Zhuang Rui refused outright yesterday and today because he had concerns about this. If the relevant departments changed their minds after he returned to China and these items were handed over to the state, wouldn't Zhuang Rui be the one who got ripped off?
"They dare? Brother, do you think I'm made of clay? Nobody dares to bully our family. That guy just wants to achieve something during his term. There's nothing to worry about. You can make an agreement with them first, that'll do..."
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Ouyang Jun couldn't help but laugh and cry. This younger brother was truly honest. In China, it was already considered good enough that the Ouyang family members didn't bully others. Even if that high-ranking minister had the guts, he wouldn't dare to do such a thing.
"Sigh, let's not talk about that now, Fourth Brother. There are some things that are really giving me a headache lately. We've salvaged such a huge ship, but there's nowhere to put it..."
Zhuang Rui suddenly changed the subject, leaving Ouyang Jun somewhat confused. He couldn't help but interrupt Zhuang Rui, saying, "What are you up to now? Fourth Brother rarely asks you for a favor, are you really going to put on airs?"
Zhuang Rui quickly denied it, saying, "How could that be, Fourth Brother? I would definitely agree to this for your sake. But Fourth Brother, the swimming pool and fitness area in the residential complex we're developing are right next to the museum, so security won't be easy..."
"You little rascal, you've got your eye on that piece of land, haven't you?"
Hearing this, Ouyang Jun immediately understood Zhuang Rui's intentions. He said irritably, "Alright, you've been eyeing that place for a while now. If I don't give it to you now, who knows what kind of trouble you'll cause later? But let's be clear from the start: you can have the land, but you have to build a gym and swimming pool behind the complex for me, otherwise the property management will be in big trouble..."
"Definitely, Fourth Brother, don't worry, I'll handle it perfectly for you, I guarantee you'll be satisfied. Alright, Director Dou will be coming to see me again soon, I'll hang up now..."
After hanging up the phone, Zhuang Rui smiled. Trading a nominal title for real benefits was still a good deal, and that piece of land was very important for the development of Zhuang Rui's museum.
Because Zhuang Rui has been constantly adding to the museum's collection over the past few years, the 20,000-square-meter exhibition hall is now a bit stretched thin. Although the Song Dynasty shipwreck has been salvaged, as he said, there really isn't anywhere to put it.
Zhuang Rui had long had his eye on a plot of land next to the museum, but it had been designated as a community fitness area. He had mentioned it to Ouyang Jun several times, but Ouyang Jun hadn't agreed. This time, however, Zhuang Rui got the land for the sake of saving face.
"Damn it, I'm supposed to pay people out of their own pockets when they ask me for favors?"
After hanging up the phone, Ouyang Jun felt uneasy. He glanced outside and shouted, "Wife, take our son to your sister-in-law's for dinner. We'll stay there..."
The famous actress was utterly bewildered by her husband's apparent intent to bankrupt Zhuang Rui's family. Little did she know, Ouyang Sige was simply unhappy and wanted to get some compensation.
Around noon, Director Dou came over again, his attitude even more flattering than yesterday. Zhuang Rui didn't go too far and, after signing an agreement with him, agreed to add the name of a certain domestic ministry to the salvage company's name.
The agreement states that a certain ministry was a key member of the salvage operation and provided strong support during the exploration and salvage of the sunken ship. However, since Zhuang Rui was the one who discovered the sunken ship, the ship still belongs to Zhuang Rui personally.
With this agreement in place, Zhuang Rui was no longer worried about any tricks the other party might pull. Moreover, when negotiating with Director Dou, the other party was very cooperative and offered to help Zhuang Rui obtain the necessary qualifications for a domestic underwater salvage company. With this qualification, he would be able to salvage sunken ships in Chinese waters.
Although according to domestic salvage laws, items salvaged from domestic rivers or seas belong to the state, there are still many loopholes. By manipulating the declaration process, those items may still become private property.
In this way, everyone is happy. Director Dou got the honor he wanted and completed the leader's task, while Zhuang Rui did not lose out. He only added a few words to his name and got so many benefits. It can be considered a win-win situation.
Although Zhuang Rui still felt a little resistant to this kind of behavior of using public resources to curry favor, that's just how things are in China. If it weren't for his powerful connections, he probably would have been the one to reap the benefits this time.
The intense work of cleaning the shipwreck quickly made Zhuang Rui forget about the matter. With tens of thousands of shipwreck artifacts to be sorted by only a dozen people, the workload was enormous.
Even though Zhuang Rui worked more than 18 hours a day, it still took him almost a week to clean up all the cultural relics and organize them into their respective rooms.
After examination by domestic shipbuilding experts, ceramics experts, and history experts, they unanimously agreed that this Song Dynasty shipwreck is the oldest, largest, and best-preserved ocean-going merchant ship discovered in the world to date.
After careful cleaning, a total of 82,388 cultural relics were recovered from the ship's hold, including more than 51,000 gold and silver artifacts, which can be divided into 30 categories. The gold and silver artifacts are mainly divided into bracelets, earrings, small pink boxes, etc.
There are also some bronze artifacts, such as copper coins, bronze mirrors, and bronze beads. Most of the bronze artifacts are copper coins, and the vast majority are from the Northern Song Dynasty, with a small number of Kaiyuan Tongbao coins from the Tang Dynasty. These items are not of great value, and Zhuang Rui left them for experts to study.
However, among the gold and silver artifacts, there was one that Zhuang Rui absolutely adored: a gilded dragon-patterned bracelet. The bracelet was made of pure silver and gilded, and the entire bracelet was shaped like a dragon, making it exceptionally exquisite.
Zhuang Rui immediately kept this thing for himself upon seeing it, putting it on his son's wrist and bringing it home.
The most numerous artifacts recovered were ceramics, totaling over 30,000 pieces. These included a wide variety of types, such as white porcelain, celadon, bluish-white porcelain, as well as brown-glazed and green-glazed porcelain. Almost all folk porcelain from the Tang and Song dynasties could be found among them.
This delighted Professor Tian, who insisted on having Zhuang Rui select more than twenty complete sets of porcelain, intending to take them back to the Palace Museum to study and compare the differences between these export porcelains and the official kilns of the time.
Not only Professor Tian, but all the experts who participated in the later stages of the shipwreck cleanup work also gained a lot. According to Professor Meng, the shipwreck and the artifacts recovered confirmed the existence of the Maritime Silk Road more than a thousand years ago.
Like the land-based Silk Road, the maritime Silk Road was also a trade route between China and foreign countries. However, the latter, which was formed in the early Western Han Dynasty, was used throughout the entire ancient Chinese society. In the more than 2,000 years of Sino-foreign trade history, China's main exports were sometimes silk, sometimes porcelain, or other goods.
Foreign trade goods were even more diverse, so some scholars also called it the Porcelain Road, or the Leather Road, or the Silk Road, etc. Since the Silk Road has been a common name, it is simply called the Maritime Silk Road.
However, due to the imperfections in China's deep-sea salvage technology, there haven't been many physical artifacts to prove this point. These artifacts recovered this time provide a very complete set of material historical records for the study of the Maritime Silk Road, containing a wealth of archaeological and historical information. ...
More than a week later, Zhuang Rui's "Xuan Rui" had returned to port, but instead of going back to Macau, it docked directly at Tianjin Port, which is very close to Beijing. This made it much easier for Zhuang Rui to move the cultural relics that had sunk on the ship.
Of course, the ministry that belatedly realized the situation but gained considerable advantage by managing to dock the ship here without discovering the weapons hidden on board deserves great credit.
The news that a certain ministry and a well-known private museum in China had jointly salvaged an ancient shipwreck that was thousands of years old was now filling the major newspapers across the country. Since they wanted to show off their achievements, they naturally had to publicize it vigorously.
The precious unearthed cultural relics were photographed and appeared in major newspapers and television reports, creating a marine archaeology craze among the public. As a result, the price of salvaged porcelain at auctions has also increased significantly.
Some old friends, like Mr. Qian, even called Zhuang Rui directly, wanting to get some auction items from him. However, Zhuang Rui had no intention of selling these things and politely declined them one by one.
Although this series of reports uses the name of Dingguang Museum, those old friends know the real story: Zhuang Rui's name has once again resounded throughout the entire antique industry.
For a time, the cruise ship docked at Tianjin Port was crowded with reporters from home and abroad, which annoyed Zhuang Rui to no end. He simply left Huangfuyun to receive them and took a whole truckload of cultural relics back to Beijing.
As for the sunken ship, it has been lifted off the cruise ship and is now placed in a warehouse in the port.
Due to the limitations of the exhibition hall, the shipwreck can only be transported back to Beijing after the ancient shipbuilding hall in the Zhuang Rui Ding Guang Museum is completed. Otherwise, there really wouldn't be anywhere to put this massive vessel, which is over 30 meters long.
However, Zhuang Rui had just returned to Beijing and hadn't even had a chance to catch his breath when he was stopped by Gu Yun and Hu Rong, who had been looking for him for several days.
Chapter 953 Accountability
"Hey, Brother Hu, Brother Gu, what brings you two together for tea?"
Zhuang Rui heard from his mother that Hu Rong had been staying at the courtyard house for two days, and Gu Yun had been coming over every day to see if Zhuang Rui had returned. When he got home today, he saw the two brothers drinking tea and chatting under the big locust tree in his courtyard house.
Zhuang Rui hadn't seen Hu Rong for over a year, but Hu Rong's reputation as a jade designer was growing internationally. Moreover, the jade mine he developed a couple of years ago was a rare and rich mine in Myanmar, making him one of Myanmar's leading mining tycoons.
Furthermore, Hu Rong's jewelry design company has opened dozens of stores in Southeast Asia, and its reputation abroad is so great that it even extends to Zhuang Rui, the "Jade King" of the North!
Now, Hu Rong sat there, exuding the air of a grandmaster, his demeanor more composed than two years ago.
With Zhuang Rui's help, Gu Yun undertook many state-owned and private museum restoration projects, and his company quickly became a leading enterprise in the restoration of ancient buildings in China, far from the small company that did odd jobs back then.
These two brothers are not idle people. One is in charge of the Hu Clan Chinese City in Myanmar, and the other is a big boss of a company. It's no wonder that Zhuang Rui is surprised that they've come together today.
Upon seeing Zhuang Rui, Gu Yun's boss-like demeanor vanished. He stood up, grabbed Zhuang Rui, and said anxiously, "Brother Zhuang, you're too busy! I've been looking for you for a week, and no one answers the phone. If I can't find you soon, I'm going to be in trouble..."
"Brother Gu, don't worry, what's wrong? Is the old man unwell?"
Upon hearing Gu Yun's words, Zhuang Rui was taken aback. Since retiring, the old man's health and energy had declined. After the old man turned seventy, he might pass away at any time. Even if Zhuang Rui's spiritual energy was excellent, he couldn't compete with Yama, the King of Hell, for a life.
Thinking of this, Zhuang Rui became extremely anxious. He grabbed Gu Yun and asked loudly, "Brother Gu, what...what happened to Grandpa?"
Throughout Zhuang Rui's growth, there are two people he is most grateful to: Uncle De from Zhonghai and Grandpa Gu. Both of them treated him like a son or nephew, teaching him knowledge about antiques and jade without reservation.
"Hey, hey, take it easy, you're hurting me to death! What could be wrong with my dad? He just misses you, right? Hey, are you cursing the old man?"
Zhuang Rui lost his father at a young age, and in his heart, these two elders were like fathers to him. At this moment, he was really anxious and grabbed Gu Yun's hand tightly, causing the guy to cry out in pain.
"Damn, why didn't you say so earlier? You scared me half to death..."
After hearing Gu Yun's words, Zhuang Rui released his grip. Gu Yun quickly looked at his wrist and saw several finger marks left by Zhuang Rui, showing how much force Zhuang Rui had used.
"I didn't say anything..."
Looking at the unexpected injury on his wrist, Gu Yun couldn't help but laugh and cry as he brought up the previous topic: "What have you been doing all this time? I couldn't get through to you on the phone."
"I've been at sea for the past few days, salvaging a shipwreck. I just finished up and came back..."
Because Zhuang Rui has been engrossed in cleaning up the shipwreck artifacts for the past few days, he has basically not returned to his room on the ship to sleep, and his phone has been switched off, so no one can find Zhuang Rui during this period.
After Zhuang Rui finished speaking, he turned to Hu Rong and said, "Brother Hu, please consider yourself at home here. If things aren't too urgent, how about we talk tonight?"
Old Master Gu had been holding his son and waiting for him for two days in a row, and Zhuang Rui felt a little embarrassed. Since getting married, he had spent much less time visiting Old Master Gu. He planned to take his two beloved children to visit Old Master Gu now.
"I've long admired the old man, Zhuang Rui. Let's go visit Mr. Gu together..."
Hu Rong's matter wasn't urgent, but upon hearing Zhuang Rui mention going to Gu Tianfeng's place, he immediately had the idea of paying a visit as well.
Hu Rong is an expert in jade jewelry design and also has considerable experience in jade carving. Of course, he wouldn't miss the opportunity to meet the jade carving masters known as "Nan Wu Bei Gu" in China.
"Alright, let's go together then. Please wait for me a moment..."
Zhuang Rui nodded, went to his mother's room to call out, and then found Fang Fang and Yuan Yuan, who were happily playing with the white lion in the backyard. After thinking for a moment, he went down alone to his treasure room, where there were not many items left.
Zhuang Rui thought that the old man was lonely and wanted to find him some material to play with. Once the old man is completely idle, all sorts of ailments will appear. It's better for him to have something to do, which will actually be good for his health.
Which piece of material should we use?
Because of the fundraising efforts some time ago, a lot of Zhuang Rui's treasured jadeite was sold off, so now, apart from the gold bricks, there are not many jadeite pieces left in the basement. There are only four pieces in total, each of which is a rare and precious item.
Two fist-sized pieces of imperial green jadeite, one piece of top-quality blue jadeite with glassy texture, and the other piece of yellow jadeite with a yellow luster like chicken fat.
Although they have not yet been polished, these pieces of raw material, which Zhuang Rui has already cut out, show different colors under the light and emit a shimmering glow.
If these pieces of jade were to appear in the jade trade, they would definitely cause a huge uproar, perhaps even more so than the sensation caused by Zhuang Rui's successful salvage of the Song Dynasty shipwreck in the antique world.
"Alright, you're the one..."
After examining it for a long time, Zhuang Rui finally made a decision and took the top-quality yellow jade in his hands.
Imperial green and blue jade are relatively easy to work with; they can be made into necklaces or bracelets. However, Zhuang Rui hadn't decided what to carve this piece of yellow jade into. Now, he doesn't need to worry about it anymore; he can just let the old man figure it out.
"Zhuang Rui, what are you carrying?"
When Gu Yun and Hu Rong saw that Zhuang Rui had brought his wife and children with him, and was also carrying an object wrapped in cloth, they were both a little surprised.
"Hehe, you'll see later, this is for the old man's medical treatment..."
Zhuang Rui laughed, but refused to reveal the item, carefully hiding it under his driver's seat. The two men shook their heads in disbelief. Hu Rong, however, guessed something: Zhuang Rui was probably holding a piece of jade. ...
Several people drove two cars and parked them in the alley where the old man lived in his courtyard. They then rushed into the old man's courtyard.
"Senior Uncle, I've come to see you. You're getting stronger and stronger! I think you should go back to the association and serve another term as president..."
As soon as Zhuang Rui entered the courtyard, he saw the old man pruning the flowers and plants. Although it was the hottest day in August, the courtyard was cooler than Zhuang Rui's own courtyard house.
"You brat, it's been half a year since you last came here, hasn't it? And you start joking around with this old man as soon as we meet?"
When the old man saw Zhuang Rui, his expression was not very good. However, when he saw the two little ones walking unsteadily behind him, he immediately smiled, put down the scissors, and picked up the two babies, one in each hand.
Although the two little ones couldn't utter a complete sentence yet, they were very sweet-talking, calling the old man "Grandpa" repeatedly, which made the old man's face full of smiles, and deep lines appeared between his brows.
"He's biased, so biased! I've never seen anyone dote on their grandson like that..."
Gu Yun muttered something under his breath, which made Zhuang Rui look at him with disdain and say, "Your son is almost in junior high school, can the old man still carry him?"
"Alright, Fangfang and Yuanyuan, go play with your mom, don't tire Grandpa out..."
Seeing that the old man looked even older than before, Zhuang Rui secretly blamed himself. If he had helped the old man with his body more often, he would never have looked like this.
After the old man put Fang Fang and Yuan Yuan down, Zhuang Rui introduced Hu Rong to him. Upon hearing that Hu Rong was a colleague from Myanmar, the old man was in high spirits and waved his hand, saying, "Xiao Yun, go and prepare some good dishes with your wife. I want to have a good drink with Xiao Hu tonight..."
When Zhuang Rui heard that the old man didn't mention him, he knew that the old man was still angry with him, so he immediately smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Hehe, Uncle-Master, don't worry about me..."
"You brat, you still remember your senior uncle? Alright, let's all go inside and talk..."