November of the 34th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty.
In Zishui County, Xi'an Prefecture, Qin Province, at dawn, it snowed in Bailu Town, with heavy snowfall. Looking around, there were white crystal snowflakes everywhere, covering the tender green wheat seedlings emerging from the fields, and also covering up the bare mountains.
Mao, ravine.
Bai Gui tried his best to cover the tattered fur, which was stained with a layer of cracks and smelled sour, trying not to let the heat at the collar be blown away by the cold wind.
The howling north wind blows.
Even though he was covered with a felt hat, the top of his shaved head was still freezing cold.
He was carrying a bunch of mountain products in his hand, strung with hemp rope.
At a quick glance, there were four rabbits and two pheasants, all of which had just been slaughtered. Blood was flowing along the fur, and they jumped a few times from time to time. However, by the time Bai Gui walked to the restaurant in the town, the rabbits were already frozen.
Already.
This pheasant is all white and is a bit larger than an ordinary domestic chicken.
"Hey! Xiao Guizi, are you going to the mountains to get wild goods again? You have probably killed all the wild rabbits on the mountains." The shopkeeper Wang of the restaurant was sitting behind the counter, making calculations and accounting books, when he heard the sound at the door
He looked up at the noise coming from everywhere, and then said jokingly.
"Isn't this all luck? Not long after I entered the mountains, these stupid rabbits got into the noose and strangled themselves to death. I thought that I had to bleed them first, otherwise I wouldn't be able to eat the rabbit meat...
…”
"These two pheasants were even more stupid and crashed directly into the tree."
Bai Gui scratched his head, smiled honestly, and casually explained the reason why all these beasts had their throats cut.
After he walked two or three steps into the restaurant, a waiter stopped him calmly and blocked him outside the door.
Bai Gui frowned and didn't say much.
Although this Wangji Restaurant only has a two-entry courtyard, the front hall serves as the canteen, and the back is the kitchen. There are no legendary private rooms, and all dining is done in-house.
But it is the only restaurant in the barren countryside.
The diners sitting inside were all wearing long-sleeved satin shirts, white cotton jackets, and melon-pipe hats.
If he goes in, it will probably affect the business.
The hot coal stove was burning, and mutton soup was simmering on it. It was steaming, and the smell of mutton mixed with the aroma of meat entered people's noses.
Bai Gui listened to their conversation attentively. Even though they were in the countryside, the diners who might have spare money to go out to restaurants were not ordinary diners. They were all squires in the town, some were landowners and wealthy people, and some were scholars and ministers.
"Hey! Have you heard that Guo Juren from Jiangjun Village exchanged seven buckets of wheat for a concubine?"
"That little concubine is so pretty, she's only thirteen years old."
"It's useless to talk about these things. I heard from my distant cousin who came back from doing business in Yanjing. The Queen Mother of the West used photo diplomacy to negotiate with Roosevelt in Kenya and returned the Boxer compensation of more than 10 million U.S. dollars!"
"More than 10 million cuts, why don't you kill people? Not even the Boxers are so cruel!"
"Knife! It's the currency of Amei Ken. It's called dollar in English!"
"Amei Kenguo must be using the language of Amei Kenguo. Why are you using English again? Nonsense! You are talking nonsense!"
"I heard that the Queen Mother of the West is seriously ill. She is over seventy years old. It seems that she is going to die..."
"Be careful what you say! Be careful what you say!"
"But Guangxu is ignorant. Two years ago, he and the new party wanted to abolish the imperial examination. This is an attempt to destroy the foundation of our Qing Dynasty and the ancestral method! This imperial examination has been in existence for more than a thousand years... Fortunately, the Queen Mother of the West turned the tide and finally
We will not let this new party succeed..."
"I heard that the mausoleum of the Queen Mother of the West is being built in Gantian Town, Zhongnan Mountain..."
"Why, not in Yanjing?"
"I heard that when the Queen Mother of the West and Emperor Guangxu were hunting in the west, they felt that Yanjing had been attacked by foreign devils and the dragon spirit had escaped, so they planned to build a mausoleum in Guanzhong, so as to preserve their health for thousands of years. I heard Mr. Yin Yang there said that there was dragon spirit
Yes, our richest man in Qin Province donated 100,000 taels..."
“Which week is the richest?”
"Hey, Mrs. Yipin Gaoming, the Queen Mother of the West recognized her as her adopted daughter when she was hunting in the west."
"..."
Bai Gui still wanted to listen carefully, but was interrupted by the shouts of the restaurant waiter.
The clerk took the rabbit meat from his hand and weighed it with a quick movement. Before Bai Gui could see it clearly, he shouted to shopkeeper Wang: "Fifty-four pounds of fresh rabbit meat, ten pounds of exotic fresh pheasant meat."
One pound and seven taels."
Snap! Snap!
Shopkeeper Wang fiddled with the abacus, and the abacus clicked, "It's been snowing these days. Rabbit meat can replenish energy, so we can sell more than usual. I'll give you thirteen cents per pound, which is two cents higher than usual. In addition, this
Exotic pheasant meat is a rare thing, and it costs you thirty cents per pound, my dear nephew, what do you think?"
In the late Qing Dynasty, a pound of pork cost about 20 cents. Rabbit meat was cheap and had a grassy smell, so 13 cents was considered appropriate.
As for the thirty cents of exotic pheasant meat at the back...
It’s obviously too low!
Bai Gui pursed his lips for a while and said nothing.
Shopkeeper Wang was talking and complained: "This pheasant is all white and can be regarded as a rare bird and animal. If it were alive, I would at least count you two or two, but unfortunately...it is dead, and it is not worth anything dead!"
"
He smashed and smashed his mouth, with a look of distress on his face.
A few years ago, this snow-white pheasant was considered auspicious, and it could be reported to the capital and sent to the palace. If the auspiciousness was sent to the government, hundreds of taels of silver could be made at least.
But even if this snow-white pheasant dies, it can still be sold at a good price in the town!
Auspicious!
If you eat it, you will be blessed!
He has already thought about how to promote this exotic pheasant.
The exotic pheasant sent by this silly boy earlier was cooked whole. Fang Juren, who was passing by, heard about this and felt very sorry. When he saw the few pieces of chicken left in the pot, he threw down a silver nugget.
That silver piece weighs at least two and a half taels!
A few pieces of chicken cost only twenty taels of silver. Those two exotic pheasants can be sold for at least thirty taels of silver!
"The calculation is one thousand and sixty-three cents. Uncle will calculate the whole amount for you and give you one tael and one cent." Shopkeeper Wang smiled and narrowed his eyes, took out a silver ingot from his bag, weighed it with his hands, and then
I cut a corner with scissors and put it on the silver scale. There was no difference between one tael and one penny.
He was going to hand the silver with one corner cut off to Bai Gui.
Bai Gui did not take the silver. He was silent for a while and asked: "Uncle, is there a dragon ocean here? I will exchange one tael of silver for one dragon ocean."
"That's easy to say! I didn't expect my nephew to know about this novel silver coin. I happen to have a silver coin here that was given to me by a diner who came from the city a few days ago." When shopkeeper Wang heard this, he quickly retracted his outstretched hand.
return.
Since the two crows, foreign silver coins have flowed into the Xia Kingdom. Because foreign silver coins have the same appearance, standard price, and are easy to use, once they enter, they quickly cause chaos in the Xia Kingdom's financial system. The Qing Dynasty was unable to prevent the circulation of foreign silver coins. In the 16th year of Daoguang's reign, the law
Recognize the circulation of foreign silver dollars.
Later in the fifteenth year of Guangxu, that is, in 1889, Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, opened the Guangdong Province Bureau of Finance and made a silver dollar sample of Kuping seven cents and three cents. The back was a dragon pattern and the front was a Guangxu Yuanbao, so it was commonly known as the dragon. foreign.
Shopkeeper Wang smiled even more.
One silver dollar is not worth one tael of silver, let alone one tael of silver.
This thing is just a novelty.
He rummaged around the counter and finally found a Long Yang and handed it to Bai Gui.
"My dear nephew, it's freezing outside. Why don't you stay and have a cup of tea before leaving?" Seeing that Bai Gui had made a lot of money for him, shopkeeper Wang also ignored Bai Gui's tattered fur. Kindly invite him in to do it.
"No! Uncle, I'm going to the grain store to get some rice to prepare for repairs."
Bai Gui muttered casually, strode out of the hotel and headed to the grain store in Bailu Town.
'read?'
'You look so stupid, but you still have the ability to study? If you want to study and get ahead, drink! Bah!'
