Danyang Academy.
The Wubei Institute was one of the Academy's three major divisions. Its disciplines included archery and horsemanship, unarmed combat, civil engineering and machinery, military strategy and command, and more, chiefly intended to expand the Imperial Court's military capabilities. Its students were almost all men; even its campus belle was an effeminate fellow. That was also why, across the Academy's three institutes, only Wang He and Zisu were known as the twin beauties.
At noon, Xu Hunli, acclaimed as a gold-medal broker, stood in the Wubei Institute's exhibition hall, introducing various Dharma Artifact models to an eagerly watching Zisu:
"This dagger is called Dove's Kiss, the championship-winning work from the late-autumn assessment in the Jian'an Eighth Year. Its form, design, and ingenuity are beyond reproach. Dragoncloud Valley once offered ten thousand taels of silver for the dagger's design plans alone, and the Academy still couldn't bear to sell them..."
"Dragon Fang, white saint essence gold, black profound gold... wouldn't that be a bit expensive to make...?"
"Come now, Young Master Xie is commissioning Dharma Artifacts for you and your aunt. Would anything cheap do justice to his current reputation? With the name 'Xie Jinhuan' sitting right here, I would be embarrassed even to mention ordinary goods worth less than a hundred thousand taels..."
"A hundred thousand taels?"
"Just for the design and workmanship. Materials aren't included..."
"What?! Old Xu, you're fleecing your regulars..."
"Ah, killing living creatures incurs karmic consequences..."
Upstairs, Xie Jinhuan was also browsing all manner of objects in a hall filled with exhibits.
The Academy was an orthodox Confucian institution and ought to have regarded money as dirt, but for scholars in this world, nobody would listen to their reasoning unless they had some real abilities to their name.
On top of that, it had