Chapter 39: Gaining Knowledge

"Daozuo what? Daozuo Hall made!"

Hao Jun muttered to himself, "Lao Guan, have you ever heard of this?"

Guan Xingmin shook his head: "You are the Expert in miscellaneous items; if even you haven't heard of it, where would I have heard of it?"

That's right, isn't it?

All Enamelware before the Jiaqing era originated from the Imperial Household Department's Enamel Workshop, but the Enamel Workshop only had a few hall names; where would there be a Daozuo Hall?

But to say this basin was a later imitation was even more impossible.

The old sense of age could not be faked, the Huiqing Cobalt could not be faked, and the level of craftsmanship could be faked even less; it was one hundred percent palace-made...

Just as he was deep in thought, Lin Sicheng suddenly interjected: "It's not Hall, it should be Room!"

"Daozuo Room... which Daozuo Room?"

"Prince Yi's Mansion!"

Hao Jun was suddenly stunned, a flash of light crossing his mind: "Yongzheng era... Prince Yi Yinxiang... no... you mean: Enamel-colored was fired in Prince Yi's Mansion?"

"It was fired, and for quite a long time!" Lin Sicheng nodded, "It started firing after Yongzheng ascended the throne and continued until Yinxiang passed away..."

"How do you know?"

"It is recorded in historical materials: 'Draft History of Qing': Imperial Edict (second year of Yongzheng): The miscellaneous workshop (Enamel Workshop) newly fired twenty pairs of Enamel-colored handled pots, with glaze cracks and color discrepancies, mixed quality... ordered Yinxiang to fire them within his mansion, requiring them to be delicate..."

"'Qing Palace Archives': Fourth day of the second lunar month (fourth year of Yongzheng), Prince Yi submitted nine Dark Dragon Wine Cups, with the Imperial Edict: Two pieces are acceptable, the remaining seven are to be carefully fired within your mansion..."

"On the tenth day of the third lunar month, Prince Yi submitted Western Enamel Cups: moon white, yellow, green, light blue, pine yellow, Light Green, black, a total of seven varieties..."

"Sixth year of Yongzheng: Imperial Edict: Order you (Yinxiang) to mix Donarman Oil (oil specifically for Enamelware) within your mansion for Nian Xiyao (Nian Gengyao's elder brother, then serving as General Manager of the Imperial Household Department) to use for firing enamel."

"Because corruption was rampant during the Kangxi era, and enamel materials were too expensive, furthermore the Imperial Household Department's organization was bloated and inefficient, so shortly after Yongzheng ascended the throne, he ordered Yinxiang to select Craftsmen from the Imperial Household Department to first research and test-fire them within his mansion."

"Once successful, they were then handed over to the Enamel Workshop for mass production... The workshop for mixing colors and test-firing at that time was in the Daozuo Room where the servants of Prince Yi's Mansion lived... All test-fired Enamelware was uniformly stamped with the mark 'Daozuo Room Made'..."

Lin Sicheng spoke unhurriedly, while Hao Jun and Guan Xingmin listened in a daze.

Setting aside the authenticity of this basin for a moment, and not even mentioning whether it came from Prince Yi's Mansion, just look at the sources of the historical materials Lin Sicheng just mentioned: these were historical drafts, not ancient poetry; how did he get the dates so precise?

Looking back at the basin: the shape is correct, the glaze is correct, the era is also correct, and the provenance is even more detailed... everything is complete, it just needs to go through the machine.

Guan Xingmin's eyes lit up: "Then how should this be calculated?"

Lin Sicheng thought for a moment: "It can barely be considered palace-made, but it certainly cannot compare to the proper Imperial Household version. First, it only has paintings and stamps, without poetry and calligraphy, which is far from the 'poetry, calligraphy, painting, and stamp' combination characteristic of Yongzheng Enamel-colored..."

"Second is the bottom mark and provenance: even if it is Prince Yi's Mansion, the Daozuo Room was only a place for servants to live, and it can't catch up to the Imperial Household Department and the 'Yongzheng Year Made' mark."

"Third, since it is a test-firing mark, it means the craftsmanship and glaze color are both lacking compared to the Imperial Household's mass production... Fourth, it is too broken... So, it has some value, but not too high..."

At first, Guan Xingmin was listening quite seriously, but the more he heard, the more it tasted wrong: what does "some value" mean?

What, do you only get satisfied if this basin sells for five or six million?

Get it straight, this is a Dog Basin, you only spent two thousand, not two million.

Not to mention it came with a dog?

Cursing words welled up to his lips, but Guan Xingmin swallowed them back; he pointed at Lin Sicheng with his finger, then turned his head back.

Huh... what's wrong with Lao Hao?

His eyes were fixed, staring tightly at the basin, his lips twitching, and he didn't know what he was muttering.

Leaning closer to listen: "Damn it, this is just... damn it, this is just..."

"A Dog Basin became Enamel-colored, and I'm still a miscellaneous Expert?"

Guan Xingmin was stunned and almost laughed out loud.

If one says he didn't notice at the time, it's understandable.

First, the dog suddenly rushed out; let alone Lao Hao, even he was scared, so where would he have time to notice what was in the dog's mouth.

Second, it was wrapped too tightly: the whole basin, only the circle on the bottom that was often licked by the dog could barely be seen, which was those two pieces of chipped goldfish. If you didn't hold it in your arms and look carefully, you would think it was rusted sheet metal.

The key is that this basin was unusually dirty at the time: dog feces, dog food, all mixed together in a black and yellow mess, and it stank. Let alone holding it in his arms to look, just one glance made him feel disgusted.

So even if it happened three more times, he and Lao Hao would still miss the treasure.

What Lao Hao couldn't figure out was that after Lin Sicheng washed this basin: one could see the glaze color, one could see the craftsmanship, one could see the era, and there was even a mark... the evidence was enough, right?

But he just couldn't remember the origin of the "Daozuo Room".

And Lin Sicheng, on the other hand, could even recite the historical materials clearly?

Added to the previous Chicken Feather Duster and the later Purple Clay Teapot, Hao Jun's mentality completely collapsed: he couldn't compete in Calligraphy and Painting, he couldn't compete in wood carving, he couldn't compete in porcelain, and now he couldn't even compete in miscellaneous items?

Then what kind of miscellaneous Expert is he?

"How old are you, how old is he?" Guan Xingmin laughed, "Hehe," and patted Hao Jun on the shoulder, "If I give you a 'Draft History of Qing', can you memorize it?"

Memorize my foot?

Let alone like Lin Sicheng, who could be precise to the year, month, and day?

Thinking about it this way, he felt much better: it wasn't that Lao Hao's eye for antiques was bad, it was just that he was getting old and his memory wasn't very good...

Huh, something seems wrong?

How old are you, how old is he... Lao Guan, what do you mean?

Seeing that he was about to realize it, Guan Xingmin hurriedly changed the subject: "While the enthusiasm is still there, let's give it an estimate first!"

"Oh, right..." Hao Jun pondered for a moment, "Four or five hundred thousand is easy, and if you meet an expert, six or seven hundred thousand is also normal."

Lin Sicheng nodded: "That's already high enough!"

Guan Xingmin also nodded: it was indeed high enough.

He had previously thought it would only be three or four hundred thousand.

Of course, it was far from the transaction records of five or six million for Yongzheng Enamel-colored in the last two years, but as Lin Sicheng said: after all, it was a test-firing piece, barely able to touch the edge of "palace-made," so it wasn't low.

Looking at it the other way, picked up as a Dog Basin, how much more did he want to sell it for?

Hao Jun took the basin and shook the water off the bottom: "If you're not in a hurry, I'll take it back to the shop and try to sell it for eight hundred thousand for you!"

Having just swindled Professor Wang out of five hundred thousand yesterday, Lin Sicheng was naturally in no rush.

"Fine, take your time looking..."

The words had barely left his mouth when a voice came from behind: "Eight hundred thousand, I'll take it..."

No way, where did they pop out from?

The three of them turned their heads instinctively.

Right under the shade of the trees by the roadside, separated from them by only half a green belt, was a brand-new Mercedes-Benz SUV with Beijing license plates.

The front and back windows were all rolled down, with a circle of heads surrounding them.

This car had been parked there before, but since the windows were up at the time, no one knew there were people inside. Afterward, the three of them had been so focused on washing the Dog Basin that they hadn't noticed a whole carload of people had been watching the spectacle for quite a while.

Looking closely: there were men and women, old and young, and their gazes were surprisingly consistent: look at the dog, then look at Lin Sicheng, then look at the dog, then look at Lin Sicheng.

Their expressions were one more peculiar than the next: a Dog Basin can be an antique?

Think back to before, covered in dog shit, stinking to high heaven?

Then look at it now: worth seven or eight hundred thousand?

What an eye-opener...