Di Ming

Chapter 81 Shopkeeper
Ning Caiwei did not stop Zhu Yin. She knew Zhu Yin's personality.

Zhu Yin was a special agent serving the country, and his professional character made it impossible for him to ignore or turn a blind eye to this matter.

After all, the Ming Dynasty is also our motherland. How can we ignore it?
Regardless, there will be a thorn in his heart, and he will go against his original intention.

Moreover, Western powers such as Spain were carrying out colonial aggression in the East, and more than a decade later, they perpetrated the Dalunshan Massacre, in which tens of thousands of Chinese were massacred.

Spain had long colluded with the Japanese pirates, working together in concert.

Portugal still occupied Macau. Later, the Netherlands occupied Taiwan.

He found it difficult to remain uninvolved in the actions of the Western powers.

...

Zhu Yin gave a few instructions and first sent Kangxi to Xijinxiufang, where Jinyunfang was located.

Half an hour later, the quick-witted Emperor Kangxi returned.

"My lord, I've found out that the owner of Jinyunfang has several sons... but it's also rumored that Commander Zheng may have an illegitimate child..."

After learning about it, Zhu Yin changed into a magnificent outfit.

Then she drew her eyebrows thicker and straighter, and used rouge to thicken her lips and change the lip line.

Next, she mixed incense ash with face cream and applied a layer to her face.

Her originally fair and jade-like face immediately turned quite dark.

Finally, he mixed ink glue with incense ash and used it to dot two moles on his face.

It's incredibly realistic.

That wasn't all; he also changed into a larger pair of boots, padded them, and stuffed them full.

In an instant, he transformed from a delicate, fair-skinned nine-year-old boy into a twelve-year-old teenager.

The innocence in her eyes has also faded considerably.

He's three years older, has grown more than an inch taller, and his appearance has changed quite a bit.

His appearance suddenly became ordinary, and his temperament became mediocre and vulgar.

Disguise is an essential skill for secret agents. If the materials and conditions were sufficient, Zhu Yin could have disguised himself so well that even Ning Caiwei wouldn't recognize him at first glance.

Although the materials are rudimentary, this operation is enough to deceive those who are unfamiliar with them.

Next, Zhu Yin went to a nearby money exchange. He brought dozens of gold ingots and stamped the words "Jinyunfang" on the bottom of each ingot.

Then, taking Lancha and Kangxi with them, they rented a carriage and arrived at the county street again.

He pulled back the car curtain, seemingly casually observing the street outside the window, but his eyes were actually scanning like an eagle's.

At this moment, Zhu Yin felt as if he were the only one sober in a world of drunks.

This feeling is very uncomfortable.

However, he hated foreign spies. He hated even more traitorous spies who had been bought off by foreign powers.

At that time, the Anglo-Spanish War had not yet broken out, and Spain was still carrying out a large-scale conquest plan for the Ming Dynasty.

They would first invade the south, especially since Nanjing was the military and political center of the Ming Dynasty in the south. Therefore—

Therefore, their intelligence network in Nanjing must still be in the expansion phase.

According to the principles of intelligence strategy, this is inevitable.

Intelligence operations, one step ahead of war!
Launching a war of conquest against the Ming Dynasty, a powerful Eastern nation, would affect the global order, so Spain had to prepare intelligence.

Zhu Yin couldn't help but feel contempt for some people who were slow to understand.

These people would definitely think that the "Spanish spy" claim is alarmist and fabricated.

It's one thing for the ancients to be ignorant, after all, they had historical limitations.

However, many "elites" of later generations were equally ignorant.

Later generations, when they mentioned Spain's intelligence infiltration of the Ming Dynasty, would denounce it as "fake history".

He denounced the "fake history" to prove that he was the one who truly understood history.

They didn't understand the relevant Spanish history, and then they labeled others as promoting "pseudo-history".

Anything that is outside their knowledge framework (or not mentioned in textbooks) is pseudo-history.

The reasoning is that since the Ming Dynasty and Spain never fought a major war, how could Spain possibly have launched an intelligence infiltration against the Ming Dynasty? How could Spain possibly have had an intelligence network in the Ming Dynasty?
The logic is: if a thief's attempt to steal is interrupted and he suddenly abandons the theft, it means that the thief did not scout the location beforehand and did not prepare for the theft.

They denied Spain's past plans to invade the Ming Dynasty, considering it "fake history," and even the letter Matteo Ricci wrote to the Spanish suggesting a campaign against the Ming Dynasty was a fabricated "fake history."

Before condemning these "pseudo-historical" accounts, they didn't even bother to learn about the history of Spanish colonialism and diplomacy during that period, nor did they understand the interactions between Matteo Ricci and the Spanish colonial authorities.

Those are all historical materials with original records. How did they become "fake history"?

Is the Spanish history "The Great Chinese Empire" published in 1582 also a forgery?
Unreachable.

What they didn't know was that the war between Spain and Spain didn't break out, not because Spain didn't want to, but because the Spanish Armada had been destroyed, forcing them to back down.

Since no war broke out, the intelligence network became ineffective, leaving no obvious historical traces, and many people are unaware of it.

However, it cannot be assumed that Spanish intelligence intrusions never occurred in history.

Zhu Yin's mind raced, and he soon spotted the porcelain shop on the street: Tianqing Pavilion.

This is the heart of Nanjing, a bustling commercial street where storefronts are incredibly valuable.

The shops in this area are almost all high-end.

Tianqing Pavilion is a two-story building with three rooms on each side, and its facade is already quite impressive.

There are four large porcelain vases in a row at the entrance, each decorated with plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums.

The guests coming and going were all impeccably dressed.

Zhu Yin jumped off the carriage and led Lan Cha into the shop. The first thing they saw was a counter, with several elegant seats on the left where customers were drinking tea and looking at the goods.

Several waiters in blue robes and felt hats were busy in the shop. Seeing Zhu Yin enter, one of them immediately greeted him with a smile:

"Young sir, you have quite the grand style! This way, please!" "Please take a seat!"

"What kind of tea would you like, sir? West Lake Longjing, Xin'an Songluo, Huzhou Zisun, Xuancheng Caokui, or Yunnan Pu'er?"

Zhu Yin laughed and said, "I came to look at the porcelain. Did I accidentally wander into a teahouse? Then... Yunnan Pu'er tea."

The waiter was amused and said with a smile, "Young sir, you're quite the joker. Here comes the Pu'er tea."

As they were talking, a servant went to fetch tea.

Zhu Yin glanced around but didn't see the shop owner.

Could it be that the shop owner is upstairs?

On the right are rows of sandalwood shelves, including antique display shelves and long shelves, on which porcelain is arranged in a staggered manner.

It really is a big store.

Not only does it have porcelain from Jingdezhen, but also porcelain from Yiyang, Pingliang, Longquan, and many other famous porcelains from across the country, accounting for three out of ten.

Besides porcelain vases, there are also many everyday porcelain items.

But the prices weren't cheap. A simple Yiyang plate for everyday use cost five qian of silver. The cheapest set of wine vessels cost two liang!

But the goods are really good.

Zhu Yin looked around and asked, "Are there any better ones? I'd like to choose one as a gift."

"Yes, yes!" The manager smiled amiably. "Young sir, the samples downstairs are mostly everyday items. The porcelain upstairs are the finest treasures. They would certainly be suitable as gifts."

"Would you like to come upstairs?"

Zhu Yin hesitated for a moment, then said, "Let's go upstairs and take a look."

After saying that, he went upstairs.

The upstairs is even more elegantly decorated, with screens, calligraphy and paintings, bonsai and fish tanks adorning the space, and exquisite treasures displayed on mahogany display shelves.

Zhu Yin knew at a glance that some of them were antique porcelain.

The prices of these antique porcelains are beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Zhu Yin glanced at one item, then casually put it down, looked at another, and kept shaking his head. He muttered:

"Dad said that Song Dynasty Ding ware would also be fine. Is this piece of Ding ware correct?"

Suddenly a clear, deep voice said, "Young sir, would you like to order porcelain? Would you prefer it ordered from the north or the south?"

Before the words were finished, a middle-aged man with a fair complexion, tall and thin build, wearing a blue robe and gauze hat emerged from behind the screen with a gentle smile.

It was the shop owner who was suspected of being a foreign spy.

Zhu Yin turned his small face and asked in surprise, "Are you the owner of Tianqing Pavilion?"

The other man stroked his beard and smiled. "Indeed. Young friend, do you recognize me?"

Zhu Yin shook his head: "Although I do not know your name, judging from your demeanor, you must be the owner."

The shop owner nodded: "Young friend, you are indeed very mature. I am Hao Zheng, the owner of this shop."

Zhu Yin cupped his hands and said, "So it's Master Hao. May I ask, Master Hao, did you just say that Ding ware is divided into northern and southern styles?"

Hao Zheng smiled and said, "Of course. Ding ware was originally a northern porcelain, a famous kiln during the Song Dynasty. After the Jingkang Incident, the Song court moved south, and the Ding ware craftsmen followed suit and opened kilns in the south, which led to the establishment of Southern Ding ware."

Zhu Yin said with a sudden realization, "So that's how it is! Thank you for clearing up my doubts, sir. In that case, before the Northern Song Dynasty, it was the Northern Pacification, and after the Northern Song Dynasty, it was the Southern Pacification."

“That’s wrong.” Hao Zheng was very patient, seemingly very willing to discuss with Zhu Yin, this ‘young man’. “After the Northern Song Dynasty, Ding porcelain was still being produced in the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, and of course it was also Northern Ding porcelain.”

"It's not that after the Northern Song Dynasty, there was no more kiln firing in Beiding."

"However, whether it is the Northern Expedition or the Southern Expedition, and it is divided into the Song, Jin and Yuan dynasties, the rarity and the number of surviving pieces are different."

"There are very few surviving examples of the Northern Song Dynasty's Beiding, making it relatively the most precious."

He smiled and pointed to the Ding kiln brush washer in front of Zhu Yin, saying:

"This is Beiding during the reign of Emperor Huizong, more than 400 years ago. Don't underestimate this small brush washer, it is worth 300 gold (silver)."

"Young friend, would you like some? Our shop never sells counterfeit goods, and we never haggle. Haggling over antiques lowers their value."

“Three hundred taels…” Zhu Yin looked at the gentle, jade-like, and beautifully patinated Northern Song Dynasty brush washer with a bit of confusion, and said in a deep voice:

"My elders asked me to come and take a look on my way, but I don't know if this one will work."

"Is there anything better? I've heard of Ru ware, which is even more valuable than blue and white porcelain, Ding ware, and Jun ware?"

Hao Zheng shook his head with a wry smile, "It seems you don't know much about porcelain, young friend. A fortune of yours is not worth a single piece of Ru ware. How could our shop possibly possess such a treasure?"

"Ru ware is the best of the five types of porcelain. It uses agate as glaze and was only produced for more than 20 years during the reign of Emperor Huizong. After the Jingkang Incident, it was lost. You can't find more than ten pieces in the entire city of Nanjing."

"Young friend, are you buying this porcelain for collection and appreciation, or as a gift?"

Zhu Yin replied naturally, "My father wanted to deliver a gift, but he was still hungover, so I had to do it myself."

Hao Zhengdao asked, "Young friend, what is your elder's name? To whom do you wish to give this gift? I can advise you on the best gift; there are certain customs associated with giving porcelain as a gift."

Zhu Yin sneered, thinking to himself, "This person really has the nature of a spy. He's already starting to investigate my background and who I'm giving gifts to."

"My father's surname is Zheng, and I don't know who this gift was for. It seems to be a Portuguese from overseas, whose name is hard to remember..."

At this point, Zhu Yin suddenly stopped talking, looking somewhat annoyed at himself for speaking too quickly. "Hehe, it's all for business."

He did indeed intend to send gifts to Zhuang Tingjian to solidify their relationship.

Hao Zheng's eyes flashed, and he smiled, "Young friend, you're right. There are quite a few Portuguese people in Jiangnan, and more than one of them has come to our shop to buy porcelain."

“They like porcelain, and they know their stuff. This brush washer is perfect for them.”

Zhu Yin said, "Tianqing Pavilion has a good reputation, so of course I trust you, sir. Since you say it's okay, then let's take this one."

Hao Zheng laughed and said, "Young friend, you're very generous. Thank you for the three hundred gold pieces!"

(End of this chapter)