Chapter 71

A small-sized wreck lay quietly on the seabed not far ahead.

This ship had no idea how many years it had spent here. The rotten hull was entangled with seaweed and unknown marine creatures.

As soon as he swam into the hull, the first thing he saw was a musket. Although it was in tatters due to the erosion of seawater, it could still be identified as a flintlock breechloader. From this gun, the ship was at least two hundred years old.

Hopefully, this one won't be as fruitless as the previous one.

A broken porcelain bowl appeared in front of Xiaohai.

Picking it up, although Xiaohai was a layman in porcelain, he could tell from its appearance and craftsmanship that it was quite valuable. Unfortunately, a third of the bowl was cracked, probably due to the shipwreck.

Since he could find one, there must be more inside, which greatly boosted Xiaohai's confidence.

Swimming into a cabin, he found it was full of porcelain. Some were broken like the bowl outside, while others were still intact. Moreover, Xiaohai even discovered some silk and broken wooden pieces pressed by stones and iron objects.

The musket, porcelain, silk... A scene gradually formed in Xiaohai's mind:

A foreign merchant ship, fully loaded with Chinese porcelain, silk, and perhaps tea, set sail from a port, intending to return to Britain or America. However, when it reached this sea area, the ship sank very quickly, leaving no time for the crew to save themselves.

When the ship sank to the seabed, the wooden boxes containing the cargo broke, and the contents were damaged by the impact. However, a small part of them survived intact.

Thus, these treasures lay on the seabed until Xiaohai appeared.

Xiaohai carefully searched and gathered the intact porcelains together. Unfortunately, he couldn't take them all out at once. Anyway, no one could come to this place.

He left a pair of porcelains and carefully stored the rest in a safe place in the wreck, planning to transport them out later.

After doing this, he inspected the area again and found nothing else of value, so he left the wreck.

He was afraid that the treasures inside might be destroyed by fish, so he told Dabai that this area had become a no-go zone, and no fish were allowed to enter without permission.

Dabai bared his sharp white teeth, clearly showing his attitude...

After returning, Guicong and the sea snake army did not leave for a moment. Their loyalty to the king was unquestionable.

Although the sea snake army couldn't enter the deep sea where the wreck was, Xiaohai ordered them to patrol the nearby sea and assist Dabai. If any large fish tried to enter, they were to drive them away.

With the protection of the terrifying Dabai and the numerous venomous sea snakes, who could approach except for that unknown sea monster?

He repeatedly instructed them to seek the advice of Prime Minister Guicong in any situation and not to act on their own. After being infused with spiritual power, Guicong had become wise, unmatched by any of these marine creatures.

Seeing that the king valued him so much, Guicong was even more grateful and swore to complete the king's instructions. He asked with reluctance when the king would return.

Xiaohai calculated that his next visit to the sea would not be just to explore the East Sea. Preparations alone would take a considerable amount of time, probably two or three months. He told Guicong that if they needed to find him, they could send subordinates to Dongjiang to look for Laojiang or Xiaozhua, and he would often go to Dongjiang to check on the situation.

After all the instructions were given, Xiaohai did not stay long and quickly disappeared using the speed of a sailfish...

"Prime Minister, what should we do?" Dabai asked respectfully.

This sea turtle was the king's full representative here, and they couldn't afford to offend him.

Seeing that the once mighty Dabai was so polite to him, Guicong became extremely pleased: "Call me Prime Minister, not Prime Minister Turtle... This... That... I am appointed by the king to manage you all, so I must be responsible to the king... Xiaqing, lead the sea snake army to find a suitable residence for me in the nearby sea, it must be clean... Dabai, I'm hungry, find me something to eat."

As soon as he took office, Prime Minister Guicong started to abuse his power for personal gain. Unfortunately, the sea snakes and Dabai didn't realize this and eagerly dispersed to carry out his orders.

In just a few minutes, Dabai swam back, opened his mouth, and a large yellow croaker, probably weighing no less than three pounds, fell out: "Please, Prime Minister, have your meal."

Stupid shark, stupid shark, shrimp and small fish I can eat, but how can I eat such a large yellow croaker?

Seeing that Prime Minister Guicong didn't eat, Dabai opened his mouth and turned the yellow croaker into a snack.

If Xiaohai were here, he would be furious. A wild yellow croaker could fetch two thousand yuan per pound in the market and was in high demand. This three-pound one was even rarer.

With one bite from Dabai, tens of thousands of yuan were gone...

...

"Old Yuan, I'm troubling you again."

In Yuan Xiyue's villa, Xiaohai felt a bit embarrassed. Whenever he found something good, he immediately thought of asking Old Yuan to appraise it.

Old Yuan, however, was not at all bothered and was even excited: "Xiaohai, I've been waiting for you. Every time you come, you bring me something good. What do you have this time?"

Xiaohai smiled, took out the pair of porcelains from the seabed wreck from his backpack, and carefully placed them in front of Yuan Xiyue.

Taking out a magnifying glass, Yuan Xiyue examined them meticulously. Xiaohai and Assistant Liu didn't dare to make a sound.

After a while, putting down the magnifying glass, Yuan Xiyue sighed: "I said before that the things you bring never disappoint me, and indeed they don't. Xiaohai, I won't tell you what kind of porcelain this is yet; I need to teach you some knowledge about porcelain..."

He took a sip of tea: "Porcelain, which flourished in the Song Dynasty with thousands of kilns across the south and north, reached its peak in the Ming Dynasty, especially in Jingdezhen. During the Hongwu, Yongle, and Xuande periods of the Ming Dynasty, the porcelain craftsmanship reached its zenith. The imperial kilns produced almost all treasures, and even the civilian kilns were of high quality. There's a joke in our industry: if a commoner from the Ming Dynasty could live to the present day, they could become a millionaire by selling any piece of porcelain from their home..."

He paused for a breath: "Among these porcelains, the doucai (contrasting colors) porcelain is the best. The body is white and delicate, thin and translucent, with small cups as thin as cicada wings, through which fingers can be seen. The white glaze is soft and lustrous, both inside and out. The colors are rich and noble. The craftsmanship is very unique, lasting for hundreds of years without any change in color. Last year, a country salvaged some Ming Dynasty porcelains from the seabed. After so many years underwater, they still looked vivid and colorful, showing the exquisite craftsmanship."

Hearing this, Xiaohai thought about his own porcelains, which were also salvaged from the sea. No wonder they didn't lose any color when they came out of the water and were cleaned; he had thought they hadn't been in the sea for long.

"There is a record that says, 'The Chenghua kiln is best known for its five-color porcelains, and the wine cups are best known for the chicken cup. During the reign of Emperor Shenzong, a pair of Chenghua cups was worth ten thousand taels of silver.' A pair of wine cups was worth ten thousand taels of silver at that time!" Yuan Xiyue's gaze fell on the pair of porcelains: "The chicken cup is an imperial wine cup, and the pair you showed me is the famous doucai tianma pattern covered jar!"

Doucai tianma pattern covered jar? Xiaohai repeated the somewhat awkward name in his mind.

"Rare to find a complete pair, very rare." Yuan Xiyue praised repeatedly: "Two years ago, at a Sotheby's auction, a pair of Qing Dynasty mid-period imitation doucai tianma pattern covered jars sold for five million yuan. I've seen them, and neither the colors nor the craftsmanship can compare to your pair..."

Xiaohai's eyes lit up: "So, this pair of... doucai tianma pattern covered jars can sell for tens of millions?"

"Not just that, not just that." Yuan Xiyue said repeatedly: "As far as I know, there are very few pairs like yours. Even if there are, they are usually single pieces. It's hard to say how much your complete pair could sell for."

He's rich, Xiaohai thought first.

More than ten million, what does that mean?

"Xiaohai, do you really want to sell them?"

Yuan Xiyue's sudden question made Xiaohai pause. He then heard Yuan Xiyue slowly say: "Such treasures are becoming rarer and rarer, almost extinct. Some have been destroyed in the course of history, and some are privately collected, never to be seen again. There is a pair in the British Museum in London, but in my opinion, they are not as good as yours. It's a pity that we have to go to foreign countries to see our own treasures..."

Xiaohai, being very smart, immediately understood Yuan Xiyue's meaning.

Sure enough, Yuan Xiyue continued: "If you take them to an auction, you can certainly get a good price, thirty million? Fifty million? One hundred million? It's not a dream. But what if they are bought by foreigners? They will put them in their collections, treating them as mere trinkets. If we want to reclaim them, it will be impossible. Xiaohai, I still say, if you're not in urgent need of money, don't sell. Such treasures, once sold, are gone forever."

Xiaohai nodded. Although he was short of money, he still had a farm. Since Old Yuan valued the treasures so much, it was better not to sell them.

"If you really want to sell, sell them to me." Yuan Xiyue suddenly made a big decision: "I don't have that much money right now, but give me two months, and I'll sell my house and car to raise the money."

Xiaohai smiled: "Not selling!"