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Chapter 63 Trip to Jinling

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    "The beautiful land in the south of the Yangtze River, the imperial state of Jinling."

    As the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, Jinling has a profound cultural heritage and rich historical relics, which has also contributed to the prosperity of its antique market.

    In the evening, Meng Zitao¡¯s car stopped at a hotel near Confucius Temple. He went to the room to pack his luggage, and then went to have dinner.  Afterwards, with nothing to do, he went to the Confucius Temple to see the night view.

    The Confucius Temple is located next to Gongyuan Street on the north bank of the Qinhuai River. It is a group of large-scale ancient buildings. It is a place for worshiping and worshiping Confucius. It is also one of the four major Confucian temples in China.

    Walking along the Qinhuai River, admiring the surrounding antique buildings, the boat boats in the river, the sound of oars and the shadows of lights, if it weren't for the modern lights around him, Meng Zitao would have felt as if he had traveled through time in ancient times. It was really a unique experience.

    After walking along the Qinhuai River, Meng Zitao felt a little more peaceful. The anxiety and impatience caused by various factors during this period were completely washed away, and he felt a lot more relaxed.

    "We have to go to the ghost market tomorrow, so we should go back early" Meng Zitao stretched and walked to the hotel.

    When talking about the ghost market in Jinling, we have to mention Chaotian Palace, which is five miles away from Confucius Temple.  There are many foreign vendors here, mainly selling old books and magazines. It is a nationally famous used book market with a lot of good stuff.

    Speaking of which, this is actually a "dew market". The market must close at eight o'clock, and the operating hours are limited to Saturdays and Sundays every week. Meng Zitao is planning to go to this place to hunt for treasures.

    The next day, the weather was good. Meng Zitao got up early and arrived at Chaotian Palace just after three o'clock.

    Since the late 1980s, a nationally famous used book market has gradually formed around Chaotian Palace. Every Saturday and Sunday, used booksellers and antique dealers from all over the country gather here. Some famous domestic bibliophiles have come here.  Shop for books here.

    It was not until 2001 that the city was reorganized and stalls were not allowed to be set up during the day, so the book market returned to operating in the early morning.

    However, Meng Zitao heard that there was a rumor that after the beginning of next year, stalls will not be allowed here. By then, I don¡¯t know where these merchants will move, but I guess it won¡¯t happen again like now.  It was a grand occasion.

    When Meng Zitao arrived, he saw that except for a few stalls, most of them were already "in their places."

    I saw that all kinds of old books and magazines were either spread out in a pile or stacked in a row, waiting for buyers.  While the stall owners looked at the things on their stalls, they also looked at the customers passing by from time to time, perhaps wondering whether business would be prosperous today.

    Thanks to the reputation of the Chaotian Palace used book market, Meng Zitao only visited a few stalls, and there were already many people in the market.  Maybe it's still early, and everyone is immersed in finding something they like, or quietly discussing the price with the stall owner, so there is no buzz of excitement.

    After walking around for more than two hours, Meng Zitao didn¡¯t gain much, only a few ancient books from the late Qing Dynasty.  Although these ancient books were all engravings, the printing quality was good and the circulation was not large. These were related to the room for future appreciation. In addition, the price was not expensive, so he bought them.

    After visiting a few more stalls, Meng Zitao came to a stall specializing in selling various rubbings.

    Rubbings refer to pieces of paper that have the shapes of cultural relics such as inscriptions, stone carvings, bronzes, and the words and patterns on them.

    Although the art of rubbing may seem like a simple copying, in fact there is a lot of elaboration involved.

    For example, unearthed objects such as bronzes, coins, etc. will always have rust, which needs to be slowly removed with sharpened bamboo chopsticks or toothpicks.  During this period, the object itself cannot be damaged, which requires a certain amount of patience and skill.

    In addition, when spreading, it is also extremely important to grasp the dryness and humidity of the paper.  If the rice paper is too wet, the ink will be scattered; if the rice paper is too dry, the rice paper will not stick to the printing surface, which is not conducive to rubbing.

    There are other steps that require skills and cannot be done without a certain amount of experience.  Because of the high requirements, rubbing techniques are divided into two major factions: Southern and Northern, and the factions have branches.

    Because rubbings are a craft, and some of the physical objects that were rubbed have been damaged or lost over time, the transaction prices for some precious or good-quality rubbings in the auction market are not low.

    Meng Zitao remembers that at an auction in the spring and summer of this year, "Wang Xizhi Orchid Pavilion Preface to the Song Dynasty Rubbing" sold for more than 4 million yuan.

    Of course, such precious rubbings cannot exist at this kind of stall. Meng Zitao was thankful to be able to find a good quality rubbing from the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

     This stall is relatively large, and there are more buyers to choose from. The stall owner is haggling with buyers for a while, and greeting acquaintances for a while, and is very busy.

    Just as Meng Zitao squatted down and selected the rubbings on the stall, not far from him, an old man with gray hair and a childlike face asked: "Xiao Liu, why did you bring so many things here today?"

    The stall owner quickly said: "Mr. Jin, didn't I hear that the city will be rectified again next year, so I plan to clean up everything."

    "Oh, don't you plan to do this anymore?" the old man asked.

    The stall owner chuckled: "I've been in this business for seven or eight years, so how could I change my career? It's just that I've been busy all these years and haven't had a good rest. I plan to take a break after taking care of some things on hand."

    "This is what it should be. The body is the capital of revolution."

    The old man chuckled and took out the rubbings from a cardboard box on his right hand side and read it. After a while, he frowned slightly and changed another book to read it.  In this way, he took out seven or eight rubbings from the carton one after another, shook his head slightly, and turned to look at other things on the stall.

    After more than ten minutes, the old man selected several rubbings in his hand, paid the money, chatted for a few words, and left.

    At this time, Meng Zitao also had a few more rubbings in his hand, and one of them was a masterpiece from the Qing Dynasty. If nothing else, he should be able to pick up a small leak.

    Arriving at where the old man was standing just now, Meng Zitao took out a rubbing book from the carton with some curiosity. After a casual look, he understood why the old man frowned just now, because this rubbing book had been "touched".

    ¡°Having done something¡± is a standard jargon in this industry.  Antiques are damaged in the process of circulation, which will affect their selling point in serious cases, so people will repair them to make them look more complete.  When encountering such antiques, laymen would say that the items have been repaired, while insiders would say "hands on".

    This rubbing is like this. Maybe it was not well preserved at the beginning. There are watermarks, insect bites and other traces on the rubbing, so the original owner repaired it. However, the repairing technology was not very high and it looked very ugly.  Naturally, the quality is a bit poor.

    Meng Zitao took out several books one after another like the old man just now, but the results were the same. He had "hands on" each one, and the techniques were similar.  It's no wonder that the old man reacted like that just now.

    However, although these rubbings were all hand-made, the ones Meng Zitao looked at were from the Qing Dynasty and were packed in a cardboard box, which was more convenient.  So, Meng Zitao quickly activated his superpower. No matter how small a mosquito's legs are, they are nothing more than flesh.

    But what shocked Meng Zitao was that the aura from several rubbings was completely opposite to the other rubbings in the carton. He estimated that the combined value could be around four to five million.

    "No way, could it be that these few books are still missing treasures?"

    Meng Zitao was a little stunned. Then, he quickly came to his senses and started to pretend to look again.  Immediately, he knew why these rubbings were so precious.

    With an idea in mind, Meng Zitao asked: "Boss, what is the price of the rubbings in this box?"

    The stall owner turned his head, was slightly startled, and then said: "This little brother, the rubbings in that box are not just for sale."

    Meng Zitao was a little surprised: "Ah, why?"

    The stall owner smiled and said: "You must also know the quality of the things. If I sell them individually, who will I sell the rest to? But don't worry, if you sincerely want it, I will definitely not overprice you."

    Meng Zitao couldn¡¯t understand what the stall owner was thinking. Since these things are not in good condition, can¡¯t they sell one copy at a time?  Do you still want to sell them together to make them more expensive?  But in this case, I don¡¯t know how long it takes the year of the monkey and the month of the horse to be favored by others.  Maybe this is because the stall owner doesn't care.

    However, this is not a problem for Meng Zitao, and it can save him from showing his flaws. After pretending to ponder for a moment, he asked: "How much does it cost to make rubbings from this box?"

    Although the stall owner felt a little strange, he was very happy to be able to sell the items, so he smiled and pointed with his finger: "This is the number."

    Meng Zitao shook his head: "No, it's too expensive. The most I can afford is these"

    The two bargained for a while, and finally the box of more than 40 rubbings was sold for 5,300 yuan.

    After paying the money, Meng Zitao put back the ancient books he had selected and left.

    Some friends may want to ask, since the rubbings just selected were probably picked up and missed, why did Meng Zitao return them?  He did this on a whim. If he felt that he had eaten meat, he would let others drink the soup.

    Of course, the main reason is that the rubbing he just selected is only worth ten thousand yuan at most. If the value were higher, he probably wouldn't be able to part with it.

    With such a valuable thing in hand, it was impossible to go shopping in the market, so Meng Zitao took the thing and returned to the hotel.

    "Xiao Meng!"

    As soon as he walked into the hotel door, Meng Zitao heard someone calling him. When he looked in the direction of the sound, he found that it was Zhang Jingqiang (Remember the website address: www.hlnovel.com)Of course, the main reason is that the rubbing he just selected is only worth ten thousand yuan at most. If the value were higher, he probably wouldn't be able to part with it.

    With such a valuable thing in hand, it was impossible to go shopping in the market, so Meng Zitao took the thing and returned to the hotel.

    "Xiao Meng!"

    As soon as he walked into the hotel door, Meng Zitao heard someone calling him. When he looked in the direction of the sound, he found that it was Zhang Jingqiang (Remember the website address: www.hlnovel.com
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