Entering the shop with the copper coin pattern carved on the door, you will see an open space of six or seven square meters as soon as you enter. Walking further inside, you will see a high horizontal wooden counter cut off from east to west, with wooden railings on it and only one in the middle. A small hole just enough to expose the head.
There was a middle-aged man with a mustache sitting inside, thinking about his calculations at the counter. He should be the shopkeeper of the bank.
There were two tall young men standing behind him, standing upright on both sides. They should be like guards. After all, it is a bank. There is a lot of money in circulation, and they are afraid that some people will have wrong ideas, like Later generations also robbed banks.
Qingyan felt that these two were not necessarily the only ones in this bank, and there were probably more in the future. Otherwise, if there was an emergency, these two would not be able to protect them.
Sure enough, Chou Chou sent a message to Qingyan: "I'm going! There are eight or nine big men living in such a small courtyard!"
Qingyan had a clear look on her face. Sure enough, these two were only on the surface. If something happened, six or seven of them would come out after shouting.
The front counter is so big that it can't accommodate so many people.
Behind the counter is a cabinet with copper nails, and some drawers are even covered with copper sheets. They must be where silver and banknotes are stored.
Qingyan put the silver note with the note written on it on the counter and said, "Shopkeeper, I want to exchange the money."
The shopkeeper raised his eyes and glanced at Qingyan. He didn't ask her to get proof of identity, fill in a form or ask questions like the bank staff of later generations.
He took the banknote and looked it up and down carefully, and asked: "Should it be redeemed directly for fifty taels of silver, or should it be redeemed in pieces?"
Qingyan smiled and said, "Can you exchange it into three 1-tael ingots, and the rest into one-tael ingots? I'm going out to buy something for my money later."
The shopkeeper nodded, "Okay, wait a moment."
After saying that, he stood up and walked to the cabinet behind him, opened the drawer, took out the silver coins, and placed them directly on the tray on the cabinet.
He brought it to the counter and pushed it out, letting Qingyan take the silver by herself.
Qingyan reached out and picked up a 10-tael piece. She turned it over and found that it was indeed less than a pound. The current pound should be sixteen taels. These ten taels of silver were only more than 300 grams.
Although the weight is lighter, the exchange for copper coins is still the same. One tael of silver is worth one thousand copper plates. Most of the copper plates used now are Kaiyuan Tongbao or Hanyuan Tongbao. If the purchasing power is converted into money for later generations, it is almost more than one thousand, which is relatively high. .
When Qingyan went shopping with some old ladies before, she knew the prices here. You can buy white flour for five cents, and cereals for only two or three cents per pound.
One tael of silver is equivalent to a thousand copper plates, and its purchasing power is already very powerful.
Qingyan first put all the silver coins in her shoulder bag, and her casual action made the two big men behind her look sideways.
After leaving the bank and walking a few steps forward, he sent a message to Chou Chou, asking him to leave two taels of silver in his satchel and put the rest into his space.
Anyway, it is with you, and you can ask for it at any time when you need it, so as to avoid encountering pickpockets on the road and being taken away by others.
In these troubled times, pickpockets are not uncommon, so it's better to be careful.
While collecting money, Chou Chou said to Qing Yan: "Actually, you could just exchange gold for silver in that bank. This kind of bank can usually help customers exchange money."
Qingyan shook her head and said: "Forget it, look at where the two tall and powerful men in the bank are standing. It makes you feel uneasy. It's better to take the formal route.
Seeing her saying this, Chou Chou said no more.
They first went to the cloth shop they had visited before, and bought a piece of autumn-colored silk and satin there. The color was bright and elegant, and they were going to give it to my mother when she went back to find a tailor shop in Hong Kong City to make clothes.
The silks and satins at this time were not like those of later generations. Many of them were woven by machines, and they were really expensive. This one cost her ten taels of silver!
At this price, I feel like the fifty taels I exchanged is not enough.
After that, I didn’t buy any fabric anymore. I just bought ready-made clothes. I didn’t buy any more satin ones. I just bought ordinary cotton and linen ones.
The clothes at this time were still in the style of the Tang Dynasty. Men's clothes were not very good-looking, with round necks, but women's clothes were really attractive.
Qingyan bought five sets in total, one for herself, one for her mother, and one for her grandma, grandma, and aunt. They are all more accepting of new things, and they will definitely wear them when they buy them.
As for my cousin and aunt, forget it. Even though they usually speak very openly, they are very conservative when it comes to dressing. They only wear the same clothes that are everywhere on the street and like to follow the crowd.
Unlike my grandma and grandma, they like to be unconventional, especially my grandma and mother who often go to Hong Kong City. Once there, they really let themselves go. They wear slim-fitting cheongsams with high slits every day.
Every time my grandfather and father had to follow me, they were afraid of being pried into the corner, and they wanted to hold a needle in their hands and sew up the slit.
Grandma and aunt usually like ancient costumes and often wear simple versions of Tang suits. I like cheongsam or Hanfu very much. I think I was brought up by my mother. She often spends time with them and brainwashes them, so my ideas are not so rigid.
After buying clothes and cloth, I went to the embroidery shop to buy some embroidery products. I spent nearly twenty taels of silver on these alone!
No way, these things are indeed precious. It is said that the embroidery and silk came from Wuyue. It is a long distance and cross-border. The cost is understandable.
After that, I went to a powder shop and bought some rouge and gouache in small porcelain jars. I definitely wouldn’t use these things, so I just gave them back as gifts. They looked good, like handicrafts, and they were indeed antiques.
But it is indeed not good for the skin. Rouge is fine, but gouache is fine.
Her mother said that ancient gouache also contained excessive amounts of lead and mercury.
After buying these things, I went to buy some handicrafts, and forget about food. There was really nothing delicious at this time.
There were only a few pastries, which smelled quite fragrant, but Qingyan looked like they were similar to those from a certain Xiangcun in later generations, and they were not as soft as those made by others.
When she was almost at the end of her shopping trip, she saw a bookstore and Qingyan stopped by to take a look.
To be honest, it was incomparable with later bookstores. There were only a few books, all in handwritten form, and there were no prices on them.
The waiter inside might have seen her as a woman, but she wasn't dressed in a fashionable way and didn't even say hello.
Instead, he kept his eyes on her, fearing that she would damage the book.
After looking around, Qingyan picked out a travel book and asked the clerk, "How can I sell this book?"
The clerk stood up in surprise, took the book from Qingyan's hand, looked at her carefully, and looked back at her as he walked towards the counter.
I asked the shopkeeper at the counter. The shopkeeper took one look and said, "One tael of silver."
Qingyan was stunned. Such a thin book cost more than a thousand yuan!
I can’t blame many poor students in ancient times who couldn’t afford to study!
(End of chapter)
