Master descends to earth

Chapter 201 One tael of cinnabar and ten taels of gold
"Come, come, come, brother Junsheng, please sit down!"

Shopkeeper Dai, who was in his early seventies, affectionately pulled Ling Junsheng to sit down, and said with emotion: "The last time we parted, we brothers haven't seen each other for more than two years, right?"

"Two years and three months!" Ling Junsheng patted the other party's hand and said kindly, "How are you?"

"Okay, okay!" Shopkeeper Dai laughed loudly, let Ling Tiancheng and Su Yuan also sit down, and said happily: "It's already seventy, and it's more than seventy years old. Minor illnesses and minor disasters can't be stopped. Serious illnesses are gone for the time being, and the Lord of the Underworld is still there." Accept it!"

Everyone laughed. Shopkeeper Dai is a fat man with a red face, full of energy, optimistic by nature, and has no airs at all.

It can be seen that the relationship between the two elders is irreversible, and they are better than the shopkeeper Wu of Rongbaozhai. Everyone is talking and laughing, and the atmosphere is harmonious.

Seeing that Su Yuan was very interested, Ling Junsheng deliberately induced him: "You are an authority on the study of the Four Treasures of the Study, and today you just have the opportunity to give advice to the younger generation?"

Shopkeeper Dai laughed out loud, and looked at Su Yuan, who could make Ling Junsheng speak. He must be from the Ling family. Judging by his age, could it be Yuxin's girl...

Standing up, he took out a stack of rubbings from the counter, and showed them carefully: "Don't dare to give advice, everyone should communicate, this is Dai Yuexuan's treasure. Three generations of collection of inks by famous masters of the past can be regarded as an ax for authenticating calligraphy and painting."

Su Yuan's nose moved slightly, and various information came into his mind. He secretly lamented that it was indeed a century-old inheritance. This seemingly simple rubbing book contained universe, profound and profound.

"When it comes to making printing colors, cinnabar is naturally the main raw material. To obtain the best ink pads, the cinnabar is first selected, and the cinnabar produced in Chenzhou in southern Hunan is the best."

"Cinnabar, known as cinnabar in ancient times, is the main raw material for mercury refining. It can be used as a pigment or as a medicine. The color is deep red. It was used by Taoists in ancient times to make alchemy from mercury. It was used in Chinese medicine for medicinal purposes, and it was used by literati to make pigments."

Shopkeeper Dai had no secrets, pointing to a piece of rubbings and said: "The cinnabar is divided into old pits and new pits. The color is purple, and the ones that don't stain paper are old pit sands. The brightly colored, purple-colored ones are new pit sands." .”

"This is... arrowhead sand!"

Su Yuan looked at the rubbings, and said softly: "The color is bright red, with a hint of precious light, the best among cinnabar."

"Huh?" Shopkeeper Dai was greatly surprised, looked at the other party again, and praised: "Little friend has extraordinary eyesight, it is indeed arrow sand!"

Su Yuan smiled slightly and said, "If you guessed correctly, not only the cinnabar is excellent, but also the technique is unique, milk vermilion method?"

"Wonderful!"

Shopkeeper Dai was taken aback. He didn't expect the other party to be so unpredictable. He said sternly: "It's the milk cinnabar method. First, rub it with shochu, dry it in the sun, grind it into a medicinal mortar, and grind it slowly with a mortar. Sieve it and then grind it. The finer the better, then take it out and put it in a mortar and add glue and grind it again. The amount of glue depends on the individual’s technique.”

"Put the floating cinnabar into a porcelain basin one at a time for clarification. A layer of yellow fat will float on the surface. Rinse it with cold water. Wash it with yellow water and dry it in the sun. Don't use floating sand or bottom sand, save the middle essence for later use."

"Do this dozens of times before you can get the best arrow cinnabar, which can be said to be one or two cinnabar and three liang of gold!"

Shopkeeper Dai looked at Su Yuan with admiration, quickly took out another rubbing, and said with a smile, "What do you think of this one, little friend?"

"Douji... the size of soybeans, the middle-grade sand. As for the technique... it should be the method of flying silver and vermilion."

"Okay!" Shopkeeper Dai patted his thigh and said happily, "The bean sand is purple but not fresh. At first glance, a layman may think it is high-grade, but it turns black after a long time. It is black and purple in color, which is the burnt bean paste used in ink pads."

"Silver vermilion is the best that has been refined with mercury in Zhangzhou. First use spring water to wash the silver vermilion. The oil will naturally float on the water after washing. Carefully skim off the slick oil and wait for the silver vermilion to dry before use."

"The ink pad made of silver and vermilion cannot be mixed with cinnabar. If the two are used together, the color of the ink will turn black. Mountain springs are the best water for flying silver and vermilion, followed by river water, followed by influent water. Neither rainwater nor alum water can be used. use."

Quickly picked up the third one, let Su Yuan have a look, really curious about the depth of his eyesight?
"Chopped sand, red and bright in color, bright as a mirror, slightly transparent, relatively crisp, easy to break, medium grade."

"Fin sand, mixed with crushed stones, dark or grayish-black in color, firm in weight and not brittle, middle or low grade."

"The monk's head is purple with black in color. It is a defective product and cannot be used."

Ling Junsheng smiled without saying a word, seeing Shopkeeper Dai's increasingly shocked expression, secretly amused, Su Yuan's talent is extraordinary, and he can surprise everyone with his skills wherever he goes.

"Little friend has superb eyesight, and this old man admires him!"

Shopkeeper Dai looked at the plain expressions of Ling and his son, it seems that the other party has gotten used to it?A young man in his early twenties actually possessed such vision, and asked curiously, "Brother Jun Sheng, is this your apprentice?"

Ling Junsheng waved his hands and said with a smile: "I don't have such a blessing! Yiming is not from our circle, he is a master of Xiangdao. In the future, we old fellows will inevitably ask him to cure illness and prolong life!"

"Xiang Dao... Master?"

Shopkeeper Dai was dumbfounded, thinking for a long time that he is not from the antique circle at all?But eyesight why...

Su Yuan raised his teacup with a smile, and said indifferently: "In fact, cinnabar has been a good incense material since ancient times. It nourishes the essence and calms the soul, benefits qi and eyesight, can kill evil spirits, and can be used for a long time to enlighten the gods. Consuming it makes the mind introverted and guarded. , so it can sleep peacefully, and it is an essential medicine for invigorating the heart."

"Created by the natural fusion of heaven and earth, yang contains yin, the color of fire is exposed, and water yin is contained inside. It is a fire body but contains water vapor, which benefits yin to calm the nerves. It has yin medicine in yang, and it is king in the north and south with ginseng. Generally, the north It belongs to water, so it is a medicine with more qi components, and the south is a fire, so it is a medicine with more blood components.”

Shopkeeper Dai suddenly realized, poured tea for everyone, and sighed: "Even so, Mr.'s eyesight is admirable to the old man..."

Su Yuan said modestly: "Miao Zan Dai, how can it be so simple to say that Dai Yuexuan has been passed down for a hundred years?"

Picking up a piece of rubbings, he said with a smile: "In addition to cinnabar, the main raw material for making ink pads is moxa. The northern moxa is produced in Yangyin, Central Plains, and sea moi is produced in Siming, Jiangnan, and Qiai is produced in Qizhou."

"First remove the stalks, use a sieve to sieve the debris, keep the leaves, rub them with a brown bandage, take off the coat of the leaves, and then grind them with a mortar. Then use a small stretch bow to beat the remaining leaves The tendons are removed, soaked in lime water for seven or eight days, and boiled for three days and three nights."

"Change the water continuously to squeeze out the yellow water from the mugwort leaves, until the yellow water turns white, dry the mugwort leaves thoroughly, sieve and flick them again, to remove all the black hearts, about a catty of mugwort leaves, and finally only get three to four dollars of moxa leaves. qualified."

"In my opinion, Dai Yuexuan is more refined. Not only does he use the ancient method to refine high-grade moxa, but he also introduces new ones by adding Zhuru!"

"This……"

These words made shopkeeper Dai stand up suddenly, and said in disbelief: "The century-old secret recipe of the Dai family, how..."

(End of this chapter)