Chapter 1549: The Workmanship of This Thing is Not Bad
Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“That’s great!” Zhu Zili couldn’t help but clap his hands. “Your dad was just worrying about whether this Tiger Tally is real or fake.”
“I’ve already guaranteed it to him, but he doesn’t dare to believe it!”
“Shaokun, why don’t we trouble your master, to help us out?”
Feng Shaokun then looked at Ye Feng and asked, “Master, could you help my dad and Uncle Zhu take a look?”
Ye Feng naturally knew that he was creating a chance for himself to perform.
He looked at Feng Zhenyuan and Uncle Zhu. “Then I’ll be obliged?”
Feng Zhenyuan was probably curious about him as well. He immediately smiled and invited him. “Thank you for your trouble. Please go ahead!”
Ye Feng saw that Feng Zhenyuan also agreed, so he did not bother with the formalities. He put on the white gloves that Zhu Zili gave him. Then he put on an act to pick up the half of the Tiger Tally and observed it carefully.
After observing it for a while, he put it back under Zhu Zili’s expectant gaze. “I’m done.”
“The workmanship is not bad.”
Zhu Zili obviously misunderstood something. He looked at Feng Zhenyuan with a happy expression. “Did you hear that, Old Feng?”
“Even Shaokun’s master said that the workmanship of this thing is not bad.”
“You should not have any worries now. You don’t have to worry that this is a fake…”
“Uncle Zhu, don’t be anxious. Let me finish.” Ye Feng interrupted him.
Then, without waiting for him and Feng Zhenyuan to look over, he continued, “What I mean is that the workmanship of this thing is not bad.”
“The person who forged it is very skilled.”
“That’s impossible, right?” Zhu Zili opened his mouth and subconsciously retorted.
Ye Feng was not in a hurry, he just looked at Feng Zhenyuan who was observing him, and asked, “Uncle Feng, do you have a magnifying gla.s.s or microscope?”
“Bring me a pot of boiling water too.”
“Shaokun.” Feng Zhenyuan nodded slightly and gave Feng Shaokun a look.
Feng Shaokun immediately walked out of the courtyard and started making a call.
Ye Feng saw this and explained it to Feng Zhenyuan and the other two. “Although the Iron Softening Technique was invented during the Warring States Period, it reached a peak during the Western Han Dynasty.”
“However, in the end, these techniques are still highly dependent on manual work.”
“Therefore, it is easy to find the huge difference between the fine craftsmanship of various metal casting and modern industry and craftsmanship.”
“These differences might not be distinguishable with the naked eye, but after removing the cover and magnifying it, there is nothing to hide.”
When Feng Zhenyuan heard this, he was clearly interested, and his gaze fluctuated.
However, Zhu Zili seemed to have lost his confidence. His voice was much softer. “Before this thing was sent over, I asked many friends in the antique appraisal circle to help me examine it.”
“For example, the famous Hundred Treasures Hall in Jiangzuo has their chief appraiser, Old Wu; the old antique shop in Jiangzuo, Treasure Pavilion, has their chief appraiser, Old Jin; the Four Treasures House in Jiangzuo, which has an excellent reputation in the antique circle, has their chief appraiser, Old Liang…”
“They have all seen it and said that there is no problem…”
“These people are considered first-cla.s.s appraisers in the antique circle of Jiangzuo. They shouldn’t have collectively misjudged, right?”
Ye Feng did not answer this question directly, he said calmly, “I said that the workmanship was very good, I was not speaking without reason.”
“The forger who created this half of the Tiger Tally must be an expert in antique appraisal. He knows very well what most high-level appraisers focus on when appraising antiques, so when he made it, he perfectly complemented these points.”
“In addition, things like the Tiger Tally are extremely rare in the market now. There are very few people who have seen it. It’s not strange for ordinary appraisers to make a mistake.”
Feng Zhenyuan still did not say a word, as if he was watching a show.
Zhu Zili muttered, “Really? You make it sound so mysterious.”
Ye Feng knew that it was useless to say anything now.
When Feng Shaokun came over with a high-precision microscope and a pot of boiling water, he immediately threw in half of the Tiger Tally.
Then, after the bronze rust on its surface was almost eliminated, he wiped it with a cotton cloth and placed it under the microscope.
“The Tiger Tally’s production process is very complicated. Of the few Tiger Tallys that exist now, almost every one of them has delicate patterns and complicated shapes, especially the inlaid gold inscriptions on the commander’s talisman. First, the commander’s talisman is engraved with the indistinct characters, then the gold thread is embedded in the indistinct characters, and finally polished.”
“According to historical records, every Tiger Tally has a unique anti-counterfeit label. For example, at the joint of the two halves of the Tiger Tally, there were often special words. Another example is Qin Shihuang’s Tiger Tally. There is a line of words in the middle of the two halves, which is divided into two halves. Moreover, the word ‘Heaven’ in the middle is deliberately tilted to the right, leaving only the last stroke, which is the ‘Na’ on the left.”
“To complete such a complicated process and detailed processing, even with today’s industrial skills, the number and scale of equipment involved are extremely exaggerated.
“To put it simply, if you want to perfectly replicate the Tiger Tally from Huo Qubing’s era, the cost is extremely high.”
“However, the forgers often create forgers to create the highest profit with the lowest cost.”
“If the cost of making a fake is too high, they won’t make it at all.”
“What do you mean?” At this moment, Zhu Zili seemed to have lost all confidence. His expression was a little nervous.
“If they want to spend money on details that everyone cares about, then they will definitely cut corners or be lazy in small details that people usually don’t pay attention to.” Ye Feng smiled, he adjusted the magnifying position of the microscope.
After finding a few flaws in the system’s in-depth scan, he made way for Feng Zhenyuan and Uncle Zhu to come over and take a look.
Feng Zhenyuan was obviously very curious now.
Seeing Ye Feng’s signal, he immediately walked over and looked at the microscope.
After that, his body shook, and he took a deep breath and stood to the side.
When Zhu Zili saw this, he definitely could not hold it in anymore.
Almost as soon as Feng Zhenyuan moved away, he quickly went to the microscope and observed it carefully.
After observing the enlarged area that Ye Feng had adjusted and comparing it to a few other details, he raised his head in a daze. “After removing the bronze rust, there are obvious traces of modern grinding on the Tiger Tally.”
“It’s a fake…”
“I spent so much effort and so many favors to get this Tiger Tally. I even specially asked a bunch of old friends to appraise it, but it’s actually fake?!”
“Is it that complicated in the antique circle?”
Ye Feng did not pay much attention to his reaction, he only looked at the half of the Tiger Tally on the microscope, and he had a faint smile on his face. “Do you believe me now?”