Pawn Crossing the River

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu were led by a maid and entered Jiaqing Courtyard from the side door. After many twists and turns, they came to a spacious flower hall to wait for a while.

The flower hall was filled with tables and chairs, divided into several rows. The two people's positions were in the last row, and the tables and chairs in the front row had notes on them, as if they had been decided long ago.

After a while, a servant wearing a green turban served tea to the two of them, and then did not leave. He stood beside him with a tray and looked at the two of them without saying a word.

Qi Xuansu came here for the first time, had no experience, and planned to have a banquet or find a woman to spend the night, so he could only ask: "How much will it cost?"

The servant was stunned for a moment. It was obvious that he rarely encountered such "straightforward" guests, but he still replied: "Ten peace coins for each person in the last row. For each row forward, ten more peace coins will be added."

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu looked at each other, each took out ten peace coins and put them in the tray.

The servant then smiled and withdrew respectfully.

There was no one else in the flower hall at this time. Qi Xuansu looked sideways at Zhang Yuelu. Zhang Yuelu had a calm expression on his face. He patted his palms gently with a folding fan and looked around, looking like a real rich man.

Qi Xuansu asked quietly: "Can you write poetry?"

Zhang Yuelu unfolded his folding fan and covered his mouth and replied: "I can recite poems."

Qi Xuansu said: "I have read three hundred ancient poems by heart. I can recite poems even if I don't know how to compose them. I can also do limericks."

"That won't happen either." Zhang Yuelu shook his head.

Qi Xuansu said: "Don't your Zhang family have clan studies? Don't you teach this?"

"Teaching is teaching, so I learned to recite poems." Zhang Yuelu said matter-of-factly, "Don't tell me, can you compose poems?"

Qi Xuansu also had something to say: "Whether you can successfully graduate from the Wanxiang Taoist Palace mainly depends on the use of firearms, hidden weapons, fists and kicks, astronomy and geography, Qi training and meditation, talisman writing and writing, ancient Chinese reading and writing, herbal medicine identification, and a collection of classics and history, but not Examine poetry."

Then Qi Xuansu came up with a bad idea: "Do you know an old man who likes to write poetry? If there happen to be unpublished poems, it wouldn't be a bad idea for us to borrow them."

Zhang Yuelu said expressionlessly: "I don't know this kind of old-timer. Even if I did, I wouldn't use other people's poems to make up for it."

"It's such a pity that this kind of thing is all about borrowing a poem in the storybook, and then winning a lot of applause. The talented people were so shocked that they couldn't speak, and the oiran was also secretly interested, wishing he could just throw himself into his arms." Qi Xuansu said.

Zhang Yuelu smiled and said: "You also know that it is a story. How can such a good thing happen? I would be very grateful if there is no more evil man from a secret society."

Qi Xuansu sighed: "What are we doing here?"

Zhang Yuelu said: "Of course I want to meet the oiran."

Qi Xuansu asked strangely: "Oiran? Isn't it very common?"

Zhang Yuelu explained: "You mistook the girl with the red card for the oiran. The so-called oiran is the leader of women in this industry, just like people in the world who judge the ranking. It doesn't mean that you are the best in the world if you say you are the best in the world. The world must recognize it. The same is true for brothel girls. It's not enough for any brothel to compare itself. The kind that can only be called the 'number one' can't be called an oiran. It requires the cooperation of many first-class brothels. Get up and gather the top names from each family together to select a woman with both talent and beauty who can be called the 'Oiran'."

Only then did Qi Xuansu understand: "That Miss Li is the oiran."

Zhang Yuelu said: "I once heard my father talk about the grand occasion of selecting oirans in Jinling Prefecture. The leading ladies from all the major courts are all dressed up and competing for beauty. The rich sons, gentry and talents who support them all also have money and strength. With great efforts, many courtyards were decorated with lights and decorations, I don’t know how much wine I drank, I didn’t know how many poems I recited, and I don’t know how much peace money was spent, all night long.”

Qi Xuansu somewhat understood why Zhang Yuelu was so curious about the court. His curiosity was also aroused and he couldn't help but ask: "How to select the oiran?"

Zhang Yuelu replied: "The specific method of selecting an oiran is actually very simple. No matter how famous an oiran is, after all, he wants to make money. Since ancient times, there has been no first in literature and no second in martial arts. The two of us have to distinguish ourselves and have a fight. However, it is not possible to select an oiran. As the saying goes, each flower attracts different eyes. Some people like peonies, while others prefer lotus. It goes like this: "When young people in Wuling compete for turbans, they can play countless red ribbons." The girls show off their talents. In the end, whichever girl receives the most turbans will be the loser of this year's oiran. I have no choice but to admit defeat. After all, it’s a real money and silver battle, and it’s hard to play tricks behind your back.”

"In addition, people also have to hire people to write lyrics and compose music for girls. If a girl sings a famous song, it can also play a role in publicity and momentum. In the final analysis, the fight for the oiran may seem like a fight between women, but in fact it is also a fight between men. It depends on the benefactors, benefactors and benefactors behind each one, who can be better, can make the woman he likes appear, and his own face will be bright, there are also some benefactors who are really angry because of the dispute of temperament. In an act of fighting against wealth, he forced the woman he supported to be promoted to the position of oiran."

Qi Xuansu understood that whether she could become an oiran, a woman's own ability was only one of them. The key also depended on the financial backer. The Li family was very important for Miss Li to become an oiran in the imperial capital.

Qi Xuansu asked: "Is the Li family very rich?"

Zhang Yuelu sighed: "Not only are they rich, they are as rich as any country. In terms of Taoist status, the Li family and the Zhang family are evenly matched. In terms of financial resources, the Zhang family is far behind. The Zhang family mainly relies on Jiangnan and Lingnan. Several wealthy families in other places support it.”

Qi Xuansu asked again: "Is the Li family's wealth related to Xuan Sheng?"

"No." Zhang Yuelu shook his head and said, "Before Xuansheng integrated the Taoist sect, the Li family had already controlled nearly half of the maritime trade business and was the well-deserved number one sea merchant. Xuansheng integrated the Taoist sect and relied on the family's strength. When the time came, After Xuansheng completely integrated the Taoist sect, he deliberately suppressed the development of the Li family, and even split the Li family from the commercial side, handing over part of the maritime trade business and the mining, salt and iron business to the Taoist sect and the imperial court to prevent the Li family from becoming too powerful. Damaging the foundation of the Taoism. If you ask me, the descendants of the Li family will definitely be very dissatisfied with Xuansheng's move. However, Xuansheng's reputation is too great. No matter what they think, the descendants of the Li family would not dare to openly oppose Xuansheng. Moreover, We need Xuansheng’s banner, so we just don’t mention it.”

Zhang Yuelu thought for a while and added: "Master mentioned this specifically. She said that the Li family followed the way of humanity, while Xuansheng followed the way of heaven."

Qi Xuansu asked: "What do you mean?"

Zhang Yuelu replied: "The Supreme Being said: 'The way of Heaven is to use excess to make up for the deficiency, but the way of man is to use the excess to make up for the deficiency, but the way of man is to use the excess to make up for the deficiency. To support the superfluous is to use the common people to support the nobles. The people are already poor, but they have to support the rich nobles, which will only make them poorer. This is the way of humanity, so the way of nature can only last forever. If the Li family is allowed to develop, the Li family will only become richer and richer, so Xuan Sheng simply decided to split up the Li family."

Qi Xuansu sighed: "It's amazing."

While the two were talking, more people came in one after another and sat in twos and threes throughout the flower hall.

Zhang Yuelu looked around and saw no powerful people. They were all scholars, so he felt a little bored: "It's a pity that we didn't catch up with the grand event of the oiran selection, it was just a poetry meeting."

Qi Xuansu said: "If it is really a grand event for oiran, I'm afraid it won't be a matter of ten peace coins."

Zhang Yuelu thought about it and realized that this was also the case.

After a while, people of sufficient importance gradually appeared.

To Qi Xuansu's surprise, Zhang Yuelu was able to roughly recognize it. This was really strange and strange.

The explanation given by Zhang Yuelu is that Beichen Hall specially compiled a file, which records in detail the general situation of court officials and their family members and children, and is accompanied by photocopied portraits. It is revised and supplemented every year, ranging from cabinet ministers to local county magistrates. , are included. When she was working at Beichen Hall, she used her position to read some of the files in her hometown of Wuzhou and mainly remembered some of the leading figures.

As for why Taoism collects the files of court officials, the reason for making it public is to prevent Taoist priests from colluding with court officials. Take the Jiangnan case as an example, which did involve some court officials. Taoism did not exceed its authority and handed it over to the court. Convicted by the Tribunal of Justice. At the same time, it will also facilitate the search and arrest of members of the Ziguang Society and prevent the Ziguang Society from infiltrating the imperial court. As for the real intention behind it, only the leader of Beichen Hall and other Taoist figures know.

Most of these people were the nephews and grandchildren of local officials, and no Taoist priests showed up. Maybe, or he must have concealed his identity like Zhang Yuelu.

An hour later, the flower hall was already full of people. Those wealthy family members sat on the chairs that had been reserved at the front, and the others followed one after another.

This flower hall is extremely spacious and can accommodate more than a hundred people without being crowded. Each person has ten Taiping coins, which is one thousand Taiping coins. But that's not how the calculation works. The price for the seats in the front is more expensive. The first row may cost hundreds of taipings. After calculation, this poetry meeting can earn nearly 10,000 taipings.

If there is a follow-up, such as a banquet held by a certain sponsor, it will cost a lot of money.

Qi Xuansu had never seen so much money in his life.

No wonder Zhang Yuelu said that this girl Li was the money tree of the Li family.

From this, it can be seen that the Li family is indeed good at making money and will never engage in loss-making business. No matter how much Taiping money is spent to promote this girl Li, he will earn back every penny from her.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of the Li family's huge industry. In addition to maritime trade, the Li family is also involved in porcelain, tea, medicinal materials, gold, silk, pawnshops, banks, firearms, ships, timber, steel, coal, dynasties, Theater and other industries. So much so that people in the world say that the three overseas mountains are not Penglai, Yingzhou, and Fangzhang, but the Jinshan, Yinshan, and Tongshan of the Li family.