Chapter 11 Gift-giving should also have artistic cells

Since Hu Chuyuan has no idea of marrying a wife and having children for the time being, Mei Qizhao can't talk about it anymore. He can only let Hu Chuyuan leave.

After a long time, he still couldn't come to his senses.

He thought that there seemed to be a fixed number in the dark. Zuo Zongtang met Hu Xueyan when he was 50 years old. From then on, Zuo Zongtang walked smoothly and everything went wrong. He was also 50 years old this year and met Hu Chuyuan.

The most coincidental is that Zuo Zongtang was the governor of Zhejiang at that time, and so was he.

This coincidence gave Mei Qizhao a strange encouragement, which made him, who had been weak for a long time, see the light of hope.

He cheered up and made people prepare for the trip to Ningbo.

On the other hand, when Hu Chuyuan returned home, he asked Wang Baotian to find some good things that he could really handle at home. He was so "scared" by Mei Qizhao that he forgot to ask Mei Qizhao. He didn't know what kind of good things Governor He and Wan Shangshu preferred most.

He went to ask Yan Shizhang.

After listening to Hu Chuyuan's general story, Yan Shizhang couldn't help laughing and said, "A governor can't even take out tens of thousands of taels of things. In our Qing Dynasty, he was a useless governor for three years. Instead of being honest, he wants to climb up too much, but the result is counterproductive. He should know that our Qing Dynasty can't support Qing officials. If he doesn't have the money to take care of the capital, he deserves to be sent to such a position.

Hu Chuyuan said, "It doesn't matter. I agree that he is so honest. Zuo Zongtang is very honest and still does it."

Yan Shizhang said, "Lord Zhongtang was born at the right time, and there are Tao Shu and Lin Zexu to help. In addition, you can say that he is honest, but you can't say that he is clear. If Lord Zhongtang is turbid, you can't touch it to the end. Don't take it lightly!"

Hu Chuyuan nodded silently and asked, "Then tell me what kind of gift are you going to give to Wan Shangshu and Governor He?"

Yan Shizhang sighed: "Wan Qingqi is the world's calligrapher, especially Dong Qichang's work. He is the elder of the four dynasties, the minister of the Ministry of officials, and the emperor of the two dynasties. I dare not say more. As long as one of Dong Qichang's work is sent over, even if Mei Qizhao is removed from the position of governor of Zhejiang, he can still make up for the governor of the poor province and have the opportunity to continue to struggle.

After a pause, he said, "He Jing... His ancestral home is Xiangshan. In recent years, he intends to move, but there are many people in the family. It costs a lot of money to buy a field and a house. You might as well buy a big house and thousands of mu of land for him in Hangzhou, and secretly sell it to him at a low price. Don't think it's expensive to spend hundreds of thousands of taels. As long as he secretly makes a profit of hundreds of thousands of taels, you can get it at your hand.

Hu Chuyuan smiled and said, "It's easy to do. My family has a garden in the northeast of West Lake in Hangzhou. When my father took advantage of the Hunan army to enter Hangzhou, he bought it at a low price from a senior official of the Taiping Army. It cost less than 1,000 taels. Now if you want to get rid of it, the minimum is 100,000 yuan. In Hangzhou Prefecture, the price of such a house has risen to the sky... Of course, my Hu family compound is an exception.

Yan Shizhang said, "That's okay. He Jing is famous for his trouble. As long as he collects the money, the matter will definitely be done for you. I'm not afraid that he won't accept it. He has taken care of a lot of money in Beijing over the years, and he is just waiting to make a few more windfalls in Fujian and Zhejiang.

Hu Chuyuan smiled and asked Wang Baotian again to ask him if he had any calligraphy works of Dong Qichang at home.

Wang Baotian thought for a moment and said, "There is a Jinsha Post, which was repurchased by the master from Dongyang at a high price. At that time, it cost 60,000 yuan."

Yan Shizhang was slightly happy and said with a smile, "Then take it here first and show me whether it's true or not!"

Wang Baotian was dissatisfied and said, "How can the national treasure repurchased at a high price be fake? At that time, there were also several treasure appreciation masters from Master Shen and Chengdong in Hangzhou who went to Dongyang with the master. They all said that they were real masterpieces!"

Shen Siye is Shen Furong, the fourth largest shopkeeper of the Hu family. He is responsible for running a pawnshop. In his early years, he opened a Fubaozhai antique shop in Hangzhou. He was very famous in the antique industry in Hangzhou. Later, he was blackmailed and went bankrupt. He was helped and invited by Hu Xueyan to become the shopkeeper of the Hu family's pawnshop.

Shen Furong has always been responsible for Hu's purchase of antiques, and he presided over the pawnshop business alone.

Wang Baotian is very unconvinced. Since Yan Shizhang, a poor scholar, entered the courtyard as a staff member, he has not been convinced.

This time, he was able to find an opportunity, so he hurried back to Hu Xueyan's study, took out the calligraphy and painting repurchased from the Japanese book, and opened it to Yan Shizhang.

Yan Shizhang himself is a rare master of Danqing. For such a ink treasure, he knew it was a treasure at a glance and smiled happily, but he looked at it carefully for a few moments, and his smile gradually decreased.

After a whole cup of tea, he said to Hu Chuyuan, "It's a pity that 60,000 yuan bought a masterpiece. This may be Zhao Wendu's masterpiece, or Shen Shichong's. It can be regarded as a masterpiece of Dong Qichang's masterpiece. It can also be given away by living, but you just want to make it clear to Lao Shangshu.

"Isn't it possible?"

Hu Chuyuan's heart was cold and asked, "How can it be fake? Did he say that he deliberately deceived us?"

Yan Shizhang shook his head and said, "The Orientals are at this level. They were deceived by our antique dealers first, and they sold us as genuine products at a high price. The owner doesn't know that Dong Qichang's calligraphy and painting became famous very early. When he was very young, he was praised as the first in the world in the world. There were many people who asked for calligraphy and painting. He couldn't cope with it himself, so he often invited friends with the same high level to write for it. Not to mention the old employer and antique dealer, even those of us who study calligraphy are easy to misjudge. The key reason why I say that he is a masterpiece is that Dong Qichang's signature is a little inconsistent with the style of the whole writing, or it may also be authentic.

Hu Chuyuan asked, "Then who can tell whether it is a masterpiece or a genuine work?"

Yan Shizhang said, "There are only two people, one is Mao Changxi, and the other is Wan Qingli Lao Shangshu. They are all people who imitate Dong Qichang's calligraphy and study the most. In this way, I will personally give this word to Lao Shangshu. For Lao Shangshu, even if this Jinsha Post is a masterpiece, it is also a masterpiece of fine works, and may even be regarded as the peak work of Zhao Wendu. I'll send it. As long as I say it properly, I can also keep Mei Qizhao's position as governor..."

He paused for a moment and seemed to have some reverie. He sighed again, "I used to practice calligraphy with Lao Shangshu as a teacher in the capital. A few years ago, I occasionally had letters to visit him."

Hu Chuyuan thought for a thought and was convinced that this was a shortcut, so he ordered Wang Baotian to get 100,000 taels of silver tickets. He said to Yan Shizhang, "Since Mr. Yan is going to the capital, you might as well buy a better treasure for me in the capital. Mei Qizhao's matter belongs to Mei Qizhao. I'm afraid I have a lot of things to take care of in the future!"

Yan Shizhang was surprised that he would not embezzle these silver, but he didn't understand why Hu Chuyuan could conclude this?

This...!

Hu Chuyuan did not conclude that he would not embezzle, but did not take 100,000 taels of silver seriously. As long as things can be done, it doesn't matter if Yan Shizhang deducts tens of thousands of taels from it.

After a little thought, Yan Shizhang said, "Thank you for your trust. I will definitely do this very beautifully. In Beijing, even if Dong Qichang's calligraphy works are the best of the real works, the price is only 30,000 taels, which is already a sky-high price in ancient calligraphy and painting.

In the Qing Dynasty, the vast majority of the people suffered less than 1,000 taels of silver all their lives.

Because Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Suzhou and Hangzhou have superior tea fields and silk fields, the local paddy fields also harvest grain in two seasons, one season of spring wheat and one season of summer rice. The situation is better.

If Jiangsu and Zhejiang silk farmers are equivalent to normal families with a monthly income of 2,000RMB, farmers in other regions are only equivalent to low-income families with a monthly income of less than 600RMB, and such low-income people account for about 80% of the whole late Qing Dynasty society, that is, about 320 million people.

Although it shows that the calligraphy style of the two generations of the Qing Dynasty belongs to the era of Dong Qichang, each of his authentic works can be speculated to tens of thousands of taels in the late Qing Dynasty, and the price is still too high, which is not affordable and given by ordinary people.