Chapter 149 Taking Off Boots
The curtains were slowly drawn back, and sunlight streamed in.
Hao Jun held a flashlight in one hand and a magnifying glass in the other, his eyes fixed intently on the screen.
The more he looked, the stranger his expression became.
Having been in this industry for twenty years, his connoisseurship might be slightly inferior to Lin Sicheng's. But could he not tell whether the rust was removed with chemicals?
Therefore, if he had seen it, he definitely wouldn't have let Chen Yangyan buy it.
As if guessing what he was thinking, Chen Yangyan sighed: "These two items were only acquired the day before yesterday!"
Hao Jun paused, speechless with astonishment: "Lin Sicheng estimated it for you two months ago. And you, you've gone and done it for two days ago?"
Hao Jun looked at it over and over again, then paused: "Serving the ruler with purity and integrity, harboring resentment in secret. Receiving the bestowal of imperial favor, being cautious and loyal to please... Junior brother, is this a posthumous title?"
"Yes!" Lin Sicheng nodded. "The Han emperor bestowed a posthumous title upon him!"
What is that?
Hao Jun was startled and raised an eyebrow: He hadn't seen the Emperor's Inkstone, but he had seen a Mirror bestowed by the Emperor.
However, during the Han Dynasty, only officials with a salary of 2,000 shi or above (equivalent to prefects or above) were granted a posthumous title by the emperor upon their death.
He frowned: "If we were to summarize, what does it mean?"
Lin Sicheng succinctly replied: "Respect!"
Hao Jun's eyelids twitched uncontrollably: "A single posthumous title must be that of a feudal lord, a duke, or one of the Three Dukes or Nine Ministers."
Moreover, this was not absolute. During the Western Han Dynasty, most marquises and high-ranking officials still received double posthumous titles: such as Xiao He, who was posthumously named Wenzhong, Zhang Liang, who was posthumously named Wencheng, and Huo Qubing, who was posthumously named Jingheng.
Only those who have made outstanding contributions and far surpassed their contemporaries will be granted a single posthumous title: such as Cao Can's posthumous title of Yi, and Wei Qing's posthumous title of Lie!
Crucially, posthumous titles are never repeated.
Therefore, this respect only represents a highly meritorious and well-regarded minister during the Western Han Dynasty.
Hao Jun tried hard to recall, but couldn't remember.
"who?"
Lin Sicheng paused for a moment: "Zhang Anshi!"
Suddenly, Hao Jun's eyelids started twitching, and his heart began to pound: Emperor Wu's Imperial Secretary (equivalent to a deputy prime minister), Emperor Zhao's Imperial Censor (one of the Nine Ministers), Emperor Xuan's Grand Marshal (one of the Three Dukes), Huo Guang's Grand General... Marquis of Fuping of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Anshi.
Two days ago, Guan Xingmin specifically called him: after testing, the jade artifacts Lin Sicheng bought, including the Wenming and Yice, were indeed from the Western Han Dynasty. Therefore, the municipal bureau speculated that Zhang Anshi's tomb had likely been robbed.
He also asked Hao Jun to keep an eye out for any related items circulating in the market, and to notify him immediately if he found any.
Just a few days later, something happened to Chen Yangyan?
It's so close to here, only about ten kilometers away. I'm afraid it was just dug up, washed, and sold to Chen Yangyan.
Hao Jun suddenly looked up: "President Chen, you bought it?"
"It was a gift, from a local coal merchant in Xi'an, surnamed Wang, you don't know him..." Chen Yangyan paused slightly, "He said it included a jade pig dragon, and it only cost him a little over a million in total!"
He spent over a million to buy the Great Han Marquis Mirror and a jade pig-dragon, as if he'd found it on the street.
But the problem is, were they given away as a gift? Two items were given away, and both of them have problems?
Chen Yangyan has connections, but most of them are in Yulin. He is rich, but the problem is that some people think he is too rich.
Eating dumplings without soy sauce, and remembering that where the sun shines isn't always all light...
Hao Jun frowned. "President Chen, to be honest, the nature of this thing is even more serious than that of the Jade Pig Dragon."
If it's just a jade pig-dragon, it's relatively easy to handle: after all, it's from another province (the Hongshan culture is found in Liaoning and Inner Mongolia), so its influence isn't that great, and local organizations tend to pay less attention to it. Just find a municipal-level cultural heritage institution to donate it to, and get a receipt.
But the bronze mirror is different: it is a first-class cultural relic, and it was just unearthed from the tomb of a marquis next to the Western Han imperial mausoleum.
With just one tip-off call, the Public Security Bureau and the Cultural Relics Bureau will arrive within ten minutes.
"I know, I'll donate!" Chen Yangyan nodded emphatically. "But Professor Hao, I still need your help!"
We definitely have to donate, but the problem is that the items are too sensitive, making it difficult to donate them.
The recipient organization must be of a high level, and you must have connections there; otherwise, even if you donate, they won't accept it.
What? Why didn't you call the police?
Even Chen Yangyan himself didn't know if he still had any items like the Jade Pig Dragon or the Pure Mirror in his home, or how many he had left.
Therefore, we still need to find a way to donate. Ideally, we should find someone with a decent rank who can speak with the provincial cultural relics department and file a record in advance. However, Chen Yangyan's connections are mostly in Yulin, and he really doesn't have any connections in the provincial capital. He can only ask Hao Jun for help.
Hao Jun remained silent.
To be honest, he only knows a few museums in the city, and he probably wouldn't dare to take them. As for the provincial-level museums, he's never really dealt with them.
After thinking for a moment, Hao Jun looked at Lin Sicheng.
He and Chen Yangyan didn't have one, but Lin Sicheng did.
The set of Xu Weili's documents was temporarily stored at the Provincial Museum. And during this period, Lin Sicheng went there almost every day. In Wang Qizhi's words, it was almost as if he was about to chop off chicken heads and burn joss paper with the section chiefs and group leaders of the Provincial Museum…
In a flash, he looked at Chen Yangyan again.
Chen Yanyang was taken aback at first, then suddenly realized: This young man not only has excellent judgment, but also strong connections... Professor Hao, is that what you mean?
He has plenty of money; he just wants to settle things...
He immediately misunderstood: "Daoqing (son), put the things away. Daoling (daughter), make some hot tea..."
After giving a few instructions, Chen Yangyan reached into the drawer of the coffee table and took out his bag. Then he unzipped it and took out his items one by one.
Pen, inkpad, seal, checkbook.
Hao Jun was taken aback: I told you to ask for help, not to spend money.
You were just pretending to be so refined, but now your nouveau riche nature is on full display.
In his astonishment, Chen Yanyang had already opened the book and taken out the chapter.
Without hesitation, Hao Jun blurted out, "I didn't ask you to send money."
Chen Yangyan paused for a moment, then looked up.
"Fine, I'll just fill in 30,000, and 10,000 for each item appraised. I'll owe you a favor!" Hao Jun sighed. "President Chen and I have a close relationship. Junior brother, please help me out!"
Lin Sicheng paused for a moment, but did not agree.
Because Hao Jun acted rashly, or perhaps because he had never experienced anything like this before, he hadn't realized the seriousness of the situation: one item could be donated, two items could be donated, but what if there were more?
Including Yu Wenming and Yice, he first notified Guan Xingming. Only after the basic identification conclusions were reached did he contact the Provincial Museum.
For example, the Xu Weili documents, the rhinoceros horn cup, and the Southern Song lacquer box were unearthed many years ago. He also notified Guan Xingmin to file them before contacting cultural heritage institutions.
It's not that you can't pick up bargains, but you have to make sure you don't get yourself into trouble first. It's not that you can't donate, but sometimes when you want to donate, you have to see if the recipient wants it...
Thinking it over, Lin Sicheng sighed softly: "Senior brother, isn't there one more thing? Like those two desks you mentioned..."
Hao Jun was stunned for a moment: There was something wrong with those two desks too?
I've been asking him since before the National Day holiday, but Lin Sicheng couldn't find the time. Today, I only mentioned it briefly, and he agreed so quickly.
I'm afraid that Lin Sicheng guessed what those two desks were as soon as I mentioned them.
What is it?
"We haven't seen the item yet, so it's hard to draw conclusions. We'll have to see it first!"
Hao Jun nodded vigorously and gestured again.
Chen Yangyan's expression changed slightly.
If one item is faulty, it can be considered an accident. If two items are faulty, at most we might have some suspicions. But what if there are three?
Although those two desks weren't a gift from that Mr. Wang, he was the one who introduced them to us...
I'll fuck your mother!
Chen Yangyan could no longer remain calm and composed. He even stopped trying to conceal his true feelings and called his secretary and driver to bring up two long tables.
Both pieces are quite long, about 2.5 meters and 3 centimeters thick. The patterns are symmetrical: the surface is lacquered, and the Big Dipper and the Twenty-Eight Mansions are painted in vermilion lacquer, with the names of the mansions such as "Jiao, Kang, Di" inscribed next to them.
Below that, the outlines of cloud patterns and the Four Symbols (Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise) can be faintly seen.
The stars are connected by engraved lines, which are very deep, representing the eyes and points of the stars. Lin Sicheng suspects that the star map was previously connected with silver lines and the stars were inlaid with gemstones.
It was probably stolen even earlier.
Lin Sicheng pointed and said, "Could you two please turn this over?"
The secretary and driver turned one of the pieces over, revealing a back that was only varnished and unpainted. There was no star map, only the Big Dipper.
Judging from the material, it is clearly catalpa wood. Looking at the craftsmanship, it uses the "linen-wrapped base" technique (the wood is wrapped in linen and then lacquered), with more than twenty layers of lacquer, and the total thickness is only half a millimeter.
After examining it carefully again and confirming that it was indeed correct, Lin Sicheng nodded: "Senior Brother Hao, let's report it to the police!"
Hao Jun was startled, and Chen Yangyan and his two children were completely stunned.
Lin Sicheng pointed to the wooden plank: "The catalpa, the king of all trees... The Book of Rites, Tan Gong I: The emperor's coffin has four layers, and the feudal lords' coffins have three layers: one coffin made of catalpa wood and two coffins made of zitan wood..."
"The Book of Han, Treatise on Rites and Ceremonies states: 'The star coffin is a box containing the Dipper.' The Miscellaneous Records of the Western Capital states: 'The star coffin is placed on a seven-star board at the bottom and covered with a nine-star canopy on top... Come, you two, please help me...' "
The driver and secretary turned the tablet over again, and Lin Sicheng pointed to the symmetrical Big Dipper and star chart: "This is the lowered Seven Stars Tablet, also known as the Star Chariot Tablet... The Mawangdui Silk Manuscript 'Five Planets Divination' also records: The soul of the deceased returns to the Big Dipper, and the spirit returns to the grass, and then the bottom of the coffin is made of the seven stars and twenty-eight constellations... The 'Huainanzi' also records: The gods of the Big Dipper have male and female, the male moves to the left and the female moves to the right, thus they are also divided into male and female..."
"Therefore, this is not a desk, but the bottom of two coffins from the Western Han Dynasty. According to the Book of Rites, Tan Gong I, and the Records of the Han Dynasty: the paulownia tree represents heaven and the catalpa tree represents earth. Even if the deceased was not a feudal lord, he was still a marquis... Furthermore, they are symmetrical. Based on this, the deceased should be a husband and wife."
Lin Sicheng then pointed to the rust on the surface: "Senior Brother Hao, let me be frank: the rust on these two Seven Star Boards is exactly the same as the rust on the jade Wenming and the will I gave to Director Guan. Even the soil residue on the bronze mirror from before should be exactly the same as this... So, I must say, this is the bottom of Zhang Anshi and his wife's coffin. Do you believe me?"
After a slight pause, Lin Sicheng sighed, "Senior Brother Hao, you're an old hand. You definitely know more about the old-fashioned 'removing boots backwards' trick than I do!"
Hao Jun's expression changed instantly.
What is meant by "reverse boot removal"?
Shedding one's skin like a cicada, deceiving the heavens and crossing the sea: The thieves planned to commit a major crime, but fearing that the government would pursue them too closely afterward, they separated a portion of the most representative stolen goods, selling or giving them away, and framing them to a relatively powerful outsider.
The objective was simple: to buy time. By the time the government and the insurgents had decided their fate, the thieves would have vanished without a trace.
Or perhaps, once they've eaten their fill, or even to the point of being stuffed, they won't bother chasing after it anymore.
Of course, I'm referring to the old society...
Hao Jun gritted his teeth: "Old Chen, report it to the police!"
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