Liang Xingxia pointed to the nearly 100 buyers in the audience and upstairs and asked: "Fifty Lintao cows, 1,100 taels, is there any price increase?"

Someone in the audience held up a sign again, and Liang Xingxia immediately said: "One thousand one hundred and fifty taels, is there anything else?"

Zhao Ran raised his card again.

"One thousand two hundred taels!" Liang Xingxia shouted, "Is there any more? once! twice!"

"Bang!", Liang Xingxia obviously accelerated the pace of this bidding, and immediately dropped the hammer: "Deal!"

Zhao Ran was more satisfied, each cow was twenty-four taels, and after the transaction, he paid fifty taels, so that the owner of the cow could send the cattle from Lintao to Baihe, and he could receive the goods. Regardless of whether the price is high or low, being able to buy it is a great achievement of Zhao Ran's trip!

In the subsequent auction bidding, Zhao Ran bought another 600 sheep.

How should Hongyuan develop, Zhao Ran has already had some considerations about this, there are large and wide meadows, which can be described as abundant water and grass, and the development of animal husbandry is unique. Half of the three people who originally lived here were herding cattle, raising sheep and horses, but they were destroyed by the Battle of White Horse Mountain, which lasted for eight years, and now it can be called "the people are not living well".

It has been almost four years since the Battle of White Horse Mountain, but the situation in Hongyuan has not changed much, the cattle and sheep all over the grassland before the war are gone, and the people are still hiding in the mountains and forming villages to protect themselves.

Zhao Ran didn't quite understand why he hadn't recovered, and he didn't know how Zeng Zhili, the abbot of the White Horse Academy, and Yuan Hao, the superintendent, handled government affairs, but it didn't prevent him from taking pictures of a batch of cattle and sheep here first, and then investigate the cause in detail after he officially took office.

The auction proceeded quickly, and after the bidding of the first 22 lots ended, the chief auctioneer, Liang Xingxia, stepped down at the end of the half - he only auctioned the high-value bulk lots, and the groceries and low-value lots in the second half will be handled by other auctioneers.

Liang Xingxia returned to the box, and it was lively again, congratulating Zhao Ran and Gu Lebuhun who successfully bid for it. In the midst of the noise, Cheng An stuffed a note into Zhao Ran's palm again, and Zhao Ran accepted it quietly.

The second half of the auction soon resumed, and most of them were things with a total value of less than two hundred taels, or goods that Liang Xingxia did not want to touch.

For example, the three good horses of Da Wanlai were auctioned out for one hundred and sixty taels of silver, and it was naturally Zhao Ran who shot them. According to the agreement reached with Tianlong Academy, he can bid for a hundred cows and ten horses at the Jinbo Auction House every year, and these three Dawan good horses are in such good condition and the price is so low, of course he can't let it go, and he will return to Daming at least double!

Another example is a pair of ivory carvings in Loulan, which was auctioned for eighty taels of silver - Zhao Ran was not interested in such goods, so he was unmoved.

Another example is Safi's ten exquisite tapestries, which only cost one hundred and twenty taels of silver, and Zhao Ran saw the long-bearded owner with a depressed face......

These goods are all displayed on the spot, among which Zhao Ran is also moved by thirty Qingtang horses, Zhang Juzheng is also greedy, but Tianlong Academy does not allow him to buy so many horses, and the owner of the horse is unwilling to open and sell, Zhao Ran has to regret giving up.

When it was the turn of Lot 36, the owner of the goods was displayed on the stage with ten slaves strung with a rope, seven men and three women. According to the owner of the goods, these slaves are the domestic slaves of a nobleman of the Fei Ting family, a total of sixty-three, all of whom are young and middle-aged, who have worked in the ranch of this noble man for ten years, and are all good herders. Under the control of these slaves, how the noble man's ranch prospered, how the harvest was good, and how rich his net worth was. It's just that the nobleman has made great achievements and obtained a new fief and wants to move to a distant place, so he plans to sell these slaves all at once, so he gives a very low price, hoping that everyone can take care of this business more.

The auctioneer on the stage took over, and he said that the slaves were all Ming people, a total of forty-three men and twenty women, ranging in age from 16 to 38, and that what was displayed on the stage was a random sample of goods, and there was no good way to hide the second.

Zhao Ran stared at these Ming slaves, their skin was dark and yellow, their faces were full of wind and frost, and their eyes were slightly dull, revealing a numbness and helpless desolation.

Zhao Ran sighed softly, there was no way to take you away four years ago, and now I can let you go home......

Cheng An whispered beside him: "These slaves were all captured from the vicinity of White Horse Mountain ten years ago. ”

Zhao Ran nodded, ten years ago, the Xia army broke the Great Array of White Horse Mountain, and I don't know how many Ming people were captured, counting the age, the youngest of these Ming people was only eight years old that day, and the oldest was less than thirty, as for the older ones, they must have turned into a handful of loess......

Zhang Juzheng's blue tendons on his forehead burst out, his eyes stared directly at the stage, his hands clenched into fists, biting his lip without saying a word.

Sixty-three slaves, the starting price is two hundred and fifty taels, an average of about four taels per person, the price is really not high, far worse than cattle and horses, it can be seen that it is indeed the noble man of the Fei Tingjia who is in a hurry to get out.

When someone raised a sign to bid, the price was increased by ten taels at a time, and the price rose from two hundred and fifty taels all the way to three hundred and sixty taels, especially the merchant from Safi, the far west, who offered the most enthusiastically.

When the Safi merchant shouted the price to four hundred and twenty taels, there was no one in the audience to quote, this price was basically close to the market price of Ming slaves in Xingqing Mansion, and it was not cost-effective to eat in large quantities. With a smile on his face, the Safi merchant stroked his beard and looked at the stage, nodding frequently.

The auctioneer shouted, "Four hundred and twenty taels, once! Is there a price increase?" and two ......."

When he was about to drop the hammer, Zhao Ran stretched the number plate out of the window and shook it.

"Four hundred and thirty taels!

The Safi merchant looked back at the private room on the second floor, and all he could see was a few heads and phantoms in the window. But to be able to sit in the box, they must all be powerful, he couldn't help but hesitate, but then gritted his teeth - the Ming slaves in the East have always been very scarce in the Western Regions, and the wealthy merchants are proud to have Ming slaves, and they can multiply it several times if they sell one in the past, which is simply a lot of money. What's more, these slaves can still help him carry goods on the road, which directly saves the porter's money, so why not?

As for the magnates in the upstairs box...... Buy it first, they really want it, and it's not too late to think about it when they come back to find themselves, it's a big deal to send it back, maybe it's also a way to make friends!

"Four hundred and forty taels!"

Zhao Ran did not hesitate to raise the card again.

"Four hundred and fifty taels! Only the ninth holds up four hundred and fifty taels, is there any price increase?"

"Four hundred and sixty taels! No. 33 raises four hundred and sixty taels!"

Zhao Ran leaned forward, glanced at No. 33 holding a sign downstairs, glanced at the Safi merchant, turned around and said to Liang Xingxia: "Shopkeeper Liang, please ask for five hundred taels directly." ”

The purpose of the price jump is to deter the opponent, show their own heart, and let the other party weigh whether they are willing to offend themselves.

The Safi merchant raised his card again—five hundred and ten taels.

Zhao Ran asked Liang Xingxia to continue shouting: "Five hundred and fifty taels!"

At this moment, the Safi merchant really hesitated, he couldn't afford to bid, he made money when he shouted eight hundred taels, but he heard the resoluteness and displeasure of the VIPs in the box on the second floor from these two shouts, and began to reconsider the pros and cons of the pros and cons.