Chapter 227: Take It Slow

"Old Factory Director, back then when Yongji invited you and General Engineer Tan, where was the white porcelain discovered?"

"You know the big iron oxen on the banks of the Yellow River? It was right in that area, dug up when the embankment was being repaired back then."

"Was there a lot?"

"A lot, several tombs, likely a family cemetery from the Jin Dynasty. But by the time we got there, it had already been looted, stolen, and destroyed; all that was left were a few pits and piles of waste porcelain..."

The old man sighed, pointing to the two porcelain shards in front of Lin Sicheng, "They were basically all this kind, light celadon and fine white porcelain..."

If that's the case, could there be people in the Yongji civilian population who possess complete pieces?

Even if there are no complete pieces, there must be a few pieces of broken porcelain, right?

Lin Sicheng pondered secretly and stood up: "Old Factory Director, I want to thank you today!"

As he spoke, he nodded, and Zhao Er quickly and nimbly brought out several gift boxes.

Two boxes of ginseng, one box each of bird's nest and caterpillar fungus; he had bought them just before leaving the hotel. He didn't know if they were good, but the price was definitely not cheap.

The old man waved his hand: "It was just answering a few questions, why bring things?"

"It was a bother for you for so long, it's only right!"

After some polite refusal, he put down the gift boxes. Taking nothing else, Lin Sicheng only took the two porcelain shards.

The group said their goodbyes, and the old man had his son see them out the door.

After a while, the middle-aged man returned, and the old man looked through the window at the departing car lights.

"When the county called, what did they say?"

"They said they were from Xijing, holding a letter from Northwest University, seemingly looking for some ancient porcelain kiln site!"

Northwest University, doing artifact research?

But to be honest, ancient Shanxi never produced any famous porcelain; why don't these people go to Hebei or Jingdezhen?

The old man didn't understand and just shook his head: "Difficult!"

It is indeed difficult.

Before coming to find the Old Factory Director, Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng already felt it was very difficult. After finding him, it was even more difficult.

But it feels like Lin Sicheng is quite confident?

Zhuang Zijing was still there, so it wasn't easy to ask; the two of them guessed secretly, exchanging glances from time to time.

They didn't drink, just had a simple meal. After seeing Zhuang Zijing off, the three returned to the restaurant.

Seeing the two of them wanting to speak but hesitating, Lin Sicheng smiled: "Teacher, I plan to go to Yongji tomorrow. I estimate I can find some samples, and maybe even encounter some complete pieces."

The two were stunned.

It wasn't that they couldn't search; let alone Yongji, if they were to accompany Lin Sicheng to Africa, neither of them would even frown.

But it felt a bit rushed.

Arrived in Hejin yesterday, arrived in Xiangning today, and going to Yongji tomorrow... it means that apart from eating and sleeping, they are either on the road or on the way to the road.

They didn't mind; they couldn't help much anyway. They could sleep in the car, and back at the hotel, they could fall asleep the moment their heads hit the pillow.

But Lin Sicheng couldn't.

He had to organize his thoughts and make plans. Once more samples were found, he would likely have to work around the clock: testing during the day and verifying data at night.

Just like he said yesterday, at worst they could just wait three months; there was no need to work this hard...

The two looked at each other, and just as Wang Qi Zhi was about to say something, Lin Sicheng pulled something out of his pants pocket.

Four porcelain shards, each in a specimen bag. Placing them on the table, Lin Sicheng pointed to the two with carvings: "New technique!"

"What?"

"Yes, basically it means it hasn't been recorded in any historical documents, no similar artifacts have been unearthed, and various Cultural Relics Protection and research institutions haven't had any relevant discoveries before..."

Lin Sicheng paused slightly: "Now it can basically be confirmed that this stuff was fired in Yuncheng. Although these two pieces are Ming porcelain, even in the Ming Dynasty, they could fully reach the level of Tribute Porcelain.

This shows that there should have been a full-system ceramic kiln in Yuncheng, and the technology was at a leading level nationwide. Therefore, there is no need to insist on finding the kiln site. As long as there are enough samples, we can research the technical characteristics clearly and prove it originated from Yuncheng!"

Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng were completely stunned, staring at the two carved porcelain shards.

They had indeed never seen this type of porcelain. At the Old Factory Director's house earlier, the two had pondered it: it was a small local kiln, not even recorded in local chronicles, so it was normal for them not to recognize it.

The two hadn't even thought about any new discoveries or new techniques.

Including the fact that everyone in the country knows Shanxi hasn't produced famous porcelain, and even the people of Shanxi admit it themselves. But suddenly, something "at a leading level nationwide" popped up?

What does this mean?

Correcting local academic history, filling in the evolutionary chain of regional science and technology, and strengthening the discourse power of local civilization.

Very convoluted, isn't it?

It's troublesome to explain, so to put it simply, just one point: filling a historical void!

Therefore, if it really is the new technique Lin Sicheng mentioned, the local government's level of attention will definitely far exceed that of a World Heritage Application.

The former is endangered technology protection, the latter is cultural disconnection, and of course, new scientific and technological discoveries are more important.

"And the difficulty this time isn't high: the firing technique for this vessel shape should originate from the nearby Ding Kiln and Cizhou Kiln."

Lin Sicheng pointed to the black lines in the carving: "But they made major innovations, especially the glaze color presented after filling in the black pigment; it should have applied chemical elements and techniques not involved in other kilns.

So, there is no need to speculate on the firing temperature, temperature range values, or verify the reaction atmosphere, and even less need to deduce the technique..."

"As long as there are enough samples, we can analyze the specific composition, and then prove this is a newly discovered technique produced in Yuncheng, and we can fill the local void!"

Lin Sicheng paused slightly: "I think, by then, trading for the Chengni Inkstone technique will be more than enough!"

Of course.

Trading for the Glaze Technique that was applying for World Heritage status along with the Chengni Inkstone would also be no problem.

No wonder Lin Sicheng felt a bit excited and full of confidence when he came back.

At the time, Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng were still puzzled: even if you find the kiln site, it's impossible to make the mine and factory stop work for you to dig, so what is there to be happy about?

The two looked at each other and nodded firmly: "Then let's look... what time are we leaving tomorrow?"

"Normal time is fine!" Lin Sicheng smiled, "If not, do you two want to drink some more?"

The two nodded: they really did need to drink some, otherwise they wouldn't be able to sleep tonight...

After chatting for a little while longer, Lin Sicheng went upstairs first, then lay on the bed with his head tilted back.

In fact, he had only said half of it: those two pieces of Carved Flower Porcelain were far more than just filling a gap in local culture as he had claimed; they might also involve whether Shanxi had ever produced items for a Tribute Kiln.

Lin Sicheng was certain that these two pieces were the surface of a Porcelain Pillow. This type of vessel was relatively obscure and rarely found in private collections; if he had seen one, it could only have been in the Forbidden City.

And how many Porcelain Pillows were in the Forbidden City?

About a thousand or so, large and small; it didn't sound like much. But the problem was, this was out of the "more than 360,000" pieces of porcelain in the Forbidden City. No matter how capable Lin Sicheng was, it was impossible for him to have done Artifact Research on every single one.

The key was that this item did not have a high technical content; regardless of which kiln it was fired in, the applied craftsmanship and techniques were basically all encompassed within daily-use wares and decorative wares. Furthermore, apart from the Forbidden City, there were not many in outside collections, so after Lin Sicheng roughly understood the principles and craftsmanship characteristics, he had not conducted excessive Artifact Research.

The reason he had some impression of "white-ground Carving Out Flowers filled with black pigment" was likely just from having heard a passing mention of it. Otherwise, with his terrifying memory, as long as he had handled it, he would definitely have been able to recall it.

Therefore, after reminiscing for a long time, he still couldn't make heads or tails of it.

So what should he do? Should he find someone to help take a look?

Subconsciously, Lin Sicheng thought of Old Madam Wang, but the moment the thought surfaced, he shook his head decisively.

Since it wasn't recorded in the literature, the Forbidden City wouldn't have a separate record for it; to know where it was and which piece it was, one could only go from palace to palace to look for it.

Not to mention that Old Madam Wang didn't even know who he was right now, just considering the nearly ten thousand palaces in the Forbidden City, by the time the old lady found it, she would likely be exhausted to the point of collapse.

However, there was no rush.

As the saying goes, a good feast is worth the wait; take it slow.