Rebirth 1982 Be the stubborn master

Chapter 72 Ivory Silk Splitting Technique

I bought my favorite furniture from a trust store and sent it to the courtyard. I was directing people to put the things in the house when my mother came out from the yard.

Du Kang asked curiously, "Why are you here?"

"Let me take a look and plant some cabbage by the way, the season will be over if you don't plant any more.

Du Kang didn't know if cabbage could be grown now, but what he was more distressed about was his own flower bed.

Flower beds are not used to grow flowers, but you actually use them to grow cabbage.

This is a three-entry courtyard house, even in the entire Forty-Nine City, it is an extremely high-end type of high-end residence that everyone envies. As a result, the flower beds inside do not grow flowers, but cabbage.

Intuit down to earth.

Be careful to tell about the flowers you plan to plant, Liu Yun waved her hands nonchalantly, and said, "I know, so I planted them on bricks."

"Can vegetables be grown on bricks?"

"Of course, your mother and I used to grow vegetables in the courtyard, Chinese cabbage and the like can be grown in the cracks of bricks.

And they are grown very well, each Chinese cabbage is bigger than what others grow in the ground.

It was only later that some people were jealous and thought our house was taking up their space, so there was nothing wrong with it.

Great man, he had heard that someone could grow vegetables in the cracks of bricks before, but he didn't expect his mother to be such a great man.

Vegetables can even be grown in the cracks of bricks, and this kind of planting talent is also full.

Out of curiosity, I went to check with my mother, and found that there were traces of flipping in some brick cracks, which should be the vegetables my mother planted in it.

It's a pity that I don't know what the situation is. If it really works, I think of the scene of Chinese cabbage growing in the cracks of bricks.

Du Kang grinned happily. This is not only a vegetable, but also a beautiful scenery. Whoever saw it would not admire it!
I hope my mother is not bragging and can really grow cabbage in it.

After returning home, not long after, someone knocked on Du Kang's door. When he looked back, he was surprised to find that it was Lao Luo.

Du Kang enthusiastically greeted him: "Old Luo, why are you here?"

"Of course it's a good thing?"

"What a good thing is worth your trip."

Du Kang didn't believe that he would come to him for something good, if something good really happened, it would be fine for someone to call him, if he needed to come here.

"I heard from Director Zhang that you can make gold brick mirrors."

"Yes, what's the problem?"

Du Kang answered his question and waited for his answer.

Unexpectedly, he didn't wait for Lao Luo's answer. When he looked up, he had already ran to the gold brick mirror to look at it. He was lying on it with a magnifying glass, observing carefully, clicking his tongue and exclaiming from time to time.

You can just say that it’s not enough to look at this mirror, and you can also say that there is something good about it, and what are you doing with so many detours.

After checking for a long time, Mr. Luo came to his senses and exclaimed, "This is the gold brick. It's really well done. I didn't expect you to know this skill."

"It's okay, you have to learn more and practice more, and you will learn as much as you can."

Live and learn, you are saying that my life has been wasted.

But looking at the gold brick, he still admired it.

This is a craft that has been lost. I didn't expect the other party to know it. I really don't know where I learned it.

I wanted him to help make two, but I didn't know how to speak, so I hesitated for a while.

"Mr. Luo can say whatever he wants, whoever we two will follow."

"Then I'll tell you, it's actually nothing. The main reason is that your technique of grinding gold bricks into mirrors has been lost. Even in the Forbidden City, there is only one such mirror left. I wonder if you can help polish a few?"

"No problem, it's my honor for Mr. Luo to ask me for help."

Boss Luo was overjoyed, shook his hand and said, "That's great, you are really a role model for the people."

Du Kang couldn't laugh or cry, the hat was too high, he said with a smile, "Mr. Luo, please don't put a tall hat on me, it's no problem to make a gold brick mirror, but I also have requirements."

"You said, I will be satisfied if I can."

"I'm very interested in antique appraisal. I wonder if I can help appraise at the Forbidden City for a period of time to improve my antique appreciation ability. Of course, I don't need salary."

"You will identify?"

"That said, I am a talent in all categories, and I can identify all kinds of antiques."

"OK, no problem."

Luo Lao thought for a while, nodded and agreed, it would be fine to let him appraise for a period of time, if the ability is good, and there are antiques that are not sure whether they are authentic or not, you can ask him for help.

After the two discussed it properly, Mr. Luo was about to leave when he suddenly saw the ivory flower basket placed on the bogu shelf.

At first I just thought it looked like it, but when I looked closely, my eyes widened.

"Is your flower basket made of ivory?"

"Yes, I collected it from someone else's house, what do you think?"

Mr. Luo put on his white gloves, and slowly picked up the ivory flower basket with an almost devout attitude to examine it carefully.

It turned out to be real, made of real ivory.

The body of the basket is as thin as an eggshell, and the ivory is as thin as a hair.

Good thing, why didn't he come across it.

"Speaking of this ivory flower basket, I just remembered something. I wonder if Mr. Luo has a way to get ivory."

"What do you want ivory for?"

"Of course it is repaired. Although this ivory flower basket is good, it is an old object after all. It is damaged in some places. I just want to repair it."

Mr. Luo inspected it carefully, it was true, this exquisite ivory flower basket was damaged in several places.

Suddenly thinking of a possibility, Mr. Luo stared wide-eyed, a little unbelievable, but still stammered, "You, will you repair this flower basket?"

"It's just a flower basket, so why not be surprised."

Luo Lao was unable to complain, what you said is really light, what is so surprising, it is another technology that has been lost.

The flower baskets are made of ivory, and it seems that they only need to be filled with ivory, but it is not so easy.

When he saw the ivory flower basket, he didn't even need to identify it, he already knew that it had a history of at least two or three hundred years.

Because this technology has been lost for two to three hundred years, no one can make it, and it is impossible to repair it. Without the technology of splitting ivory, it is impossible to have ivory silk. How to repair it.

But now Du Kang actually vowed that he would repair it.

Luo Lao thought about it in his mind for a moment, making sheep horn lamps, polishing gold bricks, and splitting ivory. Only he knows three techniques that have been lost.

And he is also a master carpenter, and he is good at painting and other techniques. I really don't know how many techniques he doesn't know about in his hands.

This kind of person has to establish a good relationship. If there is any technical problem in the future, you can ask him to solve it.

Just like now, he suddenly remembered that the antique ivory mats collected in the Forbidden City had been damaged due to poor preservation.

They also thought of a way to restore it, but the technology that has been lost for two to three hundred years has resulted in no one knowing how to make ivory silk and how to repair it.

Now that Du Kang knows this technique, can I ask him for help?

Luo Lao unconsciously showed a flattering smile on his face: "What do you think about our relationship?"

"Old Luo, you are my elder. If you have something to say, you don't need to do this."

"It's nothing. The main reason is that there is an ivory mat in the Forbidden City. It is a little damaged. I wonder if you can help repair it?"

"It's no problem to repair it, but do you have the materials? This one uses ivory."

Luo Lao's face froze, and he realized why he didn't think of this question.

Why was this technology lost back then?Because it costs too much!

Ivory splitting looks simple, but in fact it is very difficult. The production is extremely cumbersome, the technology is difficult to master, and the most important thing is that it consumes too much material.

Ivory is textured, and it is not easy to break if the ivory is split into strips along the direction of the texture of the ivory.

This processing method is very expensive. Taking the production of ivory chopsticks as an example, the utilization rate of the ivory material is only 40% to 60% because the ivory material needs to be sawed into plates, then sawed into strips, trimmed, and smoothed.

If the ivory material is split into strips and then into filaments, the utilization rate of the ivory material is less than 10%.

Emperor Yongzheng once asked Annan's envoy about the cost of manufacturing ivory mats.The envoy replied that it took hundreds of elephants to complete an ivory mat, which shocked Emperor Yongzheng.

So it was decreed: "Let the governor of Guangdong, if the craftsmen in Guangdong do this, they will not be allowed to make it again. Guangdong ivory mats are prohibited, and private purchases are prohibited."

Since then, the technology of ivory splitting has been lost.

The feudal society paid attention to the family and the world, and collected the world's things for one person, but even so, Yongzheng was shocked by the consumption of ivory mats and ordered it to be banned.

How he bears.

Even though it is just a small ivory mat, at least a dozen pieces of ivory are needed to repair the materials. If even some lightly worn places are repaired, dozens of pieces may not be enough.

(End of this chapter)