103: Chapter 103 Blind Box Harvest

Fifty taels of official silver with clear cast patterns. The front was shaped like a waist drum, and the sides were engraved with the casting location and official seals. It felt heavy in the hand with a thick patina; time had not lied.

He set down the silver ingot and stored the entire iron chest, silver and all, into the System Space. He casually threw the pried-open lid in as well, but after a second of thought, he decided against it. The iron chest was useless. He took the empty chest back out of the system, pushed it a few steps toward the gunwale, and kicked it overboard.

The iron chest splashed into the sea, the sound of it sinking being much heavier than that of the silver.

Bubbles rose for a while and then dissipated.

He returned and crouched in front of the second iron chest.

The rust on this chest was even thicker than the last, but it was a size smaller. He switched to a thinner prying tool and slowly ground his way in from the right corner. After grinding for about ten minutes, he finally forced a gap in the lid. With a sharp upward pull, it opened.

The sunlight hit the interior directly. Hu Tian glanced inside; the contents were neatly stacked layer by layer, separated by oil paper. Most of the oil paper had long since carbonized, becoming brittle and thin, but its outline remained. The stacked shapes suggested they were all the same type of item.

The system's blue light had already finished scanning.

[Item: Silver Ingots, Qing Dynasty, Qianlong Era, 98% purity, mixed collection of official and private silver]

[Quantity: Approximately one hundred pieces in the entire chest, varying specifications; large ones are fifty taels, small ones are twenty taels, totaling approximately 1,440 taels of silver]

[Source: Private silver from merchants in the Fujian sea area, suspected to be obtained by Zhu Bu from intercepted merchant ships, not official treasury silver]

[Condition: Wrapped in oil paper, fairly well-preserved; some silver ingots are slightly deformed, which does not affect overall condition]

[Estimated Value: Antique-grade silver, total valuation approximately 4.3 million to 6.8 million RMB]

After Hu Tian finished reading, he said nothing. He lowered his head, stored the iron chest into the System Space, then pulled the empty iron chest out, pushed it to the gunwale, and kicked it off.

Another rusted iron chest was added to the sea.

He wiped the sweat from his face, stood up to stretch his shoulders, looked at the remaining two iron chests, and crouched back down before the third one.

This one seemed heavier than the first two. When he pushed it across the deck, he felt a great deal of resistance. It didn't feel like it contained silver ingots; although silver was heavy, its density was uniform. The way this felt heavy was different—it felt denser, more solid.

He wedged the prying tool in, exerted some effort, and flipped the lid open.

There was no silver-white inside.

It was yellow.

A whole chest of gold ingots, packed to the brim and separated by scraps of cloth. The cloth had long since rotted into lint, but gold does not decay. It was a brilliant yellow, almost blinding under the sunlight.

Hu Tian squinted his eyes.

He bent over, reached in, and picked up one piece. He weighed it in one hand; it was incredibly heavy. Gold always has that feel—a weight that makes the wrist fully aware of its mass.

The system information box had already appeared.

[Item: Gold Ingots, Qing Dynasty, Qianlong Era, 99% purity, official cast, some privately cast]

[Quantity: 80 pieces in total, specifications ranging from 10 to 50 taels, totaling approximately 4,800 taels of gold]

[Source: Tribute silver and withheld commercial taxes from Guangdong merchants, suspected to have leaked from the Viceroy of Liangguang's manor midway; accounts are unclear]

[Condition: Extremely well-preserved, stable gold quality, no oxidation, cast patterns as clear as when new]

[Estimated Value: Antique-grade gold, reference market price per piece approximately 450,000 to 900,000 RMB, total valuation approximately 80.8 million to 121.6 million RMB; the price of gold itself fluctuates with the market, making the upper limit difficult to fix]

Hu Tian put the gold ingot back, clapped his hands, stood up, and stored the gold into the System Space.

This was already the third chest of precious metals he had seen, and his eyes no longer wandered. Whether it was gold or silver, lying in the System Space, they were just a string of numbers. He could figure out how to handle them later; there was no rush.

With a kick, the iron chest went off the deck and sank.

He turned his gaze to the final iron chest.

This iron chest was the most peculiar-looking of the four. It wasn't the largest or the heaviest, but there was a remnant of copper edging around the iron plating, likely some kind of protective design. The copper had long since turned green, and the verdigris had flowed down the iron, leaving green streaks on the chest like a face that had been crying.

He crouched down and inserted the prying tool into the corner with the copper edging.

The copper edging design required a bit more effort because the rust here was a mixture of iron and copper rust, which was harder and stickier than pure iron rust. He changed the angle of the prying tool three times. The sound of the tool's edge grinding against the verdigris was a dull rasp, like a file against iron. It was unpleasant, but he didn't care.

After nearly twenty minutes, the lid loosened.

He lifted the lid and set it aside.

At a glance, the contents this time were different from the previous chests. The colors were varied—red, green, white, and transparent. They were wrapped in silk, but the silk had long since decayed, leaving only a faint shape that crumbled at a touch. However, the items inside were fine, spread across the bottom of the chest in a jumble: necklaces, bracelets, rings, and several loose pieces. They were piled together as if they had been swept directly from somewhere into the chest.

The system's blue light finished its scan, and the information box appeared.

[Item: Jewelry and Ornaments, Qing Dynasty, Yongzheng Emperor to Qianlong eras, mixed collection of palace and civilian sources]

[Quantity: 117 pieces of jewelry, approximately 2 jin 3 liang of loose gems; see appendix for detailed list]

[Source: Some styles correspond to the archives of the Imperial Workshop, suspected to be items leaked from the Imperial Household Department; others are private collections of Guangdong merchants; sources are mixed]

[Condition: Overall preservation is good; gemstones have no obvious damage; some gold and silver settings have oxidation and can be restored]

[Estimated Value: Jewelry produced by the Imperial Workshop, highest valuation per piece approximately 5 million to 8 million RMB; civilian pieces vary in value from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands; loose gems calculated separately by weight and quality; total comprehensive valuation for the chest approximately 68 million to 85 million RMB]

Hu Tian finished reading the information with no expression. He bent over, reached into the chest, and casually picked up an item.

It was a bracelet made of mutton-fat white jade, round in shape, with a fine texture. Under a light, it would likely show a waxy glow. It felt warm and smooth to the touch, with no cracks or flaws, only a few slight scratches on the outer ring that didn't affect its value.

He weighed the bracelet, put it back, and stored the entire iron chest into the System Space.

He thought for a moment, found it too much trouble, then pulled the iron chest back out of the space, walked to the gunwale, and pushed it off.

The iron chest fell into the sea. This time, it didn't make the sound he expected—just a very ordinary splash, like a piece of scrap metal, and then it sank.

He clapped his hands and stood on the deck for a moment.

Hu Tian stood on the deck for a while. The wind blew in from the sea, carrying a salty, fishy scent, as the ship rose and fell gently with the waves.

He pulled the remaining four iron chests back out from the System Space.

Crouching down again, he gathered the four iron chests on the deck one by one, lining them up in two rows. He lowered himself to look from the side; the chests weren't exactly the same size, but they were of the same style and craftsmanship, likely part of a set.

He started with the one on the far left.

This chest was the most well-formed of the four, with no dents on the corners. The rust on the iron plating was a light reddish-brown that had spread evenly over time, not the deep rust found on damaged areas. He inserted the prying tool and, after about seven or eight minutes, the lid opened.

He flipped the lid open.

A brilliant yellow—a chest of gold.

He glanced at it, didn't move it, and let the system scan it directly.

The blue light scanned from top to bottom, and the info box popped up.

[Item: Gold Ingots, cast-molded]

[Quantity: 48 pieces in total, each weighing approximately one market jin, totaling approximately 24 kilograms]

[Source: Casting batch is from the same period as the previous chest; casting craftsmanship and purity are similar, suspected to be from the same production batch; some ingot surfaces bear faint numerical serials, possibly used for batch management at the time]

[Condition: No obvious damage, complete purity, extremely slight oxidation, excellent condition]

[Estimated Value: Antique-grade gold, reference market price per piece approximately 450,000 to 900,000 RMB, total valuation approximately 31.6 million to 43.2 million RMB; gold price itself fluctuates with the market, making the upper limit difficult to fix]

It was similar to the previous chest. After Hu Tian finished reading the information, he stored the gold ingots into the System Space. He didn't bother closing the lid; it was useless anyway.

The empty chest was pushed off the gunwale and sank.

He moved to the second one.

The second iron chest was slightly heavier than the first. When he dragged it, he felt the center of gravity was low; it was solid.

He inserted the prying tool into the gap of the lid. The rust here wasn't too thick, and it opened in five or six minutes.

He opened the lid; it was still gold.

He didn't even bat an eye, letting the system scan it directly.

[Item: Gold Vessels, various types]

[Quantity: 24 pieces in total, including 8 gold bowls, 8 gold cups, 2 gold plates, 1 gold pot, and 1 gold spoon]

[Source: Vessel styles feature both Central Plains and Western elements; some vessels have regular script Chinese inscriptions on the bottom. The handwriting is neat, suggesting they were custom-made for the mid-Qing court or government, not private civilian casts]

[Condition: Overall preservation is good; gold bowls and cups have slight deformation; the two gold plates are intact and undamaged; the spout of the gold pot has a crack but does not affect the overall assessment; the gold spoon is in good condition]

[Estimated Value: Custom-made goldware for the court/government, highest valuation per piece approximately 1.2 million to 3 million RMB, total comprehensive valuation approximately 28 million to 72 million RMB; if sold at auction with a significant premium, the upper limit will increase substantially]

Hu Tian took out the gold pot to look at it. The crack on the spout was a fine hairline, not a break. He traced the crack with his thumb; it wasn't deep, just metal fatigue caused by time. Restoration wouldn't be a big problem.

He put the gold pot back and stored all the goldware into the System Space.

The empty chest was pushed into the sea and sank.

He straightened his back on the deck and stretched his shoulders. Only two left.

The third iron chest was the smallest in volume of the four, but it wasn't light. He weighed it with one hand, then switched to two, estimating it to be twenty or thirty jin.

The outside of the chest had no copper edging, and the iron rust wasn't particularly severe, but there was an old dent on the lid, as if it had been struck by something hard at some point. The mark had long since rusted over and had no real impact, though he had to adjust the angle of the prying tool when inserting it from that direction.

He spent nearly fifteen minutes prying the lid open.

He opened it to find more jewelry.

This chest was different from the previous one. The earlier one was colorful with many gemstones; this one looked much more plain at first glance, with a large amount of white and gold, mixed with a small amount of blue and green. The silk was also rotted.