102: Chapter 102 No rush, there's plenty of time.

[Item: Cash Coins, Qing Dynasty, Yongzheng Tongbao, minted by the Ministry of Revenue’s Baoquan Mint]

[Quantity: Approximately 4,200 pieces, including a small amount of damaged ones; approximately 3,800 intact pieces]

[Source: Transported by official vessel, purpose pending investigation]

[Condition: Partially adhered, varied condition, intact pieces account for about 70%]

[Estimated Value: Market price for a single piece in good condition is about 800 to 1,500 yuan; total valuation for 3,800 pieces is about 3 million to 5.6 million yuan]

Hu Tian also stored the copper coins from this chest into the System Space.

Grabbing the edge of the chest, he gave it a casual toss—another discarded iron chest.

Yongzheng Tongbao, exquisitely minted and produced by the Ministry of Revenue’s Baoquan Mint, were the top-tier source among official coins. In this condition, ancient coin collectors at an auction house would fight tooth and nail for them.

He took a sip of beer, moved his legs which had gone numb from squatting, and shifted his gaze to the third iron chest.

The third iron chest was the smallest in volume so far, nearly a third shorter and narrower than the others, but its weight was not light. He had felt it when he took it out of the System Space earlier—that solid, heavy feel was completely different from the chests filled with copper coins; it was a denser weight.

He pried open the lid. Inside were compartments, separated into upper and lower layers by rotting wooden boards. The upper layer's board was already completely decayed, crumbling at a light touch. He used tweezers to clear away the wood fragments, revealing the contents of the upper layer.

It was jade.

There were six pieces in total, each wrapped individually in cloth. The cloth had rotted, but the jade pieces inside were protected by copper boxes and were relatively well-preserved.

He used the tweezers to peel away the outer layer of shredded fabric piece by piece, getting a rough look at their outlines.

One piece was a jade bi disk, circular, small in size, with a regular central hole.

Two pieces were jade pendants, similar in form and appearing to be a pair. He didn't examine the carved patterns closely, only taking a quick look through a magnifying glass; there were some cloud motifs and animal mask motifs.

The remaining three pieces were wrapped more tightly, with thicker layers of shredded fabric.

The system's blue light lit up one by one. After each flash of light, the identification results hung quietly in his mind like a printed list, line by line.

[Item: Jade Bi Disk, Qing Dynasty, Hetian Celadon-White Jade, diameter approximately 11.3 cm]

[Condition: Intact, uniform distribution of calcification colors, no damage to the edges]

[Source: Suspected to be burial goods of a bureaucratic family, later circulated into maritime transport]

[Estimated Value: Approximately 800,000 to 1.2 million yuan][Item: Pair of Jade Pendants, Mid-Qing Dynasty, Hetian White Jade, Cloud and animal mask motif style]

[Condition: Good, one piece has slight scratches on the back, does not affect the whole]

[Source: Same batch of official transport, purpose pending investigation]

[Estimated Value: Total for the pair is approximately 600,000 to 900,000 yuan] Then came the three more tightly wrapped pieces.

Peeling back the first one revealed a Jade Mountain Carving. It was celadon jade, not large in volume, yet it depicted an entire mountain forest—trees, streams, and pavilions, with distinct layers and intricate blade work. In the finer details, one could even see the veins of the leaves. The exquisite craftsmanship made his hand holding the tweezers pause.

[Item: Jade Mountain Carving, Yongzheng Emperor Era of the Qing Dynasty, Celadon Jade, Suzhou Craftsmanship masterpiece]

[Condition: Intact, no chips or cracks, natural patina]

[Source: Suspected to be leaked tribute, specific whereabouts unknown]

[Estimated Value: Approximately 3.5 million to 5 million yuan] The second piece was a Jade Ruyi Scepter. White jade, with a lingzhi mushroom motif carved on the head and a plain handle. The jade quality was extremely fine, with almost no impurities. Looking closely with a magnifying glass, the surface seemed to be covered in a layer of frost, yet also like a water surface that had just calmed down. That kind of luster was something only old jade possessed; new jade could not replicate it.

[Item: Jade Ruyi Scepter, Qing Dynasty, Mutton-fat White Jade, Lingzhi Motif head, plain handle]

[Condition: Near perfect, with only very slight signs of use on the end of the handle]

[Source: Collection from a noble residence, later entered maritime transport, complex origin]

[Estimated Value: Approximately 4.8 million to 7 million yuan] The third piece was the last, and also the heaviest.

He peeled away the outer shredded fabric bit by bit. Inside was an additional inner box made of copper sheet. The copper had oxidized and turned green, but the traces of the wax seal at the opening were still there, indicating that it had been intentionally sealed when packed. This item had been specially protected.

He used the tweezers to pry open the lid of the copper box.

Inside was a jade cup.

The body of the cup was carved from a single piece of white jade. The jade was white and lustrous, with a thin-walled body that was almost translucent. The body featured a relief of a chi-dragon motif, with a chi-dragon climbing on each side. The modeling was vivid, the dragon claws powerful, and the details precise; one could even clearly distinguish the individual strands of the dragon's whiskers.

Hu Tian squatted there and watched for nearly a minute without moving.

He had seen something similar to this in a Museum, behind bulletproof glass, with a description card hanging next to it that read "Cultural Relic Prohibited from Leaving the Country."

The blue light lit up.

[Item: Thin-walled White Jade Cup with Chi-Dragon Motif, Kangxi Era of the Qing Dynasty, Imperial Workshop production]

[Condition: Perfect, no chips or cracks, thin body intact, jade quality reaches mutton-fat grade]

[Source: Leaked from the palace, suspected to have been lost after being gifted during the Kangxi era, entered maritime transport after changing hands multiple times]

[Estimated Value: Auction house reference price; transaction records for similar items show approximately 20 million to 35 million yuan. If it can be identified as an imperial palace production upon being sold, the room for valuation increase is enormous]

Hu Tian directly stored the jade cup into the System Space.

Then he stored the remaining five jade pieces as well.

Of course, the third iron chest followed the call of the ancestors and was thrown into the sea by Hu Tian.

Only ripples of bubbles were left on the sea surface.

Hu Tian stood up and stretched. The sea breeze blew against the hem of his clothes. He squinted his eyes, looking at the remaining iron chest on the deck.

An imperial jade cup from the Kangxi era... Zhu Bu, you pirate, where on earth did you plunder such a thing from?

The mystery boxes weren't finished yet; he would deal with the one in front of him first.

The wind continued to blow from the sea, carrying the smell of salt and the sound of surging waves. The yacht rocked gently on the water, and the rust-covered iron chest on the deck sat quietly in the sunlight, waiting to be opened.

Hu Tian squatted down again, facing the remaining iron chest. He picked up the prying tool and pried bit by bit along the edge.

The fourth iron chest was the most severely corroded one so far. The lid and the body were almost rusted shut, the gap nearly completely filled by layers of rust. Hu Tian switched to a thinner prying tool from his toolbox and began to grind inward bit by bit from a corner.

This time, he spent nearly thirty minutes.

Sweat began to seep out. He wiped his forehead haphazardly with the back of his hand and continued to grind with all his strength.

The sea breeze didn't stop, blowing on Hu Tian and taking away the sweat on his forehead, but the sunlight was truly harsh, making the back of his neck feel hot and itchy.

But he wasn't in a hurry; he had plenty of time to wear it down.

Under his continuous pressure, the lid finally made a coarse, rasping sound and slowly loosened. Then, he gripped both sides with his hands and slowly lifted it upward.

The lid opened a little less than halfway. He took a look inside and then stopped his hands.

He didn't fully recognize the things inside, but there was one item he did recognize.

It was a yellow silk bundle, folded neatly. Its state of preservation was far better than the other items because the chest had a copper lining that kept the seawater out. The interior was almost dry; compared to the external seawater environment, this iron chest was more like a sealed safe.

He didn't rush to move it, first letting the system radar scan the entire chest.

The blue light scanned the chest inside and out for nearly three seconds—slower than usual, indicating the system had encountered some content that required comparison during identification.

Only then did the information appear in Hu Tian's mind.

[Item: Documents wrapped in yellow silk, Qing Dynasty, 7th Year of Yongzheng Emperor, classified archives]

[Quantity: Three documents, accompanied by two pieces of physical evidence; specific content requires opening for verification]

[Source: Yuehai Governors Office, secretly stored by imperial decree, private reading prohibited, violators shall be executed]

[Condition: Well-preserved, handwriting is most likely legible]

[Estimated Value: Historical document value is extremely high. If the content involves classified affairs of the Yongzheng Emperor era, both academic and auction value are difficult to quantify; no estimate will be made for now]

Hu Tian finished absorbing this information, gently closed the iron chest lid again, and then slowly stood up. He stood on the deck, staring blankly at the blue-green sea for a few seconds.

Difficult to quantify.

This was the first time the system had given him such an answer.

He stored the fourth iron chest into the System Space, shoved his hands into his pockets, and thought about the eight others still sitting in the System Space, letting out a slow breath.

Iron chest, trembling in fear... Luckily I have the goods inside me, so I wasn't thrown into the sea like trash.

Yuehai Governors Office, secretly stored by imperial decree, private reading prohibited, violators shall be executed.

He was starting to vaguely grasp the outline of what this ship was carrying back then, but the clearer the outline became, the bigger the matter was.

Hu Tian stood on the deck for a while, the sea breeze blowing his clothes against his body. He tilted his head and looked at the thumbnail icons of the row of iron chests sitting in the System Space. He counted them—eight.

He lifted his feet and paced a few steps on the deck to relieve his joints that were sore from squatting. After some thought, he decided to clear the remaining eight iron chests first before studying that silk-wrapped document. After all, it needed a professional environment for study; leaving it out for too long might cause oxidation and loss of color.

What's the rush? The things are in the space; they won't run away.

He opened the System Space and brought out four of the iron chests in sequence, lining them up on the deck.

The outsides of these four chests were covered in rust, and a few corners were nearly rusted through. The marks left by sea salt and time on the iron sheets were dense, like some old ledger written in complex characters—unintelligible, but the weight was there.

He first squatted in front of the first one, inserted the prying tool into the gap, and gave it a push. He didn't use much force; the corrosion level of this chest was moderate, much easier to pry than the fourth chest.

He slowly pried it open. The lid shifted to reveal a crack, and he reached out to lift it and set it aside.

The system radar automatically began to scan; he didn't even have to trigger it manually. The blue light flashed, and the scan was complete.

The information box popped up directly.

[Item: Silver Ingots, Qing Dynasty, minted during the Yongzheng Emperor era, 98% purity, official silver]

[Quantity: Entire chest contains a total of 180 pieces, each weighing 50 taels, totaling approximately 9,000 taels of silver]

[Source: Treasury silver from the Guangdong Provincial Administration Commission, hijacked during transport, has not entered the Ministry of Revenue's records to this day]

[Condition: Well-preserved, some surface oxidation, overall intact, suitable for circulation and auction]

[Estimated Value: Cultural relic grade silver, market price for a single piece is approximately 150,000 to 220,000 RMB; total valuation is approximately 30 million to 60 million RMB]

Hu Tian scanned the information, gave a hum of acknowledgment, leaned over, reached into the chest, picked up a silver ingot, and turned it over in the sunlight.