Do you know: I am Qi Heng

Qi Heng has been in this era for several months now, and has gained a more detailed understanding of it.

Although the dynasty was named Zhou, it should be set during the Northern Song Dynasty.

It is unclear where the error occurred, but Emperor Taizu did not change the name of the Zhou Dynasty to the Song Dynasty; he continued to use the original name of the dynasty.

This deviation led to a significant deviation in the course of history.

Although the overall situation remained largely unchanged, some figures who existed during this period and left their mark on history are no longer alive.

Of course, some still exist. For example, the brothers Su Shi and Su Zhe.

Having studied history in his previous life, Su Dongpo was arguably one of Qi Heng's favorite figures.

When it comes to the Northern Song Dynasty, the most famous civil official should be Fan Zhongyan, who was concerned about the world's troubles before others. However, after carefully learning about his life, Qi Heng could not say he disliked him, but he did not like him much either.

Fan Zhongyan also existed in this timeline, but he passed away a few years ago.

Qi Heng didn't care about the calligraphy; he just wanted to get to know the Su brothers.

The Qi family is not short of money, although the Qi family has been declining since his grandfather's time.

But after all, it was a Duke's mansion, and although its bloodline was not abundant, its family property was still considerable.

Not to mention that when Princess Pingning married into the Qi family, the Emperor prepared a dowry for her in accordance with the rites for a princess.

Guo Yunjian was adopted from the second wife's family. After inheriting the title, he was legally the elder brother of Princess Pingning, and naturally, he was also required to prepare a dowry.

It was common for the Zhou Dynasty to have a large dowry, but Princess Pingning still received a double dowry.

All these factors combined mean that while the Qi family may not be as wealthy as a country, there are very few noble and powerful families in Bianjing that can compare to them.

During the Spring Festival, Qi Heng received over 100,000 taels of red envelopes from his elders while visiting relatives and friends with his mother, not to mention the dozens of taels of gold beans.

I just came out to have some fun today and didn't plan to buy anything valuable. I only brought five hundred silver notes with me.

"I only brought fifty taels with me."

Upon hearing this, Sheng Changbai didn't say much, but directly ordered his servant to bring out the money.

"Brother Yuanruo, I have some too."

Seeing this, Mo Lan quickly asked Yun Cai to take out money. He actually brought a hundred taels, which was more money than Sheng Changbai, the eldest son.

Of course, Lin Xiaoniang's wealth was certainly not as great as Wang Da Niangzi's.

But when Madam Wang manages the household affairs, it's a public account. However, for Madam Lin, the income from the estates and shops Sheng Hong gave her is entirely her personal property.

Moreover, the normal expenses of Linxi Pavilion must be accounted for through the public account.

"I have a thousand taels here," He Hongwen said.

Upon hearing this, Qi Heng and the others all looked at He Hongwen. Given the He family's wealth, it was nothing for He Hongwen to be able to come up with this much money.

Grandma He usually treats wealthy women. Although she doesn't give them money directly, the gifts she gives them are quite valuable.

Secondly, the He family also runs a medicinal herb business, so they are naturally quite wealthy.

But it's quite astonishing that someone would carry so much money just for a trip.

Even Qi Heng only brought five hundred taels with him.

He Hongwen said somewhat embarrassedly, "I heard that there are some precious medicinal herbs at the market, so I thought I'd bring more money so I can buy some if the price is right."

As a family with a long history in medicine, collecting rare medicinal herbs is essential.

Those powerful and wealthy families might acquire some rare medicinal herbs, but these are mostly tonics, and the variety is not comprehensive.

"Then I'll borrow Brother He's."

The others were scattered, but He Hongwen and his group together were enough.

"Brother He, if you see anything you want to buy, you can still buy it. I'll go back and get the money later," Qi Heng said.

"Um!"

He Hongwen nodded and handed the silver note to Qi Heng.

Qi Heng took the silver note and approached the Su brothers, saying, "Brother Zizhan, what is the final price of this calligraphy?"

"I negotiated with the shopkeeper for 1,200 taels, but the shopkeeper refused to budge," Su Shi said.

"That's perfect. I have a thousand taels here. Brother Zizhan, buy the calligraphy first, and we can talk again when it's convenient for us!" Qi Heng handed over the money.

"good!"

Su Shi didn't stand on ceremony. He had already gotten the money back from his brother, so he took Qi Heng's silver notes and handed them to the shopkeeper.

After receiving the money and verifying that everything was correct, the shopkeeper put away the calligraphy in front of Su Shi and placed it in a wooden box.

"Sir, please take this."

The shopkeeper handed the wooden box to Su Shi with a smile.

The price of this calligraphy is a bit inflated; otherwise, with so many people watching, someone would have bought it long ago.

In calligraphy and painting, being good is one thing, but you also need to be famous.

It's not exactly a top-tier work, and it wasn't promoted or endorsed. We don't know who wrote it, so its value is naturally low.

Only by virtue of its reputation as the best calligrapher in the field can it command this price.

Actually, he had already put it up for sale when the market opened last time, but the highest price he offered was only six hundred taels.

He originally planned that if no one bought it this time, he would wait until the imperial examination next year to put it up for sale again.

At that time, countless scholars will flock to Bianjing, and there will be no shortage of gullible people to patronize.

I didn't expect it to actually sell today.

Even if we hold onto this price until next year's imperial examination, it will be close to its peak.

Su Shi did not accept the money, but instead looked at Qi Heng and said, "Yuan Ruo contributed the most money, so you should take it for now."

"Brother Zizhan is truly a gentleman!"

Qi Heng praised it and accepted the wooden box without refusing.

"There's a teahouse over there, shall we go over and have a chat?" Qi Heng said with a smile.

"good!"

Su Shi nodded in agreement.

"Young Master!"

This is not about pushing through the crowd.

"Go to that teahouse over there and get two private rooms. We'll be right there," Qi Heng instructed.

"Yes!" Buwei replied and hurried away.

Qi Heng introduced Sheng Changbai and the others, and Su Shi also introduced his younger brother Su Zhe to everyone.

Then the group chatted as they walked toward the teahouse.

Through Su Shi's account, Qi Heng learned that the three of them, father and sons, had come to the capital to participate in the imperial examination the following year.

At the beginning of this year, the father and his two sons set off from Meizhou in Sichuan for a study tour, and only arrived in Bianjing yesterday.

Upon learning that the Daxiangguo Temple was opening today, he dragged his younger brother along to join in the fun.

In ancient times, it was not uncommon for people to set off for the imperial examinations more than a year in advance.

The imperial examination was extremely important for scholars; as the saying goes, "Having learned both literary and martial arts skills, one can serve the emperor."

Passing the imperial examination with flying colors is one of the four great joys in life.

The ancients also had their own wisdom. If one were to travel at the last minute, not to mention the unexpected situations on the road, even if one arrived in Bianjing, one might not be able to adapt to the local environment.

Therefore, families who could afford it would go to Beijing early.

However, generally speaking, they would depart in the second half of the previous year and arrive in Bianjing a few months in advance.

However, it's normal for the father and his two sons to travel and study a little earlier than planned.

Sheng Changbai and the others were somewhat surprised to hear that Su Shi and his two sons had taken the imperial examination.

It was not uncommon for brothers to take the imperial examinations together, but it was quite rare for fathers and sons to do so together.

The Su brothers looked to be in their early twenties, while their father was around forty.

It's not uncommon for someone of that age to take the imperial examinations, but at that age, they would definitely fail repeatedly. They would be too busy studying to supervise their son.

Only Qi Heng, who knew the truth, was not surprised by this.

During their casual conversation, Qi Heng also paid attention to the Su brothers.

He discovered that Su Shi was a free-spirited and easygoing person who was very sociable.

Su Zhe, on the other hand, was more composed. The two were not far apart in age, and if one did not know this, Su Zhe would seem more like the older brother based on first impressions alone.