Reborn Treasure Appraiser: I Really Didn’t Want to Be an Expert

Chapter 76: Another overturn in the verdict?

At eight o'clock, Lin Sicheng arrived at school on time, and the teacher and student also took the time to eat a bowl of spicy soup.

At ten minutes before nine, the city council arrived. Guan Xingmin and two section chiefs were waiting downstairs early.

As soon as the two got out of the car, Guan Xingmin came up to them quickly: "Professor Wang, thank you for your hard work!"

Wang Qizhi half-jokingly said, "Director Guan, I didn't have to work that hard last time. It was Lin Sicheng who had to work hard!"

Guan Xingmin, knowing the elegant meaning of the music, immediately assured: "Secretary Wang, you can rest assured. No one will get the credit for the achievements. The leaders are remembering it all!"

As he said this, he gave Lin Sicheng a reassuring look.

While chatting and laughing, the group entered the building.

Wang Qizhi was known for his decisiveness, never delaying work until he could get there. He rejected Guan Xingmin's suggestion to "go to the reception room for a cup of tea first" and went straight to the forensic room, changing into his white coat as soon as he entered.

Lin Sicheng assisted, and the section chief and the previous female police officer were still taking notes, accompanied by Guan Xingmin.

All the evidence was laid out on the long table, more than twenty pieces of evidence, large and small. A casual glance at it made the teacher and student's eyes suddenly light up:
In the middle of the long table stood an object about half a meter high, dark green in color, and shaped like a wine jar.

There is also a tiger standing on the top of the "wine jar".

No one said anything, and the two of them took a step forward and walked over.

First they looked, then they touched, then they knocked, and they even picked it up together and looked at the bottom.

Then, the teacher and student looked at each other in silence.

It’s actually... true?
I’ve broadened my horizons: I can actually see national treasures here?
This item is at least from the Han Dynasty or before. If it was unearthed in a tomb, the owner of the tomb must have been at least a local lord. For example, an identical item was unearthed in the Mancheng Han Tombs, the tomb of Liu Sheng, the King of Zhongshan and ancestor of Liu Bei.

Crucially, only about twenty similar artifacts have been unearthed from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Han Dynasty. Without exception, all have been preserved without oxygen. Those displayed in museums are all replicas.

So where did this bottle come from?

The key point is, how could it turn out like this after washing?
The two of them looked solemn and silent. Guan Xingmin was thinking that there might be something wrong with this thing again, and his heart began to beat fast. Only then did Wang Qizhi let out a sigh of relief:

"Broad shoulders, narrow waist, flat top, straight mouth!"

Lin Sicheng also nodded: "The bottom is decorated with interlocking cloud patterns, it should be a ritual vessel!"

Wang Qizhi: "The tiger-shaped 錞 (a type of 錞) originated from the Zhou Dynasty and was used for sacrifices, ceremonies, and battlefield command!"

Lin Sicheng: "The original piece was inlaid with gold, and the gold decoration was extremely dense. Later, the gold decoration was pried off and the rust was washed away. However, the acid was too strong and the decoration was completely destroyed."

Wang Qizhi picked up the magnifying glass again and looked back and forth: "What's the era, Qin or Han?"

Lin Sicheng also lowered his head. "The shoulder and the ring have string belts, with three leaves at the bottom. The cloud pattern is connected with the cloud and thunder pattern with six oblique sides... It should be from the Western Han Dynasty, and the early Han Dynasty!"

The teacher and the student chatted back and forth, while the section chief and the policewoman took notes non-stop. After they finished taking notes, they looked at the information again and secretly praised it: it was almost word for word.

In the early Han Dynasty, the gold inlay technique was used. However, the rust-cleaning solution was too acidic, which washed away most of the gold inlay grooves and surface patterns.

What surprised them was: It’s not surprising that the teacher could see it, can the students’ eyesight be so sharp?
Even, it feels like I'm a little bit stronger than the teacher...?

Lin Sicheng took another look and asked, "Director Guan, where did you dig it from?"

"Longshouyuan!"

Wow, the Weiyang Palace... Combined with the early Han Dynasty: was it specially used to perform ritual music for Liu Bang?

The national treasure among national treasures!

In this case, the crime is even more serious: not only did they steal the ruins of the Western Han Dynasty palace, but they also washed the national treasure like this. Wouldn't the sewing machine be stepped on to make smoke?

"How many years was the principal offender sentenced to?"

"Judgment?"

Guan Xingmin made a gun gesture.

Lin Sicheng was startled, and his heart moved. He looked at Wang Qizhi.

Wang Qizhi thought about it for a moment and shook his head.

As the saying goes, the turtle and the mung bean, although the master and the apprentice have not been together for a long time, they have a first-class understanding.

Lin Sicheng: Teacher, can this thing replenish our body?

Wang Qizhi: I can make up for it, but it takes too much time and there is not much benefit. I can’t sell it either. I may get some honor, but at most the Public Security Bureau and the museum will each give me a certificate!
You might as well add a few more pieces of porcelain...

Lin Sicheng nodded. "That's right. It would be better to send it directly to the Provincial Museum, where there are many experts." Guan Xingmin didn't understand what the teacher and student were talking about. He didn't know that a great achievement had been lost before his eyes.

Without choosing any more, the two of them looked down and found that there were quite a lot of good things.

A bronze statue of Guanyin with wavy hair, her robes edged with gold thread. The folds of the garments are hammered, with fine pleats, flowing and natural, clearly reflecting the "Wu Dai Dang Feng" style.

The head is almost silvery white, indicating that the tin content is extremely high, at least 20%. The lower part is yellow, almost like gold, and the tin content is obviously lower, at most 10%.

This is a typical casting feature of the Shaofujian of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. It has extremely high artistic content and craftsmanship level, and it also represents an extremely high amount of money involved.

There is also a curved-handle pot from the Song Dynasty and three high-relief bronze mirrors from the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. Although they are not official works, they are of high artistic standard.

After looking at a few more pieces, the master and the disciple breathed a sigh of relief: What is this... a bronze bell?

It's no wonder the two were so surprised, because this thing is even rarer than the previous one, and only four bottles have been unearthed in the entire country.

The first three jars are Qin Gong bi unearthed in Baoji, and are now collected in a national first-class museum, Baoji Bronze Institute, which is where Professor Wang used to work.

The latter was unearthed from the more famous tomb of Zeng Hou Yi: there were 54 chime bells and only one bi.

This thing has two functions: one is for sacrifice, and the other is to tune all musical instruments. It can be said to be the ancestor of all music.

"The Book of Zhou": They played Huang Zhong, sang Dalü, and danced Yunmen to worship the gods in heaven... The so-called Huang Zhong refers to the bell.

If we must make a comparison: Bi is the elder brother, Bianzhong is the younger brother, and the Zun Chunyu before is the younger brother of the younger brothers...

Although they were both well-informed, they were still stunned. Their necks stretched forward at the same time.

As soon as Wang Qizhi put the magnifying glass closer, both the teacher and the student were stunned again.

In the middle of the bell, there are two inscriptions: Da Sheng.

Haha, was it imitated by Emperor Huizong of Song?

I was so scared that I thought the fifth bottle of "Bi" appeared?
The shape and size are the same, and the weight should be similar. Huizong even named it "Huang Zhong" himself, but history does not recognize it.

Because the pitch of this bell is half a tone higher than that of the bell, it is historically known as the "Da Sheng Chime Bells".

A lot of them were made at that time, with one set for each state, so there were thousands of bottles like this made.

Many of them have been unearthed. Because their main function is to "enforce laws", they are ritual vessels and have very high historical value.

Correspondingly, the sentence is also heavy. There is no doubt that if you dare to dig it up, you will definitely get more than fifteen years.

After a careful review, they found that the results were basically the same as the previous ones, so they continued with the appraisal.

After appraising a few more pieces, Lin Sicheng finally saw the Kangxi imitation Xuande furnace that Guan Xingmin had mentioned many times, and his spirits lifted.

The city appraisal showed it to be fake, the provincial department also certified it as fake, but the experts hired by the defendant's lawyer determined it to be authentic. There must be some explanation for this.

As his thoughts turned, he raised his magnifying glass and leaned forward to take a closer look:

Let’s first look at the shape of the vessel. It is a typical flat-mouthed, bulging-bellied, pressure-pressed sutra furnace. The furnace body is simple and smooth, the ring foot is outward-slanting, and there are three nipples cast inside. Although simple, it is stable.

Let’s look at the material: it has a firm and dense texture, with a hint of blue-gray in the reddish-red color, and brown spots in between.

This spot has a special name: Tangli spot.

The name sounds nice, but to put it bluntly, it is a flaw: the reason is that the formula was changed in the Qing Dynasty, the copper purity was lower than that of the Xuande furnace in the Ming Dynasty, impurities such as iron and sulfur increased, and uneven high-temperature oxidation was caused.

But the so-called flaws were only applicable at that time. Now, they have become one of the evidences of the imitation Xuande furnace of the "Three Dynasties of Qing Dynasty".

Continue reading: The whole body is gilded with gold, the thickness is uniform. Even though it has been buried for three hundred years and most of it has been corroded, the remaining parts are still as bright as new and shine like gold.

Look at the inscription again: Da Ming Xuan...Haha, what's this: There's one horizontal line missing on the heart of the character "德" (virtue)?
At first glance, a fake?

But on the contrary, precisely because of the lack of this horizontal line, this thing is much closer to being a genuine palace model.

Because there are two places where Kangxi made Xuande furnaces: one is one of the fourteen workshops of the Wuying Palace Workshop, the front is the furnace casting workshop, and the back is the copper casting workshop.

This piece should have been made from bronze. The character "德" (virtue) is missing a horizontal line, implying that the Ming Dynasty had no virtue.

But it existed for a short time. After Yongzheng ascended the throne, it was changed. Not many were produced. Even fewer are still in existence.

So, don't be fooled by the fact that this thing isn't very shiny and is a bit dirty. If it were genuine, four million would definitely not be enough, and the market price would probably be around six million.

Seeing this, the master and the disciple looked at each other: This is already half of the appraisal, why does it feel like this thing... is a bit like the real thing?
It’s impossible that the Municipal Bureau will overturn the verdict again?

(End of this chapter)