The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

Chapter 496: There are a lot of antiques sent from the north

This porcelain vase is obviously an extraordinary object. Even under the light, it is difficult to conceal its precious brilliance that has been accumulated over hundreds of years.

Zhang Chi's fingers gently stroked the cool glaze of the bottle, his eyes a hint of amusement. He looked up at Bai Minghui, who was standing at his desk in a proper manner.

This brave general, who was famous for his bravery and surprise attacks on the battlefield, seemed a little restrained at this moment.

"Minghui," Zhang Chi's voice was filled with laughter, breaking the silence, "I heard you got a famous nickname in the army?"

Bai Minghui was stunned and subconsciously straightened his back: "Please give me your instructions, Your Excellency!"

"'Faqiu Lieutenant General'?" Zhang Chi said these words slowly, the curve of his mouth widening. "Wow, this title sounds even more impressive than your current position as Commander of the Chittagong Garrison."

Bai Minghui's face flushed instantly, and he quickly waved his hands and argued: "Slander, pure slander.

Your Excellency, please do not listen to their nonsense. When I was in Sindhu, I was doing serious archaeology.

It's to help those local kings protect their temples that are about to collapse. By the way... by the way, clean up the... uh... historical relics inside to prevent them from being stolen by criminals."

Zhang Chi burst into laughter.

Since the founding of the Independent Regiment, he has repeatedly sent Bai Minghui to lead people deep into the mountains and forests of Pegu, the Siamese border, and even Sindhu to "hunt in the wild."

The mission was nominally to investigate and eliminate the remaining enemies, but in reality, it was aimed at those ancient temples and royal tombs said to be buried with gold and gems. Bai Minghui's "talent" and "luck" in this area were truly exceptional.

Zhang Chi even thought with a sense of humor that a few hundred years later, if someone knew this secret history, they would probably write a Nanyang version of "The Thief's Notes" or "The Ghost Lantern" with Bai Minghui or one of his descendants as the protagonist.

As the boss behind the scenes, he was undoubtedly the mysterious, both good and evil NPC in the story. Just thinking about the various melodramatic plots those crazy female colleagues might create for him and Bai Minghui in the future, Zhang Chi felt an inexplicable tightness in his buttocks and quickly shook off the terrifying thought.

"Okay, don't be nervous, my General Fa Qiu." He stopped laughing. "I'll use people when I need them, but I'll just treat them like a rag when I don't. That's not my relaxed personality. Just be at ease."

As he spoke, he picked up the blue-and-white plum vase on the table and handed it to Bai Minghui: "Come, help me examine it and test your 'professionalism' to see where this thing came from."

Bai Minghui saw that Zhang Chi did not seem to want to use his dark history to hold him accountable, but instead teased him.

There were no executioners rushing out from around to "take me to the Tiger Hall", and I finally felt a little relieved.

He carefully took the plum vase, his movements surprisingly gentle and professional. He first carefully examined the blue and white color and glaze cracks on the vase under the light, then carefully rubbed the body and glaze junction at the bottom of the vase with the pads of his fingers, even leaning close to the mouth of the vase to gently sniff it.

That focused look was completely different from his usual image of a powerful general on the battlefield.

After a moment, Bai Minghui raised his head, his eyes flashing with the excitement of an expert who had encountered the real thing, and said in a firm tone:

"Sir, this is not something you can easily find on the market. Look at the blue and white color, the way the lotus is painted, the mature texture of the body and glaze...it's definitely from the official kiln."

It is from the early Ming Dynasty, between the Yongle and Xuande periods. Its appearance and shape... are priceless."

Zhang Chi nodded: "Good eyesight. Go on, guess who sent it?"

Bai Minghui chuckled, "Look at the marks left on the wooden box, and the Beijing flavor that emanates from the object itself..."

"Is it probably a gift from someone in the north? Did they even say it was an 'ancestral heirloom'?"

"That's right." Zhang Chi looked at him with interest. "The other party swore that it had been passed down for more than ten generations."

"Family heirloom?" Bai Minghui scoffed, his expression a bit dismissive. "In my opinion, this thing was most likely unearthed during a grave dig in the past decade or so."

"Digging up the grave?" Zhang Chi raised his eyebrows slightly when he heard this term for the first time.

"Yes, 'exhumation of graves.'" Bai Minghui lowered his voice, a hint of mystery. "To put it bluntly, it means digging up the graves of one's ancestors. Just think about it, after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, how many of those iron-hat princes and Eight Banners nobles fell into poverty?

With no means of livelihood and no means of survival, what was he to do? Maintaining a decent appearance required money, smoking opium required money, and supporting concubines required even more. But since he had sold most of his valuable possessions, he had no choice but to go underground.

The valuables buried with the ancestors in their graves become the final 'family assets'."

With so much experience, Bai Minghui has become somewhat self-taught. He weighed the plum vase in his hand and said, "Gongyao artifacts of this level were either given by the emperor or commissioned by the royal palace. Ordinary people couldn't have them. During the Qing Dynasty, they were mostly awarded by the palace to a favored prince or beile, and buried with the emperor after his death."

Later, when their descendants were unfilial and could not make ends meet, they dared not openly declare their grave robbery, fearing disgrace and damaging their ancestors' reputation. What did they do? They found an excuse, claiming that the graves needed to be moved due to bad feng shui, or that the tombs had fallen into disrepair and needed to be "excavated" for new burials.

With this 'together', wouldn't the treasure inside be 'naturally' brought to light? And then sold... Hehe, this behavior is essentially no different from what we... uh... those grave robbers do. We're all digging graves.

It’s just that they dug their own soil, so it sounds a little nicer.”

Zhang Chi listened with great interest and couldn't help but applaud:

"Good. Well said. Bai Minghui, Bai Minghui, your nickname 'Fa Qiu Zhonglang Jiang' is well-deserved."

"You have quite a deep understanding of this subject. I don't think you'll be a general in the future. You'll have more than enough potential to open an antique shop or become a visiting professor at a university."

"Oh, sir, please don't make fun of me." Upon hearing this, Bai Minghui immediately put the plum vase back on the table carefully, "We learned this little bit of kung fu, isn't it all for you?

As long as I can help you, I will not hesitate to go through any difficulties, let alone digging graves or even going through mountains of swords and seas of fire."

Bai Minghui spoke Mandarin with a Northeastern accent, but his words were sincere and heartfelt.

Zhang Chi was amused and laughed again, pointing at Bai Minghui: "Alright, alright, I know you are loyal."

He was in a good mood and walked to an inconspicuous cabinet next to him and opened the door.

There were no documents inside, but a pile of boxes of various sizes and packaging - they were all "gifts" sent by various forces, including jewelry, jade, antiques, calligraphy and paintings.

Zhang Chi casually flipped through the boxes and picked out a flat rosewood box and a heavy brocade bag.

"Here, this is for you." Zhang Chi threw the two things to Bai Minghui, "Inside the rosewood box is a set of Longquan kiln tea cups from the Song Dynasty. The glaze is nice, it's a nice collectible.

Inside the brocade bag are several rough rubies and sapphires. Luang Phibun said they were taken from a temple in Ayutthaya, but I don't know if they're real. I think the quality is okay. You can have someone cut them and make some jewelry for your wife or keep them as a family heirloom.

Among the three great warriors under Zhang Chi, Hao Yi and Bai Minghui both married wives in Southeast Asia, while Qi Quan brought his first wife from the north.

Naturally, Zhang Chi did not forget to prepare gifts for the wives of these three subordinates.

Bai Minghui took it in a hurry, opened the box and brocade bag, took a look, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

The Longquan Kiln of the Song Dynasty and the top-grade gemstones from the ancient temple of Siam are more valuable than gold.

He was so excited that his face turned red again, this time with excitement. After placing the treasure on the table, he stood at attention and saluted, his voice rising an octave: "Thank you for your generous reward, Minghui is deeply grateful.

I will work even harder in the future, for you and for Nanyang, and I will sacrifice my life for you.”

"Don't be so corny." Zhang Chi smiled and waved his hand, sitting back in his office chair, his eyes meaningful, "It's a good thing, but remember, don't lose your ambition just because you play with it."

"At the military meeting tomorrow, I want to hear your specific ideas on the defense of Chittagong and the future reorganization of the group army. If you can't explain it clearly..." He deliberately prolonged his voice.

Bai Minghui immediately straightened his chest and raised his head, snapping to attention once more, his spirit instantly switching back to that of an iron-blooded general: "Please rest assured, Your Excellency, everything has been prepared and I guarantee your satisfaction."

Looking at Bai Minghui's back as he happily left, Zhang Chi smiled and shook his head.

He knew clearly that these tributes and gifts pouring in from all sides were both a gesture of goodwill from the people of Southeast Asia and various forces in the north, and also a test.

He casually picked up a piece of jade and played with it, his heart calm.

For him, these things were nothing more than tools to win over people's hearts and reward meritorious officials.