Chapter 269: I Have Seen It

The North Fourth Ring Road in Beijing is bustling with people and vehicles, exceptionally noisy.

Two buildings stand side by side, and a line of characters is engraved on the central doorplate: Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage.

Approaching eight o'clock, men and women entered the compound.

Yesterday, the Human Resources Department notified that the heads of the academy, institutes, and laboratories were to attend a lecture in the multi-function hall on the seventeenth floor of the building today, without needing to report to their departments; several leaders turned into the adjacent Wenbo Building.

Wu Hui and Sun Jiamu, one clutching a bag and the other with his head bowed, had just reached the building entrance when the sound of hurried footsteps came from behind.

A man in his forties wearing glasses trotted over. Chasing after them, he called out, "Director Wu, Director Wu..."

The two turned around: "Deputy Dean Ma!"

"Division Chief Sun is here to attend the lecture too?"

Running up close to greet them, Deputy Dean Ma adjusted his glasses, "Department Head Wu, may I ask a question?"

Wu Hui paused: So polite?

The two were former colleagues: both served as deputy deans of the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage and worked together for three years, with Wu Hui's ranking slightly higher.

It wasn't until last year that Wu Hui was transferred to the Archaeology Department of the Cultural Relics Bureau...

He nodded: "Deputy Dean Ma, go ahead!"

"Alright!" Ma Qinglin did not stand on ceremony at all, "Department Head Wu, it was you who suggested to the Bureau that the Iron Cultural Relics Protection Project be suspended, right?"

Wu Hui and Sun Jiamu were both taken aback: Who leaked the news?

Dean Zhang, or one of the bureau directors?

No wonder Lao Ma was so serious.

A perfectly good National Level project, having been researched for two years and about to produce results, stopped just like that?

It was only because it was Wu Hui; the two had not only worked together and collaborated, but Wu Hui was also his former superior. Had it been anyone else, Deputy Dean Ma would have grabbed him by the collar and spat in his face.

But it didn't matter; after hearing today's lecture, everyone would know why he had called off the project.

Wu Hui sighed: "Yes, it was me!"

It really was you?

Deputy Dean Ma looked puzzled: Department Head Wu, this project was one you presided over the application and bidding for while you were still in office, right?

You were the one who applied for it, and you were the one who called it off; what kind of game are you playing?

"Department Head Wu, could you tell me the reason?"

"Of course I can, but it's not something that can be explained in a moment!" Wu Hui said half-jokingly, "When the leader tipped you off, didn't he mention it?"

"He did!" Deputy Dean Ma nodded, "He said the set of techniques we are currently researching has long been thoroughly studied by others. He also said that whether in terms of innovation, scientific nature, academic value, practical value, or even social value and influence, they are eight dimensions higher than ours..."

Wu Hui remained silent.

Hearing this, it was clearly Dean Zhang's tone and phrasing.

But Old Zhang, are you just stirring up trouble for the sake of it, inciting conflict?

"Deputy Dean Ma, don't listen to the Dean's wild talk; it is indeed a bit more advanced, but how could it be that exaggerated?"

Wu Hui checked his watch, "It's hard to explain in a sentence or two; how about this: after the lecture, let's sit down and discuss it slowly!"

Upon hearing that they would sit down to discuss, Deputy Dean Ma's expression softened significantly: what he cared about wasn't the suspension of the project, but that the project had been suspended without him being told the reason.

The Eleventh Five-Year Plan National Science and Technology Support Program key project (second level), having been underway for two years, had consumed how much manpower, material resources, and funding?

As the Person in Charge, if he couldn't figure out the reason for the project's suspension, he wouldn't even be able to sleep...

Ma Qinglin managed a smile: "Fine, I'll host a dinner tonight, Division Chief Sun should come too!"

"Alright!"

Wu Hui nodded and exchanged a look with Sun Jiamu: Still hosting a dinner?

If you, Deputy Dean Ma, can still eat after hearing the lecture, I'll call you...

With that thought, the three entered the building and went up to the seventeenth floor.

It was quite large, a conference room for about a hundred people, with all facilities fully equipped.

Three young people were on stage testing the equipment, and two lines of large characters were displayed on the electronic screen behind them:

A Brief Analysis of the Origin and Evolution of the Manufacturing Craft of Fine White Porcelain from Hejin Kiln.

Presenting Unit: Northwest University Cultural Relics Restoration Center.

Glancing back and forth twice, Ma Qinglin felt suspicious: Before coming to the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage, he was the Deputy Museum Curator of the Gansu Museum and concurrently the Director of the Cultural Relics Scientific Protection Department. His expertise was a match, and he was close by, so he was very familiar with Northwest University, especially the Cultural Heritage College.

He only remembered that the Northwest University School of Cultural Heritage had only established a Cultural Heritage Protection Center, and he had no impression of this Cultural Relics Restoration Center.

If it had been established later and belonged to the Cultural Heritage Center, it would necessarily have a prefix in the title. Since it didn't, it meant this Restoration Center was independent.

Two centers, both doing cultural relic protection and restoration, wasn't that too wasteful?

Secondly, the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage had sent an Expert group to Yuncheng last year to carry out systematic protection for the Yellow River Iron Ox in Yongji, and he hadn't heard of any discovery of a Hejin Kiln.

So, it was a new discovery this year?

The problem was, that was Shanxi territory, and the research should be done by Shanxi universities or cultural relics departments; how did it become Northwest University?

Even stranger, there was a topic and a presenting unit, but no speaker?

Just as he was feeling suspicious, Wang Qi Zhi went up to the stage, exchanged a few words with the youngest of the two men and one woman, and flipped through the documents on the podium.

Suddenly, Deputy Dean Ma narrowed his eyes: The speaker today is Wang Qi Zhi?

He joined the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage as a deputy dean in 2004, and Wang Qi Zhi was transferred away the following year; the two worked together for over a year, so he considered himself to understand him:

The Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage had eleven subordinate institutes, nine key laboratories, and forty research heads and deputy heads; Wang Qi Zhi was the most unique one.

His characteristic was that his temperament was too flighty, a person who had to be handled carefully. His strengths were strong research ability and decent management skills.

Therefore, it was more than enough for Wang Qi Zhi to return to the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage to give a lecture. But this Hejin Kiln, he truly had no impression of it...

While pondering, the two found their names and sat in the front row; Wang Qi Zhi noticed the movement and smiled at them.

Ma Qinglin lowered his voice: "Department Head Wu, is this Hejin Kiln the Puzhou Ancient Kiln recorded in the literature!"

"No, the Puzhou Ancient Kiln fired Fahua Ware (pottery), and although the Hejin Kiln also fired pottery (ceramic pillows), its main output was still porcelain!"

Wu Hui gestured with his chin toward the stage, "This was newly discovered by Wang Qi Zhi's student; the final kiln site was only surveyed last month!"

What on earth, discovered just last month?

Ma Qinglin was stunned for a moment: "Does that mean several ruins were surveyed, but there hasn't been a systematic excavation yet?"

"Correct. After the lecture today, the bureau will hold a seminar to plan the excavation project!"

Ma Qinglin was dumbfounded and pointed at the electronic screen: "Department Head Wu, the kiln sites haven't even been fully excavated yet, so how did this lecture come about today?"

Wu Hui looked hesitant, not knowing how to explain.

Just finished surveying the location, just confirmed the chronological range, excavation work has only just begun, and only a tiny portion of the ruins and remains have been cleared—yet they are already analyzing and determining the origins and evolutionary development of the craftsmanship?

It is no wonder Deputy Director Ma is this shocked; Wu Hui is also encountering such a thing for the first time.

But the problem is, it just happened this way—naturally and logically?

Seeing him remain silent, Ma Qinglin frowned: "The kiln site was discovered by Wang Qi Zhi's student, not Wang Qi Zhi. Then what about the survey? Who led it?"

"His student, the one talking to him!" Wu Hui pointed toward the stage, "The subsequent analysis and research were also done by him."

Deputy Director Ma's eyes widened.

Never mind how old this person is, whether he has graduated from undergraduate studies, or whether he can sort out the correlation and inheritance of porcelain-making techniques across different periods.

Just the fact that the ruins haven't been systematically excavated means there's no way to study the kiln furnace structure; how could he analyze the firing process and temperature control flow of the porcelain?

More crucially, from the survey until now, it has only been one month?

For a standard project team, following normal procedures, they would at most finish the basic analysis of the body and glaze composition, which is about one-tenth of the entire project.

Yet this kid has finished researching all the craft tracing and technical evolution processes?

The more he thought about it, the more incredible it felt. Deputy Director Ma stared at Lin Sicheng: "It couldn't be... that Old Zhangtou pulled some strings to Gold Plate this kid, could it?"

Wu Hui found it absurd: You know what kind of personality that old man has; never mind Wang Qi Zhi, even if his own father came, it would be useless. What strings could he possibly pull?

Besides, he doesn't even know Lin Sicheng, so why would he Gold Plate him?

But then, the electronic screen flickered, and the words "Northwest University" flashed by. A flash of light seemed to cross Wu Hui's mind: Wait, don't say...

It's hard to say, does Lin Sicheng really know the Dean?

Back when the Cultural Relics Research Institute was still the Cultural Relics Research Center, before Old Zhangtou came to be the Director, he was the Department Head of the Shaanxi Cultural Relics Bureau.

Even earlier, probably in the early seventies, he was a top student in the Archaeology major of the History Department at Northwest University. Later, the year the college entrance exam was restored, he studied for his master's in the History Department at Xida, also in the Archaeology major. Four years later, he graduated and entered the Shaanxi cultural relics system, where he worked for over twenty years.

Put that way, aren't he and Lin Sicheng alumni?

Hiss, wait... the two are more than just alumni!

Wang Qi Zhi once said that Lin Sicheng's grandfather also graduated from the Archaeology major of the History Department at Xida, and also studied for his master's in the Archaeology major of the History Department at Xida the year the college entrance exam was restored, then stayed on to teach.

How old is Lin Zhangqing, sixty, or sixty-one?

Isn't Old Zhangtou also just sixty today?

The key is, they both studied for their master's the year the college entrance exam was restored, and in the same major; weren't they in the same department, the same class, and the same dormitory?

After graduation, one did archaeology in Xijing, and the other taught archaeology at Xida; they couldn't have gone twenty years without meeting, right?

Haha...

The more Wu Hui thought about it, the more bizarre it felt: No wonder that day at the bureau, after Old Zhangtou finished reading the report, he didn't even offer a word of refusal before stopping Old Ma's project?

It made the Department Head suspicious for several days: Since when did this old stubborn become so reasonable?

So the root of it was here...

Wu Hui pressed his lips tightly together and didn't make another sound.

Immediately after, Lin Sicheng went up to the stage.

He smiled and picked up the microphone: "Hello, teachers. I am today's speaker. Let me introduce myself first: Mr. Wang Qi Zhi is my teacher, and I am his... um, graduate student..."

Before he finished speaking, a "buzz" erupted, as if a beehive had been poked.

Shock, suspicion, and disbelief: How does a graduate student end up giving an academic lecture at a National Level academic center in front of experts who are Persons in Charge at National Level research institutions?

Deputy Director Ma turned his head back, as if to say: Department Head Wu, you saw that, right?

Wu Hui sighed: It's fortunate Lin Sicheng didn't tell the whole truth, otherwise the scene would have exploded.

From the beginning of March to Shanxi, he stayed for four months, and Lin Sicheng never returned to Xijing. That means he didn't even take his graduation exams; how did he become Wang Qi Zhi's graduate student?

Even if it were a school-recommended postgraduate admission, wouldn't the person have to be there to go through the procedures?

Therefore, the current Lin Sicheng is at most an undergraduate...

The commotion was a bit loud, so out of respect, Lin Sicheng stopped speaking for a moment.

He wore a smile and waited quietly, his gaze subconsciously sweeping across the front row, feeling that Wang Qi Zhi's expression didn't seem quite right.

Not right... is it going to go bad?

Lin Sicheng hurriedly coughed and gave a look.

In such an occasion, with his own student standing on stage, Wang Qi Zhi certainly wouldn't wreck the event.

He just wanted to stand up and see which bastards were being so noisy.

Forget it, let them be noisy; I'll let you all be blinded later...

In a flash, Wang Qi Zhi's just-straightened back sat back down, and the cold sneer at the corner of his mouth vanished into thin air.

With discussions ongoing and the noise continuing, Lin Sicheng surveyed the venue and looked at the seniors and leaders who had come to listen to the lecture.

Many familiar faces: the old Dean, Deputy Director Ma, Director Lu of the Forbidden City, as well as the Persons in Charge of key laboratories at the Cultural Relics Research Institute, the National Museum of China, and the Forbidden City.

Of course, many hadn't reached the level in his memories yet; they might just be group leaders or project executors.

But in a few years, they certainly would be...

And in his previous life, when was the first time he stood here to give a lecture?

It must have been 2016, on the eve of leaving the Forbidden City, when he assisted Director Lu (Palace Museum Ceramics Research Institute) in completing a National Cultural Heritage Administration special project: Research on the Current Status Survey and Protection Countermeasures of Porcelain Treasures in the Forbidden City.

Then Director Lu brought me along to give an Academic Report here; at that time, I was the one giving the main presentation.

I don't seem to have been nervous at all; I was very fluent and very smooth.

The second time was in 2019, when I served as a Special Invited Expert to assist the National Museum of China Metal Cultural Relics Protection Center (a key scientific research base of the National Cultural Heritage Administration) in completing a project commissioned by the Cultural Relics Bureau: Risk Identification for Exhibition of Museum Cultural Relics—Taking Metal Cultural Relic Diseases as an Example.

The third time was in 2024, also in the capacity of a Special Invited Expert, assisting the National Museum of China Metal Cultural Relics Protection Center in completing a key national science and technology support project (Thirteenth Five-Year Plan): Research on Deterioration Mechanisms and Key Protection Technologies for Fragile Iron Cultural Relics in Museum Collections.

Deputy Director Ma was sitting in the front row at that time.

And the first time I met Deputy Director Ma was also here, but that was fifteen years ago:

In 2009, which is to say next year, Deputy Director Ma presided over and was responsible for completing the National Science and Technology Support Plan (Eleventh Five-Year Plan), Research on Comprehensive Protection Technology for Iron Cultural Relics, and I also gave an Academic Report in this hall.

That year, I had just entered the Forbidden City, and the old Mrs. Wang brought me along to broaden my horizons and managed to get me a "Guest Assistant" pass.

Looking back, it feels like coincidences are everywhere: in my past life, the first time I stood on this podium, I spoke about porcelain. In this life, I am still speaking about porcelain.

In my past life, the first time I came here was to listen to Deputy Director Ma give an Academic Report on iron cultural relic research. In this life, the first time I came here was to invite Deputy Director Ma to listen to me give an Academic Report on iron cultural relic research.

History seems to have taken a sharp turn and formed a closed loop?

Asking myself, standing here today, Lin Sicheng still feels some guilt:

Because the research on iron cultural relic protection technology hosted by the National Museum of China, which he assisted Professor Li Mo of the National Museum of China in completing, cited the mathematical models and technical data that Deputy Director Ma had been researching continuously from 2006 to 2019 at the time of bidding and project initiation.

Including the BTA Corrosion Inhibition Technology he is about to talk about later, some of the results were plagiarized from the project results of Deputy Director Ma after 2009. Now, however, he has to stand in front of him and talk about it openly, and because of this, the iron project of the Cultural Relics Research Institute was terminated, which is equivalent to destroying his two years of hard work in one fell swoop?

Lin Sicheng cannot help but feel ashamed in his heart.

But Lin Sicheng does not regret it.

From 2008 to 2024, how many years is that?

A full sixteen years.

Being able to save the country sixteen years of time, and save hundreds of millions in research funds, as well as countless manpower and material resources.

Lin Sicheng feels that stealing it in advance should also be worth it.

Including the Hejin Kiln site and the research and development of Luanbai Jade, although he was set up by the local authorities, Lin Sicheng was actually not very angry.

He instead felt: it is quite good to separate.

Without the local government holding him back, he can let go and act.

In 2018, Jingdezhen Ceramics University, after more than ten years of research, finally confirmed that the Ming Dynasty Sweet White Glaze technique originated from the Ming Dynasty Egg White Glaze.

The following year, which is 2019, the Jingdezhen Ceramics Research Institute confirmed through research: the Yuan Dynasty Egg White Glaze was a new type of white glazed porcelain created and fired by the Jingdezhen Hutian Kiln on the basis of Song Dynasty Shadow Blue Porcelain, combined with the Mongol custom of "valuing white as auspicious."

Therefore, once today's lecture is released, it is equivalent to advancing these two research results by ten and eleven years respectively.

It is indeed unfair to Jingdezhen Ceramics University and the Ceramics Research Institute.

But looking at it from another angle: knowing what the result is, yet watching helplessly as more than ten years of time, countless funds, and even youth are wasted?

Lin Sicheng feels that this is the greatest irresponsibility: letting down himself, letting down his rebirth, and even letting down this country and society.

Besides, since he is already here, he has to do something...

For a moment, his thoughts flew, his soul wandering beyond the heavens.

The noise in the venue also grew louder and louder.

Suddenly, with a "Clang" sound.

The old Dean curled his knuckles and tapped on the table, and the venue suddenly went quiet.

Those who were discussing shut their mouths and withdrew their gazes, looking at Lin Sicheng as if looking at an alien.

The old Dean glared, staring at Lin Sicheng: "What are you stunned for, speak!"

Lin Sicheng woke up as if from a dream: "Thank you, Dean!"

He smiled, and picked up the microphone again.

"Teachers, I will continue: I am a student of Mr. Wang Qi Zhi, and at the same time, I am the Person in Charge of the Northwest University Cultural Relics Protection and Restoration Center and the Xijing City Intangible Cultural Heritage Research Center..."

"The Center was established in August 2007, and to date, we have developed restoration techniques for Tang Dynasty Palace Gold Chasing, Jin Red Flag, Gold Lacquer Inlay, and Lacquer Decoration..."

"As well as restoration techniques for cultural relics such as Qing Dynasty Copper-Body Enamel, Underglaze Color, Colored Glaze, and Ming Dynasty Cloisonne, Monochrome Glaze, Underglaze Red, and Blue and White Porcelain. At the current stage, we are researching the craftsmanship and restoration techniques for thin-body porcelain of the Ming and Qing dynasties, as well as Doucai porcelain..."

With a "Boom," the venue, which had just quieted down a little, became noisy again.

Don't think that just because they are all Experts, they should be as steady as rocks, and not change color even if Mount Tai collapses before their eyes?

Experts are also human.

From a certain perspective, they are even simpler than ordinary people. The key is that they know more, and their feelings will only be more profound than ordinary people.

This center was established in August last year, and it has been exactly one year now, right?

Look at the technologies this center has developed in this year: half of the research on the eight major Gold and Silver Craftsmanship Studio of the Tang Dynasty has been done, and almost half of all types of official kiln porcelain from the Qing and Ming dynasties have also been researched.

Besides this, add Copper-Body Enamel and Cloisonne, and Ming Blue and White Porcelain?

Everyone present knows how complex the craftsmanship of these three types of cultural relics is.

Counting across the globe, the Forbidden City has the most Ming and Qing porcelain collections, and their porcelain restoration technology level is the highest; if you don't believe it, ask them if they have developed the restoration technology for these three types of cultural relics?

Then calculate the time, how many years have they been researching?

Subconsciously, someone turned their head and looked at Director Lu of the Forbidden City.

Director Lu glared back: I wasn't the one who said this, why are you looking at me?

Immediately, as if infected, more and more people turned their heads...

Director Lu sighed: "Fine, I have indeed seen it!"