Chapter 34: The Two-Hundred-Yuan Xuande Furnace Flew into the Warehouse

  Zhang Jun's expression remained unchanged as he walked forward to examine it closely. Under his scrutiny, he discovered that the iron incense burner was hollow inside, wrapping around a copper incense burner, with the gap between them filled with stearin.

  "Lighting it is extremely difficult to make, the manufacturer must have spent a lot of effort." Zhang Jun thought, "So even if what's inside isn't a Xuande stove, it should still be worth some money, right?"

  Thinking of this, he pointed at the iron incense burner and asked: "Boss, how much does this cost per kilogram?"

  The boss almost vomited blood when he heard this and shouted: "I say big brother, are you buying Chinese cabbage? This is the real deal!"

  "Alright, boss. Let's not beat around the bush. I need a censer at home. Give me a price. But let me warn you, if you quote too high, I'll turn around and leave. I can always buy a stone censer that serves the same purpose."

  When he met Zhang Jun, the boss secretly called him unlucky. However, this iron incense burner had been in his hands for more than half a year. At first, it was collected from the countryside for 100 yuan and couldn't be sold out.

  "After some thought, the boss said: 'Brother, how about 500 yuan?'"

  Zhang Jun turned around and walked away, with his boss hastily shouting behind him: "Brother, stop! Four hundred!"

  "Two hundred yuan, take it or leave it."

  The boss gritted his teeth and thought to himself, "Well, I've made a hundred bucks anyway, forget it," and decided to sell it to him. Thinking this way, he let out a sigh of resignation and said, "Alright, two hundred it is then, consider it a discount for not having opened the market today."

  Zhang Jun smiled and handed over 200 dollars, then picked up the iron incense burner and ran to Professor Guo, saying: "Professor Guo, I bought a treasure."

  Professor Guo was looking at something and turned his head to take a glance, then laughed and asked: "How much did you buy it for?"

  "Two hundred."

  Professor Guo nodded: "Not bad, now the price of steel is rising, and it will be able to break even in a few years."

  Everyone around burst out laughing, and Zhang Jun also followed with a "heh heh" laugh.

  Professor Guo was obviously joking just now, and then said seriously: "Xiao Zhang, it's normal to get hit in the eye on this street, but you have to learn from your mistakes and become more alert."

  Zhang Jun hastily nodded and said: "Professor Guo, I'd like to ask a question. How much does the Xuande stove cost?"

  Guo Lan also came over at this time, heard his question, shook her head and sighed, deliberately saying: "Vulgar, really vulgar, you ask like this, how can an archaeologist bear it?"

  Professor Guo glared at his daughter and said to Zhang Jun, "The authentic Xuande stove is very rare, with only a few pieces existing in the world. The production is exquisite and grand, and Emperor Xuande only made 3,000 pieces. Nowadays, only a few pieces in the Palace Museum and two pieces in the British Museum are considered authentic by some people, while the rest have unclear origins."

  "Xuande stoves have had imitations since the Ming and Qing dynasties, with many in number. Even if they are imitations, not a few can be worth 700,000 to 800,000 yuan. Later imitations were even more numerous, from the Republic of China period, modern times, all sorts of them. If you go out and take a look, almost every antique shop has several Xuande stoves on display, but they are actually all imitations."

  "As for a real Xuande furnace, it's a priceless treasure and a national heavy vessel, no one would sell it." Professor Guo said, "Moreover, even if someone takes out a genuine Xuande three-year-old incense burner, there is no one in the world who can determine its authenticity."

  Zhang Junyi was shocked and said, "What? So you're saying that the authenticity of the Xuande stove can't be determined at all?" He had been thinking of making a fortune by selling the object in his possession, but he didn't expect it to turn out like this.

  Professor Guo looked at Zhang Jun with a hint of a smile and said, "What's this? Judging from your appearance, you seem to have the real Xuande stove in your hands?"

  The latter sneered and naturally wouldn't say it out loud in such a public setting.

  Professor Guo then went on to explain the details, saying: "In the Ming dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong ordered the creation of incense burners. The imperial craftsmen were instructed to refer to the styles of famous ceramics such as Chai kiln, Ru kiln, Guan kiln, Ge kiln, Jun kiln and Ding kiln in the palace collection, as well as historical records like 'Examination of Antiquities', to design and manufacture a batch of incense burners."

  "To ensure the quality of incense burners, craftsmen selected dozens of precious metals such as gold and silver, which were carefully smelted with red copper more than a dozen times. The finished copper incense burner has a crystal clear and warm color, it is a treasure among handicrafts, so that in a long period of history, Xuande furnace became the generic term for copper incense burners."

  However, only 3,000 incense burners were cast in Xuande three years, and there was no production afterwards. They were all hidden deep within the Forbidden City, and ordinary people only knew their names but not their shapes. Now, after hundreds of years of wind and rain, the genuine copper incense burners cast in Xuande three years are extremely rare.

  "In order to reap huge profits, from the Xuande period of the Ming dynasty to the Republic of China era, antique dealers' activities of replicating Xuande furnaces have never stopped. Even after the production of Xuande furnaces was discontinued, some officials who were originally in charge of casting copper incense burners gathered the original craftsmen and replicated them according to the drawings and technical procedures of Xuande furnaces. These carefully crafted replicas are comparable to genuine ones, and even experts cannot distinguish between them. Until now, many Xuande furnaces collected in major museums across the country have not been recognized as authentic by many appraisers. Distinguishing real from fake Xuande furnaces has become one of the unsolved cases in China's archaeological community."

  Zhang Jun heard this and sighed: "In that case, even if it were truly from the third year of Xuande's reign, it might not have sold for a high price."

  Professor Guo said, "That's also uncertain. Some counterfeit products are finely crafted and occasionally can be sold at sky-high prices. A while ago, a Xuande stove was sold in Hong Kong for 280 million yuan."

  Zhang Jun nodded and stopped talking. If it was just 28 million, he wouldn't be in a hurry to take out the item in his pocket. After all, it might be a real Xuande three-year copper incense burner.

  When Mr. Guo finally bought a copper mirror, Zhang Jun stepped forward and said in a low voice: "Mr. Guo, let's go home, I have something to tell you."

  He looked at him mysteriously, Professor Guo was curious in his heart, but he restrained himself and didn't ask, nodding: "Okay, let's go back."

  As soon as they got on the bus, Guo Lan asked first, her face full of suspicion: "Zhang Jun, we just arrived, why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

  Zhang Jun's face turned serious, and he said, "Can't say, you'll know when you get home." His expression made even Professor Guo dare not ask any more questions, but the doubts in his mind grew thicker.

  Finally back home, Guo Lan hurriedly said: "Zhang Jun, you can speak now, right? Did you find a treasure?"

  Professor Guo also had an expectant look on his face and stared at Zhang Jun, "Little Zhang, judging from your appearance, you must have found something good, right?"

  Zhang Jun smiled and said: "Actually, it's not a good thing, because even if this thing is real, it may not be sold at a good price."

  Professor Guo was taken aback: "You're referring to the Xuande stove?" He was a clever man and recalled that Zhang Jun had previously inquired about the Xuande stove, so he immediately guessed.

  Zhang Jun nodded, put down the iron incense burner in his arms, and said seriously: "It's this one."

  "Pffft!"

  Kuo Lan almost spat out the tea she had just drunk, then pointed at Zhang Jun and burst into laughter: "Zhang Jun, I didn't expect you to be so humorous, you're killing me!"

  Seeing this nearly ugly iron incense burner, ordinary people would think Zhang Jun was joking. Professor Guo was stunned for a moment and also shook his head with a smile, saying: "You kid, you even fooled an old man like me."

  Zhang Jun "heh heh" laughed and didn't argue a word, saying: "Professor Guo, do you have any tools at home that can cut through steel?"

  The father and daughter had just thought Zhang Jun was joking, but now that he's brought it up again, their curiosity is piqued. Professor Guo leads Zhang Jun into his workshop, pointing to a cutting machine: "This thing is what I normally use to cut ceramics, it can also cut steel without any problem, Zhang Jun, what do you want to do?"

  Zhang Jun walked over and tried out the machine, quickly becoming familiar with its operation. He then placed the iron incense burner on it and secured it in place before turning on the power and starting to cut it.

  As they watched this scene, Guo Lan and her father both widened their eyes, vaguely thinking of something in their hearts, and a hint of expectation gradually appeared on their faces. When Zhang Jun was about to cut off the iron plate, the two people were so tense that they didn't even dare to breathe.

  "Ding!"

  A hollow furnace ear fell to the ground, and the stone wax filling its hollow part melted due to the heat generated by cutting.

  "Wax?" Professor Guo's eyebrows twitched, his face changed color, and he exclaimed, "Inside, it must also be an incense burner. This is the master's treasure-hiding technique. Little Zhang, you might have really picked up a treasure!"

  Zhang Jun smiled but didn't speak, continuing to cut. Under his transparent gaze, the cutting was extremely precise, without hurting the copper incense burner inside at all. About half an hour later, a copper incense burner wrapped in stone wax appeared before several people.

  Professor Guo hastily took over the incense burner, using tools to scrape off most of the old surface wax, then found a bucket of gasoline and put the copper incense burner in it to dissolve the wax. Later, he also used several solvents to clean them one by one, and finally wiped them with soft cotton and fine silk.

  Soon, a bronze incense burner with a simple and elegant appearance, yellow with a hint of red, and a warm glaze appeared before the crowd. Its exterior was cast with extremely delicate patterns, without any rust, shining brightly.

  Upon seeing the bronze incense burner, Professor Guo was completely enchanted and muttered to himself: "Such a fine piece, even if it's not an imperial work from Xuande year three, it must be a reproduction by official craftsmen of the Ming dynasty - it's too perfect!"

  Guo Lan also gazed at the incense burner and couldn't help but say: "I didn't expect an incense burner to be so beautiful."

  Professor Guo turned to Zhang Jun and said: "Xiao Zhang, thank you for showing us such a valuable thing."

  Zhang Jun smiled and said: "Professor Guo is too polite, I don't know whether it's true or false, so I'd like to ask you to take a look."

  Professor Guo said, "To be honest, I have never seen a real Xuande three-year copper incense burner before, so I can't judge it. How about this? If you trust me, I will invite several experts who are proficient in bronze identification to come and evaluate it together."

  When he spoke, his face was tense, afraid that Zhang Jun would not agree. For an old archaeological worker, being able to see and study the relics of the past is the happiest moment in their life.

  Zhang Jun nodded without hesitation: "Of course, let's put the things here with Professor Guo for now, and tell me when there's a result."