Inherit For Three Thousand Years

How could a selfish person like Yasuda Yoshiaki donate such a precious national treasure to China, only from the fact that he hid the sheep's head and emerald watermelon strictly, and did not leak any news, he knew him There is no intention to donate to outsiders at all.

If it wasn't for Xiao Yao to be forced to do so, let alone donating to the outside world, he would not even show this precious national treasure to others.

Under the leadership of Yoshiaki Yasuda, everyone quickly walked into the small treasure room where the Yasuda family collected precious antiques and cultural relics.

This small treasure room is about 30 square meters, and there are about fifty or sixty pieces of antique art from the East and the West on the Bogu shelf in the room.

Because Yasuda Yoshiaki had been explaining his collection of goat heads and emerald watermelons on the road, after walking into the treasure room, Xiao Yao's first goal was these two national treasures.

He walked a few steps forward and came to the Bogu rack where the sheep's head was placed. He wanted to put on a pair of white gloves and began to appreciate it carefully.

Xiao Yao has donated chicken heads and snake heads to the Old Museum. With his identification knowledge coupled with his unique identification ability, it is easy to distinguish the true and false head of this sheep.

There is no doubt that this sheep head collected by the Yasuda family is indeed authentic!

"Mr. Xiao likes collecting so much, he must be the appraisal of antique cultural relics. Do you think this sheep head in my collection is not a fake? I don't know much about antique appraisal. I haven't found someone to appraise this sheep head. Now suddenly I feel a little nervous, and I really can’t guarantee that this goat’s head is the authentic one."

Yoshiaki Yasuda's words are not lie, he is really a little nervous at this moment.

In the past, their family didn't pay much attention to this goat head, so naturally they didn't find an expert for appraisal. Later, I learned that this sheep's head was a national treasure, and worried that the news would be leaked. Yoshiaki Yasuda has never looked for someone for identification.

In case this sheep head is identified as a fake by Xiao Yao, if he thinks that he is making fake and real little actions again, then he will be done.

"It is indeed genuine. Since this is a national treasure of our country, then I am not welcome. I will definitely keep this one."

Hearing Xiao Yao's words, Yasuda Yoshiaki finally heaved a sigh of relief, and said quickly: "You don't need to be polite, let's not say everything, as long as you fancy things are given priority to you."

After a pause, Yasuda Yoshiaki asked euphemistically: "I don’t know if Mr. Xiao likes the antique art of our island? Our Yasuda family collects these collections, of which two Chengdu are the antique cultural relics of our island, and they are national treasures. There are also a few of them. If Mr. Xiao doesn’t like it very much, I wonder if these national treasures of our island can be kept for me?"

"Yes, unless I personally like it very much, I can keep it for you." Xiao Yao agreed very happily.

Xiao Yao rarely likes the antique works of Ridao. He is a high-sighted and critical person. In the eyes of Yoshiaki Yasuda, the extremely precious National Treasure of Japan Island, he may not really appreciate it.

Although Xiao Yao could disregard Yasuda's feelings and swept all of the Yasuda family's collections without any problem, it is okay to make some concessions on the small issues that Yoshiaki Yasuda is extremely indifferent to him personally.

Because Xiao Yao actually presented the snake head and chicken head in the twelve zodiac animal heads in Yuanmingyuan. He has a deep understanding of the animal heads of the twelve zodiac signs. Although it is the first time to see this goat head, it is because of the head of the goat. Artistic achievement is not high, he just appraised the authenticity, and after the appraisal, he did not spend too much time appreciating.

He went on to the Bogu shelf where the emerald watermelon was placed, his eyes showed appreciation, and he carefully appreciated it.

The emerald watermelon is too famous. If it is indeed one of the two emerald watermelons cherished by Cixi in the Old Summer Palace, it is a national treasure comparable to the emerald cabbage in the Taiwan *Gu* Museum.

When people chat about Pei Cui, they always mention the jade watermelon, saying that it is the skin of the jade, the flesh of the jade, the black seed, etc., all of which are considered to be naturally occurring. This is also recorded in books. For example, Li Boyuan’s "Nanting Notes": "Zhongxiang broke Nanjing. Yu Tianwang's Mansion... got an emerald watermelon, bigger than Castanopsis fargesii, with a crack. Black spots are like seeds and red matter is like flesh. Langrun is bright, and it's almost a match. The person who knows said: "This Yuanming Garden is also."

If this record is true, it means that one of the two jade watermelons was contributed by Zeng Guofan.

Liu Yusheng's "Miscellaneous Memories of the Shizaitang ● Qing Mausoleum was Robbed": "Yu drank in Hankou at the home of a certain army chief in the same town, Xi Cidan and Sun Dianying unearthed the Qing Dynasty tomb... At that time, the coffin cover was opened, and the coffin was full of light. Everyone held a large flashlight, and everyone was shocked by the light.... Xiaguang all came out of the jewels hidden in the coffin. First, the four watermelons placed in the four corners of the coffin were taken out. The melons were all green and jade skins. Purple Class 5, cut in the middle, black melon seeds, and glow from the cut..."

There is also the "Antique Guide" quoted in "Notes of Aiyuexuan": "The treasures of the death of the Empress Dowager Cixi are: ... one emerald watermelon on the left and right sides of the foot, green peel, red flesh, white, black silk, estimated at 500 Ten thousand two. Four emerald melons, belonging to two white skins, yellow seeds, pink flesh, two green skins, white seeds, and yellow flesh, estimated at 6 million taels...."

There are many legends about these two emerald watermelons. Some say that the emerald watermelon is naturally generated in Kunlun Mountains, and that it was accidentally obtained by Cixi from the tourmaline purchased in large quantities in the United States. It is also said that it was a tribute from Fanbang. It's only the proceeds of Zeng Guofan's attack on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

There are too many related legends, and the records are too messy, so far it is difficult to distinguish between true and false.

However, it is true that Cixi loved these two emerald watermelons before his death. After his death, he put them in the Qing Dong Tomb for funeral and put them under his head.

There is a mysterious legend about this pair of emerald watermelons.

One year, the emerald watermelon that was placed in the Duobao Pavilion of Le Shou Tang suddenly disappeared mysteriously. Cixi was furious and severely tortured the young eunuchs in charge of guarding them, but without any results, they had to increase the guard posts and strictly interrogate them. After retrieving these two emerald watermelons, Cixi was almost desperate.

Later, a king and old way in the city attracted the attention of the government.

Because his clothes are covered with patches, he is obviously shy in his pocket, but he always holds a bag of copper coins ingots to help the poor, which is abnormal.

The officials tried to catch him many times, but they were always a step late and never caught anyone.

Soon, someone accidentally picked up the pair of emerald watermelons from the dung pit and returned it to the government. Cixi was overjoyed and rewarded the dung-digger, who later became a well-known rich man in his residence.

Although the pair of emerald watermelons were found back, the mysterious thief never caught them.

Later, a mason in Jingmingyuan went to repair the Yufeng Pagoda and found a tattered old Taoist sleeping in the tower. This aroused the suspicion of the bricklayer, and he quickly reported to his superiors. However, it was still a step too late. By the time the officers and soldiers came to apprehend him, the old Dao had already disappeared.

But I saw a few lines of poems just written in blood on the wall of the tower: I took the red gold ingot, and I took the emerald watermelon. If you ask where do we live? Spring and Autumn on Yufeng Pagoda.

The signature is "Wang Lao Dao".

Empress Dowager Cixi hated this Wang Lao Dao deeply and ordered the whole country to apprehend it, but no trace of Wang Lao Dao was found again. This matter will not be over.

Of course, the legend is a legend after all. Later, the warlord Sun Dianying exploded the Qing Dongling Pirate Treasure. After the pair of emerald watermelons were stolen and dug out, their whereabouts were unknown, and there was no news ever since.

Now that he saw the emerald watermelon, Xiao Yao couldn’t tell whether the emerald watermelon in front of him was one of the two emerald watermelons in Yuanmingyuan that were beloved by Cixi, but even if it wasn’t, the emerald watermelon in front of him was definitely. The treasure of the country.

The jade watermelon in front of me is larger than castanopsis. The emerald material is oval, with an oblique cut on the side of the melon. The red melon flesh and black melon seeds are lifelike. They don't look like artificial carvings at all. Distinguish, you will definitely think that what is placed in front of you is a big watermelon with a small cut.

The preciousness of this jade watermelon lies in the word "realistic". It was originally just ordinary jade material, but after the craftsman’s skillful hand carving, the finished product is wonderfully crafted, taking all the advantages and disadvantages of this piece of jade material. With clever use, this is a masterpiece.

The material for carving this jade watermelon, that is, the small piece of red jade with a small mouth, has a good texture, reaching the level of high ice. However, under the inspection of Xiao Yao's spiritual sense, the entire jade watermelon only had this small piece of red jade, and the opening was slightly larger, and it was not perfect.

I don't know if the carving craftsman is a coincidence, or he really has the ability to accurately determine the location of this small piece of red jade. In short, the result is perfect.

The jade watermelon in front of me is so realistic, and the overall materials are naturally not much better. Otherwise, the materials are precious, but lifelikeness is difficult to achieve.

There is a kind of emerald material called "melon peel green", which is translucent or opaque, and the green is cyan. The material for carving this jade watermelon is so common.

But the ordinary contains the extraordinary. First of all, the size of this material is just right to carve a watermelon.

If you want to carve an emerald watermelon, you can't just imagine it out of thin air. You must have suitable materials. Otherwise, no matter how high your skill is, it is impossible to carve a jade watermelon.

It is not easy to find large pieces of jade material suitable for carving watermelon. It also requires skin and rules. What is more rare is that there are red flesh and black seeds after opening the mouth. This is completely luck. I want to find the second one. A piece of material may be a little bit more possible, but if you want to be so realistic, it is almost impossible.

From this, Xiao Yao can almost conclude that if this jade watermelon is indeed the one in the Old Summer Palace, then the other jade watermelon is definitely very different from this one, and it is even possible that it is not made of jade.

If there is evidence that the jade watermelon in front of you is indeed the one in the Old Summer Palace, then the value of this jade watermelon is really incalculable, at least not lower than the jade cabbage in the Taiwan *Gu* Museum.

Such a realistic jade watermelon, even if it is a new product that has just been carved out, is also an invaluable treasure, with the lowest value of tens of millions of dollars.

Yoshiaki Yasuda saw Xiao Yaozai carefully appreciating it for a quarter of an hour, and knew that Xiao Yao must have liked this emerald watermelon very much, and said: "The detailed list of the transaction between my father and that British nobleman was still there, this time. For the donation, our Yasuda family will also issue a detailed list and explanation to prove the authenticity of this jade watermelon. With these, it should be more convincing."

"You are interested, then prepare to be more detailed as you want." If you want to prove that the jade watermelon in front of you is indeed the one in the Old Summer Palace, and you really need these materials, Xiao Yao certainly won't refuse.

After appreciating the sheep head and emerald watermelon specially introduced by Yoshiaki Yasuda, Xiao Yao then began to appreciate all the treasures in the treasure room in order.

This small treasure room contains the most precious antique figures collected by the Yasuda family over the past century, and each one is called a national treasure.

Of course, these national treasures do not belong to one country. There are antiques and cultural relics from all over the world. Among them, there are about 10 pieces of national treasure-class antique cultural relics on the island of Japan, and about 20 pieces of western national treasure-class artworks. The number of antique cultural relics from China is the largest, roughly 30 pieces, which account for almost all the collections in this treasure room. Half of it.