"Adila, this is one of my juniors. I brought him here to see the jade king. Xiaozhuang, you can just call him Uncle Tian..." After Guo hugged the visitor, he pulled Zhuang Rui behind him,
I introduced it to the visitor.
Zhuang Rui looked at the other person. Uncle Tian was not tall, a little thin, but had black hair and bright eyes. If you didn't look closely at the wrinkles on his face, at first glance, he looked like he was in his early fifties, but Zhuang
Rui knew that he was two years older than Mr. Gu.
After Zhuang Rui chatted with Uncle Tian for a few words with the courtesy of a junior, everyone walked out of the airport.
When we arrived outside the airport, several cars were parked and waiting. Zhuang Rui and Mr. Gu were in two separate cars. He was placed in an off-road vehicle at the back. The driver was a Sichuan young man named Zhang Dazhi.
He is two years younger than Zhuang Rui. He used to be a car soldier in Xinjiang. After he was discharged from the army, he stayed and drove there. He is very talkative and always answers Zhuang Rui's questions.
In the car, Zhuang Rui learned that this old man from Xinjiang named Adila is a Uyghur. He is 62 years old. This is his Uyghur identity. He also has a Chinese name, Tian Dajun.
In the Xinjiang jade industry, Adila is a well-known legendary figure. People in the industry respectfully call him the "Jade Prince", which shows his influence in the Xinjiang jade industry.
In the early 1980s, due to the extreme shrinkage of jade resources in Xinjiang after thousands of years of mining, jade mines in the Kunlun Mountains closed down one after another. People in the industry said: Hotan jade resources have been exhausted, causing panic in the jade industry.
.
At that time, Adila relied on his many years of jade mining experience in the Kunlun Mountains and took the lead in proposing the geological theory that "Hetian jade is distributed in the shape of a watermelon." This made the mining industry of Hotan jade turn around, and new mining sites continued to emerge.
, production is rising year by year.
Adila now serves as the executive director of the National Jade Association as a "Chinese Hotan gemstone expert". This executive director is much more important than Zhuang Rui's director, and he also serves as the deputy director of the Xinjiang Jade Professional Committee.
, the company he leads has become the leader in Xinjiang’s jade industry.
"Is it because of this that you call him "Jade Prince"?"
According to Zhang Dazhi, it is still more than an hour's drive from where Adila lives, and Zhuang Rui also wants to hear more of Adila's stories.
"The old man is a god. The locals say he has piercing eyes..."
"Fire eyes and golden eyes?!"
Zhuang Rui was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and his face became a little strange. It was said that this word was not applicable to him.
"No, the old man has more than a dozen mining teams under his command. Just last year, he was optimistic about a mining site, but after digging more than 60 meters into the mine tunnel, there was no trace of jade. Many people were anxious.
It was said to be a waste mine, but the old man insisted on digging another two meters deep, despite all objections, and hey, guess what?"
When Zhang Dazhi mentioned the story of the Jade Prince, he was very excited. He asked himself a question, and without waiting for Zhuang Rui's answer, he continued: "Just two meters away, a miracle happened. Four large pieces of jade were excavated, and the largest one weighed ten
Ton.
What's even more amazing is that before he saw the shadow of jade, the old man once predicted that this mine can mine 60 tons of jade. Sure enough, after mining, it was a total of 61 tons. Brother Zhuang, don't you think this is a sharp eye?
?”
"Is he really that amazing?"
After listening to Zhang Dazhi's words, Zhuang Rui doubted in his heart, is this old man like himself able to see through the surface of matter and see clearly the essence inside?
"Of course, our Jade Prince has been picking jade in the Kunlun Mountains since he was more than ten years old. Over the past few decades, no one in Xinjiang dares to say that he is more powerful than him."
Zhang Dazhi admired his boss very much and said: "In Xinjiang, the prince is the authority in identifying jade and jade articles. He can tell the authenticity, quality, origin, and price of the jade articles he sees in one breath.
A dealer in the Hotan area sells seed materials. Buyers from other places who are familiar with the old man will always call him to come to the scene. As soon as the old man opens his quotation, it is settled. The seller will no longer "ask for high prices", and the buyer will
No more "paying money on the spot".
Do you know why not? The first is the authority effect, the second is the degree of integrity, and the third is personality charm."
Zhang Dazhi said this very smoothly. It seemed that he had not just talked to Zhuang Rui alone. When he spoke, his face was full of pride, as if being able to drive for Lord Jade was a very honorable thing.
"Then why did he invite Mr. Gu here?" Zhuang Rui was a little confused. According to Zhang Dazhi, Adila's appreciation of nephrite was definitely no worse than Gu's.
"I don't know. Anyway, Gu Gu came here at this time last year. It should be that the prospecting team went up the mountain and specially invited Chairman Gu to come, right?" Zhang Dazhi's words were somewhat different from what Gu Gu said. It seems that the purpose of coming this time is definitely
Not just to identify a piece of jade.
"Prospecting team? Not a jade mining team?"
"No, every year at this time, several teams will be organized to go up the mountain to search for mineral veins. After the mineral veins are determined, jade mining teams will be sent out. They have different divisions of labor. However, there are also some jade mining people who specialize in mining materials from mountains and rivers. That requires
Running all over the mountains is very hard.”
Zhang Dazhi explained the difference between the two to Zhuang Rui. He has been in Xinjiang for many years, and sometimes he goes up to the mountains with jade pickers to try his luck. You know, if you can find a good piece of jade, then this
All my life I will not have to worry about food and drink.
Relatively speaking, it is more difficult to find mineral veins and scattered jade miners. They have to brave the scorching sun and altitude sickness to search for jade in the deep mountains. Sometimes they often have to go into the mountains for several months and only come out of the mountains in winter.
…
The car passed through Hotan City and drove to the outskirts. It drove in from a place that looked like a farm. Zhuang Rui found that there was a sentry next to the gate. Two young and strong boys were standing beside the gate. Zhuang Rui was most surprised.
The strange thing is that they actually have a gun on their back.
"Dazhi, those two people at the door are also from the army?"
Zhuang Rui saw that the clothes on the two people were camouflage uniforms, but they did not have epaulettes or military ranks. They just dared to hold guns in broad daylight. They should be people from the national department, right?
"No, Brother Zhuang, those two people are from the mine protection team. They are both registered with the public security department and have gun licenses..."
Zhang Dazhi answered Zhuang Rui that the environment near the Hotan Jade Mine is relatively complex. Not only are local people mining jade, but there are also gold prospectors from all over the country. When there are more people, there will inevitably be a mixture of good and bad. Some people also take risks and do some things.
A waste of money.
Therefore, some large jade merchants will form their own mine protection teams. People with Adila's status are remembered by many people with evil intentions, and Adila's trading venues are usually where he lives.
, valuable jade was placed here, so an armed force was arranged to guard it. Of course, this was all reported and approved by the local public security department.
The car drove forward for more than 200 meters and stopped in front of a three-story building. Zhuang Rui saw that there were stones of different sizes and shapes placed on both sides of the road. These stones were basically yellow in color.
White, some can see the white jade flesh from the surface, presumably these are Hetian jade materials.
After getting off the car and entering the small building, wine and food had already been placed on the living room table in front of me. Several Uyghur women quickly arranged the food and then left. In the huge room, only the ancient
The old man, Zhuang Rui, Adila and a middle-aged man in his forties.
The food was very sumptuous, including Xinjiang barbecue, large plate of chicken, and Yilite wine produced in Xinjiang. Gu Gu was very familiar with Adila, and from time to time he would speak a few words to Adila in the Uyghur language, and the middle-aged man also
Zhuang Rui did not ignore him, but kept urging him to drink. After a while of eating, Zhuang Rui was already 40 to 50 minutes drunk.
After eating, someone took Zhuang Rui and Mr. Gu to the room on the second floor to rest. Zhuang Rui, who was drunk, slept for four or five hours before waking up. When he left the room, Zhuang Rui stood on the second floor and saw
Gu Gu and Adira were sitting in the living room. There was a stone weighing a hundred kilograms placed on the ground in front of them.
"Xiao Zhuang, are you up? You've had a long sleep this time." Hearing the noise upstairs, Gu Gu looked up and saw Zhuang Rui, waving to him to signal him to come down.
"Uncle Gu, I'm sorry, I overslept." Zhuang Rui walked downstairs and scratched his head in embarrassment.
"It's okay, young people. It's normal to sleep a little deeper. Old men like us can't sleep even if we want to sleep for a while. Come on... young man, let's take a look at this piece of material."
Old man Adila was also a little curious about Zhuang Rui. He heard from an old friend that this young man had a very keen sense of jade. He had gained a lot at the Pingzhou Jade Public Sale some time ago. He asked Zhuang
When Rui looked at this piece of jade, he was a little concerned about Zhuang Rui's meaning.
"Uncle Tian, I still have some experience with jade, but I don't have much experience with nephrite. If you ask me, it's just talk on paper..."
Although Zhuang Rui was confident that he could clearly see the jade meat in this material, he did not know much about the type and quality of Hetian jade. Among the soft jade, he had seen the mutton-fat jade that was given to Qian Yaosi in ancient times.
pendant, but I couldn’t take a closer look at it at the time.
"It's okay. You can speak as much as you understand. What are you afraid of..." Gu Gu said next to him. He brought Zhuang Rui here to give him some experience. This piece of material on the ground was just a good opportunity for him to give him on-site teaching.
After hearing this, Zhuang Rui didn't show any pretense. He knelt down and looked at the material of this piece of Hetian jade.
Friends all know that all jadeite jadeite raw stones have a skin, and the skin can be used to judge the direction, quantity and quality of the jadeite inside. It can be said that the skin is the key to jadeite gambling.
Naturally, Hotan jade is the representative of nephrite. Unlike jade, the raw material of Hotan jade does not necessarily have a skin. The jade flesh of many beautiful Hotan jade is exposed. In the past, many jade collectors,
You can pick up high-quality Hetian jade directly from the river.
Another point that is different from jade is that jade comes from abroad, while Hotan jade has a long history in China. It has a long history and unique meaning. Throughout the ages, people have used jade as a metaphor for all beautiful things.
Our country has been known as the "Land of Jade" since ancient times. The ancients regarded jade as a treasure and wore it as a treasure. Ancient medical books said that "jade is the beauty of stone. It is sweet in taste and neutral in nature." It is also said that jade is the most abundant source of vitality for the human body.
It is believed that sucking jade will synergize with it through saliva, so jade is not only used as jewelry, ornaments, and decorations, but is also used for health and fitness.
Since ancient times, emperors and concubines of all dynasties have relied on jade to maintain their health. However, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty was addicted to jade, and Concubine Yang carried jade to cool down the heat.
In ancient China, jade was an important tool for connecting heaven and earth, for worshiping ghosts, gods and ancestors. It was a material manifestation of power and status. It was a burial utensil for preserving the body of the deceased and embalming it. It was also a way for scholars and gentlemen to show their purity, flaunt themselves and pursue beauty.
The personality symbol of sentiment.
When Mr. Gu was with Zhuang Rui, what he talked about more was actually nephrite. So although Zhuang Rui didn't know much about nephrite, theoretically speaking, he knew a lot about nephrite.
Nephrite jade can be roughly divided into mountain material, mountain flow water and sub-jade. Mountain material is the original mineral produced in the mountains, such as white jade mountain material, green and white jade mountain material, etc. The main ones mined by Jade Prince are mountain materials.
Mountain flowing water refers to those large pieces of jade where the original ore has been weathered and collapsed, and is transported by the river to the middle and upper reaches of the river. The characteristics of the flowing water are that it is close to the original ore, the block size is large, and the edges and corners of the jade surface have been washed by the river for a long time.
, slightly rounded.
Ziyu, also known as Zieryu and seed material, is distributed in river beds and terraces on both sides. The jade is exposed on the surface or buried underground. Ziyu is characterized by small pieces, often oval, and smooth surface, because it has been used for thousands of years.
The incoming river water washes and filters the jade, so the jade is generally of the best quality.
Ziyu in the lower reaches of the river comes in various colors, including white jade, blue and white jade, sapphire, black jade, jasper, and topaz, but no matter what color it is, as long as it is the best quality,
In the current jade market, one gram can cost tens of thousands of yuan, which is many times more expensive than gold.
The nephrite market is now as hot as the jade market. Before 2002, jade merchants in Xinjiang would bring sacks of seed material to the mainland for sale. They could choose at will. But now, only these people appear and hear the news.
The jade merchants who came by the wind came with tens of millions, but they could only buy a small box of materials.
The old man told Zhuang Rui that when Xinjiang jade merchants arrived in Zhonghai, they basically stayed in Tianshan Hotels. There, you could often see several Jiangsu and Zhejiang bosses working together, holding boxes of cash, in Tianshan Hotels.
In the corridor of the hotel, doors were opened anxiously.
Xinjiang's jade merchants are famous for their unity, and the ancient jade raw materials that were able to cut off Xu's jewelry and Wang's family were inseparable from his good relationship with Adila. With Adila's status in the jade industry, all Xinjiang's jade merchants
Businessmen all give me some face.
…
The reason why Gu Gu and Adila let Zhuang Rui look at this piece of material is because some nephrite jade, like jadeite, also has a skin. Zhuang Rui knows that the skin of Hetian jade is generally divided into color skin, sugar skin and stone skin.
Three types.
The color skin refers to the layer of jade skin distributed on the surface of Hotan Zi jade. There are many colors. The jade industry names these jade materials after various colors, such as black skin, deer skin, etc. The color of the skin can be seen from the skin color of the jade.
The quality, such as black leather, deerskin, etc., is mostly made of fine white jade.
Ziyu of the same quality, with skin colors such as Qiuli, is more valuable. The thickness of the skin is different from jade, it is very thin, generally less than 1 mm, and the shape of the skin is also various, some
They are cloud-like, some are vein-like, and some are scattered points.
The formation of color skin is due to the transformation of ferrous oxide in Hetian jade into ferric oxide under oxidation conditions, so it is secondary. Experienced jade pickers go to the middle and lower reaches to find jade with color skin.
, and going upstream, the chance of finding Sepizi jade is very small.
The so-called sugar skin refers to a layer of yellow-brown and sauce-colored jade skin distributed on the surface of Hotan Yushan materials. Because the color is like brown sugar, the sugar-skin jade is called sugar jade. The sugar skin of sugar jade is thicker, and it has a larger thickness.
It can range from 20 to 30 centimeters. It is often surrounded by white jade or sapphire, showing a transitional relationship. Sugar jade is produced near the fissures of the ore body.
Sugar-skinned jade is a bit more risky because it is difficult to judge the quality of the jade inside. It may be top-grade white jade or ordinary sapphire. Some jade collectors often give sugar-skinned jade to others after collecting it.
Bet, and they themselves cannot solve it.
The last type is stone skin, which mostly refers to the surrounding rock surrounded by the surface of Hetian jade mountain material. During the mining, it is mined together with the jade and attached to the surface of the jade. This kind of stone covered with jade has clear boundaries between the stone and the jade, which is very clear.
It can be separated easily, and the stone skin is also the easiest material to identify the quality of jade.
The piece of material now in front of Zhuang Rui is a piece of sugar-skinned jade material. Different from the outer skin of jadeite, this piece of material is very smooth and does not feel tricky at all. Zhuang Rui guessed that this should be
Probably because it was washed by the river.
Zhuang Rui didn't have any experience with Hetian jade. After looking at this piece of material for a while, Zhuang Rui lowered his head. The spiritual energy in his eyes suddenly penetrated into the yellow-brown stone, layer by layer.
After opening it, the situation in the jade material was immediately revealed in front of Zhuang Rui.
The surface of this stone is not very thick, only about four to five centimeters. In the middle of the stone, a whole piece of milky white jade meat appears in Zhuang Rui's field of vision. To Zhuang Rui's surprise, it has not changed for a long time.
When the aura came into contact with the jade flesh, there was actually a slight change.
When he saw the white soft light exuding in the middle of the jade material, a warm breath merged with the aura in Zhuang Rui's eyes. Although only a small breath blended into his eyes, it still made Zhuang Rui feel comfortable.
It was unusual, as if a hot towel was applied to his eyes. The steaming feeling made Zhuang Rui almost moan in comfort.
It's just that this huge piece of jade meat can absorb very little of Zhuang Rui's spiritual energy, only a hair-like trace. However, this also makes Zhuang Rui overjoyed. At least he knows that the spiritual energy in his eyes can continue to increase, instead of
It's as stagnant as it is now.
After calming down his mind, Zhuang Rui raised his head and said: "Uncle Gu, Uncle Tian, this jade material is made from mountains and rivers. It is larger in size and wrapped with sugar skin. However, it is often said that white jade is mostly made of small materials.
, the possibility of this piece of jade being mutton-fat jade is not very high, but the outer skin is moist and greasy, and the performance is still good. If I had to say, I guess it is blue and white jade inside, but the quality should be good."
Zhuang Rui's words were quite satisfactory. He told the origin, skin and performance of the jade material. Given his age and experience, he was able to express such insights, which made the two old men nod.
"That's right. It's similar to my idea. It's more likely to produce blue and white jade. Adila, the price of such a large piece of blue and white jade is not lower than that of ordinary mutton-fat jade. Aren't you satisfied?"
After Zhuang Rui finished speaking, Mr. Gu also gave his own evaluation. He and Zhuang Rui had the same opinion. It is basically impossible to produce mutton-fat white jade from this jade material. If the best jade is so easy to find, how can it be compared to Zhuang Rui?
The clan jade will not be passed down through the ages.
"Haha, Brother Gu, you know that I didn't call you here just to see this piece of material. Beijing is so hot in summer, so you can just stay here for a month. There are a lot of fresh cantaloupe and grapes in this season.
a lot."
Adila already knew about this piece of jade. He called the old man to come. On the one hand, it was a gathering of old friends. On the other hand, the team looking for the ore would go up the mountain tomorrow. He wanted to ask the old man to preside over the ceremony.
, for jade pickers, this needs to be presided over by a respected senior in the industry. Gu Tianfeng comes here every year mostly for this matter.
"Come on, I don't have the chance to stay with you this year. I have to help this guy carve a piece of jade when I get back. Let's wait until we get another chance. After hosting the ceremony tomorrow, I will return to Beijing."
The summer in Xinjiang is very cool. Gu Tianfeng used to live here for a period of time every year, but this year he had to make jade for Zhuang Rui, so he couldn't stay longer.
"Uncle, my item is not in a hurry. You can stay here for a while. Besides, I also brought the piece of jade. If it doesn't work, you can carve it here..." Zhuang Rui was a little embarrassed, because
For my own affairs, let the old man run away from both sides.
"That's right, Xiaozhuang is right. Brother Gu, I have all the tools here. Just stay here and we can chat."
Adila also tried to persuade him. He and Gu Tianfeng had been old friends for decades, and they only met once or twice a year. In addition, he had recently left all his business to his juniors to take care of, so he also wanted to
I had an old friend to chat with.
"It doesn't matter where you carve it, but Xiaozhuang, can you bear the patience to wait here?"
The old man was also a little moved when he heard this, but if these pendants were carved and polished, it would take ten days and a half, and he was afraid that Zhuang Rui wouldn't be able to wait.
"This is a simple matter. Let Xiaozhuang follow the jade mining team up the mountain tomorrow..." Mr. Adila gave an idea.
"Uncle Tian, you just said that the people going up the mountain tomorrow are the teams looking for ore veins. Why are there still people mining for jade?"
Zhuang Rui asked in confusion. He was also curious about the mining of nephrite. He heard that most of the best mutton-fat jade was picked up from mountains or rivers, and rarely dug out of mines.
"Haha, you have to go to the mountains during the season to search for mineral veins and jade. If the weather gets colder, you won't be able to go into the mountains and stay for a long time. What do you think, do you want to go and see it? By the way, you can collect it from the mountains.
Jade belongs to you..." Seeing that Zhuang Rui wanted to go, Adila encouraged him vigorously.
"Okay, uncle, you can stay here peacefully while I follow the jade mining team up the mountain to have a look..."
In fact, Zhuang Rui didn't care much about the ownership of the jade, but he wanted to see it. The legend of this jade collector has been circulating for thousands of years.
Hearing this, the old man had a strange expression on his face, and asked Zhuang Rui: "Have you thought about going? But you may not be able to come back in ten and a half days..."
Zhuang Rui nodded and replied: "Well, I'll go take a look. Uncle Tian said that the jade I picked up belongs to me. I'm lucky, maybe I can find a piece of mutton-fat jade."
In Zhuang Rui's mind, he regarded this trip to the mountains as a trip. A lot of things happened during this period. He felt that he needed to think about it in a quiet place, as well as his future career plans. He couldn't do this every day.
Are you running around here and there?
"Well done, young man is very motivated. I'll have someone prepare your luggage right now." Seeing Zhuang Rui agree, Adila stood up happily and walked out.
"Luggage?" Zhuang Rui looked at the old man in confusion.
The old man looked at Zhuang Rui with a half-smile, and said: "Boy, do you think jade mining is tourism? The environment in the mountains is very complicated. In the past, jade collectors entered the mountains every year and stayed there forever. These
Now that you are equipped, the risk will be much smaller, but it is definitely not as comfortable as you think. What's the matter, do you still want to go?"
Going into the mountains to search for jade veins and mining jade is very difficult and dangerous. The requirements for the body, knowledge and wilderness survival quality of the entourage are very high. Although Zhuang Ruichang is tall and powerful, the ancient man
I really feel a little worried.
"go!"
Zhuang Rui nodded firmly. He had heard a lot of legends about Kunlun Mountain. Now he had the opportunity to go into the mountain to explore its secrets. If he didn't go, he would definitely regret it in the future.
"Xiao Zhuang, you can follow Dazhi into the mountains tomorrow. He has been there several times and is very experienced. You young people can also chat..."
While he was talking, Mr. Adila pulled the driver who drove Zhuang Rui at noon, walked in, patted Zhang Dazhi hard on the shoulder, and said: "Xiao Zhuang is my distinguished guest, you must take good care of him.
It’s over.”
"Uncle Tian, I am two years older than Dazhi." Zhuang Rui was dumbfounded by Adira's words.
"The mountains are no better than the outside. It depends on experience. Xiaozhuang, after you enter the mountains, you should listen to this young man's opinions more and don't make your own decisions on anything. Otherwise, don't go."
The old man put on a serious face and said to Zhuang Rui very seriously.
