Chapter 61

"Brother Ma, have a cup of tea first. I have some magazines brought by a friend from Hong Kong. Do you want to take a look?"

Nie Tianbao placed the jadeite pendant on the coffee table, poured a cup of tea for "Ma Zibian," and then opened the store's safe, taking out a few magazines.

"Hey, it's Long Hu Bao? Old Nie, you actually managed to bring them in? The last time I brought some, they were all seized by customs."

"Ma Zibian" saw the magazines and his eyes lit up. He snatched them and said, "Old Nie, you have to give me these later. Take your time looking at that jadeite!"

"No problem, as long as Brother Ma likes them," Nie Tianbao laughed. Finally, he found something that appealed to this kid. Now, he wouldn't be demanding to leave, right?

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

After playing with it for a while, Nie Tianbao handed it to Zhao Zangjing, who had been waiting by his side, and whispered, "I think this is the legendary Imperial Green."

Nie Tianbao had only recently started dealing with jadeite, and the term "Imperial Green" was something he had heard from colleagues in the coastal areas and Yunnan Province. Even those colleagues rarely saw Imperial Green jadeite, so he wasn't sure if this was real or not.

"That's right, it is indeed jadeite, with a bright green and transparent quality. It matches the earrings and seems to be from the same piece of material."

Zhao Zangjing took a high-powered magnifying glass, examined the Maitreya Buddha pendant under a strong light for a long time, and then lowered his voice, "There are no bubbles inside, so it should be genuine. Boss, I think we should buy it!"

"What's the price?"

Nie Tianbao glanced at "Ma Zibian," who was engrossed in the magazines, and said, "This kid is a novice, he doesn't know much. We can push the price down."

"Boss, if this really belonged to Empress Dowager Cixi, then... the price would be astronomical, at least ten million!"

Zhao Zangjing's voice trembled. Although he wasn't a jadeite expert, everyone in the collecting world knew that Empress Dowager Cixi was a lifelong lover of jadeite.

The most famous of Cixi's collections was the Jadeite Cabbage. However, Zhao Zangjing knew that local officials almost always included top-quality jadeite in their annual tributes to the court to please Cixi. Her jadeite collection was vast.

Some of these items were buried with her, like the Jadeite Cabbage, which ended up in the hands of warlord Sun Dianying, the "Dongling Bandit." Others were given as rewards to palace guards and maids, or stolen during the chaos in the palace, and eventually lost.

From the intricate carving and the thick patina of the Maitreya Buddha pendant and the earrings, it was clear they were the work of a master and had a long history, likely from Cixi's collection.

"Ten million?"

Hearing Zhao Zangjing's words, Nie Tianbao glanced at "Ma Zibian," who was still engrossed in the magazines, and whispered, "Old Zhao, are you sure?"

Zhao Zangjing nodded and said, "Boss, Imperial Green is something even jadeite dealers might never see in their lifetime. Add to that the fact that it was used by Empress Dowager Cixi, and ten million is actually a low price."

Although the current market price of jadeite isn't very high, that applies to ordinary jadeite jewelry. Imperial Green is the best of the best in gemstones.

According to Zhao Zangjing, even if these earrings and the pendant couldn't be sold domestically, they would certainly find buyers in places like Hong Kong.

"Ten million, damn it, should we just take him out?"

A fierce look flashed in Nie Tianbao's eyes. Although he claimed to be a billionaire, he actually only had about thirty to forty million, with the rest being shares from various investors under his name.

Moreover, even those thirty to forty million were mostly in fixed assets. The few million he brought from Myanmar recently were partly borrowed from the bank.

After hearing the price, Nie Tianbao really considered killing the kid and dumping him in the new cemetery, where no one would notice.

"Boss, that's not possible..."

Although Zhao Zangjing was a cunning businessman, he wasn't as ruthless as Nie Tianbao. He was startled by Nie Tianbao's words and said, "I noticed the beads on his wrist. They are made of high-quality small-leaf rosewood, with a thick patina, at least fifty years old. Not just anyone can wear them. He might be a member of the imperial family."

"Old Zhao, what's a member of the imperial family?"

Nie Tianbao had heard the term "imperial family" from "Ma Zibian" but didn't understand what it meant.

"Members of the imperial family, or 'yellow sash,' are descendants of the Qing royal family. I think this kid has a background. I also know about the Minxue incident..."

Nie Tianbao was a latecomer to the antiques business, but Zhao Zangjing was well-versed in Qing history.

The term "yellow sash" refers to the Qing royal family. In the first year of Emperor Taizong's reign (1636), it was decreed that all members of the royal family below the rank of prince should wear a yellow sash to indicate their status, hence the term "yellow sash."

The yellow sashes were the backbone of the Qing dynasty. From Nurhaci's unification of the Jurchen tribes to Huang Taiji's establishment of the Qing dynasty and Dorgon's protection of the young emperor, the yellow sashes played a crucial role.

In the early Qing, the yellow sashes were the pillars of the dynasty, enjoying various political privileges and generous benefits. For example, a prince received 10,000 taels of silver and 5,000 shi of rice annually, as well as 50,000 to 60,000 acres of land and 250 households of serfs.

When the Qing first entered the pass, there were only a few hundred yellow sashes. However, after several generations during the reigns of Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong, by the Jiaqing era, there were tens of thousands of yellow sashes.

As the saying goes, idleness breeds trouble. If these idle people were ordinary, they would be governed by the law, and their mischief would be limited. But the yellow sashes, with royal blood, caused significant problems.

During this period, it was common to see these idle yellow sashes on the streets, some holding bird cages, others with fierce eagles on their shoulders, followed by a group of ferocious servants, shouting and causing chaos.

The Qing court stipulated that yellow sashes were not subject to the death penalty for murder and could only be tried by the Imperial Clan Court. With tens of thousands of lawless yellow sashes, plus many fake yellow sashes, the city was in turmoil, with constant disturbances and chaos.

The "Minxue incident" occurred during the Jiaqing era.

In the thirteenth year of Jiaqing's reign, a yellow sash named Minxue, after drinking a little and getting a haircut, saw a street vendor selling roasted sweet potatoes. He looked at the scorching sun and wondered, "How can there be roasted sweet potatoes in such hot weather? It must be fake. This is the capital, I have to do something about it!"

So, Minxue approached the sweet potato vendor and asked, "Are your sweet potatoes real or fake?" The vendor, annoyed, replied, "How can sweet potatoes be fake?" Minxue said, "I think your sweet potatoes are fake. Give me one to check."

The vendor glared at Minxue and handed him a roasted sweet potato.

Minxue took a bite and found it was indeed a sweet potato. He threw it on the ground and said, "Even if it's real, it's not good. It tastes like pickled radish, disgusting." Then he turned to leave.

The vendor, upset, grabbed Minxue's arm and said, "You're just being picky. You have to pay for the sweet potato!"

Minxue, used to being tyrannical, had only brought one servant. The two of them beat the vendor until he was bleeding and kneeling, begging for mercy.

As soon as Minxue started, someone reported it to the authorities. Soldiers from the Capital Garrison arrived, restrained Minxue, and put him in handcuffs. In his anger and under the influence of alcohol, Minxue forgot he wasn't wearing his yellow sash and thought the soldiers were deliberately humiliating him, so he started cursing.

Minxue was dragged to the police station (equivalent to today's police station). His servant, seeing the situation, ran back to the mansion and brought a dozen armed servants to the police station.

Seeing his men arrive, Minxue jumped up and ordered them to beat the police officers, breaking windows and knocking over weapon racks.

This incident happened in a busy area, and many people gathered to watch. The Capital Garrison, feeling humiliated, filed a complaint with Emperor Jiaqing.

Emperor Jiaqing, upon receiving the complaint, was furious. Since his ascension, he had received numerous reports of yellow sashes causing disturbances, committing murder, and acting lawlessly.

Emperor Jiaqing decided to make an example of Minxue to curb this lawless behavior. He issued a strict decree, expelling Minxue from the royal family, flogging him 40 times at the palace gate, and exiling him to Shengjing, with strict supervision and a ban on returning to the capital.

Subsequently, Emperor Jiaqing ordered the Imperial Clan Court to report all yellow sashes with improper behavior. Including Minxue, a total of seventy households were exiled to Shengjing.

"Damn, it turns out this kid's unruly behavior is inherited?"

After hearing Zhao Zangjing's story, Nie Tianbao was both amused and exasperated. He had thought "Ma Zibian" was already quite arrogant, but his ancestors were even more lawless.

PS: Second update, please follow and vote!

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