Although many dignitaries and nobles took a large amount of property with them when they fled south, they had to sell their belongings to support their lives because they had always been extravagant and had huge expenses. In addition to the relics of the Ming Dynasty who came south, there were originally many relics in Stone City, the capital of Liudu, and the Ming Dynasty perished, and their livelihoods became increasingly embarrassed, so they had to sell their goods.

Whether it is the old man who went south or the original old man in Stone Town, they are all big families with heads and faces in the previous dynasty, and out of identity considerations, they are not willing to sell goods along the street in a grand manner like ordinary people, and the "black market" came into being. These sellers sneaked into the market when it was dark, and as soon as the items were out of their hands, they hurried home after dark so as not to be recognized.

The original "black market" in Stone Town was on Review Street. The down-and-out aristocrats of the previous dynasty secretly negotiated business in the teahouse on Ping Shi Street. Gradually, there were more and more transactions, and the teahouse was small, so the business shifted to the area of Mochou Road and Tangzi Street, and expanded to Mingwa Corridor and Yiyi Corridor at its peak. After dark, the buyer and seller carry small lanterns and negotiate with the faint light to see the goods.

According to the "Stone City Chronicle", after 1949, the Stone City People's Government rectified the black market, cleaned up the employees, and established a street vendor guild. In 1953, the "black market" was abolished and a thrift market was set up on Tangzi Street.

Zhang Tianyuan knew a collector surnamed Wang, and he knew the history of Tangzi Street very well. "The black market is what is often referred to as a 'ghost market' nowadays, and most of them are active at night." More than ten years ago, he often went to Chaotian Palace to treasure for treasures, and later moved from Chaotian Palace to Cangxiang, not far from Tangzi Street. Now, the thrift trade in Stone Town is not as centralized as it used to be. "Cangxiang is mainly for antique trading, and old books and paintings have been transferred to Nanyi Backstreet. The old goods were transferred to the East China market of Xiaoxing. There are also changes in business hours, the former ghost market. It opens at 12 p.m. and disperses in the early hours of the morning. It usually opens at four or five o'clock in the morning. The thrift market on Tangzi Street is open during the day after moving indoors. ”

Collectors with the surname Wang now frequented Nanyi Backstreet and Cangxiang. Over the years, I have found a lot of good things, "There is a report card of the famous female conductor Zheng Xiaoying when she was studying at Jinling Women's University. I also found the Zhongzheng Sword and Ding Cong's comic manuscript given by Chiang Kai-shek to the cadets of the Whampoa Military Academy. "The price of a single piece of things is not expensive, but it costs a lot of money to add up, but the collector surnamed Wang enjoys it.

However, another theory is that the black market did not originate in Stone Town.

Mr. Xue, a bibliophile in Stone Town, is also very familiar with the history of the Chaotian Palace area. But. He disagrees with the idea that the "black market" originated in Stone Town.

Gu Qiyuan of the Ming Dynasty wrote a lot about the scenery of Stone Town in his book "Guest Words". He has such a sentence, 'Jinling City is in the moonlight', which shows that the people of Stone Town had the habit of doing business at night at that time. Gu Qiyuan was a native of the Wanli period, so it can be seen that the black market in Stone City should be no later than the Wanli period. After the Qing army entered the customs at the end of the Ming Dynasty, many dignitaries and nobles who fled south went to the black market in Stone Town to sell things in order to support their families, which is true, but if it is judged that the black market originated from Stone Town in the late Ming Dynasty, it is inaccurate. ”

Mr. Xue said. Now there is a black market in many places across the country, such as Luozhou, Shangpu, Imperial Capital and other places, the appearance of the black market in Shangpu may be later than Stone Town, whether other places are later than Stone Town. It's hard to generalize.

It is difficult to conclude the origin of this black market, but because the imperial capital has developed rapidly in recent years, there are also a lot of people of all colors. It's a mixed place.

If there is more black market, there will be more strange things. There are some black markets, which nominally sell antiques and antiques. In fact, they are all imitations, to deceive people who don't know how to collect.

Zhang Tianyuan has encountered this kind of thing, but he was not fooled. For example, when he heard that there were stolen antiques flowing into the black market, Zhang Tianyuan also helped to investigate, but later learned that it was a fake market at all, and what kind of black market was simply a deceptive thing.

The black market can indeed find good things, and of course, there are also roosters and dog thieves who mix in it, and use the black market as a good place to sell stolen goods; There are also quite a few scammers.

But the black market is indeed a good place, and the value of the "Xuande furnace" for 6 silver dollars on a trip to the black market has skyrocketed to 15 times.

The "black market" was quite popular after its birth and continued until the Republic of China. The "black market" sells antiques, jewelry, jade, jewelry, calligraphy and paintings, furs, and even furniture. As sellers are in a hurry to get rid of it, the general price is much cheaper than the market price, attracting many citizens, merchants, and people who are interested in collecting.

According to the 12 volumes of the Stone City Chronicles, the antique dealers of the Confucius Temple often carried lanterns to the black market to collect goods, and these people were called "Zhibao Xibei" and also known as "Baobao Monkey", among which there are many legendary stories.

Zhang Songfu, the grandson of the commander of the Qing patrol battalion, sold an ancestral precious red copper "Xuande furnace" to the "Baobao Monkey" at a price of 6 silver dollars, and the "Baobao Monkey" was sold at a price of 90 silver dollars. Li Hongzhang's great-grandson sold a Xikou fox skin robe for 8 silver dollars, and the buyer sold it for 30 silver dollars. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the black market business in Stone Town was more prosperous. During the Anti-Japanese War, the invading Japanese army approached Stone Town, and some evacuees went to the black market to sell high-end items that were inconvenient to carry.

At that time, a large mansion in Fu Hougang sold a batch of high-end red sandalwood furniture, which was sold through the black market for only 50 silver dollars. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, the families of some traitors and puppet government officials also went to the black market to peddle goods. On the eve of the liberation of Stone Town in 1949, the black market business was booming again.

Zhang Tianyuan has been in this industry for a long time, and he also learned some things, it is said that there was a folk song in the black market at that time, "The black market is black, the sky is dark, the goods are black, and the people are blacker".

However, navigating the "black market" is also an opportunity and a challenge. There are so many anecdotes in the world of antiques that they add a bit of mystery to it.

After all, there are some black markets, and there really have to be good things, such as the black market introduced by Wang Zhengjun, it is very tightly organized, and everything is good, and it has a very loud reputation in this industry.

What's more, these people can really get their hands on good things, so they don't want to ruin their credibility by making and selling imitations.

If they really do that, it will feel like Apple is making copycat apples to sell in the market, and it is their own pit and there is no point at all.

This kind of black market is connected with many famous collectors, connoisseurs and even foreign museums.

Especially in our country, bronzes are not allowed to be traded privately, since you are not allowed, then there will definitely be people who take risks, otherwise what to collect?

Therefore, most of the bronze collections are bought through the black market, and these black markets, for collectors, there is no harm in that, it is equivalent to secretly trading without the state. It's black market at worst, but free trade at best.

According to Zhang Tianyuan's understanding, some of the things that appear on the black market have reached the level of national-level protected cultural relics, and these people are risking their heads and going to prison to do this kind of business, so they are only more rigorous than Zhang Tianyuan in terms of safety, so Zhang Tianyuan doesn't have to worry about what will happen.

Of course, there are two kinds of such people, one is to only do business with people in a fixed circle, all the guests are introduced to each other, never strangers to come, and whoever brings the person is responsible, so it is difficult to have an accident, and the loyalty of customers is also very high. And they won't do business with foreigners, because once they are caught when they leave the customs, they may be served by the police.

The other kind of people are less particular, who they pay for and sell to whom, whether you are a foreigner or a Chinese, anyway, everything is for money, to say that it sounds good, it is called equality for everyone, and if it is ugly, it is called drilling money.

Zhang Tianyuan generally won't go to such a black market, because it's too dangerous, and the police are most tightly caught in this kind of black market, because of private transactions, that thing is still in China after all, but if you sell something to a gringos, it will lead to the loss of cultural relics, and the problem will be serious.

According to Wang Zhengjun, this black market is the first one, if Zhang Tianyuan wants to go, then he must be introduced by an acquaintance, and this acquaintance, in fact, Wang Zhengjun can, and Wang Zhengjun's weight is not light.

Aside from the law, this black market is still more exquisite, at least the reputation is very good, it is said that the things they sell, seventy or eighty percent are real, this is not easy, it is not realistic to want all of them to be true, after all, they themselves have to look away.

"That's it, Elder Wang, you know that my daughter-in-law is pregnant, and it's about to give birth, and it's hard for me to leave. Otherwise, I will send a car to pick you up at home for a detailed discussion, and you may be able to use the detailed information to prepare it. Zhang Tianyuan felt that there was a drama in this black market, but for the sake of safety, he still planned to study it carefully, so as not to get himself into it this time, and now that his daughter-in-law is about to give birth, he can't have an accident.

"I don't need to send a car, I'll ask the driver to send me there. I have prepared all the materials, and there are also simple materials including this pottery, you can also take a look. Wang Zhengjun said.

"Okay, so be it."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Tianyuan did not rush back to the room, but sat there and pondered. Although Wang Zhengjun's appraisal ability is definitely not as good as him, but the level is also very high, plus several people in the same industry think that Tang Sancai is real, then the probability of this matter is estimated to be about seventy or eighty percent, that is, because of this, Zhang Tianyuan will let Wang Zhengjun come over to talk, otherwise if he feels that it is not reliable at all, then there is no need to talk about this matter.

Although there are a lot of things in the museum now, they are far from the level of the Palace Museum, and they are far from Zhang Tianyuan's own expectations. (To be continued......)