Time flew by.
Unknowingly, it was already May of the 13th year of Zhenguan.
It had been a month since the imperial examination. Most of the scholars had left Chang 'an and returned to their villages.
Of course, there were also some scholars who stayed in Chang 'an City because of the long journey and wanted to participate in the next year's imperial examination. They found some jobs and waited for the arrival of the next year's imperial examination.
Compared to those scholars who failed the examination, this year's new Jinshi were undoubtedly lucky.
This was because they had already stood out from the imperial examinations and entered the Great Tang's officialdom. It could be said that there was a result after ten years of hardship.
However, during this month, most of the new Jinshi gradually left Chang 'an City, just like the scholars who failed the examination.
What was different was that they did not return to their hometowns to prepare for another battle. Instead, they took the official seals issued by the imperial court and happily went to various places to take up their posts.
With the departure of the Tang scholars and the new Jinshi, Chang 'an City, which was originally bustling with activity, inevitably became a little cold.
It couldn't be helped. Without the literary grace of a scholar, even the young ladies in Chang Le Square were a little depressed, not to mention the economic consumption in Chang 'an.
One had to know that the scholars of this era were basically all from aristocratic families and did not lack money.
In the period before and after the imperial examination, countless scholars were literary and romantic, competing with the local rich businessmen for wealth and spending thousands of dollars.
Now that they had all left, it would be strange if Chang 'an City was not deserted.
However, not long after the scholars left Chang 'an, a piece of news spread like a whirlwind throughout Chang' an, making the once quiet Chang 'an City noisy again.
Chen Guangrui, the new top scorer, was about to marry Yin Wenjiao, the daughter of the Left Prime Minister of the Great Tang, Yin Kaishan.
It had to be said that the Chen family of the Southern Tang Dynasty had been very successful. Chen Guangrui, the top scholar, had become a famous scholar in Chang 'an.
Once the news of Chen Guangrui's wedding spread, it blew up the entire Chang 'an City, causing countless young ladies to cry in secret.
The marriage of the new top scorer, Chen Guangrui, and the Prime Minister's daughter, Yin Wenjiao, was no small matter.
To put it in simpler terms, this was a marriage alliance between the Southern Tang's Chen family and the Chentang's Yin family.
To put it more broadly, it was the beginning of the Great Tribulation of the Journey to the West. The gods and Buddhas in the sky began to look at the Earth Immortal Realm again.
As the classmate of the top scholar, Chen Qi naturally received an invitation to Chen Guangrui's wedding.
To be honest, if it was possible, Chen Qi was not willing to participate.
The reason was very simple. He was not familiar with Chen Guangrui, so he had to give her gifts. This was undoubtedly a fatal thing for Chen Qi, who was already short of money.
However, the top scholar had already sent the invitation. As a classmate, how could he refuse?
After all, in this era, classmates were very close.
As the saying goes, the four ironies of life, together through the window, together carrying guns, together with prostitutes, together with the distribution of stolen goods.
Other than carrying the gun and splitting the loot, he and Chen Guangrui had the remaining two iron bars.
So, since they're already so close, how can you not go when they invite you to the wedding?
Definitely not!
Besides, what kind of status does the top scholar have? Inviting a ninth grade scholar to attend the wedding is already giving him face.
If you don't go, you're not giving face to the top scholar. You don't know what's good for you and don't know how to be kind.
"Forget it. On account of everyone's elegant demeanor, let's go!”
In the Hanlin Academy, Chen Qi thought with a headache. Then, he counted the money he had on him and considered what gift he should give.
There was no need to consider gold, silver, jewelry, precious treasures, or jade!
Firstly, Chen Qi did not have the money to buy it. Secondly, with the status of the top scholar, it was too tacky to give these things.
"Why don't we write a piece of calligraphy for him?"
Thinking of this, Chen Qi's eyes lit up.
This way, not only could it bring out the friendship between the two of them, but it could also reflect the preciousness of the gift. Most importantly, it did not cost too much. It was completely killing two birds with one stone. It could not be better.
The more Chen Qi thought about it, the more he felt that this was a good idea. Without hesitation, he immediately left the office in advance and prepared to go to the Ink Treasure Pavilion to buy a piece of high-quality Xuan paper and frame it.
Don't ask why he bought only one. If you asked, it meant that he was too poor.
A piece of high-quality Xuan paper would cost at least several strings of money. If it were ordinary paper, it would be worth a hundred pieces.
If it wasn't for the fact that he wanted to set off his calligraphy, Chen Qi wouldn't have been willing to spend so much money on Xuan paper.
The Ink Treasure Pavilion was located in Xuanyang Square in the east of Chang 'an City. This market was a place where scholars and literati frequented. The streets along the way sold the four treasures of the study, antiques, calligraphy, and painting.
Here, one could even see many scholars who lived on the streets, selling calligraphy and painting, and writing letters for a living.
Most of them were scholars from all over the Tang Empire. They stayed in Chang 'an to wait for the Imperial Examination next year.
Of course, it would be best if some big shot could recognize talents and recommend them to be officials.
Unfortunately, there weren't so many talented people in the world. They had already made a living by selling calligraphy and writing letters. Even if you said that you were a genius, there would still be people who believed you!
"How will Young Master pay for the 12 strings of 600 coins?”
In the Black Treasure Pavilion, the shop assistant nimbly framed the Xuan paper and placed it into a wooden box. Then, he asked Chen Qi how he wanted to pay.
It was always 1000 copper coins, so 12 strings of 600 copper coins was 10,600 copper coins.
So many copper coins were obviously not something that could be casually placed in a sleeve pocket.
Fortunately, the currency system of the Great Tang was rather complicated. Other than copper coins, brocade, silk, silk, and gold, all could be used as currency.
The only thing missing was silver!
Indeed, in the Great Tang, silver could not be used as currency.
Don't be fooled by period dramas. If you used money to buy things in the Tang Dynasty, not only would they not accept it, but they might even chase you out.
At least before the Song Dynasty, there was no dynasty that used silver as a currency.
During the Tang Dynasty, it was not that there was no silver. It was just that the mining technology was poor, and the annual production of silver was only about fifteen thousand taels.
Most of them had to be presented to the emperor to be forged into various utensils. How could they be used for shopping and trading?
If you used silver to buy things, it was very likely that you obtained it through improper means.
Moreover, currency was about circulation. Since silver could not circulate in the Great Tang, it naturally could not be used as currency.
Therefore, the real hard currency in the Tang Dynasty was still gold.
One tael of gold could be exchanged for six thousand coins, and ten taels of gold could be exchanged for sixty thousand coins, which was sixty strings of coins.
The framed Xuan paper in front of Chen Qi was no longer than three feet long and two feet wide. It was three feet large (100*70cm) and belonged to the best Xuan paper of this era.
Most of these Xuan papers were sent to the Imperial Palace as tributes. Only a small number of them were circulated, which was why they were extremely expensive. One piece of paper cost twelve strings of money, and the framing cost six hundred.
In other words, the price of a piece of top-grade Xuan paper was two taels of gold.
How heavy was a piece of Xuan paper?
According to the calculation that a hundred pieces of paper weighed four to five pounds, one piece would be about half a tael.
In other words, the price of Xuan paper was equivalent to four times the weight of gold.
F * ck, as expected of a royal tribute. It was completely a robbery!
Chen Qi paid the bill with gold in heartache. Then, he carefully picked up the Xuan paper and was about to leave when he saw a muscular man with a somewhat down-and-out expression walking toward him.
After the brawny man entered the Black Treasure Pavilion, he did not even look at Chen Qi and the waiter beside him. He directly said to the manager of the Black Treasure Pavilion,"Shopkeeper, I heard that your shop has a 'Song of Mount Tai' written by a great scholar. Are you willing to part with it?”
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