Chapter 258 Even experts make mistakes

At noon, the two vehicles were driving smoothly on the national highway.

Lin Sicheng leaned back in his seat, a phone tucked between his neck and shoulder:

"Teacher, it's okay. If we break up, so be it. It's alright to have a fight!"

"Okay, then you can leave first. At the same time, report to Director He (He Zhigang): We'll leave the rest of the research at the university..."

"Yes, we've reached Jinzhong, and we've already passed Lingshi County... We'll be back in a day or two at most!"

"Okay, goodbye teacher!"

After hanging up the phone, Shang Yan, who was in the front seat, turned her head, and Zhao Xiuneng, who was next to her, also turned his neck.

"They've fallen out?"

"Yes, they've completely torn off all pretense of civility!"

Lin Sicheng smiled and said, "During the meeting, Director Yao from the Provincial Ceramic Research Institute asked us to disclose our research data, but the teacher refused!"

Upon hearing "public data," Zhao Xiuneng's eyes widened, and anger surged to his head.

Shang Yan stared wide-eyed, her face filled with disbelief: Could a human being do something like this?

And it happened during a meeting, in full view of everyone?

Putting everything else aside, if it weren't for Lin Sicheng, local research institutions wouldn't even know which way the gate of the site faces, let alone conduct any archaeological research.

And what a turn of events! They turned on me right after using me?

This is so unfair...

Shang Yan gritted her teeth: "Lin Sicheng, how can you still laugh?"

Lin Sicheng smiled again: "After experiencing it many times, it's not surprising."

When he finished surveying Beijianggeda and found that the site area was only a little over a thousand square meters and the estimated fine white porcelain samples weighed only a few hundred kilograms, he knew that it was time to part ways.

The reason is simple: in the local view, the research sample is too small, and the possibility of restoring the egg white jade craftsmanship is infinitely close to zero.

Since success is impossible, why waste human, material, and even financial resources?

Subsequently, the provincial and municipal authorities will certainly adjust the focus of the plan: from restoring the egg white jade craftsmanship to "conducting systematic and complete excavations of the five sites".

Anyone can do this job; it's just a matter of how fast or slow you can do it, especially with guidance from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

Consequently, the roles of both Lin Sicheng and the Xida Restoration Center were greatly diminished. Therefore, there was no need to continue the cooperation with the Xida Restoration Center.

Different perspectives lead to different starting points for viewing issues. From the perspective of Yuncheng and the Provincial Cultural Bureau: this millstone has reached the point where it must be unloaded, and this donkey has reached the point where it must be slaughtered.

The reason can be summed up in four words: cost reduction and efficiency improvement.

Lin Sicheng and his team consist of dozens of people, with fixed monthly expenses of over 200,000 yuan. Adding the material consumption of Huang Zhifeng's laboratory, the total is nearly 400,000 yuan.

If we terminate the cooperation, can we save 400,000 yuan in costs per month?

Secondly, given that all five kiln sites were discovered by Lin Sicheng, his influence and achievements were unparalleled at the time. If he were to continue participating in subsequent excavations and research, what position would you assign him?

The chief engineer and chief commander are definitely concurrently held by leaders of the provincial cultural relics bureau or the provincial archaeological institute.

Deputy Chief Engineer, but actually in charge?

This is definitely more than enough, but another problem arises: among eleven large and small units, can he have the final say on the specific division of research fields and the formulation of project directions?

Just one point: So far, is the Yuncheng branch center the one with the strongest research capabilities and the fastest research progress?

Strength represents everything. Therefore, of the five sites, large and small, Lin Sicheng assigned the most influential and representative Guzhen site to the branch center, and no one could say anything about it.

Even more so, is just this one site enough?

In terms of research speed, it is estimated that Lin Sicheng and Huang Zhifeng have finished studying the Guzhen site, while the other ten have at most studied half of it.

As the saying goes, the capable should do more, so Lin Sicheng selected from the remaining ten unfinished projects, specifically choosing the most difficult and influential topics, and assigned them to the branch center for research. Again, no one could say anything about it.

In the end, the Xida branch center will take away at least one-third of the projects, and all of them are key research topics.

If it were just our own people, that would be fine, but the key issue is that this branch center has the prefix of being from another province.

Therefore, the leaders had to consider: if they terminated the cooperation now and distributed some key projects to ten companies in the province, would they be able to publish many more high-quality papers and increase their influence?

And who knows, maybe we can even win a few big prizes. Wouldn't that be considered increased efficiency?

Between two evils, choose the lesser. Since there are so many benefits and the only downside is being called ungrateful and discarded after the usefulness of others, why can't we do this?

As for whether we will ask Lin Sicheng and Xida University for help again in the future, there is no need to consider it at all: there are many other institutions that can explore and conduct archaeology.

That's why we had this meeting this morning. So, right at the beginning, Director Zheng specifically emphasized the theme of the meeting: strengthen cooperation and conduct joint research.

To put it another way: If the Xida branch center refuses to leave, then Lin Sicheng will no longer be in charge of the subsequent research or the allocation of projects.

Thinking about it more deeply: Yao Jianxin was definitely not instructed by Director Zheng and Mayor Jiang. Someone in that position wouldn't be so careless in their work.

At the time, however, these two were definitely pretending not to understand. Their aim was simply to provoke Professor Wang, hoping to end things abruptly.

The only thing I didn't expect was that Yao Jianxin would be so shameless, and I certainly didn't expect Wang Qizhi to be so audacious.

However, it wasn't a big problem: although the process was a bit tortuous and the scene was a bit ugly, the ultimate goal was achieved.

It was nothing more than making a fool of himself in front of Sun Jiamu, and being a little embarrassed.

But from Lin Sicheng's perspective: isn't this just saying nice things when it's useful, and doing ruthless things when it's not?

It's not very harmful, but extremely insulting. If we just pretend not to hear and let it go, how will we lead the team in the future?

Is it true that you get ripped off like this every time you go somewhere?

It's simply a matter of you doing the first day of the month, and me doing the fifteenth...

In a flash, Lin Sicheng leaned back: "If it's going to rain, it's going to rain; if a mother wants to remarry, she'll remarry. Things still need to be done!"

Of course they had to do it, otherwise this pent-up frustration would drive them crazy. Shang Yan had already begun to fantasize: how much would these people regret it when Lin Sicheng restored the eggshell jade craftsmanship?

But the question is, how confident are we?

Having studied porcelain for half her life and possessing a thorough knowledge of historical documents, Shang Yan couldn't recall any record of "Shanxi firing egg-white jade porcelain."

"Indeed there isn't, but there's no record of Hejin Kiln in historical materials either, yet we still found it, didn't we?"

Lin Sicheng smiled and said, "Professor Shang, we must first have confidence in ourselves!"

Shang Yan opened her mouth, about to say something, but then swallowed her words back: "So many times, when everyone thought it was impossible, Lin Sicheng always managed to create a miracle in the end?"

She nodded, then sighed, "But I still feel so angry... Mr. Zhao, are you angry too?"

Zhao Xiuneng nodded vigorously: It's more than just anger.

If it were him, he would have flipped the table long ago. So it's really strange: how did Professor Wang, with his personality, manage to put up with it?

"One is influenced by one's company," as the saying goes. Was he influenced by Lin Sicheng?

Just as he was wondering, Lin Sicheng smiled again: "Don't be angry, we'll get our revenge right away!"

The two exchanged a glance: even if they found enough samples, it would probably take several months to study them.

So revenge should be achievable, but don't even think about it "immediately"...

About half an hour later, the car entered Jiexiu City (County) District and stopped in front of the Cultural Bureau.

Shang Yan got out of the car, made a phone call, and a girl in her late twenties came out of the lobby.

The two met and hugged each other.

"Oh, teacher? You said you were coming to Jiexiu? I thought you were lying to me?"

"I'm your teacher, would I lie to you?"

The girl stuck out her tongue and glanced into the car again: "Where's Li Zhen? Why didn't she come with you?"

"She has to go to work!"

"Oh, it's the new restoration center that opened at the school, right?" the girl asked excitedly. "Teacher, is the owner of the center her boyfriend?"

Shang Yan was stunned by the question: "Li Zhen said it herself?"

"Li Zhen's toughest thing is her mouth. Would she really tell me that willingly? But after all these years, don't I know what kind of person she is?"

The girl said smugly, "We chatted two or three times, and every time I asked her how her new boss treated her, she would change the subject. I could tell right away. Then I asked her if she had a boyfriend, and she said no. I introduced her to someone, but she didn't want him. Isn't that just like protesting too much?"

Shang Yan opened her mouth, unsure how to explain.

Whatever, do whatever you want.

She then turned around and introduced Zhao Xiuneng and Lin Sicheng: "This is President Zhao, a partner in the center. This is Lin Sicheng, your junior colleague. President Zhao, Lin Sicheng, this is my student Wang Yurong. She was in the same year, class, and dormitory as Li Zhen in college..."

"Hello, Mr. Zhao! Hello, Junior Brother Lin!"

She greeted him with a smile, then looked him over again:

The center the teacher mentioned should be the one where Li Zhen works. I heard the pay is excellent, double what Li Zhen earned as a teaching assistant to Professor Shang.

Just look at this Mr. Zhao: not only does he have an impressive presence, but he also drives a Mercedes-Benz.

After a moment of thought, Wang Yurong paused again: Wait... his surname is Lin, Lin Sicheng?

Suddenly, Wang Yurong's eyes lit up: Isn't this the small boss who would not say a word when asked about Li Zhen, and would get angry when asked again?

Tsk, although she's a bit dark-skinned, she's really good-looking.

So young, and incredibly talented... No wonder she can make Li Zhen, that thousand-year-old iron tree, fall for her?

Seeing her eyes darting around, Lin Sicheng smiled and said, "Hello, Senior Sister Wang!"

Wang Yurong hurriedly tried to explain, "Oh, junior brother, don't overthink it. I was just joking with the teacher..."

Can you take back what you've said?

Shang Yan sighed: "Let's go, let's take care of business first!"

Wang Yurong nodded hurriedly: "Oh, oh..."

"I'll ride in this car with you!" Shang Yan pointed to the Grand Cherokee in front. "Have you contacted the Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau yet?"

"Teacher, after you made the call the day before yesterday, I contacted them: the ruins are basically abandoned, so you can visit anytime. The museum has also agreed that you can go anytime during their working hours!"

"Are there many porcelain pieces?"

"There's a lot! I even went to see it myself; the entire warehouse is full!"

"That's good!"

The teacher and student chatted as they got into the front of the Grand Cherokee.

The two cars, one after the other, drove straight east for about ten kilometers before stopping in front of a stone monument.

It's not tall, about two meters including the base, and there are a few lines of text engraved on it:

Hongshan Kiln Site, a national key cultural relics protection unit

Announced by the State Council on May 25, 2006

Shanxi People's Government

After getting off the car, Wang Yurong led the way, and the group looked around as they walked.

The site covers a vast area, estimated to be forty to fifty acres, with porcelain shards and box fragments scattered everywhere.

The top of the slope is covered with broken kilns, and the kiln walls are also made of defective products that have been burned.

After going around the kiln wall and reaching the top of the slope, Wang Yurong pointed ahead: "Teacher, these are the few remaining kilns at the porcelain kiln site!"

Upon closer inspection, the group noticed a few scattered, dome-shaped porcelain kilns in the field.

Not far away stands a cave dwelling, next to which is a pile of half-extracted porcelain clay.

Lin Sicheng glanced around and said, "This is a site from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Although it was fired to make porcelain, it was black porcelain!"

Wang Yurong blinked her eyes, as if asking: How did you know?

Shang Yan glared at her, wanting to yell: "Wang Yurong, how long have you been out of school? Have you wasted your education?"

With such a high kiln door, such a short flue, and the chimney so close to the kiln, it's clearly a low-temperature kiln.

If not black porcelain, then earthenware jars?

Lin Sicheng looked around again: "Senior Sister Wang, besides these, are there any other porcelain kiln sites in Hongshan?"

"That's all. All that's left are clay kilns and tile kilns!"

"This is troublesome!" Lin Sicheng nodded. "Let's go to the museum then!"

"Huh?" Wang Yurong was taken aback. "Why don't we take a closer look?"

"I'm not going!"

The purpose of this trip to Jiexiu is to find white porcelain. Even if we are to look at it, we will only look at the white porcelain kilns. The black porcelain kilns are not worth investigating.

The group got into the car and arrived in the county town.

Wang Yurong had given prior notice, and the staff of the Cultural Relics Protection Section led them directly to the warehouse.

As soon as they entered, the men frowned.

The classification is quite clear: Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties; white, black, brown, and green; as well as porcelain, pottery, and glass.

Damaged artifacts were simply packed into boxes, and even complete pieces were just casually placed on shelves. There was no storage or covering whatsoever, and the artifacts were covered in dust.

After looking around, Lin Sicheng walked to a shelf labeled "Song Dynasty" and picked up a porcelain jar.

Brushing away the dust, the pale white glaze comes into view. The vessel is quite large, just like a standard ancient water urn.

The body is coarse and thick, white with a grayish tinge, as can be seen from the foot. The clay was coarsely washed, and the body is porous. The glaze is also not very good; it is not very shiny and has a yellowish tinge.

Looking at the two teapots next to it, they are of similar quality, with coarse bodies, dull glazes, and bottoms that don't reach the bottom.

Even among the coarse white porcelain of northern China during the Song Dynasty, it could only be considered average.

Lin Sicheng put down the porcelain pot and saw two porcelain plates on the lower shelf, which he then took down.

Also made of white porcelain, but compared to the water urn and teapot, the body is relatively firmer and finer. The body color is light brown, but whiter than the previous three pieces.

The glaze is also much whiter and finer. The bottom of the bowl is engraved with two characters, "Zhang" and "Jin", which should be the surname of the owner of the porcelain kiln.

Of course, this is only in comparison to the coarse white porcelain on the stand. Compared to the Hejin kiln, let alone the Song Dynasty porcelain, it is far inferior to the Jin and Yuan Dynasty white porcelain from Guduo Town.

After glancing at it a few times, Lin Sicheng put it back.

Further on, there were two stands with about twenty pieces of white porcelain, nearly a hundred pieces of porcelain, all of only average condition.

Looking at them, the two porcelain plates from before were the most exquisite in terms of craftsmanship.

On the contrary, the black glaze was fired better than the white porcelain, especially one of the black glaze jars, which could be considered a fine piece of porcelain even in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Lin Sicheng glanced around quickly, while Zhao Xiuneng and Shang Yan also kept looking at the exhibits.

The two men wouldn't call themselves experts, but they were certainly familiar with the craft. Just by looking at the quality, they could tell that the white porcelain here was far inferior to the Hejin kiln egg-white jade porcelain bowl that Lin Sicheng had acquired for 800,000 yuan, or even to the porcelain shards they had picked up from the ancient city of Yongji.

To put it bluntly, the craftsmanship here has little to do with that of the Hejin Kiln.

But the two of them didn't say a word and quietly followed behind Lin Sicheng.

About an hour later, the group left the warehouse, thanked the section chief, and then took Wang Yurong to her workplace.

As he was getting off the bus, Lin Sicheng opened his bag and took out an envelope: "Thank you for your help today, Senior Sister."

Wang Yurong was taken aback: What do you mean?

She glanced at Shang Yan, and as if possessed, said, "Junior brother, Li Zhen and I are best friends!"

Shang Yan wanted to cover her face: So you've been daydreaming the whole way, thinking about this?

You speak without thinking. You could at least say something like, "I'm helping the teacher, how can I accept your red envelope?"

"It's precisely because Senior Sister and Senior Sister Li have a good relationship that I dared to ask for your help!"

Lin Sicheng smiled and said, "Like that section chief from earlier, shouldn't you treat him to a meal? He couldn't just open the warehouse for us without the leader's approval, so you must have talked to the leader. Afterwards, shouldn't you thank him?"

Shang Yan nodded: "Take it!"

Seeing that she didn't move, Lin Sicheng handed it to Shang Yan, who then passed it to Wang Yurong.

"It's been so long since we last met. I was planning to sit down and have some time together, but I have to go out of town this afternoon. Consider this my treat!"

"Oh... is time so tight?"

What else?

First, it had to be fast; second, it had to be kept secret. Otherwise, she wouldn't have asked her students for help.

Shang Yan patted her hand: "Alright, go ahead and get busy. Come to Xijing sometime, your teacher will treat you to something nice!"

Wang Yurong nodded and watched as the group got into the car.

After passing the red light, it turned another corner until its taillights were no longer visible.

Wang Yurong turned and walked towards her workplace, preparing to put the envelope into her bag. But as soon as she unzipped it, she paused, surprised: Why is it so thick?

She paused instinctively, then opened the seal: a stack of bright red bills came into view.

Is it five thousand or six thousand?

That's half a year's salary for her.

After a long pause, Wang Yurong took out her phone and dialed Li Zhen's number...

...

The two cars got back onto the national highway. Lin Sicheng, Shang Yan, and Zhao Xiuneng were in one car, while Fang Jin and the data clerk were in the other.

Lin Sicheng made a phone call as soon as he got in the car, and the call lasted for half an hour.

Based on the conversation, Shang Yan and Zhao Xiu could roughly guess that Lin Sicheng probably asked Hao Jun to help contact someone, and then contact Huozhou, saying that he wanted to inspect Chencun Kiln.

Ideally, we should collect some porcelain shards, especially white porcelain; the more the better.

However, the Chencun kiln in Huozhou has never been excavated. All that's known is that there were porcelain kilns there, but no core facilities, including the pottery-making workshops and kilns, have been discovered to date. Even if we went there, how could we possibly investigate?

Another point: When the Jiexiu kiln was excavated, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage made a clear conclusion: the craftsmanship of the Chencun kiln in Huozhou is inherited from that of the Hongshan kiln in Jiexiu.

Hongshan Kiln was founded in the early Song Dynasty and declined at the end of the Jin Dynasty, while Huozhou Kiln was founded in the early Yuan Dynasty and declined in the Qing Dynasty.

There's even a saying that during the late Jin Dynasty, due to war, the artisans from the Hongshan Kiln fled to Huozhou. When the war ended, they reopened the kiln.

Thinking back to the white porcelain they had just seen, Shang Yan and Zhao Xiuneng felt their hearts sink.

Although they weren't as professional as Lin Sicheng, they were at least certain that Jiexiu kiln white porcelain and Guzhen kiln white porcelain had absolutely no relation whatsoever...

After hanging up the phone, seeing the two of them silent and hesitant, Lin Sicheng guessed most of what had happened.

He was about to explain, but the words caught in his throat.

If you ask him to speak frankly: sometimes, even experts from ministries aren't always right.

It wasn't that he was arrogant or overbearing, nor that the experts from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage were unprofessional; rather, it was because the excavation took place too early and the conditions were limited.

In the 1980s and 90s, how many scientific methods and instruments could be used in archaeology?

Lacking technical support and scientific evidence, it is not surprising that conclusions may be biased or even completely contradictory.