I am the prince in the heavens

14 - Tai'an City

A few days later, a huge majestic city came into view. The towering city walls and the densely packed buildings in the city could not be seen at a glance. The scene in front of him reminded him all the time that he was now a traverser, and modern civilization had long since passed away. Get away from him.

This is the legendary Tai'an City, the No. 200 city in the world, a huge city with a permanent population of nearly [-] million, Liyangwang City, the place where power is concentrated, and it is also the place where countless Qingqing students have dreamed of jumping into the dragon's gate for ten years.

Regardless of the small satellite towns outside the city, the length of this city wall alone is more than 100 miles. You must know that the ancient times are no better than the modern ones. The houses are basically one-story. It can accommodate more than [-] million people, so you can imagine how big he is.

After entering the city, a breath of life rushed over, and there was an endless stream of pedestrians on the street, whether they were pawns, literati, warriors and swordsmen, high-ranking officials and dignitaries abound. Although Zhao Kai was born in this Tai'an City, But every time I come here, I am always impressed by the size of this city, the number one city in the world, how spectacular it is!

Zhao Kai said to himself:
"It's a pity that in such a capital city, the people in charge of the house are all ungrateful people. They haven't learned much about governing the world. They are very good at killing donkeys. I don't know if the millions of people in Tai'an City can join me. How many people are there in this group of heroes? Thinking about it, there are not many of them."

There are still many people he knows in this city, such as Han Diao Temple, the tenth martial arts critic in the world who is in charge of [-] eunuchs, and Yang Taisui.

But he didn't intend to look for them this time, Zhao Kai has been deliberately alienating the two of them these years, so as not to be coerced by them to do something he doesn't want to do, and they don't even know about this trip.But this time Zhao Kai dressed up specially, with his current outfit, even if he stood in front of them, he would not be able to recognize them unless he took a closer look. Who would have thought that this shabby-looking poor scholar would be the emperor's illegitimate son? !

"The most urgent thing is to earn some money for food and accommodation first."

Tai'an City is not a wilderness. You can spend the night just by sleeping in any place. You need to spend money on food and lodging, and the little donkey also needs to spend money to find someone to take care of it. If you don't have money, you can only sleep on the street or go out of the city at night. camping.

It is the time of the annual imperial examinations, so there are a lot of students coming from all over the country. As a result, the price of the inn is much more expensive. However, I heard that the imperial court specially prepared special rooms for the poor students who came from afar. The post house, so that these students can have a place to live during the imperial examination.

I heard that Prime Minister Zhang Julu tried his best to facilitate this. It can be seen that Zhang Julu is good to these poor students. Every state has a special post house for students to live in, and provides free meals. Such a thing is simply tailor-made for Zhao Kai yes,

However, when Zhao Kai came to the posthouse, he was dumbfounded and couldn’t get in at all. It turned out that the posthouse only served students who had passed the rural examinations from all over the country. Those who passed the rural examinations in each prefecture had certificates. The purpose was to prevent people from going in and eating. Without proof, Zhao Kai couldn't get in at all, so Zhao Kai was despised by the gatekeeper for a while.

Students from Shangyin Academy and Guozijian can directly participate in the examination as long as they have a recommendation order from a famous teacher. However, those who have these recommendation orders are all related households. Properly wealthy families and children of famous families have already lived in high-end hotels to enjoy themselves. How could it be possible to share a room with a bunch of poor scholars?
He had no choice but to find a cheap inn to stay in, but a cheap inn cost [-] yuan a day, and it was the worst kind of single room, the one with a dozen people per room was cheaper, but Zhao Kai didn't want to live there.He would rather go to sleep on the grass outside the city than live with a bunch of big men who have scratched their feet. He touched his empty pockets and looked at the little donkey who was still carrying the bag. The little donkey seemed to have sensed it and shook his head quickly .

"Don't worry, I won't sell you even if I sleep on the street, but what can I do to get money faster? If only I had a piano, it would be great, come to the street to sell and sing, and you will become rich and handsome in minutes."

Zhao Kai changed his mind: "Hey, if you can't buy singing, you can sell something else!"

Zhao Kai skillfully set up the painting booth. As for why he didn't sell calligraphy, there was no way. Although copybooks could be sold for money, Zhao Kai's handwriting was no worse than those calligraphers. Pay attention to the rareness of things, and it will be worthless if you write too much.

Besides, it's easy to reveal your secrets, so it's better to paint, and you can also hone your skills.

Zhao Kai wrote a few large characters in front of the booth:
"Portraits, twenty renminbi each!"

Twenty Wen is equivalent to 20 yuan in later generations, which is enough for a day's food.

Zhao Kai casually took out a few sticks of pitch-black charcoal from his bag, and began to draw on paper. There were no pencils in this era, so he had to use charcoal instead. The black charcoal also dyed Zhao Kai's hands black, making him look very embarrassed, and even more so. Many well-dressed aristocrats cast contemptuous glances. In their view, this poor scholar is crazy about money. It is absurd to sell charcoal paintings for twenty yuan, but Zhao Kai doesn't mind this. , I eat by my ability, so why care about other people's eyes.

Sketching can be said to be very simple. Zhao Kai's skills are profound, and he can draw a beautiful portrait of a person in less than a while. Zhao Kai's painting is full of three-dimensionality, and the tiny details are well grasped. They are all big stars in the previous life, glamorous and charming, with proud curves in their breasts, and they have attracted everyone's attention as soon as they appeared. These ordinary people have never seen such a beautiful portrait of a woman, and they all stopped to watch in amazement.

Zhao Kai knew that if he wanted to attract men's attention, he had to draw pictures of beauties.

Zhao Kai placed the painting in the most conspicuous position, and prepared to use it as an advertisement to attract customers. After all, those street painters in the previous life relied on this to attract customers. Being able to draw such a picture shows that the artist is of a high level, and only in this way can he attract customers. guest.

Unexpectedly, these people are all patronizing to look at the pictures of beauties. No one wants Zhao Kai to help him with portraits. A whole morning of business has not been completed. Originally, I wanted to find someone to ask for it, but now I don’t have a penny. No.

"People in this era don't seem to like others to paint their portraits, it's hard to do,"

"Brother, is this painting of yours for sale?" It was a fat middle-aged man who spoke, usually rich and lustful masters like this.

When he heard that he wanted to buy a sample painting, Zhao Kai was ready to refuse on the spot, but then he thought again, huh?What's wrong with the sample painting, at worst, just draw another one, and immediately said happily:

"Sell it, of course sell it, but the price is also twenty yuan,"

The obese middle-aged man did not bargain, so he paid the money readily and happily took the painting away.

The first business order was completed in this way, and Zhao Kai seemed to have opened the door to a new world. It would be easier for such men to like ready-made ones.

Zhao Kai immediately started his own performance, one sketch after another was formed in his hands, there were sword dancers, dancers, Lolita, Yujie, prairie style, Xiaojiabiyu from Jiangnan, and others. In short, there are only things you can't think of about the middle-aged mistresses who still have charm, and there is nothing that Zhao Kai can't draw.However, they are all plump and angelic beauties, which will definitely make these men who have never seen the world fall in love with them.

After all, men understand men better, and Zhao Kai, who is more explicit, dare not draw, for fear of being invited to prison.

In less than half a day, Zhao Kai sold dozens of sketches. After these people got the paintings, they all felt like treasures. Since there were too many people who bought them later, Zhao Kai had no choice but to use the situation of auction to sell them. When the painting is sold, the price will naturally rise again. After the painting is bought, it will already be dozens of taels of silver.

Zhao Kai who has done all this is also emotional, no matter which world it is, it is still easy to make money from perverts.

Zhao Kai, who has earned enough living expenses, will naturally not plan to set up a stall anymore. A few dozen taels is equivalent to tens of thousands of yuan, which is enough for an ordinary family of five to spend for a year. Money is enough.

Unexpectedly, when he was about to close the stall, a woman put ten taels of silver directly in front of him, then went to the chair in front of Zhao Kai and sat down.
"Draw me a picture, please,"

I saw that young and beautiful woman, gorgeously dressed, holding a sword in her hand, dressed as a heroine, and she was the kind of woman who is very rich. If you look carefully, she is not the same as the one you met on the road before. ?Really answered that sentence, where in life do we not meet each other!

"Okay, girl, please wait a moment,"

If there is a big business coming to his door, of course Zhao Kai will not refuse, besides, he still paints for beautiful women. As the last order, he paints very seriously this time, even choosing the best and most delicate charcoal. After all, he has given so much It's hard to justify not giving her a few levels of beauty. If it wasn't for the fear of causing a sensation, Zhao Kai would have taken out paints to paint the painting. After all, ten taels of silver is enough to drink ordinary flower wine.

Soon, a lifelike figure painting was completed. Not only was the figure restored to a very high degree, but even the details were handled very delicately. After using the beautification, the painting was even more beautiful than a real person. If the color is added, I'm afraid it is another famous painting handed down from generation to generation, and the eyes of people nearby are straightened.

"This? Is this still me?"

The beauty who took over the painting was also amazed, usually she spends money lavishly, this is the first time she feels that the money is worth it, and she looks at Zhao Kai with a little more admiration, can use charcoal to draw such lifelike paintings, use It is not an exaggeration to describe it as ingenious.

"Yes, the painting is very good, I like it very much, what's your name?"

The woman carefully put away the painting, and did not forget to ask Zhao Kai's name.

Zhao Kai made a bow and said, "Girl, as long as you like it, I'm Chen Xiaokai, a Guangling Taoist."

After painting for an entire afternoon, Zhao Kai's hands were already dyed the same color as charcoal.

"Chen Xiaokai, I remember you, my name is Zhang Gaoxia, see you again by fate,"

After finishing speaking, he took out another ten taels of silver and handed it to Zhao Kai, then he left gracefully.

"So it's the chancellor's daughter, no wonder she's so rich," Zhao Kai muttered to himself.

After the business was completed, Zhao Kai politely rejected other people who came to buy paintings, and put away the stall. After painting for nearly a day, his hands were numb, and he would not set up a stall again in a short time.

(End of this chapter)