Chapter 507: Going All In

Lin Sicheng is no novice; he knows what can be said and what cannot.

As for Professor Yu's eccentric sense of humor, it is best to ignore it.

He pushed back neither too softly nor too harshly: "Professor Yu, I am not very clear on this matter. If you wish to understand it, you may seek out Professor Wang Qi Zhi. He is the Party Committee Director of the Research Center and is responsible for all external operations, including relaying information and communicating with higher-level departments..."

Professor Yu glanced at Wang Qi Zhi, who was standing at the entrance of the multi-functional Equipment Room looking like an assistant.

A few minutes ago, this Professor Wang had stood before two Department Heads, speaking for quite a while. Clearly, the three were very familiar with each other.

If he were merely a professor, he would have neither the opportunity nor the channels to know such high-ranking leaders.

Is he not a fool?

Professor Yu was relentless: "The Center is named after you; you are the final Person in Charge, right? Then what are you responsible for?" Lin Sicheng was concise: "Research!"

The two short words left Professor Yu at a loss.

From Lin Sicheng's tone, he heard unparalleled confidence.

But in such an occasion, was that not a bit arrogant?

"Fine, then let us talk about research!" Professor Yu nodded. "Then please continue!"

Lin Sicheng, neither humble nor pushy, said thank you.

With another click of the mouse, an ancient kiln site appeared on the screen.

"Under the leadership of the Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau and with the support of the Provincial Museum and the Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, the Archaeology Team was officially established in early March. One month later, in Laoyaotou Village, Xiahua, Hejin City, YC City, we discovered an ancient kiln site from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties..."

"The site is over seven hundred meters long from east to west and over eighty meters from north to south, covering an area of over fifty thousand square meters... We have identified seven Kiln Furnaces, the earliest dating back to the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, about four hundred years ago. The latest dates to the 1960s, after the founding of the country..."

"Wait..." Professor Yu interrupted once again. "How large did you say the kiln site was?"

This time it was not an eccentric joke, but genuine shock.

Over fifty thousand square meters... that is large enough to build an airport.

The key is, late Ming and early Qing?

How could Shanxi have a porcelain kiln site this early and of this size?

Lin Sicheng repeated: "Professor Yu, the total area is approximately over fifty-seven thousand square meters!"

That is... over eighty mu?

Looking at the images on the screen again: such large ash pits, plus clear satellite imagery—could this be fake?

Professor Yu processed this for a good while: "What are the main relics?"

"There are four Waste Porcelain Pits, with the vessel shapes being Black Glaze Bowls, followed by Sauce Glaze Jars, Pottery Vats, Pottery Jars, etc... Additionally, we discovered two porcelain clay pits and matching mineral pits, three fuel pits, three mud storage pools, and processing areas and equipment: Water Wheels, Stone Pestles, and Water Mills. There is also a glazing area, a Firing Auxiliary Area, and so on..."

The four experts were all stunned for a moment.

The size was secondary; how could it be so complete?

The kiln body itself, raw material processing, firing auxiliaries, raw materials and fuel, unearthed artifacts, and even the Kiln Industry Waste Layer...

It means that from the mining of porcelain clay to raw material processing, then to shaping and glazing, followed by firing auxiliaries, in-situ (finished products and shards) excavation, and kiln waste... every process relic and every piece of craft equipment is present.

In Shanxi, this is unprecedented.

They really wanted to ask: with such a large site and such significant importance, why had there been no prior discoveries?

In the end, it was an archaeology department from another province that helped them survey it. Are the archaeology departments in Shanxi all useless?

After a long while, another expert raised his hand: "Student Lin, I have a question!"

This person is surnamed Liu and is the Person in Charge of the Synchrotron Radiation XRD project at the University of Science and Technology of China's Laboratory for Archaeology and Cultural Relics.

Unlike Professor Yu, who only handles LA-ICP-MS trace element sourcing for ancient ceramics at the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Professor Liu's research direction is broader, his field is wider, and his involvement in field archaeology is very deep.

Because he is more professional, he is more curious than Professor Yu.

Lin Sicheng nodded: "Professor Liu, please go ahead!"

Professor Liu pointed at the screen: "Looking at the early satellite maps, there were no traces on the surface related to the site. But you, in only one month... I would like to ask, how did you find this place?"

Lin Sicheng replied without hesitation: "Half effort, half luck!"

Professor Liu frowned: What on earth?

He has spent half his life researching scientific archaeology, traveled through over thirty provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions across the country, and inspected over a thousand ancient ceramic sites. This is the first time he has heard of doing archaeology based on luck.

"Could you be more specific?"

"I can!" Lin Sicheng was concise. "We happened to strike a wood ash pit with our Exploration Probe!"

A wood ash pit... meaning a Glaze Paste pool?

Preparing glaze does not require much space; the area is at most a hundred square meters. In a site area of over eighty mu, it would account for at most three or four parts per thousand. But this is relative to the site area; before discovering the site, how large was the area they needed to survey?

The answer is infinitely large.

Just look at the satellite map: that area is nothing but mountains and riverbanks; there are no traces on the surface related to a porcelain kiln site. The probability of hitting a wood ash pit with one probe is about the same as winning five million in the lottery twice.

Therefore, Professor Liu did not believe a single word of Lin Sicheng's.

"Student Lin, let me ask again: before striking the wood ash pit, how did you determine the general area?"

Lin Sicheng was categorical: "By effort!"

What?

Professor Liu froze, his lips twitching, wanting to curse: Who in archaeology doesn't rely on effort?

Does he think the site would just fall from the sky while sleeping?

What you said is no different from saying nothing.

The other three exchanged glances.

This kid clearly guessed that Lao Liu would ask this, so he had pre-set the answer: half effort, half luck.

The subtext is clear and quite blunt: Professor Liu, please do not ask such questions again; I do not want to waste time.

Sure enough, before Professor Liu could react, Lin Sicheng smiled politely: "Professor Liu, shall I continue?"

Could you really stop him from speaking?

A breath caught in his throat, and Professor Liu gave a dry laugh: "Fine, you continue!"

Afterward, he curled his lip as if he had a toothache: "Young man, when it comes time for cross-examination later, you had better not make a single mistake."

"Otherwise, I will let you know what it means for ginger to be spicier the older it gets."

Lin Sicheng scrolled the mouse again, and the screen changed to a larger satellite map:

"Everyone, please look at this map: the point at the northernmost end is the late Ming and early Qing dynasty folk kiln site at Lao Yaotou, Xiahua, Hejin City, which I just mentioned..."

"Most of what was unearthed were black porcelain and soy-colored porcelain, all coarse-use porcelain for daily life. Light-colored porcelain was extremely rare, but it had very distinct characteristics: the firing technique is clearly different from the adjacent Cizhou Kiln and Ding Kiln, but instead, it is very similar to the more distant Jingdezhen Kiln."

"More importantly, the glaze characteristics: a high-aluminum, low-calcium glaze system, commonly known as the corundum phase... This type of glaze phase was only fired in Jingdezhen during the Northern Song Dynasty."

"Afterward, we made a bold hypothesis: there must have been a self-contained system of white porcelain kilns within Yuncheng, and the craftsmanship likely originated from Jingdezhen during the Northern Song Dynasty."

Afterward, we carefully verified it: based on the distribution of ancient river channels within Hejin City, we expanded the exploration range. It was roughly this circle on the map... Hard work pays off: half a month later, in mid-April, we discovered a white porcelain kiln site dating back about 1,100 years in Beiwuqin Village, Pan Village Town. One more thing to add: we found coke in the site..."

Several experts were all stunned for a moment: what was that?

1,100 years ago... that was the end of the Tang Dynasty.

They were all students of history; it was impossible for them to remember wrong: in 907, Zhu Wen declared himself emperor, and the Tang Dynasty perished.

And before this, the archaeological community generally recognized that the history of porcelain firing in Shanxi began in the Jin Dynasty.

Does this mean the discovery of this kiln site pushed back the history of porcelain firing in Shanxi by two dynasties, a full two hundred years?

But that was secondary; the point was what followed: coke?

This thing existed in the Tang Dynasty?

What nonsense...

The four experts were eager to act, but before their hands could even be raised, Lin Sicheng tapped the microphone: "Teachers, I know you have many questions to ask, but the focus today is the cross-examination of these seized Cultural Relics."

Lin Sicheng checked his watch: "It is already nine o'clock. If we go off-topic at every turn, we won't finish by tomorrow morning. We can't just let so many experts and leaders watch us chat idly, can we?"

"Boom," the venue laughed again.

If they were to speak their true thoughts, they weren't sleepy at all: wasn't this more interesting than watching TV in the hotel?

Don't believe it? Look at the expressions of the several experts.

But this couldn't be blamed on them.

The Tang Dynasty, coke... the several experts had never imagined that these two terms could one day be combined?

Even as top-tier experts, even being well-informed, they were still stunned into speechlessness. It felt to them as if the ancients had built an Atomic Bomb... Professor Yu couldn't hold back: "Lin Sicheng, do you know what the concept of Tang Dynasty coke is?"

"I know, it is indeed coke, and it was indeed discovered at the Beiwuqin site. Whether it is from the Tang Dynasty, the relevant departments are still researching. Professor Yu, to be honest, I really don't know the specific situation... Look, shall we get back to the point?" "No, Lin Sicheng, how can this be called chatting idly? Isn't this topic a hundred times bigger than the project you are cooperating on with the Forbidden City?" "I know, but we can't research it!" Lin Sicheng spread his hands, "And it has nothing to do with today's cross-examination!"

It seemed... indeed, they couldn't research it?

Different professions are as separated as mountains; even if they were given the Institute of Silicates, they still couldn't research it.

But he couldn't help his curiosity: this was Tang Dynasty coke, after all?

If you don't believe it, ask the few people next to you: which one of those involved in archaeology or Artifact Research isn't curious?

"Lin Sicheng, don't blame us for going off-topic!" Professor Yu was unwilling to give up, "Even if we went off-topic, you were the one who went off-topic first..."

"I'll just ask one thing: since the exploration was hosted by the Xijing City Cultural Relics Bureau and the Archaeology Team was jointly formed by the Provincial Museum and the Provincial Archaeology Research Institute, what does this have to do with your Center? At most, you just provided some clues..."

"Professor Yu, I never said: it was hosted by the Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau."

"I said that it was responsible by the Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau, and the Archaeology Team was jointly formed with the Provincial Museum and the Provincial Archaeology Research Institute to conduct surveys within Yuncheng..." Professor Yu was confused: "What is the difference?"

Of course there is.

Lin Sicheng explained patiently: "Professor Yu, this is my fault for not explaining clearly. My meaning is: the Cultural Relics Bureau is only responsible for forming the Archaeology Team. The specific hosting, planning, and responsibility for on-site exploration was my Research Center..."

Professor Yu stared with wide eyes: since when did Artifact Research become directly synonymous with field archaeology?

This is like asking a forensic doctor to do Criminal Investigation, doing the work of visiting, investigating, staking out, and collecting clues.

Besides, the ranks of the Provincial Museum and the Provincial Archaeology Research Institute are on par with Northwest University; why should they listen to the command of a school-level laboratory?

Taking a step back, Shanxi hadn't found it in twenty years, and after you went there, you found two major discoveries in two months that were enough to fill historical gaps and even rewrite history?

But then again: the leaders of the National Cultural Heritage Administration were sitting right there; how much courage would Lin Sicheng have to dare to tell such a big lie? Lin Sicheng was even more helpless than Professor Yu.

He knew it would be like this: if he didn't say it, he couldn't get on with it.

And as soon as he said it, it would be like this: asking non-stop, asking non-stop. He couldn't say two sentences of serious things before it would veer off into outer space. But since Customs invited them, this is what they do; could he stop people from asking?

He sighed: "Professors, to save time, I will put it simply: from the start of the exploration to the discovery of these two sites, the field work was always hosted by me."

"By the end of April, after we discovered the third site, the Ganjian Neolithic Pottery site, the Archaeology Division of the National Cultural Heritage Administration organized an expert group to carry out excavations. At that time, it was led by Department Head Wu..."

"Then, under the on-site guidance of Division Chief Sun Jiamu of the Archaeology Management Division of the Archaeology Division, I led the team to continue the exploration. Next, we successively discovered the Jin Dynasty white porcelain and black-and-white Carving Flowers porcelain kiln in Yincun, as well as the Northern Song Dynasty white porcelain kiln site in Guzhen Village..."

"Because all the sites are within Hejin City, they are collectively referred to as the Hejin Kiln... Afterward, we went to Huo Prefecture, and I continued to lead the team, discovering the white porcelain kiln site at Chen Village Kiln in Huo Prefecture."

"At this point, the exploration work came to an end. Under the auspices of the Archaeology Division of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, the subsequent excavation work was handed over to the cultural relics departments of SX Province..." Lin Sicheng finished in one breath and sighed again: "This is the entire exploration process of the Hejin Kiln and Huo Prefecture Kiln. If the professors have any questions, I will answer everything I know..."

At worst, we'll stay up together; I'm going all out.

But strangely, the scene suddenly went silent.

The experts who were just eager to try and had a belly full of questions suddenly had no sound.

Four people, eight eyes, all fixed on Lin Sicheng.

What Lao Yaotou, what Beiwuqin—of course they didn't know. Even if they had seen the relevant notices, they couldn't remember such obscure place names. But the Hejin Kiln, the Huo Prefecture Kiln, and the Neolithic Pottery kiln site in Hejin City—these three had all been in the Archaeology of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, and notices had been issued.

There was no doubt that these three sites were nailed-on as one of the Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries of the Year. And it was very likely that two items would be listed at once: the Neolithic Pottery kiln site and the Hejin Kiln.

But no one had ever said that these sites were explored and discovered by a student from Northwest University leading the team?