Chapter 131: The Fish Key and the Timekeeper

Lin Sicheng smiled: "Indeed, I am a stranger, because this brother is from Chang'an."

A Northerner?

The woman squinted: "What is your business?"

"I ate a piece of soft film (bought a painting) and wasn't quite sure about it, so I'd like to ask an expert (a high-level expert in finding and appraising graves within a gang) to take a look. Of course, the main thing is to ask to set up a pot and enter the code (buy goods)..."

As he spoke, Lin Sicheng stretched out his hand, and Gu Ming pulled open the leather suitcase and handed over the scroll.

Lin Sicheng deftly untied it and spread it out on the tea table; the sister and brother both leaned forward in unison.

After just a few glances, the younger brother curled his lip: Southern Song Dynasty Ma Lin?

The location is correct, right here in the Hangzhou area. But this painting is so new, are you here to make a joke?

He was just about to speak when his sister glared him back.

The woman took a look, then raised her head: "How did you find your way here, brother?"

"I was guided by Manager Zhao, a street-runner (a broker specializing in buying and selling Raw Pit Goods), to find your establishment!"

Lin Sicheng cupped his hands again, pressed his thumbs together, and tilted them upward: "His honorable name is Xiu, followed by Neng. In his family, there is an old ancestor, and on the ground, there is a Bai Xian (one of the Five Spirits of Grave-robbing, specifically referring to a female grave-robber who is still alive, of extremely high seniority, and possessing extremely high skills)!"

The younger brother was completely stunned because he could no longer understand what was being said.

The sister frowned slightly and looked at the tea cup again.

She certainly didn't know who Zhao Xiuneng was, and she knew even less about the old lady Bai Xian.

But the array of tea cups on the table, the jargon spoken sentence after sentence, and the Wind and water techniques displayed could not be fake.

Especially those dazzling hand gestures; even she didn't know them, and could barely recognize one or two.

But looking at his appearance, he was too young...

In a flash of thought, she shook her head: "Brother, you've come to the wrong place!"

"Is that so?" Lin Sicheng smiled lightly, "Then I have disturbed you!"

Then he waved his hand, and Gu Ming, quick of eye and hand, rolled up the scroll and put it into the leather suitcase.

Lin Sicheng scanned left and right: "May I take a look?"

The woman nodded: "Of course!"

It is good to be able to look.

Lin Sicheng stood up and came to the shelf. After a rough scan, he stretched out his finger: "Wrap it!"

The sister and brother were taken aback for a moment.

Looking closely again, he was pointing at a piece of Bronze.

The shape was like a fish, with a movable buckle on the fish head and a hole in the fish tail.

The boss didn't know what kind of object it was either, only that it should be from the Han Dynasty, so the price was very high at the time: 300,000.

But it had been displayed for five or six years without anyone asking, so the price dropped bit by bit, and now it sells for 70,000.

After taking two looks, the sister nodded, and the younger brother stood up and found a box.

But just as he took the Bronze off the shelf, Lin Sicheng pointed again: "Wrap it!"

The sister and brother turned their heads in unison.

This time it was Jade, a palm-sized "Nanshan Zhishou" Jade Bi made of Hetian Mutton Fat Jade.

Likewise, its origin was extraordinary; when the boss brought it back, the price was set very high: 600,000.

But it was too new, smooth and white all over; let alone patina or rust, it didn't even have any surface wear, just like it had been carved just now.

It had been sitting for seven years, dropping about 100,000 a year, and now it was just over 100,000, yet still no one asked.

The sister and brother looked at each other; the sister also stood up, took out a box, and stuffed in a few pieces of sponge.

But before the Jade Bi could be packed, Lin Sicheng pointed again: "Wrap another one!"

The two looked again, and this time it was a Lacquer Box:

Likewise, it had been sitting for a long time without anyone asking. But what was different was that even though this item had been dropped in price again and again, the price was still not low: 850,000.

If you ask why it is so expensive: it is an object from the Song Imperial Mausoleum...

Seeing the sister and brother blinking their eyes, Lin Sicheng smiled: "Not for sale?"

Since it's displayed here, how could it not be for sale?

The woman nodded: "Sell!"

Lin Sicheng nodded: "It's good to sell!"

The sister and brother looked at each other and packed up quickly. Lin Sicheng folded his arms and watched quietly. As he watched, he suddenly paused, and his eyes narrowed.

Two thread-bound books with blue covers, with four traditional regular script characters written on them: Essentials of Governance from All Books.

Impressive?

In a place like this, one could actually encounter such a thing?

This was a document on statecraft compiled in the early Tang Dynasty by Wei Zheng, Yu Shinan, Chu Liang, Xiao Deyan, and others under the order of Emperor Li Shimin, collecting the essentials of governing the country and historical examples from the classics, histories, and the works of the hundred schools of thought, using history as a mirror.

The entire book consists of fifty volumes, totaling over 500,000 characters, selected from the Confucian classics, the first five histories, and the hundred schools of thought, spanning from the period of the Five Emperors to the Jin Dynasty; it is the first political book in China's history classified according to classics, histories, and masters.

If one were to make a comparison, its historical value is far higher than the "Yongle Encyclopedia" of the Ming Dynasty and the "Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature" of the Qing Dynasty.

But unfortunately, it had completely disappeared by the end of the Song Dynasty. Fortunately, when Japan sent envoys during the Tang Dynasty, they copied this book back to Japan, where it was kept in the imperial palace, and during the shogunate period, it was printed with movable type and thus preserved.

Because it was a Han edition and also the "dragon-slaying technique" for emperors, it was not widely circulated, and Japan did not print many either. It was not until around the time of Tenno Tenmei (1780) in Japan that Hayashi Jussai (a Japanese person), then serving as the head of the university (the highest Confucian official of the Edo Shogunate) and a descendant of the Zhu Zi school, presided over the re-engraving and distributed it to various feudal lords and court officials.

Historically known as the "Shuzhai Edition Edition Edition".

At that time, the classicist, philologist, and epigrapher Ruan Yuan was serving as the Viceroy of Liangguang; upon hearing of this, he purchased two copies and had them engraved and printed in Yangzhou, historically known as the "Ruan Yuan Yangzhou Edition".

During the same period, the Suzhou bookseller Lin Henian (courtesy name Bawen) went to Japan to purchase paper and accidentally obtained a set of the Shuzhai Edition Edition Edition, which he brought back to the country and reprinted, historically known as the "Lin's Bawen Edition".

But no matter which edition it was, very few were engraved. It was not until around 1920 that the Guangyi Book Company in Shanghai and others forged "Song Edition" and "Mingzhai Edition Edition Edition" prints, printing tens of thousands of copies at once.

But unfortunately, it was too obscure; let alone ordinary enthusiasts, even collectors who knew about it were few. It belonged to the most niche of niche collections and ended up stuck in the hands of the bookstores, later scattering among the people.

It wasn't until 2017, when Abe Shinzo visited China for the second time and brought a set of the Hayashi Jussai edition of the Japanese-carved book as a state gift, that this book suddenly became popular.

And the price has been getting higher year by year:

In 2019, at Poly Auction, a three-volume set of the Ruan Yuan Yangzhou Edition sold for over 1.2 million.

In 2020, at China Guardian, a single volume of the Lin's Bawen Edition sold for 720,000. But after the buyer sent it to the National Library for appraisal, the conclusion was that it was a machine-carved edition from the Guangyi Bookstore of the Republic of China.

After returning it to China Guardian, it was auctioned the following year as a Republic of China edition and still sold for 50,000.

Let's look at this edition:

The title page imprint reads: "Stored by the Hayashi family at Changping Slope, second month of the Bingchen year of the Kansei era" in double-column regular script;

The colophon at the end of the volume reads: "Collated by disciples Inoue Kakushu/Akamatsu Soshu" (disciples of Hayashi Jussai).

Furthermore, at the end of every volume, there is a regular script seal: Changping Slope. This is the original seal of the Hayashi Jussai carved edition from the eighth year of Kansei.

Now look at the paper: the paper color is yellowish, the texture is thin, light, and tough, and the chain lines are fine and dense. Holding it up to the light, one can clearly see a pale yellow cross-mesh pattern, which is vastly different from domestic Xuan paper.

This is the Gampi paper from Japan's Edo period, which is paper made from the bark of the Wikstroemia tree, so it is naturally different from domestic paper.

Now look at the style of the carved edition: ten lines per half-leaf with twenty characters per line, double borders on all sides, white mouth with a single fish tail, and the center of the page is engraved with "Essential Teachings for Governing" and the volume number.

The cover label is made of indigo-dyed cloth with the ink-written title "Essential Teachings for Governing."

Opening it to look at the content, every instance of "Min (Li Shimin)" is tabooed as "", perfectly preserving the traces of the taboo from the Tang Dynasty manuscript.

There's no doubt about it, this is the genuine "Japanese Hayashi Jussai Japanese-carved edition," the very same edition that Abe brought as a state gift during his visit to China.

It has never been auctioned domestically, so I don't know how much it would fetch, but at the 2019 Tokyo Chuo auction, a single volume sold for 13 million yen, which is about 600,000 RMB.

Now look at the price: 10,000 in total, which equals 5,000 per volume?

After looking twice, it was certain beyond doubt. Lin Sicheng blew the dust off the book and placed it on the tea table: "I'll take them!"

The sister and brother exchanged a look: another item that had been sitting there for years, with not a single person asking about it?

They are in a shady business, doing work that could land them in prison at any time, so they naturally have to be extremely cautious. It's impossible for me to think you're a peer just because you said a few pieces of jargon and set up a Dragon Gate Array.

Even if you were a real peer, it wouldn't mean much.

But this young man knows the rules; if you say "you've come to the wrong place," then I won't pester you. Buying two items to leave a little goodwill is fine, right?

Of course it's fine, but the problem is, he spent over a million in total, and picked out things that no one had even asked about?

Lin Sicheng handed over his card again; the woman woke up as if from a dream and took out the card reader.

The younger brother nimbly fetched a box and put the two books inside.

Looking at the square wooden box on the tea table, Lin Sicheng's feeling was extremely strange: the origin of the items must be fine. Even if they were unearthed, they were definitely "ripe" goods from before 1949.

But he had come looking for the "Xu Weili Documents," and while he hadn't found the documents, he had picked up three "leaks" instead?

Including that bronze fish: a Han Bronze Fish Lock. This thing belongs to the rarest of the rare among niche collections; there are no more than twenty in global museum collections.

In 2019, Christie's New York auctioned one, and the transaction price was 520,000 USD.

Including that Jade Bi: from the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Yangzhou craft by the famous folk jade craftsman Zhou Hao.

This piece is the biggest "leak" of them all; he could sell it as soon as he takes it back. Lin Sicheng estimated it would sell for at least a million.

That means he spent 1.04 million in total, and this one piece alone would cover the cost, making the rest essentially free.

The Lacquer Box doesn't count; this is a Southern Song Dynasty vermilion lacquer box with the Inlaid Gold Technique in the shape of lotus petals. It is actually an ancient woman's makeup box: three layers, containing powder, rouge, and lip paper respectively.

The price of 850,000 is not low, but it uses the unique Inlaid Gold Technique of the Southern Song Dynasty, which is similar in craftsmanship to the Gold and Silver Flat-removal technique of the Tang Dynasty. Lin Sicheng plans to study it after buying it back so they can corroborate each other.

Therefore, this is the only real "stepping stone."

Of course, luck is only one aspect; the main thing is: there are truly many good things in this shop.

Because the real things they dig up are already numerous.

Ordinary people wouldn't even imagine that the main culprit is the person in charge of a municipal archaeological institution. But within the Grave Robbing circle, it is semi-public.

Otherwise, would Lin Sicheng dare to announce his name?

And this gang wasn't taken down until 2021. According to rumors, it was because the Song Dynasty imperial tombs were almost completely hollowed out, and some people simply couldn't stand it anymore.

Sighing inwardly, the woman handed over the invoice, and the younger brother handed the aluminum alloy case containing the items to Gu Ming.

Afterward, the sister and brother saw the two of them to the door.

Just as they reached the door, Lin Sicheng seemed to suddenly remember: "Oh right, the key..."

Seeing the sister and brother looking confused, he gestured: "The key for that fish lock, a copper rod with a right-angled hook in the middle!"

The woman thought for a long time and finally remembered; Lin Sicheng was talking about that bronze fish.

There were several pieces of Bronze brought over together, and there was indeed something that looked like a key, but no one had ever thought it was a set with this Copper Fish?

The woman narrowed her eyes: "What is that, that fish vessel!"

"A Han Bronze Fish Lock!"

The woman was startled: "Han Dynasty?"

"Han Dynasty!"

After replying, Lin Sicheng thought for a moment, "There should have been a sundial (astronomical instrument) brought back at the same time, right?"

The woman's lips twitched, and the words "How do you know" surged to the tip of her tongue.

"Are you trying to ask: how do I know? The Huainanzi records: the fish key governs the time... it was originally a set, so where there is a fish, there must be a 'time-governor,' which is that sundial!"

Lin Sicheng smiled, "Are the items still there?"

Her whole body jolted, and the woman's pupils shrank to the size of needle points...