"I know the rules, you name your price."
Zhuang Rui nodded and extended his right hand.
The boss also extended his right hand, spread his five fingers, then clenched them into a fist. After a few seconds, he opened his fist and stared intently at Zhuang Rui.
First, spread your five fingers, which naturally represent the number five, then clench your fist. In other words, the stall owner is asking for fifty yuan per piece.
Zhuang Rui shook his head and used his right hand to close the stall owner's five fingers together, leaving only the index finger exposed.
As the saying goes, "Ask for the moon, but haggle on the spot." Zhuang Rui's actions indicate that he is only willing to pay ten yuan per piece.
It was only 2004, and the porcelain shard exhibition hall in Beijing had only been open for a few years. At that time, the internet was not particularly developed, and the story of "Pian'er Bai" was only circulating in the Beijing-Tianjin area. Nationwide, there weren't many people who collected porcelain shards, and consequently, the price of these porcelain shards wasn't very high. If it were a few years ago, these porcelain shards would only sell for 50 cents or a dollar. Now, Zhuang Rui was offering 10 dollars per shard, which was already quite a high price.
As for the price of Jun and Ru kiln porcelain shards rising to several thousand or even tens of thousands of yuan a piece in the following years, it became almost impossible to find genuine porcelain shards at these antique stalls, because by then, even porcelain shards were being counterfeited.
"Anyway, these broken porcelain shards were all picked up..."
The stall owner thought for a moment, checked the number of porcelain shards again, nodded, shook hands with Zhuang Rui, and said, "It's the price you asked for, deal."
Zhuang Rui didn't show any joy upon hearing this. He reached into his wallet, took out two hundred-yuan bills and one fifty-yuan bill, and handed them to the stall owner. After the owner took the money, Zhuang Rui immediately squatted down, ignoring the dirt on some of the porcelain shards, and carefully put the sixteen porcelain shards containing spiritual energy into his handbag. As for the matching broken porcelain, Zhuang Rui casually tossed them onto the stall.
"Thanks, boss, see you later..."
Suppressing his excitement, Zhuang Rui greeted the stall owner, who was somewhat bewildered by his actions, and then immediately left with the white lion. It was best not to meet again; otherwise, if the stall owner found out the value of these porcelain shards, he might even consider jumping into the river.
"Could there be treasure inside those porcelain shards?"
The stall owner was guessing what was going on in his mind, but it was too late to say anything then; the money and goods were already exchanged.
Walking on the bluestone road of Jade Street, Zhuang Rui just wanted to shout a few times to vent his joy. Just based on the dozen or so broken porcelain pieces in his handbag, Zhuang Rui felt that this trip was worthwhile.
Some readers might not understand. It's just buying some broken porcelain shards, why be so happy? Even if these shards were produced by famous kilns like Jun, Ding, and Ru, they would only be worth a few hundred or a thousand. After four or five years, they would only be worth a few thousand or ten thousand. This oversight isn't that big.
That's true; porcelain from the Five Great Kilns is valuable. Everyone knows that. However, porcelain shards from the Five Great Kilns aren't actually that valuable. In 2004, even if you sold them to a scalper, they would only offer four or five hundred yuan per shard, depending on the size. But the dozen or so shards that Zhuang Rui collected, once combined, would be worth an immeasurable amount.
When Zhuang Rui saw the porcelain shard on the base, he immediately recognized it. It was a fragment of Ru ware, and specifically, an official kiln piece, because he found several other base shards among the broken pieces. After piecing them together, the original character "士" (shi) was transformed into the two characters "奉华" (feng hua).
As many people know, during the Song Dynasty, there was no system for writing marks on the bottom of porcelain. Only some porcelain pieces had marks. For example, the marks on Ru ware are generally divided into three types. The first type is numbered like A, B, C, etc., but these numbers were not written during firing; they were engraved later.
The second type of inscription only has one character: Cai. It's clearly a surname, no need to look it up, it's Cai Jing! Second only to the emperor, Cai Jing's status at the time meant he could easily use Ru ware.
Another type is like the one Zhuang Rui has, with very clear characters written on the bottom of the porcelain, and these characters often have special meanings.
To give an example, the characters "Feng Hua" pieced together from the porcelain shards in Zhuang Rui's hands refer to Feng Hua Hall, an auxiliary hall of the De Shou Palace in the Southern Song Dynasty. It was the residence of Consort Liu, the favorite concubine of Emperor Gaozong of Song. Many Ru ware pieces with "Feng Hua" written on them were used by Consort Liu at that time.
Historical records indicate that Consort Liu was quite talented and could paint. She had two seals, one large and one small, engraved with the characters "Feng Hua". She would stamp them on her paintings after finishing them. Ru ware porcelain with the "Feng Hua" mark should have been Consort Liu's private possessions. This is sufficient proof that the porcelain shards in Zhuang Rui's bag are definitely official kiln porcelain from the Southern Song Dynasty.
What excited Zhuang Rui the most was that these dozen or so porcelain shards were all from a single Ru ware porcelain piece, and not one more or one less. They were all here, meaning that Zhuang Rui could use these Ru ware porcelain shards to completely restore a complete Ru ware porcelain piece.
Ru ware has a history of over a thousand years since its creation. It ranks first among the five famous kilns of the Song Dynasty (Ru, Guan, Ge, Jun, and Ding). Due to its exquisite craftsmanship, superior technology, diverse shapes, and rich decoration, it was not only popular among the common people at the time, but also appreciated and favored by the imperial family in the late Northern Song Dynasty. During the twenty years from the Yuan You reign of Emperor Zhezong of Song to the fifth year of the Chong Ning reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, it was monopolized as an official kiln and made exclusively for the imperial court.
Because the period for making imperial porcelain for the court was very short, the requirements were extremely high, the output was limited, and even fewer pieces survived. By the Southern Song Dynasty, it had become a rare treasure that was "extremely difficult to obtain". For nearly a thousand years, it has been favored and admired by collectors. The famous painting master Li Kuchan once wrote: "No museum in the world can be considered perfect without Ru (porcelain)."
There are thousands of museums in the world today, but fewer than 10 have collections of Song Dynasty Ru ware. The total number of Ru ware pieces in these museums is less than 70. As early as the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there was a saying that "even with a fortune of ten thousand pieces of gold, it is not worth a single piece of Ru ware." Today, the price of Ru ware has skyrocketed.
In 1992, a Northern Song Dynasty Ru ware porcelain plate with a diameter of 8 centimeters, which had been lost to private hands, was auctioned in New York for US$1.54 million. In a Hong Kong auction, a Song Dynasty Ru ware three-animal vessel changed hands for HK$50 million. These were prices from more than ten years ago. Today, the value of a Ru ware treasure is immeasurable.
Modern collectors go to great lengths to find Ru ware porcelain, regarding collecting a piece as a lifelong pursuit and source of pride. Therefore, if Zhuang Rui's Ru ware porcelain can be restored to a complete piece, even if it has already been restored, its price will be hundreds or thousands of times that of a porcelain shard.
"Youngest, what treasure did you find? You're all smiles."
Just as Zhuang Rui was about to go find Wei Ge and Lao Si, Yang Wei suddenly appeared out of nowhere, seemingly holding something in his hand.
"Brother Wei, this ghost market wasn't a wasted trip today, let me show you..."
Zhuang Rui was excited for a long time and couldn't find anyone to talk to, so he grabbed Yang Wei, opened his handbag, and showed him the porcelain shards.
Seeing Zhuang Rui speaking so mysteriously, Wei Ge leaned over and was greatly disappointed. He said with a disdainful look, "Tch, it's just a few broken porcelain shards. I thought you'd found a gold ingot."
Chapter 168 Imperial Edict of the Western Han Dynasty
“Broken porcelain shards? Brother Wei, wasn’t the one your dad bought for over a million RMB also a broken porcelain shard? Let me tell you, these porcelain shards are even more expensive than the one Uncle Yang bought.”
Zhuang Rui didn't bother arguing with Wei Ge and said smugly that the satisfaction of finding a bargain at a street stall was something that ordinary people couldn't understand, and the wonderful feeling was beyond words.
Wei Ge was somewhat skeptical. He reached into his bag, took out a shard of Ru ware, and examined it for a long time, but couldn't figure it out. He casually put the shard back into Zhuang Rui's handbag and asked doubtfully, "Youngest brother, it's broken like this, can it still be pieced back together? Are you sure you're not mistaken? Who told you this junk is valuable?"
"Go away... We have nothing in common. If you don't believe me, fine. When we get to Zhonghai, I can make your father shell out five million to buy this piece of junk you're talking about. You believe me?"
Talking to Viagra about this was like talking to a brick wall; Zhuang Rui found no satisfaction whatsoever, so he simply zipped up his handbag and tucked it under his arm, deciding not to waste any more words with him.
Zhuang Rui's interest in Ru ware porcelain stemmed from the Chenghua Doucai Chicken Cup that Yang's father had purchased. When Uncle De was repairing the chicken cup, he told Zhuang Rui a true story about Ru ware porcelain.
Although Uncle De entered the antique business through self-taught means, his porcelain restoration skills are renowned throughout the country. He is a nationally famous expert in ancient porcelain restoration. When professional archaeological teams in China unearth broken porcelain shards, they would seek Uncle De's help. This is also the reason why Uncle De knows and has a good relationship with some archaeology professors at Peking University.
In 2000, a collector from Henan made a special trip to Zhonghai to find Uncle De. The man's surname was Xu, so let's call him Old Xu for now. Old Xu was a collector of ancient porcelain.
As collectors know, in the early 2000s, many collectors enjoyed traveling to rural areas. Collectors from Beijing and Tianjin especially frequented Hebei and Shanxi. This Mr. Xu, being from Ruzhou, Henan, paid particular attention to the legendary Ru ware porcelain. Whenever he had free time on weekends, he would often wander around the rural areas surrounding Ruzhou.
One weekend, Lao Xu drove his motorcycle to the neighboring Baofeng County. When he arrived at a village, the weather, which had been fine, suddenly turned into a downpour. He went to a farmhouse to take shelter from the rain. There was only a middle-aged woman with a child at home. She said that the men had gone to work in the fields. Lao Xu was too embarrassed to go inside, so he took shelter from the rain under the eaves outside.
It was summer then, and the rain came and went quickly, stopping in less than ten minutes. Just as Old Xu was about to leave, the male head of the household returned, but he was helped back by someone else.
In the summer, rural people sometimes work in the fields without shoes. This man was also barefoot, working when he saw it was raining heavily. He hurriedly ran home, but just as he reached the roadside, he stepped on something and immediately cut his foot badly, bleeding profusely. Luckily, there were other people working in the fields nearby who helped him back home.
The man was quite stubborn; before leaving, he insisted on digging out the thing that had cut his foot, and he was still holding it tightly in his hand when he entered the yard.
Once his foot was bandaged, the man looked at what he was holding and immediately became furious. It turned out to be a broken piece of porcelain, probably the base of a bowl, about the size of a child's palm. He wondered which heartless person had thrown it in the ground. The man had been cursing and throwing the broken piece of porcelain into the yard, and it landed right next to Old Xu's feet, breaking in two.
Old Xu is a porcelain collector. He picked it up and examined it out of habit. Although the porcelain shard was still covered in dirt, the unique sky-green glaze of Ru ware immediately caught his eye. Old Xu quickly determined that it was definitely a fragment of Ru ware porcelain.
Suppressing his excitement, Old Xu put the Ru ware porcelain, now broken in two, into his bag, took out a cigarette, and struck up a conversation with the man who owned the piece. These days, nobody's stupid, and besides, people like Old Xu often come to the village to collect bottles and jars. If it were a whole piece of porcelain, the man would definitely be willing to pay a high price. However, he didn't care about the broken pieces and instead told Old Xu in detail about where he had pricked his foot.
Old Xu was so excited that he parked his motorcycle at the farmer's house, borrowed a shovel, and, disregarding the fact that it had just rained heavily and the roads were muddy, paid ten yuan to the person who brought the injured man back to take him to the place where the man's foot had been pricked, and began to search carefully.
Old Xu searched for more than five hours, getting covered in mud and water, with cuts on his hands, but he actually managed to collect all the fragments of the porcelain piece. There were twelve fragments in total. He roughly pieced them together, and they were all in perfect order. It was a Ru kiln porcelain bowl.
Restoring antique porcelain is a highly skilled craft. Knowing his skills were lacking, Old Xu sought help from Uncle De, traveling from Henan to Zhonghai to have Uncle De restore his Ru ware official kiln bowl. At a Zhonghai auction in 2001, this Ru ware bowl, restored from twelve porcelain shards, fetched a high price of 4.88 million yuan, far exceeding the price of Song Xingjun's Chenghua doucai chicken cup.
It was only after learning this story that Zhuang Rui realized that even broken porcelain pieces, once repaired, were still incredibly valuable. The sixteen porcelain shards he had just found had a lustrous glaze, and through his spiritual energy, he could see sparse yet orderly bubbles within the glaze on the cross-section. If he wasn't mistaken, this should also be a Ru ware piece from the Qingliang Temple in Baofeng during the Northern Song Dynasty.
There are now two confirmed locations for Ru kiln: Zhanggongxiang Ru kiln and Qingliangsi Ru official kiln in Baofeng. Although both are Ru kilns, the price of the Northern Song Dynasty Qingliangsi Ru official kiln is more than ten times that of the Zhanggongxiang Ru kiln.
Zhuang Rui thought that after restoring his Ru kiln porcelain, it could sell for two or three million yuan, and he only spent a mere two hundred yuan. This was faster than robbing a bank. Moreover, he had initially recognized the value of the piece based on his eyesight. The sense of satisfaction he felt was indescribable.
However, Zhuang Rui's good mood was completely ruined by his boss, who didn't know what he was talking about.
When Wei Ge saw that Zhuang Rui was silent for a moment, he thought that Zhuang Rui had been discouraged by him. He raised his hand triumphantly and said to Zhuang Rui, "Youngest brother, what do you think of this piece of porcelain I bought? Let me tell you, this is genuine Han Dynasty white porcelain. My old man has one exactly the same, but I think his is not as good as mine."
"Han Dynasty white porcelain?"
Zhuang Rui was stunned by Wei Ge's words. The Han Dynasty was basically all about celadon, and the firing was very rough. He had heard Uncle De talk about white porcelain, but that was done by reducing the iron content during the firing of celadon and firing it in an oxidizing flame. It was only possible to fire white porcelain by chance, and the quantity was pitifully small. Moreover, compared with the exquisite porcelain of later generations, its collection value was not very high. Such items are rarely seen today.
"Boss, you didn't know that porcelain jar in your house was fake, did you? This one of yours, tsk tsk..."
Zhuang Rui's meaning was self-evident. The object Wei Ge was holding was an everyday water jug, its design quite antique. There was some dirt on it, but Zhuang Rui wouldn't believe it was from the Han Dynasty even if you beat him to death.
"Hey, Lao Yao, don't disbelieve me. The stall owner just said that they dug this item out of a tomb, and now the police are watching it. That's why they sold it to me for a cheap price of 800 yuan. Look, there's even an inscription on the bottom of this pot. It shouldn't be fake, right?"
When the eldest brother first started speaking, he was full of confidence, but his voice gradually grew softer as he realized that the story was becoming more and more unbelievable.
"It has an inscription? Let me see it, so we can also see Han Dynasty porcelain with an inscription."
Zhuang Rui suppressed a laugh, took the porcelain pot from Wei Ge's hand, and turned it over to look at the bottom.
"Haha...hahaha..."
Upon seeing the inscription on the bottom of the pot, Zhuang Rui couldn't hold back any longer. Ignoring the fact that this was a ghost market, a place where loud noise was customary, he burst into laughter.
"Youngest, what's wrong? What's making you so happy?"
The fourth brother heard Zhuang Rui's laughter and quickly ran over. This guy was holding something in his hand, but it was very small and looked like a jade artifact.
"No, it's okay, let's talk about this somewhere else. Wei Ge is really talented."
Zhuang Rui barely managed to suppress his laughter. He first handed the porcelain pot back to Wei Ge to avoid accidentally breaking Wei Ge's precious item. After looking around, Zhuang Rui led the two to an alleyway on the side of the street.
Stopping in his tracks, Zhuang Rui said to the bewildered fourth brother, "Fourth brother, take a look at the inscription on the eldest brother's porcelain teapot."
"Imperial edict by Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty, what's wrong? Youngest brother, is there something wrong with this?"
The fourth brother took the porcelain pot and read the inscription on the bottom.
"Yes, Emperor Jing was the father of Emperor Wu of Han, and he is very famous in history."
The eldest brother continued, "These guys are all pretty good at history."
"I didn't say that Emperor Jing of Han wasn't Emperor Wu of Han's father. But Brother Wei, if you lived in the Western Han Dynasty and made a piece of porcelain like this, would you write it like this on the inscription?"
Zhuang Rui suppressed a laugh and asked Yang Wei a question in return.
"Don't official kilns always write the reign title on the inscription? Of course, they do."
Wei Ge even knows about official and private kilns, which shows he has been influenced by his father quite a bit.
Seeing Yang Wei's confused expression, the fourth brother suddenly realized what was wrong and burst into laughter, even more exaggerated than Zhuang Rui. He actually squatted down laughing, which angered the eldest brother, who grabbed him and said, "What's wrong with you? Stop laughing and explain it to me."
"Boss... you are really... really amazing. People from the Western Han Dynasty can predict the future. How did they know that there would be an Eastern Han Dynasty in the future, so they wrote the inscription as Western Han Dynasty first?"
Upon hearing this, Wei Ge was stunned. His face turned as red as a pig's liver. He had really lost face big time.
Chapter 169 Han Jade
"Damn it, that kid tricked me. Let's go, guys, let's go back and find him!"
Yang Wei was embarrassed by Lao Si's laughter and angrily snatched the "Western Han Dynasty White Porcelain" from Lao Si's hand. He turned around and was about to go back to the stall where he had just bought the item.
"No, Wei Ge, don't go. Let's just forget about it. 800 yuan isn't much. In the future, just observe more and do less in places like this."
Zhuang Rui quickly grabbed Yang Wei. "What a joke! Being fooled is embarrassing enough. If you go and make a scene, that would be truly shameless. Someone just made up a story about Western Han Dynasty white porcelain, and the boss believed it. This is all Wei's fault. You can't blame the stall owner. The stall owner didn't make up a story about his family being ruined and selling off his heirloom, which is already giving the boss enough face."
“No way. If my father finds out about this, he’ll laugh at me for years to come. No way, you come with me, let’s get back at him.”
Wei Ge is mainly upset right now, and more importantly, his purchase of this porcelain piece seems to be a way of competing with his father. Judging from the current situation, Wei Ge is still better than his father. Why do I say that? Because every time Yang's father makes a mistake, the tuition fees he has to pay are at least several thousand yuan, and sometimes even tens of thousands of yuan. Compared to that, Wei Ge's 800 yuan is really nothing.
"Forget it, Wei Ge. In a place like the Ghost Market, if you make a mistake, that's your own problem. Going back to seek revenge would only make you lose face again. In the antique business, the last thing you can trust is other people's stories. Just be more careful next time."
Zhuang Rui held Yang Wei back tightly, and Wei Ge finally understood. He could only blame himself for being too easily swayed and trusting others, coupled with his lack of knowledge about antiques; it was inevitable that he would be taken advantage of.
"Hey, youngest brother, how come you always have such good luck? You manage to piece together these broken porcelain shards into a whole piece. Why am I so unlucky?"