This is a good thing, just smelling the smell can have such a strong refreshing effect, so far Jin Muchen knows that it can be such an effective good thing, that is, agarwood.

When he was in Brunei before, the sultan of the country once gave him a lot of valuable agarwood bracelets, because of the sea, those bracelets, he is not willing to stay in his hands now, for fear of being splashed by the sea, affecting the quality.

But at this time, he actually smelled a similar smell to agarwood on such a dark guy, which made him a little confused, what the hell is this?

Anyway, he had some vague thoughts about this thing in his head, but once he was asked to say it, he always felt as if there was something wrong with it, and he couldn't say it.

"What? Jim-san: Are you interested in things? If you like it, I'll give it to you. ”

Nomura Takako also noticed that Jin Muchen seemed to be very interested in this ornament, so he came behind him and said to him.

"Uh...... So what's so embarrassing? ”

Jin Muchen scratched his head and said embarrassedly, this thing should be a good thing, but if people give it away for nothing, he really doesn't have such a thick skin.

"Hey, what's embarrassing, Jimsan, this thing is just a piece of black coral, it's not very valuable, if you like it, I'll give it to you."

When Jin Muchen heard that this treasure was actually black coral, he was shocked at first, and then slandered this Nomura Takako in his stomach, this black coral is also a good material for making high-grade handicrafts, why is it not valuable?

But when I think about it, this black coral seems to be really precious to ordinary people, but to Takako Nomura, it's really nothing, so it's no wonder she said that.

"It's black coral, no wonder."

Jin Muchen muttered, he vaguely felt the origin of this thing before, he seemed to know, but what it was, he never remembered, now that Nomura Takako mentioned this, he understood, it turned out to be this thing!

This black coral is a type of wild coral, but it is not a plant, but a marine cavity, which generally grows about 20 meters below the surface of the sea, and mostly prefers to grow under the rocks under the surface of the sea.

There are only so many types of coral in the world, the most valuable of which is red coral, followed by pink, white, and black coral.

Originally, a species of blue coral was produced near the west coast of Africa, but it is now almost extinct due to overmining.

Among these varieties of coral, black coral is the least valuable, of course, this is also compared with other varieties of coral, if compared to other things, this thing is still quite valuable.

Black coral is also called sea willow, or sea iron tree, because it grows in a shallow sea, so it is more affected by the movement of sea waves, so when growing, the branches will show a tendency to spread, just like a willow dancing in the wind, so it will get the title of sea willow.

And because when salvaged ashore, this kind of sea willow often has a water ghost body, to put it bluntly, when it comes ashore, the black polyp has not yet died, so the body of this coral will flash red, yellow and white and other colors, only after it is dry, it will gradually become black, and become more and more hard.

Because of this, he also has another name, and that is the Sea Iron Tree.

And this kind of black coral also has many uses in society, such as making various handicrafts.

Because this black coral has the characteristics of luster, durability and resistance, and tough texture, it is an excellent material for processing into various crafts.

For example, the most famous black coral handicraft in China is a set of black coral utensils used by the tomb owner during his lifetime unearthed in an ancient tomb of the Song Dynasty excavated on Dongshan Island in Fujian Province, including bracelets, necklaces, and wine glasses made of black coral.

However, because black objects have never been a pleasing thing in our Chinese concepts, the crafts made of black coral were not particularly popular in ancient times.

Unless it is some large-scale bonsai carving, but the price of such black coral ornaments is often frighteningly expensive, because the shape of black coral is generally more like a willow tree, so it is also very suitable for making a tree in a potted plant.

But if you want to make a tree like that, then the volume of this black coral must be large enough, but to be able to make a tree of that size, that kind of black coral underwater, at least 200 to 300 years old.

And such black coral is generally a very precious species, so the price is very expensive.

So far, that is, in Japan, there are so many potted plants made of black coral, but most of them are collected at home by those wealthy chaebols, and they are not easy to show to the public.

When Jin Muchen was also reading antique introduction magazines, he saw a Japanese bonsai enthusiast who made a special introduction article, which introduced this kind of black coral and black coral potted plants, and then he knew about this kind of object.

But he hasn't been in contact with it himself, so he really doesn't know much about this thing.

"Yes, as early as the Warring States period, this thing was very popular in Japan, so now there are a lot of antiques made of black coral that have been handed down in Japan, and the price of each piece is not cheap."

Takako Nomura continued to introduce Jin Muchen and said, Jin Muchen nodded frequently after listening to it, it is true that he is really not an expert about this kind of coral.

Although he also knows that in recent years, the price of objects made of coral has been soaring internationally, especially in China, the collection boom in recent years has doubled the price of coral.

But he really didn't know much about what the price had risen, and he didn't have much contact with this coral object, so Nomura Takako explained it to him at this time, and he was popularized at that time.

"During the Warring States period in Japan, because of the war, a large number of ordinary people poured from the plains to the coastal cities to escape the war, and in order to make a living, many people went to sea by boat and became fishermen, and some of them even became pirates......

Nomura Takako explained the original story to Jin Muchen, but when he heard this, Jin Muchen slandered in his heart, isn't it just a pirate, or a pirate......

And some of those fishermen were very good at diving into the water to collect things, and in the early days, they went to the surface to collect pearls, because pearls are very valuable.

There are also crabs, lobsters, and then someone found this black coral.

In China, the understanding of black coral is even earlier, but in the earliest days, black coral was considered to be used as medicinal materials, and this thing was recorded in the "Compendium of the Dynasty", which was a special effect on stopping bleeding, calming shock, and treating hemorrhoids.

After those Japanese fishermen picked such black coral, they would take it to the market to buy, and some of the leftovers were collected by the pharmacy to make medicinal materials, and those that were in good condition were bought back by those artists and made into potted plants, or carved flowers, birds, insects and fish, or made into wine cups, teacups or something.

Anyway, this piece made of black coral was very popular in Japan at that time, and it can even be said that it was popular for a while, during the Warring States period of Japan, those dignitaries and dignitaries, who did not have a few black coral ornaments at home, they were embarrassed to invite guests to banquets at home.

If you don't bring two black coral jewelry, you will be embarrassed to go out to meet people, anyway, at that time, this black coral ornaments and handles, jewelry, is a symbol of Japanese high society.

After listening to Takako Nomura's explanation, Jin Muchen knew that this black coral still had such a status in Japanese history, and he really didn't know it before.

In fact, what he didn't know was that this gadget made of black coral actually started at the end of the Han Dynasty and was popular in the land of China for a period of time.

In particular, the small pieces made of black coral were once very popular with the ancient emperors and ministers at that time, and later in the Wei and Jin dynasties, and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the emperors of countless dynasties were very fond of wearing two trinkets made of black coral.

Until the establishment of the Sheng Tang Dynasty, China reached the second period of great material abundance in history, and all kinds of ornaments from the Western Regions are also constantly impacting, refreshing the Chinese's cognition and understanding of treasures, especially when your red coral ornaments and ornaments were brought to China by those merchants from the Western Regions through the Silk Road, and the ornaments and ornaments of red coral entered the eyes of China's upper class society.

After all, red coral is much more festive than this black coral in terms of color alone, and both emperors and dignitaries in China at that time liked this festive red coral very much.

Since then, this black coral has declined in the history of China, at that time, the officials and people in the coastal area would often go to the sea to collect red coral, dedicated to the emperor and nobles at that time, and black coral has become a mortal product, only the relatively wealthy second-rate families in the society will use this thing, but if the family has a little confidence, it must be replaced with red coral.

The ornaments and ornaments of black coral, that is, since the Tang Dynasty, have gradually declined on the land of China.

The number of surviving is originally small, coupled with the age, so in Chinese mainland, the antiques made of ancient black coral that can be preserved to this day, and the number of works of art are as rare as expected, and even not as large as those in Japan.

"But now, because of the increase in extraction, the market price of black coral has also been very seriously affected, and the price is still not too high......

Takako Nomura continued to explain to Jin Muchen. (To be continued.) )