Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 28 The Way to Make Money
After lunch, Fan Ning went to check out the dormitory, where four students live in one room, and students can choose roommates.

Naturally, Fan Ning lived in a dormitory with Liu Kang, and there happened to be only three of them in the dormitory, and the other two were Wujiang students who had their own small group and usually didn't talk much.

In the afternoon, there is usually no regular class, mainly to practice calligraphy, and school ends at about three o'clock.

It looks very easy, but if you really enjoy this kind of relaxation, then don't even think about taking any imperial examinations, even the county school.

Since ancient times, the master has led the door, and the cultivation depends on each person. Almost all the scholars who can pass the imperial examination have studied hard since childhood. The ten-year hardship is not just talk.

Little Lolita Zhu Pei didn't come in the afternoon, and Fan Ning occupied a table by himself, and he felt much more comfortable. He suddenly found that it would be nice to sit at the same table with Little Lolita, and he could always monopolize a table.

As soon as the application time arrived, the school bell rang, and the students immediately cheered and rushed out of the classroom, but there were also many students who continued to write seriously without being affected by the school dismissal.

When the two walked out of the school, Liu Kang asked with a smile, "Where do you want to go? Do you want to go for a casual walk, or do you have a goal?"

Fan Ning thought for a while and asked, "Where is there a quality store near here?"

Zhiku is a pawn shop. For the people of the Song Dynasty, going to Zhiku was a very common thing. They could sell all the useless things at home, and they would often go to Zhiku to buy some second-hand items and use them back. It was very convenient.

Liu Kang's family runs a grocery store, and they often deal with quality warehouses.

There is a quality warehouse diagonally opposite the school. The two walked into the quality warehouse. Liu Kang said with a smile: "The quality warehouse usually relies on reputation, and it won't cheat people. You don't have to worry."

Fan Ning took out a piece of white jade and handed it to Liu Kang, "Sell it for me, and I will learn from it!"

Liu Kang weighed it and said with a smile: "This piece of jade is not bad, it should be able to sell for a good price."

He stood in front of the counter and handed the jade pei in, "Uncle Lin, how much can this piece of jade be sold for?"

"You little bastard, the copper basin was cracked last time, it's not worth the money, call your father over here."

"Uncle Lin went to find him by himself. It's none of my business. Help me see Yu is serious!"

The shopkeeper inside took the jade and looked at it, "The top-grade mutton fat white jade is not bad, and the market price is around five guan. According to the rules, I charge four guan. Do you want to sell it?"

Liu Kang looked at Fan Ning. Fan Ning knew that the member would not give him something too expensive, but he couldn't afford it if it was too cheap. The price was quite reasonable.

He nodded, "I want money!"

"Uncle Lin, this is the price! Can you give me some money?"

Four small silver nudes were handed out, and Fan Ning took them. He didn't expect that the quality library would be so convenient.

When the two came out of the warehouse, Liu Kang asked with a smile, "Now that you have money, where do you want to go next?"

"I want to go to Wang Zhuangyuan Bridge!"

Liu Kang laughed, "I'm still thinking about the day I have time to take you shopping. It's really interesting there. If you're lucky, you can find some good things."

"Do you go often?"

"Of course I often go, follow me!"

Liu Kang happily took Fan Ning to Wang Zhuangyuan Bridge.

Wang Zhuangyuan Bridge is located in the northwest corner of Mudu Town, not far from the school, and it takes half a walk to get there.

This is actually the largest distribution market for flowers and stones in the Taihu Lake area. There are hundreds of small vendors of various kinds, and some big shops are also selling flowers and stones, such as Kistler Museum, which is the largest store here.

It is close to the Xujiang River, and there is a special wharf, and various huge Taihu stones are placed on the open space in front of a row of shops, all of which are very valuable.

Fan Ning saw at a glance the Kistler's Hall mentioned by Zhou Yuanwai. Among the dozens of shops, it was the largest in scale, but Fan Ning also found that there was another small shop named Kistler's House.

This made him look at the signboard of the store again, only to find that there were two small characters on top of the three big characters of "Kissy Stone Museum", "Xu Ji".

At this time, two people came out of the shop, an old man about 60 years old, wearing a Confucian robe and a crown on his head.

Next to him was an eleven or twelve-year-old boy, dressed in a deep green jacket and a scholar's scarf on his head. He was tall, thin, and very handsome.

A middle-aged man who looked like a shopkeeper, short in stature, was nodding and bowing to send them out.

"Look at those two!"

Liu Kang pulled Fan Ning aside, pointed at the old man with white hair and youthful face, and said, "That's Xu Daru, the chief professor of the prefectural school. I heard that he has a store in our town, so it's probably the strange stone museum."

Fan Ning was more interested in the boy, and asked again: "Who is that boy?"

"You don't know him?" Liu Kang was surprised.

Fan Ning looked at a loss, why should he know him.

Liu Kang saw that Fan Ning really didn't know him, so he explained: "He is the best student of our Yanying, the head of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, named Xu Ji, two grades older than us, he is a real child prodigy."

"Since his surname is also Xu, then the old man next to him must be his grandfather!"

"Exactly, not only does he have a highly educated grandfather, but his father is also a senior court official."

Hearing that he was the son of an official, Fan Ning thought of the son of the minister of the Ministry of Rites with whom he compared couplets, and he felt a little disgusted in his heart.

"Forget it, let's go see the stone!"

Fan Ning turned his interest back to Taihu Stone.

Although there are more than a dozen shops selling good things, most people would not go there if they cost dozens of taels of silver. For ordinary people, the long alley behind the shops is the best place for Taobao.

This alley was originally called Wizards Alley, but now it has been renamed Qishi Alley. Hundreds of small stalls are densely packed in a mile-long alley.

Not only are Taihu stones sold here, there are also Yuhua stones, Shoushan stones, and Qingtian stones here, but Taihu stones are still the main ones.

The Song Dynasty was not like the information explosion of later generations. It was easy to get a fair price for an item. In this era, the value of an item often depends on who the buyer is.

The reason why big stores are called big stores is that they have channels, can get in touch with rich and big customers, and sell things at high prices.

For example, Zhou Lin bought the Double Cave Breaking Dawn and spent 30 taels of silver in the Qishi Pavilion.

The same thing can never be sold for 30 taels of silver in the hands of small vendors, at most one tael. Ordinary scholars, who are willing to spend 30 taels of silver to buy a stone.

And the big shops buy the stones from the small vendors, which is the price of one or two pennies, and the high profits are all taken away by the big shops.

For rich people like Zhou Lin, they only need high-quality Taihu stones, and dozens of taels of silver are really nothing to them.

The literati in the Song Dynasty were obsessed with viewing strange stones to a morbid state, no less than the obsession with tea.

The emperor Song Huizong played to the extreme here. In order to seize the strange stones in the south of the Yangtze River, he did not hesitate to confiscate flowers and stones. Many wealthy families went bankrupt because of this.

Fan Ning went to see Yuanwai Zhou again yesterday and the day before yesterday, and Zhou Lin told him some basic ways to get started in identifying stones and jades.

Zhou Lin also promised him at the same time that if Fan Ning could come up with a high-quality product like Qixing Mochiyue, he would give him a good price.

Of course, this price is the collection price, not the market price of Kistler Museum, let alone the price of small vendors.

This is what Fan Ning came up with. He found one or two high-quality goods at a small stall, and then sold them to Zhou Lin at a collection price. Even if Zhou Lin didn't want them, he could introduce them to other friends in the circle.

Of course, Zhou Lin has a high vision, and it is not easy to make money from him. He is only interested in real high-quality goods, but this kind of high-quality goods can be encountered but not sought after.

"Fan Ning, that stone is not bad. Look, it looks like a camel!" Liu Kang whispered, pointing to a Taihu stone on a small stall.

Fan Ning laughed. Whether a piece of Taihu stone is good depends not only on its appearance, but also on its inner texture.

Fortunately, the counterfeiting had just begun in the Song Dynasty, and it was not very serious. It was not until the Ming Dynasty that counterfeiting began on a large scale and formed an industry.

Further back, there are no more Taihu stones formed over hundreds of millions of years, and almost all of them are man-made Taihu stones. Only then did Taihu stones fall off the altar and enter the homes of ordinary people, so that you can see a few pieces in any park. .

Fan Ning stepped forward, and the owner of the stall was a shrewd old man. He quickly smiled and said, "Young official, look at this camel, it's in good condition! It was just fished out of Taihu Lake yesterday."

Fan Ning picked up the camel and looked at it. The Taihu stone was not bad, but a bit rough and average in appearance, which was inferior.

He shook his head and went to the next one.

"Fanning, I think it's good! Why do you think it's not good?"

"A senior told me that looking at the Taihu stone is like looking at a person. It must be exquisite and beautiful. Although the stone just now looks like a camel, don't you think it is a bit clumsy?"

Liu Kang scratched his head, a piece of camel stone is obviously very good, how can it be clumsy?

Fan Ning didn't explain any further. This kind of aesthetic feeling is actually a kind of experience, which can only be felt, but cannot be expressed in words. Only after seeing many beautiful things can one realize it.

Fanning did not know how many famous paintings, sculptures, photographs, and designs he had seen, and the aesthetic feeling was solidified in his heart.

After walking through several stalls, Fan Ning still couldn't find the kind of Taihu Stone that caught his eye.

At this time, there was a sudden quarrel not far in front, "I went to the Qishi Museum to ask, your stone is fake, return the money to me!"

People around rushed over to watch the fun, and Fan Ning and Liu Kang also walked along the crowd.

The person who was arguing was a short scholar, wearing a flat scarf and a wide-fitting fine linen shirt, holding a Taihu stone in his hand.

Fan Ning's eyes suddenly fixed on the Taihu Stone in the scholar's hand. The Taihu Stone in the scholar's hand turned out to be a cylinder covered with pineapple-like holes, which looked like a finely carved pen holder.

Fan Ning watched more than 100 miniature Taihu stones in Zhou Yuanwai's mansion, but he has never seen a Taihu stone in this shape.

The stall owner who sold the stone was a fat black man with thick flesh on his face. With his arms folded in his arms, he leaned against the wall and looked at the scholar angrily.

"I thought you were a scholar and would understand things, but I didn't expect you to be a rascal!"

The scholar was furious, "Speak clearly, where am I being a rascal?"

The black fat man snorted, "If everyone is like you messing around, buying and returning the goods, can I still do business?"

"If you don't sell fake Taihu stones to me, will I return them?"

"If it's a real Taihu stone, I'll sell it to you for two bucks?"

The people around burst into laughter, and a few stall owners persuaded: "Forget it, young people. If yours is a real Taihu stone, it will cost at least ten pennies. You will definitely not be able to buy it for two pennies."

"We don't have a rule of returning goods here, otherwise who will we turn to if we lose money?"

Everyone around you said something, mocking the scholar for wanting to take advantage but not taking it, and wanting to return the product.

The scholar's face turned red and then turned pale, and he said bitterly: "Even if I was wrong, whoever wants this stone, I'll give you five hundred wen cheaper, and I always sell it to him for five hundred wen."

The surroundings are quiet, since you know that it is a fake Taihu stone, who would want it?
At this time, Fan Ning suddenly said: "I want the consistent money!"

Liu Kang was taken aback, and hurriedly pulled Fanning, "Don't be stupid, fake Taihu stones are not worth a penny!"

The scholar saw that Fanning was willing to buy it.He quickly grabbed Fanning, for fear that he would run away.

"Brother, the money is always too little, let's add another three hundred Wen!"

Fan Ning held out a tael of silver in his hand, "I only have a tael of silver, or forget it."

"One tael is one tael, let you take advantage of it, and sell it to you."

Fearing that Fan Ning would repent, the scholar gave him the Taihu Stone, grabbed a tael of silver and ran away.

The people around all commented that this little official is a bit stupid, throwing a tael of silver into the water for nothing like this.

Liu Kang sighed, "Fan Ning, fake Taihu stones are really worthless."

Fanning smiled slightly, "It's not bad if I just use it as a decoration."

At this moment, someone shouted, "Shopkeeper Li is here!"

Everyone stepped aside one after another, and saw a middle-aged man who looked like a short winter melon walking quickly. Fan Ning recognized him at a glance.

Shopkeeper Li was still following the scholar just now, looking at Fan Ning resentfully, holding the one tael of silver that Fan Ning gave him in his hand.

Shopkeeper Li stared at the Taihu Stone in Fan Ning's hand, and said with a smile, "Young man, can I have the Taihu Stone in your hand for identification again?"

How could Fan Ning be willing to be fooled? He dragged Liu Kang and ran away, shouting from a distance: "Master Li, your double hole breaking dawn is not worth 30 taels of silver."

Shopkeeper Li originally wanted to catch up, but when he heard Fan Ning's words, he immediately stopped in his tracks, wondering in his heart, "How did he know about the dawn of the double cave? Did he know Zhou Lin?" '

This Li shopkeeper is Li Quan, the big shopkeeper of the Qishi Museum. In order to get the rare Taihu stone in the hands of the scholar, he lied to him that it was a fake Taihu stone. When the scholar was desperate, he would send his assistant to buy it at a low price. come over.

Unexpectedly, Cheng Yaojin came out on the way, and intercepted the Taihu Stone with a tael of silver, which made Li Quan chase after him, angry and anxious.

As long as the Taihu Stone is in his hands, Fan Ning will never get it back.

However, Fan Ning was extremely slick, and it was the best policy to go, and then threw Zhou Lin out, so that he would not dare to mess around easily.

Fan Ning had run away without a trace, and couldn't be pursued even if he wanted to. Li Quan was so regretful that he stomped his feet and went back to the Kistler Museum full of anger.

People around are talking about it, don't understand what's going on?

At this time, an old man who set up a stall gently stroked his beard and said meaningfully: "That Taihu stone may be real."

The people around exploded, "Impossible! That stone is fake no matter how you look at it."

People around all looked at the stall owner Hei Fatty, whose face turned into a purple eggplant, and said after a long while, "I collected it from the countryside with fifty Wen, I don't know if it's true or not."

The scholar was furious, "You actually sold me two pennies for fifty cents, give me back the money!"

"I can give you back the money, but you have to give me back the stone first."

The two immediately looked at each other, everyone burst into laughter, the scholar felt a burst of remorse, and had to leave dejectedly.

Fatty Hei didn't regret it. In their line of business, misjudgments often happen, but it's just that shopkeeper Li maliciously judged it, which is embarrassing.

"Pooh!"

He spat heavily on the ground, "It's still in the strange stone museum, my heart is darker than my face!"

(End of this chapter)