In the Ming Dynasty 1498, my restaurant connects two worlds.

"Modern investment silver bars cost thirteen yuan per gram, so fifty taels would be over thirty thousand Chinese yuan..."

"Investing in silver bars is not suitable for the Ming Dynasty. They need silver ingots, or even silver coins."

"Alright, I'll figure out a way to get you fifty taels of silver ingots each."

"The bottom mark is made in the style of the Chenghua period."

"This old man knows better than you that almost no precious silver was minted during the Hongzhi era of the Ming Dynasty."

"These three yellow-glazed porcelain pieces of yours are in excellent condition, with an estimated value of at least 50 million Chinese yuan. I'll help you put them up for auction this autumn, and you should be able to make it. I'll convert all the proceeds into silver ingots for you."

"I am deeply grateful for Mr. Wu's kindness."

"You're being too polite. Next time you come, see if you can help me buy a house in the Ming Dynasty."

"It's quite a coincidence, the Yan family next door is currently selling their house. If you're interested, I could certainly buy it first."

Through Dean Teng, Mr. Wu arranged for a transport vehicle to pack the three pieces of yellow-glazed porcelain and bring them back to the capital.

Song Xiaoyi called out to Lao Song, "Lao Song, this silver isn't an electronic product. According to the rules, as long as the inscription on the bottom conforms to the customs and characteristics of the Ming Dynasty, can it pass through the interdimensional passage normally?"

Silver can be transferred through the passage.

"That's strange. The current price of silver is 13 yuan per gram, so fifty taels (about 1875 grams) only costs 3.3 Chinese yuan, and 10 Chinese yuan can buy three ingots. Why does the system require 25 Chinese yuan per ingot for exchange?"

The silver ingots exchanged by the system perfectly match the Ming Dynasty style. Although the premium is very high, they are for emergency use. Furthermore, in the era in which the host lives, silver is no longer used as currency and has depreciated significantly. However, the system's exchange function and exchange rate are fixed, which is consistent with the usage characteristics.

Song Xiaoyi stroked his chin, repeatedly pondering Old Song's words. In modern times, silver is no longer considered currency, but during the Republic of China period, silver dollars were still circulating currency, and their value should be roughly equivalent to that during the Ming Dynasty.

There was also the exchange of copper coins. Nowadays, the price of copper coins is regulated by the collectibles market, but this was not the case during the Republic of China period.

Therefore, this system already existed during the Republic of China period, or even the Qing Dynasty!

What is the price of copper today? New copper is only 50 yuan per kilogram, and scrap copper is recycled for 30 yuan per kilogram. However, one kilogram of copper can be used to cast about one hundred Wanli Tongbao coins. Calculated, the cost of casting a copper coin in modern times, including the cost of labor and molds, is at most one yuan in Chinese currency.

That's one idea, but building a factory in modern times to continuously mint ancient copper coins without any sales channels is ultimately unsustainable, and the same applies to silver. However, if we leverage Mr. Wu's connections, there might be some hope.

But the most important thing now is to secure a stockpile of cold weapons. After seeing Old Wu off, Song Xiaoyi drove directly to Longquan, a region known for its high-manganese steel knives, and bought all sorts of readily available items, regardless of whether they were suitable or not.

The handicrafts, including copper coins, bows, crossbows, and matching arrows, all needed to be custom-made due to their large quantity. Song Xiaoyi found several factories in the area, paid deposits to order them separately, and drove back to Jinling after arranging a pickup time.

Taking advantage of the tail end of the National Day holiday, Fatty took Pan Shuixiu to Jinling to discuss planting, production and sales issues with Song Xiaoyi. Just then, He Dayu returned to Jinling with his fifth shipment of supplies. The brothers ate and chatted in the modern Song Mansion until late at night.

Upon returning to Beijing, Mr. Wu first consulted several familiar experts for appraisal and obtained certificates of authenticity, quickly completing the auction procedures for the three yellow-glazed porcelain pieces.

The auction of these three flawless imperial artifacts from the Ming Dynasty caused quite a stir in the art world. Many collectors who had not originally planned to participate in this year's autumn auctions were vying for tickets, even if they couldn't win the bid, just admiring them would be a good thing.

Three pieces of yellow-glazed Ming Dynasty imperial porcelain were put up for auction. The Huaxia Museum saw that the consignor was Mr. Wu. After contacting Mr. Wu, we learned that he was not short of money. Why did he consign three national treasure-level porcelain pieces for auction?

When they learned that the owner was Song Xiaoyi, the bigwigs couldn't say anything more. This young friend Song had already donated "Ode to the Golden Powder of the Six Dynasties," ninety pieces of Ming blue-and-white porcelain, and thirty-two pieces of Ming celadon plum-green porcelain; why ask him to donate more?

When wealthy collectors learned the inside story, they were all quietly raising funds, preparing to acquire at least one item at the autumn auction.

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The list of successful candidates for the Nanjing autumn imperial examination in the year of Wuwu was sent to Suzhou by express courier. Cao Feng, the prefect of Suzhou, was overjoyed, for he was Tang Bohu's true mentor. It was Cao Feng who had worked tirelessly to persuade the censor to help Tang Bohu catch the last train for the provincial examination.

Nearly 10,000 candidates from Southern Zhili participated in the autumn imperial examination this year, but only 135 are admitted each time, making it almost one in a hundred. This is much more difficult than the high school entrance examination.

Three people from Suzhou Prefecture passed the imperial examination this time. Cao Feng ordered his men to make many colorful flags and hang them at various city gates in Suzhou Prefecture to show off. The flag hanging at Changmen Gate read, "One person passes the examination and one person wins the top prize, unmatched by anyone. The dragon head and the dragon tail are all in Suzhou."

Wuqufang, inside Changmen Gate of Suzhou Prefecture.

When Tang Jieyuan returned home in glory, his door was naturally bustling with activity. In addition to those who came to congratulate him and ask for his paintings, people also came to propose marriage and act as matchmakers.

Tang Bohu had been widowed for a long time, and this marriage proposal was to find a second wife. However, the top scholar had a promising future, and there were many women willing to become his second wife, including the daughter of the He family, who had once served as a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Rites.

After secretly looking at all the girls introduced by the matchmaker, Tang Bohu finally chose Miss He.

Miss He was born with a curvaceous figure, a full bust and hips, fiery red lips, and affectionate phoenix eyes. She was exactly the kind of woman Tang Bohu preferred, and it was as if fate had ordained him to choose her.

That evening, at Tang Bohu's home, Zhu Zhishan, Gu Lan, and Xu Zhenqing took turns persuading Tang Bohu to give up on Miss He and introduce her to Du Yuanjing, while Xiao Qiuying occasionally chimed in to help.

"Why do you all think this way?" Tang Bohu asked, puzzled.

After trying to persuade him to no avail, Zhu Zhishan sighed, slowly took out a brocade pouch from his sleeve, and placed it on the table. "Take a look for yourself."

"Ms. He is not a good match. Wait until you pass the imperial examination in the capital next year, and your brother Bohu will find his own marriage."

"This! Such ugly handwriting, Brother Xiao Yi wrote this?" Tang Bohu took out a piece of paper from his brocade pouch. He could tell who wrote it just by looking at the handwriting, but he was too shocked. "Xiao Yi is far away in Nanjing, how could he know that I would choose the He family?!"

"My uncle is a deity; he knows the past five hundred years and the future five hundred years."

"Little Shifu, you're saying that again! Be careful your mother doesn't beat you again!"

"Bohu, what Shifu said is all true, but you've been kept in the dark all along."

"Yes, do you remember last time at the Song residence, Xiao Yi said you would definitely pass the provincial examination with top honors, but you didn't believe him."

......

This was one of the key points that Song Xiaoyi secretly instructed Zhu Zhishan to pay attention to: preventing Tang Bohu from marrying He Shi!

In the end, Tang Bohu agreed to give up on remarrying and wait until after the imperial examination the following year.

Although breaking up a marriage is like tearing down a temple, how could Song Xiaoyi allow the He family, who abandoned Tang Bohu in the original history, to enjoy the fruits of his hard work?