Chapter 50: Gold-and-Silver Inlaid Four Dragons Four Phoenixes Copper Artifact

Bai Yang rummaged through his warehouse; everything were some modern snacks he sold in his shop. Usually he fed Da Wang, who was just like that, only liking a few cheese-flavored small snacks, indicating that these goods he stocked weren't very appealing to royal children either. They sell well also because food doesn't produce astronomical conversion differences across the myriad worlds; people from other realms mostly buy them out of sheer curiosity, just to try something new.

"How many days will your second brother stay in Youzhou? Can I make it back in time to give him a few of our little trinkets? How old is he?"

Da Wang's eyes lit up. Exactly!

"How could he not stay a few days to rest? But Youzhou is so poor, he definitely won't stay long. As for Bai Li Heng, he's twelve. His maternal family is the richest in the world; he's seen and eaten too much, so ordinary things probably won't do. Let me tell you, the empress wouldn't even use Ziwei Jin, but my second brother uses it as curtains…" So, Da Wang was extremely enthusiastic about eating at his second brother's wealthy household.

"Twelve years old—exactly the age of adolescent rebellion." Bai Yang thought it would be easy to entertain him; in the modern flashy world, finding a little trinket to amuse a twelve‑year‑old ancient… crown prince reserve, should be a breeze, right?

Not sure, let me think again.

Arriving at the vacant lot where he'd set up his stall yesterday, Da Wang skillfully unfolded his bed canopy and piled the few leftover trinkets from yesterday into the corners.

Then… then, he took out a huge bronze vessel from the warehouse!

Bai Yang sucked in a breath!

That was a splendid bronze table about half a meter on each side!

Its full name is the Gold‑and‑Silver Inlaid Four Dragons Four Phoenixes Copper Artifact.

At a glance it's exquisite and luxurious, featuring dragons, phoenixes, and even plum blossom deer—clearly a product of the imperial household.

Bai Yang was stunned at first sight, his eyes locked on it.

The luxurious gold‑and‑silver inlaid surface, the casting and inlay work are top‑notch, intricate and exquisite—truly a masterpiece of craftsmanship.

Unlike unearthed bronze artifacts from later ages, which have lost their former splendor after a thousand years of oxidation, this piece remains perfectly pristine.

Da Wang hadn't succeeded in restocking today, but he'd already set his eyes on this artifact beforehand—after all, he'd given Bai Yang an internally made bronze incense burner, which Bai Yang quite liked.

When we moved before, we left many heavy items behind, agreeing to use them later at the old mansion—look, we're back living there now, aren't we?

Having nothing to sell, Da Wang fixed his gaze on this bronze vessel. "Besides looking good, does it have any other use?" "No!" "What about for sacrifices?" "Oh, he's so poor he'd use a wooden table for sacrifices; surely the spirits would understand.

So Da Wang felt justified in selling his family's assets.

Bai Yang walked around it twice, took a deep breath, and said, "If no one bids over fifty thousand yuanbao, I'll take it! I'll bring it back as an heirloom for my descendants!" He couldn't take it out to sell for a big profit; keeping it as the Bai clan's family treasure would also be good.

If this item were taken out for instrumental testing, it would register as two thousand years old; he'd already tested that small incense burner, and it's amazing how the myriad worlds work—clearly an object made a few years ago by Da Wang in the Great Jin, yet when he brought it back to the present and tested it, the reading showed two thousand years ago.

The incense burner is still a small thing; the immortal crane lacks such deep imperial markings, so it caused no stir. But if this four‑dragons‑four‑phoenixes copper artifact were taken out, it would surely end up straight in a museum.

But he still liked it.

Da Wang was stunned by the quote—fifty thousand yuanbao, which is fifty thousand taels of silver?!

Da Wang's eyes sparkled; when he came from Chang'an, the Internal Affairs Office had also brought a few artisans along. Should we make a batch to sell? Even if the materials aren't cheap—requiring copper plus gold and silver—with five hundred thousand taels he could easily make… a dozen or so!

"Is there really someone who'd bid fifty thousand?"

"Anyway, if no one bids that amount, I'll buy it myself."

After they'd displayed it for a while and many people came and went, finally a middle‑aged man stood before the artifact and asked, "Is this… a ritual vessel?"

Da Wang firmly replied, "It's a ritual vessel that hasn't yet been used to sacrifice to the spirits—brand new!" "You can use it as soon as you take it home."

That middle‑aged man's eyes flickered; he knew a bit of Qi Observation Technique, and this artifact actually had a thread of purple qi coiled around it. It wasn't an imperial object, but also came from someone of the Grand Fortune Dao.

"How much for it?"

Da Wang tentatively reached out a hand; the man shook his head. "Five hundred thousand? Too expensive."

Da Wang was dumbfounded.

He'd added an extra digit.

"Then… how much can you go up to? I'm waiting to spend yuanbao…"

"I can only go up to three hundred thousand at most."

Da Wang's heart burst with joy, but after watching Bai Yang sell stoneware bowls yesterday at the crowd, he'd also learned quite a bit.

Da Wang also winced in pain, reluctant to look at the copper artifact one more time: "I'm also doing a task… oh well, I'll sell it!"

Bai Yang: "…He's picking up the trade awfully fast."

The man paid happily; three hundred thousand yuanbao arrived in Da Wang's card, and the man took away the copper artifact.

Da Wang was overjoyed: "Bai Ge, Bai Ge, three hundred thousand!"

Bai Yang felt great pity: "Look, there are still people who know value; in the Myriad Worlds Homestead, hidden talents abound, and those with the strength to throw money around are everywhere."

Da Wang repeatedly counted the balance on his card: "Don't be upset; later I'll have the mansion's artisans make you an exact copy."

Bai Yang's mood instantly cleared up.

Da Wang's card balance reached 302,030 yuanbao—enough to stockpile grain!

"Bai Ge, you don't lack grain back home, right? Is your grain expensive?"

Bai Yang calculated the difference between yuanbao and his local currency: one yuanbao equals about a hundred units; if buying rice and flour in bulk, it's roughly one unit per catty, and aged rice is even cheaper.

Da Wang asked, "How old is the aged rice?"

"Last year's."

"That hardly counts as aged."

When Da Wang went on patrol, he'd eaten millet from three years ago at a local household—fine‑ground millet the family themselves hated to eat. Normally they ate husked foxtail millet; can you believe it? Only when a child fell ill would they cook porridge with hulled millet; to say more would just bring tears.

Learning that the staple foods of the Great Jin are millet and wheat, with foxtail millet next, Bai Yang felt quite troubled.

"Wheat's fine—flour is easy to buy; I mean I can get milled wheat flour for one unit per catty. Millet and foxtail millet are obsolete coarse grains, planted less, yielding less, more expensive than fine grains; better to buy rice and flour. If you're stockpiling for disaster relief or soldiers' rations, I recommend aged rice—just as edible and cheaper. Your side's food definitely isn't as good as our aged rice."

"Who says otherwise?"

Da Wang had never even eaten the grain the government previously issued to laborers; meanwhile, the private resale of grain was booming, with rumors that one dou of white rice could be exchanged for over ten dou of foxtail millet.

Da Wang racked his brains over the grain price difference with the Great Jin, but… buying in the south also meant travel fatigue, and there was a risk of being robbed if he wasn't careful.

Zhao Chuan had just set out; the exact expenses would have to wait until they returned to be calculated.

Sending too many people to escort the shipment would also consume resources; no matter how you look at it, it's most convenient to ask Bai Yang to do the buying.

Storing just one type of grain only takes up one spot in the warehouse—how convenient!

After all, these 300,000 came easily, and even the great king doesn't mind spending them.