"Strictly speaking, these ancient corpses are not part of my collection."
Uncle Ming smiled and answered, "Most of these ancient corpses are collected by various foreign museums, and the remaining small part is owned by some wealthy foreigners."
"I'm just a middleman."
Hu Ba nodded and asked again, "Then, what do those museums and rich people do collecting these ancient corpses?"
Uncle Ming: "What I do specifically varies from person to person, and it's more complicated. I can't say it clearly. I only know that for those museums and those rich people, these ancient corpses are a kind of document that solidifies the beauty of death.
It has extremely high research value and appreciation value, and at the same time, it also contains huge commercial value and cultural value."
"In short, to put it simply, these ancient corpses are very valuable...if sold to the right buyer, the price will be far higher than ordinary antiques."
Hu Bayi really doesn't know much about the ancient corpse business.
Therefore, when I heard Uncle Ming say this, I was a little eye-opening and said, "I've heard before that some mummies can be sold for a lot of money, but I didn't take it seriously at all at the time. Now that I think about it, it's really a vast world full of wonders."
Uncle Ming: "Well, there are too many profitable businesses in this world... Speaking of this, I heard that you got an ancient corpse-suppressing mirror in Yunnan not long ago?"
Uncle Ming said very naturally, "I am very interested in that ancient mirror. I don't know, why don't you let me take a look? If that ancient mirror is what I think, and you are willing to sell it...
...You can set the price as you like, or you can exchange it for any of the antiques I have here that you like."
After saying that, Uncle Ming turned his head slightly and said to Ding Ze, "That ancient mirror is in the hands of Boss Ding, right?"
Seeing Uncle Ming talking to him, Ding Ze felt that it was a bit inappropriate to remain silent, so he shook his head and said, "I'll give it to Lao Hu."
Hear this.
Hu Ba suddenly turned his head and glanced at Ding Ze, his eyes a little complicated, "????"
This complexity is fleeting.
Hu Bayi reacted and realized that Ding Ze's words meant that he should continue to be responsible for communicating with Uncle Ming, so he immediately returned to normal and faced Uncle Ming with a smile.
Uncle Ming had turned his head at this time, looked at Hu Bayi again, and said with a smile, "Boss Hu, could you please take out the ancient mirror and have a look?"
Hu Bayi didn't answer immediately. After thinking about it for a while, he thought that Uncle Ming might know the origin of that ancient mirror, so he asked instead without answering.
"Uncle Ming, what is the origin of that ancient mirror?"
"Boss Hu is indeed young and promising, and he even talked to me." Uncle Ming heard this and smiled, then without delay, he said, "Actually, that ancient mirror is of no use to you, but it is of no use to me.
It’s of great use.”
"As far as I know, that ancient mirror is a first-class evil-proof thing... There is no other evil-proof thing in the world than this."
"Speaking of the origin of the ancient mirror, although I haven't seen the real thing yet, when my friend who was in the antique business mentioned it, I immediately thought that it must be an ancient artifact from the pre-Qin Dynasty. It can't be wrong!"
Uncle Ming said this, paused, and suddenly asked, "Qin Shihuang is a member of the Legalist family, do you know?"
Hu Bayi was stunned, raised his eyebrows, and thought to himself, I know nothing, so he followed, so he had no choice but to pretend to understand and nodded without saying anything.
Da Jinya, who had been silent since Uncle Ming entered the door, suddenly said, "A hundred schools of thought contend, we know that. Legalism is one of the hundreds of schools, and at the same time, it is also a theory of governing the country.
.”
"Later, probably during the Western Han Dynasty, the imperial court abolished hundreds of schools of thought and only respected Confucianism... Since then, Legalism has gradually declined."
"Well, that's right," Uncle Ming nodded and continued, "Now that you know this, it will be much easier for me to talk about it."
"The ancient mirror, which can restrain corpses and ward off evil spirits, is said to have been built in Ziyang Mountain. It can illuminate the four dimensions of heaven and earth, propriety, justice, integrity, and shame. It is a symbol of Legalism."
"According to historical records, during the reign of Qin Shihuang, in a certain year, there were zombies in the Yellow River, making waves and sinking ships. After Qin Shihuang learned about it, he ordered people to hang the ancient mirror at the mouth of the river and sent troops to guard it. Shortly thereafter,
The Yellow River will then return to calm."
"When the Qin and Han Dynasties changed, the ancient mirror fell into the hands of the princes of the Han Dynasty. Then it changed hands several times and finally landed in the Yunnan area, and the news gradually disappeared."
"Until some time ago, I was found by you in Yunnan."
----------------------------------
"That's what happened. I didn't expect that ancient mirror to have such a long history."
After hearing this, Hu Bayi said with a bit of emotion in his tone.
Uncle Ming agreed, "Yes, the history is indeed long...Boss Hu, I have already said this. Is it convenient to take out the ancient mirror and have a look?"
Uncle Ming asked again.
Words enter the air.
Hu Bayi's expression changed immediately, and then, without any hesitation, he shook his head at Uncle Ming apologetically.
"Uncle Ming, I'm afraid it's inconvenient... because that ancient mirror is not in my hands at the moment. I sold it to a foreigner from the United States a few days ago. I guess the foreigner has already taken the ancient mirror with him.
Overseas."
Hu Bayi said nonsense in a sincere tone.
Hear the words.
The smile on Uncle Ming's face suddenly solidified.
Uncle Ming didn't speak immediately, he just looked at Hu Bayi silently.
I watched it for a few seconds.
The smile on Uncle Ming's face bloomed again and he spoke.
"Is that so? What a pity."
"If you could sell that ancient mirror to me, the price I would pay would definitely be higher than that of that foreigner."
"Boss Hu, can you still find that foreigner now?"
The meaning of these words is already obvious.
Uncle Ming didn't believe Hu Bayi's nonsense and concluded that Hu Bayi was playing a trick and wanted to raise the price.
Hu Bayi was not stupid and immediately understood the meaning of Uncle Ming's words, so he took advantage of the situation and said without comment, "It's difficult, after all, I don't know that foreigner."
After receiving this answer, the smile on Uncle Ming's face became a little brighter, and he became more sure of his thoughts.
"A foreigner who travels in this city will always have some acquaintances."
"It may be difficult to find, but it shouldn't be completely impossible."
Uncle Ming said, turning to look at the clock hanging on the wall, "Look at this time, it's time for lunch. How about we have a meal together and then talk about how to find that foreigner?"
"
Uncle Ming suggested.
Hu Bayi did not express his position directly, but asked Ding Ze and Da Jinya, "Old Ding, Da Jinya, what do you think?"
Ding Ze readily agreed, "Okay."
Da Jinya was a profiteer, so he naturally saw that Hu Bayi was playing tricks with Uncle Ming. Seeing that Ding Ze had agreed, he smiled and nodded, "Okay, I happen to be hungry. I just don't know, Uncle Ming's lunch here.
What kind of dishes are there?”
Uncle Ming: "Haha, don't worry, I guarantee it will be delicious."
"That's good," Da Jinya happily agreed.
When Hu Ba heard this, he said to Uncle Ming: "Then I'll trouble Uncle Ming."
Uncle Ming chuckled: "No trouble, it's my honor for you to stay for a meal... Then let's go to the restaurant, the meal will be ready in a while."