"Don't ask for advice, just say something."

"Have you ever been to the Palace Museum in Taiwan? How many artifacts are there? ”

Professor Tan said: "I went there twice, once when I was not retired, the school organized a visit to study, and after I retired, I went again at my own expense. If you want to say how many cultural relics there are, I asked, about 700,000 pieces. This is a separation of historical archives, rare books, and documentary materials, and if you count them all, there are more than 8 million pieces. You've been to the Forbidden City Museum in Beijing, but it's impossible for ordinary people to know about it. More than 9.6 million pieces remained in the Palace Museum on the eve of liberation, and 240,000 pieces were collected after liberation. If you don't count the classics and documents, there are more than 1.5 million paintings, calligraphy, and utensils. ”

Wuyang said: "Professor Tan, you won't laugh at me for being arrogant and asking Hanako to compete with the Dragon King, right?" ”

Tan Changqiao said with a smile: "You didn't ask who you had more and who was less than them, how could I laugh at you." Even though I know that you are asking these words to compare yourself with them, I can understand that who doesn't want to be the first? Secretary Li, I can tell you that you now have more than 700,000 pieces of porcelain, which has surpassed the two Forbidden Cities. ”

"How is this possible?"

"That's right. The collection of the Beijing Palace Museum is 350,000 pieces, more than 1,100 first-class products, 56,000 second-class products, and more than 25,000 pieces of the Taipei Palace Museum. However, your collection is far less complete than theirs, you are more of some Ming Dynasty life porcelain, and the kiln mouth is even worse. The Forbidden City in Beijing has collected more than 30,000 ceramic specimens from more than 110 kilns, and the five major kilns of the Song Dynasty have porcelain, and all the porcelain kilns here are yours. There are only more than 30 of them. Before the Song Dynasty, there were only Jun kilns and official kilns. Now there is another Ru kiln. There is still a lack of brother kiln and fixed kiln. ”

Wuyang smiled: "Professor Tan, I am an amateur collector, and I have not spent too much money and too much energy to operate this thing, and it is just a coincidence that I can do this, and I am already satisfied." ”

Tan Changqiao said: "Secretary Li, you have two things here that exceed the two Forbidden City, do you know?" ”

"The weapon is definitely exceeded. The Forbidden City doesn't have a lot of weapons. There's another one I don't know. ”

Tan Changqiao shook the inventory in his hand and said, "It's jade." Last time, you got 23,483 pieces, this time it was 7,226 pieces, and there are more than 20 large pieces of jade carved by the processing factory, adding up to 30,730 pieces. Although it is not as large as the total number of the two Forbidden Cities, it is more than any of them. ”

Wuyang said, "Professor Tan, what is the least of my things here?" ”

"There are many things that are incomplete, there are no rare books, there are no calligraphy, lacquerware, enamel, glass, gold and silverware, bamboo and wood tooth carvings. Pen, ink, paper, inkstone and other miscellaneous things, in addition to ivory carving. There are not many, there are less than 200 paintings and calligraphy works in total, and there are only 3 before the Yuan Dynasty, which is too narrow. Of these 200 paintings, there are more than a dozen that we suspect are fakes. ”

Wuyang smiled: "If you suspect that it is a fake, then it must be a fake." When the time comes, just don't take it out and display it. Professor Tam, what is the total number of objects? ”

"Including those folklore objects, not counting this time, there are more than 8 million pieces. Secretary Li, speaking of this, there is one thing I have to tell you, with the opening of the new exhibition room here and the construction of a new museum in the capital, the basement can already collect the existing cultural relics, but you will definitely get it back in the future, it is still not enough place to collect. ”

"What should I do?"

"It is necessary to build a warehouse for storing cultural relics, and it must be the same as the exhibition hall, with constant temperature, constant humidity, fire prevention, and earthquake resistance, and if it can prevent atomic weapons, it will be foolproof."

Wuyang asked, "Is it okay to dig a warehouse under the stone mountain?" ”

"That's for the best, of course."

"Okay, I'll arrange for someone to find a suitable place to dig stone and build a storehouse. When the time comes, just move in. "In fact, people have already been arranged to dig stones and build caves in the scenery belt along the Yi River and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The porcelain salvaged in the past two years has been shipped to the island. Last time, a large ship with a length of more than 130 meters and a width of more than 30 meters was salvaged, with nearly a million pieces of porcelain, and the objects on the island have already exceeded 3 million pieces. But this matter can't be told to Tan Changqiao. In the future, the museum in the capital will be built, let them go there to do research, find an excuse, and transport some of the past, the cultural relics here are not their own secrets?

"Secretary Li, last time we went to the furniture factory to ask for sandalwood and golden silk nanmu, the people in the furniture factory didn't give it, and said that they wanted to make furniture for you."

Wuyang said: "I didn't arrange them, how did these people do it." ”

Tan Changqiao said: "It's not a bad thing to make furniture, let them do it well." I asked them to do what I had provided, so that they would not spoil the good wood. ”

"You're offering ancient furniture, right?"

"Yes, the cabinets, dressers, tables and stools, coffee tables, etc. in the Ming Dynasty were all sent by me to the capital to take pictures and measure the size. Those golden silk nanmu are just old wood, and they don't need to be made old, they are ancient furniture. Sandalwood is made into a screen, with vertical screens and hanging screens, all of which are painted in ancient styles and inlaid with precious stones. ”

Wuyang smiled: "You are preparing this for the museum again, right?" ”

Tan Changqiao said with a smile: "As long as you dare to use it, I will leave you a set, anyway, there is so much wood." ”

Wuyang said: "Professor Tan, is there any taboo about using this kind of furniture?" ”

"In the Ming generation, the golden silk nanmu was used by the royal family, and the common people used it, and they were to be killed. Of course, at that time, it must have been because there were very few golden silk nanmu, and the royal family did not allow the common people to compete with them for limited resources. Now there has been no golden silk nanmu to make furniture for hundreds of years, so you are not afraid of longevity. ”

Wuyang thought, if you want to do it now, there is wood from the lake, there is no problem to make as much as you want, but don't rush. "Professor Tan, I still have sandalwood at home, which is also old wood, so I use it."

"Sandalwood is more valuable than gold, don't run out of it, wait until I find the master. Let's do wood carving. ”

Wuyang said, "Okay." Just listen to you. Thank you. I'm looking for Jingbo. ”

Called Tan Jingbo at the unloading place, went to the newly built administrative building at the entrance of the museum, and found a carpeted office, and the master and apprentice sat on the carpet, first injecting true qi into Jingbo to increase his skills. The administration building has just been renovated and furnished, and they have not yet come in to work, so no one will come to disturb them.

Entered the True Qi. I taught another set of boxing techniques, took him to practice a few times, and the sky was dark, looking at the time, it was only more than 5 o'clock, and now it was the shortest time of the year. Back at the unloading site, everything had been cleaned up, and Wuyang called Professor Tan and Qiu Manchu's people to go to the Heyuan Hotel for dinner together.

Meals were arranged early, as soon as they arrived. Start serving. Wuyang asked the waiter to serve cigarettes and wine, and poured it when he was about to toast. received a call from Li Ying: "Wuyang, will you go home for dinner?" ”

Wuyang remembered that today was the weekend, and their brothers and sisters were all going home, and when they had nothing to do, they all had to eat with them. "I'm about to eat, is there anything wrong?"

"My Abba is here, bringing agarwood, and I want you to come and see it."

"A-Ying, what is agarwood?"

"A kind of wood from the Ruifeng family, which has been buried in the ground for many years after falling, and is made of mellow incense, which can be used as a spice or as a carving. This time, when Abba was shaving the yellow pear tree, he was dug out by the family dog, he had heard that this kind of thing was very expensive, and he was afraid of losing money by selling it to others, so he brought some over. ”

"Okay, I'll be right back." Wuyang hung up the phone, apologized to everyone and left. On the way, Wuyang called Yu Huijuan's father and told him that agarwood had come to his house and asked him to come and see it. When the father-in-law of the Yu family heard about it, he was very happy and said that he would come over immediately.

Suddenly, the conversation changed and said: "Wuyang, I can't come to your house, I can be said to be a layman to agarwood, I want to invite my friend to come over, isn't it okay to go to your house?" ”

Over the years, the two of them have been living in Stone Villa, their mother-in-law teaches in the secondary school of the foundation's school, and their father-in-law has been engaged in stone carving. He invited a few friends and brought about 10 students, carving all kinds of artworks day and night. Wuyang arranged a cook and waiter, set up a bank account for him, and let him run it himself, that is, there were some contacts during the New Year's holidays.

"Dad, can I arrange meals at the hotel in the villa area?"

"Okay, let's come over here."

Wuyang immediately called Li Ying again, asking her to go to the hotel with her father, arrange the meal, and bring the expert over. Li Ying comprehended, "Wuyang, then our father and daughter are foreigners who sell agarwood." ”

Wuyang smiled: "Be smart, tell Abba, don't blame me for being rude." ”

When I returned to Ssangyong Villa, I parked at the door of the hotel and saw that my parents had just arrived with Li Ying's father and daughter. After Wuyang called "Dad", Li Rixiong said: "I'll be an uncle for the time being, don't call it smooth." I'll call you Boss Li too. ”

Wuyang's father, Li Shihua, said: "Wuyang, the first time my in-laws came to the house, they didn't eat at home, so we had to come down together. ”

Li Ying said: "Mom and Dad, you better go back, when there will be outsiders, it is inconvenient for you to speak." My dad has to stay at home for a few days, and on Monday he has to go to see where we are studying. ”

Wuyang also said: "Mom and Dad, what A-Ying said makes sense, you better go back." A-Ying, tomorrow you accompany Abba to the shop in Heyuan and buy some clothes for Abba and Grandma. There is also a car there, and if Abba likes it, he will drive one back and put it in my account. ”

Li Ying said: "Clothes are to be bought, cars are not necessary, our sisters have already bought them for Abba at home, and we have a lot of cheaper ones over there." ”

Luo Hongying said: "In-laws, then we will go back, please understand." ”

Li Rixiong said: "In-laws, in-laws, mother-in-law, we are relatives, so don't be so polite." My sons and daughters have all come here, and there will be a lot of trouble for you, and when we are older, we will also come here. ”

Luo Hongying said: "Okay, when the time comes, we can chat often, go out to see the world together, and take care of the children at home." ”

After Wuyang's parents left, Wuyang took the towbox in Li Rixiong's hand and went into the hotel to open a box to order. The waiter said, "It's rare for the boss to come once, I'll call Manager Deng to stir-fry." ”

Wuyang said: "Okay, you don't need to order food, you can let Baoliang side dishes." Remember, let him put less chili peppers, my guests are not used to spicy food. ”

The waiter made tea and left. Li Rixiong said: "Boss Li. Take a look at agarwood? ”

Wuyang doesn't understand it. But he couldn't bear to spoil his interest, so he said, "I just want to see it." ”

Li Rixiong opened the trailer box, took out two plastic bags from it, and took out a few pieces of agarwood. The agarwood block is not big, the small one is not much thicker than the thumb, the big one is only about 20 centimeters long, and the diameter of the thick part is more than 10 centimeters.

Agarwood is very unremarkable in appearance and extremely uneven. It was yellow, brown and black, and in some places it was very dark, and it was no longer woody, or it looked like it was woody, and it was basically petrified, and the grain was very disordered, and some of the wood was still sandwiched with stones in between. The only thing that makes people feel different is that there is a faint fragrance.

Wuyang looked at it for a while, but couldn't see the reason, so he asked, "Uncle Li." Is this kind of thing worth anything? ”

"I don't know. After I dug it up, I took a few pieces to the city to find someone to see them. A Taiwanese is willing to pay 500 yuan per gram to buy it from me. As soon as I heard it, isn't it more expensive than gold? I had an extra heart and didn't sell it to him. Later, a friend in the city introduced a Hong Kong man to him, and he came out with 1,000 yuan per gram. I don't think I'm short of this money anyway, so I'll just send it to you. If you have a lot of friends and friends, you might be able to sell it for a good price. ”

At this time, the waiter led the Yu family's father-in-law and a man in his 30s in, and Wuyang greeted them with a smile, "Principal Yu, hello, who is this?" ”

Principal Yu said: "This is Mr. Yuan Shengping, who specializes in wood carving in the studio, and has studied agarwood carving with the master for 5 years, and has a lot of research on agarwood. ”

Yuan Shengping said: "Secretary Li, I don't dare to say that there is research, I just understand a little bit." Now there is a shortage of agarwood resources, and my master is to process some works of art for wealthy Taiwanese businessmen, so I have no use at all, so I came to learn wood carving from Mr. Yu. This is Boss Li from Vietnam, right? ”

Li Rixiong said: "Two masters, I am not a boss, that is, I just got these things by accident, and I don't know if they are true or not." ”

Yuan Shengping said: "It is not easy to identify agarwood, so we will do some simple identification now." However, Boss Li is the seller, and Secretary Li is the leader, so he doesn't need to know these things. Waiter, please go and bring a basin of water. ”

After speaking, Yuan Shengping selected a few pieces of wood in a plastic bag, some black and some brown. "Let's look first, black is the best, gray and black are second, yellow and brown are again, and dark cyan is the worst. You see, these colors are recognizable at a glance; Let's smell its fragrance again, smell is the most important means of identification, the general taste of agarwood at the beginning of the smell feels like some kind of familiar medicinal smell, but after a closer smell can not remember what the smell is. Agarwood is also divided into water and earth. When a tree falls, it sinks when it falls to the ground, and when it falls into the water, it sinks. The most important difference between water sinking and earth sinking is that the taste of soil sinking is thick and violent, while water sinking is mild and mellow. The main means of judging the smell of agarwood is "drill", what is drill? That is, the smell of agarwood is drilled into your nostrils, and the real taste of agarwood should feel that the taste is drilled into your nose along a thread-like path. Another means of judging is "through", generally buy agarwood bracelets are accompanied by a plastic bag, this bag is sealed impermeable, at this time you put the agarwood into the bag, close tightly, as long as your sense of smell is normal, the real agarwood can be incense through this bag. The third means of judgment is "put", if you have the conditions, you can put it next to the pillow, and at night when you are in a relaxed sleep, you can smell the smell is bursting and intermittent. If it's a fake, the taste isn't bursty; Then there is the touch, a good water sink looks like there is a layer of oil, but it is not dirty to touch, and the feeling of the hand is not oily. If it's a fake, the oil will leave a dirty mark on your hands. ”

At this time, the waiter brought water, and Yuan Shengping said: "We put these woods into the water, and we can see that the agarwood can't wait to sink to the bottom of the basin, but this method is not scientific, and it can only be regarded as a condition for judgment." Because the Buddha beads of red sandalwood will also sink into the water, and some of the raw agarwood will also sink. ”

Wuyang said: "Teacher Yuan, why are these half-sinking and half-floating? ”

Yuan Shengping said: "Secretary Li, don't call me teacher, I can't afford it, you can call me Master Yuan, I'm just a craftsman." These timbers are half-sinking and half-floating, which should be the highest grade of Vietnamese Qinan, and only the highest-grade Qinan is half-sinking and half-floating. So this method can only be used as a reference. Not as a standard. To be precise, you still have to smell it. The fragrance of these agarwoods is relatively thick and has a mellow feeling, which should be sinking. ”

Li Rixiong asked: "Teacher Yuan, is the soil sinking dug out of the soil?" ”

"Yes, the earth sink is dug out of the soil, and the water sink is dug out of the water. But now many places that used to be lakes and swamps have dried up. As the so-called vicissitudes of life, so it is difficult to strictly distinguish between soil and water sinking, anyway, your agarwood is a mature agarwood, and its grade is relatively high. It is some inverted agarwood, which is also the best carving material. ”

"Teacher Yuan, how much are these things worth?"

Yuan Shengping said: "Boss Li, the specific price is difficult to determine. ”

Yuan Shengping is indeed more difficult, let's tell the truth, it is Secretary Li of the proprietor who wants to buy these things, and the boss suffers. Tell lies, and be sorry for your conscience.

Wuyang said, "Teacher Yuan." Just tell me the truth, it's okay. ”

"It's really hard to know for sure. This kind of pure black should be regarded as a top-quality wood, and the price per gram is about 10,000 US dollars, but if gray spots are found in the carving, the quality will be downgraded. This kind of black-brown bar, if there is a texture in it when carving, and it is reasonably used, the value will increase a lot. The film and television superstar surnamed Li that we are familiar with wears a string of nine-eyed dzi bracelets, and only one bead is worth more than one million. ”

Wuyang said: "Teacher Yuan, so the carver has played a vital role in the formation of value? ”

"That's nature. Carving hand beads is the easiest way to get started, but it also cleverly disguises the requirement to remove gray spots. If it is a carved ornament, it is necessary to carry out ingenious ideas according to the shape, size and texture of the wood, such as wind and snow, birds, fish and insects, melons, fruits and vegetables, as well as all kinds of characters in mythology and reality, all kinds of characters, depending on the carver's whimsy. ”

"Teacher Yuan, how far do you think you have reached?"

Yuan Shengping smiled and said: "Secretary Li, I'm not afraid that you will laugh at me, although I have not carved an ornament until today, I think I am a genius carver." Why didn't I stay with the master, I tell you the truth, I just think the master's idea is too inferior, I would rather not do it, and I can't continue to be by his side, if that happens, I will also become very mediocre. If Heaven is willing to favor me, it will definitely give me this opportunity. ”

Li Rixiong picked up a piece of agarwood and said, "Teacher Yuan, if such a piece of wood is carved into a hand bead, isn't it a waste of a lot of wood?" ”

"Boss Li, there is no waste of agarwood. The wood chips left after carving are good spices for Chinese medicine. Agarwood smells fragrant, pungent, slightly warm, non-toxic, has the effects of qi analgesia, warm and stop vomiting, and relieves asthma, and is often used to treat qi reversal and chest fullness, wheezing angina, accumulation of ruffians, stomach cold and vomiting, cholera, men's coldness, malignant qi and sores and other symptoms.

There are also many relevant descriptions in the classics of traditional Chinese medicine, such as the "Materia Medica" says that "it can lower the qi and fall into phlegm and salivation, can fall and rise, and the fragrance enters the spleen, so it can regulate all the qi and adjust the middle, and its color is black." The body is yang, the right arm of the deceased is the door, the warm essence helps the yang, the qi does not hurt the qi, and the temperature does not help the fire. "Daming Materia Medica" says that it can "regulate the five internal organs, benefit the essence and strengthen the yang, warm the waist and knees, stop the tendons and vomit cold air"; ’

From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, incense burning is a 'scent therapy' in external treatment. Agarwood blocks do not have an open flame. Slowly burning will turn black and charcoal, smoke out of the curling white smoke aroma overflowing, the use of the smell of combustion, can be immune to evil spirits, sterilization and disinfection, awakening and intellectual, health care, it is said that there are also anti-mosquito, moisture-proof and other effects, so it is favored by people. In the past, people used to smoke agarwood to ward off evil spirits, remove filth, and exorcise ghosts, which is actually the truth. Agarwood is also processed into traditional Chinese medicine pieces, such as: agarwood powder, agarwood pieces, agarwood koji, etc. Recent clinical trial studies have shown that agarwood is also a special drug for stomach cancer and a good analgesic. At present, there are more than 160 kinds of Chinese patent medicines that are compatible with agarwood formulas, such as agarwood stagnation pills, agarwood stomach pills, agarwood gas pills, and eight-flavor agarwood tablets. ”

Li Rixiong said: "Teacher Yuan, although it can be used, the value is much lower?" (To be continued......)