Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 32: People are sitting at home, and pots come from the sky

Two blocks south from Fugui Street is Qipan Street.

There are many shops here, all elegantly decorated and with faint fragrance lingering in the air. Although it is not as prosperous as Fugui Street and Dengshi Street, it is still brightly lit and crowded with people at night.

Just after the hour of You that day, Zhang Yunxiu led Wanli to the intersection of Qipan Street.

Taking a peek inside, Wanli saw that most of the people were just strolling around, but not buying anything. He couldn't help but ask Zhang Yunxiu, "What is this place for? Why aren't they buying anything?"

"It's not that I don't buy, but I have to be selective." Zhang Yunxiu smiled and explained patiently, "This is Qipan Street, the largest place for buying and selling antiques in the capital."

"It just so happens that my palace is still short of some basins, so I will buy as many as I can today."

As he spoke, Emperor Wanli stepped on the bluestone floor and walked into the street.

The followers behind him did not dare to be negligent and followed closely.

Because Wanli looked young and was wearing a gorgeous robe, he looked like a wealthy man.

As soon as he stepped in, a middle-aged man with a goatee came up to him and shouted, "Hey, this young man looks unfamiliar. Is this your first time here?"

Emperor Wanli did not comment, glanced at the man, and said, "If you have any good things, just bring them up to me."

"Okay." The goateed boss smiled and brought Emperor Wanli into the store. He took out an exquisite porcelain basin and introduced it, "This is Jun porcelain from the Song Dynasty. It is a fine product that has survived until now. We spent a lot of effort to buy it."

Wanli looked down and saw that the Jun porcelain had clear patterns and exquisite workmanship, and he couldn't help feeling happy.

"how much is it?"

"Two hundred taels, one price!" The goat-bearded boss smiled and held up two fingers.

Emperor Wanli immediately took out two silver bills from his pocket and handed them over.

"Wait!" Zhang Yunxiu saw it clearly and snatched the banknote.

The goateed boss was stunned and looked at Emperor Wanli again.

Zhang Yunxi smiled at the confused little emperor, hooked his hand around the boss's shoulders, pulled him aside, and whispered, "How dare you, a piece of rag, ask for two hundred taels of silver from us? You are so bold."

"Don't talk nonsense, the things here are all real." The boss with a goatee was anxious and explained quickly.

"Thirty taels, sell it if you want." Zhang Yunxiu was too lazy to talk nonsense with him and gave his lowest price directly.

"You guys." The goatee-bearded boss' eyes widened, he struggled for a moment, and said through gritted teeth, "Well, I see you two gentlemen really want it, and we haven't even opened the shop today, so let's just do it for good luck."

Fuck you.

Zhang Yunxiu almost swore. This boss made at least 25 taels of profit.

He glared at the boss, took out thirty taels of silver from his pocket and handed it over. The boss looked sad and reluctant, and handed the Jun porcelain to Zhang Xiu.

"What are you whispering about?" Seeing the two of them dithering, Emperor Wanli couldn't help but shout.

"Oh, nothing, it's just that the boss said he wanted to give you a small gift, and he and I were thinking about what to give him." Zhang Yunxiu smiled at Emperor Wanli, and then threatened the boss with a cold face, "I am a friend of the eunuch Zhang Jing, the chief eunuch. Give me another gift, otherwise I will burn down your black shop tomorrow."

When the goatee-bearded boss heard about Zhang Yunxiu's background, he immediately trembled with fear.

He took a sly look at it, then picked up a smaller piece of Jun porcelain and handed it to Zhang Yunxiu.

"Today is my first day of business, so I'll give this to you for good luck."

When Wanli heard about this good thing, he felt that he had made a lot of money, so he smiled at the boss, grabbed the Jun porcelain and walked out.

After the few people left, the boss took a deep breath, walked to the backyard, and took out four or five more Jun porcelains from the basket.

On the other hand, Emperor Wanli visited two or three more stores but didn't find anything he liked.

However, after Zhang Yunxiu's teachings, his bargaining skills have improved a lot. No matter how much the other party offers, he will bargain in half first.

While everyone was resting, a young eunuch came running back excitedly, his cheeks flushed as he shouted, "My Lord, there is a painting shop in front, I guarantee you will like it."

"Let's go and take a look!" Wanli immediately became excited and walked away.

The art shop was connected to three small bungalows, and the decoration was extremely exquisite.

There was a red carpet at the door, with a large blue and white porcelain from the Yuan Dynasty placed on each side. Looking inside, the candlelight covered with colored glaze illuminated the entire room.

As soon as they entered the door, the owner of the art shop came to greet them.

With a proud look on his face, he said: "Gentlemen, please feel free to look around. I guarantee that I have everything that other stores have. If they don't have it, I have it here!"

"Oh?" Emperor Wanli became interested and shouted to the boss, "Then give us what others don't have. If I like it, I will get your reward."

When the boss saw that those people were wealthy, he knew that business was coming, so he didn't hide anything.

One of them turned around and walked back to the attic, taking out a few scrolls. He took out one and led the others to the light.

As he unfolded it, he introduced it with a smile: "This is an authentic work by Tang Yin and Tang Bohu. I guarantee you will be satisfied."

As he spoke, the scroll unfolded.

With admiring looks, except for a few eunuchs, Zhang Yunxiu and others felt warm in their hearts.

I have to say that this erotic painting by Old Tang is really well done.

Emperor Wanli was worried that the craftsman's skills were not good enough, so he immediately decided to buy it.

"Three hundred taels per piece, for a total of five pieces. If you want them, we'll charge you one thousand taels of silver," the boss made the decision.

"Five hundred taels!" Emperor Wanli stretched out five fingers.

"Well," the boss looked embarrassed, silent for a few seconds, then said with a wry smile, "Well, I think you really want it, so I'll just treat these five paintings as a small gift to make friends with you."

Emperor Wanli was overjoyed and was about to pay the bill when someone suddenly called out, "Wait, one thousand taels, you want this painting."

Zhang Yunxiu and his companions were startled by the sudden sound and quickly turned around to look for the owner of the sound.

The man was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, of medium build, with sunken eyes and a pale face. It was obvious that he was drinking and having sex too much.

He waved a gold-paper fan, glanced at a few people, and walked up to the boss with an arrogant look on his face.

"One thousand taels, we want it."

"Oh, okay, okay," the art shop owner replied with a flattering smile.

"Boss, there has to be a first come first served order for this thing." Emperor Wanli was extremely displeased.

"What's the first come first served? Since ancient times, the one who pays the highest price wins. Why pretend to be a rich man if you don't have money?" The wretched young man laughed and sneered.

Wanli was completely furious, but thinking that he could not reveal his identity, he could only memorize the young man's appearance and prepare to settle the score with him later.

Seeing that the others did not dare to pursue the matter, the young man was very proud and pointed at the calligraphy and paintings and said, "We have packed them all and sent them to the residence of Eunuch Zhang Jing. As for those paintings, I want them too."

"I was wondering who it was. It turns out he is from Eunuch Zhang's mansion. No wonder he is so generous." The boss said, and couldn't help but say to the emperor, "Look at him. This is what a rich man's son is like."

When Emperor Wanli heard this, he became so angry that his face turned black and he waved his sleeves and walked out of the art shop.

Zhang Yunxiu was extremely happy, but Wei Qing and the others looked at each other in bewilderment. They knew that Zhang Jing was really going to be in big trouble now.

(End of this chapter)