Chapter 262 Secrecy
The sky is high and the clouds are light, and the sun is three poles high.
Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, casting dappled patterns on the carpet. Wu Hui opened the window, and a gentle breeze caressed her face, fresh and natural.
After taking a few deep breaths, feeling much clearer-headed, Wu Hui rubbed his throbbing temples and said, "I'm not drinking anymore!"
Sun Jiamu glanced at him: "Boss, you said the same thing yesterday, the day before yesterday, and even the day before that!"
Wu Hui was stunned and speechless.
He tilted his head back, thought for a long time, and then came up with a perfect excuse: "It's all Wang Qizhi's fault!"
“Yes!” Sun Jiamu nodded emphatically, “Lai Wang Qizhi!”
Five days had passed since they arrived in Xi'an. They visited the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, strolled around Furong Lake, went to the Provincial Museum, and also visited Jingling and Duling Mausoleums. They even took a trip to Zhongnan Mountain to witness the Taoist life of modern hermits.
After a long day of shopping, shouldn't we relax and unwind tonight?
Wang Qizhi is a hospitable person; he takes them wherever there is good food or local specialties.
Every day before sitting down to eat, the two of them would solemnly declare: "We absolutely will not touch a drop of alcohol tonight."
Without exception, he drank too much every day.
Naturally, by the time I woke up the next day, it was almost noon. After having lunch and wandering around a bit, it was already dark again.
Then, everything remained the same.
In five days, they drank three cases of ten-year-old Moutai, but neither of them knew which way the door of Lin Sicheng's research center faced.
"We can't fall for that again!" Wu Hui sighed. "No matter how much Wang Qizhi talks today, we're not going anywhere."
Sun Jiamu thought for a moment: "We've been traveling for five days already, there shouldn't be anywhere left to go, right?"
"Who said that?" Wu Hui scoffed. "You went to the Terracotta Army?"
"Huh?"
It's really unacceptable for archaeologists to come to Xi'an and not even take a look at the Terracotta Army.
Tsk, another day has passed?
Just as he was muttering to himself, Sun Jiamu opened the door with two knocks.
Seeing Wang Qizhi peeking around, he squinted and chuckled, "Professor Wang, where are you taking us today?"
"That's enough sightseeing. Seeing too many tourist attractions gets boring. We'll go another day!" Wang Qizhi said seriously. "Today, I'm taking two leaders to see the research center!"
"Ha, no more dragging it out?" Wu Hui chuckled. "After five days of pondering, what is Lin Sicheng planning to use to fool us?"
"Don't worry, I absolutely won't fool anyone!" Wang Qizhi declared confidently. "I'll definitely make both leaders satisfied!"
The two looked at each other: Really?
Actually, they noticed it on the first day.
Although Lin Sicheng said he had made a significant discovery and needed to focus on its study, which would take at most three to five days, the two suspected that Lin Sicheng had encountered some difficulties.
It's normal, and the two expressed their understanding: This isn't like growing vegetables, where you bury seeds in the ground, water them, and they sprout. This is about restoring an ancient craft that was lost for thousands of years; it would be strange if they didn't encounter any difficulties.
Meanwhile, the two were also wondering: Was Lin Sicheng firing blanks from the very beginning?
It's possible that, as he claimed, there aren't tons of samples, or perhaps, no samples were found at all.
But once they were lured to Xi'an, Lin Sicheng was bound to bring something of real substance, so Wu Hui and Sun Jiamu patiently followed Wang Qizhi around for five days.
Is the outcome finally about to be revealed?
The two perked up, quickly tidied themselves up, and followed Wang Qizhi downstairs.
The hotel was right next to the school, just around the corner. After entering the school gate, Wang Qizhi led them straight to the Experimental Center of the School of Cultural Heritage.
Looking around, Sun Jiamu squinted and said, "Professor Wang, this place isn't right, is it? I remember you said that your research center is a separate three-story building?"
"I'm afraid I'll scare you guys later, so I'll give you two a heads-up first!" Wang Qizhi said with a smile, pointing upstairs. "My lab is up there!"
"The one who does research and preservation of iron artifacts?"
"right!"
Their eyes lit up.
Several top institutions have only just begun to get involved in this project, such as the National Academy of Cultural Heritage (Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage Protection), the National Museum of China, and Peking University.
To put it another way: these companies are basically feeling their way across the river, and don't even have a clear research direction yet. In other words: they're all pouring money into it, but without really understanding the purpose.
According to Wang Qizhi, he and Lin Sicheng were also learning by trial and error from the National Museum of China and the Academy of Arts and Sciences, but Wu Hui had a feeling that it wasn't that simple.
Even the Institute of Cultural Heritage and the National Museum of China themselves cannot guarantee that their research direction is correct, or whether all the money they have invested will be wasted.
"Let's go up and take a look!"
Wang Qizhi led the way, going straight up to the third floor.
There wasn't much of an introduction; they just said they were bringing friends to take a look. Each group greeted each other and then went about their assigned tasks.
Wang Qizhi wanted to explain, but Wu Hui wasn't taking the bait at all.
Having dedicated half his life to research, and working in the most prestigious and authoritative department in the field of cultural relics and archaeology, Wu Hui firmly believes in one principle:
Eight out of ten academic leaders love to spout nonsense and exaggerate; they can squeeze out seven ounces of empty rhetoric from every pound of their words.
You have to see how the people doing the technical research are doing it.
He waved his hand, indicating that Wang Qizhi should not speak, and that he would see for himself.
Wang Qizhi readily accepted their advice and led them into the laboratory.
Compared to before the Lunar New Year, the laboratory has nearly doubled in size, with several new sets of equipment installed, and the original two experimental groups have been expanded to three.
Including support staff, the number has more than doubled.
As always, everyone performed their duties with focus and dedication.
Wu Hui nodded secretly.
He has always believed that researchers should keep their research pure, just like in the present situation: you do your thing, I'll do mine.
I don't need to care whether they are leaders or who brought them here. I just need to do my job well, and the leaders above will take care of the rest.
This demonstrates that Lin Sicheng's laboratory management skills were quite high.
He quickly glanced around, as if taking a quick look.
But the more Wu Hui looked, the more something felt off: Wait... what is this research?
Several groups were conducting experiments, all involving passivation treatment to prevent rust on metals, but the experimental specimens were somewhat incomprehensible to him:
Butter, rapeseed oil, tea, pine resin, edible alkaline water, phosphate rock, sodium silicate (a natural mineral, commonly known as water glass), graphite, epoxy resin... and even glucose?
He stared for a long time: "Wang Qizhi, what are you researching?"
"The film-absorbing component in ancient metal rust prevention techniques!"
Wu Hui was stunned, his mouth agape for a long time.
We often talk about the preservation of iron artifacts, but the research directions for preserving similar types of artifacts are fundamentally different:
The Institute of Cultural Heritage's research focuses on the conservation and research of unearthed iron artifacts, which falls under the field research category.
The National Museum of China focuses its research on the technology of its collection of iron artifacts, primarily targeting cultural and museum institutions.
Both projects fall under the category of conservation and restoration technology and processes for metal cultural relics under the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
Regardless of the type, whether it's the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage, the National Museum of China, or later Peking University or Beijing University of Technology, the focus is on "excavated cultural relics" and "modern conservation techniques".
To put it simply: to prevent metal artifacts from suffering "catastrophic" corrosion and damage after being unearthed.
For example, some bronze artifacts are shiny and bright when they are first unearthed, but others can rust as if they have been painted with a layer of black paint within minutes.
Some of them will rust into dust and crumble into powder at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Therefore, Lin Sicheng and Wang Qizhi's "ancient metal rust prevention" is not going in completely opposite directions.
How exactly did Wang Qizhi "cross the river by feeling his way across the Institute of Cultural Heritage and the National Museum of China"?
Wu Hui frowned: "Where's the core data? Can I take a look?"
"I can see it!" Wang Qizhi pondered for a moment, "But boss, you have to keep it a secret!"
Wu Hui was so angry he laughed: Wang Qizhi, you've never eaten pork, but you've never seen a pig run?
After graduating from university, I joined the Institute of Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences and worked there for seven or eight years. I studied metal conservation and did metal conservation. I am a researcher who has received ministerial-level awards. Can't you tell whether your students have done their research correctly?
Putting all that aside, your father-in-law's surname is Shan, right? What information can't he find? What data can't he see?
That's it?
I'm being lenient by not pointing my finger at you and making fun of you, and you actually want me to keep it a secret?
"Okay, I'll keep it a secret!" Wu Hui said, both angry and amused. "Turn on the computer for me!"
The computer was already on, and Wang Qizhi entered the password.
Wu Hui waved his hand, telling him to get out of the way.
He paused slightly after opening the folder: Techniques and processes for the protection and restoration of metal cultural relics.
Subheadings: Research on the protection of unearthed iron artifacts, Research on the protection technology of iron cultural relics in museum collections.
Both are correct, aren't they?
The titles of the research papers are exactly the same as those of the National Museum of China and the Institute of Cultural Studies, so they are most likely copied from the materials.
With that thought in mind, Wu Hui first opened the first subfolder, which was "Unearthed Ironware".
This research started quite early. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage initiated the project in the late 1980s, which initially solved the technical problems of iron desalination and corrosion inhibition. In 1996, it also won the third prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award.
However, no significant progress was made after that; the work was basically just improvements and minor innovations on the existing foundation.
Upon closer inspection: the first half of the document cites some key technologies that have been successfully developed, such as the study of the deterioration mechanism of metal artifacts, the corrosion mechanism in the burial environment, and the analysis of the composition of rust products using scientific methods.
The next steps involve the development of protection and restoration technologies, preventative protection systems, and the evaluation and transformation of preliminary research findings.
Judging from this, Wang Qizhi wasn't lying: they were indeed learning by imitation from the two national-level institutions. One could even say that their scope, research direction, and focus were all copied from the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences and the National Museum of China.
But why is it that when you copy something, it goes completely off-topic?
With a hint of suspicion, Wu Hui continued reading and opened the project proposal.
Hmm, something doesn't seem right?
Not only did he copy incorrectly, but he also managed to copy more than he should have?
Besides membrane materials, Lin Sicheng also conducted research on materials for sealing and reversible repair. However, Wu Hui recalls that the research on these materials hasn't even begun at the Cultural Relics Research Institute or the National Museum of China.
He tilted his head back, trying hard to recall: He had only been transferred from the Institute of Literature to the Department of Archaeology for two years. Even if his memory was bad, it couldn't be this bad.
There isn't one!
After thinking for a long time, he pointed to the screen and asked, "Where did these two directions come from? This sealing and repair reversible material?"
"Innovation!" Wang Qizhi said succinctly. "We can't keep copying others, otherwise we'll always miss out on the latest trends. Of course, we have to find a way to create something new of our own."
Wu Hui suddenly realized and subconsciously turned around: the tallow, tea seed oil, tea leaves, and pine resin that the experimental groups were studying were the coating materials mentioned in the document.
The remaining task is to seal and repair reversible materials.
Based on this, Lin Sicheng's research direction is basically correct.
For example, the main research direction of the Institute of Cultural Relics and the National Museum of China at this stage is to use corrosion inhibitors to adsorb metals and reduce the damage of electrochemical corrosion to cultural relics. This is the coating material that Lin Sicheng planned.
However, both companies primarily focus on compounds: either improving existing compounds, such as early nitrogen-containing and sulfur-containing compounds, or conducting research and development, such as on amine compounds, mainly studying molecular penetration corrosion inhibition technology in compound films.
The materials used in Lin Sicheng's experiments were natural substances and inorganic salts. The Institute of Cultural Heritage and the National Museum of China had considered this approach, but one problem was that it relied too heavily on physical barriers, which only isolated the surface of the artifacts and lacked durability.
Secondly, the effects are inconsistent and can sometimes have the opposite effect. For example, animal and vegetable oils are easily oxidized and decomposed, which can actually accelerate the corrosion of cultural relics.
Therefore, Lin Sicheng's direction was correct, but his plan was off track.
Looking at the remaining two items in the document, namely the so-called sealing materials and reversible repair materials, they should be the ones that were later tested in the laboratory: edible alkaline water, phosphate rock, water glass, graphite, epoxy resin, etc.
These two directions are certainly correct, but Wu Hui felt they were a bit too advanced.
Only by overcoming the hurdle of corrosion inhibitors can we achieve so-called sealing and repair.
To put it simply: you must first ensure that the cultural relic no longer rusts or corrodes before you can repair and seal it. Otherwise, the repair will be in vain.
Judging from this, Lin Sicheng's current research on this is like shooting at thin air.
But Wu Hui remained silent.
The hardest part of research is daring to think, and even harder is daring to act. Lin Sicheng's ability to devise a research direction from scratch and formulate a specific research plan already surpasses that of the vast majority of researchers.
He's at least better than Wang Qizhi.
So it's okay to make mistakes; you can always start over. But you absolutely cannot dampen enthusiasm.
While pondering, Wu Hui glanced at it and then clicked on the second folder, which was the one with "Collection of Cultural Relics".
It's very similar to the first one, basically following the research direction and approach of the National Museum of China:
By conducting research across the entire chain of "deterioration mechanism - assessment technology - protective materials - prevention and control procedures", a comprehensive disease prevention and control system for museum collections will be established.
Don't be surprised, they copied... oh no, they followed it quite closely: the National Museum of China has only just begun to get involved in areas like ultrasonic-assisted desalination and three-dimensional finite element analysis.
Wait a minute, something's not right.
What is this below?
Benzotriazole (BTA) corrosion inhibitor compounding process system?
Isn't this the improved process for nitrogen-containing compound corrosion inhibitors that the National Museum of China is currently researching?
In an instant, Wu Hui's eyes widened: This is a core technology of a national special project. No matter how strong Wang Qizhi's connections are or how bold he is, he would never allow his students to copy something like this.
Besides, it's still in the research stage and hasn't even been reported yet. He'd have to go to the National Museum's lab and copy it from the computer.
Wu Hui immediately perked up, scrolling through the text word by word:
I. Solvent-based compounding system.
Solvent types: water, acetone, ethanol.
Application scenarios: 1. Protection of bronze artifacts.
Concentration... Formulation process... Action and mechanism...
Results: Corrosion inhibition efficiency increased from 50% to 75%.
2. Protection of iron cultural relics:
Concentration... Formulation process... Action and mechanism...
Results: Corrosion inhibition efficiency increased from 30% to 70%.
Wu Hui's eyes widened little by little: What is the current corrosion inhibition rate of BTA at the National Museum?
Copper, 65%; Iron, 60%!
Is it equivalent to Lin Sicheng's improved formula being 10% better than the one in the National Museum of China?
At first glance, it seems both laughable and ridiculous.
For example: A poor student copies a top student's test paper, but the top student only scores 80, while the poor student copies it to 100.
But Wu Hui couldn't laugh.
Because there's more to come: innovative compounding processes to replace BTA, reducing environmental toxins.
Note: Patented technology.
I. Low-toxicity system, inorganic salt synergistic type:
1. Molybdate/tungstate compound
Application scenario: Preventing rust from returning to iron artifacts
Compound composition: BTA + sodium molybdate (NaMoO) or sodium tungstate (NaWO).
Mechanism of action: Forms FeMoO/MoO-FeO or WO-FeO composite passivation film, enhancing anodic retardation.
Formulation and process: The molar ratio of BTA to tungstate is 2:1, and the total concentration of the compound solution is 5 × 10 mol/L...
2. Phosphate/silicone compound
BTA + phosphate (such as sodium tripolyphosphate) or silicate (such as water glass)
Mechanism of action: The composite corrosion inhibitor can promote the transformation of unstable rust layer (γ-FeOOH) into stable rust layer (α-FeO).
II. Non-toxic compound formulation system:
1. Multifunctional and environmentally friendly composite formula
BTA + polyaspartic acid + sodium tungstate + zinc gluconate...
BTA + ethanolamine + sodium gluconate...
Results: Corrosion inhibition rate ≥96%, and no toxic staining.
2. Plant-derived inorganic compound.
Tannic acid + BTA...
Catechins + BTA...
III. Organic Material Composite Sealing System:
1. Resin composite type: epoxy/polyurethane/BTA...
2. Graphene-modified composite sealing material: Graphene oxide-based B72…
IV. Standards and Process Flow...
V. Key Control Parameters...
Without realizing it, the mouse cursor scrolled to the very end.
Seemingly incredulous, Wu Hui started reading again from the beginning, once, twice, three times...
Finally, he turned his neck and looked towards the laboratory:
Butter, rapeseed oil, tea leaves, pine resin, edible alkaline water, phosphate rock, water glass, graphite, epoxy resin, glucose...
Looking back at the computer: organic matter, plant-based, inorganic salts...
Wang Qizhi smiled reservedly: "Boss, it's a secret!"
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