Chapter 683: Slave Auction (2)

The crowd gradually took their seats, with Baifeng and his family sitting in the front row in the widest spots; even the chairs were the most luxurious and comfortable. The spring wind was still somewhat biting, so around his seat, Slaves had already set up screens for him, and the entire space he occupied was relatively warm.

Others also took their seats according to their status; today's auction was presided over by Zhigui, as it was not a matter of just finding a pretty female Slave to stand there and strike a hammer—after all, this counted as a rather grand event.

Zhigui's household also needed Slaves, so his wife and eldest son had to take his place to bid for suitable Slaves for his family. However, although he was a relatively high-ranking official, due to the Ministry of Rites, his overall status was only upper-middle—the kind that was at the end of the first tier or the head of the second—so the best Slaves naturally did not fall to him.

Yet he did receive one benefit, which was that he could obtain information about the Slaves for auction in advance. Baifeng also tacitly allowed him to pick a group suitable for him from among these Slaves and then bid on them, which served as compensation for him not being able to act himself.

All preparations were ready, and Zhigui walked up to the high platform. The table placed upon it was tall, and on the table was a prepared wooden hammer and a small wooden block, both made by Carpenters; the materials selected were very sturdy and solid, and the sound of the striking was also very crisp.

The table was also specially made, hollow in the middle, using the same principle as a Drum, which could amplify the sound of the striking; in an era without loudspeakers, this was the best solution.

Zhigui straightened his clothes, cleared his throat, and said loudly to the crowd before him: "Welcome everyone to this Slave auction. Today, more than four thousand Slaves will participate in the auction."

"The so-called auction is a method of trade proposed by the King of our Huaxia State, meaning that every Slave has a minimum price, and then everyone can increase the bid on that basis. As long as your price is higher than others, you can buy this Slave. The reason for doing this is that the Slaves auctioned today are of high quality and have undergone long-term training. As long as you buy them and take them home, you can immediately put them to work. I can also guarantee that these Slaves are what everyone is in great need of."

"There is only a base price, no upper limit, but I must make it clear to everyone: for every Slave, once the price exceeds what you think it is worth, if you feel it is not cost-effective to buy at a higher price, you can choose to stop bidding and let others do it. In short, today we are selling Slaves, there is no fixed price, and it goes to the highest bidder."

Afterward, Zhigui looked at Baifeng, stepped out from the cover of the table, and bowed slightly to Baifeng: "King, I do not know if you have anything else you need to say."

Baifeng waved his hand: "No need, let's start directly. It is still a bit cold today, so the sooner we start, the sooner we finish. By the way, have the Soldiers light some bonfires around here to make it a little warmer."

Zhigui bowed slightly again: "Very well, King."

Afterward, he returned to his table and opened that thick register. Beside him was also a long table, and two officials also climbed onto the platform at this time and sat down. On the table were an Abacus and a record book; they were there to record the buyers and the prices. After all, no one was moving grain out right now, and on-site transactions would all be handed over to the Ministry of Revenue after returning to the city.

The Soldiers responsible for on-site order also hurriedly chose several locations near the venue, brought over a lot of firewood chopped by Slaves, and lit bonfires. Although they were far from everyone, at least it could raise the temperature of the entire venue a little bit, and besides, as long as people see fire, they subconsciously feel it is not so cold.

The entire camp had over ten thousand Slaves, but only four thousand or so were truly qualified. The remaining Slaves were completely unqualified, either not smart enough or not obedient enough. Even under the threat of a Weapon, they dared not show anything too obvious, but after observing for such a long time, as long as one of them produced even the slightest bit of dissatisfaction, even just a look, it would be immediately recorded and marked as inferior.

Because Slaves would be sent to the homes of those Nobles, their homes did not have Soldiers guarding them. Although they had Weapons, most were women and children. If such a Slave with a tendency to resist obtained a Weapon, it would be a devastating blow to a family, especially since they were all important talents of Huaxia; if one died, the overall development of Huaxia would be affected, so the selection of Slaves was very strict.

As for the Slaves who were picked out, those who were not so bad would be arranged to go to various factories; those factories were very short of manual laborers, or they would be taken as state-owned to farm state fields and Baifeng's family land.

The worst ones would be sent to mines, such as Coal Mines or Cement plants, places that were quite harmful to people. Even Changxu requested some Slaves to help him take care of the pigeon farm.

Baifeng did not know what effect raising pigeons had on people before, but Changxu's lung damage was now somewhat severe, and people living near the pigeon farm were also affected to a greater or lesser extent.

Now Changxu was still quite important to Huaxia, so under Baifeng's repeated requests, Changxu moved away from the pigeon farm and came to the city's Urban Area. He did not have many bird friends, but they would still occasionally visit his home.

Changxu was still responsible for the management of the pigeon farm, but now he had started wearing a Mask and dared not be so careless anymore. Although the effect of Huaxia's Masks was not very good, it was much better than having none.

Baifeng did not understand the principle, but he estimated that pigeons must also produce something similar to dust, just like butterflies, which would have some feather powder; however, chicken farms and the like had absolutely no such problems.

The pigeon farm utilized Slaves from other departments, and after simple training, they were still able to handle the work. According to Changxu's requirements and Baifeng's plans, the pigeon farm had to continue to relocate further away from the Urban Area. After all, pigeons flew everywhere, and there was pigeon droppings in many places in the city, so the scale of the pigeon farm also had to be controlled.

A portion also had to be relocated to Lema City. Changxu also had to bring students and teach some people to specialize in raising pigeons. If more and more cities were built in the future, every place must have a pigeon farm so that the pigeons would have a place to fly back and land, and their communication would be even more convenient.

The number of Slaves needed by the pigeon farm was also relatively large, and now it had to be calculated according to the plan of attrition, just like the Coal Mine and Cement plant.