According to historical records, during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, one tael of silver could buy two taels of rice of average quality. At that time, one or two ounces of rice was about 94.4 kilograms, and one or two ounces of silver could buy 188.8 kilograms of rice, which was 377.6 kilograms. At present, the rice eaten by ordinary families in China is between 5 yuan and 2 yuan per catty1. Based on the median price 1.75 yuan, it can be calculated that one or two pieces of silver in the Ming Dynasty = 660.8 yuan.

The conversion reference is as follows:

Due to the different monetary value of silver in different dynasties, the common equivalent exchange method is generally used to calculate the value of ancient coins. For China people, rice is an eternal commodity for people's livelihood. According to the record of rice price in Taiping years, the monetary value of silver can be roughly obtained by rough calculation.

Because the story of A Dream of Red Mansions is set in the Qing Dynasty, but the living conditions are set in the Ming Dynasty, let's calculate the silver value of the Ming Dynasty. Granny Liu is of course very happy to get more than 13 thousand yuan in the New Year. Guo Jing, on the other hand, spent more than 12,000 yuan for a meal, still in a small place like Zhangjiakou, which is too exaggerated. Even if Guo Jing is stupid again, he was born in poverty, so it is impossible for him not to know the value of money, and it is even more impossible for Huang Rong to be killed by the store. ?

If these two pieces of silver were obtained in the Tang Dynasty, the purchasing power would be higher. During the Zhenguan period of Emperor Taizong, material civilization was extremely rich. A barrel of rice costs only 5p. Usually, one or two pieces of silver can be converted into 1 0,000 copper coins (also called consistency), and you can buy 200 buckets of rice, and 10 bucket is 20 stones. A stone in the Tang Dynasty was about 59 kilograms. At today's average rice price 1.75 yuan a catty, one stone. During the Kaiyuan period of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, the price of rice rose to 10, which was also one or two pieces of silver = 2065 yuan. 50 Liang is 103250 yuan.