the law, and they didn't have to worry about being confronted by Yang Qiu and Xun Shuang.
Therefore, the court officials also expressed their firm stance and gave their all to support the Games. The Games must become a mainstream activity of the Han Dynasty. Anyone who dares to oppose or raise objections will be torn to pieces by the court officials themselves, without Liu Hong having to lift a finger.
On the tenth day, amidst great anticipation, the Luoyang Games finally officially opened.
Outside the Xiyuan Stadium, tens of thousands of spectators, under the control of the Imperial Guards, the Northern Army, and the Tiger Guards, quietly and orderly entered through the ten entrances.
Outside the South Palace, the highest-ranking officials, the three highest-ranking officials, the court officials along with their families, as well as some prominent families and contemporary dignitaries all gathered here.
Before long, the palace gates opened wide, and the emperor's carriage slowly drove out, followed closely by the imperial carriages of Dou Miao and Lady Dong, with two squads of Imperial Guards standing guard on either side.
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