Ma Teqin felt that Ang Lee's idea was very reliable. In order to solve the financial crisis as soon as possible, he immediately asked his people to bring him a map of the Lion Kingdom and studied it carefully.
When the ministers heard about this, they gathered in groups of three or five to discuss Ang Lee's idea. Most of them expressed their support.
It was a rather large map with many small circles drawn by Ma Teqin. All of these circles were places that Ma Teqin planned to rent and sell. In order to solve the financial crisis, Ma Teqin was also going all out.
Since he had made up his mind, the next step was naturally to go all out. Ma Teqin immediately gathered all his ministers and told them his decision.
"Here, here, and these ports are all rented out. I have already marked the price. Have a look and see if you have any opinions."
Ma Teqin pointed to the map that he marked and asked the ministers.
One of the ministers looked at it and said, "Your Majesty, these ports aren't too important. Renting them for 50 years is a good price. However, it would be even better if the price could be higher. Why don't we let the merchants compete for them? Whoever offers the highest price will be the one to rent them out. "
"Yes, Your Majesty. We should also let the businessmen bid for the woodlands that are going to be sold. The highest bidder will get them."
Another minister said.
Ma Teqin said with a smile, "Yes, yes, yes, that should be the case. The highest bidder will get them. If we rent out these more than 100 places, we will definitely be able to solve the current predicament. As long as we can get through the current predicament, the losses will be worth it."
For these new aristocrats of the new imperial court, losing some land and resources was nothing. Many of them were originally very unambitious. It was only because Ma Teqin surrendered to the Tang dynasty that they became aristocrats. The wealth in their hands also increased greatly. Therefore, they were grateful to the Tang dynasty. As long as they could maintain their own vested interests, losing public interests was not a big deal to them.
"Your Majesty, this can only be a general plan. There should be room for discussion. For example, renting this woodland for 100 years is too long. Businessmen may not be willing to rent it for such a long time. If they only rent it for 20 or 30 years, we should reduce the rental fee accordingly. The most important thing is that they can rent it out."
One of the ministers suggested a change.
When Ma Teqin heard this, he felt that it was very reasonable. In order to obtain enough funds as soon as possible, they had to adopt more flexible rental and sales conditions as soon as possible. After all, the needs of different businessmen were different. They had to prepare products according to the needs of their customers.
In addition to the time and area of the lease that could be slightly adjusted, the lessee was also flexible. For example, if a port was leased to one businessman, the financial pressure might be very large. If it was leased to three to five businessmen, the financial pressure would be very small. At that time, these three to five businessmen could distribute the profits according to the proportion of their investment. If they lost money, they could also bear the losses together.
In short, in order to rent out the land as soon as possible and get enough money, Ma Teqin and his group tried everything. No matter how high the price, they were willing to bear it.
After weighing the pros and cons, Ma Teqin marked all the areas that could be rented and sold and sent a team to Tanar. There were the most merchants there, and with Ang Lee's help, they would definitely be able to find a suitable buyer.
Of course, the specific sale still had to be done on the spot. As long as they went on the spot, the merchants would have the courage to spend money to buy and prevent themselves from wasting their money.
Ma Teqin wanted the location of the auction to be in Tanar to reassure the merchants and let Ang Lee vouch for his small court so that the merchants could spend money without worry.
In the direction of Tanar, Ang Lee was not idle. After Ma Teqin's envoy returned, Ang Lee gathered a group of subordinates to discuss how to help Ma Teqin rent out the various resources in the country.
Ang Lee's subordinates were also full of talents in all aspects. Some were responsible for contacting the merchants who came and went and telling them about Ma Teqin's small court's intention to rent and sell land so that the merchants could fork out money to take advantage of the situation.
Some were good at accounting and valuation. They could roughly calculate how many years after buying a certain piece of land, how much profit they could obtain, so that the merchants could rest assured.
Some were good at co-ordination. They could let multiple merchants work together to buy land so that some small merchants could also contribute to Ma Teqin's small court. At the same time, they could also obtain long-term benefits for themselves.
Port Tanar was originally a relatively busy port. After Ang Lee's construction, the throughput efficiency had greatly increased. Naturally, there were more merchants coming and going. After the various facilities in the port were completed, the merchants liked to go ashore to spend money and make friends with each other. They had a lot of fun.
Therefore, there were many rich merchants near the Port of Tanar. It was the most suitable place to hold an auction.
Under Ang Lee's orders, his subordinates moved around the port and spread the news that Ma Teqin's court wanted to rent and sell land and port so that the merchants coming and going would pay more attention. When the specific news from Ma Teqin's side came, these merchants would gather and let them rent and buy land or resources.
"I heard that the court of the Lion Kingdom wants to sell mines and land. What is this for?"
In the teahouse, a merchant chatted.
"Who knows? I still don't know if this news is true or false. "
"It should be true. I heard that the court of the Lion Kingdom is in trouble. If they don't sell something, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get through the difficulties!"
"Yes, yes, yes, selling a few mines is nothing. Such a large piece of land in the north has been compensated to the Tang dynasty."
A merchant from the Tang dynasty said, his eyes full of pride.
In short, after the news was spread, a large number of merchants were very interested in it. When they sat together, they always liked to talk about related topics.
"How is it? How do the merchants react to this news?"
Ang Lee asked his subordinate.
"Very interested. The merchants in the teahouse are all talking about this topic. I just don't know how the situation is on Ma Teqin's side."
His subordinate replied.
"Oh, is there still no news from Ma Teqin? They are really slow. "
Ang Lee complained.
"Assistant Minister Li, a lot of people from the Lion Kingdom came, more than two hundred."
A soldier came to report.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "Speak of the devil. It seems that Ma Teqin has made plans. He sent so many people here to rent and sell land. Let's go and have a look."
After explaining the purpose of their visit, Ma Teqin's men took out a large pile of maps and briefly introduced them to Li An. They also mentioned the places they could rent and sell, as well as the lowest price. They also allowed merchants to bid against each other.
"Not bad! There are so many places. If you rent and sell them all, it will definitely bring you enough money. Also, I will testify for you. As long as I promise, the merchants will not doubt the authenticity of the transaction. "
Ang Lee said happily. After a pause, he said, "You guys have to help them well. Organize more merchants to compete. Well, let's send out the notice first! I will summon all the merchants at noon tomorrow at the widest place in the harbor. As long as they can come, treat them well. Go and do your work! "
"Yes, Assistant Minister Li."
Everyone went to prepare.
After returning to his residence, Ang Lee did not rest. Instead, he asked people to immediately brew black tea. At the same time, he asked some people to make ice cubes. He planned to make iced black tea at night. He would drink it first and let all the merchants taste it when he summoned them tomorrow.
Although the purpose of this activity was to help Ma Teqin's small court solve the financial crisis, it would also be good if he could promote his iced black tea at the same time. He could achieve the effect of killing two birds with one stone.
After so many days of hard work, a new drink like black tea was finally produced. It was extremely simple to make ice cubes. Therefore, if one wanted to drink iced black tea, it would be very bitter.
It took some time to brew tea. Ang Lee waited for a while before Yun'er brought the brewed black tea over.
"Alang, this is freshly brewed Ceylon black tea. It smells very fragrant."
Ang Lee took it with satisfaction. After smelling it for a while, he took a few sips.
"When the tea enters my mouth, my mouth is full of fragrance. Good tea, Ceylon black tea can be considered a success. Haha!"
Ang Lee was very happy with the evaluation.
"Alang, the ice cubes you wanted."
The beauty hurriedly brought the ice cubes over.
Ang Lee said, "Come, put the ice cubes in the tea. Just put a few pieces."
"Yes, Alang."
The beautiful woman nodded and put a few small pieces of ice into the tea.
Ang Lee watched as the heat of the black tea gradually dissipated and his fingers felt cold. He immediately put his mouth to the edge of the cup and took a sip.
"Good, great. This feeling is much more comfortable than drinking hot tea. Come, Alang will reward each of you with a sip. Drink!"
Ang Lee gestured to Yun'er and the beauty to drink a little.
After the two drank, they both revealed an intoxicated expression, as if they had drunk a nectar.
"Alang, this is iced black tea. It's really delicious. The weather here is quite hot, so you should drink something cold."
"Yes! Drinking something cold makes me feel more comfortable. Hahaha! "
Yun'er and the beauty were both very excited. They were simply too happy.
Ang Lee was happy and ordered, "You two, give the order. Tomorrow at noon, this official will entertain a large number of guests. Let the kitchen brew enough Ceylon black tea and prepare enough ice cubes before noon so that all the guests can drink iced black tea."
"Alang, don't worry!" Leave this matter to us. We will definitely help you do it properly. "
Yun'er happily agreed.
The next morning, Yun'er led a group of kitchen staff and got busy. The black tea could be prepared in advance, and if the ice cubes were made on the spot, it would be too late and would need to be prepared a lot in advance.
The black tea itself needed ice, so it could be cooled directly. However, ice cubes were difficult to preserve in the hot weather, so they needed to be placed in a box inlaid with a quilt. In addition, this box also needed to be placed in a cool basement, where the temperature was only over 20 degrees, and the ice cubes would not melt easily.
Ang Lee could not judge how many people would come, but the amount of iced black tea prepared was still a lot. No matter how many guests came, they would definitely be able to meet their drinking needs.
In order to accommodate more people, Ang Lee chose an open space, but it would be too boring to talk in the open space on a hot day.
Therefore, whether it was Ang Lee's podium or the merchants below the podium, they must have the most basic shading equipment so that everyone could enjoy the iced black tea in the shade and listen to Ang Lee's explanation.
Since receiving the order last night, the troops of the Tang dynasty had already built the podium and shade according to military standards. Moreover, the canvas on the top was two layers. The upper layer was white, which could reflect the sun, and the lower layer was black, which could better block the sun and prevent the sun from penetrating the canvas and shining on people's bodies.
Moreover, because the material was relatively tall, the tent built was relatively high. The highest point was as high as three or four people, and the field of vision was quite wide.
In the morning, Ang Lee had been organizing his speech so that he could better persuade the merchants when he spoke at noon and make them willingly pay to help Ma Teqin's small imperial court get through the difficulties.
"Alang, noon is almost here. Do you want to have lunch first or go see the merchants first?"
Yun'er asked.
Ang Lee thought for a moment and said, "No, let's go see the merchants first. When I'm hungry, my mind will be clear. If I burp during the meeting, it will be troublesome."
After that, he strode to the large square with more than a dozen guards.
At this time, many merchants had gathered in the built shed. On the edge of the shed was a circle of Tang dynasty soldiers to maintain security. With them standing here with weapons in hand, no one dared to be presumptuous.
Because Ang Lee wanted to see merchants with a certain amount of money, the officials of the Tang dynasty in charge of management forbade ordinary people from entering. Any ordinary people who came close would be mercilessly driven away.
Ang Lee glanced around and found that there were more than 500 merchants present. They were all sitting under the shed and drinking the iced red tea that Ang Lee had specially prepared for them.
Many merchants felt that one cup was not enough and continued to ask for iced red tea. This made the people in charge of the reception very busy. They had to keep preparing iced red tea for these merchants.
Fortunately, Ang Lee had the foresight to ask Yun'er to lead a group of people to start preparing in the morning. In particular, there were a lot of ice cubes stored. Therefore, even if more than 500 merchants drank non-stop, the iced red tea could be supplied.
"Everyone is having a good time drinking! Haha! "
Ang Lee strode over and greeted the crowd.
"Assistant Minister Li."
All the merchants bowed.
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