Chapter 7 Night Park in Qinhuai Spending a Lot of Money

Author: Scholar Wu

Chapter 7 Night Park in Qinhuai Spending a Lot of Money

In September of the 4th year of Shunzhi (1647), Nanjing has entered late autumn, and the lanterns have just started to light up. Tonight, the Qinhuai River is full of people and traffic, and it is a scene of singing and dancing.

If it weren't for the fact that the bald forehead was chilled by the wind, people would feel as if the change of dynasty had never happened!

Smoke cage, cold water, moon cage and sand,

Stay in Qinhuai for the night, near a restaurant.

A businesswoman does not know the hatred of losing her country,

Across the river, the flowers in the backyard are still singing!

Du Mu's song "Parking at Qinhuai" is the most realistic portrayal of the current situation.

A huge chessboard has been erected outside Piaoxiang Pavilion, and the square at the entrance is already overcrowded. Even the seating hall inside the pavilion and the boats on the river are already full!

In the private room on the second floor, Qian Qianyi and his wife Liu Rushi had already taken their seats early.

Qian Qianyi was one of the top three Jinshi in the thirty-eighth year of Wanli (1610), which is also commonly known as "Tanhua". He was one of the leaders of the Donglin Party and was promoted to Minister of Rites. He was dismissed because of his failure in the power struggle with Wen Tiren.

Dismissal.

Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng supported King Fu in Nanjing, and Qian Qianyi became attached to him and became the Minister of Rites.

At the same time, he was also a leader in Jiangnan literary circles. Together with Wu Weiye and Gong Dingzi, he was known as the three great masters of Jiangzuo. Qu Shichu, Gu Yanwu, and Zheng Chenggong were all his students.

In the 14th year of Chongzhen (1641), 59-year-old Qian Qianyi married 23-year-old Liu Rushi, a famous prostitute from Jiangnan, which caused widespread criticism.

Of course, the biggest criticism was that in the 2nd year of Shunzhi (1645), Qian Qianyi surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and dedicated himself to Nanjing, and took the lead in shaving his hair.

When the troops came to the city, Liu Rushi persuaded Qian Qianyi to join him and die for his country. Qian was thoughtful and speechless, and finally said: "The water is too cold to enter."

Liu Rushi tried to sink into the pond, but Qian Qianyi held him back. Finally, Qian Qianyi led the ministers to open the city in the pouring rain to welcome Duduo.

In the end, the Manchu Qing Dynasty only made Qian Qianyi a minister of the Ministry of Rites. Three months later, Qian Qianyi resigned and returned to his hometown. Since then, his reputation plummeted, and he was even nicknamed "the water is too cold".

On the other hand, his wife Liu Rushi, although she was a prostitute (the legendary first of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai), she had a noble integrity and refused to follow Qian Qianyi to Beijing, and persuaded Qian Qianyi to rebel against the Qing Dynasty.

In the past two years, due to his students' rebellion against the Qing Dynasty, Qian Qianyi was often implicated and imprisoned several times. His family was timid and fearful, and it was only because of Liu Rushi's hard work that he could be released from prison.

Both of them are no strangers to Qinhuaihe, and they were both the protagonists here. This pair of troubled couples with a 36-year age difference are particularly affectionate at the moment!

"Do you still think highly of Hong Chengchou?" Liu Rushi asked.

Qian Qianyi asked: "Isn't Madam optimistic about Qian Mo's success?"

Liu Rushi: "Qian Mo and Xia Wanchun are both famous child prodigies in the south of the Yangtze River. The master once praised them very well. At an odds of 30 to 1, I bet Qian Mo a full 5,000 taels of silver."

Qian Qianyi took a breath! He said: "My wife is very good at chess and has already entered the "wisdom realm". Does Qian Mo still have a chance in this game?"

"Hong Chengchou is a master of the Nether Realm. Even as a husband, he has absolutely no chance."

"Madam, I'm afraid this money will be wasted!"

Liu Rushi said: "This is not to say that this game is a chess game played by the world. The general trend of the world is used as a chess game. Now that the Qing Dynasty is strong and Ming Dynasty is weak, I am betting not Qian Mo but Ming Dynasty!"

Qian Qianyi was shocked: "Madam, be careful, how could you know that this is not Hong Chengchou's conspiracy? We can follow the clues to find out the transparent people by placing bets. Otherwise, why would not many bets fall on Qian Mo with such high odds?"

As the chess game was about to begin, more and more people were placing bets. I heard the shopkeeper shouting: "Mr. Fan Yongfang, a wealthy businessman from Yangzhou, bets Governor Hong 1,000,000 taels!"

Qian Mo's odds dropped again, becoming 50 to 1.

Seeing the odds of 50 to 1, Qian Mo attracted many individual bettors to place bets, but they all thought it would be pie-in-the-sky, placing bets of 5 taels or 10 taels.

Although the amount is small, the quantity is large, which stops the odds from continuing to fall!

I thought there would be no more climaxes, but before the market was closed, the shopkeeper shouted again: "Master Qian Mo, a famous scholar in Jiashan, bet himself 10,000 taels, and the odds are now adjusted to 30 to 1."

Mr. Qian actually bet himself 100,000 taels. If you win, it will be 5,000,000 taels! My God, it seems that Mr. Qian is very confident in himself!

"Shopkeeper, I want to raise Qian Mo's bet, and I also want to raise my bet!" Before the closing, Qian Mo actually received several W taels of additional bets, raising the odds to 25 to 1.

Xia Wanchun took the deed of 10,000 taels for 50 times the bet and handed it to Qian Mo.

"Brother Mo, Xiaoyin has fulfilled his mission."

The reason why Qian Mo set the chess game for 15 days is because he made a deal with Hong Chengchou to let his father return to his hometown to sell off his assets. The Qian family in Jiashan is a well-known family with rich industries. In the past few years of fighting against the Qing Dynasty, his father has sold off a lot of property.

.

However, the skinny camel was bigger than the horse. Although it was urgently needed and could only be sold at a low price, my father still brought back enough gold and silver equivalent to 11,000 taels of silver.

(During the Wanli Period, 1 tael of gold could be exchanged for 8 taels of silver, but now it is more convenient to carry gold than silver during the war, and gold has become more popular. One tael of gold has been generally exchanged for 10 taels of silver.)

There is no way, who made the Ming Dynasty have no banknotes and can only trade in cash. The paper currency "Da Ming Bao Banknote" issued by the imperial court in the early years has long been turned into waste paper due to random printing and issuance. In this era, there is no recognition of paper currency.

It is still mainly metal currency or "barter". Don't look at the shouts of 1 million taels. Just handing the gold and silver to the casino for inspection, packing, weighing and conversion requires a long time of preparation.

It is not an exaggeration to call this chess game "the best gambling game in the world". The amount of gold and silver bet alone has reached tens of millions of taels of silver.

You must know that the annual income of the Chongzhen Dynasty was only a pitiful 4 million taels of silver!

Although the court was poor, the wealth of the gentry in the Ming Dynasty was astonishing. As soon as Li Zicheng entered Beijing, those court officials who cried about poverty every day obediently handed over 7,000 taels. The gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, which had not been exposed to war for a long time, was more wealthy than the gentry in the north.

rich!

At this time in history, Nanjing has been changed to Jiangning by the Qing Dynasty, which means peace in the south of the Yangtze River. This article still uses Nanjing. After all, the author is from the perspective of Nanming. The scholar is a new author and has no basic readers. Thank you everyone for collecting and recommending!
Chapter completed!