Chapter 225: This Is the Gap

Lin Sicheng flipped through the book page by page, his mind recalling information related to this volume.

In 1402, Zhu Di succeeded in his campaign to seize the throne and decided to move the capital.

Four years later, Zhu Di issued an imperial decree ordering the Marquis of Taining, Chen Gui, to oversee the project, assisted by the Minister of Works, Song Li, and the Minister of Rites, Li Zhigang, to construct Beijing. It took sixteen years and the conscription of one million craftsmen before the imperial palace in the capital was built.

At that time, the Vice Minister of Works, Zhang Sigong, was one of the supervisors. He ordered the Design Office and the Accounting Office (for engineering design and management) to record the process in a timely manner, compiling the *Construction Standards for the Heavenly Palace of the Capital*.

By the Wanli era, due to age and moisture, the original book had become blurred and illegible, so the Wanli Emperor ordered the Ministry of Works to revise it. Led by the Investigating Censor of the Ministry of Works, He Shijin, the scope was expanded to include civil engineering projects such as palaces, mausoleums, and city walls, and it was later renamed *Essentials of the Ministry of Works Factories and Treasuries*.

During the reign of Yongzheng, the Ministry of Works revised it again, ordering Prince Guo, Yunli, and Prince Zhuang, Yunlu, to head the supervision of the carving. They expanded it to include temples, arrow towers, and imperial granaries, renaming it *Gongcheng Zuofa Zeli*. However, the section regarding the construction of the Forbidden City—the original *Construction Standards for the Heavenly Palace of the Capital*—was extracted separately and renamed *Records of the Heavenly Palace of the Capital*.

Later, during the Republic of China, Feng Yuxiang drove Puyi out of the Forbidden City. When the Palace Museum took over, the *Gongcheng Zuofa Zeli* was still there, but the *Records of the Heavenly Palace of the Capital* had disappeared.

After that, Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin translated and interpreted the craftsmanship and techniques based on the *Gongcheng Zuofa Zeli*, but they only managed to restore the architectural forms and the foundation sections.

Namely, the Shizu (terraced bases, column bases, stone carvings), tile work (walls, roofs, palace ridges, etc.), and earthwork (foundations), etc.

The rest—woodwork, lacquer work, decorative painting, paper mounting, copper and iron fittings (metal components), and even glazed tiles, wood carving, painting, and bamboo work—had all been lost.

There were some parts circulating among the people, such as the nationally renowned "Style Lei" (a family of Qing Dynasty imperial architectural craftsmen who participated in the design of imperial buildings many times). However, most of these were recorded secretly by craftsmen from memory after the work was completed; not to mention whether they were complete, the accuracy of the data was also a question.

But at this moment, Zhuang Zijing had suddenly managed to find a copy and wanted to give it to him?

Lin Sicheng was secretly astonished and flipped through it carefully.

First, he looked at the paper: it was slightly coarse and thick, with a yellowish tint—the typical bamboo paper used for private prints during the late Qing and Republic of China periods.

Then he looked at the characters: the horizontal strokes were thin, the vertical strokes were thick, the diagonal strokes were stiff, and the turns were distinct... This was the hard-style Song typeface popular in the early Republic of China. Although the contrast was obvious, the characters were too square, appearing slightly rigid and lacking fluidity.

Then he looked at the printing: the ink color was dark, grayish-black, with obvious smudging marks. One could even see the remaining traces of the carving knife.

To be honest, whether it was the carving or the printing, it was not very good.

Moreover, it was only one volume, which counted as about three-quarters of a book, covering roughly just the three parts of woodwork, lacquer work, and brick and tile work. If viewed solely from the perspective of a cultural relic, its value was average.

But if viewed from the perspective of palace construction techniques and lost technology, this book was a priceless treasure to Lin Sicheng.

If he studied it diligently for two years, the Forbidden City would have to hire him to work there...

The more he thought about it, the stranger it felt. Lin Sicheng looked up: "General Manager Zhuang, where did you find this?"

"Right here in the county. The seller's surname is Lu. His ancestors were glazed tile burners. It is said that during the Qing Dynasty, they were invited to the capital to repair the imperial palace... According to him, this book was passed down by his grandfather..."

"But there are too many descendants of the Lu family. Just in our county alone, there are thirteen companies building kilns and burning glazed tiles. That is not even counting Taiyuan, Datong, and Yuncheng. Large and small, there are more than thirty Lu family glazed tile companies in our province alone..."

"The competition is too fierce, so this branch stopped burning them a long time ago and is now doing construction. Our two families are considered relatives. As soon as I said I was looking for cultural relics related to ancient craftsmanship, he sent this book over..."

Lin Sicheng's eyelids twitched: "Sent?"

Zhuang Zijing smiled: "Yes, it didn't cost a cent!"

Lin Sicheng sighed inwardly; the words reached the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back.

If the surname was Lu, then everything added up: the Longmen Lüshi were a family of northern glazed tile craftsmen that flourished during the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty. Both the *Records of Jiangzhou* and the *Records of Hejin* contain records: in the early Qing Dynasty, they were summoned to build the Shenyang Forbidden City, and afterwards, they were summoned to the capital from time to time to carve bricks and repair tiles for the Forbidden City.

After the founding of the People's Republic, they participated many times in the restoration of ancient buildings such as the Forbidden City, Shaolinsi, Jinchi, and the Yungang Grottoes. The family's ancestral "Peacock Blue Glazed Tile" won a silver medal at the "China Arts and Crafts Exposition."

This year, Shanxi has twelve traditional craft heritage items applying for World Heritage status, and Yuncheng alone accounts for two. The first is the Jiangzhou Chengni Inkstone, and the second is the Hejin glazed tiles. Moreover, they were personally recommended and are being protected by the Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center.

With such a long heritage, it was not at all strange that they had such things in their family.

Calculating the time again: a friend of Zhuang Zijing's father should be at least forty or fifty. Since it was passed down from his grandfather's generation, if he were still alive, he would be at least ninety or a hundred years old. This book is a Republic of China print, which also fits.

There was only one point: the printing was not very good, and it was a book on architectural technology. They already knew the glazed tile craft, and the rest was useless to learn; the key was that it was difficult to learn, so they didn't take it seriously.

Furthermore, since they were no longer in that line of work and it was of no use to keep, they gave it to Zhuang Zijing.

By some twist of fate, since he had encountered it himself, there was certainly no reason to let it go...

Seeing him just flipping through the book without speaking, Zhuang Zijing leaned forward, "Teacher Lin, I don't know much about this. Does this book have no value?"

How could it have no value?

On the contrary, its value could not be higher.

"General Manager Zhuang, I won't lie to you: to anyone else, this is just an old book from the Republic of China, not even worth calling a collectible. But if it is for me, its value is truly very high!"

Lin Sicheng smiled, "So, General Manager Zhuang, name your price!"

"Teacher Lin, don't be a stranger..." Zhuang Zijing was straightforward: "There will be many times I will need to trouble you in the future!"

"Alright, General Manager Zhuang, you don't be a stranger either. Let's not mention appraisal fees or anything like that, whether it's this time or in the future."

Lin Sicheng did not dally any longer and packed the book and the box together, "In the future, as long as there is a need and I can handle it, General Manager Zhuang can call me anytime..."

Zhuang Zijing was slow to realize: Lin Sicheng was actually not being politely fake?

It seems this book is really quite useful to him...

He looked delighted and nodded repeatedly: he didn't stay in Xijing and rack his brains to get close to Lin Sicheng just for this moment?

After staying for a little while longer and drinking half a cup of tea, Lin Sicheng took his leave, and the siblings saw them out of the villa.

Watching the two cars leave the residential complex, Zhuang Zijing clapped his hands hard: hard work pays off!

As he spoke, he took out his phone again and dialed a number: "Dad, I've made the connection... Yes, he is quite satisfied..."

"Don't worry, I'm not in a hurry. Let's wait until we are more familiar before talking about it..."

Zhuang Yi stood to the side, the four lines of the oracle from the Guan Di divination echoing in her mind...

Why was it such a coincidence?

Lin Sicheng sat quietly in the passenger seat, holding the box in his arms.

Ye Anning was multitasking, glancing over from time to time.

In the back seat, Zhao Xiuneng and Wang Qi Zhi were secretly suspicious.

If one only listened to Zhuang Zijing, this was just a folk art classic on burning glazed tiles, making pottery tiles, and carving bricks. It was just an ordinary print from the Republic of China, and it wasn't even printed very well.

But they knew Lin Sicheng: if this thing were ordinary, Lin Sicheng would not have attached so much importance to it, nor would he have been so polite.

Not to mention anything else, according to market rates, Zhuang Zijing should have paid Lin Sicheng an appraisal fee of thirty to fifty thousand today.

Lin Sicheng, on the other hand, not only didn't want it, but he also wanted to pay Zhuang Zijing back?

But to be honest, let them look; this book, let alone thirty or fifty thousand, would be a struggle to sell for one thousand...

Wang Qi Zhi pondered, then took another glance: "Lin Sicheng, what kind of book is this?"

"Teacher, this is the Building Standards of the Forbidden City!"

Was it really?

Just seeing the four characters 'Capital' and 'Heavenly Palace' was enough to know this book was related to the Forbidden City.

Zhao Xiuneng tried hard to recall, "I remember the Qing Dynasty compiled a code for official architecture, it seemed to be called something like 'Regulations'..."

"It is the 'Ministry of Works Engineering Regulations', recompiled based on the Ming Dynasty's 'Ministry of Works Factory and Treasury Guide', but when it was carved and printed, the parts concerning the 'Forbidden City Standards' were all deleted..."

"At the time, it was just for fear of it flowing into the civilian population; the Imperial Academy, Jingyang Gong, and Yuqing Gong within the palace all had copies. But during the Republic of China, some were stolen, some lost, some burned; basically, they were all lost..."

Lin Sicheng patted the box: "This is at most only three or four tenths of it..."

The three of them were stunned for a moment.

In an era where building a tomb would result in all the craftsmen being killed, it was naturally impossible to let the construction data of the Imperial City flow to the public; deleting it was very normal.

But that they were all lost during the Republic of China, what did this represent?

It meant that the craftsmanship and techniques in this book were eight or nine tenths already lost...

Wang Qi Zhi leaned forward: "Does that mean the techniques in this book are all lost?"

"Teacher, it is not entirely clear yet!" Lin Sicheng shook his head, "If there is a chance, I must go to the Forbidden City and the National Library to ask before I know!"

In fact, he knew better than anyone: most of it was lost. It wasn't until 2022 that the Forbidden City's Restoration Office dug up relevant documents from underground.

Calculating again, fourteen years of time was enough for him to study it back and forth several times.

Of course, no need to rush; as the saying goes, greed for too much leads to poor digestion. Let's get Porcelain Restoration figured out first.

Lin Sicheng spoke lightly; Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng were just suspicious for a moment, then did not pursue it further.

Instead, regarding today's meal, the two of them vaguely felt something was not quite right.

"Junior Brother, why do I feel like this Zhuang Zijing is deliberately trying to owe you a favor?"

"It really does seem so. I always feel like he has some big matter to ask of you?" Wang Qi Zhi felt the same, "But someone in the jewelry business, although they touch upon antiques, only does so to a limited extent. What could he ask you to do?"

Zhao Xiuneng pondered for a moment and had a sudden thought: "It couldn't be that he has his eyes on that batch of goods of Yang Zhigao's, the batch of fake Hetian Jade seized by the Public Security Bureau?"

"It's all Qinghai Jade and Wei Material; wouldn't taking it back be the same as smashing his own brand?" Lin Sicheng was indifferent, "Rather than pondering that, he might as well ask me to go to the jade auction..."

But having only said half a sentence, Lin Sicheng let out an "Eh".

Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng also reacted: Lin Sicheng not only knew how to appraise jade, he also knew how to appraise Jadeite...

Case solved; it was eight or nine tenths likely he wanted to invite him to make a trip to Myanmar.

But to be honest, that area in northern Myanmar had not been peaceful since the Second World War.

The book had already been retrieved, and he wouldn't go back on his word, but it was better not to go to that place if possible.

To put it bluntly: someone like him could be considered 'high-end, precision, and advanced' talent. And the Jadeite mines over there were basically all operated by warlords; if one thing went wrong, it would be "arrived just fine, but couldn't go back"...

After guessing and speculating for a while, they talked about going to Xiangning County tomorrow. Returning to the hotel, Lin Sicheng called Zhao Boheng to his room.

"Tomorrow, you first send the porcelain clay samples to Yuncheng. Rest at noon, then take this book to Xijing and hand it to Li Zhen. Remember, don't make a scene..."

Zhao Dameng patted his chest: "Master, rest assured, I won't even tell my dad!"

"Why would you need to guard against your dad?" Lin Sicheng couldn't help but laugh, "But whether we can gain a firm foothold in Beijing in the future depends on whether we can thoroughly study the techniques in this book..."

Zhao Dameng nodded: "Master, I understand!"

The morning mist faded, and the morning glow was hazy.

The first light of day pierced through, and dew seeped out on the black rocks. A flock of grey collared doves landed on the power lines, cooing.

Music played on the broadcast, and the foreman stood on the square with a roll call sheet. Workers walked out of the dormitory one after another, preparing to start work.

Lin Sicheng stood on the top of the Guzhen mine, looking out into the distance.

The mountain was not high, rising and falling, continuous and endless. The mining area was completely open-pit, like a giant funnel, spiraling downward in circles.

Most of it was sedimentary silty soil, accompanied by sporadic coal seams of the lean coal type.

After a rough look, Lin Sicheng picked up a handful of porcelain clay and slowly kneaded it.

The porcelain clay was very fine, the texture very soft; kneaded in his hand, it was like flour.

Occasionally, sand grains and coal cinder particles were visible, as well as tiny iron compound particles. But they were not the common black or brown, but a faint blue-green.

After looking carefully for a moment, Lin Sicheng handed it forward: "Senior Brother Zhao, look!"

Zhao Xiuneng took a glance and frowned: "Green vitriol?"

"Correct!"

To be precise, this was a mixture primarily of ferrous sulfate combined with trace elements such as aluminum, calcium, magnesium, and manganese. If not screened, the fired porcelain would present a faint green color.

That was the color of the Song Dynasty Celadon among the porcelain shards the Pangzi boss sold him the second time.

Wang Qi Zhi looked: "What about those Fine White Porcelain shards?"

"It's still this kind of soil, but it needs to be filtered, iron removed, and then slip-coated to whiten..." Lin Sicheng was concise, "So the porcelain the Pangzi boss sold us was fired using the porcelain clay from here..."

At the mention of the Pangzi boss, Zhao Xiuneng got angry: the son of a bitch was full of bad intentions, treating him like a monkey.

He had offered a price of fifty thousand yuan just to ask him one question: where were those porcelain shards dug up? Guess what the Pangzi said?

It had been several years, and he didn't remember clearly either; it seemed to be Yongji?

The porcelain clay was in Hejin, the kiln site in Yongji, a straight-line distance of one hundred fifty or sixty kilometers. In between were mountains and rivers; in ancient times, a round trip would take at least ten days.

Was the brain of the motherfucking kiln owner kicked by a donkey?

Lin Sicheng chuckled: "Senior Brother, no need to be angry. Isn't it found now? It's equivalent to saving fifty thousand yuan..."

That was true.

Zhao Xiuneng let out a breath: "Then are we still going to Xipo Town in Xiangning County?"

Lin Sicheng discarded the ceramic clay, took the wet towel handed over by Fang Jin, and wiped his hands nonchalantly: "Go!"

"But when the new kilns were built in the seventies and eighties, the ancient kiln sites had long been mostly demolished. Even if some remain, they are buried underground, so I'm afraid they won't be easy to find for a while."

Wang Qi Zhi sighed: "What did Zhuang Zijing say? Can we find someone we know to ask?"

"Yes, we've found quite a few. They said they have already contacted several knowledgeable insiders in the local area; they all have samples on hand, and the prices aren't too high... So we definitely have to go to Xiangning."

Lin Sicheng thought for a moment: "We must also take a trip to Xipo Town; at the very least, we have to see what the differences are between the ceramic clay in these two places!"

The group nodded.

After taking a rough look and asking the mining area for some selected ceramic clay, the group set off again.

It was about ten kilometers as the crow flies, and the gravel-paved engineering road took nearly an hour to drive.

It was also a mine, but compared to the previous one, this place seemed much more casual.

It was obvious that the planning was not meticulous enough, and the safety measures were also much worse.

Management was one aspect, but the main reason was that this place belonged to an interlayer stone mine, roughly rock within rock. It didn't need to be dug as deep, and it was unlike the ceramic clay mine in Guzhen, which was nothing but clay, posing a high risk of pit wall collapse.

They didn't go down into the pit, but stood on the edge of the pit to look. As before, after looking at the mine pit, Lin Sicheng grabbed a handful of mineral soil.

It was typical weathered ore; besides kaolin clay, the content of quartz and mica was also extremely high, belonging to a ternary complex.

The particles were large, and the overall color tended toward light red, indicating that the iron oxide content was extremely high, at least around ten percent.

There were also sporadic coal seams, but they had become lean coal.

At a sudden glance, it felt like it was in a completely different geological stratum from the previous Guzhen Village.

Zhao Xiuneng didn't quite understand: "The two towns are connected, and there are no big mountains or cliffs in between, so why is the geological difference so great?"

"Because of the Yellow River!" Lin Sicheng threw away the mineral soil and clapped his hands. "Actually, in ancient times, the surface of both places was covered by a layer of aeolian loess. But the Yellow River flowed through Guzhen, washing, depositing, and weathering it over the years."

"Xipo Town could only weather slowly, which led to an essential difference in the shallow surface geology of these two places..."

Zhao Xiuneng was very surprised: "These two places are only ten kilometers apart?"

"Yes!" Lin Sicheng smiled. "But the time it took for these two types of geology to develop such differences needs to be counted in 'ten thousands of years'."

"Just like here: because the iron content is too high and it has already weathered into ferruginous red soil, it is impossible to completely remove the iron with ancient iron-removal techniques. Furthermore, the interlayer rock particles are too large, so ordinary weathering methods are not very effective, and ancient crushing processes cannot reach the level of fine ceramic clay."

"Therefore, this can at most be considered pottery clay; even if used to fire porcelain, it would only be coarse porcelain. It is best to fire Purple Clay Ware, which is half-porcelain and half-pottery: purification is convenient, requiring only weathering, hammering, and simple weathering, and the firing process requirements and temperatures are lower, and the yield rate is higher..."

"Guzhen is different: it was originally a loess layer formed by weathering, and after the Yellow River alluvium formed, it underwent thousands or tens of thousands of years of accumulation and decay, having long since turned into silt. What couldn't turn into silt was either washed away or settled to the bottom, meaning most of the impurities were filtered out. Not only is the ceramic clay fine, but it is also pure, so of course, it is more suitable for firing fine porcelain..."

"Then what about those porcelain shards of Pangzi's?"

"Half and half: fine porcelain uses Guzhen ceramic clay, while coarse porcelain and Purple Clay Ware use Xiangning pottery clay..."

The few people suddenly realized.

Previously, these two towns belonged to the same county, so Xipo Town fired both porcelain and pottery, and even more so, Purple Clay Ware. But after the founding of the country, it was divided into two counties, and Xiangning became the main site for firing Purple Clay Ware.

Porcelain was just an incidental product: the ceramic clay in Hejin is sold cheaply, so I fire some; if it's too expensive, I don't lose anything if I don't fire it...

Immediately, the group felt secretly impressed: they were all here for the first time, and having only been here for a few days, Lin Sicheng had already researched it thoroughly.

But even when he broke it down and explained it to them, they only half-understood it?

This is the gap...