Why are the floor tiles of the Forbidden City called BRIC? A piece costs 400 thousand, which is more expensive than gold.

Friends who have been to the Forbidden City know that there are many dark gray floor tiles in the palace gate square and corridor of the Forbidden City. Maybe you will think that these are very common floor tiles. But I want to tell you that this kind of floor tile is called "golden brick" in old Beijing. People in Beijing say that this kind of floor tile is more valuable than gold, and it is no exaggeration. In the recent auction, a pair of floor tiles of the Forbidden City in Yongle period sold for 800,000 yuan, which is incredible! So why are such floor tiles so expensive?

First of all, let's look at the origin of this kind of floor tile, which can be traced back to Judy, the Yongle emperor of the Ming Dynasty. After winning the throne in the battle of Jingnan, he began to want to move the capital to Beijing. Therefore, he began to build and expand the present Forbidden City. At that time, Daming's national strength was strong, so every material used to build the palace was carefully selected.

So is this floor tile. At that time, Qi Xiang, Minister of Industry in charge of construction, carefully selected floor tiles in brick kilns all over the country. Finally, he took a fancy to the floor tiles fired in an ordinary Yuyao village in Suzhou, which were very delicate and hard, beautiful and generous, "knocking with sound and breaking without trace". The most important thing is that this kind of floor tile is smooth and has the effect of being warm in winter and cool in summer. It's cool to walk on it in summer, and putting fruit on floor tiles has chilling effect, which can be described as the best in floor tiles.

So in the end, this Yuyao village was upgraded to Yuyao village. The bricks produced here are supplied to Beijing, so they are called "bricks". One is that Beijing is homophonic with gold, and more importantly, the price of this kind of floor tile is one or two gold bricks higher than that of Huang Jingui.

Then why is this brick so expensive? There are four main points: First, it takes a long time. According to historical records, it takes at least two years for floor tiles to be produced and finally completed. Basically, they are carefully crafted, each piece is a work of art, and goods are measured by labor value, so it is normal to be expensive.

Second, the process is complicated. Now every brick has to go through more than 20 processes from the beginning of production, and the process is extremely complicated and harsh. For example, this soil selection includes eight processes: selecting, digging, transporting, drying, grinding, pulping and screening. If the soil selection is completed, it will take at least 7 months. For example, in the firing process, chaff, firewood and pine branches should be fired successively. They are meticulous, and each process lasts for months.

Third, the screening is strict. There are strict screening procedures for sintered bricks. If a kiln is burned for two years and more than six are unqualified, then I'm sorry, all of them are unqualified, so burn again. This is a huge waste, which is why every brick sent to Beijing is the best.

Fourth, huge transportation costs. At that time, all the firing was done in Suzhou and sent to Beijing. At that time, there were no modern trucks, trains and planes. They were all transported to Beijing by ox carts, carriages, manpower and flesh and blood. It is amazing to spend months on the road, not to mention the consumption of transport workers on the road. This is as difficult as sending lychees to Yang Guifei! So it is not surprising that this kind of floor tile is better than Huang Jingui. It is said that there are more than 80 million floor tiles in the Forbidden City, and its value is endless.

Explore the historical truth and discover the story behind it! Treat history, be true! More exciting, so stay tuned.