Tang Dynasty Little Godfather

Chapter 148 Is this a scam scene?
one million?

A commotion immediately erupted.

At this moment, no one had time to pay attention to Wang Xi; they all turned their heads to look at Wang Shouyi.

As expected of a wealthy man from Chang'an, his spending is truly extraordinary. While others fiercely competed for half a day and only managed to bid 500,000 coins, you started at 500,000.

Li Longji was also very surprised. What are you and your son doing?
Is this a trap within a trap?

Little did he know, Wang Xi was completely unaware of this; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so frightened.

After finally stopping her cough, Wang Xi looked at Wang Shouyi with a look of utter despair. "Big brother, please don't make things worse."

Wang Shouyi was extremely greedy for wealth, after all, he had obtained it with his power, and even his life. He controlled Wang Xi. Although he could use the money as he pleased, Wang Xi had no right to touch the family's land, houses, shops, and other assets, and could not even ask him about them. Uncle Fu never paid attention to his requests. However, he was very generous to his younger sister and was willing to spend as much as he wanted.

He was unaware of this, and he didn't want the necklace his younger sister had worn to fall into someone else's hands. More importantly, he valued its symbolism highly; it told the story of a prince, so how could he give it to someone else?

Of course, one million coins is nothing to the Wang family; even ten million wouldn't make them blink an eye.

More importantly, most of this money is donated to charitable institutions, which is essentially to facilitate his work; the money ends up staying in the same pot.

The empress, sitting behind the curtain, knew her brother's intentions and was both touched and frustrated.

I've never worn this necklace before!
It was all made up by the sparrow.

Yamato Nagamine and Shimomichi Shingo exchanged a glance and then shook their heads.

"One million! One million!"

Wang Xi shouted hoarsely, "This official has offered one million coins. Is there anyone offering a higher price?"

He doesn't dare call him father or Duke Qi anymore, for fear that people will find out about their father-son relationship and think they are conspiring to commit fraud.

Wang Shouyi, however, was still oblivious and looked at Wang Xi with a puzzled expression. "What 'official'? I'm your father."

As Wang Xi shouted, he opened his eyes wide and stared intently at Wang Shouyi.

Wang Shouyi finally noticed something was wrong and wondered if there was something fishy going on here.
He glanced at Li Longji again, and saw that Li Longji looked somewhat depressed. He couldn't help but feel apprehensive. It seemed that he shouldn't have bid. Oh no, what should he do?

"1500000."

At that moment, the Silla envoy suddenly shouted.

That's a whopping 500,000, no doubt about it!
Wang Xi breathed a sigh of relief and shouted excitedly, "One million five hundred thousand! One million five hundred thousand! It seems this legend really did come from Silla!"

Wang Shouyi also breathed a sigh of relief and quickly shrank back.

The Silla envoy immediately replied, "That is indeed the truth."

The envoy from Bohai Kingdom was very displeased upon hearing this, and gritted his teeth as he said, "Two million."

Shang Gongbu, who had been cursing Wang Xi for not being able to sell his wares, was completely dumbfounded.

"Two and a half million," the Silla envoy replied without hesitation.

The higher the price, the more valuable the story becomes, and the wider it will spread.

The envoy from Bohai Kingdom wanted to raise his hand again, but his face had lost its confidence.

The Balhae people are a mixture of several tribes, so the power of their envoys is limited. But Silla is different; it is currently more unified.

Wang Xi was still hoping, "Two and a half million, two and a half million, is there any higher? Is there any higher?"

His gaze remained fixed on the envoy from the Bohai Kingdom.

The Silla envoy was somewhat displeased. "How long are we going to have to wait for the master of ceremonies?"

"Right away! Right now!"

Wang Xi was slightly embarrassed, holding up the gavel, "Two and a half million for the first time, two and a half million for the second time, two and a half million for the third time!"

The Turkic prince said impatiently, "Are you done yet?"

Wang Xi glared at him irritably. "What's it to you? He didn't contribute a single penny. Being a sissy is one thing, but he's also a poor bastard." With tears welling in her eyes, she said, "The third time. Congratulations to Silla, and congratulations to the Mermaid's Tears on returning home."

He already spent 2.5 million yen to buy this Japanese-made necklace, so what's wrong with giving him a story?

This wave is not a loss.

The Silla envoy was also very pleased and immediately stood up, saying, "Thank you for your kind offer! Thank you for your kind offer!"

It's important to know that the Korean Peninsula experienced a period of great upheaval in the early Tang Dynasty, including Goguryeo and a miniature version of the Three Kingdoms period. It wasn't until the later years of Emperor Gaozong of Tang that Silla annexed Baekje, gradually achieving unification. After several decades of development, their national strength has indeed increased. What they lack now is recognition.

Even today, envoys from the Western Regions still refer to them as Goguryeo.

For Silla, this was a sure-fire deal.

It is conceivable that when the envoys returned home, they would mention this matter and tell the story, and the name of Silla would spread along with this story.

As long as this story spreads, the necklace's value will surely rise even higher, and it could even be considered a national treasure.

The same is true.

Not to mention the foreign guests, even the powerful and influential people of the Tang Dynasty were seeing this auction for the first time. They hadn't taken it seriously at first, but they didn't expect it to be so exciting right from the start.

That was truly thrilling!

When the envoys return, they will surely emphasize this auction.

Even Li Longji was captivated by it. He truly hadn't expected the necklace to fetch such a high price. However, he had now come to his senses and knew exactly what was going on.

This made him even more eager to see how much the cloth could fetch.

After a short while, another lady dressed in a long gown and dressed as a scholar came up to the stage. She carefully held a golden scroll in her delicate hands.

Wang Xi immediately said, "You may not know this, but the Tang opera 'Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai' that we just performed was adapted from a story that has been passed down from the Eastern Jin Dynasty. So the story came first, and then the Tang opera came about."

His mentor, the anonymous Mr., adapted this story into a novel, which is the very item to be auctioned next: a deluxe edition of the novel "The Butterfly Lovers." Its content is far richer than the Tang Dynasty opera just performed, and it is unique in the world. Furthermore, after the auction, His Majesty will personally inscribe a poem on it. The starting price is ten thousand coins, with a minimum bid increment of one thousand coins.

Regarding the auction of this book, he made two preparations. Initially, he set his sights on the first part of Dream of the Red Chamber, but considering that there was only the first part and that some foreign envoys were not interested in Dream of the Red Chamber, he later prepared the novel version of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. The main reason was to see how popular the play was to decide which book to put up for auction.

The facts show that "The Butterfly Lovers" is currently more popular, but perhaps not as much as "Dream of the Red Chamber".

Li Longji seemed somewhat tempted as well. He had never seen it before, and he slightly raised his hand, but then seemed a little embarrassed.

The key is that if he raises his hand, who would dare to snatch it?

Having considered this, we had no choice but to give up.

The Nanzhao envoy immediately replied, "Ten thousand."

The envoy from the Kingdom of Shi also said, "Fifteen thousand."

"fifty thousand."

Yamato Nagamine immediately replied.

The little Turkic prince looked pitifully at Dunshan. He wasn't interested in the necklace, but he really wanted the book.

Dun Shan smiled and nodded, then raised his hand and said, "One hundred thousand."

With everyone so enthusiastic, and considering our Turkic people's reputation, we should at least make a splash.

The Silla envoy, seemingly still not satisfied, shouted again, "150,000!"

Yamato Nagamine said, "Eighteen thousand."

He also looked determined to win.

However, the 180,000 did not frighten the foreign envoys, who bid against each other. Although it was not as exciting as before, there were still many participants, with all countries except Tibet making bids.

Even some Tang Dynasty nobles participated.

They fought and vied for it, neither willing to give in.

Don't underestimate this book. You should know that envoys from various countries have a tradition of requesting books from the Tang Dynasty. They would ask for books every time they came.

Everyone is learning from the empire, but how? They can only learn from books.

However, many books are not given away. Sun Tzu's Art of War goes without saying, and even some Confucian and Taoist classics are not given away. This time, they witnessed the ultimate form of a novel through *Dream of the Red Chamber*, which is also the most popular literature in Chang'an this year. But *Dream of the Red Chamber* only exists in storytelling versions, not novel versions, making this a unique novel text. Coupled with the extremely brilliant and unforgettable Tang Dynasty opera performance, all countries want to obtain this novel version.

Although it wasn't explicitly stated that it would cost 500,000 per jump, the sheer number of people vying for it meant that the price had unwittingly surpassed that of the previous Mermaid's Tears.

"three million."

When Yamato Nagamine called out the price, the entire room fell silent.

The officials of the Tang Dynasty were all dumbfounded.

Can books still be sold like this?
This is just a novel, not a classic article.

Outrageous!
"Three million the first time, three million the second time, three million the third time."

Wang Xi slammed his gavel down heavily, "Congratulations to the Japanese envoy for winning this deluxe edition of the novel 'The Butterfly Lovers.' We will need Your Majesty to compose a poem for it."

Li Longji nodded with a smile, but in his heart he thought, "If you ask me to write a poem, you must leave me a copy."

If he weren't the emperor, he would have made an offer long ago.

Who wouldn't want to watch?

The two Japanese envoys immediately rose and bowed to thank the emperor.

This novel was exactly what they wanted. With this novel, they could learn this genre, and on top of that, the emperor wrote a poem for them. What an honor!

"All right!"

Wang Xi continued, "Next is the last item in this auction, a treasure donated by His Majesty. It is—Chang Hong."

Changhong?

What kind of treasure is it?
It wasn't just the foreign guests; even the Tang Dynasty officials couldn't help but widen their eyes.

The imperial court has this treasure? I've never heard of it before!
Several tall ladies carried up a wooden frame with a red silk ribbon hanging on it.

What's this "long red"? Isn't this just silk?
Moreover, there are no words or embroidery on it, it's very ordinary!

The ministers looked at each other in bewilderment.

However, since it concerned the emperor, they dared not question him rashly, and at most they would ask each other a few questions in hushed tones.

Have you heard of it?
Everyone shook their heads.

Feeling guilty, Li Longji quickly picked up his wine cup.

I was incredibly nervous.

On the stage, Wang Xi solemnly said: "This silk was born on an old mulberry tree at the top of Mount Tai. It is said that seven eminent monks from all over the world chanted sutras around that old mulberry tree day and night for forty-nine days. On that morning, the silkworms on the tree spun silk at the same time. At that time, there was a long red color in the east, so it was named Changhong (Long Red). It is a sacred Buddhist object, which means prosperity and flourishing."

About ten or twenty years ago, one of the seven eminent monks presented this long red amulet to the imperial court. However, he also informed the court that it had not yet been consecrated and required great merit to be consecrated. Therefore, His Majesty decided to donate it for charity to have it consecrated. It can be said that this long red amulet has already received the Emperor's blessing; possessing it is not only auspicious but also brings the Emperor's protection. Starting price: 500,000; minimum bid: 10,000.

Zhang Yue and the other ministers were dumbfounded.

Is there such a thing?
They couldn't say anything about the mermaid's tears, after all, they belonged to the empress, and who knew?

But if this Changhong is really that miraculous, there's no reason why they haven't heard of it!
Furthermore, could you please be more specific about whether it was ten years ago or twenty years ago, so that we can verify it?

Li Longji was one of only two people in the audience who knew what was going on. The other was the Empress. Seeing this young man talking nonsense on stage with a straight face, she couldn't stand it. She pretended to stroke her beard and her shoulders shrugged slightly.

Fortunately, he was the emperor, and ordinary people dared not look him directly in the eye.

Meanwhile, the female guests were also asking the Empress if the court really possessed such a treasure.

The empress was drenched in sweat from the questioning.

What was born on the summit of Mount Tai? It was born from empty talk.

Both Li Longji and Empress Wang were extremely nervous.

Although the mermaid's tears were also made up, the problem is that it was a pearl necklace, which is a luxury item. Luxury items don't have a precise value; it all depends on how you fabricate them. But this red silk was just an ordinary piece of red silk that any commoner could find.

It's a complete scam.

How could I not feel guilty?

Will anyone buy it?
"Half a million."

Yamato Nagamine suddenly raised his hand and said.

"Seven hundred thousand."

"Eight hundred thousand."

Before Wang Xi could announce the start of the bidding, the envoys from various countries rushed to bid.

Li Longji and Empress Wang both breathed a sigh of relief; as long as someone bid, it didn't matter whether the price was high or low.

"Is it true?"

Upon seeing this, Yuan Qianyao couldn't help but mutter to himself.

But if it's true, it doesn't make sense. These foreign envoys knew about it, but we didn't!

Zhang said, "Whether it's true or false, they don't care."

Yuan Qianyao immediately understood.

What is truth?
What is fake?
With the emperor sitting here, whatever the person on the platform says is the truth; who dares to challenge him?

Li Longji, who was initially quite guilty, listened to the bidding from various countries and seemed to be deep in thought.

Suddenly, Dunshan whispered to the Turkic prince, "One million."

The Turkic prince looked at Dunshan in surprise.

Dunshan nodded slightly.

The Turkic prince immediately replied, "One million coins."

Wang Xi immediately said, "One million coins for the Turks, is there anything higher? Is there anything higher?"

The Tibetan envoy, Qiernan, who had been silent all along, glanced at the Turkic prince, frowned slightly, and said, "Two million."

Shang Gongbu looked at Qiernan in shock and whispered, "What are you doing?"

The beggar said, "I will explain to the young master later."

Upon seeing that it was a Tibetan envoy, Wang Xi, standing on the stage, immediately became weak and mumbled, "Two million coins from Tibet."

Actually, this guy is quite petty and often seeks revenge on his father, Wang Shouyi, but it's usually overshadowed by Huangfu Sengnian's pettiness.

Even on this occasion, he dared to make things difficult for the Tibetans.

Upon seeing this, Shang Gongbu was immediately furious; this kid was doing it on purpose.

But Wang Xi completely ignored him.

Li Longji smiled slightly at this, not caring at all.

"five million."

The envoy from Little Bolu, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.

The entire audience gasped.

The Turkic prince looked at Dunshan again.

Dunshan gently shook his head.

Li Longji smiled and looked at Wang Xi.

Wang Xi understood immediately and said, "Little Bolu offered five million, five million the first time, five million the second time, five million the third time."

Without much hesitation, the gavel fell immediately, and it was announced, "Congratulations to Little Bolu for winning this long red."

(End of this chapter)