At the beginning, I became a county magistrate with greed of 500 million. The empress asked me to be

"Hangzhou Salt Industry, nine salt fields in Songjiang, and salt permits for Jiangxi Province. Starting price: 50 taels of silver! Each bid must not be less than taels!"

When the bidding officially began, Xu Wan'er spoke slowly.

Upon hearing the news, a number of local merchants in Hangzhou showed expressions of desire and helplessness on their faces.

Hangzhou salt industry is an industry that countless Hangzhou businessmen want to get involved in.

However, the starting price of 50 taels of silver really made them a little short of money.

"I'll pay 50!"

Before the Hangzhou merchants could feel sad, the businessmen from Dai County had already become excited and someone made an offer immediately.

At the same time, following closely behind, a group of people rushed to bid.

"52 million!"

"55 million!"

"60 million!"

"65 million!"

......

"65 taels for the first time, 65 taels for the second time, and 65 taels for the third time!"

"make a deal!"

Finally, after a few breaths of time, in a short but fierce bidding process, a pot-bellied Dai County businessman won the nine salt fields in Songjiang and the salt permit case of Jiangxi Province for 65 taels of silver.

In the Daliang Dynasty, merchants engaged in salt business, and they first needed salt fields to make salt.

After obtaining the finished salt, merchants sell it all over the country.

At this time, only with salt permits issued by various provinces could merchants sell the salt legally and smoothly.

"Hangzhou Salt Industry, 50 salt fields in Huaining, and Fujian Salt Permits. The starting price is taels of silver. Each bid must not be less than taels!"

Immediately afterwards, Xu Wan'er spoke again.

This time, the merchants in Dai County who had previously failed to take over the salt fields and salt permits, all put their best efforts into making another effort.

"55 million!"

"58 million!"

"60 million!"

......

This time, after a fierce competition, the auction price reached a full 80 taels of silver!

The atmosphere in the auction hall also became crazy.

However, just as the other merchants were gearing up to spend big to acquire new salt fields and salt permits.

Xu Wan'er's next words were like a bucket of cold water poured on everyone's hearts.

"The business rights to be auctioned next are for the Hangzhou Silk Weaving Industry. There are four spots in total. The starting price is 40 taels of silver. Each bid must not be less than taels of silver!"

Xu Wan'er banged the gavel in her hand.

Upon hearing this, all the Dai County merchants present showed surprise on their faces.

"Sir, has the auction of the salt business rights ended?"

Someone bravely asked.

"ended."

Xu Wan'er answered quite straightforwardly.

Xia Yun, who was sitting in the front row of the auction hall, was quite satisfied at this moment.

The two salt business rights alone were sold for a total of 145 million taels of silver!

And this is just the beginning of the whole auction!

Of course, the main reason why Xia Yun only bid for two salt merchants was to control the number of salt merchants.

Under his order, the Hangzhou Construction Bureau has begun construction of twelve salt warehouses.

These twelve salt warehouses were similar to state-owned enterprises, and in a sense, could also be considered his private property.

These twelve salt warehouses could provide him with a large source of funds.

Secondly, it can be used as a means for the government to regulate the market price of salt, making the hoarding practices of those unscrupulous salt merchants completely ineffective.

……

Time passes minute by minute.

In the blink of an eye it was already afternoon.

The bidding activities in the venue were still ongoing, and Xia Yun returned to the government hall early.

"Sir, this is the third greeting card sent by the Jiangnan Weaving General Administration today."

Chong Heihu stood respectfully in front of the table, holding a visiting card in both hands.

Hearing this, Xia Yun glanced at the visiting card coldly.

As he expected, the trouble that was supposed to come finally came.

Zhejiang was an important tax collection area for the imperial court and also the economic center of Jiangnan. The imperial court established the Jiangnan General Manufacturing Bureau in Hangzhou to manage the silk and cotton cloth manufacturing in the world.

In Xia Yun's opinion, the Jiangnan Manufacturing General Bureau was originally a de facto state-owned enterprise.

In the final analysis, the big silk and cotton spinning companies in Hangzhou were just working for the Jiangnan Manufacturing General Administration.

The General Manufacturing Bureau purchased cheap silk from them and then sold it at high prices to the capital and even overseas, making huge profits.

Today, Xia Yun has confiscated the silk and cotton spinning rights in the entire city of Hangzhou, including a large number of businessmen who have close ties with the General Administration of Manufacturing.

Naturally, the other party will come to cause trouble.

"Let them in."

Xia Yun thought for a moment and waved his hand.

After receiving the order, Chong Heihu immediately walked out of the court.

However, only a short while later, Chong Heihu reappeared in front of Xia Yun with an official wearing a third-rank crown and belt.

When the visitor walked into the court, he did not greet Xia Yun at the first moment, but sat directly on a chair.

Seeing this, Xia Yun's mouth corners slightly raised into an icy arc.

From the visiting cards that were sent to him one after another, he already knew the identity of this person: Zhou Yunyi, the third-rank deputy director of the Jiangnan Manufacturing General Administration.

Judging from the official rank alone, this person is one level higher than him.

"I've heard that the Hangzhou prefectural government has no rules nowadays, and today I see that it's true."

"Is there not even a cup of tea for me when I come here?"

Zhou Yunyi suddenly spoke, breaking the silence, but there was an obvious hint of sarcasm in his words.

"Come here, serve some tea."

Upon hearing this, Xia Yun did not take it, but immediately signaled the bailiff to bring tea, wanting to see what this guy was going to do.

Just as the bailiffs were about to serve tea, Zhou Yunyi suddenly snorted coldly and waved his hand.

"No thanks. I'm here for only one thing, so let's just get straight to the point."

Zhou Yunyi coughed twice, and then the tone of his voice gradually became sharp.

"Lord Xia has seized Hangzhou's silk and cotton spinning industry. The Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau should have intervened."

"But considering that Lord Xia was personally appointed by His Majesty, and that our Manufacturing Bureau is directly under His Majesty, our Weaving Bureau will not pursue the past. Right now, there are only two things that Lord Xia needs to do as soon as possible."

Zhou Yunyi said this and held up two fingers.

"First, the Hangzhou prefectural government needs to supply the Weaving Bureau with 15 rolls of silk and 10 rolls of cotton cloth next month."

"Second, from now on, the price of Hangzhou silk and cotton cloth purchased by the Weaving General Administration must be reduced by 10%."

Zhou Yunyi spoke up and explained the purpose of his visit.

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Yunyi stood up, as if in his opinion, as long as he asked, Xia Yun would have no reason to refuse.

Unexpectedly, the next words that came out of Xia Yun's mouth made him stunned on the spot.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that."

Faced with Zhou Yunyi's domineering attitude, Xia Yun decided not to give him any face at all.

what?

How dare you come to his prefectural government and give orders!

If he hadn't considered the dignity of the government office, he would have even wanted to let Chong Heihu kick Zhou Yunyi out directly.

"Master Xia...what did you say?"

Zhou Yunyi once wondered if he had heard it wrong.

"I said, I can't do it!"

Xia Yun deliberately raised his voice and responded to Zhou Yunyi with the three words "I can't do it".