The shouted prices soared, climbing to 670,000 taels in just two minutes.

And at this time, there were still more than a dozen people bidding.

Listening to the vigorous voices of these dozen or so people, a glint flashed in Jiang Chen's eyes.

These people are really rich!

Of course, Jiang Chen was very clear that without the name of the Emperor of Great Wei, his handwriting would be worthless to anyone.

The reason why these people were bidding frantically was simply for the sake of the emperor's name.

The purpose of a wealthy gentry wanting a handwritten letter was already very obvious.

These gentry, unaware that they were already on Jiang Chen's list, were still doing their best to raise the price.

After only a few rounds of bidding, it had already reached a peak of 800,000 taels.

This price made everyone present click their tongues in amazement.

Apart from the first few treasures provided by the palace, the total price of the auction items provided by the ministers later on probably didn't even reach this price!

After reaching 800,000 taels, the number of bidders decreased again, with only three or four people still in the running.

"820,000 taels!"

A gentry with a Jiangnan accent shouted through gritted teeth.

Compared to the previous increase of at least 50,000 taels per bid, an increase of only 20,000 taels clearly indicated that he was nearing his limit.

At this moment, a gentry with a Liangguang accent sneered and said loudly, "900,000 taels!"

Whoa—

There was an uproar in the audience.

Not only because of the price, but also because the one who shouted the price was not a Jiangnan gentry.

As everyone knows, whether it is Great Wei or the previous dynasties before Great Wei, Jiangnan is the wealthiest place.

But now, the Jiangnan gentry were actually outdone by a gentry from Liangguang.

For everyone present, this was no less than a major earthquake.

Jiang Chen frowned slightly at this moment.

He also felt that something was wrong.

In this era, Liangguang was definitely not like later generations, possessing the advantage of foreign communication. The current Liangguang was filled with miasma, and the environment was extremely poor.

It was already surprising enough for Jiang Chen that a gentry from there would come to participate in the charity auction.

Not to mention now surpassing the Jiangnan gentry.

This was very abnormal!

At this time, the gentry from Liangguang said, "Are you going to bid or not? If you don't bid again, this thing will be mine."

The Jiangnan gentry's face couldn't help but turn red.

900,000 taels was already far beyond his expectations.

But he also couldn't back down, especially after the other party said such a thing, making it even more impossible for him to admit defeat.

If he admitted defeat, he would be losing face for the Jiangnan gentry!

The other Jiangnan gentry also showed displeasure, and one Jiangnan gentry held out a palm to him, indicating that he could lend him 50,000 taels.

The Jiangnan gentry's expression relaxed, and he said, "950,000 taels!"

As soon as he finished shouting, before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, the gentry from Liangguang continued to shout.

"One million taels!"

Hiss—

Everyone present gasped.

So decisive and without hesitation, what is this person's background?

The Jiangnan gentry collectively darkened their faces.

They thought that adding another 50,000 taels would be able to suppress the other party.

But they didn't expect that the other party would add another 50,000 taels without even thinking.

The face of the Jiangnan gentry who was bidding turned red and white, then white and red.

He couldn't come up with more money to raise the price, but he didn't want to lose.

He looked at the other Jiangnan gentry, and immediately another Jiangnan gentry held out a palm.

The Jiangnan gentry's spirits lifted, and he said, "One million and fifty thousand taels!"

"One million and one hundred thousand taels!" the Liangguang gentry followed.

"One million one hundred and fifty thousand taels!" the Jiangnan gentry shouted again.

"One million two hundred thousand taels!" the Liangguang gentry followed.

The Jiangnan gentry's face, with the two bids from the Liangguang gentry, was already as white as paper.

He needed to borrow money from several friends to be able to shout out this price.

And the Liangguang gentry had obviously shouted out the high price of one million two hundred thousand taels by his own strength!

The Jiangnan gentry hurriedly turned his gaze to his friends again, wanting to get sponsorship.

However, the surrounding Jiangnan gentry all shook their heads.

They had already seen that the financial resources possessed by this Liangguang gentry were definitely not something they could contend with.

Besides, even if they managed to outbid the other party in the end, who would the auctioned imperial calligraphy belong to?

They couldn't possibly borrow so much money and not get any benefit, right?

With the defeat of the Jiangnan gentry, the eight characters handwritten by Jiang Chen were finally sold for the astronomical price of one million two hundred thousand taels.

After the last item was sold, the auction came to an end.

After everyone had dispersed, Jiang Chen summoned Jing Yue.

"Go and investigate the origin of that person."

Although he didn't explicitly say who it was, Jing Yue still understood who Jiang Chen was referring to.

After Jing Yue left, Xu Changqing found Jiang Chen with a face full of joy.

"Your Majesty, good news! This charity auction has raised a total of 2,367,400 taels!"

This number made Jiang Chen nod in satisfaction.

This was already one-ninth of the national treasury's surplus from last year.

It might not be enough to do anything big.

But it would still be very worthwhile to use it to help the people.

After Xu Changqing finished his report, Jiang Chen said, "Minister Xu, your Xu family has been in business for generations, do you know anything about that bidder from Liangguang?"

Xu Changqing shook his head: "Your Majesty, I have already recalled it before, and there is no such business family in Liangguang."

Jiang Chen's brows furrowed even deeper.

Even Xu Changqing didn't know, then this person, or rather, the source of this person's funds, was probably a big problem!

Thinking of the military pay and provisions of the southern military camps, Jiang Chen had a guess in his heart, and his eyes couldn't help but sink.

It's just that this year's drought is not a good time to solve this problem.

"Minister Xu, you don't need to worry about this matter, just focus on handling matters related to the drought."

"Yes!"

After sending Xu Changqing away, Jiang Chen returned to the Qianzheng Hall and took out the military pay, provisions, and appropriations of the various military camps that Xu Changqing had previously compiled and compared them carefully.

With this look, Jiang Chen discovered that the southern military camps had the most embezzled military pay and provisions.

Connecting this with the extravagance of the person at the auction, Jiang Chen became more and more certain of his guess.

At this time, Jing Yue appeared silently.

"Your Majesty, the gentry from Liangguang is named Huang Zongming. After the auction ended, he hosted a banquet for Lord Lin Han of the capital."

"Lin Han?"

Jiang Chen thought for a moment and remembered that this Lin Han was an imperial censor, also from Liangguang.

"Jing Yue, what do you think?" Jiang Chen asked while thinking.

"This subordinate believes that Huang Zongming's identity is definitely not as simple as an ordinary gentry."

Jing Yue's expression was a bit solemn: "This person is in extremely good physical condition, perhaps he comes from the southern military camps."

After listening to Jing Yue's analysis, Jiang Chen became even more certain of his idea.