A doctor who travels through two eras

At this moment, Master Xu shouted from the side:
"Commissioner Lin, the sedan chair you requested is over here."

Lin Sanqi was excited when he heard this and ran over quickly, but then he was shocked.

Even though the sedan chair in front of you is also covered in dust and dirt, anyone with eyes can see that its exquisite craftsmanship, enormous scale, and majestic presence are unparalleled.

Why is the word "magnificent" used to describe a sedan chair?

This is because the Wan Gong sedan chair is essentially a mobile palace, with its auspicious dragon and phoenix patterns and exquisite carvings, exuding a royal grandeur.

Lin Sanqi circled the sedan chair again and again, wanting to touch it but not daring to, for fear that the parts would fall apart in a while.

"Beautiful, so beautiful, damn it, this emperor really knows how to enjoy himself."

Master Xu was very pleased with Lin Sanqi's amazement; he enjoyed seeing others act like country bumpkins. He proudly introduced Lin Sanqi:

"Commissioner Lin, this is the imperial vermilion and gold lacquered wooden sedan chair with ten thousand craftsmen. Back then, Empress Longyu was carried into the palace through the Great Qing Gate in this sedan chair. It's the original."

The reason it's called the "Ten Thousand Craftsmanship Sedan Chair" is because one work hour is equivalent to one day. If one person were to make this sedan chair, it would take nearly 30 years, which is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and expensive.

This sedan chair is made without a single nail; instead, it is constructed from hundreds of movable wooden planks. Its true form is a red chair.

Which way does the bride come out from? Commissioner Lin, you can look this way. There's a door in front. Two sedan chair dismantlers need to dismantle the front door so the bride can come out. Ordinary people can't open it.

Commissioner Lin, don't be fooled by the current dull color. This Wan Gong sedan chair was originally a wooden carved sedan chair, painted with vermilion lacquer and gold leaf. It was decorated with layers of vermilion and gold carvings, and then embellished with embroidery, pearls, tassels, mirrors, and stained glass.

The entire sedan chair was resplendent and dazzling, like a precious shrine made of gold, exquisite and delicate.

Commissioner Lin, look again at the dragon and phoenix carved on the top of this sedan chair. Count them, isn't the dragon's claw five-clawed? Just based on this, we can tell everyone that this was used by the emperor and empress.

Moreover, our magnificent royal sedan chair is adorned with 36 five-clawed dragons and 18 phoenixes, distinguishing it from those found in common households. It can be said that only two such well-preserved royal sedan chairs exist in the entire country.

Lin Sanqi asked with emotion:

"With so many decorations, this sedan chair must be so heavy. How many people will it take to carry it?"

Master Xu smiled and said:
"This sedan chair is no ordinary sedan chair. It requires a full 36 people to carry it, and because it is so heavy, it also needs 36 spare sedan chair carriers. We change them every now and then."

Lin Sanqi was already fantasizing about Yin Lianyi sitting in this empress's sedan chair, carried by 36 people, walking down the street—how eye-catching that would be!

Just as he inadvertently touched the sedan chair, a part fell off, startling Lin Sanqi.

"Oh dear, what's going on? Is this sedan chair staged for an accident? I only bumped into it lightly."

Dean Wu suppressed a laugh, then bent down to pick up the wooden part and began to bluff:

"Commissioner Lin, you don't know, our Palace Museum has so many cultural relics that we simply can't protect them all. One problem is that we don't have enough manpower, and the other is that we don't have enough funding."

So as you can see, these two remaining Queen's sedan chairs in the world are just sitting in the warehouse collecting dust. In the long run, they will probably be ruined and have no cultural value whatsoever.

What a pity, what a pity, sigh..."

Lin Sanqi also felt it was a great pity. If a folk sedan chair made by ten thousand craftsmen could become the treasure of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum, then this Empress sedan chair made by ten thousand craftsmen should definitely be the treasure of the Palace Museum.
However, the Palace Museum never exhibited this Empress's sedan chair in 2016, so the most likely explanation is that this sedan chair was eventually destroyed and no longer exists.

"What a pity, what a pity, this is a national treasure."

Lin Sanqi shook his head and sighed, but at the same time, he was somewhat disappointed:

"It's a pity that the Empress's sedan chair is too old and worn out, and I need it soon. There's no time to make a new one. What a pity!"

Upon hearing this, Dean Wu quickly advised:

"Commissioner Lin, if you really need this Empress's sedan chair, it can be completely repaired. There's still time, there's still time."

Lin Sanqi was a little puzzled: "Didn't you say that this sedan chair would take 10,000 man-hours to repair, and that it would take forever to be fully restored?"

Dean Wu pulled out an old man with gray hair:
"Commissioner Lin, this is Lu Jiaci, the top restoration expert in our Palace Museum. Ask him, Old Lu, please explain."

Lu Jiaci had received a hint from Dean Wu to do everything possible to repair the Wan Gong sedan chair in the shortest possible time. Repairing it wasn't necessary to achieve a perfect restoration; after all, Lin Sanqi was an amateur, so all he could think about was how to get away with it.

Upon hearing that the person was a restoration expert, a true connoisseur of cultural relics, Lin Sanqi quickly greeted him.
"Hello, Master Lu!"

"Commissioner Lin, hello. If you want to restore this 'Ten Thousand Craftsmen's Sedan Chair,' just give me a month, and the entire Palace Museum will be fully engaged in the work. In addition, I will gather some fellow apprentices to come, and we will definitely be able to restore it."

Lin Sanqi asked again, puzzled, "How many people?"

Lu Jiaci replied, "With 200 people working at the same time, a month should be more than enough."

Lin Sanqi looked back at the sedan chair and couldn't imagine how more than 200 people could squeeze around it.

Lu Jiaci added the following explanation:

"Commissioner Lin, it's like this: this Empress's sedan chair can be disassembled. We'll take it apart into individual parts, repair it using traditional techniques, paint it, and then reassemble it."

"I'm not bragging, but only the Palace Museum would dare to dismantle such an elaborate imperial sedan chair, and then rebuild it."

Lin Sanqi nodded, knowing there was hope, and then asked another question:
"That whole restoration project must have been very expensive, right?"

Dean Wu gave Master Lu a light glance, and Master Lu quickly smiled and said:
"It's expensive, extremely expensive, because it requires a lot of gold, pearls, kingfisher feathers, agate, turquoise, rubies, and ivory materials, as well as filigree, kingfisher feather inlay, inlay, and stringing techniques."

In addition, all the paint used in the entire sedan chair needs to be extracted from minerals and plants. We do not use industrial paints, which would require a lot of cost. Fortunately, the Palace Museum has these raw materials in reserve.

So the 200 people I just mentioned are just one on-site staff member. In addition, there are hundreds more staff members to prepare materials and do a lot of preparatory work. Don't be fooled by the small sedan chair; the project is actually very large.

Besides, just one sedan chair isn't enough. We have a complete set of ceremonial regalia here, and we'll repair it all together. If we use that for a wedding, I wouldn't say it'll be unprecedented, but it'll definitely be the first of its kind ever."

Lin Sanqi was delighted to hear this. There was even a full set of ceremonial guards. This was an unexpected surprise. If he took this to another time and space, wouldn't he be incredibly majestic?

Although a month is a long time to repair, it is only a day in another timeline, so there is no problem with the time frame.

As for money, that's the last thing Lin Baiyi lacks.

But Lin Sanqi's appetite wasn't limited to just the Empress's sedan chair; his eyes were already fixed on the large amount of royal furniture inside the South Three Palaces.

The fact that even such a precious sedan chair was not preserved indicates that all the royal furniture in the South Third Warehouse will eventually be destroyed and used as firewood.

Rather than burning it and letting it disappear into the long river of history, it's better to let Lin Sanqi benefit from it.

"Ahem, Dean Wu, this is my first time coming to the capital. I not only need this Empress's sedan chair, but also a large amount of Ming and Qing dynasty furniture."

I see that you have quite a lot of furniture like this in the South Third Institute. This is a sandalwood throne with lotus carvings, a huanghuali wood five-panel mirror table with phoenix carvings, and this is a black lacquer bed with mother-of-pearl inlay and bird and flower patterns.

These are all good things, hehe, Dean Wu, look..."

Dean Wu was a shrewd man; he immediately understood the implied meaning and was then put in a difficult position.

The Palace Museum's artifacts are not for sale; this is an ironclad rule. Even damaged artifacts will eventually be stored in the Jingshan Warehouse.

Although some items were sold secretly, they were all small pieces. A complete set of royal furniture like this would never be allowed to leave the Palace Museum.

Therefore, Lin Sanqi's desire to purchase it is not something that the dean can decide on his own.

"Commissioner Lin, is it that you've taken a liking to the furniture in this house?"

Lin Sanqi nodded shyly, her face flushed, partly from embarrassment and partly from excitement.

Although he had acquired a lot of royal furniture made by the Imperial Household Department in the past, most of those belonged to princes or were bestowed by the emperor and ended up in the hands of ordinary people.

For example, the furniture in the Lin Family Ancestral Hall features a four-clawed dragon, which was used by a prince; there were no five-clawed dragons.

Furniture like this, from the imperial household, was sold in large quantities. Once it went up for auction, it would be priceless, a treasure among treasures.

Dean Wu tentatively asked:
"Commissioner Lin, what kind of furniture are you planning to buy? And at what price?" (End of Chapter)