In the Tang Dynasty, when singing and dancing were flourishing, entertainment culture made brilliant achievements, and at the same time, the worth of stars was pushed to its peak. The business of official brothels was booming, kabuki became a popular profession, and it became fashionable to associate with famous prostitutes. Scenes of prostitutes can often be seen in Tang poetry. As this trend of comparison becomes more and more intense, the appearance fees of prostitutes will increase accordingly. But you can’t imagine that in the Tang Dynasty, there was an extremely expensive assassin. To take a look, you had to pay one hundred taels of silver, which is equivalent to 40,000 yuan in today’s RMB!
Take a look at 40,000 yuan, which is enough for a working-class person to earn a year's salary. Will anyone pay a visit? The buddies of the Tang Dynasty were so forthright and generous that they all flocked to them like ducks! There was a man named Liu Tan who tried his best to meet this ***, and only through bribery and trusting connections did he agree to meet. But just to lift the curtain and take a look, it costs one hundred taels of silver. There were countless famous prostitutes in the Tang Dynasty who were excellent in both sex and art, such as Hongxian Nu, Liu Caichun, Liu Tainiang, Zhang Haohao, Xue Tao, etc. Even the famous prostitute Wei Fang, a wealthy second-generation eunuch, Yan Lingbin, Zheng Juju, and even Li Yongxin, a famous prostitute in Jiangxi who even Longji admired, didn't have such a big reputation. Good wine is not afraid of deep alleys. This beauty is Tian Shuixian, a famous prostitute in Nanqu!
The open minds of the emperors of the Tang Dynasty could accommodate hundreds of rivers. Li Shimin once used female prostitutes to get married, and the Turks retreated without a fight. According to Han Yu's "Records of Shunzong II", "Guiyou came out of the harem and taught 600 female prostitutes." It can be seen how many female prostitutes there were at that time, and the founding of the Tang Dynasty was divided between the contributions of these unknown prostitutes. Not open. But in Li Shimin's eyes, the status of these people is just an item, with no worth at all. So, how much was the net worth of prostitutes in the Tang Dynasty? We might as well refer to historical documents: Xin Wenfang's "The Biography of Talented Scholars of the Tang Dynasty" records the story of Cui Ya's poems affecting the net worth of prostitutes. The value of the poem suddenly increases, and if it is destroyed, the chariots and horses will disappear." In the "Ci Yongshi" in the volume of "Yunxi Youyi", "Every time a poem is written in a shop, it will be recited on Qulu, and the chariots will be praised. "If the horse comes, the cup will be lost." From this, we can see that the value of the Tang Dynasty poets was somewhat influenced by the poets. Singing Tang poetry can make oneself famous, and it also promotes the poets. This tacit relationship seems to have achieved a win-win situation, with poetry culture and entertainment culture blending together.
This makes me think of the reason why the great poet Li Bai was not ashamed but proud of traveling with prostitutes. He pays homage to Xie An, a famous general of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and there is a singing prostitute beside him who is shy and pretentious, "taking the prostitute to the east of Tushan, I feel sad and sad to thank Xie An. My prostitute is like the flower moon today, while the other prostitute's ancient tombs are barren and the grass is cold." This is such a profound metaphor. Li Bai could not escape the secular spring heart. When Li Bai was released by Li Longji's daughter, it is said that after leaving Chang'an City, he and Du Fu spent all the money in one night. How did he spend so much money? It was obviously used for entertainment consumption. There are also many people who believe that Li Bai traveled around the mountains and rivers and had no money, so he often donated poems to pay for his performance, such as "Yang Rebel", "Gift to Beauty on the Moshang", "Gift to Duan Qiniang", all of which were given as gifts** * of poetry. Although Du Fu was poor and miserable throughout his life, the two poems "Bringing a Prostitute to Enjoy the Coolness in the Rain at Night" proved that Du Fu was also arty. Du Mu also felt this and wrote "Remembering". Yangzhou *** made him very sentimental. Bai Juyi was not out of date. He was very comfortable visiting Taihu Lake and prostitutes. In the preface to "Luo Bin on March 3rd", he described in detail the scene where poets gathered and played with prostitutes. Even Liu Yuxi was present and could not escape the blame. This party will definitely cost a lot, but the appearance fee for the *** will not be that high. After all, it is a group party.
Brother Tianshui is the darling of the world. According to the Tang Dynasty? For Xi Jiu, she was generous and fierce. At that time, she was virtuous and elegant, because her voice was valuable. "This woman was not only good at singing and dancing, but also eloquent. Scholars and scholars came to visit her, but they could only listen to her music. Prices have been raised, so many people have no chance to meet. How beautiful is this famous prostitute? Let's take a look at the poem given by Zheng Xiufan, the right historian, "How can Yan blow down to the Taiqing, and the jade skin is helpless and light as six bahts. Although I know it is not Liuxia drinking, I am willing to listen to the sound of thunder and harp." The fairy song of Tianshui is like a fairy, where in the world I have to see you several times. It is said that Liu Tan, the second generation of rich people, was the beloved son of Yongning Prime Minister Guo Ye. After winning the imperial examination, he entered Chang'an in splendor, carrying dozens of jewelry, dozens of cars, and dozens of famous horses. I heard that Brother Tian Shuixian had a high reputation and was even more articulate than him, but I didn’t know how ugly he was until I met him. Liu Tan, who was sixteen or seventeen years old, was at a competitive age. He approached Zheng Xiufan to negotiate and asked Brother Tian Shuixian to come in the name of official business, but to no avail many times. Therefore, Liu Tan kept sending gifts, but Tian Shuixian always refused to meet him because he had something to do. Zheng Xiufan advised him to give up the idea, but Liu Tan didn't listen to the advice and wanted to see Brother Tian Shuixian, but he still couldn't invite him. In desperation, Liu Tan spent a lot of money to contact the officials of the Ministry of Revenue. It was really difficult to meet Brother Tian Shuixian, but the real difficulty was yet to come.
"At that time, there was Li Quan, an official of the Ministry of Household Affairs, who lived in the house and was able to control the prostitutes. When Qin heard about it, he summoned him and gave him two catties of gold, flowers and silver. Quan was greedy for her. He went straight into the song, chased Tianshui into the chariot, and went to the banquet. When he arrived, he was disheveled, with tears streaming down his face. Li Quan, a government official, lives in Beili and is in charge of the official brothels in this area. He can subdue all the prostitutes.
With his consent, Liu Tan entered Nanqu from the alley and inquired about Brother Tian Shuixian. He was surrounded by people and came to the banquet place together. The exhaustion along the way made him haggard, but Brother Tian Shuixian just raised the curtain to take a look and returned immediately. This time the cost was about one hundred taels of silver. According to the current silver price, which is about 34.6 US dollars per ounce, each gram is about 7 yuan, and the price of one tael of silver is about 350 yuan. So, isn’t one hundred taels of silver about 40,000 yuan?
*** like Brother Tian Shuixian are rare after all. How many people can come close to such a high price? The normal charging standards for *** are also mentioned in "Kitasato Chronicles". The third brothel in Pingkangli charges by candle time for *** to accompany guests, or to play, sing, dance or play drinking games. A candle is lit. Finished, the fee is 300 yuan. Three hundred Wen is three taels of silver, which is equivalent to more than one thousand yuan in RMB. In addition, there are also age and regional differences in ***'s worth. For example, in the early, middle and late Tang Dynasty, the bustling city of Chang'an and the remote areas were certainly not the same.
However, a sky-high price like Brother Tianshui, at 40,000 yuan, is the highest in history. Even Su San, a well-known drama character, is not worth such a high price! History is sometimes like a drama. It is a pity that Li Bai, Du Fu, and Bai Juyi did not meet Tian Shuixian by chance. If they were really destined to meet each other, maybe the sky-high price would be priceless!