072: The secret recipe of the Qing Palace

This is a very delicate dressing box, the style is very old, and it is also carved from a small number of Hainan mahogany, which is definitely an ancient woman's dressing box. However, Zhou You didn't pay attention, and after twisting the small mechanism and opening it, he immediately smiled bitterly.

"Is there a problem again?"

When Mr. Li saw Zhou You's expression, his heart felt like he had been pricked by a needle, and what he was most worried about still appeared.

The most valuable porcelain in the family was sold, but the thing that had been pinned on high hopes was only sold for 300,000 yuan, which made him very disappointed. For the sake of his son's marriage, he was really heartbroken, and now he is taking out all the most valuable things left in the family, in order to make up the remaining 500,000 yuan.

Zhou You first eliminated a few very ordinary gold and silver jewelry, and said: "Needless to say, these pieces are all gold and silver from 20 years ago, the style is a little old, but it is not old enough to have age and representative significance, but it is just a very ordinary jewelry in that era, so it can only float a little bit on the basis of the current gold bank situation, and it is estimated that it is far from meeting your financial gap." ”

Hearing this, Mr. and Mrs. Li were gloomy at the same time.

Zhou You finally picked out a jade bracelet and said, "The most valuable thing here is this hibiscus bracelet." Although the green is a little light, the color is uniform, as pleasing to the eye as the hibiscus out of the water, and the lady keeps the bracelet very well, without the slightest defect. At the current market price, the bracelet can be sold for at least 30,000 yuan. If you meet a happy buyer, it is estimated that it can be sold for nearly 40,000 yuan. ”

"It's only 30,000!"

The eyes of Mr. and Mrs. Li dimmed at the same time, and there was a hidden ash.

Zhou You didn't want to blow Mr. Li and his wife, so he added: "Don't worry too much, let's not mention that Mr. Li still has so many valuable books, let's just talk about your dressing box, the real Hainan mahogany texture, coupled with superb old workers, and at least a hundred years of history, it is estimated that it can be sold for more than 10,000 yuan." Make up a little here and add a little bit there, and won't the house come out?"

Mr. and Mrs. Li were not persuaded to stay, but still shook their heads.

"Why is it so difficult to marry a daughter-in-law?"

Li Dazhi muttered very dissatisfiedly: "If you marry a daughter-in-law, you will go bankrupt, so what kind of daughter-in-law should you marry, it is better to use the money for retirement." ”

Mr. and Mrs. Li were embarrassed at the same time.

However, every family has a scripture that is difficult to read, and Zhou You doesn't want to know too much, so he can only pin his last hope on the last few ancient books.

To be honest, the appearance of several ancient books in front of Zhou You is really ugly, some are not without leather, some are seriously mutilated, and the rest are signs of burns and insect moths, and none of them are well preserved. However, out of professional ethics, Zhou You still took it seriously.

"Medical book!"

Zhou You picked it up and looked at it, and found that it was an ancient medical book.

Zhou You's father used to be a pharmacist in a state-owned pharmacy, and he was also half a doctor, and the mountain ginseng bitter soup he prepared himself before was a proof of this, so Zhou You knew a little bit of medical skills since he was a child, and at least knew the names of some medicinal materials.

And the broken ancient book in Zhou You's hand has several medicinal materials that Zhou You is familiar with written on it, and it also describes the combination of medicinal materials, and even records the boiling time and heat in detail, which is not what a medical book is.

Teacher Li showed a surprised expression when he saw Zhou You, and asked as if he had seen a life-saving straw: "What's the matter? These books were all picked up in the scrap recycling depot when I was a child, and some of them were lost when I moved. Although I don't know much about medical skills, I know that these characters are very popular in the Qing Dynasty and should be valuable. ”

Zhou You nodded seriously and commented: "Seriously, if these books are all preserved intact, the value of each one will not be below that copper cloisonné enamel celestial globe bottle." ”

"So high!"

Teacher Li exclaimed in surprise.

However, he soon calmed down, because Zhou You had limited the condition to death: it was kept intact. But when he read these books of his own, his heart hurt.

Sure enough, Zhou You's words turned around and analyzed slowly: "In the Qing Dynasty, hard pens were not popularized, so they still wrote calligraphy. And the brush character is nothing more than seal script, official script, regular script, cursive script, line script, and nothing else. In all dynasties, these fonts existed in parallel, as long as it had already been created. However, in some eras, there are mainstream fonts of this era. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, regular script and stele studies were more popular. As one of the six disciplines in the Tang Dynasty, calligraphy requires that candidates must be 'regular script and beautiful'. ”

After reading the relevant information, Mr. Li naturally understood the truth and nodded in understanding.

Zhou You continued to analyze: "In the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty, a kind of pavilion-style character was mainly popular, which was actually regular script, but the writing style was more delicate and sleek, and to put it bluntly, there was no character. What led to this modernity is that Kangxi loves Dong Qichang's calligraphy, and Qianlong admires Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy, and it just so happens that Dong Qichang and Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy are biased towards beauty and roundness. The Son of Heaven liked it, and the people of the world had to follow suit, thus creating this strange situation. ”

Zhou You's words pointed out the age of these books in disguise, and it was also a speculation before affirming Mr. Li.

Zhou You paused for a moment and continued: "If it is mutilated, it is fine, as long as the identity of the author is proved and some of the records in it are true, then these books still have a lot of research value." It's a pity that these books have been broken to the point that they don't even have the author's name, and I don't know if they are from the hands of famous artists, and the most important thing is that many of the prescriptions and historical records are critically mutilated, which greatly increases the difficulty of research, and makes the value of these classical books drop again and again. ”

"Hey, what a mistake!"

Teacher Li sighed helplessly.

After Zhou You took a look at a few ancient books, he said briefly: "One is the Qing Dynasty version of the Compendium of Materia Medica, and the other is the Qing Dynasty famous book "Cangjie Chapter", and these two are very ordinary celebrity biographies, and the most valuable one is this one. ”

In the end, Zhou You picked up an ancient book that was the most broken, burned and moth-eaten, and it was almost difficult to see the complete page, and said excitedly: "This book should be the manuscript of a very powerful court physician, recording the physical condition and medical records of the princes and ministers at that time, and even some important people in the palace, which has very important research value." If this manuscript is complete, I am afraid that the price will not be under 2 million, but now, the estimate for others may not exceed 200,000. ”

These are Zhou You's personal valuations, after all, his knowledge of books is far less profound than that of jade and porcelain. However, it is certain that the significance of this manuscript is extraordinary, and some of the lost parties in it alone are enough to cause a sensation.

Teacher Li was also straightforward, and asked straight to the point: "Mr. Zhou is a real person, do you have any intention of taking these ancient books?" If it weren't for you, I'm afraid we wouldn't know the true value of these things, especially this most broken manuscript, which is estimated to be disposed of as garbage by us, so we believe you will give us a reasonable price." ”

"Teacher Li is embarrassed for me. ”

Zhou You pondered the value of these books, thought about it, and resolutely said: "Although I don't know much about ancient books, I also know the research value that these things represent, and I am personally very interested. In this way, since Mr. Li is still short of 500,000 yuan, let me make up for it. ”

"So much!"

Teacher Li's wife replied in surprise.

"Too many!"

Teacher Li struggled for a moment and replied.

They are not deaf and naturally hear the previous judgment clearly. Four very ordinary books and a seriously mutilated imperial physician's manuscript, the total value will definitely not be as high as 500,000, not to mention that they are all mutilated, and the most valuable one is not as mutilated, no matter how you look at it, it is not worth as much as 200,000.

If they take the money, their house is indeed settled, but their hearts are not very happy, and they are a little ashamed.

Zhou You also honestly explained: "Maybe you think it's a lot, but I personally think it's very reasonable." After all, we have lost too many things in the past hundred years, and with these things, there is a better basis for the research and demonstration of cultural heritage for certain historical events, which is definitely better than our blind exploration. ”

"With your words, I'm relieved!"

Teacher Li also breathed a sigh of relief.

In fact, the biggest reliance on traveling around is not the historical value, and there are many books of the same type in the sea. Although there are many things lost in the past 100 years, they will never be more than those lost in the Tang and Song dynasties. Time is the most terrible thing, enough to erase something very profound from history forever.

The secret recipe of the Qing Palace, this is the biggest reliance of Zhou You.

That manuscript not only records the medical records of the princes and ministers at that time, and even some important people in the palace, but also records some Dan prescriptions for coping with symptoms. At that time, let alone the cost of 500,000, even 5 million will be able to get it back.

Zhou You also said simply: "Since we have made a decision, why don't we go to the delivery now." After all, this thing is worth 500,000 yuan, and it is still necessary to get some credible written proof. ”

Teacher Li replied with a smile: "It's still Mr. Zhou's appetite for me, and he thinks of one place with me." ”

Teacher Li's wife saw that Zhou You and her husband had gotten up and were about to leave, so she hurriedly shouted, "Don't be so anxious, my mung bean soup is going to be cooked." ”

Zhou You smiled and refused: "I have a heart, Auntie, it's not early now, if you don't solve it as soon as possible, you have to wait until tomorrow, it's better to do things more efficiently." ”

"Yes, yes, we'll go back!"

The more Mr. Li thought about it, the more he became.

He's afraid of long nights and dreams. After all, this is 500,000 yuan, not 50 yuan, even multimillionaires need to think about it seriously, if Zhou You thinks about it in the end and feels not at ease, if he doesn't buy it for the time being, then he doesn't know who to cry with.

Thinking of this, Mr. Li took the lead and seemed very urgent.

Zhou You smiled and followed closely.