Speaking of talented women in Huaxia's history, three names might come to mind for many:

Xie Daoyun, Lin Huiyin, and.....

Li Qingzhao.

Whether it's [The flowers drift, the water flows. A kind of longing, two places of leisure sorrow. This feeling has no solution. Just off the brow, yet onto the heart].

Or [Things remain, but people have changed, everything is over, I want to speak but tears come first].

Or [Born to be a hero among people, die to be a hero as a ghost].

The extent to which these phrases are sung in later generations is high, even if you've only graduated high school for years, upon reflection, you might not recite the whole text, but can vaguely recall a few lines.

Of course.

As a science student, Xu Yun's knowledge of Xiaoli is probably limited to this.

Also, this girl was known as Layman Yi'an, married to Zhao Mingcheng, and once made the bold move of abandoning the city to escape.

Later, Xiaoli remarried a jerk named Zhang Ruzhou and even made the first historical report against her husband for corruption.....

As for how old Xiaoli is this year, whether she's married to Zhao Mingcheng, or when she passed away, Xu Yun doesn't know.

However, Xu Yun did follow a Song Dynasty novel back then, so he vaguely remembers that Xiaoli's father, Old Li, seemed to have been dismissed shortly after Su Shi passed away, when Xiaoli was not yet twenty.

So, if you estimate like this, Xiaoli might be just over ten years old now?

She must be a truly flower-like young girl.....

Of course.

The above statement is just a sigh; Xu Yun has no improper thoughts about this girl just because of Li Qingzhao's fame.

Not to mention that he will disappear in the future, even if he could stay in this era forever, could Xiaoli really fall for him?

After all, this girl is a talented woman, what we now call an artistic young woman, without some knowledge in his belly, it would be impossible to touch her heart.

Xu Yun's level of research on poetry is just a bit higher than Jia Qianqian's. Although he has many works that can be "plagiarized" in his mind, making poems and lyrics in this era is a complicated matter.

Matched pairs, meaning of words, poem titles, objects of recitation, these are actually random and rigid requirements.

Maybe with some dumb luck, Xu Yun might happen to get one or two right, but if he does it too often, he's bound to slip up.

Asking Xu Yun to recite "Guo family in the ditch indulges, the bride must marry" is fine, but using that stuff to woo women, he has neither the ability nor the inclination.

Women, how can they be more fun than discussing the mysteries of the world with Old Su?

All in all.

With such admiration of historical figures in mind, Xu Yun set off with Yongzhu and others.

In the Song Dynasty, Bianjing was said to have a population of a million, supporting an entire city with one nation, the most prosperous in history.

But in reality.

The million included ten suburbs around Bianjing, which were like satellite cities.

The population of the entire Bianjing urban area was about over five hundred thousand, less than the Tang Dynasty's Chang'an.

But don't think this number is small; in ancient society, this was almost one of the peaks of population.

Currently, Bianjing doesn't have many tall buildings; the tallest is the famous Fan Building.

At that time, Wang Anshi stood on the fifth floor of Fan Building and could 'overlook Bianjing,' indicating that Bianjing's buildings were mainly low-rise and small groups of buildings.

But in stark contrast to these low-rise building clusters was the bustling city life within Bianjing City.

Previously mentioned.

Song people of this era generally weren't used to cooking in the morning. The wealthy families sent servants to purchase breakfast, while ordinary people liked to go out and randomly find a small stall to fill their stomachs.

Therefore, at this time, Bianjing was almost filled with the cries of breakfast sales in every street and alley.

"New wine's here, new wine's here!"

"Here, we have thirst-quenching drinks; you can sit and rest for a while, one cent for a big bowl!"

"Lamb fried cake, top-quality lamb fried cake, six cents each, two for only eleven cents!"

"Stir-fried jelly, stir-fried jelly, anyone want? Just five cents per serving!"

The prices in the Northern Song Dynasty have always been a very controversial and interesting topic in later generations, because over the span of the Song Dynasty, the purchasing power of the same currency was completely different.

How big was this fluctuation?

The same penny had a difference of 50 times between its low value and peak value in purchasing power!

However, the reason for this situation is largely attributed to the Jingkang incident; in the current year 1100, the purchasing power of Copper Coins, although slightly depreciated compared to the early Song, was still in a relatively normal range.

Readers who have attended elementary school should all know a formula:

One thousand Copper Coins= one thousand Wen.

Zhang San once told Xu Yun that his salary was four thousand coins per month, which converts to four thousand Copper Coins.

The salary of other servants in the mansion was three thousand, that is, three thousand cents.

Therefore, at this time, the price level in Bianjing was somewhat similar to that of domestic prefecture-level cities before 2008—monthly salaries were generally three thousand, with a meat bun costing six, and stir-fried noodles five.

A servant like Zhang San would have a salary of about four thousand, similar to a civil servant.

However, with a mother and sister to support and subsidize, his pocket wasn't very loose.

Of course.

This is only a very simple comparison, and can't be seriously converted like this.

After all, each era's productivity is different; salt, which is cheap and abundant in later generations, could be as valuable as meat in ancient times.

On a related note.

At this time, a Prime Minister's salary, when converted to today, was about 3.6 million Huaxia Coins.

Returning the view to reality.

Besides the bustling food stalls, the streets were also filled with lots of other vendors:

Those performing tricks, fortune-tellers, those carrying goods with shoulder poles, amateur herbalists, etc...

Looking at this lush and strongly ancient scene in front of him, Xu Yun felt full of emotion.

Actually, he has indeed seen more bustling scenes in later generations:

A few years ago, he went to the Bund in Shanghai during the national holiday, and the scene was much more bustling than Bianjing.

It's said that at that time, millions of people gathered on the several kilometers of the Bund.

But different from the noise of cars in Shanghai...or rather in later times.

Bianjing City at present was filled with a unique ancient Huaxia aura.

Scholars in azure robes, ordinary people in plain clothes, elders in fine garments, women in colorful dresses...

All sorts of ancient and classical Huaxia ancestors shuttled to and fro, giving Xu Yun a shock and cleansing from bloodline and spirit.

This was his first true encounter with Bianjing and this era.

He witnessed for the first time what is called...

The most prosperous era.

Afterward, the group walked for a while, and as the sun rose, Xu Yun and the others began to sweat unconsciously.

When passing by a stall, Xu Yun suddenly turned his eyes:

"Brother Yongzhu, it's hot now, and we have plenty of time.

How about I treat you all to a drink of sour plum soup in the store."

The journey between the Li Mansion and the Su Mansion was more than ten li, considering the time spent verifying the books, Old Su had specially given them three hours for the affair, so they indeed had ample time.

As for the money for the treat.....

Although Xu Yun had not yet received his 'pay,' he did bring some small gold and silver when he transmigrated.

Converting roughly, it was enough to cover seven or eight years of Zhang San's earnings.

At the time, Old Su had generously returned these pieces of gold and silver to him, so Xu Yun was quite confident in his ability to treat.

Yongzhu, leading, stopped in his tracks, looked up at the sky, and said with some interest:

"Alright, let's rest for a moment, Wang Mazi, you're making us spend."

"Hey, what's a little spending? At most, a few cents."

Xu Yun said with a smile as he walked into the shop and said to the shopkeeper:

"Shopkeeper, four bowls of sour plum soup, please!"

The owner of the shop was a lean and dark old man. Hearing this, he quickly greeted:

"Alright, welcome inside, guests!"

A moment later.

The old man came up with a wooden tray, placing four bowls of sour plum soup in front of them one by one.

Xu Yun's act of treating was half to build relationships and half because he was really thirsty.

So seeing the sour plum soup served, he quickly picked up a ceramic bowl and took a big gulp.

The tang of the plum exploded in his mouth, and along with it came a.....

refreshing hint.

That's right.

The sour plum soup is chilled!

....

Note:

To avoid being called excessive, let's first mention that this chapter, including the previous chapters involving the self-priming pump, will all tie together in later plots, though I won't spoil the details. (Well, I kind of already did.)

So if readers find something unused when the dungeon ends, feel free to demand a refund from me.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.