Chapter 2443: The Teahouse Auction (Part 2)

Selling night soil fertilizer brought decent income, but compared to the old days when Boss Mi squeezed both city dwellers and farmers—eating from both ends—his earnings had diminished considerably. Moreover, everyone said the Australians would sooner or later swallow this fat piece of meat themselves.

Though Boss Mi harbored resentment, he knew his head couldn't butt against a big blade. Besides, after the Australians cleared out the night soil districts, they had shown mercy by not mobilizing the workers to "struggle" against him—probably acknowledging his sensible behavior in voluntarily surrendering his districts.

But just because they hadn't struggled against him didn't mean there was no dirt to dig up. Every time Boss Mi thought about it, he felt thorns pricking his back.

Fear was fear, but life had to go on. Boss Mi had been searching for new money-making ventures lately. His family had been night soil lords for generations, with at least three hundred thousand buried in the ground.

Wu Yijun could tell at a glance that today's auction would be lively. These two families might lack prominent reputations—the Mi family's was even somewhat malodorous—but both were deep-pocketed old clans. In terms of wealth, they were not necessarily inferior to those higher-profile households. Their situations also meant they came to this auction determined to win.

He just didn't know which projects these two families had their eyes on, Wu Yijun mused.

Looking further ahead, he spotted another familiar face—none other than "Old Huo," whose formal name was Huo Maixiong. It was quite surprising to see Old Huo here. In recent years, the Australians had hurt Old Huo badly. He had originally been the head of Guangzhou's paper trade, not only running multiple trading firms wholesaling various paper products in the city, but also operating multiple paper workshops outside the city walls. He was, in essence, Guangzhou's paper industry leader.

Ever since "Australian paper" landed in the Guangzhou market through Zicheng Company's distribution, Huo Maixiong's business had plummeted. Because Australian paper was high quality and low priced, his fellow paper merchants had all switched to sourcing from Zicheng Company. His business not only went into steep decline, but even his papermaking workshops closed down. If the Australians hadn't yet gotten involved in stationery paper—allowing him to scrape by with paper shipped in from elsewhere—Old Huo would have shuttered long ago. These past few years, whenever the Australians came up in conversation, he would curse without end, wishing the heavenly troops could annihilate them all.

The paper trade, though still existing, had actually fallen to mere retail distribution for the Australians. The Paper Trade Guild's influence within the Federation had become negligible.

Setting aside Old Huo's past resentments, did he currently have the resources to bid and buy? Wu Yijun was puzzled. Looking at the projects, he would most likely target his old trade: the paper factory. But the paper factory project's transfer fee alone was ten thousand dollars, and once operations began, at least another ten thousand would need to be invested. Old Huo's down-at-heel appearance in recent years wasn't feigned: when his father passed away, the funeral had been hasty; when his youngest son married, he couldn't match with a prominent family.

Just as he was puzzling over this, another master and servant walked through the door. The moment this pair entered, a stir went through the entire hall. Everyone present rose to greet them. Wu Yijun focused his gaze—it was Liang Chenlong.

Now he's a rare guest! Wu Yijun thought. Though Liang Chenlong's position as Money Trade Guild President was prestigious, his family's Maokang was merely a small player in the money trade, holding the presidency only through the Liang family's backing. Now with the Australians in power, Young Master Liang's position had become delicate, the winds decidedly unfavorable. Dissenting voices within the trade were growing louder.

Could it be that Young Master Liang was planning to please the Australians by investing in industry? Or was Liang Chenlong trying to draw a clear line between himself and the Liang family? This warranted careful consideration.

Watching the hall gradually fill up as the hour approached, Gao Ju emerged from behind a screen. Greeting everyone with cupped-fist salutes as he went, he mounted the stage and made another round of bows, beaming at the assembly.

"Gentlemen, thanks to everyone's honor in attending this project transfer auction. This is giving Gao a great deal of face—I am most grateful..."

Seeing this, those below followed the Australian custom and applauded. Gao Ju continued: "The auction materials have all been reviewed by everyone—I won't ramble on. These are all golden egg-laying hens. The Senate releasing these projects for transfer is an immense grace. Those who win projects need no further words—manage them well for a 'win-win.' Those who don't win shouldn't be discouraged—the Senate will have other projects in the future. Everyone should work hard to make money and prepare."

Just as he was speaking, a Senator-looking person mounted the stage, escorted by several naturalized citizen cadres. This Senator was unfamiliar, but observing his bearing, the powerful families present could all sense this was no ordinary person.

Indeed, when Gao Ju made the introduction, everyone learned this was a "big figure" from the Senate's central leadership: the Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Minister Wu Nanhai.

Though no one understood why the Senator in charge of agriculture was attending the auction, they figured it probably demonstrated the Australians' emphasis on this matter. Sure enough, this Chief Wu also began speaking, though his "Newspeak" had a heavy accent. For the wealthy families whose Newspeak was already limited, his words were somewhat incomprehensible. Fortunately, Wu Nanhai's speech was brief. He soon yielded the position to a newly arrived Senator whose appearance was quite different from typical Senators: dark skin, bald head, face full of fierce muscle—He Fanghui, specially sent to host this auction.

As soon as he mounted the stage, the auction officially commenced.

Auction items were hung on the gate-shaped frame one by one in sequence, with introductory diagrams displayed. The host then introduced and opened bidding for each.

The catalog's projects were almost entirely concentrated in light industry: textiles, clothing, shoes and hats, wood processing, food processing, glass and enamelware, small hardware. The non-light-industry projects consisted of building materials, fuel, and agriculture-related "biofertilizer."

All projects offered two options. Under equity-share Option A, the Planning Agency would hold a certain percentage of shares in the newly established enterprise—ranging from ten to twenty-five percent—and as an equity partner would provide free market and technical support. Under sole-proprietorship Option B, the Senate would hold no shares, and technical and market support would be charged at market rates.

"We begin with the first project: Biofertilizer!" With He Fanghui's booming voice, two teahouse workers hung up the introductory diagram for Project One.

Biofertilizer sounded high-tech, but essentially it was farm manure processing—including human and animal waste treatment, organic composting, and the most technologically advanced "earthworm farming deep processing technology."

As Wu Yijun expected, Boss Mi bid on this project, and under Option A.

Ten thousand Australian dollars in investment plus no less than one hundred standard mu of land—Boss Mi really was wealthy. Wu Yijun sighed. Of course, this ten thousand dollar project transfer fee wasn't given for nothing: the Australians would provide a complete set of initial startup production equipment. Looking at it that way, it wasn't a bad deal.

No one competed with him for this project; the biofertilizer project sold at reserve price.

Wu Nanhai watched coldly from the side. He had expected this: industrial projects were different from slave auctions—these were deals worth thousands or tens of thousands, involving future operations. Most attendees had carefully studied the project handbook and assessed their own capabilities, so there wasn't the heated bidding seen at ordinary auctions. The true purpose of holding this auction wasn't to obtain markup premiums anyway.

Senator He, however, felt somewhat underwhelmed. He coughed and ordered the next project brought up.

"Project Two: Wood Processing!" He Fanghui announced. "Starting price: ten thousand silver dollars! At least one hundred standard mu of land, plus an inland river dock connected to the Pearl River."

The Pearl River Delta lacked forest resources, but other areas of Guangdong had abundant timber—materials the Senate urgently needed.

Like Project One, this project didn't attract much interest. Everyone already knew from the handbook that this project had certain site requirements—it had to be downwind from residential areas, and the site needed an inland river dock. These restrictions made its hidden costs too high.

Though response wasn't enthusiastic, quite a few people were optimistic about the timber market. Several raised their hands simultaneously. After two rounds of bidding, it finally sold for eleven thousand five hundred dollars.

The subsequent auctions were mostly similar—either selling at reserve price or concluding after slight bidding. Two items attracted no bidders whatsoever, going directly unsold. So dull that Wu Nanhai yawned, and even He Fanghui found it tedious.

Not until the seventh item—"Match Factory"—did the entire auction hall suddenly come alive.

Matches were the most popular product the Senate sold externally. Without much promotion or marketing, Lingao-produced matches had spread rapidly through natural distribution alone. Not just in Guangdong, but throughout Jiangnan, the capital, all the way to Manchu-ruled Northeast, even reaching Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and Europe—this convenient fire-starting tool could be found everywhere. A box of matches sufficient for a month's use cost just two eggs in Senate-ruled Hainan; by the time it reached distant places, the price had multiplied tenfold or even dozens of times.

Due to ever-expanding demand, match production had always been in a state of supply shortage. After Planning Agency calculations, it was decided that apart from retaining one state-owned match production enterprise, all other match production capacity would be privatized. The Senate would control only upstream match chemicals and related machinery manufacturing, leaving match production to private enterprises. This would fully utilize private capital to expand production capacity while significantly reducing state enterprise labor costs.

"Our employees' training and usage costs are very high—we need to put them in positions with higher returns." Following Wu De's directive, they were preparing to release three match factory projects throughout the greater Guangzhou area.

The match factory's market prospects were crystal clear to the wealthy families. When the five-thousand-dollar Match Factory Project One was posted, paddles immediately shot up throughout the hall.

(End of Chapter)