Chapter 6

### Chapter 6: Kraak Porcelain (Part 1)

That evening, the three people who had completed their first time-travel journey held their first post-mission summary meeting. They followed a formal meeting procedure and took minutes. According to Wen Desi, "We are making history."

During the meeting, they summarized and categorized the various issues encountered during the time travel. The conclusion was: they had underestimated the wisdom of the ancients, did not do enough research, and had a superficial understanding of the Ming Dynasty, leading to many assumptions.

Overall, their luck was good, and they managed to find a relatively suitable agent quite smoothly.

Regarding the next trade plan, although the prices were lower than expected, after careful calculation, the profit was not as low as they had imagined.

One tael of silver in the Ming Dynasty is approximately 37.3 grams. The purchase price of silver in this time period fluctuates, but it is generally around 3 yuan per gram (selling price 3.6-3.8 yuan, purchase price 2-2.6 yuan, taking a slightly higher price). One tael of silver can be exchanged for 112 yuan RMB. Taking into account the "fire loss" cost—many of the silver in circulation during the Ming Dynasty had low purity and needed to be re-smelted—the profit was even lower.

If a powder box could sell for ten taels, that would be about 1000 yuan. Xiao Zishan brought over 200 powder boxes, and just this item alone could bring in 2000 taels of silver, equivalent to 200,000 yuan. Even if they had to buy these powder boxes, the current wholesale price was only a few yuan each, making the cost almost negligible.

"Actually, we can resell them once more," Xiao Zishan scribbled on a piece of paper for a long time. "I remember that the gold-to-silver ratio in the late Ming Dynasty was roughly 1:10. With these 2000 taels of silver, we can ask for them to be exchanged into gold. We would get 200 taels, which is about 7460 grams. At 150 yuan per gram, that's over a million yuan. More profitable than selling the goods."

"However, the amount of gold in society is limited, so we can't exchange much," Wang Luobin felt a bit regretful.

"Actually, we can ask for something else that is even more valuable than gold," Wen Desi said.

"What is it?"

"Porcelain." Wen Desi pointed to a Christie's auction announcement in the newspaper. "Ming Dynasty porcelain, no need for me to elaborate..."

When the head servant ran into the study with a pale face, Master Gao knew that the three from Australia were back. This time, it was late at night, and they appeared out of nowhere in the courtyard of the warehouse, just like last time.

If they hadn't come during the day and left in broad daylight last time, Master Gao would have suspected they were ghosts or demons.

"Master Gao, these are the goods."

In the corridor of the study, several paper boxes were piled up, which the servants had moved from the courtyard of the warehouse. He had never seen paper boxes used for goods before, and his heart raced. A few days ago, he had secretly tested the samples with chicken blood, and the next day, they were still intact, which reassured him.

"Yan, take inventory and make a list," Master Gao instructed his subordinates.

"Yes, Master."

The manager led the servants to open the paper boxes. Each item was wrapped in a delicate paper box, neatly arranged. Master Gao nodded; the Australian merchants were indeed extravagant—just the packaging must have cost a lot.

The three sat on chairs, watching the servants take inventory. Under the dim candlelight, Master Gao's Nanjing silk robe shimmered slightly. Xiao Zishan inexplicably thought of a shroud and felt goosebumps.

Fortunately, they had prepared a special gift. After the inventory was completed and the numbers were verified, Wen Desi opened a box and took out a kerosene lamp. It took them a while to find this in a craft store, costing 120 yuan, the most expensive item. Wen Desi took a can of kerosene from the box, poured it into the lamp, and lit it with a candle. Soon, the flame grew brighter, and the previously dim study was instantly illuminated.

Master Gao and the servants were all speechless. Nothing the Australian merchants had brought in recent days had left such a deep impression as this kerosene lamp.

"This is a kerosene lamp, a unique item."

"Truly a marvel!" Master Gao walked over, mesmerized by the bright white flame and the fully transparent glass lampshade. He turned to ask, "Is this made in your country, and what is its value?"

Xiao Zishan couldn't help but marvel at the human desire for light. The things they thought would surprise the ancients didn't cause much of a stir, but this kerosene lamp, which had been phased out of modern society, deeply impressed them—simply because it was much brighter than candles and oil lamps. If Master Gao could see an electric light? Xiao Zishan was suddenly very confident about their future time-travel plans.

"Indeed, it is made in our country," Wen Desi smiled cunningly. "Two hundred taels will suffice."

"Marvelous, marvelous!" Master Gao circled the lamp, fascinated. He tried the knob to adjust the flame, seeing it brighten and dim at will, marveling at the ingenuity. He knew that although the lamp had a strange shape and an expensive glass shade, it was essentially a lamp and oil stand used by poor households. However, its brightness was ten times greater, with no oil smell or smoke, and the flame could be adjusted. Were the Australian craftsmen reincarnations of Lu Ban?

Suddenly, he remembered something and asked, "The oil for this lamp—kerosene—is it also produced in Australia?"

Xiao Zishan nodded. Master Gao was indeed a smart man, seeing the key point immediately.

"Indeed."

"Kerosene price?"

"Ten taels per bottle." A bottle was actually one liter. They didn't plan to start a large kerosene trade, so they set a high price to leave room for the future (8.5 yuan per liter for lamp kerosene in Shanghai).

"The lamp is good, but the oil..." Master Gao looked regretful.

"One bottle can last for over ten hours. A month would cost no more than twenty to thirty taels, not too expensive."

"If the oil were cheaper, I could sell this widely..." Master Gao was still reluctant.

Xiao Zishan just laughed, not responding. Master Gao knew the Australian merchants wouldn't budge. However, getting the lamp and twelve bottles of kerosene for free was a significant benefit. He thought, maybe vegetable oil could work, he would try it later.

Xiao Zishan demonstrated how to assemble, maintain, and fill the lamp. Master Gao ordered a servant to watch and learn, and after several attempts, confirmed there were no mistakes, then checked the price according to the list.

The total payment, based on the agreed price, was over 3000 taels of silver. Xiao Zishan requested that 1500 taels be paid in gold. Master Gao shook his head, saying there was no place to exchange gold at night, and he only had 50 to 60 taels of gold. In the end, 60 taels of gold were used to replace 600 taels of silver.

Xiao Zishan then asked to buy porcelain, which did not surprise Master Gao. Foreign merchants always liked to buy porcelain. It was not difficult; his warehouse was full of it. He ordered several crates of export porcelain to be brought over.

After untying the straw ropes and taking out a few pieces to examine, based on the few books on porcelain that Xiao Zishan had read, he recognized this as "Kraak Porcelain," a representative type of export porcelain from the late Ming Dynasty.

How much could this porcelain sell for now? A regular plate would not be less than several thousand yuan. On December 10, 2005, 214 pieces of Kraak Porcelain were salvaged from the South China Sea by the Swede Stensjostrand and auctioned at China Guardian's "Ming Wanli and Qing Disharmony Shipwreck Ceramics" auction. Despite severe corrosion and even peeling due to long-term underwater immersion, the auction achieved a 92% success rate and a total of 2.727 million yuan. One Ming Wanli blue-and-white lotus petal-shaped openwork flower and bird plate sold for 55,000 yuan.

At that moment, they had several large baskets of brand new Kraak Porcelain right in front of them!

Buying these porcelains cost less than 20 taels of silver. Xiao Zishan and the others thought it was a great deal, while Master Gao secretly laughed at these sea merchants for not knowing the market. Both sides felt they had made a good deal.

Before leaving, Wen Desi left 200 taels of silver and asked Master Gao to purchase a house nearby for their use. According to the plan, the wormhole exit in this time period would be temporarily arranged there. Master Gao agreed to everything.

After the Australian merchants left, Master Gao sat alone in the study for a long time, even sending away the concubine who had come to invite him to rest. Buying a house was not a problem for him, but the identity of these people was still unknown, which made him somewhat worried. After some thought, he called the manager and instructed him to keep the matter of the Australian merchants secret. He also ordered a list of all the servants, boys, and maids who knew about it to be made, and promised severe punishment if the news leaked.

Note: The knowledge about Kraak Porcelain comes from Mr. Ma Weidu's book.

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