It didn't take long for Mr. Zheng to turn around and come back, smiling and saying: "Xiao Yao, good news! Master, he is at Lao Liang's place, and Lao Liang's house is not far from here. He can be here soon by car. When I bring him

After you told me about Li Mo, he agreed without saying a word, and also said that he would come over in person, so let's wait."

"Oh, really?! That's great!" Hearing what Mr. Zheng said, Jiahao couldn't help but feel excited. The patriarch, who was over 100 years old, came to appraise things for him in person. How could he not be flattered by this?

After waiting for about half an hour in a very excited mood, I suddenly saw a few more people at the door, one of whom was the founder of the company.

"Master, they are here!" Lin Haitao exclaimed in a low voice.

Jiahao immediately cheered up and stood up together with Lin Haitao, preparing to welcome the grand master.

"Master, you are here?!" Mr. Zheng quickly stood up to greet him and said happily, "You see, you are asked to make this trip in person, we should go find you!"

But the Patriarch shook his head with a smile and said: "It doesn't matter, my old bones are still healthy. Walking more is good for my health. Wen Sheng, didn't you just say on the phone that there was a piece of Li that looked like Li

Is it ancient ink? Let’s take it out first and have a look. In fact, it’s easy to recognize.”

As soon as he saw Mr. Zheng, he asked directly about the ancient ink, as if he couldn't wait to see it.

"The thing is over there. Master, let's go over and sit down and talk. Please walk slowly." Mr. Zheng said respectfully.

Then Grandmaster walked to the center of the hall, surrounded by the three of them. When he approached, Jiahao, who was waiting there with his hands down, greeted him respectfully: "Grandpa Grandpa, hello."

"Xiao Yao, right?" Master Patriarch recognized Jiahao at a glance and said with a smile. Then he specially introduced Jiahao to the two strange men around him. He obviously valued Jiahao very much.

That night, Jiahao showed his talent in front of him and made a great impression on him.

After everyone got to know each other and chatted for a while, they all sat down. Later, Lin Haitao also brought the brewed tea and served the fragrant hot tea.

"Master, this is the ingot. Take a look and see how it looks. It is indeed a very old piece of ink. We initially thought it was Li Mo, but we can't be sure." Then, Mr. Zheng pointed to the table.

The piece of ancient ink on it.

When they noticed the piece of ink, the Patriarch and the other three people all had a look of surprise on their faces.

"Let me take a look first." The Patriarch immediately took out his gloves and put them on, then carefully picked them up and inspected them carefully.

I saw him talking, weighing, and smelling while observing, but he didn't say a word for a long time.

Jia Hao and the others also remained silent, not even taking a breath, for fear of disturbing the Patriarch's thoughts.

I don’t know how long it took, but the Patriarch finally raised his head, but his face was still calm. He neither said yes nor denied anything. At this moment, no one could tell what he was thinking.

"Haitao, bring me a basin of water. I want clean water at room temperature." Grandmaster ordered.

"Yes, grandpa!" Lin Haitao readily agreed.

So he ran quickly and quickly brought back a basin of water. Everyone didn't know what the water was for.

"Xiao Yao, do you have any objection if I put this piece of ink into the water?" Grandmaster asked with a smile.

"Of course I have no objection! Grandpa, please do as you please!" Jiahao agreed without thinking. He knew very well that Grandpa had his own reasons for doing so, so he just had to obey his wishes.

After receiving Jiahao's permission, the Patriarch gently put the piece of ink into the clear water.

Jiahao originally thought that if the ink stick was thrown into the water, it might dissolve and at least a little black water stain would leak out. The strange thing is that when the ink stick was put into the water, it was just like a gold ingot dropped into the water. There was no reaction at all, and the water was still so clear.

After the ink block fell to the bottom of the water, the Patriarch looked at its changes for a long time before taking it out. After the water was wiped dry, the ink block quickly returned to its original state without being soaked in water at all.

"Wen Sheng, Xiao Yao, this piece of ink is not simple, very not simple. It is a rare treasure, more precious than a gold nugget!"

Finally, the Patriarch put down the ink stick and finally made a judgment.

As soon as these words came out, Jiahao and Lin Haitao looked at each other and were overjoyed.

"Master, so this ingot of ancient ink is really Li Mo?" Mr. Zheng asked eagerly.

The Patriarch nodded solemnly and said: "Yes, I think so. This piece of ink is light when picked up, sweet when smelled, and as strong as jade. It has all the characteristics of fine Hui ink, plus this piece of ink

At first glance, you can tell that it is a piece of very old ink. For an ink with such good texture and long history, only Li Mo can be qualified, right? Although it doesn’t say it is Li Mo, you really can’t be 100% sure, but basically

We can conclude that it is a piece of Li Mo! 'A thousand pieces of gold is easy to get, but Li Mo is hard to find', this thing is really very precious!"

"Master, you are right, it makes sense." Mr. Zheng said happily, "You just put that piece of ink into the water for identification, right?"

I heard the ancestor reply seriously: "This is a more critical step. Good ink will not melt when exposed to water. Let me tell you a little story, which is related to Li Mo. In ancient times, there was a

The nobleman accidentally dropped a stick of plum ink into the pool. He thought that the ink would be damaged when it was soaked in water, so he did not take it out. More than a month later, while drinking by the pool, he dropped a gold object into the pool.

At this time, he sent people to go into the water to search for it. When the servants were groping in the water, they not only touched the goldware, but also touched the ingot of plum ink. They saw that the color of the ingot of plum ink had not changed after being soaked in water, and the surface and the inside were as bright as before.

New. According to legend, real Li ink will not deteriorate even if it is soaked in water for three years. However, ordinary ink is not dense enough, so it is easy to dissolve when it is stained with water, or at least it will change. But you also saw it just now, right?

The ink has not changed at all despite being in water for such a long time, which proves that its texture is fine and not easily eroded by water."

"Oh, that's it!" Mr. Zheng nodded.

Jiahao and Lin Haitao on the side also suddenly realized. After getting this answer from the ancestor, He Qing finally felt relieved. He had nothing to worry about after getting the approval of the top master. It was undoubtedly Li Mo.

"Now the identification can only go to this step." The Patriarch then added, "If you still want to do the next step of identification, there is a more practical way."

"What is it?" Mr. Zheng asked in surprise.

The ancestor explained in detail: "That is to compare the calligraphy and painting written with Li ink to see if there are essential similarities between the ink on the calligraphy and painting and the ink used to grind the ink. Appreciation of ancient literati

The quality of ink pays attention to the light smoke, aging of the glue, uniform ingredients, and good pestle. Li's ink making has reached the level of excellence in these aspects. He used twelve kinds of ink such as musk, croton, rhinoceros horn, pearls, and jade chips.

The raw material requires one hundred thousand pestles for each dose before the ink can be finalized. Li ink is antiseptic and mothproof, and will remain unchanged for a long time. When grinded correctly, it has a refreshing fragrance. When writing, it is smooth and not stagnant. The ink will not fade for a long time. I have it in my room.

Some calligraphy and paintings are said to have been drawn by Li Mo. However, using this method requires grinding some ink down. Xiao Yao, the things are yours, it depends on your own thoughts. This ink is said to be Li Mo, so there is generally no problem.

of."

Jiahao seemed to hesitate and said: "Grandpa, let's give it a try. You are a calligrapher. It is perfect to compare the writing effect of this ink with Li Mo's works!"

The Patriarch said happily: "Well, let's try it. I have never dreamed of writing with Li ink. I didn't expect to have such a good opportunity today! In fact, you don't have to worry about wearing out this ink. Just grind it a little."

Li Mo consumes very little ink when writing. Xu Xuan, a calligrapher and writer in the Song Dynasty, got a stick of Li Mo when he was a child, about a foot long, and cherished it very much. He and his brother used this ink together and wrote at least five thousand words every day.

words, but it took ten years to use them all!”

"I know." Jiahao responded with a smile, "It's a great honor for me to invite you to try the ink!"

The Patriarch praised: "The fact that you can get this piece of ink means that you are lucky and have good eyesight! I still don't know where you got this thing from."

Jiahao truthfully told the origin of the piece of Li Mo to Grandmaster and the others. After hearing this, the two looked at each other and smiled. Mr. Zheng said with a smile: "Then you really made a big mistake! It only cost more than 10,000 yuan.

Now even if this is not a piece of Li Mo, it is definitely more than that, right?!"

The Patriarch nodded in agreement and said: "Ancient ink with this quality can be said to be priceless! Li Mo is something modern calligraphers and painters can only dream of! If a well-known painter uses Li Mo to paint, the price of his works will at least double.

?!" "Master, so this ingot of ancient ink is really Li Mo?" Mr. Zheng asked eagerly.

Jiahao smiled and said: "But I haven't tried the ink yet. I don't know how the calligraphy and painting effects will be. Grandpa, would you like to try the ink now?"

The Patriarch nodded and said: "Well, give it a try, just write a few words."

"Haitao, go and prepare the brush and paper." Mr. Zheng greeted quickly.

Lin Haitao agreed and said: "Grandpa, what kind of pen and paper should I use? I don't have any good brushes here."

The Patriarch replied: "A normal one is fine, but it's best to hold a better inkstone to avoid damaging the piece of ink."

"Yeah, I got it." Lin Haitao agreed happily, then turned around and ran to get the things.

After a while, Lin Haitao came over with a pen, paper, and inkstone, the "three" treasures of the study room. The inkstone he brought was very beautiful in appearance, like a rosewood inkstone, with dragons and phoenixes carved on it. The craftsmanship was very particular.

.

"Master, let me grind some ink for you." Mr. Zheng volunteered.

But Jiahao hurriedly said: "Mr. Zheng, how can you do this job yourself? Let me do it."

As soon as he said this, Mr. Zheng and Master Patriarch couldn't help but be surprised. Lin Haitao asked doubtfully: "Brother Yao, can you sharpen ink? Do you also like to write with your mistakes?"

Jiahao smiled and said: "Yeah, I like it better. I used to practice calligraphy a lot, but my handwriting never improved."

Lin Haitao said: "But you were probably using ready-made ink at that time, right? Have you tried grinding ink? This is a technical job. If you don't have the skills, you may not be able to do it well."

Jiahao nodded confidently and said: "I have learned this too, so there should be no problem. Grandpa, let me do it."

Before seeing that piece of ancient ink, Jiahao really knew nothing about ink grinding, which had nothing to do with him. But things are different now. He had just learned the inheritance of superb ink grinding technology through that piece of ink.

, this is naturally easy for him.

"Well, it would be better if you do it yourself." Grandmaster said happily.

So Jiahao began to clean the inkstone. He first cleaned the inkstone and then added a little water to the inkstone pool.

In ancient times, when grinding ink ingots, water was added to the inkstone while grinding, but this time it was just to test a few words, so there was no need to add a lot of water, just a little was enough. As for the ratio of ink to ink, Jiahao knew it clearly.

Seeing Jiahao orderly organizing the inkstone and starting to grind the ink, Mr. Zheng and the others were a little surprised. They thought that he really had a lot of talent and had learned a lot at such a young age.

When Jiahao was grinding the ink skillfully, he almost made no sound. The ancestor who was watching this scene intently said solemnly: "The grinding is clear and the grinding is silent. This is also a major characteristic of Li Mo!"

The texture of top-grade ink is firm and fine. The so-called firm and fine means that the texture is firm and the ground particles are fine. Secondly, the color must be black and bright. Black with purple light is the best, followed by pure black and cyan light. And all the

The amount of glue should be moderate. If it is too heavy, it will stick to the pen, and if it is too light, it will not be thick. Therefore, the ink should be selected with a fine and clean texture, a smooth color, a light glue, and a silent inkstone. If the glue is heavy and contains impurities, it is not suitable. From various aspects,

From all aspects, it can be concluded that Xiao Yao’s ink is the best among inks!”

After grinding carefully for a while, the clear water in the inkstone pool had turned into jet black ink. When he finally took out the ink stick, Jiahao mixed the ink block in the pool water for a while, then took it out and cleaned it.

"Grandpa, can you write now?" Jiahao asked afterward.

"Well, that's enough." Grandmaster nodded.

Then he picked up the pen, lightly dipped it in ink and started writing on a large piece of paper.
Chapter completed!