Meng Zitao and He Wanyi walked into the room, a little surprised, just now the merchant lowered his head to tidy up things, they thought that the other party was just dyed yellow, but now the merchant raised his head and realized that it was a foreigner. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

However, Meng Zitao was not surprised, because he knew in advance that some foreign antique dealers also formed teams to participate in the competition.

Generally speaking, these merchants from foreign countries will operate a wide range of categories, such as all kinds of exquisite and exotic clay pots on the table next to them, as well as a bed full of beeswax crystals and other jewelry, as well as all kinds of small works of art, it is difficult to imagine that they are bought and sold in one room.

But that's how they came together, and the price of these things is not expensive, even very low, a buyer inquired, the price of an old beeswax pendant, is actually lower than the price of new beeswax on the market, Meng Zitao really wondered if his ears heard it wrong.

Cheap and good-looking, for women, the lethality must be infinite, so He Wanyi entered the state of Taobao again.

Meng Zitao also admired all kinds of exotic crafts in the room, in addition to the above, the most distinctive is some gold jewelry, the work of these ornaments is similar to the most famous ghost ball in our country's ivory carving, it is also a layer of hollow balls, but the material has become gold.

The shapes of these jewelry are very beautiful, and the creativity is also very interesting, but the price is relatively expensive, and ordinary people may not be able to accept it.

Meng Zitao picked a gold jewelry that looked a little old, and when he asked about the price, the boss bargained with Meng Zitao in a very unfluent Chinese, mixed with gestures, and finally closed the deal at a price that everyone could accept.

After negotiating the price, the boss looked at Meng Zitao with a smile, waiting for him to pay, Meng Zitao pointed at He Wanyi, signaling to wait until she finished choosing, the boss smiled and nodded.

The boss felt that Meng Zitao should be a high-quality customer, and when he saw that Meng Zitao was a little idle, he said, "...... first Sir, do you want to look at anything else, I have some antiques from your country here. ”

Meng Zitao saw that the other party was exhausted, so he changed to fluent English: "Oh, then please take it out and show it to me." ”

Seeing that Meng Zitao was fluent in English, the boss was quite happy, and hurriedly dragged out a box from the corner of the bed and beckoned Meng Zitao to pass.

Meng Zitao walked over and took a look, and found that there were some ivory carvings inside: "This boss, I don't know what these things you are?"

The boss smiled and said, "Legal, it must be legal, otherwise you wouldn't have let me bring it in from abroad, right?" You see, this ivory is very short, and it was cut by the elephant owner himself, not poached. ”

Meng Zitao looked at it, and the boss took this ivory product is indeed very short, estimated to be less than ten centimeters.

In general, the traditional practice is that the elephant owner cuts off the 10-centimeter-long tusks every two years, so that the ivory is not easy to be hunted if there is a gap, and the elephant with the sharp horns cut off is not easy to hurt other elephants and people.

This is because the ivory grows 2 inches (about 5.08 centimeters) per year. There are nerves from a certain position in the middle of the tusk to the root of the tooth, and if the tusk is cut from 10 cm to the tip of the tooth, the elephant will not feel pain.

Some people may ask, in this case, why are people still hunting elephants, the reason is actually very simple, many people think that only a whole tusk is beautiful. Since 1/3 of the ivory grows inside the skull, the criminals brutally hunt the elephant for higher profits, and then extract the whole tusk from the elephant's face before selling it.

To get back to the point, Meng Zitao could not recognize whether this ivory product came from a formal channel, and in line with the idea of killing without buying and selling, such a horn carving product, if it was a modern handicraft, he would definitely not take over.

"Boss, I have to accept this because of antiques?"

"Oh. The boss smiled, then pulled out something from underneath: "This should be an antique." ”

Meng Zitao looked over and found that it was a scepter with a somewhat unique shape.

Since Qin Shi Huang unified the six countries, the ancient legend of the gods and people most respected by the title of the three emperors and five emperors into one, to give himself the title of "emperor", "emperor" has become the title of the supreme ruler of the feudal state in China, the imperial power has also become the supreme power, can not be surpassed, in China for more than 2,000 years. The scepter is a ritual used by the royal court to punish the emperor's relatives for violating the national rules and regulations, and it is used to represent the imperial authority.

The scepter is carved from a single rhino horn. The head of the cane is thick, the surface is glossy, and the shape is relatively simple. Using the method of bas-relief, nine dragons are carved on the body of the staff, and the carving is very tense. The dragon's forehead is full and broad, and the long dragon horns symbolize the longevity of the society, the eyes are majestic and solemn, and the dragon claws are sharp and mighty, and they are sacrosanct.

The image of the nine dragons is vivid and perfect, the demeanor is realistic and full of vitality, and the floating clouds set off the supreme power, showing the royal style. All this shows that it is not a practical device, but a scepter that symbolizes power, and together with the nine dragons on the staff, the user is about to come out.

From the carving of the scepter, Mencius Tao judged that it should be a work in the middle of the Qing Dynasty at first, but a detail of the head of the scepter made his heart move, and after careful observation, he used his ability, and the result was exactly the same as he guessed.

"Boss, please make a price. Meng Zitao said bluntly.

"This is something used by your ancient royal family, and the user status is very noble, so its price will be more expensive, I won't sell it for less than a million. A hint of cunning flashed in the boss's eyes.

Meng Zitao smiled and said: "There is an old saying in our country, called 'Ming people don't say dark words', to tell you the truth, I am also in the antique business, this scepter is definitely impossible for one million, if you sincerely want to sell, I can pay 600,000, otherwise I can only say that I have no chance with it." ”

"600,000? is too little, too little. The boss shook his head and refused.

Meng Zitao spread his hands: "Then I can only be sorry." ”

After saying that, he was silent.

The boss didn't expect that Meng Zitao would be so simple, and he said in the middle of a sound: "The price you said is a loss-making transaction for me, at least 700,000, how about it?"

"It's still too expensive. Meng Zitao bit hard.

The boss smiled bitterly and said: "Sir, I really can't do it at your price, otherwise, 650,000 yuan, I will give it to you again." ”

While speaking, the boss took out a small pendant, which is more interesting, it is a black scorpion, which is not the same as the traditional aesthetics of our country, and it is a foreign thing at a glance.

This small scorpion pendant looks like it's been around for a few years, and there aren't many details, but the overall effect is wonderful, showing that the level of the carver is very high, and it is hard to put down.

Although this pendant looks okay, but because it is one of the five poisons, it is not too pleasing, and Meng Zitao originally did not have the idea of wanting it, but after a closer look, he felt more and more that this thing was a little unusual, as if there was a mysterious power shrouded in it, and what surprised him even more was that like the Nine Dragons statue he had obtained earlier, the ability did not react to it at all.

No need for this, this little pendant must be extraordinary, since this is the case, of course Meng Zitao will not miss it, and after pretending to ponder for a while, he agreed.

Seeing that Meng Zitao agreed, the boss was happy and gave his business card to Meng Zitao, and out of politeness, Meng Zitao also exchanged business cards.

The boss's name is Smith, and he learned from his business card that Meng Zitao is also in the antique business, and said with a smile: "Boss Meng, I spend most of the year in England and France, if you have any needs in antiques, you can tell me, I will inform you when I find it, and will give you a certain discount." ”

"Okay, I'll definitely come to you if there's a need. "There are many ways for many friends, and Meng Zitao doesn't often go abroad, so it's great to have Smith to help.

Meng Zitao and Smith had a brief communication here, and He Wanyi on the other side had already chosen what he was satisfied with and showed it to Meng Zitao, and there was no problem.

Maybe he wanted to have a good relationship with Meng Zitao, Smith gave a more favorable price for the things He Wanyi chose, and paid together, and Meng Zitao and He Wanyi said goodbye.

Next, the two visited some rooms one after another, because the quality of the things brought by the vendors is quite remarkable, coupled with the affordable price, all Taobao customers, including the two of them, exuded great enthusiasm, and some of the vendors' things even took less than a morning to sweep away, the seller is satisfied, the buyer is also very satisfied, and both sides praise this activity.

Soon it was noon, and Meng Zitao and He Wanyi were already carrying small bags, so they were ready to eat.

Walking to the hotel lobby, Meng Zitao was about to call Wang Zhixuan and them, but received a call from Shu Ze.

"Ah, you're here too, why didn't you say it earlier?"

"Doesn't that think it will disturb your Taobao?"

"What's this, where are you now?"

"Here's it!"

Meng Zitao heard Shu Ze's voice coming from behind him, and when he looked back, he saw that Shu Ze and Sima Yuelan were also carrying large bags and small bags in their hands.

"Looks like you've gained a lot. ”

"Aren't you the same? ”

Everyone looked at each other and smiled.

"Where are you going now?"

"Let's go eat. ”

"Let's go together. ”

"Wait until I call Uncle Wang. ”

Meng Zitao called Wang Zhixuan, and after a while, the pair of father-in-law and son-in-law also came with their hands idle.

Everyone took the car to the private restaurant together, and after ordering the food, they began to "review" their respective trophies, and Meng Zitao was of course the most important thing.

Soon the waiter began to serve the food, and everyone stopped what they were doing, and after eating a hearty lunch, they continued to appreciate and comment one by one.

"Hey, Zitao, your scepter is a little interesting, I haven't seen the same type before. ”

Shu Ze looked at the scepter with some curiosity, and then took out a magnifying glass to look at it, and praised the carving of the scepter with a sigh of praise, however, when he saw a position on the head of the scepter, he suddenly had a pause in his hand, and then his brow began to wrinkle.

"What's the matter, it can't be a problem, right?" Wang Zhixuan asked.

"There's a crack here. Shu Ze pointed to the position of the head of the cane and said.

Meng Zitao said with a smile: "I know this. ”

"No, I know you still buy it. Cheng Qiheng was a little inexplicable.

It was Shu Ze who reacted first: "Yes, what do you kid say?" ”

Meng Zitao smiled, and after asking for the scepter, he said, "You'll know in a while." ”

As he spoke, he took out some tools from his bag, and then began to deal with them, and after a while, he opened the head of the staff, and saw that it was a thing wrapped in cloth, and when he opened it, it was all sapphires.

"No, it's a Kashmir sapphire!"

As one of the world's three major colored gemstones, sapphire has been admired and sought after by various cultures around the world since ancient times. Among the sapphires, the sapphires from the mysterious Kashmir mountains are also revered as priceless treasures. The Kashmir region is located in the northernmost mountainous region on the border between India, Pakistan and our country. Here, the Himalayas, the Karakoram and the Hindu Kush mountain range converge on the move, generating an infinite force of impact and blending.

As far as the earth's surface can see, spectacular landscapes such as rocky mountains, glaciers, lakes and waterfalls are formed. More importantly, the movement of the continental plates has created high temperature and high pressure geological conditions in which the limestone is in direct contact with the invading pegmatites, and Kashmir sapphires have the opportunity to be formed in a silicon-free environment, which is rare.

The resulting sapphires are of legendary quality and are synonymous with the finest sapphires. Kashmir sapphires are particularly famous for their highly saturated deep blue to pure blue hues. Gemstones often contain extremely fine filamentous inclusions that reveal a silky, velvety texture in the hard, strong metallic texture of sapphires.

The hardness and softness of this superb Kashmir sapphire is a blend of blue that will leave anyone who sees it in their hearts. At the same time, the filamentous inclusions will make its color more delicate and beautiful, and the most representative Kashmir sapphire color is known as "cornflower blue", which is synonymous with beauty and rarity.

The Kashmir gem deposits were discovered in 1881 after a landslide in the Zaskar Mountains in the Himalayas, and due to the year-round snow cover brought by extreme altitudes, the harsh climate, and the unstable political situation, the deposits were only mined intermittently between 1881 and 1887, and the ore was produced very little.

It was exhausted in the 20s of the last century, and no new deposits have been discovered since. For this reason, Kashmir sapphires are known in very small quantities today, and their high quality is not only the standard of quality for all sapphires, but has become almost mythical.