Author: Potato Sweet Potato Pie

Xia Yuan took the ancient painting and inkstone to several antique shops and asked them one by one. They were both treasures, very valuable treasures.

There’s nothing surprising. The cups are all chicken-cup cups, so it would be outrageous if these two things were worthless.

The painting was indeed painted by a person named Li Tang, and it was called "Ten Thousand Valleys Pine Wind Picture". He had never heard of such a person, nor had he heard of such a painting.

The inkstone is the Duan Inkstone of the Tang Dynasty, the first of all inkstones, and was also listed as a royal tribute of the Tang Dynasty.

Several antique stores wanted to buy these two great treasures, and the prices they offered were very high. In the end, Xia Yuan hesitated for a long time and sold the ancient painting to the store with the highest bid, earning a thousand silver coins.

Five hundred taels.

Li Tang may be a very famous painter, and his painting may be sold for tens of millions or even hundreds of millions in future generations.

But in this era, Li Tang was a painter of the Southern Song Dynasty. The era he lived in was only three to four hundred years ago. If he could sell it for one thousand five hundred taels, it was already very high.

Of course, Xia Yuan also knew very well that even at this price, the owner of the antique shop would still make a profit, but this painting was for free, and he would make a profit if he sold even one or two.

So he was quite satisfied with the sale of 1,500 taels, not to mention that the store paid 150 taels of garlic gold. The price ratio of gold and silver in this era was ten to one.

But in later generations, one gram of gold cost four to five hundred yuan, while one gram of silver cost only four or five yuan. The difference was a hundred times.

Anyway, Xia Yuan lived a very transparent life and made money no matter how much he sold. He thanked the governor of the East Factory in his heart, and even more thanked the prince Zhu Houzhao for allowing the factory boss to come to apologize and give generous gifts.

It must be the credit of the prince.

It's great, with these one hundred and fifty taels of gold, I can continue to mess around.

After returning home, Xia Yuan couldn't wait to pull Zhao Yuerong into the bedroom. He first asked her to sit on the kang and wait, then carefully closed the door and bolted it.

Then, with Xiao Qizi's shy and somewhat bewildered gaze, he took out a bundle from his arms and poured all the gold in it onto the kang.

Then the little girl's breathing stagnated. To use an inappropriate word, she was blinded.

The golden light really made her dizzy. Xia Yuan had already passed the initial excitement, so she didn't feel dizzy anymore. Besides, one hundred and fifty taels of gold sounded like a big sum, but it only weighed about ten kilograms.

It's just weight. When it comes to your eyes, it's like fifteen pieces of garlic gold as thick as your little finger.

"Old rule, all this gold is given to our little housekeeper for safekeeping."

"."

Zhao Yuerong nodded in a daze, not sure if he heard clearly. Then, as if he didn't know how to express his emotions, his head kept digging into Xia Yuan's arms. After a while, she was in Xia Yuan's arms.

Qiqi Ai Ai said loudly, "Husband, husband, this money is too much, I, I'm afraid."

"What are you afraid of? You should be happy." Xia Yuan reached out and touched her head. It was really worrying. It turns out that there are really people in this world who are afraid of having too much money.

Besides, the money is not bad, it is indeed a lot. In the Ming Dynasty, a few dozen taels of silver was enough for an ordinary family of three to live comfortably for a year.

And one hundred and fifty taels of gold is equivalent to one thousand five hundred taels of silver. How many years will it take to spend it normally?

"Husband, shall we bury this gold?"

Faced with her proposal, Xia Yuan thought for a while and then readily agreed, "Okay, bury it!"

It was true that burying it seemed a bit too petty, but Xia Yuan understood her worries at this time. There was too much gold and it would be unsafe to put it anywhere, so it was better to bury it.

I suddenly became a nouveau riche, but my mentality has not caught up yet. What matters most is that one should not show off one's wealth.

The two sneaked to the main house with the gold in their arms, closed the door, took out a few floor tiles, then dug a deep hole in the ground with a shovel, put the gold in, filled it with soil, and covered the floor tiles.

Go up and make everything go back to how it was before.

I was buried deep in my body, and I was so tired that I didn’t even have the energy to wash my hands and face, so I sat down on a chair and rested for a while.

Of course, I didn’t bury all the fifteen gold garlic bars. I wasn’t that stupid. I only buried ten of them. The remaining five were stored in the box and will be exchanged for silver coins when they are used. If nothing happens, it will be enough.

Lasted for several years.

Oh, I still need to hire some servants, at least a disciple.

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In the following days, Xia Yuan's life was as ordinary as water. What puzzled him was that he never saw Zhu Houzhao again. Wang Shouren came every day, but after waiting for a while, he found that the prince did not come, so he went back.

Later, he stopped disturbing Xia Yuan's life because it was already February, and it would soon be the ninth day of February.

The ninth day of February is a very common day in modern times. It is not a festival every year, but in this era, it is more grand than all festivals.

Just because this day is the spring examination in the fifteenth year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty.

Xia Yuan was gearing up for this audition. He had been looking forward to it for a long time, but of course it was impossible.

It was really shameful to say this. If he hadn't gone to Renyazi's place to hire someone that day and saw the imperial list posted on the way, Xia Yuan wouldn't have known that the ninth day of February was the day for the general examination.

Next to the article on the list, there were several merchants selling Xie Qian's articles.

The article was of course printed and sold very expensively, but it still attracted a lot of people rushing to buy it.

After all, Xie Qian is the examiner of this examination. As long as he studies his articles thoroughly and then understands Xie Gong's preferences, he can prescribe the right medicine for the examination, which will increase his confidence in passing the examination.

.

However, the chance of failing may also increase.

Because Xie Qian does not read the papers alone during the marking process, but a large number of people do the marking. You must ensure that your article can stand out among the first round of marking officers before it can be submitted to Xie Qian's desk.

Sometimes, the articles that Xie Qian likes may not be liked by other marking officers, and they may be killed.

To put it bluntly, this imperial examination actually also depends on luck.

On the ninth day of February, Xia Yuan rarely got up early, and the rest of the family also got up early, just like the Chinese New Year, and lit red lanterns in the house. This color has been red since ancient times.

They all represent joy and also symbolize auspiciousness.

Zhao Yuerong helped him comb his hair while cheering for her husband, "I have been going to Yanfu Palace with my mute mother to burn incense every day these days. I pray to Bodhisattva to bless my husband and get the No. 1 Scholar. He will definitely come back with the No. 1 Scholar this time."

.”

"It's very good. You also gave me a connection to go through the back door. Now that my husband knows that there is someone above him, his confidence has become very strong."

"But have you ever thought about it, as the examination is approaching, all candidates in the world are praying for Bodhisattva's blessing and help to get into high school. However, there are only so many places that can pass the exam, and not everyone can get it.

If you pass the exam, who will the Bodhisattva bless first?"

After asking this question, Xia Yuan turned around and waited to see her look embarrassed, but Zhao Yuerong said matter-of-factly: "I must first bless my husband to get the top prize. I go there every day, several times in a row."

God, sincerity is the best."

Xia Yuan was speechless for a while, and then said after a while: "Although you are most sincere, my husband will definitely not get the top prize in this examination."

"Why?"

"Because there is no top candidate in the examination."
Chapter completed!