Chapter 55: Entering Thirty Million

“Superior, I have the feeling that that boy from Jiujiang did this on purpose,” Tang He said with a cheerful smile, stretching his body.

In fact, the massage just now made his old body feel decades younger.

Beside him, Fu Youde frowned and said, “Exactly! Don’t be fooled by that Jiujiang kid’s careless demeanor; he’s sharp! He never does anything without benefit.”

Smack!

“I’ve got it!” Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly slapped his thigh, his eyes lighting up fiercely.

“Superior, what have you realized?” Fu Youde asked.

Zhu Yuanzhang replied, “That boy from Jiujiang is acting as a decoy.”

A decoy?

Fu Youde and Tang He exchanged glances and immediately burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! Superior, Third Prince really is…”

“Hahaha!” Zhu Yuanzhang couldn’t help but laugh as well. “I used to underestimate my obedient grandson. I didn’t expect he could acquire so many treasures and know how to use such tactics. Truly, he’s worthy of being my good grandson.”

After laughing, he couldn’t help but worry again: “I just don’t know how much my grandson can earn this time. That tri-colored glazed glass is indeed exquisite; even in my treasury, there isn’t anything comparable.”

“To sell such treasures for only 150,000 taels—it just feels like a loss no matter how you look at it!”

Hearing Zhu Yuanzhang’s words, Fu Youde and Tang He fell silent, frowning, unsure of how to respond.

Is 150,000 taels really expensive for treasures that surpass those in the imperial treasury?

The answer was clear: such treasures were worth far more than 150,000 taels.

So, did Zhu Yunxu sell them at a bargain?

...

“Yunxu, did you really take out all these glazed items?” On the fourth floor, Lan Yu’s eyes gleamed as he stared at the tri-colored glazed glass being carried away by the maid, a hint of greed flashing in his gaze.

But since he had just received perfume from Zhu Yunxu, he felt somewhat embarrassed to ask for more.

“Haha! Uncle likes them?” Zhu Yunxu saw through Lan Yu’s thoughts with a single glance.

Before Lan Yu could speak, he smiled and said, “Uncle, those are just trinkets. There are even more and better treasures coming up. If you like something, just say the word. I can afford to give you a piece or two.”

“Better treasures?” Lan Yu’s eyes lit up instantly.

...

“Indeed!” Zhu Yunxu nodded. “Keep watching, and you’ll see.”

Lan Yu immediately shut his mouth and turned his gaze to the stage on the first floor.

Soon, the third auction item was brought forward.

When the red cloth was pulled off by Shen Fei, the entire Tian Shang Ren Jian was filled with gasps.

But Lan Yu showed little interest upon seeing the item.

There is no greater contrast than this.

In Shen Fei’s hands was a mirror, so finely crafted that it showed every hair.

Yet it was only the size of a basin and couldn’t compare to the mirror near the private room’s entrance, which was as tall as a person.

Still, this rather unimpressive mirror fetched a new price record, selling for 200,000 taels.

It was finally won by a wealthy merchant whose enterprises spanned all of Jiangnan. Who ultimately took possession was unknown.

Next came the fourth auction item—another glazed sculpture, but this time with four colors.

Li Jinglong jumped forward again, vowing to win it at any cost, even if it meant selling the Cao Duke’s mansion.

Such arrogance instantly caused other bidders to band together.

Many merchants sought out the nobility, offering money and support.

Several civil officials combined their bids to oppose Li Jinglong.

Within the time it took to burn one incense stick, the price soared past 200,000 taels and kept rising.

“Hmph! People say the Ming Dynasty is poor!”

“Ding Chen, Wei Xue! Do you still think our Ming is really poor?”

Seeing this scene, Zhu Yuanzhang was so furious his eyes nearly emitted smoke, his dragon-like gaze fixed on those frantic bidders, probably already plotting how to squeeze more from them.

Fu Youde and Tang He could only smile wryly.

How could they not know if the Ming Dynasty was truly poor?

Indeed, it was poor—only the common people and the national treasury were poor. But none of the nobles, officials, merchants, or ten clans were ever poor.

At worst, they could easily produce tens of thousands of taels of silver, not to mention other properties and countless fertile fields.

Of course, they wouldn’t say such things aloud—they were all vested interests themselves.

Afterward, Shen Fei continued to present numerous glazed sculptures and glass mirrors, almost all fetching prices above 250,000 taels.

...

Zhu Yuanzhang was so enraged he nearly flipped the table, glaring fiercely at the nobles and merchants.

Especially those civil officials—Zhu Yuanzhang’s eyes turned red as he stared at them.

There was no way around it. They were the ones who constantly complained about poverty in front of him, saying his salary was too little to support their families.

Yet now, these men who claimed they couldn’t feed their families could gather tens of thousands of taels together. How could Zhu Yuanzhang not be angry?

“Superior, you really don’t need to be upset. From today on, all this money will flow right into Third Prince’s pocket,” Tang He said cautiously, afraid Zhu Yuanzhang might get himself too worked up.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately smiled broadly, clapping his hands with laughter.

“Hahaha! As expected of my good grandson. He should ruthlessly harvest these fellows and let them keep shouting about poverty every day.”

Uh...

Fu Youde and Tang He broke into cold sweat.

Wasn’t that a bit too sudden? One moment he was furious, the next he was praising his grandson.

The auction lasted for more than half a day before finally concluding.

“Your Highness, today’s auction featured 66 items, bringing in over 23 million taels of silver. Additionally, there were numerous new membership registrations…”

In the private room on the fourth floor,

Lan Yu looked at Shen Fei reporting to Zhu Yunxu, his mouth agape in shock.

He simply couldn’t believe it.

In just over half a day, they had earned more than 23 million taels of silver.

And that didn’t even include the income from Tian Shang Ren Jian itself. Adding membership fees and other spending, the total revenue from just the opening day of Tian Shang Ren Jian almost reached 30 million taels.

Yet Zhu Yunxu only nodded slightly and emitted a faint “hmm” from his nose, then fell silent.

It seemed that the Ming Dynasty’s annual income was not even worth his notice.

Lan Yu felt his heart nearly gave out. After several deep breaths, he asked, “Yunxu, could it be… that you think 30 million taels still isn’t enough?”

As soon as he spoke, even Ma Sanbao’s trembling shoulders steadied as he turned to look at Zhu Yunxu.

...