Chapter 8

As the sun gradually set and was about to sink below the horizon, the business at the Panlou Street market for antiques and calligraphy was just beginning. As the street lamps lit up, Panlou Street, which had been a street of snacks during the day, transformed back into a gathering place for various treasures, artworks, and curios. The street was filled with officials, nobles, wealthy merchants, and literati who had nothing better to do and came to seek some precious antiques and curios.

As the saying goes, in times of chaos, people buy gold; in times of peace, they collect antiques. Just by looking at the prosperity of Panlou Street, one could tell that the Song Dynasty was at its peak. If it weren't for foresight, no one would have thought that a great calamity would come in just over twenty years.

However, Wu Dalang, who had such foresight, had no time to think about the calamity of the Jingkang era, because his Wu Family Painting Studio was currently facing a major crisis. If he couldn't get through it, he might end up with nothing, even worse off than the Wu Dalang who sold steamed buns.

Perhaps because of the continuous "fake painting scandal," the Wu Family Painting Studio had almost no customers tonight. Wu Dalang sat in a corner of the shop, drinking alone.

Feng Erniang and Wu Haowen had returned to their house in Tianshui Lane, and Liu Wujie was nowhere to be found. The only one left in the shop was Wu Dalang. The shop had two floors, with the second floor being Wu Dalang's bedroom and studio. After the night market on Panlou Street ended, he usually slept in the shop.

However, Wu Dalang was sure he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. He knew that the Wu Family had nothing valuable enough to interest someone like Wang Shen!

But the person had already set his sights on him and wouldn't let go...

This was a real problem!

Lifting his wine bowl, Wu Dalang was about to drink it all in one go when he saw two men dressed as Taoist priests enter the shop.

"Brother Dalang, why are you drinking alone?"

"Brother Dalang, are you angry at that scoundrel Zhao Sanhei?"

Wu Dalang, with blurred vision from the alcohol, looked at the two men. They were his drinking buddies, Liu Daoshi and Guo Baxian.

Liu Daoshi was actually Liu Wujie. Guo Baxian's real name was Guo Jing, not the Guo Jing from the novels, but he was also a tall, muscular man with a dark complexion. He was a soldier in the Imperial Guard, a cavalryman under the Second Command of the Tianwu Army. He also worked part-time as a fortune-teller in the Panlou and Macheng streets and as a private broker for calligraphy and paintings...

Here, it's worth noting that private brokers (yaren) were rampant in the Song Dynasty, and about seven or eight out of ten people on Panlou Street were part-time private brokers. Private brokers didn't need a shop, a deposit, or an official identity card, so it was a business with almost no capital required, which naturally attracted many people. However, with so many people doing it, making money was difficult.

Wu Cheng, a licensed broker for calligraphy and paintings, was a prominent merchant and wouldn't go around soliciting business on the street, so he had a large group of private brokers of various sizes helping him. Guo Jing and Liu Wujie were two of these smaller private brokers and had a good relationship with Wu Dalang.

"It's Guo Sanlang and Liu Xiaoyi," Wu Dalang waved to the guests, "Sit down and have a drink with me."

Guo Baxian and Liu Daoshi exchanged a bitter smile, sat down on either side of Wu Dalang, and Guo Baxian said in a rough voice, "Brother Dalang, I heard from Liu Xiaoyi that you were bullied by Zhao Sanhei and extorted for over seven thousand strings of cash?"

He hadn't come to Panlou Street during the day but had gone to the military camp... He was a cavalryman in the Imperial Guard, so he had to go to the camp to put on a show, like Pan Dagu. However, his horsemanship was better than Pan Dagu's, and he hadn't fallen off, but he still found an excuse to take leave.

He lowered his voice, "Brother Dalang, you can't give him the money... If you have a thousand strings of cash, I'll find a few brothers in the Imperial Guard to take care of Zhao Sanhei!"

Wu Dalang burped, "Don't cause trouble.

My family is being watched, so we need to be careful. As long as we can have a month of peace, spending more money is fine."

"But seven thousand two hundred strings of cash is a lot..." Liu Daoshi said, "I wonder how many ordination certificates you could buy with that."

In the Song Dynasty, ordination certificates were also a kind of financial instrument, and they were sold in Pan Dagu's "bank," but they were not cheap. Without a windfall, Liu Wujie didn't know how long it would take to buy a Taoist identity.

Guo Jing and Liu Wujie, who had been helping the Wu Family Painting Studio, knew that Wu Shicheng and Wu Haogu had the ability to forge paintings and make a fortune.

Moreover, the Wu Family was clearly in trouble, and it was likely that they wouldn't be able to stand in the calligraphy and painting business in Kaifeng for long, at least not to run a painting studio independently. If the Wu Family had to leave the capital, they would need to make a big fortune before leaving.

With a large sum of money, the Wu Family could obtain a "peace charm" from the Pan family, and they could start over elsewhere, continuing their family business in calligraphy and paintings.

This windfall was also an opportunity for Guo Jing and Liu Wujie. So when Guo Jing returned to Panlou Street from the military camp and heard about Wu Dalang's encounter in the evening, he immediately thought of the idea of forging paintings to make money.

This was probably the only way out for Wu Haogu now.

Exchanging a glance with Guo Jing, Liu Wujie continued, "Brother Dalang, seven thousand two hundred strings of cash is a lot. It might not be much for your family in the past, but now... Do you see any customers coming to the studio?"

"So what? The business of calligraphy and paintings is like this: no business for three years, but one deal can last for three years. With my skills, seven thousand two hundred strings of cash is not a big deal. Even if you add the eighteen thousand strings of cash due to the palace, it's not impossible to raise."

After saying this, Wu Dalang laughed and burped, making Guo Jing and Liu Wujie feel that the opportunity was right in front of them.

Guo Jing said, "Brother Dalang, we know your skills. Your imitation of the Huang family's opulence can pass for the real thing, and your white-line sketches in the style of Wu Daozi are also quite good..."

Wu Dalang, who had been drinking a lot and was a bit dazed, suddenly became more alert when he heard Guo Jing's words. His hazy eyes showed a hint of caution, and he reached out to grab Guo Jing's arm.

"Guo Sanlang, are you trying to harm me?"

"Harmed? What do you mean?"

Guo Jing was taken aback and immediately asked.

"Guo Sanlang, don't you know my family is being watched? If we give them another handle..."

Wu Dalang looked at his two friends with a piercing gaze.

They were friends, but only drinking buddies.

"Hey, how could we give them a handle?" Guo Jing laughed, "We're not asking you to do it in your own studio."

Liu Wujie also said, "We can sell them at Daxiangguo Temple and the ghost market at the East Cross Street. You don't have to show your face. I and Guo San will handle it, and it will be done properly."

Kaifeng had more than one market for calligraphy and paintings; there were three in total.

Panlou Street was the largest and most regulated market. The merchants there, like Wu Shicheng, were mostly seated merchants who had connections with the Imperial Academy of Painting and the Bureau of Calligraphy and Art, and they could get high-quality goods, even if they were forgeries, they were of high quality.

The market at Daxiangguo Temple was combined with the temple fair and opened eight times a month, on the first, fifteenth, and every third and eighth day. It wasn't just for calligraphy and paintings but for all kinds of goods, and there were also performances and acrobatics. It was a large, regularly open market. The quality of calligraphy and paintings sold there varied, and most were crude forgeries, but sometimes there were a few high-quality pieces. These high-quality pieces mainly came from retired officials who quietly sold them at Daxiangguo Temple to avoid attracting attention.

However, the value of calligraphy and paintings sold at Daxiangguo Temple, even if they were high-quality (not necessarily genuine), was usually not very high. The truly high-value pieces, if not sold at Panlou Street, would appear at the ghost market on East Cross Street.

The "ghost market" referred to a trading method where buyers and sellers did not meet face-to-face. Many teahouses on East Cross Street were locations for ghost market transactions, which usually opened at the fifth watch (around 4 a.m.) and closed at dawn. The goods traded there were often of dubious origin and not suitable for public display, such as calligraphy and paintings. The buyers were all experts in the field, and Wu Dalang and Wu Shicheng were regulars at East Cross Street.

If Wu Dalang wanted to forge paintings now, he could only sell them at Daxiangguo Temple and the ghost market on East Cross Street.

Moreover, forging paintings was the only way for Wu Dalang to make a quick fortune in the short term... With money, he could leave Kaifeng, go to Yangzhou to settle down, and then buy property in Hangzhou after Fang La's rebellion, likely surviving the future turmoil.

So Wu Haogu had already planned this.

"My family and Pan Dagu are old friends," Wu Dalang looked at his two drinking buddies and said, "If we really can't keep our business, we can still rely on the Pan family."

This was just to scare Guo Jing and Liu Wujie. Pan Dagu was not the head of the Pan family; he was only a low-ranking official. If the "big villain" who was targeting the Wu family really wanted to take action, Pan Dagu wouldn't be of much help.

However, a single word from Pan Dagu could make Guo Jing and Liu Wujie disappear from the streets of Kaifeng forever!

So as long as the Wu family father and son were alive, they could rely on Pan Dagu's protection. If Guo Jing and Liu Wujie dared to harm Wu Dalang, they would be the ones in trouble.

"Of course, of course," Guo Jing said without changing his expression, "Actually, that's not a big deal. With your skills, Brother Dalang, a few thousand or tens of thousands of strings of cash are easy to come by. Without the burden of a shop, life would be even more carefree."

"That's true," Liu Wujie also said, "Isn't the manager of the Pan family's pawnshop living a carefree life?"

The Pan family's pawnshop was affiliated with the gold, silver, silk, and paper money exchange shop, mainly lending to the calligraphy and painting market on Panlou Street. It naturally needed experts to appraise the goods, and the manager Liu Wujie mentioned was a great expert!

His name was Li Tang, one of the "Four Masters of the Southern Song," and his works are displayed in the Palace Museum (both in Taipei and Beijing)—Panlou Street truly had many hidden talents!

"Indeed," seeing Guo Jing and Liu Wujie's reactions, Wu Dalang no longer had any doubts—he was now a bit paranoid, seeing everyone as a "big villain" sent to harm him.

"Just the three of us won't be enough," Wu Dalang released Guo Jing's arm and thought, "We need to bring in the monk. The four of us together, this business will thrive."

The monk's surname was Fu, and he was currently a small monk at Daxiangguo Temple. Before becoming a monk, he had also hung around Panlou Street and Macheng Street, and he had known Wu Dalang, Guo Jing, and Liu Wujie since childhood. They had a good relationship. Recently, he had become a disciple of a senior monk called "Burnt Pig Temple," and he seemed to have a bit of authority. Bringing him in, Wu Haogu could rent a monk's room at Daxiangguo Temple to forge paintings quietly.

Having made up his mind, Wu Dalang said to Guo Jing and Liu Wujie, "Brother San, Brother Wu, I have something here. Take it to the monk at Daxiangguo Temple and tell him I'll move in with him in three days."

"Alright, we'll go right away," Guo Jing replied with a smile.

Liu Wujie nodded, "Brother Dalang, from now on, we'll follow you. Just tell us what to do."

"Good," Wu Dalang nodded at the two, "From now on, we'll share the good times and the bad."

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