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墨書 Inktalez
After Jiao Ba finished speaking, Jenny said with a hint of disappointment, "Oh? So this is a Wreck from the Qing Dynasty during the Qianlong period?"
Shunzi grinned and replied, "Things from the Qianlong era are still valuable. Brother Yi, we might just hit the jackpot."
"If this really is from the Qianlong period, then you can have all of it; I don't want any," Jenny said, her expression darkening. I was now more certain that she was only interested in items from the Ming Dynasty's Yongle period. If it were about wealth, artifacts from my Great Qing would also be worth something, yet she seemed indifferent. This left me puzzled—was there some hidden secret behind her preferences?
Mai Lao picked up another bottle and examined it closely. "Although I don't know much about this stuff, from the appearance of the porcelain, it does seem to be from the Qianlong period."
"Even if this isn't from the Yongle period, how can you be sure it's from the Qing Dynasty? There were imitations of earlier artifacts in the late Ming Dynasty, especially during the Xuan De period. Most sweet white porcelain was imitated from the Yongle era," I said to Jiao Ba, voicing my doubts.
As a child, I had seen quite a few pieces of Ming and Qing Dynasty porcelain at my grandfather's house. I had no idea where those items ended up—some were sold off, others possibly stolen. While I couldn't claim to be an expert on porcelain, I knew a little.
Jiao Ba chuckled and said, "I didn't expect you to know a bit about this, Brother Yi. Let me explain! Look at the color of this sweet white porcelain; it's only slightly yellowed. If it were truly hundreds of years old, who knows what it would look like? If it were an imitation from the Xuan De period, the color difference wouldn't be so pronounced. The main point is that imitations from the Xuan De era wouldn't have a reign mark; only those imitated during the Qing Dynasty, especially in the Qianlong period when imitations of previous dynasties were most common, would have such marks. That's why I deduce this is an imitation from the Qianlong era."
After hearing Jiao Ba's explanation, Jenny sighed and said, "Well, if that's the case, it seems this really is a ship from the Qing Dynasty. What a waste of effort."
I interjected deliberately, "How can you say it's a waste? Even if it's not from the Ming Dynasty, items from the Qianlong period are still quite good! If we sell this on the market, we could still get a decent price." I said this to gauge Jenny's reaction.
"I'm not interested in that. My goal for this trip is to find a Ming Dynasty Shipwreck. These things are of no use to me," she replied as I expected. What exactly was she looking for? Was Ming Dynasty treasure that valuable? Or was she after that jade pendant as well?
I shamelessly smiled and said, "Hey! If you don't want it, consider it returning to its rightful owner. You won't have to worry about food and drink in the future." I wasn't wrong; these were all artifacts of my great Qing Dynasty. In my hands, wasn't that just returning them home?
"Well, this ship isn't from the Qianlong era. To be precise, it should have set sail during the Guangxu period," Jiao Ba said.
After he finished speaking, we were all taken aback again. Jenny, a bit irritated, exclaimed, "Hey, can you just say it all at once? Stop dragging it out! Where is it from? Why make it so complicated?"
Mai Lao also complained, "Yeah, Xiao Ba, just tell us everything you know without beating around the bush. If you keep this up, we might just throw you into the sea." Though it was a joke, everyone knew that Mai Lao was quite anxious. After all this time spent working on this, he thought he would finally get to show his skills, but now he felt like someone who only had half the information.
Jiao Ba asked me for a cigarette, lit it up, and took a couple of puffs before saying, "Let me be honest with you! I've checked all these porcelain items, and only one or two are genuine Ming Dynasty pieces. The Blue and White Porcelain that Mai Lao brought up is indeed from the Yongle period; however, most of the other items are Qing Dynasty replicas. In fact, the vast majority are Qing Dynasty porcelain."
"Take this wine pot for example! Although it says 'Qianlong' on the bottom, it's actually a replica made during the Guangxu period. This is easy for me to distinguish. Let me put it this way: everything in this wreck is considered an antique, but most of it is imitation. Especially those from the Official Kiln; almost all of them are replicas. Only a few folk items were made during the Guangxu period. Therefore, we can deduce that this is a wreck from the Guangxu era," Jiao Ba said seriously while holding the wine pot that Mai Lao had just examined.
He continued, "Also, I thought about it earlier: if this were truly a Ming Dynasty shipwreck and had been corroded by seawater for hundreds of years, even if the wood was of good quality back then, it wouldn't have remained so intact. Using our buoy method for salvage could easily cause it to fall apart. If it were from the Guangxu period, however, that would still be possible since it's not too far back in time. So I conclude that this is indeed a ship from the Guangxu era; it just happened to be carrying some Ming Dynasty replicas when it encountered rough seas and sank. Today, we stumbled upon it as it resurfaced," Jiao Ba explained with a grin. The tomb raider's analytical skills were almost on par with those of scouts.
I shrugged and casually remarked, "Well, Lao Ba, you might have a point there. You're pretty sharp; however, during the Qing Dynasty's isolationist policies, there was hardly any foreign trade. I think this ship was likely trying to smuggle these replicas out of the country under someone's name and sell them as genuine artifacts to foreigners who couldn't tell the difference. But something went wrong and the ship sank."
"I doubt that; this ship was probably here for salvage operations like us. Most likely trying to salvage a Ming Dynasty shipwreck," Mai Lao said seriously.
"Are you sure about that, Mai Lao?" Jenny suddenly asked.
"I'm not entirely certain, but I feel there's a possibility. You all saw that there was a large net on top of the wreck; it's not a fishing net. So what was that net used for? Back then, technology wasn't advanced enough for people to dive for long; they could only hold their breath underwater for short periods. I think that net was meant for retrieving things. Plus, there are some Ming Dynasty porcelain pieces on board which raises further suspicion," Mai Lao adjusted his glasses and rationally expressed his thoughts. Finally, he seemed to fit his role as an expert! However, he still hadn't mentioned anything about the coffin corpse.
"I also agree with what Mai Lao said. During the Great Qing period, although culture was lagging behind, it's not impossible that salvage operations were already known among common folks. Since we can think there are treasures in this wreck, they could too; what do you both think?" I tossed my final words back to Jiao Ba and Shunzi. This time I strongly supported Mai Lao's viewpoint; just because emperors were ignorant didn't mean common people were as well.
Shunzi rolled his eyes and said, "Brother Yi, I'm on your side; I agree." This kid always followed my lead; asking him was practically pointless anyway.
Jiao Ba furrowed his brows, pondering for a moment before saying, "Yes, that makes a lot of sense. And that Coffin Corpse is the best evidence, as that female corpse belongs to someone from the Ming Dynasty."
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