Antiques with golden eyes

"It's okay, it's just a silver mandarin duck flask."

Shen Yu only glanced at the object in the hands of the skinny stall owner and determined that it was a silver wine flask.

To be precise, it is a mandarin duck wine flask.

Although Shen Yu didn't take a closer look, he knew it was from the Qing Dynasty just by looking at the shape.

As for how he knew it was a silver mandarin duck flask without getting his hands on it, the reason is also very simple.

Because he also has one in his store.

The shape, size, and color of the vessel are not exactly the same, but they are not much different.

Shen Yu didn't sell the jug for a long time, so it was considered a waste.

Silver hip flasks can be classified as gold and silverware in the category of antiques.

To put it bluntly, they are living utensils and ornaments made of silver in ancient times.

Because of the large number of existing objects, even if they can be dated back to the Qing Dynasty, it is difficult to sell them at a high price.

Just like the copper coins on the street, silver, a precious metal, is really worthless in modern times.

When Shen Yu said the name of the wine pot, the thin stall owner did not speak. He moved his eyes as if he was thinking about something, as if he was convinced that Shen Yu and the others were convinced.

Instead, Gu Qingqing asked in a somewhat incomprehensible tone: "Silver? Senior, are you sure this hip flask is not made of iron?"

Shen Yu smiled when he heard this, "Where can I find an iron wine flask on the antique stall? Who can I sell the iron one to?

"In ancient times, wine pots were made of pottery, jade, porcelain, bronze, etc.

"The better ones are this kind of gold and silverware. If this hip flask were made of iron, even if it wasn't rusty, it would have been broken by your foot just now.

"You can't tell the color of this thing. Although it looks dark and rusty on the outside, it's actually not the case. The black thing on it is not rust, but the oxidation and discoloration of the silver.

"The higher the fineness of silver, the more oxidized it is.

"The shiny silver ingots on TV are just props, and the real silver in circulation is like this silver hip flask, black and greasy, and full of dirt."

"Senior, you are so awesome. You know everything. You are worthy of being the school boss of the Department of Archeology of Dongda University." Gu Qingqing praised Shen Yu before standing upright in Shen Yu's arms.

"What a great thing. If you want to learn antique knowledge, I will give you a few antique books. You will know after you read them carefully."

Shen Yu knelt down and checked Gu Qingqing's ankle, and he was relieved when he found that there was no problem.

"The bones are fine, and the movement of the ankle joint is not restricted. It doesn't look like the problem is serious.

"But your sprained foot will hurt for a few days. Qingqing, you have to be mentally prepared."

After thinking about it, Shen Yu said again: "Come on, follow me back to the store. I'll find some ice cubes to give you a cold compress, otherwise it's likely to swell."

Zhongzhonglou is a master of Chinese martial arts, and his life is quite legendary.

Although Shen Yu has no interest in the wounding techniques in martial arts, he also knows some fists and kicks of hard bridges and hard horses, and he is not unfamiliar with bruises and injuries.

A little inspection revealed that Gu Qingqing’s problem was not serious.

But Gu Qingqing is a girl after all, so it’s better to be more careful.

"Senior, I'm fine. I was dancing in elementary school and I sprained my feet countless times. It's just a small thing.

"The most important thing is that we haven't bought our birthday gifts yet." Gu Qingqing looked at Shen Yu with a pair of starry eyes, and there was an eagerness in his eyes that made Shen Yu want to retreat.

Shen Yu had no choice but to compromise and brought the topic to the Yuanyang Pot: "Silver jewelry is not valuable in our modern times, but it was a currency in circulation in ancient times.

"Utensils made of real gold and silver were not within the reach of ordinary people in ancient times.

"In ancient times, or before the Ming and Qing Dynasties, wine sets made of gold and silver were often considered to have the effect of prolonging life, and were more luxurious than porcelain wine sets.

"And the ancients believed that silver can prevent poisons and test poisons. If poison enters silver drinking utensils, they will change color.

"When hosting a banquet, the host sets out silverware, wine vessels and tableware. He is very honorable and appears to be aboveboard."

Gu Qingqing suddenly seemed to remember something: "Senior, you said I stepped on a mandarin duck pot. I seem to have seen descriptions of this kind of wine pot in novels. Specifically, half of it is filled with normal wine, and half is filled with harmful poisonous wine.< /p>

"As long as you press the control switch at the bottom of the flask, you can manually control what is poured out.

"People at the same table seem to be drinking from the same pot of wine, but some people will be poisoned, while others are unharmed. It can be said to be harmful to others invisibly, isn't it?"

Shen Yu nodded, "Yes, the full name of this kind of Yuanyang wine pot is 'Yuanyang Zhuanxiang Pot'.

"It is also called the 'Nine-bend Yuanyang Pot' or the 'Yin-Yang Double Heart Pot'.

"Originally, it was designed by skilled craftsmen in ancient times for those dignitaries who had a lot of banquets but were too drunk to drink.

"To put it bluntly, it's just a trick. One side is filled with wine and the other side is filled with water. What you pour for the other party is wine, but what you pour for yourself is water.

"It is estimated that many of those ancient people who never got drunk after a thousand cups used this jug.

"I don't know the specific principle. It is said that there are two designs.

"One is that there are two inner pots in the wine bottle, and the bottom can be controlled by a machine spring.

"One is to divide the pot into two containers, then open two small holes in the hidden part of the pot and use air pressure control.

"As for novels, storytelling, movies and TV dramas, people pretend to be good wine and poisonous wine at the same time. The other party dies, but I am fine. The credibility of this is questionable.

"Because no matter how much the wine is packaged, it is still poured into the same spout in order to win people's trust.

"Even if the wine you drink here is good, it will be contaminated by the other party's poisonous wine.

"Killing one thousand enemies will cost you eight hundred. If you are not careful, you may also die."

"Whether this jug is used to drink and cheat, or to harm others, the wisdom of the ancients is really unimaginable." Gu Qingqing marveled again.

"Stop."

At this moment, the skinny stall owner's voice suddenly rang out: "I'm telling you, little brother, please wait a while to spread the knowledge about antiques.

"Now let's talk about the compensation issue for this little girl who stepped on me, the Song Dynasty mandarin duck wine flask?

"Now that you know that my wine pot is the legendary 'Mandarin Duck Turning Incense Pot', it's easy to explain.

"I'm not blackmailing anyone. This jug of mine was used by Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin when he drank wine to release his military power. It is definitely a treasure handed down from generation to generation.

"Your female companion stepped on it. Isn't it too much to compensate me?" After saying that, the stall owner stretched out his right hand and made a two and then a five, which meant twenty-five thousand yuan.

After the stall owner finished speaking, he turned the jug over for Shen Yu to look at. When he saw the deflated piece at the mouth of the jug, the look of regret on his face became more intense, as if something beloved had been taken away.

The acting is really top-notch.

This man could not see anything from where he was sitting just now. As soon as he stood up, Shen Yu discovered that this man was 1.95 meters tall, not much shorter than a professional basketball player.

It's just that my body is so thin that it seems like it could be blown away by a gust of wind, so it doesn't have any deterrent effect.

"Hello, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to step on your things. I couldn't understand your gesture just now?

"Well, just tell me a number, and I will pay you the money right now."

Again, Gu Qingqing didn't want to cause trouble to Shen Yu, and would rather spend money to get rid of it.

However, Shen Yu gently patted Gu Qingqing's wrist to show that it didn't matter.

He turned to the skinny stall owner and sneered: "The wine flask used by Song Taizu? Do you still have to pay you 25,000?

"Boss, if you want to say that, I will let my sister lie down.

"Don't you look at where your wine bottles are? The stall is almost half a meter long, isn't it?

“You are a typical example of causing injuries to tourists due to excessive display and occupation.

"If I go to the management office to complain now, you won't be able to keep this business going."

Shen Yu is not being unreasonable. The stalls in the flea market are all marked out with waterproof paint. You can rent as much as you want, and you cannot occupy more.

In addition, there is at least one meter between each stall. This distance is for public use and is convenient for buyers and tourists to move around.

This can also reduce possible conflicts between vendors. The stalls are connected together and the items are naturally placed together. Sometimes it is not only difficult for buyers to distinguish, but also all kinds of unhappiness between stall owners are prone to occur.

The management office would rather charge less stall fees and leave a certain distance between each stall.

The tall and thin stall owner was speechless when he heard this. After thinking about it, he immediately changed his smile and said, "I placed it in the wrong place, but isn't that how it is placed in the market?

"Looking at the way you are dressed, you are all rich people. Isn't it a problem to compensate for the broken things?

"Hey, I'm not blackmailing anyone. This silver mandarin duck flask is from the late Qing Dynasty. It doesn't matter whether it's six thousand or five thousand. You can give it to me.

"Then, you take this wine flask and treat it as buying something from my stall. We will both be happy, how about it?"

After saying that, he even put his palms together as a gesture of supplication.

Shen Yu nodded when he heard this: "You have to say that to solve the problem. Bring the jug and let me take a look."

The thin stall owner quickly handed the wine bottle in his hand to Shen Yu.

This is a Qing Dynasty silver wine pot, shaped like a holding pot, forged from pure silver, and the workmanship can be considered exquisite.

However, it was not well preserved and the leather shell was severely oxidized, which has seriously affected the surface decoration of the silverware.

Even with Shen Yu's eyesight, he could only see that it was a flower pattern with entwining branches. It was completely impossible to tell what kind it was.

Shen Yu weighed it up and down. The weight of this pot was about 350 grams to 380 grams, so he was very willing to use the materials.

Silverware has never been taken seriously in the antique circle. In addition to the large number of surviving items, it is also mainly because silver is not valuable now.

One gram of silver only costs three or four yuan. In the eyes of many buyers, placing old silverware at home is not as prestigious as placing high-imitation porcelain.

Even in some basic antique books, silverware is not listed as a classification introduction, which shows that it is not taken seriously.

But the ancients didn't think so. They believed that gold and silverware were valuable and honorable.

In fact, this is not difficult to understand. For example, the white porcelain cups and dishes of the Tang Dynasty are regarded as treasures by future generations because the firing technology did not exist.

But in the Tang Dynasty, porcelain, even exquisite porcelain, was the living utensils of the rich. It was fired in kilns and was used to hold food and drink water.

No matter how beautiful the plate is, you can't buy what you need, but if you take out silverware, you can exchange it for anything of equal value.

After all, silver was money in ancient times and was the currency in circulation.

Shen Yu turned the jug over and wanted to open the lid to see what was inside. At this moment, a ball of cyan light appeared three inches above the jug.

"Hey, Baoguang?"