Zhang is sitting on a mottled old bus. There are few people inside, but a damp smell mixed with dust and sweat always lingers. This is neither unpleasant nor special. It was a vehicle from Kunming to Baoshan, and the smell was the same as the shabby interior, which witnessed its hard work for so many years. He opened the window. Although it is midsummer, the wind in Yunnan is still fresh and pleasant. At this time, the car was halfway up the mountain. Through the window, you can see the lush green at the foot of the mountain, a small river winding like a silver belt, exuding unparalleled vitality among the mountains.

The scenery in Yunnan is beautiful, but in Zhang's eyes, it is another scene. Under the green mountains, he seemed to see a touch of bright red transmitted from the rock layers accumulated for thousands of years. That's the light of south red agate. In the eyes of a businessman who has been immersed in jewelry and antiques for many years, nothing is more charming and moving than this kind of light.

The car soon arrived at its destination, Orchid Village, Baoshan City. Zhang has been here several times and is already familiar with it. He walked quickly to a bungalow with white walls and blue tiles. This room couldn't be simpler. There are only a few pots of orchids dotted at the door. On the only table in the room, a man was drinking.

This man is called Zhao Sicong, a local. He committed a crime in Baoshan when he was young, so he had to pack up and run to Myanmar. I spent a few years in the reckless world of the local casino. My face was fierce and my body was full of rage, but I treated my friends with first-class enthusiasm.

"Bo Wei, you are here, sit down quickly!" Zhao Sicong greeted with a smile, his face flushed bright red, and he didn't know whether he was from above or happy. He shouted from behind the house, "Honey, heat the meat quickly. Bo Wei is coming. "

Zhang picked up chopsticks and put some peanuts in. "What is this wedding? Did you drink at noon? "

"What's more, I told you to come early. Missed a good show. " Zhao Sicong said discontentedly, "Brother, I am loyal enough. Just now, a group of people broke the rules and wanted to accept Nanhong at a high price. I gave them a good lesson and went back. "

"Didn't cause any trouble?"

"Is there any trouble?" Zhao Sicong raised his head and gulped down the wine in the cup. He said contemptuously, "A group of guys from Taiwan Province Province are afraid that they will bring people from Taiwan Province Province to smash the venue?"

"That's good. You asked me to come over. Isn't that a trivial matter?"

"Of course not." Zhao Sicong put down his chopsticks and said solemnly, "There are many things to call you here today. I detained Nanhong bought by people in Taiwan Province Province. That son of a bitch is really a good batch of goods, plus the beads I prepared for you earlier. Do you think you are satisfied? "

Zhao Sicong pointed to the wardrobe on the left. Next to the wardrobe, two open broken boxes are filled with colored and fleshy South Red original stones, some of which weigh more than 100 kg. Judging from the bright and full red peeling, the color is really quite good. Zhang went over and looked at it carefully, weighed one of them and asked, "You robbed such a pile of good materials, aren't you afraid of those people calling the police?"

"I am not afraid of the police. He is from Taiwan Province Province, so buying things from the mainland is considered smuggling. " Undaunted, Zhao Sicong lit a cigarette and leaned against the wall and said, "Besides, I didn't rob him. I spent a whole thousand dollars on his pile of materials. "

Zhang smiled and shouted, "How much are you ... how much are you going to sell?"

Zhao Sicong took a sip of wine and said, "Bo Wei, my brothers have cooperated several times. You know my temper. I don't shout much, so I don't bargain. Don't fight, buddy's friendship will agree, right? These materials are added with beads at a price of 2 million. "

Zhang zai calculated it carefully. Although the price offered by Zhao Sicong is a bit high, if these things are taken back to Beijing for sale, it is no problem to easily turn them over once or twice, and my heart is full of joy.

Zhang poured himself a glass of wine, pointed to the sack in the corner and said, "Brother Zhao, the price is up to you, but just give it to me when you look at this pile of scraps at the foot of the wall!" After returning to Beijing, I will buy a fish tank and put it in the fish tank, which is more or less a landscape. "

Zhao Sicong laughed after listening. "You are a clever boy, a clever monkey. The color of this pile of small materials is so good that it is worth at least100000. But I am not a stingy person. Why don't you take it away? My brother sent it to you. "

"Ha ha, then I won't be polite to you!"

Seeing that Zhang immediately got up to see the Nanhong he bought, Zhao Sicong couldn't help laughing and cursing: "Look at your anxiety, things can't run away there. Let me ask you first, what do you think of the south red agate in Baoshan? "

"Well, what's the matter?"

"Are there any shortcomings?"

Zhang carefully thought about it. Although he didn't know why Zhao Sicong asked, he still answered honestly: "If you have to say shortcomings, the Nanhong agate vein in Baoshan belongs to sedimentary rock, which is layered and close to the surface. Although there are many reserves, many fractures have occurred in the process of crustal movement and erosion and weathering for thousands of years. Baoshan material is seriously cracked and difficult to carve, so it is necessary to keep carving.

"Come on! Of course! With the quality of Baoshan Nanhong, if it is carved, think about it, the price. ...

Zhang was so moved that he couldn't help narrowing his eyes and asked, "After hearing what you said, there must be some good news?"

"Of course, do you know the story of Liu Yang Township?"

"Oh, don't give me the suspense, tell me what's going on!"

Seeing Zhang's impatience, Zhao Sicong burst into laughter and finally began to explain.

"Liu Yang Township-Liu Yanghe has a narrow riverbed and many willows on both sides, hence the name Liu Yang. In ancient times, it was the fortress of Sichuan-Yunnan Post Road. According to legend, Zhuge Liang of Shu Han passed through this place during his southern expedition. During the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, E Ertai, governor of Yunnan-Guizhou Province, returned to the local area and led outlaws and Wumeng-Uza Tusi in Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan Province to fight here. According to legend, in the Ming Dynasty, a manufacturing office in Liu Yang Town, Baoshan was dedicated to supervising the mining of Nanhong. Their mine site is in the drip hole! Dishuidong is the best mine mouth in Liu Yang. The materials here are good in ice and bright in color, mostly persimmon red. Nanhong, which came out of the drip cave, was supplied to the emperor's royal family for use, and then sent to the ministers of the Ming Dynasty to make the ceiling of the cave or make some ornaments.

In the Ming Dynasty, there was an emperor's concubine, whose hands and feet were cold in winter, so she could not use the stove to keep warm. An elderly maid-in-waiting said that a man should hold the oven every day, and men have strong firepower. But the emperor is not her own, how can she hold him every day? Her father got impatient and finally sent the girl to the palace. He is afraid of the cold every day. How could he be pregnant with a dragon seed? Once, her father heard that Nanhong can moisten the heart and lungs, soothe the soul, dredge blood vessels and lubricate the skin, so he dragged people to get a Nanhong bracelet and secretly sent it to the palace. Who knows that since the princess put on the bracelet every day, her cold hands and feet have disappeared inexplicably, her hair is more supple, her skin is more and more white and smooth, and she is more popular with the emperor. A year later, she gave birth to a little prince. From then on, Nanhong became famous in the palace, and concubines from all walks of life competed for it. The demand for this kind of south red is growing.

One day, the digger dug a piece of south red bigger than the pot cover in the cave and saw the sun at the mouth of the cave. When everyone saw it, they were amazed again and again. They were delicious in color, smell and taste, and there was no crack at all. The leading young official was Huang Laowu, who was overjoyed at that time and bent on promotion and wealth. He was flattered to touch the baby-only to hear a scream of "Ah-",but they didn't understand what was going on. Huang Laowu has fallen to the ground and rolled, and several fingers began to "smoke". This stone is incredibly hot, like a red-hot iron! Later, everyone poured water and used ice to find ways to cool down, but there was nothing they could do at the moment.

The mine mouth is near Baishuihe Dam Reservoir and looks like a butterfly. In addition to the old city, the whole town can cross the "one slope" from the south bank of the river to the ridge, which is high in the south and low in the north. The highest point is the three clumps of trees (peaks) in the south, with an altitude of 2470 meters. What is terrible is that since this incident happened, the whole Baoshan area has been raining heavily every day, and disasters such as mudslides and flash floods have occurred frequently. A venerable old man said that because they had offended the mountain gods, the organization invited hundreds of monks to chant Buddhist scriptures. As a result, when they started chanting, the thing slowly turned from red to black, and the temperature gradually dropped, and the heavy rain that lasted for several months stopped! At that time, the monk said that this is the South Red King, and you can't move. If you move it, there will be disaster. Later, the construction office could not continue mining, so it quit.

Although it is only a legend, the mining history in this area after several dynasties is not false. Xu Xiake also visited an ancient agate cave in Baoshan, which had long been abandoned. He once recorded: "In a mile, the ancient cave was an old agate, four or five feet high and three feet wide. If the bridge is rigid, it will be supported. It is very deep, and those who are crushed by wood decay are exposed to the hole. " Inadvertently, he really recorded the specific situation of roadway support in Ming Dynasty.

Zhang was overjoyed and asked in a low voice, "So, do you know where that drip hole is?"

"Why else would I call you here?" Zhao Sicong smiled proudly and said, "I heard it from my hometown the other day when I received the goods. Before, an old man in his sixties dug Nanhong in this drip pit. It turns out that when the country engaged in foreign exchange in the 1970s, it exported a batch of Nanhong, which was dug out from this drip hole. However, the price never went up, and then something went wrong in the hole. There are always strange things and casualties, and I simply don't accept them. After several rounds of personnel changes, this place was abandoned. "

After that, he looked around and mysteriously leaned in and said, "Now we are collecting Nanhong. I heard that some villagers sneaked into the drip hole, but they didn't catch anything good, and one of them was even crazy! "

"What's the situation? Tell me about it. "

Zhao Sicong shook his head and said, "I don't know. I also heard from Xiao Si at the east end of the village. He was placed at the mouth of the cave, so he was the only one who came back intact. Listen to him, when a few of them ... "