The strange incense filled the audience. I sat sideways on the drum, my left leg hidden in my long skirt, but my whole seductive right leg tied with a thin red ribbon was propped up, and I was exposed to everyone. The snow-white feet are as white as jade, and the cardamom on the nails is dazzling red, decorated with shiny small colored beads. Holding the neck of the guitar in my right hand and standing it at my side, I rested my head on the guitar with a nonchalant face, lowered my eyelids faintly, and the rest was up to me.

There was a lot of chaos under the stage, and the roses I threw out were grabbed by a muscular hunk covered in meat, and people were still huddled under the stage, refusing to return to their seats. All kinds of eyes shot at me, obsessive, amazing, disdainful, envious, jealous ......, only one was different, that was anger, I felt the burning gaze on the right side of the stage, a faint smile on the corner of my lips, but still drooping my eyelashes, indifferent.

Yueniang walked onto the stage, smiling, she looked at the chaotic scene in the hall happily, and said with a smile: "Yo ......, it seems that all the masters like our Carmen girl's singing and dancing so much?" Are they reluctant to sit down? ”

"Yueniang, I want Miss Carmen to accompany me tonight." The man who grabbed my rose was the first to say to Yueniang.

"Why?" There was a sudden boos under the stage, and someone immediately spoke out at him, "Tan Datou, do you think you can hug the beauty by saying it first?" This is the Red Mansion, and everything is based on silver. ”

Yueniang said with a smile: "It's still true that Young Master Zhang is right, let's rely on the Red Mansion to open the door to do business, only recognize the silver and not the people, which uncle will pay the highest price tonight, and which one can kiss Carmen girl Fangze." ”

The young master Zhang in the brocade robe looked like a gentleman who didn't learn well, he looked like he was determined to win, and said loudly to Yueniang: "Yueniang, don't be obedient, you rely on the rules of the Red Mansion, none of us know, you can quote us a price!" At one moment, there were shouts from the audience, and everyone was eager to try.

I'm such a piece of pork to the slaughter! I have been smiling all the time, slightly drooping my eyelashes, calm, as if all the disturbances in the audience have nothing to do with me, in this way, there should be some style of the name of the green building, right? Since just now, Chu Yan's furious gaze has never been withdrawn from me, and if nothing happens...... I smiled in my heart.

Yueniang cleared her throat and said with a coquettish smile: "Miss Carmen's escort tonight's starting price is one hundred taels of silver. As soon as the words came out, everyone in the audience inhaled one after another, and heard the big head of Tan just now shouting: "One hundred taels of silver, Yueniang, you really know how to ask for a price." ”

One hundred taels of silver? I sighed, this Yihong Mansion is really a nest of gold. In my previous life, I liked to read some idle books, and once I saw the ancient currency conversion system of my time and space, compared with the plot of modern TV dramas, I often feel ridiculous, and the ancients in the play often use dozens of taels, or even hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of taels of silver. What's more, they are often able to take out hundreds of taels of silver tickets from their pockets. There are actually two misunderstandings here. One is that one or two pieces of silver in ancient times are equal to one yuan today. The second is that they think that the ancient silver bills are the banknotes or checks of today.

In fact, silver was scarce in ancient China, and the value of silver was very high. Money (i.e., standard square hole copper coins) a called "Wen", silver and gold according to the "two" melt ingots, although the ancient money from the Tang Dynasty and above the dynasties and dynasties are different, but at least after the Tang and Song dynasties are not much different, so it is possible to get more stable and credible data. The exchange rate between copper, silver and gold, like the current foreign exchange price, is constantly changing, and is not as clear as one dollar equals 100 cents. The ratio of gold to silver rose from 1:8 around 1600 to 1:10 in the mid and late twentieth centuries, and doubled to 1:20 by the end of the eighteenth century. Taking the Qing Dynasty as an example, in the early years of Daoguang, one tael of silver was exchanged for money and one hanging, that is, one thousand wen; By the time of the Opium War in the twentieth year of Daoguang, one tael of silver could be exchanged for 16,700 wen. Since Xianfeng, the price of silver has soared, and one or two taels of silver can be exchanged for as much as 22,300 yuan. It can be seen from this that under normal circumstances, one tael of gold can be exchanged for about eight to eleven taels of silver; One tael of silver can be exchanged for about 1,000 to 1,500 copper coins. In ancient times, it was usually said that consistent money or a hanging of money was a thousand Wen.

Taking the Tang Dynasty as an example, the monthly salary of the nine-grade official is five stones (equivalent to 70 kilograms) of rice, the upper white rice is nine dollars and five cents per stone, the middle white rice is nine dollars and three cents per stone, the lower white rice is eight dollars and three points per stone, and the white flour is nine dollars per catty (equivalent to 1.2 city catties), and the price of a stone of rice will not exceed one or two silvers, so it is known that the monthly salary of a nine-grade official in the Tang Dynasty is equivalent to five taels of silver.

Until the Qing Dynasty, a six-grade official earned 45 taels of silver a year, less than four taels of silver per month, and at the end of the Qing Dynasty, a pound of pork only cost 20 yuan, and an acre of fertile land only cost 7 to 8 taels of silver or 12 or 3 silver dollars. A few taels of silver, dozens of taels of silver is a big deal, and a hundred taels of silver is a big amount of money today, and you can buy more than a dozen acres of fertile land. In the Ming Dynasty, a civilian's life for a year was only one or two halves of silver, so Qi Jiguang's soldiers' salaries were only three cents of silver, less than one tael a month. The Qing Dynasty was slightly more expensive, mainly because of the large foreign trade surplus before the Opium War, and the fall in silver prices after a large inflow of silver. Later, after a large amount of indemnity, the price of silver and copper rose again. Ordinary people used copper coins, and at the end of the Qing Dynasty, copper dollars were used, and silver was rarely used for regular transactions. Many of the common people did not see a silver until they died. Therefore, when colloquially saying that there is no money (poverty), "雿 (copper coins) are not" instead of "there is no silver". This is one of the reasons why people often regard silver as precious, and it can also be seen that the corrupt officials who sang in "Dream of Red Mansions" "Three years of Qing Governor's Mansion, 100,000 snowflakes of silver" have high means of collecting money, ruthless in collecting people's fat and people's ointment, black and poisonous in their hearts, and miserable lives for ordinary people.

As for the silver bills, taking the Qing Dynasty as an example, they are actually exchange vouchers issued by Shanxi ticket numbers, and they are secretly deposited, not bank bills (banknotes) that are redeemed at sight. There is an exchange fee for the use of silver bills. Silver tickets are used by merchants who buy and sell in large quantities, it can avoid the risk of carrying large amounts of cash, and it is convenient, and the cost of carrying a large amount of cash is about the same. Ordinary people and officials don't need it, so there will be no silver tickets with hundreds or thousands of taels from their pockets to pay for it. Even if you take it out to pay, ordinary merchants and ordinary people will not accept it, and its circulation is not as good as today's personal checks.

If the world and folk customs of the Tiancao Dynasty are the same as those of the Tang Dynasty in my time and space, the starting price of my auction today has reached the salary of a nine-grade official for one year and eight months, and I understand why the ancients said that Gentle Township is also a gold cave, although I also understand in my heart that these officials and businessmen will never have only this point of death, but Yueniang's offer is also worthy of me, because there should be only a small number of people who can afford this high price, and there should be only a small number of people on the scene, and most people's hope of bidding will be cut at once.

Yueniang listened to Tan Datou's screams, pursed her lips and smiled: "You get what you pay for, Uncle Tan thinks that our Carmen girl can't afford this price?" ”

"Value, absolute value!" It was another young man who spoke, "Yueniang, one hundred taels of silver, Miss Carmen will be taken care of by me tonight." ”

"Wait a minute, Li Qing!" It was Zhang Dashao in brocade clothes who stopped him, "I'll give one hundred and twenty taels." ”

"One hundred and forty taels!" The young man named Li Qing glanced at him and quoted another price.

"Lao Tzu out one hundred and fifty taels!" Tan Datou listened to the higher and higher prices, and he was anxious and rushed out.

"Two hundred taels." A hoarse voice sounded on the side, and I saw an old man with a fat brain and a belly as big as a pregnant woman who had been pregnant for three months.

Everyone gasped for a while, and when they got such a price, not many people dared to bid again. Yueniang smiled: "It's still Master Song who has a vision, and our Carmen girl is a beauty that is rare in a hundred years." ”

"Beauty is not necessarily beautiful, but, sir, I just like her tone." Master Song narrowed his eyes and pinched a few thin mustaches on his chin.

"Two hundred and fifty taels!" The brocade-robed Zhang Dashao listened to his words, glanced at him, and said with disdain, "If Miss Carmen was photographed by you tonight, isn't it a flower stuck in cow dung?" ”

The crowd burst into laughter. Master Song's face was full of anger and trembled, his ruthless eyes stared at Zhang Dashao coldly, and quoted again: "Three hundred taels!" ”

The laughter faded, and most people couldn't afford such a high price, so they all held on to the psychology of watching the show, watching several men scramble around the bottom of the stage.

"Three hundred and fifty taels!" The young man named Li Qing didn't seem to be ready to give me up to Master Song, but Tan Datou, who was bidding at the beginning, turned pale for a while, snorted fiercely, and turned back to his seat, obviously ready to give up this competition.

"Four hundred taels!" Zhang Dashao in the brocade robe glanced at Li Qing and Master Song, and added another fifty taels.

"Five hundred taels!" Everyone exclaimed, and Master Song blushed, panting and glaring at Zhang Dashao, who had changed his robe.

Li Qing glanced at Master Song, smiled slightly, turned around and returned to his seat very gracefully, Zhang Dashao probably didn't have so much money to auction the price, glared at Master Song angrily, and said sarcastically: "Master Song, spend so much silver, can you do it?" Don't smash the silver into the water! ”

There was another burst of laughter, and Master Song was about to get angry, when Yueniang saw this, she hurriedly said: "Yo, look at what Young Master Zhang said, since Master Song has given the silver, our girl will serve Master Song well." Now Master Song's bid is five hundred taels, is there anything higher than Master Song? ”

There was no sound under the stage, but I already felt Chu Yan's anger getting stronger and stronger, almost on the verge of collapse. It's time, a smile wells on the corner of my lips, and if you don't say anything, the anger will have to be brought back to suffocate yourself. Seeing that no one answered, Yueniang smiled and said, "Since no one is higher than five hundred years, then Miss Carmen will ...... tonight."

"One thousand taels!" Suddenly, another number was announced on the left side of the stage.

The audience suddenly exclaimed, and they all looked at the person who made the offer, I raised my eyebrows in surprise, that voice was not from Chu Yan, it was Feng Ge!

"Yikes! It's Yue Gongzi ......" Someone in the audience recognized Feng Ge, and there was a cry of surprise.

"I have long heard that Yue Gongzi was fascinated by this Carmen girl, and he was willing to condescend to accompany her, but now it seems to be true, and he paid such a high price......"

There was a commotion in the audience, and Master Song, who had bid five hundred taels, had already sat back in his seat. I raised my eyes to look at Feng Ge, and used my eyes to convey the joke in my heart. - It turns out that Feng Ge is also a rich man!

He blinked, ignoring the chaos he had created. - You're a good Xue'er, you even hid it from me.

I laughed and threw a wink. - People don't want the lyrics to scare you?

"Feng Ge?" Yueniang interrupted me and his eyebrows in surprise and anger, and frowned: "What are you here to make a mess?" ”

"How can it be called chaos?" A lazy smile appeared on Feng Ge's face, "Wanchi, you open the door to do business, as long as I can pay, you don't care if I add to the chaos!" ”

Yueniang was robbed by him in public, and it was not easy to have a seizure. It seemed that Feng Ge had already prepared, but he saw him calmly walking on the stage, taking out the silver ticket from his body, stuffing it into Yueniang's hand, and said with a smile: "Can I take someone away?" ”

Yueniang couldn't say a word, and Yuege didn't care about her, she just smiled and came up to hold my hand, and said softly: "Let's go!" ”

I couldn't help but put my hand in his hand, although things deviated a little from my expectations, but if it was Feng Ge, it would be absolutely safe tonight, so I stood up without thinking about it.

"Gold, a thousand taels!" An offer as cold as frost stopped Feng Ge's figures and me, and also took away everyone's breath, and in a moment, someone came back to their senses and screamed: "Oh my God, a thousand taels of gold!" ”

"It's Young Master Chu!" Someone began to gossip offstage, "I didn't expect that Chu Gongzi, a rich man who only came to Yihong Mansion to find Yueniang, actually spent a lot of money for this Carmen girl today!" ”

There was a commotion all around, Yueniang's face turned pale, and she couldn't say anything for a while. I smiled and looked up to see that Chu Yan had already walked out of his box, and there was anger in my eyes. One thousand taels of gold, too much more than I expected, Chu Yan Chu Yan, I am in your heart, is my worth already so high? I turned my head, looked into Feng Ge's eyes, gently pulled my hand out of his palm, and laughed softly: "It seems that you can't take me away today." ”

Feng Ge's calm eyes with an inexplicable light met Chu Yan's eyes, his face was expressionless, and after a while, he turned around and walked off the stage without saying a word, left the hall, and walked away. The people in the hall were stunned by the sudden change in front of them, and the audience was silent for a while.

I looked at Chu Yan's cold face, his eyes were dark with anger, a smile appeared on the corner of his lips, and he said softly: "Gongzi Chu won the auction at such a high price, Carmen has nothing to repay, and I am willing to dedicate a song to Gongzi to express my gratitude." ”

The cheers came and went, everyone thought that there was another dance to see, and they were all in good spirits, but Chu Yan's face suddenly became darker after listening to my words, and before he could have a seizure, I had already sat on the edge of the drum, holding the guitar in my arms, pulling out a string of notes, and the snow-white bare feet hung on the side of the drum and shook gently, and the silver bells on my feet made a crisp sound.

Everyone didn't expect me to just sit quietly and pluck the piano, the boiling noise gradually quieted down, I looked at Chu Yan fixedly, stared into his eyes without blinking, and looked into the depths of his heart. After a simple prelude, my clear, pure voice sounded leisurely. When I sang "Carmen", my voice was deliberately hoarse, and now is the time to restore my true voice, which is clean, natural, and free of impurities, like a natural sound, and people dare not breathe. I sighed in my heart, Azure Snow's voice is really good, such a beautiful voice, the most suitable song for me to sing now.

"Gently I go, as softly I come,

I beckoned softly, and made a cloud of the western sky.

The golden willow by the river is the bride in the sunset,

The bright shadows in the sparkling waves ripple in my heart.

The green wattles on the soft mud, the oily ones swagger under the water,

In the soft waves of the River Cam, I am willing to be a water weed.

A pool under the shade of the tree is not a clear spring, but a rainbow in the sky.

Crumpled among the floating algae, precipitating a rainbow-like dream.

Looking for a dream? Hold a penny, and wander towards the greener grass,

Loaded with a boatload of starlight, singing in the starlight,

But I can't play songs, quietly it's a parting sheng flute,

Xia Worm is also silent for me, and silence is Kangqiao tonight.

Quietly I went, as quietly I came,

I waved my sleeves and didn't take a cloud with me. ”

My eyes quietly met Chu Yan's, the anger in his eyes gradually extinguished, listening to my elegant, soft and sentimental lyrics, his eyes and expressions softened. I smile, Chu Yan Ha Chu Yan, if my glamorous dance can provoke you, my light song can soothe you, if I can sway your emotions so easily, do you still have a chance to win this game?

The last note slipped out of my fingertips. The song is over, the sound is gone, and everyone seems to be still immersed in this beautiful music that they have never heard before, and for a while, no one makes a sound. Chu Yan stretched out his right hand to me, and the corners of his lips outlined soft lines. I smiled and jumped off the drum with my guitar in my arms and walked towards him.

"Gold, one thousand one hundred taels." A clear and loud male voice sounded in the quiet hall, and everyone looked at the sound in surprise, only to see that the door of the first private room in the left wing of the stage had been closed at this time, and a man in green clothes stood at the door, looking at me with a smile.