Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 44 Is he really a genius?
A quarter of an hour later, the three of them arrived at a small hut.

Wang Hei took a step forward, pushed open the door, turned around and made a "please" gesture to Zhang Yunxiu.

Zhang Yunxiu nodded slightly, picked up his robe and walked inside.

The light in the room was very dim, so Wang He quickly took out a tinderbox and lit it. The bright light immediately filled the small room of about 30 square meters.

There were not many furniture or decorations in the room, only baskets and baskets of blue and white porcelain, talismans and seals, and exquisite scrolls.

Wang He smiled and picked up a painting, unfolded it and handed it to Zhang Yunxiu, not without boasting: "That Tang Bohu knows nothing about painting erotic pictures. Look at our painting skills and appearance. Aren't they much better than his?"

Zhang Yunxiu closed the scroll, picked up a small bronze tripod, and looked it up and down.

"What dynasty is this from?"

"From the pre-Qin period, this is the small tripod that Qin Shi Huang used to reward his ministers. Only princes and ministers could own it. Look at the patterns and rust on it." When Wang He was asked this question, he immediately started to talk nonsense and talked about his business every other sentence.

Suddenly remembering that his true identity had been exposed, he smiled awkwardly, shrank his neck and stepped back.

"Are all the things here fake?" Zhang Yunxiu asked after putting the small tripod back.

"Not to mention my shop, most of the goods on the market are fake." Wang He grinned and boasted, "Many vendors on Qipan Street come to us to buy goods. A small bottle worth five taels of silver, with a little-known touching story, has tricked those pretentious 'famous people' into buying it.

"Ahem." Zhang Yunxiu looked embarrassed. He remembered that the emperor bought two porcelain bottles, which were most likely produced by this guy.

This is called "one willing to fight and the other willing to be beaten". This is how it is in the antique industry. If you don't open for business for three years, you can make a living for three years after you open it.

The main focus is on fraud and deception.

Seeing that Zhang Yunxiu didn't say anything, Wang He turned his thick eyebrows and big eyes and said slyly: "If you like, you can choose whatever you want from my things."

"Do you think our young master is an amateur? What's good about this broken thing of yours?" Han San raised his eyes and shouted sternly.

"Aren't our antiques just to fool laymen?" Wang He muttered in his heart, but on the surface he tried to please Han San: "Third brother is right, the young master has all kinds of treasures at home, what else do you need these junks of ours?"

Zhang Yunxiu smiled and waved his hands.

These fake antiques can be sold overseas at a higher price as real antiques.

Those bastards are probably not even as good as amateurs, they really deserve a good pay.

"Wang He."

"Little is here!"

Wang He bowed and stepped forward. Zhang Yunxiu smiled and patted Wang He on the shoulder. He pointed to the room full of antiques and said, "From now on, you don't have to stay here. We'll find you a new place to do your work properly."

"Thank you for your kindness, sir."

The three of them came out of the house while talking. Zhang Yunxiu looked at Han San with a smile, pointed at Wang He and said, "You should find a house as soon as possible and settle them all there."

"Don't worry, sir." Han San responded respectfully.

Zhang Yunxiu nodded slightly, turned to look at Wang He, and said gloomily: "Since you have become my disciple, you must abide by the rules. Do not ship goods without my permission. Do you understand?"

"I understand. I understand." Wang He nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

Seeing that he was still honest, Zhang Yunxiu said no more and led the two of them out of the alley.

As soon as they exited the alley, they arrived at Chongwen Street. Zhang Yunxiu thought that he still had to go to his fourth brother's house to do some things, so he said goodbye to the two of them and went there alone.

Looking at Zhang Yunxiu's back as he left, Wang He straightened his back, hooked his arm around Han San's shoulder and said, "Old Han, you think we are just brothers who eat from the same pot, so you have to take care of us."

As soon as he finished speaking, Han San raised his iron elbow with a cold face and hit Wang He in the heart, snorting: "Who do you think you are? Are you worthy of being called a brother by me? From now on, call me Third Master, do you understand?"

"Third Master." Wang He covered his heart and shouted bitterly.

That's more or less.

Han San glanced at Wang He, clasped his hands behind his back, raised his eyebrows, hummed a little tune, and walked away with a swaying step. The autumn day was getting darker and darker, and in a blink of an eye, it was the day when the "Baobao" was about to begin.

That day Zhang Yunxiu got up early, put on a thick cotton robe, and headed straight for Erlang Street in the mist.

After several days of publicity, coupled with the relatively small cost and great potential.

Therefore, although it was early in the morning, the entire Erlang Street was already filled with people watching the fun.

Zhang Yunxiu looked from afar and saw a crowd of people, making a lot of noise. On each of the small stages that had been set up, there stood a young servant in blue clothes.

The boy on the far left was a sharp-tongued, clever young man. Seeing people watching, he shouted at the top of his voice, "Take a look, take a look. You can't lose a penny and you can't be cheated. What do you think you can do with this penny? Buy a string of candied haws?"

"It's different here. If you're lucky, one penny can turn into fifty pennies. Then you can buy several pounds of good meat."

"You say, is this a big prize?"

"Big!" The people in the audience shouted.

"Then what are you waiting for? Why don't you take out a penny and buy a few pounds of good meat to go home." The servant clapped his hands and pointed to the box next to him in a very seductive tone, saying, "Of course, if you think that a penny is not enough, over there, ten pennies can be turned into five hundred and fifty, and a hundred pennies can be turned into five taels."

There is never a shortage of greedy people in this world.

After this encouragement, merchants, peddlers, and hawkers all took out their money to pray for good luck.

In an instant, the entire Erlang Street was bustling with activity and shouts shook the sky.

The rules are very simple, write down a number between one and one hundred, and every time you pay, you will get a receipt with the year, month, and number of sessions written on it.

Then, wait until there are a hundred people.

The servant will then reach into the sealed box and grab the number that is caught, whichever number wins the prize.

Of course, the numbers in the hands of the people will definitely not be repeated.

Zhang Yunxiu breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that everything was going smoothly. He walked straight to the teahouse on the street, sat down, and quietly watched the show.

Maybe the current income is not much, but the Ming Dynasty is so big that it must be a very considerable income accumulated over time.

There is another benefit to this. The people who win the prize will feel that the money is earned for free.

It's inevitable to celebrate in a grand manner.

In this way, consumption can also be stimulated.

Time flies, and the sun sets in the blink of an eye, but the pedestrians who pass by are still as enthusiastic as ever.

Zhang Yunxiu yawned and was about to stand up when Zhang Fu ran up to him with an account book in his hand.

When he saw Zhang Yunxiu, he immediately said happily: "Sir, today we have earned a total of 515 taels and 100 coins."

"More than five hundred taels? It seems that many wealthy families in Beijing are showing their support." Zhang Yunxiu was surprised.

He didn't expect that he would get more than 300 taels in one day. This must be the case that some merchants in the capital gave him money in order to curry favor with him.

However, he did not refuse, and this was considered normal business.

It is honest and trustworthy and cannot be considered as bribery.

Zhang Fu didn't care about that. His eyes sparkled as he said, "The one in the capital alone costs 500 taels a day, which means 15,000 taels a month, and 180,000 taels a year."

"If we look at the whole world, how much money would that be in a year?"

hiss.
You're really a math genius.

Zhang Yunxiu looked at Zhang Fu strangely, without saying anything. He just asked him to keep the money and went home.

(End of this chapter)