Jinyi Town Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 232
"Five steps forward, stomp! Five steps to the left, stomp!"

He Liu put his ear on the ground listening, directed Li Bofeng to stomp his feet, and listened to the echo from the ground.

"Dong Long".

A smile appeared on the corner of He Liu's mouth.He put away the earphone and drew out the Xiuchun knife.

Li Bofeng said: "Sixth Master, have you found a hidden cell? Your ears are really good!"

He Liudao: "Jin Yi's family raider must have a nose like a dog and ears like a rabbit. This is nothing."

After speaking, he put the tip of the Xiuchun knife on the gap between the green bricks on the ground, and pried it hard.

The blue bricks were pried up, and there was a layer of soil underneath.Remove the soil layer, and then below is a layer of wood.

He Liu lifted the board and found a small hidden compartment.There is a wooden box hidden in the secret compartment.This wooden box has not been painted, keeping the original wood color.

He Liu scratched his nose: "Huh? Why is it so fragrant?"

He took out the wooden box with both hands and opened it.

In an instant, a dazzling light emanated from the wooden box, making He Liu and Li Bofeng dizzy.

He Liu rubbed his eyes, and took a closer look. Inside the wooden box, there was a night pearl the size of an egg!
He Liu stretched out his hand to pick up the luminous pearl, looked carefully, and suddenly remembered something: Ryukyu is a vassal state of Ming Dynasty.Every year, envoys will be sent to the north by boat with tribute to the capital to meet the emperor of Ming Dynasty.

In the spring of the 39th year of Jiajing, the Ryukyu envoy took a rare luminous pearl to the north, and was attacked by Japanese pirates on the way.Ye Mingzhu was robbed. . .

Li Bofeng had already been lurking beside Xu Hai at that time, and he knew about it.He said: "Master Liu, this is the tribute that Xu Hai robbed the Ryukyu Kingdom! I have only seen this thing once. After snatching it, a few months later, Xu Hai told Yingzuo Pingcheng that this night pearl was taken by him. It was sold to the Satsuma clan of the Wa Kingdom for 1 taels of silver. It must be that Xu Hai was coaxing Kagesa Heisei. The beads were not sold at all, but buried in the meeting hall."

He Liu played with the luminous pearl: "I didn't expect that there is such a rare treasure in the Ryukyu Kingdom! Heh, 1 taels of silver? Xu Hai is really good at talking nonsense! Let me tell you, this luminous pearl is priceless! Because In our Daming, it is a death penalty for folks to buy and sell such rare treasures. However, when Lord Hongwu founded the country, he once bought a night pearl from an Annan businessman and set it on the emperor's crown. The one on Emperor Hongwu's crown is smaller than this one. The last three laps cost 20 taels of silver!"

Li Bofeng asked: "Liu Ye, according to the rules, should such a treasure be included in the emperor's internal storage?"

He Liu nodded: "The rules of confiscation. Gold and silver go to the state treasury; antiques and rare treasures go to the emperor's private treasury."

Li Bofeng said: "I'll go find a piece of red cloth, wrap it well, and send ten Qi family soldiers to guard day and night."

He Liu waved his hand: "Wait a minute! Bofeng, have you heard the story about buying a box and returning the pearl?"

Before Li Bofeng joined Jinyiwei, he was also from a family of officials, and he was taught by a famous teacher since he was a child.He threw the book bag in front of He Liu: "The story of buying a box and returning a pearl comes from "Han Feizi". It is about a Chu countryman who sold jewelry in the state of Zheng. He carved a pearl box with precious magnolia The box was smoked with spices made of cinnamon pepper, decorated with jewels and precious jade, linked with beautiful jade, decorated with emeralds, and interlocked with kingfisher feathers. A man from the state of Zheng bought the box, but returned the beads in the box. Gave it to him."

He Liu nodded: "Bofeng, you really know the past and the present. If we only see this luminous pearl, but think that the box containing the pearl is a cheap item, heh, then we will really become a Chu country fool! Tell you Well, the value of this box is much higher than this night pearl."

Li Bofeng was surprised and said: "How is it possible? There are no gems inlaid on this box. It's just a piece of wood. Although it smells very fragrant, it will definitely not be worth more than this rare treasure, Ye Mingzhu."

He Liu talked eloquently: "This wood has not been painted or decorated, and it maintains its original wood color. This is natural sandalwood. Sandalwood is precious, and there is a saying that every inch of wood is precious. Sandalwood is also divided into ordinary products. There are five kinds of top grade, top grade, top grade, and rare grade. Let’s not talk about the three grades of normal, high, and extreme grades. Just talk about the top grade sandalwood, which is called "Johor Bahru Sandalwood". There are hundreds of sandalwood trees in hundreds of years. Only one Johor Bahru Tan can be picked out."

Li Bofeng was stunned: "Only one can be picked out of hundreds of hundred-year-old sandalwood trees?"

He Liu nodded: "That's right! Ordinary sandalwood is worth an inch of gold. The superb Johor Balut sandalwood is an inch of gold!"

Li Bofeng thought for a while and said, "Liu Ye, didn't you just say that this luminous pearl is worth more than 20 taels of silver? This small wooden box is ten inches square. One inch is a hundred gold, and ten inches is only worth 1000 taels of gold. It is worth 1 silver Only two."

He Liudao: "Excellent quality Johor Baru sandalwood, one inch and one hundred gold, this one in our hands is not a unique product, but a rare product of Longdan incense sandalwood! It has the smell of dragon birth incense itself. I heard from Duan Guzhai The old shopkeeper Xu said it. Unofficial records show that in the past 2000 years, Longdan incense sandalwood has only appeared once in the world, and it fell into the hands of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Southern Qi emperor Xiao Dao became the piece of Longdan incense sandalwood. He did not hesitate to use six cities and The enemy country Northern Wei exchange!"

Li Bofeng exclaimed: "Exchange six cities for a piece of Longbai incense sandalwood? This really corresponds to the words priceless."

He Liudao: "Exotic treasures, night pearls are rare, but many vassal states of our Ming Dynasty pay tribute to one every ten or twenty years. Dragon birth incense sandalwood is rare for thousands of years! You can tell which is more expensive and which is cheaper. .”

Li Bofeng asked suspiciously: "Since these two things are worth hundreds of thousands of silver, the same is priceless. Why doesn't the Ryukyu king enjoy it for himself? Instead, he paid tribute to the emperor?"

He Liudao: "You have been floating on the sea for a long time, and there is something you don't know. In the 38th year of Jiajing, there was a mutiny by Xiao Qiang in the Ryukyu Kingdom. The prince imprisoned his own father and became the new leader. You know, Ryukyu is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. .Without the imperial conferment from the Emperor of Heaven, the new lord would not be justifiably succeeding to the throne, and his seat would be unstable. It must be that the new Ryukyu lord was eager to obtain the imperial conferment from our emperor, so he presented these two treasures."

Li Bofeng said: "That's why, no matter how expensive these two things are, they are not as valuable as the power of a king!"

He Liu sighed: "There are three things that people in the world want most, fame, fortune, and power. With power, fame and fortune will naturally follow. Power is the most attractive thing in the world. It's a pity, the Ryukyu country The immoral king who imprisoned his father and seized the throne deliberately planned to use these two things in exchange for the imperial seal of the Ming Dynasty, and before the flattery was obtained, he would take advantage of Xu Hai, a big pirate."

Li Bofeng asked curiously: "Then the new ruler of the Ryukyu Kingdom, has he finally been granted the title?"

He Liu shook his head: "Our emperor wrote on the paper he requested for the imperial seal: 'The king should rule the world with filial piety. You are the most disloyal and unfilial person in the world to seize power by imprisoning your father. How can you sit on the throne of the king?' Your Majesty If he was not given the title, his position as the new king would naturally be unstable. Within a few months, he was killed by the former king's confidant generals leading troops into the palace."

(End of this chapter)