Chapter 131 Fish Key Si Chen

Lin Sicheng smiled and said, "You do look unfamiliar, because you're from Chang'an."

Northerner?

The woman squinted: "What brings you here?"

"I bought a painting, but I'm not entirely sure about it. Could you please give me your opinion (the expert in tomb raiding and appraisal within the group)? Of course, the main thing I really want to ask is to get my hands on the goods..."

As he spoke, Lin Sicheng reached out his hand, and Gu Ming opened the suitcase and handed over the scroll.

Lin Sicheng casually untied the cloth and laid it out on the tea table, and the two sisters leaned forward together.

After just a few glances, the younger brother curled his lip: "Ma Lin of the Southern Song Dynasty?"

The location is correct, it's in the Hangzhou area. But with the painting looking so new, are you just here to make a fool of yourself?

He was about to speak when his sister glared at him, shutting him up.

The woman glanced at him, then looked up again: "How did you find me, brother?"

"It was thanks to the guidance of Manager Zhao, a street broker specializing in buying and selling unearthed goods, that I was able to find your shop!"

Lin Sicheng cupped his hands again, put his thumbs together, and pointed them upwards: "His honorific title is Upper Cultivation and Lower Ability. He has an ancestor in his family, and a White Immortal on the ground (one of the Five Spirits of Tomb Raiders, specifically referring to a female tomb raider who is still alive, of extremely high seniority, and with extremely high skills)!"

The younger brother was completely stunned, because he could no longer understand what he was saying.

The older sister frowned slightly and looked at the teacup again.

She certainly didn't know who Zhao Xiuneng was, and neither did Old Lady Bai Xian.

But the arrangement of teacups on the table, the string of jargon, and the feng shui incantations in his hands couldn't be faked.

Especially those dazzling hand gestures, even she couldn't recognize them, and could only barely identify one or two.

But judging from his appearance, he's too young...

In a flash, she shook her head: "Brother, you've come to the wrong place!"

"Is that so?" Lin Sicheng chuckled lightly. "I'm sorry to have bothered you!"

Then, with a wave of his hand, Gu Ming quickly rolled up the scroll and put it into a leather suitcase.

Lin Sicheng glanced around: "Can I take a look?"

The woman nodded: "Of course!"

It's good enough that it's watchable.

Lin Sicheng got up and went to the shelf. After a quick glance, he pointed and said, "A bag!"

The siblings were taken aback for a moment.

Upon closer inspection, he was referring to a bronze artifact.

It's shaped like a fish, with a movable buckle on the head and a hole on the tail.

The owner didn't know what the item was, only that it should be from the Han Dynasty, so the price was very high at the time: 300,000.

But after five or six years, no one had shown interest, so the price gradually dropped, and now it sells for 70,000.

After glancing at it twice, the older sister nodded, and the younger brother got up and found a box.

But just as he took the bronze artifact off the shelf, Lin Sicheng pointed again: "Bag!"

The siblings turned their heads at the same time.

This time it was jade, a palm-sized piece of Hetian mutton fat jade "Longevity of Nanshan" longevity jade disc.

Similarly, it has an extraordinary origin; when the boss brought it back, he priced it very high: 600,000.

However, it was too new, completely white, without any patina or rust, just like it had just been carved.

It's been sitting there for seven years, dropping by about 100,000 each year, and now it's just over 100,000, but still nobody's asking about it.

The siblings exchanged a glance, and the older sister got up, took out a box, and stuffed in a few more sponges.

But before the jade disc could be placed inside, Lin Sicheng pointed again: "Wrap it up again!"

The two looked again, and this time it had become a lacquer box:

Similarly, it's been sitting there for a long time with no one asking about it. But unlike other items, even after the price has dropped again and again, the price is still not low: 850,000.

Why are they so expensive? Because they are artifacts from the Song Dynasty imperial tombs…

Seeing the siblings blinking their eyes, Lin Sicheng smiled and asked, "Not for sale?"

Since it's displayed here, how could it not be for sale?

The woman nodded: "Sell!"

Lin Sicheng nodded: "Sell it!"

The siblings exchanged a glance and quickly packed the items. Lin Sicheng stood with his arms crossed, watching quietly. Suddenly, he paused, his eyes narrowing.

Two thread-bound books with blue covers, bearing four traditional Chinese characters in regular script: "Essentials of Governance from Various Books".

Wow, that's impressive!

How could I possibly find something like this in a place like this?

This is a document on governance compiled during the early Tang Dynasty by Wei Zheng, Yu Shinan, Chu Liang, Xiao Deyan, and others under the order of Emperor Taizong Li Shimin. It draws extensively on the essential principles of governance and historical examples from classics, histories, and various schools of thought, using history as a mirror for learning.

The book comprises fifty volumes and more than 500,000 words. It draws on Confucian classics, the Five Histories, and various schools of thought, spanning from the Five Emperors period to the Jin Dynasty. It is the first political book in Chinese history to be classified according to classics, history, and philosophy.

If we make a comparison, its historical value far exceeds that of the Yongle Encyclopedia of the Ming Dynasty and the Siku Quanshu of the Qing Dynasty.

Unfortunately, it had been completely lost by the end of the Song Dynasty. Fortunately, during the Tang Dynasty, Japan sent envoys to copy the book and bring it back to Japan, where it was kept in the Imperial Palace. During the Tokugawa period, it was printed using movable type, allowing it to continue to be preserved.

Because it was a Chinese edition and depicted imperial techniques, it did not circulate widely, and few copies were printed in Japan. It wasn't until around the time of Emperor Tenmei of Japan (1780) that Hayashi Shusai (a Japanese scholar) who was then the head of the Daigaku-no-kami (the highest-ranking Confucian official in the Edo Shogunate) and a follower of the Zhu Xi school of thought oversaw a re-engraving, which was then distributed to various feudal lords and close retainers.

Historically known as the "Shuzhai" edition.

When Ruan Yuan, a scholar of classical studies, philology, and epigraphy, was serving as the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, he heard of this and purchased two copies, which were then printed in Yangzhou. This edition is known as the "Ruan Yuan Yangzhou Edition".

Around the same time, Lin Henian (courtesy name Bawen), a bookseller from Suzhou, went to Japan to purchase paper and happened to obtain a set of Shuzhai editions. He brought them back to China and reprinted them, which became known as the "Lin Family Bawen" edition.

However, regardless of the edition, very few copies were ever printed. Around 1920, the Shanghai Guangyi Bookstore and others forged "Song Dynasty editions" and "Mingzhai editions" to print imitation ancient books, printing tens of thousands of copies at once.

Unfortunately, it was too obscure, and not many collectors, let alone ordinary enthusiasts, knew about it. It was an extremely rare item among rare collectibles, and it ended up in the hands of the bookstore before being scattered among the public.

It wasn't until 2017, when Shinzo Abe visited China for the second time and brought a set of the Lin Shuzhai edition of the Japanese woodblock print as a state gift, that the book suddenly became popular.

Moreover, the price is getting higher every year:

In 2019, at Poly Auction, three volumes of Ruan Yuan's Yangzhou woodblock prints sold for over 1.2 million yuan.

In 2020, a woodblock print with Lin's postscript sold for 720,000 yuan at a China Guardian auction. However, the buyer later sent it to the National Library of China for authentication, which concluded that it was a machine-printed edition published by Guangyi Bookstore during the Republic of China era.

After being returned to China Guardian, it was auctioned the following year as a Republic of China edition, and still sold for 50,000.

Let's look at this version again:

The inscription on the title page reads: "Printed in the collection of the Lin family of Changping Academy, February of the eighth year of the Kansei era (1166)" in two lines of regular script.

The postscript reads: "Proofread by disciples Inoue Tsurushu and Akamatsu Sōshū" (a disciple of Lin Shuzhai).

Moreover, each volume has a seal in regular script at the end: Changpingban. This is the original seal of the Lin Shuzhai edition printed in the eighth year of Kansei (1469).

Looking at the paper again: it has a yellowish tint, is thin yet tough, and has a fine, dense weave. When held up to the light, the pale yellow, interwoven mesh pattern is clearly visible, quite different from domestic Xuan paper.

This is Hijiki paper from the Edo period of Japan, made from the bark of the gampi tree, which is naturally different from paper made in China.

Looking at the printing style: ten lines and twenty characters per half-page, double borders on all four sides, white margins and single fish tail, with "Essentials of Governance from Various Books" and the volume number engraved in the center of the page.

The title on the cover is an indigo-dyed cloth label with the words "Essentials of Governance from Various Books" written in ink.

Upon closer inspection, the character "民" (Li Shimin) is always replaced with a taboo character, preserving the original traces of taboo avoidance found in the Tang Dynasty manuscript.

It's definitely a genuine "Japanese edition printed by Hayashi Shusai," the very edition that Abe presented as a state gift during his visit to China.

It has never been auctioned domestically, so we don't know how much it could fetch. However, in 2019, a single lot sold for 13 million yen at the Tokyo Chuo auction, which is equivalent to about 600,000 yuan.

Let's look at the price: a total of ten thousand, which is five thousand per book?

After reading it twice and confirming its authenticity, Lin Sicheng blew the dust off the book and placed it on the tea table: "I'll take it!"

The siblings exchanged another glance: another item that had been sitting there for years, with no one asking about it?

They're involved in shady dealings, doing things that could land them in jail at any moment, so naturally they have to be extremely cautious. Just because you spout some jargon and tell a few stories doesn't mean I'll actually believe you're in the same line of work.

Even if they are truly in the same industry, it's all the same.

But this young man knows the proper etiquette. He said, "You've come to the wrong place," so I won't press the matter. Buying a couple of things, at least we can maintain a good relationship, right?

Of course it's possible, but the problem is, it cost over a million dollars, and all the items we picked were things that nobody even asked about?

Lin Sicheng handed over the card again, and the woman, as if waking from a dream, took out the card reader.

The younger brother quickly fetched a box and put the two books inside.

Looking at the square wooden box on the tea table, Lin Sicheng had a very strange feeling: the origin of the item was definitely not a problem. Even if it was unearthed, it was definitely a well-preserved item from before 1949.

But instead of finding the "Xu Weili Documents", they picked up three other things instead.

Including that bronze fish: a Han Dynasty bronze fish lock. This is an extremely rare item among rare collectibles, with fewer than twenty pieces in museums worldwide.

In 2019, Christie's New York auctioned one of these items for $520,000.

Including that jade disc: a Yangzhou craftsman by Zhou Hao, a famous folk jade craftsman during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty.

This one has the biggest flaw; it can be sold immediately once it's taken back. Lin Sicheng estimates it could fetch at least a million.

It cost 1.04 million in total, and this one item alone was enough to break even; the rest was practically free.

Not counting the lacquer box, this is a red lacquer box with gold inlay, shaped like a lotus petal, from the Southern Song Dynasty. It was actually a cosmetic box for women in ancient times: three layers, for holding powder, rouge, and lip paper respectively.

The price of 850,000 is not low, but it uses the unique inlaid gold technique of the Southern Song Dynasty, which is similar to the gold and silver inlay technique of the Tang Dynasty. Lin Sicheng plans to buy it and study it to verify its authenticity.

Therefore, this is the only real stepping stone.

Of course, luck is only one aspect; the most important thing is that this store has a lot of good stuff.

Because they've already unearthed a lot of genuine artifacts.

Ordinary people would never guess that the mastermind was the head of a municipal-level archaeological institution. But within the tomb raiding industry, it was a semi-public fact.

Otherwise, would Lin Sicheng dare to register his name?

This gang wasn't dismantled until 2021. Rumor has it that the Song Dynasty imperial tombs were almost completely emptied, and someone simply couldn't stand by and watch.

With a sigh, the woman handed over the invoice, and the younger brother handed the aluminum alloy box containing the items to Gu Ming.

Then, the siblings saw the two off at the door.

When they reached the door, Lin Sicheng suddenly remembered: "Oh right, the key..."

Seeing that the siblings were confused, he gestured: "It's the key to that fish lock, a copper rod with a right-angled hook in the middle!"

The woman thought for a long time before finally remembering that Lin Sicheng was referring to the bronze fish.

There were several bronze items brought together, including one that looked like a key, but no one expected that it was part of a set with the fish.

The woman narrowed her eyes: "What's that? It's that fish!"

"A bronze fish-shaped lock from the Han Dynasty!"

The woman was startled: "The Han Dynasty?"

"Han Dynasty!"

After replying, Lin Sicheng thought for a moment, "Shouldn't you have also brought back a sundial (astronomical instrument) at the same time?"

The woman's lips moved slightly, and the words "How did you know?" escaped her lips.

"Are you wondering: How do I know? The Huainanzi records: Fish and key govern the time... It's all part of a set, so where there are fish, there must be a timekeeper, which is the sundial!"

Lin Sicheng smiled. "Where's the stuff? Is it still there?"

The woman shuddered, her pupils shrinking to pinpoints...