Is Chapter 75 going to be overturned again?
At 9:10, we arrived at the Municipal Inspection Office on time. Guan Xingmin, along with two section chiefs, were already waiting downstairs.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the group went straight to the forensic room.
Wang Qizhi and Lin Sicheng changed into white coats, and the section chief and the same policewoman from before took notes, accompanied by Guan Xingmin.
All the physical evidence was laid out on the long table, more than twenty items of various sizes. A casual glance, and suddenly, the teacher and student's eyes lit up:
In the middle of the long table stood a vessel about half a meter tall, its entire body a deep green, shaped like a wine jar.
On top of the "wine vat" stands a tiger.
Neither of them spoke; the two of them took a step and walked over simultaneously.
First they looked, then they touched, then they knocked, and even picked them up together to check the bottom.
Then, the teacher and student looked at each other in silence.
It's...really true?
This is quite an eye-opener: I can't believe I saw a national treasure here!
This object dates back to at least the Han Dynasty or earlier. If it was unearthed from a tomb, the tomb owner was at least a regional lord. For example, an identical object was unearthed from the tomb of Liu Sheng, the Prince of Zhongshan and ancestor of Liu Bei, in the Mancheng Han Tombs.
Crucially, only about twenty similar artifacts have been unearthed from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Han Dynasty. Without exception, all of them were preserved in an oxygen-free environment. Those displayed in museums are all replicas.
Where did this bottle come from?
The crucial point is, it ended up looking like this after all?
The two men looked grave and remained silent. Guan Xingmin was starting to worry, wondering if there was something wrong with the item again. Only then did Wang Qizhi breathe a sigh of relief.
"Broad shoulders, narrow waist, flat top, and straight mouth!"
Lin Sicheng nodded: "The bottom has interlocking cloud patterns, so it should belong to a ritual vessel!"
Wang Qizhi: "The tiger-shaped bronze drum originated in the Zhou Dynasty and was used for sacrifices, celebrations, and battlefield command!"
Lin Sicheng: "The original piece was made using the gold inlay technique, with extremely dense gold decorations. Later, someone pried off the gold ornaments and washed away the copper rust. However, the acid ratio was too high, and the decorations were completely destroyed."
Wang Qizhi picked up the magnifying glass again and looked at it back and forth: "What era is it? Qin or Han?"
Lin Siqi also lowered his head: "The shoulder and the circle have string bands, with three leaves attached below. The pattern connecting the cloud pattern is a cloud and thunder pattern with a diagonal hexagon... It should be from the Western Han Dynasty, and moreover, the early Han Dynasty!"
The teacher and student chatted back and forth, while the section chief and the policewoman kept taking notes. After finishing, they looked at the documents and secretly praised each other: almost every word was correct.
The bronze chime from the early Han Dynasty, made using the gold inlay technique, was damaged because the solution used to remove the rust was too acidic, which washed away most of the gold inlay grooves and surface decorations.
What surprised them was: it wasn't surprising that the teacher could tell, but that the students had such sharp eyesight too?
In fact, I feel like she's even a little bit better than the teacher?
Lin Sicheng glanced at it again: "Director Guan, where did you dig it from?"
"Dragon Head Plain!"
Good heavens, Weiyang Palace... and considering that it was specifically used for performing ritual music for Liu Bang in the early Han Dynasty?
A national treasure among national treasures!
In this way, the crime becomes even more serious: not only did they steal the ruins of the Western Han Dynasty palace, but they also washed the national treasures like this. Wouldn't that make the sewing machine smoke?
"How many years was the main culprit sentenced to?"
"Judgment?"
Guan Xingmin made a shooting gesture.
Lin Sicheng was startled, a thought flashed through his mind, and he looked at Wang Qizhi.
Wang Qizhi thought for a moment and then shook his head.
The saying goes, "A turtle and a mung bean are a perfect match." Although the master and apprentice hadn't known each other for long, their tacit understanding was unparalleled.
Lin Sicheng: Teacher, can this be repaired?
Wang Qizhi: It is possible to make up for it, but it takes too much time and is not very effective. It is also impossible to sell it. There may be some honor, but at most the Public Security Bureau and the museum will each give a certificate!
You might as well get a few more pieces of porcelain...
Lin Sicheng nodded: That's right, it would be better to send it directly to the Provincial Museum, where there are plenty of experts.
Guan Xingmin was completely baffled by the cryptic exchange between the teacher and student, unaware that a great opportunity for him was slipping away right before his eyes.
Without further ado, the two looked down and, sure enough, found quite a few good things.
A bronze statue of Guanyin with a wavy, topknot hairstyle, the edges of her robe inlaid with gold wire. The folds and decorations of the robe are hammered and shaped, with fine, dense folds that flow naturally, clearly showing the "Wu style" of flowing ribbons.
The head is nearly silvery-white, indicating an extremely high tin content, at least 20% or more. The lower part is yellowish, almost like gold, indicating a significantly lower tin content, at most 10%.
This is a typical casting characteristic of the Shaofujian (Imperial Household Department) of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, with extremely high artistic value and craftsmanship, and also represents an extremely high amount of money involved in the case.
There is also a Song Dynasty curved-handled ewer and three Yuan and Ming Dynasty high-relief bronze mirrors. Although they are not official products, their artistic level is quite high.
After looking at a few more items, the master and apprentice gasped in shock: What is this... a bronze bell?
It's no wonder the two were so surprised, because this thing is even rarer than the previous bronze drum; only four have been unearthed in the entire Manchuria.
The first three vessels are Qin Gong Bo unearthed in Baoji and are now housed in the Baoji Bronze Museum, a national first-class museum, which is where Professor Wang used to work.
The second vessel was unearthed from the more famous Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng: it contained fifty-four chime bells and only one bronze bell.
This thing has two functions: one is for sacrificial rites, and the other is to tune all musical instruments. It can be called the ancestor of all music.
The Rites of Zhou states: "Then they played the Yellow Bell, sang the Great Lü, and danced the Cloud Gate Dance to worship the gods of heaven..." The so-called Yellow Bell refers to the Bo.
If a comparison must be made: the bo (镈) is the elder brother, the chime bells (编钟) are the younger brother, and the zun (樽) and chun (錣) mentioned earlier are the youngest of the youngest...
Both of them were quite knowledgeable and experienced, yet they were still stunned. Their necks instinctively craned forward.
As soon as Wang Qizhi brought the magnifying glass closer, both the teacher and student were stunned.
In the center of the bell's belly are two inscriptions: Da Sheng.
Haha, Emperor Huizong of Song imitated it?
I was startled; I thought a fifth "bo" had appeared?
The shapes are the same, the sizes are the same, and the weights should be roughly the same. Emperor Huizong even personally named it "Huang Zhong," but history does not recognize it.
Because the tone of this bell is a semitone higher than that of the bo (镈), it is historically known as the "Dasheng Bianzhong" (大晟编钟).
They made a great many of them at the time, one set for each state, so there were thousands of these made.
Many have been unearthed, and because their main function was to "follow the law," they are considered ritual objects and have very high historical value.
Correspondingly, the sentence will be heavy. Without a doubt, if they dare to dig it up, they'll easily get fifteen years or more.
After carefully examining the results, which were basically consistent with the previous findings, the two continued with the next step of the examination.
After examining several more pieces, Lin Sicheng finally saw the Kangxi-style Xuande incense burner that Guan Xingmin had mentioned many times, and his spirits lifted.
The municipal appraisal agency determined it to be fake, the provincial department also certified it as fake, but the expert hired by the defendant's lawyer determined it to be real. There must be something going on here.
Thinking it over, he held up a magnifying glass and bent down to examine it closely:
First, look at the shape. It is a typical flat-mouthed, bulging-bellied censer with a simple and smooth body. The foot flares outward and is decorated with three nipple-shaped studs inside. It is simple yet stable.
Looking at the material: it is dense, with a dark reddish-brown color showing hints of bluish-gray, interspersed with brown spots.
This type of spot has a specific name: pear spot.
The name sounds nice, but frankly, it's a flaw: the reason is that the Qing Dynasty changed the formula, resulting in lower copper purity and more impurities such as iron and sulfur compared to the Xuande censers of the Ming Dynasty, leading to uneven oxidation at high temperatures.
However, the so-called flaws were only relevant at the time. In today's context, they have become one of the pieces of evidence for the imitation of Xuande censers by the "Three Qing Emperors".
Continue reading: The entire piece is gilded, with a uniform thickness. Even though it has been buried for three hundred years and most of it has been corroded away, the remaining parts are still as bright as new and as shiny as gold.
Looking at the inscription: "Da Ming Xuan"... Haha, what's this: the character "德" is missing a horizontal stroke above the heart radical?
At first glance, it looks like a forgery?
On the contrary, it is precisely because of the absence of this horizontal line that this item is much closer to being a genuine imperial piece.
Because there were two places where the Kangxi Emperor made Xuande censers: both belonged to one of the fourteen workshops of the Wuying Hall Imperial Workshop, the former being the furnace casting workshop and the latter the copper inlay workshop.
The imitation Xuande censer made by Tongzhu has the character "德" (de) missing a horizontal stroke, implying that the Ming Dynasty was immoral.
However, its existence was very short-lived; it was changed after Emperor Yongzheng ascended the throne, and few were produced. Even fewer survive to the present day.
So, don't be fooled by its unassuming appearance and somewhat dirty appearance. If it's genuine, it's definitely worth at least four million; the market price should be around six million.
Seeing this, the master and apprentice exchanged a glance: This is already halfway through the appraisal, but why does this thing... seem a bit real?
The municipal bureau can't possibly overturn the case again, can it?
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