Chapter 64 of 100

Chapter 64

14 min read3,593 words

"Good day, Master Li."

"Good day, Young Master Li."

"Good day, Lord Li."

"Good day, Princess."

...

Li Xian held Xia Qingqing’s hand as they strolled through the crowd; the temporary exhibition venue was incredibly lively. Not only were there people from the Great Xia Kingdom, but also merchants and representatives from neighboring countries.

"Such a lively scene," Xia Qingqing sighed softly.

Thinking of Xia Qingqing’s past hardships, Li Xian felt a pang of pain. Ignoring her objections, he held her hand and walked leisurely. "This is lively, but it’s only a few thousand people. You’ve never seen a million people gathered together; that’s what real liveliness is."

"Lying. When have you ever seen such a scene? How come I don’t know of a million people gathering in the Great Xia Kingdom??"

"Ha ha... he he..." Li Xian laughed foolishly.

The two continued walking until noon. Xia Qingqing’s face was flushed with a shy happiness, feeling more relaxed and joyful than ever before. Everything seemed so blissful.

Meanwhile, Guo Youcai, Liu Shuren, and Huang Youquan were also touring the exhibition together. The variety of goods was not extensive, but they were meticulously categorized.

"Silk category. Three grades: high, medium, and low. There are plain, patterned, and striped silks. Silk itself has over ten types, including silk, satin, gauze, and more."

"Ramie and hemp cloth category, also quite a few. The best hemp cloth is even more expensive than silk. But the quality is truly excellent!"

"Glass category includes high-end items like vases, wine glasses, and mirrors, as well as sunglasses. Mid-range items include equally exquisite glassware and large glass panels. Low-end items include colored glass and related items."

"Colorful lamps come in only high and top grades. Not many, but this crystal chandelier is truly beautiful!"

"Steel ingots, stainless steel ingots, weapons, and armor... Stainless steel weapons are so expensive, almost twenty times the price of regular steel weapons, nearly half the price of silver!"

"Bearings, main shafts, and even specialized ones for carriages, engines, and textile machinery."

"What is this? A clock, for timekeeping. 24 hours? I see! But isn’t it too expensive? The cheapest one costs 50 taels of gold, and the most expensive one is 200 taels of gold?!" Beside the large clock, over a dozen attendants were busy explaining.

"Is this Sea Soul Silk? Four types: A, B, C, and D, each divided into three grades. It’s quite complex. Type D can only be used for colorful lamps, while Type C and above can be used for arrays. One meter costs five taels of gold? It’s expensive, really expensive!"

After a full tour, Guo Youcai, Liu Shuren, and Huang Youquan looked at each other.

Guo Youcai hesitated for a moment before saying, "I think we need to change our initial plan. We should focus on steel and stainless steel."

"I disagree!" Liu Shuren’s eyes sparkled. "I think we should focus on bearings. That’s the best thing! Look, the Kong family’s new siege crossbows are already using bearings! Bearings are used in almost all machinery, carriages, and city defenses!"

Huang Youquan suddenly sighed, "I’m afraid it won’t be our turn! The representatives of the major families and the warlords will likely bid directly for them.

So, I think we should focus on fabrics and glass products."

"Hmm? That makes sense!" The three discussed for a long time, even forgetting to eat lunch.

In the afternoon, the atmosphere became tense.

Li Xian walked up to the platform and looked around, "Thank you all for coming from afar. I won’t waste words. The rules are clear, right? I won’t repeat them. Let’s get straight to the bidding. To save everyone’s time and avoid trouble, we’ll use sealed bids."

Sealed bids! This was the harshest method! With stainless steel weapons as bait, Li Xian believed these people would not agree on a result. They would all try their best to get as much as possible. Even if they couldn’t use the good stuff themselves, they wouldn’t let their enemies get more, and they could also sell it externally.

The sealed bidding was very fast. As Li Xian had predicted, items like fabrics and colorful lamps were mostly sold at no more than an 80% discount. However, stainless steel and stainless steel weapons were extremely expensive.

Especially stainless steel, the bidding price reached 120%—already exceeding the suggested retail price! Remember, stainless steel weapons were already very expensive, almost half the price of silver! Stainless steel weapons were priced by weight, regardless of the weapon’s shape. They were weighed on a scale, and the price was half the weight in silver.

The large clock, the least in quantity, was also very popular, selling at almost a 90% price. Mirrors were also in high demand—don’t underestimate mirrors; they have military applications, especially in reconnaissance, especially in corner reconnaissance.

Bearing and Sea Soul Silk were also highly sought after. Bearings were bid at full price—no surprise, as they have military applications. Sea Soul Silk was more expensive but still sold at a 90% price.

That evening, all transactions were completed. Large caravans began leaving Qingyun Valley, returning overnight. Both sides agreed to complete a transaction every 15 to 20 days, with cash on delivery each time.

"One day’s income is 50,000 taels of gold!" Fang Shijing was amazed, his mouth agape. Although he had anticipated the possible outcome, the actual wealth of 50,000 taels of gold still surprised him. 50,000 taels of gold is 500,000 taels of silver, which is 500 million copper coins!

Li Xian watched Fang Shijing calculate over and over again, finally unable to resist and laughed, "Mr. Fang, this is the income for the next month, not just one day. We’ll be working overtime for the next month."

"I know, I know, but 500 million copper coins is too much, too much."

"Is 500 million copper coins too much?" Li Xian shook his head. "Mr. Fang, let’s do some math. The Great Xia Kingdom has over 70 million people. If each person has just one tael of silver, that’s 700 million taels of silver, or 70 million taels of gold.

Mr. Fang, we must strive harder. We cannot be content with the current situation."

Li Xian hummed a cheerful tune and left. Xu Ren also smiled and left Fang Shijing to his calculations: the bidding was over, but the Brilliant Stars Group needed enough goods. The upcoming expansion would not be easy. Clearly, all these tasks now fell on Fang Shijing.

Moreover, the frenzy of this bidding had shown everyone that the "lowly" trades were not so lowly. More and more people were envious. Even more shocking, someone had used a "crossbow cart" to kill a Golden Core expert, causing a huge uproar!

Especially the Kong family, who not only failed to win the bid but also lost a Golden Core expert, and were publicly humiliated by Li Xian. The Kong family was very angry! An upstart warlord of Nanyang being angry had serious consequences!

When Kong Yingzhi returned to Nanyang, the Kong family immediately made a decision—since one Golden Core expert wasn’t enough, they would send a large army.

Nanyang and Anyang were over 5,000 miles apart. The Great Xia Kingdom seemed peaceful on the surface, making it difficult to send troops. But no problem, there was still Cai Kingdom to the north of Anyang!

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