Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 613 Pawn Shop

Just as Lu Ping was about to lose his temper, Meng Jun stepped forward and said, "We understand, but wasn't it 10,000 taels before? Why is it 12,000 taels now?"

The shopkeeper then smiled and said, "Sir, you are indeed a connoisseur of goods. As for the price, it has naturally gone up. This shows that it is a good item, otherwise why would it go up in price? You will definitely not lose out if you buy it."

Meng Jun nodded and said, "Then I'll buy it. When can I see Master Yang?"

"Don't worry. After you buy the calligraphy and painting, our shop will give you a visiting card. Then you can take the visiting card to visit Mr. Yang."

Meng Jun stared at the shopkeeper, then suddenly smiled and said, "Okay, I'll buy this calligraphy."

"Okay, buddy, let me pack it up for the guest." When I say pack it up, he just casually took a thin rope to roll up the calligraphy and painting and tied a knot.

After Meng Jun finished speaking, he motioned to Lu Ping beside him to take out the money. Lu Ping was stunned and took out a handful of silver from his pocket. The expression on his face clearly asked, how could he come up with so much money.

Shen Congwen took out a silver note from his bosom. It was a bill of exchange from a money shop. Meng Jun saw the denomination was only five hundred taels.

This is a bit embarrassing. Meng Jun hasn't brought money with him when he went out for many years. He is not used to suddenly having to use money.

When the shopkeeper saw that several people had been searching their pockets for a long time before they took out a silver note for five hundred taels, his face suddenly fell.

I only heard the shopkeeper say in a sarcastic tone: "I thought you were a wealthy family. If you can't afford it, then please leave and stop occupying the land."

Meng Jun said in a deep voice: "I was in a hurry to go out today and forgot to bring money. I will have someone send the money over later. You can take this calligraphy with you first."

"No, the money and goods must be exchanged. This is a rule that has been in place since ancient times. Sir, please don't break the rules."

Meng Jun was forced into a corner and had to leave. In fact, there were many places to get money, whether it was from Qingluan Guard or the Maritime Customs, more than 10,000 taels of silver could be easily obtained. However, doing so might reveal his whereabouts.

Meng Jun gritted his teeth and asked Lu Ping to pawn the ring on his hand at the pawn shop. Today, Meng Jun must meet this Master Yang. He wanted to see how arrogant the Yang family was.

Lu Ping took the ring with both hands and ran to the pawnshop. This jade ring was of excellent quality and was a treasure from the palace. Lu Ping thought that it could be sold for at least 100,000 taels.

Lu Ping hurried to the pawnshop with the jade ring in his arms. Two clerks were sitting there bored. When they saw Lu Ping coming in, one of them stood up lazily, looked him up and down, and asked in a cold tone: "What are you pawning? Are you pawning it for death or redemption?"

Lu Ping took out his jade ring and said, "Of course I'm going to redeem it. Do I need money?"

Upon hearing this, the tall and thin waiter smiled and said, "So you are a distinguished guest. I am blind and ignorant. Please forgive me. What do you want to be?"

Lu Ping took out the jade ring. Just as the clerk was about to reach out to take it, Lu Ping immediately put it back into his arms.

The tall and thin waiter's eyes lit up. Although it was only a short time, he still saw that this must be a good thing, so the waiter smiled and said to Lu Ping: "Sir, this item must be carefully examined to know its value. If you don't let us see it, how can we be our servants?"

Lu Ping thought about it and agreed, so he handed the jade ring over. The clerk took the ring, held it in front of his eyes to look at it, and a hint of subtle surprise flashed across his face.

The guy chuckled and said, "It looks good."

Then he shouted into the inner room at the top of his voice: "Boss, come and have a look at this ring."

After a while, a fat, big-eared middle-aged man came out from the inner room leisurely. He was wearing a greasy robe and holding a small snuff bottle in his hand. He smoked as he walked. He looked really wealthy, and Lu Ping was a little dazed.

After the shopkeeper took the ring, he squinted his eyes and examined it carefully for a moment, then said, "The jade ring is fine. Five thousand taels for redemption, with 2% interest for ten days."

When Lu Ping heard this, he cursed in his heart: "He is indeed a scoundrel among scoundrels. He lowers the price of good things so much and charges such a high interest rate!"

Lu Ping took the ring back and said angrily, "This is a jade ring of excellent quality, a treasure in the palace, how could it be worth only five thousand taels? I tell you, it's not worth less than fifty thousand taels."

The fat shopkeeper snorted disdainfully, "Palace treasures? If you say so, then so? I've been in this business for decades, and I've seen everything. Although this ring has something special, it's not as rare as you say. Five thousand taels is not a small amount. If you think it's too little, then look for another dealer."

Lu Ping knew that the pawnshop was deliberately lowering the price. There was only one pawnshop on this street. Lu Ping said angrily, "I don't want to pawn my property anymore. I'll take a boat to Jinling to pawn it."

This frightened the people in the pawnshop. The owner's face changed. He had already made plans to give the ring to Mr. Yang. If it was lost, it would be a great loss.

So he quickly stretched out his hand to stop him, saying: "Hey, hey, hey, sir, don't be impulsive! If you have something to say, let's talk it over. Don't be so impatient if you ask for a high price."

After he finished speaking, the fat shopkeeper hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Twenty thousand taels, this is the highest price I can offer, not a cent more."

Lu Ping looked at the shopkeeper's distressed and reluctant expression, and cursed in his heart: "Swindler, twenty thousand taels is already a huge discount, and you are still pretending."

However, twenty thousand taels was enough for the emperor now. Anyway, business was more important. Lu Ping was in no mood to bargain with these profiteers, so he said coldly, "Okay, twenty thousand is twenty thousand. Come back to redeem the ring in ten days. You have to keep it safe. If anything goes wrong, you'll be in trouble!"

The pawnshop owner nodded hurriedly, and while instructing his clerk to go through the formalities, he secretly felt lucky that he did not let this great achievement go to waste.

Lu Ping took the silver note, pawned it, put it in his arms, turned around and strode out of the pawnshop, running towards where Meng Jun and others were staying.

When the shopkeeper saw Lu Ping leaving, he picked up the ring and couldn't help admiring it. He laughed and said, "Fool, you pawned this good thing for 20,000 taels. I have done a great deed. Go and get a high-quality box. I will present it to Master Yang immediately."

The tall and thin clerk heard this and asked hesitantly, "Boss, isn't this a pawnbroker? The time has come. What if that guy comes back to redeem it?"

The fat shopkeeper glanced at the waiter and said disdainfully, "Redemption? That's wishful thinking. In Songjiang, if our Yang Mansion takes a fancy to something, then it must be named Yang!"