A few days later, a huge majestic city came into view, with towering city walls and densely packed buildings as far as the eye could see. The scene in front of him reminded him all the time that he was now a time traveler, and modern civilization had long since passed.
Stay away from him.
This is the legendary Tai'an City, the number one city in the world, a huge city with a permanent population of nearly two million, Liyang City, the center of power, and the place where countless Qingqing students have dreamed of leaping over the dragon gate for ten years.
Regardless of the satellite town outside the city, this city wall alone is more than twenty miles long. You must know that in ancient times, it was no better than modern times. The houses were basically one-story, and it could accommodate more than one million people. You can imagine how big it was.
After entering the city, a breath of life hit the face, and there was an endless stream of pedestrians on the street. Whether they were foot soldiers, literati, martial arts swordsmen, or high-ranking officials and dignitaries, Zhao Kai was born in this city of Tai'an.
But every time I come here, I am impressed by the hugeness of this city. It is the largest city in the world, how spectacular it is!
Zhao Kai said to himself:
"It's a pity that in such a capital, the people in charge are all ungrateful people. They haven't learned much about the ability to govern the world. They are very good at killing grinders and donkeys. I don't know if I can join the millions of people in Tai'an City.
How many people are there in this group of heroes? Thinking about it, there are not many."
There are still many people he knows in this city, such as Han Diao Temple, who is in charge of 100,000 eunuchs, and Yang Taisui, who is ranked 10th in the World Martial Arts Review.
But he didn't plan to find them this time. Over the years, Zhao Kai had been deliberately alienating the two of them to avoid being coerced by them into doing things he didn't want to do. They didn't know about this trip. But this time Zhao Kai
But he had been dressed up specially. With his current appearance, even if he stood in front of them, he would not be able to recognize him without looking carefully. Who would have thought that this poor scholar with a shabby appearance could be the emperor's illegitimate son!
“The first priority is to earn some money for food and accommodation.”
Tai'an City is not a wilderness. You can just find a place to sleep for a night. Food and accommodation cost money. You also need to pay for someone to take care of the donkey. If you don't have money, you can only sleep on the street or go out of the city at night.
Gone camping.
Now is the annual imperial examination, 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 has specially prepared a special hotel for the students from poor families who come from afar.
The post house provided these students with a place to stay during the imperial examination.
I heard that Prime Minister Zhang Julu tried his best to promote this. It can be seen that Zhang Julu is quite good to these poor students. Each state has a special post house for the students to live and provides free meals. This kind of thing is simply tailor-made for Zhao Kai.
Yes,
However, when Zhao Kai came to the post house, he was dumbfounded and couldn't get in at all. It turned out that the post house only entertained students who had passed the provincial examinations from all over the country. Those who passed the provincial examinations in each state had certificates, in order to prevent anyone from going in and eating.
Zhao Kai couldn't get in without proof. For this reason, Zhao Kai was despised by the gatekeeper.
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 from some well-connected households, well-established wealthy families, and children from famous families, who have long been staying in high-end inns to enjoy themselves.
How is it possible to share a room with a bunch of poor scholars?
I had no choice but to find a cheap inn to stay in, but a cheap inn costs a hundred yuan a day, and it is the worst kind of single room. The one with a dozen people per room is cheaper, but Zhao Kai doesn't want to live there.
He would rather sleep on the grass outside the city than live with a bunch of big men who pick their feet. He touched his empty pockets and looked at the little donkey who was still carrying his luggage. The little donkey seemed to feel something and quickly shook his head.
.
"Don't worry, I won't sell it to you even if I live on the street. But what can I do to make money faster? It would be great if I had a piano. I can sing on the street and become rich and handsome in minutes."
Zhao Kai then thought: "Hey, if you can't just buy singing, you can sell something else!"
Zhao Kai skillfully set up the painting stall. As for why he doesn't sell calligraphy, there is no way. Although copybooks can also be sold for money, Zhao Kai's calligraphy is no worse than those of calligraphers, but things like copybooks
Pay attention to the rareness of things and the value of them. If you write too much, they will not be valuable.
Besides, it’s easy to reveal your secrets, so painting is better and you can hone your skills.
Zhao Kai wrote a few big characters in front of the stall:
"Portrait paintings, twenty cents each!"
Twenty coins is equivalent to twenty yuan in later generations, which is enough for one day's food.
Zhao Kai casually took out a few sticks of dark 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 richly dressed nobles cast disdainful glances at him. In their opinion, this poor scholar was crazy about money. He used charcoal that could be found everywhere to draw pictures and wanted to sell them for twenty cents. It was simply ridiculous, but Zhao Kai didn't mind this.
, you can make a living based on your own ability, why should you care about other people’s eyes.
Sketching can be said to be very simple. Zhao Kai has profound skills and he can draw a beautiful portrait in less than a while. Zhao Kai's painting is full of three-dimensionality, and the small details are just right, and the faces in the painting are
They were all big stars in their previous lives. They were very beautiful, and their breasts had proud curves. They attracted everyone's attention as soon as they appeared. These ordinary people had never seen such a beautiful portrait of a woman. They were all amazed and stopped to watch.
Zhao Kai knew very well that if he wanted to attract men's attention, he had to draw pictures of beautiful women.
Zhao Kai placed the painting in the most conspicuous position, intending to use it as an advertisement to attract customers. After all, the street painters in the previous life relied on this to attract customers. Being able to draw such a painting shows that the artist is of high standard, so that he can attract customers.
guest.
Unexpectedly, all these people were just looking at pictures of beauties. No one wanted Zhao Kai to paint their portraits. Not a single business was completed all morning. I originally wanted to find someone to do it, but now I don’t have even a penny to do it.
No.
"People in this era don't seem to like others having their portraits painted. It's very difficult."
"Brother, can you sell this painting?" The speaker was a fat middle-aged man, who is usually a rich and lustful man.
As soon as 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? I'll just paint another one at the worst, and he quickly said happily:
"Sell, of course, but the price is also twenty cents,"
The fat, middle-aged man didn't bother to negotiate the price, so he paid the price readily and took the painting away happily.
The first business deal was completed in this way, and Zhao Kai seemed to have opened the door to a new world. Men like this like ready-made things, so it would be easier to handle.
Zhao Kai immediately started his performance, and one sketch after another was formed in his hands, including sword dancing, dancing, lolita, royal sister, grassland style, Xiaojiabiyu from Jiangnan, and others.
There are middle-aged beauties who still have charm. In short, there are only things you can't imagine, and there is nothing that Zhao Kai can't draw. However, all the paintings are of beauties with plump bodies and angelic faces, which will definitely make these men who have never seen the world put it down.
After all, men understand men better, so Zhao Kai did not dare to draw the more explicit paintings for fear of being invited to jail.
In less than half a day, Zhao Kai sold dozens of sketches. After receiving the paintings, these people all felt like they were treasures. Since there were too many people buying later, Zhao Kai had no choice but to use the auction situation to sell them.
When a painting is sold, the price naturally goes up, and by the time the painting is purchased, you can already get dozens of taels of silver.
After doing all this, Zhao Kai also sighed, no matter what world he is in, it is still easy to make money for perverts.
Zhao Kai, who has earned enough living expenses, will naturally not prepare to set up a stall anymore. A few dozen taels is equivalent to tens of thousands of yuan, which is enough for an ordinary person's family of five to spend for a year. Money and silver are enough.
Unexpectedly, just when he was about to close the stall, a woman directly put ten taels of silver in front of him, then walked to the chair in front of Zhao Kai and sat down.
"Please draw a picture for me,"
I saw that the woman was young and beautiful, gorgeously dressed, holding a sword in her hand, dressed as a heroine, and she was still a very rich heroine. If she looked carefully, she was not the one she met on the road before.
? It really answers that sentence, there are no places in life where we don’t meet!
"Okay, girl, please wait a moment,"
When a big business came to him, Zhao Kai would certainly not refuse. Moreover, he was still painting a beautiful woman. As the last business, he painted very seriously this time. He even chose the best and most delicate charcoal. After all, he had given so much money.
With the money, it would be unreasonable not to give her several levels of beauty. If it weren't for the fear of causing a sensation, Zhao Kai would have taken out the paint to color the painting. After all, ten taels of silver is enough to drink ordinary flower wine.
Soon, a lifelike character painting was completed. Not only was the character restored to a very high degree, but even the details were processed very delicately. Moreover, after using the beautifier, the painting was even more beautiful than the real person. If colors were added,
I'm afraid it's another famous painting that has been passed down from generation to generation, and the eyes of everyone nearby are straightened by the sight of it.
"This? Is this still me?"
The beautiful woman who took over the painting was also amazed. She usually spends money lavishly, but this is the first time she felt that it was worth the money. She looked at Zhao Kai with a little more admiration for being able to draw such a lifelike painting with charcoal.
It’s hard to overstate how ingenious it is.
"Yes, the painting is very good. I like it very much. What is your name?"
The woman carefully put away the painting, not forgetting to ask Zhao Kai's name.
Zhao Kai bowed and said: "Girl, you can like it. I am Chen Xiaokai, a person from Guangling Taoism."
After painting continuously all afternoon, Zhao Kai's hands had long been dyed the same color as charcoal.
"Chen Xiaokai, I remember you. My name is Zhang Gaoxia. See you again if we are destined."
After that, he took out another ten taels of silver and handed it to Zhao Kai and left gracefully.
"It turns out she is the prime minister's daughter, no wonder she is so rich," Zhao Kai murmured to himself.
After finishing this business, Zhao Kai also declined other people who came to buy paintings and put away the painting stall. He had been painting for nearly a day and his hands were numb. He would not set up another stall in the short term.