A doctor who travels through two eras

The Southern Three Palaces in the southeast corner of the Forbidden City.

The South Three Palaces were originally the residence of Qing Dynasty princes when they were young. Emperors Jiaqing, Daoguang, and Xianfeng all lived here before they ascended the throne.

For a considerable period after liberation, this place temporarily became one of the warehouses because the underground storage of the Forbidden City was not built.

When Lin Sanqi followed Dean Wu into the South Third Institute, he found that the courtyard was full of withered weeds, which were drifting in the cold wind, and a chill ran straight to his head.

Lin Sanqi shrank his neck and said:
"Dean Wu, this place is really desolate. In operas, it's often sung about being banished to the cold palace. This must be the place."

Dean Wu burst into laughter upon hearing this:
"Commissioner Lin, you've misunderstood. There isn't actually a special 'cold palace' inside the Forbidden City."

The so-called "cold palace" was often a place where a concubine had fallen out of favor or been punished and was confined to her quarters. Outsiders were unwilling to visit her, so the place where the concubine lived was deserted and was called the "cold palace."

"Even within our Forbidden City, there are many palaces far more desolate than this. Our entire museum staff only has a little over three hundred people. Managing an ancient imperial palace that required tens of thousands of people is simply beyond our capabilities and extremely difficult."

Lin Sanqi nodded slightly on the surface, but he knew in his heart that if the other party mentioned difficulties, he would most likely have to bleed money again.

But he came here this time to ask for a favor. He wanted to take cultural relics out of the Forbidden City. The last person was Puyi, and the next one is him, Lin Sanqi, so he will definitely have to make some sacrifices.

"Director Wu, all organizations across the country are facing difficulties right now, and I see the difficulties your Palace Museum is going through and I'm very worried about them. Let's see if there's anything I can do to help; I'll do my best without hesitation."

Director Wu and the other staff members from the Palace Museum administration office laughed when they heard this.

They knew that openly asking for aid would be too unseemly, so they decided to first help Commissioner Lin get things done, and do it well, before they could make any demands.

"Commissioner Lin, please come in. Our South Third Warehouse is filled with all kinds of furniture and royal ceremonial items, including the Wan Gong sedan chair you requested."

At this point, Mr. Xu, who was mainly responsible for the safekeeping of the South Third Warehouse, reminded him:
"The sedan chair is indeed in the warehouse, but the wedding of Emperor Guangxu and Empress Longyu was held in 1889, more than 70 years ago. Three dynasties have changed hands, so maintenance and upkeep have been impossible to mention. Therefore..."

Lin Sanqi understood. The Wan Gong sedan chair was simply a sedan chair made of wood. No matter how precious the wood was, it could easily fall apart if not properly stored.

This is trouble.

"Let's go in and take a look. If this 'Ten Thousand Craftsman' sedan chair doesn't work, I'll go to other places and think of a solution."

Lin Sanqi was thinking that the Zhejiang Provincial Museum had another one available, but he couldn't borrow it in 2016, and now he still couldn't borrow it in 1964.
Dean Wu became anxious upon hearing this. If the Wan Gong sedan chair could not be provided, this God of Wealth would not continue to support the Palace Museum for no reason. In that case, it would be like letting a cooked duck fly away.

Thinking of this, Dean Wu whispered a few words to a staff member, who then hurriedly ran out.

The heavy wooden doors of the South Three Palaces opened with a creaking sound, just like something out of a TV drama.

As soon as Lin Sanqi entered, he smelled a musty odor, and dust was everywhere in the room under the sunlight.

Lin Sanqi secretly thought to himself, "This is bad."

Sure enough, once her eyes adjusted to the light in the room, all that appeared before Lin Sanqi was a drab, gray piece of furniture.

The literal meaning of "ash".

At this time of year in the north, winter is all yellow sand, and pedestrians have to wear a thin veil on their heads.

Dean Wu was also very embarrassed when he saw it. After liberation, people didn't care much about cultural relics, and among all cultural relics, furniture was treated like garbage.

So he quickly took on the role of tour guide, preparing to steer the conversation:

"Commissioner Lin, our Palace Museum currently has a collection of over ten thousand pieces of Ming and Qing dynasty furniture, of which more than a thousand are definitively from the Ming dynasty."

These pieces of furniture include everything from beds, chairs, stools, tables, chests, cabinets, screens, and pedestals to nearly five hundred pieces of both Japanese and Western furniture.

The materials include rosewood, huanghuali, padauk, ironwood, ebony, chicken wing wood, ebony, and nanmu.

Apart from some pieces made by the imperial workshops, the vast majority of these furniture pieces came from all over the country, with the styles of Guangzhou, Beijing, Suzhou, and Shanxi being the most famous.

Lin Sanqi sneezed a few times and said with some regret:
"Oh dear, these royal tables, chairs and benches are nice, but look, this, this..." Everyone looked and found that all the furniture on site was dusty and drab, lacking any of the grandeur and color of royal furniture, and was just piled up haphazardly.

Dean Wu looked at Master Xu with a hint of reproach.

Master Xu also knew that whether this young man was satisfied or not today was related to whether all the employees of the Palace Museum could have a good New Year.

If the Third Institute of South China messed this up, all the staff in the institute would skin him alive. So he hurriedly took off his cotton coat and ran to a large table.

"Commissioner Lin, all of these furniture pieces are in good condition. We've thrown the damaged ones into the Jingshan warehouse. All the furniture in the South Third Compound was personally selected by me, and it's absolutely usable. You can see for yourself."

Master Xu wiped the table surface with his cotton-padded coat, immediately revealing a faint golden yellow color underneath.

"Commissioner Lin, look, this is a round table made of nanmu wood."

Look at the unique design of this table. It has a high, tapering waist and three curved legs, with ruyi-shaped scrolls that flip up and down like banana leaves. And look at the edge of the table, which is painted with two five-clawed golden dragons. This is for the use of the royal family.

It's just been sitting in a warehouse, covered in dust, and the paint has peeled off because it's a centuries-old building. Just a few coats of clear varnish, and it'll be absolutely gleaming in the sunlight.

Lin Sanqi is now practically an antique dealer himself, and upon hearing that it was a nanmu wood table, he quickly ran over.

"Master Xu, is this Phoebe zhennan wood?"

Master Xu nodded emphatically:
"Yes, it's Phoebe zhennan wood. Commissioner Lin, look, it's all well-preserved. This area is full of Phoebe zhennan wood furniture, and over there it's all sandalwood, and over there, that's made of rosewood."

Lin Sanqi wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth, his eyes darting around even faster.

Seeing that the situation had taken a turn for the better, Dean Wu patted his chest as if relieved and quickly urged:

"Old Xu, Commissioner Lin came to see the Wan Gong sedan chair. Why are you bringing up the nanmu wood table? It's not like it's anything valuable."

Lin Sanqi turned around in surprise and glanced at the director of the Palace Museum, thinking to himself, "Brother, this is a golden nanmu wood table, and you're saying it's worthless?"

No wonder the artifacts in the Ming Dingling Mausoleum were eventually left in a mess, and even the golden nanmu coffin board of Emperor Wanli was thrown into a ravine (and later could not be found).
So it seems that cultural relics workers at this time really didn't pay any attention to wooden furniture?
"Dean Wu, may I ask which university you graduated from? Have you always worked in the cultural relics system?"

Dean Wu was puzzled, but still proudly stated:
"I graduated from Shanghai Law School in 1927, which is now East China University of Political Science and Law."

He joined the revolution before liberation, served as political commissar in several units, and even served as the president of the East China People's Revolutionary University. He was quite the veteran revolutionary.

Lin Sanqi thought to himself, "No wonder, it turns out he's not a leader from the cultural relics system."

At this time, the cadres were very responsible, but they were laymen when it came to professional matters and had no idea how to manage them.

But it's a good opportunity to bully laymen...

Master Xu then led everyone to the last side hall.

Upon opening the door, Lin Sanqi saw various sedan chairs displayed in the center of the room, all covered in dust, which did not seem to be the emperor's sedan chairs he had imagined.

"Dean Wu, Master Xu, is this the emperor's sedan chair? How come it's like this?"

"It's that simple, right?"

Dean Wu and the staff members next to him chuckled:

"Commissioner Lin, what you are looking at is called a sedan chair, which is the vehicle the emperor used when traveling within the palace. It can be roughly divided into four types: ceremonial sedan chair, walking sedan chair, light walking sedan chair, and convenient sedan chair."

The sedan chair had no curtains. In winter, a sable saddlecloth was placed on the seat, while in summer, a bright yellow satin cushion was used. The use of the sedan chair was strictly regulated according to the different occasions.

However, since it was only a very short ride within the palace, it was usually just four people on one cart, so it was simple.

Lin Sanqi understood. This was essentially like a shuttle bus within a scenic area—convenience was key; luxury wasn't necessary. (End of Chapter)