Chapter 1486

He Lingchuan stroked his chin: "The second phase has a larger quantity, with forty-eight villas. The pricing should not be too rigid; there must be some flexibility. Hmm, let's do it this way—"...

Zhao Pan entered the palace.

King Yao looked at his empty hands: "Why, hasn't the price for the second phase of Youhu Villa come out yet?"

"Reporting to my King, no." Zhao Pan knelt and reported, "He Xiao said, he will not quote prices to the outside world."

"What do you mean?" King Yao's curiosity was piqued, "Selling things without a price? Then how are others supposed to buy?"

"He intends to use the Chibao Auction House to hold forty-seven secret auctions!" There are forty-eight villas in total in the second phase, but one has already been reserved by You Rongzhi, so there are forty-seven left.

"Secret auction?" King Yao had never heard of it, "How does it work?"

"Buyers participating in the auction on-site write their bids on slips of paper and hand them to the auctioneer, who announces them uniformly, and the highest bidder wins."

King Yao was puzzled: "What's the difference between this and an open auction?"

"There is no bidding process." Before Zhao Pan entered the palace, He Lingchuan had already explained it to him, "Each person can only bid once. The one who gives the highest price can win the villa."

King Yao thought for a long while and was slightly moved: "This fellow really has a lot of tricks."

By adopting the secret auction method, the price buyers write on paper is often their highest psychological price, because there are many potential competitors in the same period, and buyers must not only consider their own bids but also evaluate the prices others might write.

And the price of the previous villa sold easily becomes the benchmark for subsequent auctions.

King Yao could guess the tension at the scene.

The second phase of Youhu villas will be auctioned in forty-seven sessions, and the time span is very long. If enough publicity is done in advance, it is not difficult to create another focus for the whole city.

Every villa auctioned off represents an official offering loyalty to King Yao, representing that Qingyang has become a little weaker.

And He Xiao himself really earned both fame and profit, without delaying either.

This kid, his methods are truly flexible and changeable.

King Yao frowned and suddenly remembered his purpose for asking He Xiao to come to Tianshui City; it was originally to make Qingyang uncomfortable.

He Xiao did indeed make Qingyang more and more uncomfortable.

But why does he feel that the development of the situation has seriously deviated from his original goal?

He is just a chess piece, yet he is so capable of adding drama to himself.

￥￥￥￥￥

Amidst He Lingchuan's busyness, time passed quickly.

In the blink of an eye, it was King Yao's birthday.

Summer is rainy, and the palace had been worried that the birthday would be full of rain. Fortunately, the heavens were kind; it was pouring rain the day before, but as soon as the midnight hour passed, the rain stopped and the clouds cleared, and it was a sunny day.

Everyone in the palace said that this was the monarch's prosperous luck, driving away the clouds and rain.

Before the rooster crowed, King Yao was already up.

According to custom, on his birthday, he first worships at the Miaozhan Temple, then sacrifices at the King's Ancestral Hall, and holds a birthday banquet at the Yuquan Palace at noon, inviting all officials to attend.

The whole country celebrates for three days.

This was He Lingchuan's second time entering the Yuquan Palace; the cold spring in the center was still bubbling with white steam, never stopping all year round.

The King Yao Palace is atmospheric to begin with, and on his birthday, it was decorated with lanterns and colored streamers everywhere, and the flowers and trees were pruned with particular care.

The old pear blossoms in the Yuquan Palace hung down thousands of golden silk red tassels, all with five-tone wind chimes hanging on them, and when the breeze came, they played ethereal fairy music, pleasant but not noisy.

Palace servants shuttled back and forth like busy worker ants, with no time to look up and admire the beautiful scenery.

In the past few days, the temperature in Tianshui City had risen sharply, and the scorching heat of summer threatened everyone; walking two steps made one sweat profusely. But entering the Yuquan Palace at this time was like entering autumn in a second, cool and comfortable, and after staying for a long time, one even needed to add a cloak.

The space in the Yuquan Palace is limited after all, and a spacious dance stage had to be opened up, so there were only eighty or so people qualified to be seated, and the others could only stand.

Commonly known as others sitting while you stand, others eating while you watch, and you have to be willing to do so.

The "hundred" officials is just a virtual number; in the two hundred years of history of the Yao Nation, the court officials derived are far more than this number. And the VIP seats also have to reserve twenty seats for foreign envoys who came to celebrate the birthday.

As a specially invited guest of King Yao, He Lingchuan of course had his seat at the banquet, while Fan Shuang could only stand below.

Fortunately, after the process was finished and the banquet was half over, these standing officials could leave, which can be considered humane.

He Lingchuan scanned the room, and he recognized a small half of the officials seated.

Although he hadn't been in Tianshui City for long, he had been selling Youhu houses very successfully in the past few days, and many high-ranking officials in the court had personally or entrusted others to find him to reserve villas to show their loyalty, not just the royalist party like You Rongzhi and Bai Tan.

How many people have this kind of opportunity to get familiar with the key officials of the court in just a few days?

Regardless of whether they were at odds, these big shots were also greeting each other. As soon as He Lingchuan approached, Bai Tan smiled: "Island Master He, when can we get the reserved villas?"

They all paid in full in one breath, not just paying a deposit.

Actually, some officials also proposed to pay a deposit when buying villas; after all, taking out tens of thousands of taels at once is quite a pressure. He Lingchuan only asked one question, which made them dispel this idea:

"Why do you want to buy a villa?"

Isn't it to show loyalty to King Yao.

Do you have to pay in installments to show loyalty to the monarch? Of course, the leading demonstrations of the Qing Prince's Mansion, Bai Tan, and You Rongzhi and other royal ministers were the prerequisite for other officials to be willing to pay in full at once.

The power of example is infinite; even the prince paid in full at once, so how much risk can there be?

Besides, Youhu Villa is a project personally authorized by the monarch.

Buyers holding gold plaques can indeed register and record them at the government office. That is to say, the money has been paid, and Tianshui City also recognizes that you have a piece of real estate in Youhu, it's just that it hasn't been built yet and you can't live in it yet.

Then what is there to worry about? Just wait patiently.

So many royal nobles are all waiting, aren't they? "At the earliest, it will be after seven or eight months." He Lingchuan said immediately, "However, I have obtained the consent of the Qing Prince's Mansion that after the first lakeside villa is built, it will be open for everyone to visit. General Bai, please give more suggestions when the time comes."

Bai Tan smiled: "Will I be polite to you? When will the gate tower be built? I went to see it yesterday, it seems the foundation has been raised, and the gate pillars have been erected?"

Others saw that He Xiao and the old General Bai were so familiar, and they were all a little impressed. Bai Tan's temper is notoriously straight and smelly; when he was a general more than ten years ago, he even beat someone to death on the street in Tianshui City.

"Yes. The craftsmen work day and night, and the gate tower will be built in seven or eight days."

Seven or eight days? Everyone looked at each other, so fast?

They didn't know that those stone pieces were all dismantled from the gate of an abandoned villa in the suburbs. The style was already very exquisite, and it could be used after a little modification.

A voice suddenly came from the side: "I want to buy one too."