Xia Yuan took the ancient painting and inkstone and found a few antique shops and asked them one by one, both of which are treasures, very valuable treasures.

It's nothing surprising, the cups are all bucket chicken bowl cups, so if these two things are not valuable, it will be too much to say.

The painting was indeed painted by a person named Li Tang, what is it called Ten Thousand Pine Wind Map, he has never heard of such a person, nor has he heard of such a painting.

The inkstone is the end inkstone of the Tang Dynasty, the first of all inkstones, and is also listed as the royal tribute of the Tang Dynasty.

In the end, Xia Yuan hesitated for a long time, and sold the ancient paintings in the store with the highest bid, and got 1,500 taels of silver.

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

But in this era, Li Tang was a painter in the Southern Song Dynasty, and the era in which he lived was only three or four hundred years ago, and it was already very high to be able to sell for 1,500 taels.

Of course, Xia Yuan also knew very well that even at this price, the owner of the antique store would definitely make a profit, but this painting was for nothing, and it would be profitable to sell one or two.

So he was quite satisfied with being able to sell it for 1,500 taels, not to mention that the store still paid 150 taels of garlic gold, and the price ratio of gold and silver in this era was ten to one.

But in later generations, a gram of gold was four or five hundred yuan, and a gram of silver was only four or five yuan, a difference of a hundred times.

Anyway, Xia Yuan lives very transparently, and he makes money by selling as much as he sells, he thanked the Dongchang Governor in his heart, and even more thanked the prince Zhu Houzhao, who could let the factory master come to the door to make amends, and also gave a generous gift, which must be the credit of the prince.

It's good that with this one hundred and fifty taels of gold, you can continue to rot again.

After returning home, Xia Yuan couldn't wait to pull Zhao Yuerong into the bedroom, first let her sit on the kang and wait, then carefully close the door, and go to the latch by the way.

Then, in the shy and somewhat overwhelmed gaze of the little camellia, he took out a burden from his arms and poured all the gold in it on the kang.

Then the little girl's breath froze, and in a certain inappropriate phrase, she was blinded by a flash.

The golden light really made her dizzy, Xia Yuan had already passed the initial excitement, and she didn't feel dizzy, not to mention, one hundred and fifty taels of gold sounds quite a lot, but it is only a dozen catties of weight, and when it falls into her eyes, it is fifteen garlic strips of gold with the thickness of her little finger.

"The old rule, all this gold is handed over to our little housekeeper for safekeeping."

“.”

Zhao Yuerong nodded dizzily, and she didn't know if she could hear it clearly, and then as if she didn't know how to express her emotions, her head drilled into Xia Yuan's arms, and after a while, she waited for Ai Ai's voice in Xia Yuan's arms, "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 turned out that there were really people in this world who were afraid because of too much money.

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

And one hundred and fifty taels of gold, which is equivalent to one thousand five hundred taels of silver, how many years would it take to spend normally?

"Husband, shall we bury this gold?"

Faced with her proposal, Xia Yuan thought about it and readily agreed, "Okay, bury it!" ”

It is true that burying it is a little too petty, but Xia Yuan understands her worries at this time, there is too much gold, and it feels unsafe to put it anywhere, so it is better to bury it.

suddenly became a nouveau riche, and his mentality has not kept up, and what he pays attention to is that his wealth is not exposed.

The two sneaked to the main house with the gold in their arms, closed the door, buckled out a few pieces of the floor tiles, and then used a shovel to dig a deep hole in the ground, put the gold in it, filled it with soil, and covered the floor tiles again, so that everything was restored to the original state.

It was buried deeply, and I was tired enough, so I didn't have the energy to wash my hands and face, so I sat on a chair and rested for a while.

Of course, the fifteen garlic sticks were not all buried in it, and it was not stupid enough to be that extent, only ten were buried in it, and the remaining five were stored in the box first, and when they were used, they were exchanged for silver taels, if nothing else, it was enough to eat for several years.

Oh, and I've got to hire a few people, at least a doorman.

———————————————————

In the following days, Xia Yuan's life was as plain as water, and what made him wonder was that he didn't see Zhu Houzhao again, Wang Shouren came every day, but after a while, he found that the prince didn't come, so he went back.

Later, he didn't come to disturb Xia Yuan's life, because it was already February, and it would soon be the ninth day of February.

The ninth day of the second month of February, which is a fairly ordinary day in modern times, is not a festival in the year, but in this era, it is more grand than all festivals.

Just because this day is the spring test of the fifteenth year of the Ming Hongzhi.

For this test, Xia Yuan can be said to be gearing up, and he has been looking forward to it for a long time, which is of course impossible.

It's a shame to say this kind of thing, if it weren't for the fact that he went to Renyazi to hire someone that day, and saw the emperor list posted on the road, Xia Yuan didn't know that the ninth day of February was the day of the test.

There were also a few businessmen next to the list who were peddling Xie Qian's articles.

The article was naturally printed, and it was sold very expensive, but it still attracted a lot of people to buy it.

After all, this Xie Qian is the chief examiner of this examination, as long as he studies his article thoroughly, and then he will know Xie Gong's preferences, and when he takes the exam, he will be able to prescribe the right medicine, which can add a lot of certainty.

However, the chances of falling out may also increase.

Because Xie Qian is not reading the paper alone, a large number of people are reading the paper, you have to ensure that your article can first stand out in the first round of marking officers before it can be handed to Xie Qian's desk.

And sometimes Xie Qian's favorite articles, other marking officers may not like them, and they may be killed.

To put it bluntly, this imperial examination is actually very lucky.

On the ninth day of the second lunar month, Xia Yuan rarely got up early in the morning, and the rest of the family also got up early, like the New Year, and lit a red lantern in the house, which represents joy and celebration from ancient times to the present, and also symbolizes auspicious meaning.

Zhao Yuerong helped him comb his hair while cheering for his husband, "I have been going to Yanfu Palace with the dumb lady every day for the past few days to offer incense, and ask the Bodhisattva to bless my husband to be admitted to the top prize, and my husband will definitely be able to come back with a top prize this time." ”

"It's very good, you also entrusted me with a relationship and went through the back door, and my husband now knows that there is someone above him, and this confidence has become very strong."

"But have you ever thought that when the exam is approaching, all the people in the world are praying for the blessing of the Bodhisattva, and they are all begging the Bodhisattva to help them get into high school, but the number of places that can be admitted is so small, and everyone can't be admitted, who will the Bodhisattva bless first?"

After asking this question, Xia Yuan turned his head and waited to see her show a small appearance of embarrassment, but Zhao Yuerong said with a look of course: "I must bless my husband to be admitted to the champion first, I go every day, and I have been there for several days in a row, and I have the most sincerity." ”

Xia Yuan was speechless for a while, and only said after a while: "Although your sincerity is the best, your husband will definitely not be able to pass the top exam this time." ”

"Why?"

"Because there is no champion in the examination."

(End of chapter)