Every time a kiln was fired, it was impossible for every piece to be perfectly formed; there was inevitably some damage.

After all, in ancient times, there was no concept of recycling waste materials.

These damaged ceramics certainly couldn't be sold, so they were smashed on the spot and, for the sake of convenience, buried in a pit near the kiln.

However, Yu Feibai wasn't particularly interested in the broken shards.

Even knowing about this, he had no intention of going back to dig in the pits, merely cleaning up his haul with a sense of listlessness.” Among the large wooden chests, the miscellaneous tools were not worth mentioning and could be ignored.

The key items were the jars and pots.

Whether he could recoup his investment depended on the value of these things.

“Huh, these things are quite heavy.” At this moment, Yu Feibai picked up a jar and suddenly felt its surprising weight.

Furthermore, unlike the open wooden chests, these jars were sealed.

Coupled with their solid heft, this made everyone a little amazed.

“Heh heh, could it be a jar full of gold and silver?” Yu Feibai speculated, his jingshén instantly lifting.

“Stop dreaming unrealistic daydreams.” Wang Guan casually wiped the dust off the jar’s surface and carefully examined the glaze on its body, immediately chuckling, “This is black pottery.

The color is pitch black, very pure and deep.

It should be quite valuable.” Generally speaking, the price of pottery would certainly be less than that of porcelain, but that didn't mean pottery was worthless.

On the contrary, some fine pottery pieces commanded high prices in the market and were equally favored by collectors.

Of course, Yu Feibai wasn't concerned with the price of the pottery jars right now; he wanted to know what was inside them.

Reality proved that gold and silver were just a delusion.

The moment he opened the lid, disappointment flashed across Yu Feibai’s face: “Tch.

It’s just sand and silt.” “Sand and silt?” Wang Guan was also a bit surprised.

He leaned closer and saw that Yu Feibai was right; the jars were indeed filled with fine gravel.

But why would someone collect it so carefully? Was it just a prank? However, while the two of them couldn't recognize the true value, there was an expert among those present.

At this sight, Gao Dequan glanced over and exclaimed in surprise, “Cobalt ore!” “What?” Wang Guan and Yu Feibai started.

They naturally knew what cobalt ore was—it was the blue pigment used for making blue-and-white porcelain.

They hadn't expected to find this kind of material at a kiln site.

Of course, thinking about it carefully, since it was a porcelain kiln, it was quite normal for some leftover blue pigment to be around; it wasn't worth making a fuss about.

But Gao Dequan seemed somewhat agitated.

He reached into the jar and scooped out a handful of the gravel.

Under the sunlight, the ash-gray gravel shimmered with specks of glass-blue light.

“It really is Suma Liqing.” Gao Dequan exclaimed in shock, “Did you dig up an ancient Ming Dynasty kiln site?” It wasn't surprising that Gao Dequan suspected this, as it was common knowledge that Suma Liqing was the cobalt pigment brought back by the eunuch Zheng He from his seven voyages to the West during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty.

However, this cobalt pigment had been exhausted by the Chenghua period, after which they reverted to using the older blue pigment, and later, directly using domestically sourced materials.

Historically, the period that used Suma Liqing was quite specific.

If this was an ancient kiln site, it must be a kiln from the early Ming Dynasty.

After all, during that era, both official and private kilns used Suma Liqing.

It was the prevailing aesthetic taste of the time; if porcelain wasn't made with this pigment, it probably wouldn't sell.

“So what if it is Suma Liqing,” However, Yu Feibai wasn't very happy, drooping his shoulders.

“This kind of thing might have been valuable in ancient times, but it’s not that rare today.

Uncle De, if you can use it, just take it.” That was true.

In ancient times, due to transportation limitations, once the Suma Liqing ran out, it would be difficult to import another batch.

But now, even if they were thousands of miles apart, as long as you had the money, they would immediately package it and ship it over.

Therefore, the Suma Liqing, so hard to find after the mid-Ming period, was not considered very precious now.

To put it bluntly, perhaps these cobalt materials were worth less than the jars containing them.

“That is also true.

Thank you, then.” Gao Dequan smiled and proceeded to open the jars one by one.

Discovering they all contained the same cobalt material, he accepted them without pretense and smiled happily.

Of course, while he could keep the cobalt, he still had to return the jars to Yu Feibai.

Otherwise, his gamble on the kiln site would result in a total loss.

Just then, Gao Dequan found a large sack and asked someone to pour the cobalt material from the jars into it.

“Huh, what’s this?” One jar, two jars, three jars… until the eighth jar, when an employee had only poured out half of the cobalt material, a small package dropped out.

The tide turned; the dawn broke.

Yu Feibai rushed forward immediately, snatching the package out.

Upon careful inspection, he saw the package was actually an ancient brocade pouch.

It felt hard and somewhat angular inside; he couldn't tell what it was.

Without hesitation, he directly tore the pouch open and inverted it, causing several chuòzi to fall out.

Chuòzi referred to stamps or seals, but unlike the seals stamped on silk or paper, these chuòzi were used to stamp ceramics.

People often saw very clear imprinted marks on Zisha teapots or other ceramics; this wasn't the result of the craftsman carving with a knife but the work of these stamps.

“What is this? More worthless stuff.” After learning the function of these stamps from Gao Dequan, Yu Feibai naturally became more disappointed and casually tossed the items over to Wang Guan.

Wang Guan picked up the items to examine them and noticed they were made of wood, which explained Yu Feibai’s dismissiveness.

It was also evident that the stamps hadn't been used in a long time; the stamp faces were covered in clay residue, and the inscriptions were very blurred.

Wang Guan casually scraped away a bit of clay, and the inscription content was barely decipherable.

“Ah!” At first glance, Wang Guan was greatly shocked, his expression filled with disbelief.

“What’s wrong?” Yu Feibai asked, perplexed.

“What 'ah'? Did you see a ghost?” Wang Guan didn't explain, but quickly picked up the other stamps to examine them one by one.

His expression grew stranger the more he looked—it was hard to tell if it was shock, joy, or a mixture of both, yet he couldn't quite believe it.

Seeing this, Yu Feibai simply took the matter into his own hands, snatched back one stamp, and looked down at it.

After one look, his expression was similar to Wang Guan’s.

He blinked, then rubbed his eyes, afraid he was mistaken.

“What exactly is it?” Gao Dequan was very curious and asked Wang Guan for a stamp.

The next second, he too was dumbfounded, stuttering, “Mr… Mr… Mr.

Zhu Da?” Indeed, these stamps bore the unique secret mark of Mr.

Zhu Da.

Although the stamps varied in size, the inscriptions were identical: all shaped like a spider.

Since none of them were psychologically prepared, seeing such an item left the three of them stunned, even doubting if they were hallucinating.

“Is this real?” Yu Feibai muttered to himself, mainly because the event was too unexpected.

Even after seeing the stamp, he didn’t dare trust his eyes immediately.

Wang Guan felt similarly.

He looked around, then took a piece of soft clay and made a few impressions.

Only after seeing the perfectly clear marks did he finally settle his mind and cheer joyfully, “Feibai, you've made a huge contribution!” “Is that so?” Yu Feibai gradually calmed down, smiling foolishly and feeling very self-satisfied.

“I told you, my luck has always been good.

It’s common for me to accidentally catch a giant whale…” Gao Dequan ignored Yu Feibai’s bragging.

After regaining his composure, he immediately asked excitedly, “Where exactly were these things dug up? Take me there quickly.” “On the nearby hill.” Under Gao Dequan’s urging, the group returned to the kiln site.

At this moment, the kiln entrance had been largely excavated, and the situation inside was clearly visible.

Near the kiln entrance, several large pits had also been dug, clearly in an attempt to find the discarded shards buried nearby.

However, for some unknown reason, despite digging three feet deep in several large pits, these people hadn't found a single piece of broken porcelain shard, which truly confused them.

At the same time, seeing Yu Feibai return, some of the busy workers felt awkward.

Their movements instantly paused; they were somewhat embarrassed.

Although Yu Feibai had left earlier, he had never said he was abandoning this kiln site.

He had already paid the rental fee for one day, meaning the kiln site belonged to him for that day.

Yet others were digging around without his permission.

Even if the law wouldn't prosecute the many, those with a shred of self-respect would certainly feel uneasy.

Fortunately, Yu Feibai showed no intention of pursuing the matter.

After a sweeping glance, he immediately signaled, “Uncle De, the things were found inside here.” “This is an egg-shaped kiln.” Gao Dequan, rich in experience, took one look at the half-visible shape of the kiln entrance and immediately identified what kind it was.

He also noted the failure of others to find anything near the kiln and immediately nodded, “The absence of surrounding broken porcelain shards is supporting evidence.

After all, Mr.

Zhu Da was extremely secretive about his porcelain production and had to be cautious; he wouldn't easily dispose of even broken waste material…” “Haha, heaven is truly on our side.” Hearing this, Yu Feibai’s face lit up immediately.

“We finally found an important clue!” “Don’t celebrate too soon,” However, Gao Dequan shook his head.

“If I’m not mistaken, this kiln site should be the workshop of the first generation Mr.

Zhu Da.

These few stamps are very primitive and obvious, likely his early seals.

Perhaps after using them for a while, he felt such markings were too conspicuous, so he integrated the secret marks into the porcelain decoration, making them impossible to guard against.” “Uh…” Yu Feibai considered for a moment and had to admit that Gao Dequan was correct.

Such stamps were too obvious; compared to the unpredictable secret marks of the modern Mr.

Zhu Da, these were like child’s play.

To be continued……)