Chapter 61: Entering the Jar (Middle)

  "Ma brothers, you first drink a mouthful of tea, I have here Hong Kong friends brought magazines, do you want to take a look?"

  Nie Tianbao put the jade pendant on the tea table, first poured a cup of tea for "Ma Zibian", then opened the safe in the store and took out several magazines.

  "Hey, are those dragon, tiger and leopard? Old Nie, you actually managed to bring them out? The last time I brought some, they were all confiscated by customs."

  "Ma Zi Bian" saw those few magazines, his eyes lit up instantly, and he snatched the magazines into his hands, saying: "Old Nie, you have to send these to me later, you can take your time looking at that jade!"

  "No problem, as long as Ma Ge likes it." Nian Tianbao heard this and smiled, finally finding something that suited the kid's temperament. Now he shouldn't be yelling about wanting to leave anymore, right?

  "Old Zhao, come and take a look at this."

  He fiddled with it in his hand for a while, then handed it over to Zhao Zhanggui who had been waiting by his side all along, and said in a low voice: "I think this thing is the legendary Emperor Green?"

  Nie Tianbao had not been in contact with jade for a long time, and the saying of imperial green was still heard from fellow villagers along the coast and in Yunnan Province. However, even those fellow villagers rarely saw imperial green jade, and he was also unsure whether this thing was true or false.

  "Yes, it's indeed jadeite, with a bright green transparent color, and just like the earrings, they can both reach imperial green, and the two seem to be made from the same piece of material."

  Zhao took a high-powered magnifying glass and placed the Maitreya Buddha pendant under a strong light to examine it for a long time before lowering his voice and saying, "There are no air bubbles inside this thing, it should be genuine. Boss, I think we can buy it!"

  "What's the price?" Nie Tianbao sneaked a glance at "Ma Zibian" who was looking at the dragon and leopard, and said: "This kid is a rookie, he doesn't know much, let's take advantage of him."

  "Boss, if this is really an item from Empress Dowager Cixi's collection... then the price will be off the charts! It'll be worth at least over 10 million!"

  Zhao's voice trembled as he spoke, although he wasn't from a family of jade players, Cixi had loved jade all her life and anyone in the collecting world knew that.

  The most famous piece in Cixi's collection is naturally that jadeite cabbage.

  However, Zhao knew that in those years, officials from all over the country, in order to please Cixi, almost every year presented a large number of top-quality jadeite as tribute to the imperial court. Cixi's collection of jadeite was countless.

  Some of Cixi's collection was buried with her, like the jadeite cabbage, which eventually fell into the hands of warlord Sun Dianying, known as the "Big Thief of the Eastern Mausoleum".

  There is also a portion of the jade collection that was given away by the young Emperor Puyi to the palace guards and maids, and due to the chaos in the imperial palace at the time, those guards also stole some things from inside, and they all disappeared.

  Judging from the craftsmanship of this Maitreya Buddha pendant and that pair of earrings, it is absolutely a masterpiece, with thick glaze and a sense of ancient history. It should be no doubt from Cixi's collection.

  "Ten million?"

  Upon hearing Zhao's words, Nie Tianbao hastily glanced at "Ma Zi Bian" and found him engrossed in watching the dragon and tiger leopard, only then did he put his mind at ease, speaking in a low voice: "Old Zhao, can you be certain?"

  Zhao nodded and said, "Boss, this emperor green fabric is something that even people who specialize in jade business may not see in their lifetime. Add to that the fact that it was used by Empress Dowager Cixi, I'd say one hundred million is still too low."

  Although jadeite is not very expensive in the market now, that refers to ordinary jadeite ornaments. Like imperial green jadeite, it's already a top-grade gemstone.

  According to Zhao's words, even if this pair of earrings and Buddha pendant can't be sold domestically, they will definitely be bought by someone when taken to Hong Kong or other places!

  "One million, damn it, otherwise I'll make him bankrupt?"

  Nie Tianbao's eyes flashed with a hint of severity, although he publicly claimed to be worth hundreds of millions, in reality Nie Tianbao only had around 30-40 million, the rest of the money was invested by various parties and was just under his name.

  Moreover, even if there are three or four hundred million, most of them are fixed assets. Nie Tianbao brought several tens of millions to Myanmar the other day, and some of it was still borrowed from the bank.

  So after hearing the price of this thing, Nie Tianbao really moved to kill him, get rid of this stinky boy and throw him into the new mine field, no one will find out.

  "This won't do, boss..."

  Although Zhao was also a cunning merchant, he was not as ruthless as Nie Tianbao. After hearing his words, he couldn't help but jump in fright and said: "I think the string of pearls on his hand should be made of top-grade small leaf sandalwood, with a thick coating, at least fifty years old or more, it's not something that ordinary people can wear, I'm afraid he really is a yellow belt!"

  "Lao Zhao, what's a yellow belt?" Just now, I heard the word "yellow belt" from Ma Zi Bian's mouth, but Nie Tianbao didn't quite understand what a yellow belt was.

  "It was a member of the imperial family of the Qing dynasty, I think this kid is someone with a background, and I also know about the Minxue incident he mentioned..." Nie Tianbao may be a half-hearted antique dealer, but Zhao Zhanggui is different, he knows all about the Qing dynasty's anecdotes.

  What is called Huang Dizi is actually another name for the Qing imperial family. In the first year of Chongde in the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Qing dynasty, it was stipulated that all princes and nobles below would wear a golden yellow belt to show their identity, so they were called Huang Dizi.

  The Yellow Scarves were the backbone of the Qing dynasty, from Nurhaci's unification of the Manchu tribes to Hong Taiji's establishment of the Qing, and Dorgon's protection of his younger brother and nephew into the Central Plains, the Yellow Scarves played a crucial role.

  Thus, the yellow princes of the early Qing were the four pillars and eight beams of the Qing dynasty, enjoying various political privileges and generous treatment. Taking the princes as an example, in addition to receiving 10,000 taels of silver and 5,000 shi of rice every year, they also received 50,000-60,000 mu of land and 250 households of serfs.

  When the Qing dynasty first entered the pass, there were only a few hundred Huang Bendi, but after several generations of prosperity during the Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties, by the Jiaqing period, the number of Huang Bendi had grown to tens of thousands.

  As the saying goes, idle people are prone to trouble and create unnecessary problems. If these idle people were just ordinary individuals, they would be governed by law and wouldn't be able to cause much trouble. However, it's precisely those with royal blood flowing through their veins, the yellow-clad princes, who have too much time on their hands and are prone to causing trouble, which is a big problem.

  At that time, it was common to see these idle young men with yellow belts on the streets of Beijing. They would either hold bird cages or have a fierce eagle perched on their shoulders, followed by a group of rough-looking servants, shouting and rushing about in the streets.

  The Qing court stipulated that the Huangdaizi's murder was not punishable by death, and even if they broke the law, they could only be handed over to the Imperial Household Department - Zongrenfu for handling. Tens of thousands of unruly Huangdaizi, plus many fake Huangdaizi who took advantage of the chaos, made the capital city a hubbub of evil spirits and ghosts wailing.

  As for the "Minxue Incident", it occurred during the Jiaqing period.

  In the 13th year of Jiaqing, there was a yellow belt named Minxue who had drunk some wine and had just finished shaving his head at the barber shop. As he walked out, he suddenly saw a vendor selling roasted sweet potatoes on the street.

  He looked up at the scorching sun and wondered, on such a hot day, how could there still be roasted sweet potato vendors? Nine out of ten were fake, this was the capital city, something had to be done about it!

  Then, Minxue walked to the front of the pumpkin oven and asked, "Is this pumpkin real or fake?" The person roasting the pumpkin looked up and said irritably, "What's fake about a pumpkin?" Minxue said, "I think your pumpkin is fake. Give me one to take a look."

  Kao De Guan handed over a roasted sweet potato after glancing at Min Xueyi.

  Minxue took a bite of the pumpkin and said, "It's really not good stuff! It tastes like pickled radish, it's disgusting!" After finishing speaking, he turned around and wanted to leave.

  The vendor of roasted sweet potatoes was furious, grabbing Minxue's arm and saying, "You're just looking for trouble, you pay me for my sweet potatoes!"

  Min Xuesu was used to being lawless and domineering, and when he came out to get a haircut, he only brought one servant. The two of them seized the roasted sweet potato seller and beat him savagely, beating him until his head and face were covered in blood, kneeling on the ground and repeatedly begging for mercy.

  Min Xue had just started to take action, someone went to report to the official, and the soldiers from the infantry commander's gate rushed over, subdued Min Xue, and put handcuffs on him. Min Xue was furious, and after drinking wine, he forgot that he didn't wear that yellow belt, and thought that the infantry commander's gate was deliberately trying to make things difficult for him, so he started scolding loudly.

  Min Xue was pushed and pulled to the police station (equivalent to today's public security sub-bureau), and the housekeeper saw that things were not going well, so he ran back to the mansion to call for help. In a short time, more than a dozen housekeepers carrying knives and sticks arrived at the police station where Min Xue was being held.

  Min Xue saw someone coming, jumped up and ordered the housekeeper to severely beat the soldiers guarding the warehouse, also smashing the windows of the warehouse and knocking over the weapon rack.

  This incident occurred in the downtown area, with many onlookers. The infantry commander was humiliated and felt ashamed, so he immediately filed a complaint against Min Xue directly to Emperor Jiaqing.

  The Jiaqing Emperor was furious upon receiving the report. Since his accession to the throne, he had been constantly receiving reports of Huang's followers gathering in crowds, killing and injuring people, and acting lawlessly.

  The Jiaqing Emperor decided to take drastic measures against Minxue, to eradicate the evil influence that had already affected the national body. He subsequently issued a severe edict, expelling Minxue from the imperial clan, and ordered him to be flogged 40 times in front of the palace gate, then banished to Shengjing, where he was placed under strict supervision, never to be allowed to return to the capital again.

  Then, the Jiaqing Emperor ordered the Imperial Clan Court to report the yellow sash holders with improper behavior, including Xiangeng, totaling 70 households, and they were all exiled to Shengjing thousands of miles away.

  "Damn it, this kid's unreasonable behavior is inherited from his ancestors!"

  After listening to Zhao's words, Nie Tianbao was crying and laughing, originally feeling that this "horse edge" was already quite arrogant, but unexpectedly his ancestors were even more lawless.

  PS: Second update, seeking collection, seeking recommendation votes!