"Red Coral is also on the black market? It's not illegal to buy and sell this thing, right? Walking on the floating dock, looking at the patches of red coral, Zhou Hongbo was a little strange. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Zhou Weiqiang smiled and said, "Why don't you break the law?" It's also about protecting animals. ”

"Protecting animals?" Chen Erlei asked strangely.

"Yes, it is a national first-class aquatic wild protected animal." Zhou Weiqiang said.

Mo Xie knows this, the preciousness of red coral is comparable to that of giant pandas, natural red coral is made of polyps piled up, and its growth is extremely slow, only one inch in 20 years, while red coral only grows in a few straits (Taiwan @ Bay Strait, Japan Strait, Baltic Sea, Mediterranean), so it is extremely precious.

Red coral has a pleasing color and a smooth texture, and is listed as one of the seven treasures in the Oriental Buddhist scriptures, and has been regarded as a rich and auspicious thing since ancient times.

As a national first-class aquatic wild protected animal, red coral is also not allowed to be sold at will in the market.

This is the case in China, and in countries where these waters are composed of islands, they pay more attention to the protection of coral resources, so they pay more attention to the protection of corals.

Otherwise, no one would sneak up on the hard work of collecting red coral and sell it here.

"Don't look at coral as a stone or as a plant, but it's an aquatic animal, and if you don't buy or sell, you don't kill it." Zhou Weiqiang said.

Mo Ye fell silent, although he was naughty, he was definitely a good boy, but he felt that since he entered the ocean, he had become bad.

In the depths of this ocean, there is really a sinful world, full of blood of the jungle, and in such a place, good people may not live long.

"Huh? Are these some birds? It's so big? It's bigger than a pheasant! "They had just left the coral selling place when they saw another bird seller.

There were many people around the bird seller, and when they saw Mo Ye and them coming, these people scattered in a hurry.

Zhou Weiqiang and Chen Erlei immediately frowned, they felt that something was wrong.

And Mo Xie didn't care about this, he looked at those big birds, he didn't know what level of protected animals these big birds were, and because of what, they were hunted and put here for sale.

There are no surprises here, everything is sold, but I don't know what's so strange about these birds.

After taking a closer look, Mo Xie found that these birds were really a bit strange, especially the feathers on the chest and upper abdomen, which were dark brown and had a metallic luster.

"It's a helmeted hornbill!" Zhou Weiqiang said with an ugly face.

"Helmeted hornbill? Is the meat of this bird delicious? Chen Erlei asked.

Zhou Hongbo said: "This is the helmeted hornbill? The kind of bird that is three times more expensive than ivory? ”

Mo Ye was attracted by their conversation: "What's so good about this kind of bird being extraordinary?" It's three times more expensive than ivory? ”

"It's a helmeted hornbill! You don't know? Zhou Weiqiang asked.

Mo Ye was stunned, how did he know what a helmeted hornbill was?

However, he soon knew, and after searching the information in the internal light brain, Mo Xie knew what kind of bird it was, and also knew why the helmeted hornbill appeared here.

The helmeted hornbill is the largest of all hornbills, with a body length of 110-120 cm and two central slender tail feathers up to 50 cm long; The male weighs 3.1 kg and the female weighs 2.6-2.8 kg.

Its head is more special, with a round helmet with a concave and convex helmet and a protrusion associated with the skull, which, unlike other hornbills, has a solid interior that constitutes nearly 10% of the bird's total weight. The top and sides are an intense red.

Like other hornbills, the peak of the beak is more than half the size of the head and is reddish from the base of the beak to the 1/2 or 1/3 of the apex of the helmet.

The middle and rear parts of the helmet are bright red in appearance, the front part and beak are yellow, the female is slightly smaller, the neck is light blue, and the helmet is small, the color is also lighter, and there are no long tail feathers.

The helmeted hornbill is produced in the tropical rainforests of East Asia, and is a national second-class protected animal, because of its solid texture, smooth and delicate male head texture, and some helmeted hornbill head carvings are even three times more valuable than ivory.

With the supply of ivory and rhino horn dwindling, the helmeted hornbill remains the number one target for poachers, despite being listed as a Class I protected species under the Washington Convention (critically endangered and banned from international trade).

The helmeted hornbill is native to Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand, and originally Singapore, but the helmeted hornbill is now extinct.

If there is no one to manage it, it is possible that the helmeted hornbill in several other countries will soon become extinct, mainly because the helmeted hornbill's head is too valuable.

The skulls of ordinary birds are hollow and cannot be carved, while the head of the helmeted hornbill is solid, red on the outside and yellow on the inside, with a delicate texture and easy to carve, comparable to ivory.

Zhou Weiqiang knows some things about Mo Xie, so he knows Mo Xie's several Taobao experiences, since he can pick up leaks in the antique market, how can he not know the name of Hedinghong?

The crane top red mentioned here is not poison, it is the helmeted hornbill head, and it is also the "red" in the "one red, two black and three white" often said in the cultural circle.

The reason why the head of the helmeted hornbill is called crane top red is not because of the name of the place of origin, but because the head of the vassal states of Southeast Asia as a tribute, and no one knows the form of the bird, so it is named "crane".

It is precisely because there are many "cranes" as the pattern on the ancient civil official court uniforms, and the meaning of this "official residence is a product" and "the sun is rising" is naturally given to it, and its color is red and gorgeous, so it is called crane top red.

The head of the helmeted hornbill can be made into snuff bowls, belt buckles, carved small animals or landscape figure artworks, and some people carved it into bracelets, rings, etc.

In particular, the delicate and elegant carvings carved directly on its head are incomparably beautiful and comparable to ordinary ivory carvings.

Therefore, the helmeted hornbill is now a first-class protected species under the Washington Convention, which is critically endangered and its international trade is prohibited.

Seeing such information, Mo Xie could only smile bitterly, which is no wonder that some people in the international community will shout that it is all the fault of the Chinese.

For example, ivory, such as coral, such as the helmeted hornbill here, as long as the Chinese like it, these animals will soon become extinct, although this is a bit exaggerated, but it also shows some truth.

It is because the head of the helmeted hornbill is solid and beautiful, and it is hunted for people to make handicrafts, and has been introduced to China by tribute and trade, etc., which has caused the price of this thing to be extremely high, which indirectly caused this bird to be hunted in large quantities.

The crane top was introduced to China in the Yuan Dynasty, but it was widely known to the Chinese people after Zheng He went to the West.

Because the producing country is mostly a tribute, the canonical system is not only listed under the tribute country, but also stipulates the official reward price.

Tribute is mostly used to make cups, belts, etc.

After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the country's power is declining, and the tribute is not coming, and its things are gradually rare, so they are expensive; At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the implementation of the maritime ban policy cut off from the trade of origin, and then became extinct in China.

In modern times, as the collection heats up and the underground trade is repeatedly banned, the helmeted hornbill, as an endangered species, is under great pressure to survive.

So, now, this thing, known as crane top red, is three times more expensive than ivory.

"Don't make a fuss, this kind of thing abounds here." I don't know when, Luo Peng's kid came to Mo Ye again.

"Abounding?" , Mo Ye glanced at Luo Pengdao.

Luo Peng smiled and said, "What do you see over there?" Rhino horns, and over there, yes, those big turtle-like things, and that thing is a hawksbill turtle, and this is a dark world, a corner where the laws of various countries can't control it, and here, it's not surprising that anything appears. ”

"Rhino horn!" Zhou Hongbo was a little moved, these things are usually rare in the market.

"Would you like to buy some? There is no killing without buying and selling! Zhou Weiqiang said.

Luo Peng said with a smile: "I know this sentence, but when faced with the temptation of interests, there are almost no people who can hold back their hearts." ”

"Let's go, go over and have a look." Mo Xie had already made a decision in his heart at this time, so he planned to find out what good things were here.

Not to mention anything else, the price of rhinoceros horn is comparable to gold, and rhinoceros horn is mainly divided into Asian rhino and African rhinoceros, which not only has the effect of detoxification, but also has a long carving culture, and the carving art of bamboo, wood, gold and jade is the same as the art forest treasures.

Rhino horn carving as a famous variety of ancient horn carving, in ancient times it was as famous as the luminous bi and the bright moon pearl, and now the rhino horn carving ware that survives in the world is mostly made by the Ming and Qing dynasties in China.

Nowadays, rhinoceros is a national first-class protected animal in China, and the price of rhino horn is comparable to gold on the black market, and its windfall profits have triggered poachers' frenzied hunting.

Of course, up to now, there are many cultural toys that can replace rhino horns, including buffalo horns, obsidian, coconut shell coconut stalks, stone and other black objects, among which, buffalo horns are most similar to rhino horns in terms of color and texture.

As for the tortoiseshell, this thing is synonymous with gemstones in China, and this creature has the nickname of the gem of life.

The hawksbill turtle is a reptile that lives on the deep bottom of the tropical sea, and is a type of marine animal under key protection in the world.

As a raw material for jewelry, tortoiseshell is taken from the scale armor on its back, and the pattern is crystal clear, which is the best decoration collection.

As the "Xuanwu" of the four sacred beasts of ancient Chinese mythology, the tortoiseshell has been deeply favored by the nobles or wealthy merchants of all dynasties since ancient times, and has been a common ornament in the Warring States Period.

However, the tortoiseshell production process is also extremely bloody, with a kind of "blood-seeking" tortoiseshell with blood-like lines on the surface, which is said to be stoned to death while the turtle is still alive, leaving this bruise on the shell.

On the black market, large tortoiseshell specimens can be sold for nearly 20,000 yuan, and small ones can be sold for more than 8,000 yuan.

In recent years, many people, driven by huge profits, have defied the law and illegally killed hawksbill turtles, causing their numbers to decrease year by year.

Those cultural toys made of rare and protected animals are bloody and cruel behind the exquisite carvings.