Zhuang Rui had discussed these matters with Uncle De on the phone before. Uncle De, who had been involved in the underworld since childhood, saw through the trickery at a glance and bluntly stated that this was a scheme set up by the international auction house, which was why Zhuang Rui had mentioned the rolling ball in the plate earlier.
"Rolling balls in a dish? What does that mean?"
Zhuang Rui forgot that the Master Xu in front of him was not even a professional in the antique trade, let alone someone who had made his way in the world of antiques. Naturally, he would not know the meaning of the rolling beads in the plate.
"Hehe, these are some of the martial arts techniques from the eight major martial arts schools before liberation. Let me tell you about them..."
Zhuang Rui was fortunate enough to have Uncle De as his master, so he had some knowledge of the ways of the martial arts world. The so-called "pearl rolling in a plate" can be understood literally as "pearl," which means precious.
The word "滚" is equivalent to "炒" (speculate/hype). "滚珠" (rolling bead) refers to packaging and promoting a bead with precious symbolism to inflate its market value to far exceed the value of the object itself, somewhat like how the entertainment industry promotes newcomers.
Of course, the items being hyped here are all precious antiques with a history of thousands of years.
The phrase "in the market" mentioned earlier refers to the fact that these precious antiques are actually controlled by speculators.
No matter how much these things are hyped up, how high the prices are, or what kind of tricks they can be pulled, it's all under their control. It's like taking a handful of pearls and throwing them into a high-mouthed plate. No matter how you shake them, the pearls will just roll around in the plate. This is called "rolling pearls in a plate".
Once a certain hyped-up item has reached an astronomical price, those who control the item will release it on the international market to extract money from buyers. Although this practice was originally popular in the underworld, the big players in foreign auction houses have mastered it to perfection.
International speculators have been behind the scenes at auctions held in London, Tokyo, Berlin, and Paris, France, in the past two months, including the one Zhuang Rui attended.
Although Zhuang Rui ruined the auction in Paris, France, several other international auctions truly ignited interest in Chinese antique porcelain.
First, there's Yuan blue and white porcelain. While it's being hyped up, many so-called historical research experts abroad have concluded that there are no more than 300 pieces of Yuan blue and white porcelain in the world, and most of them are in foreign museums.
This news triggered a buying frenzy among many collectors and businessmen in China who prided themselves on strong national pride, patriotism, and pointless vanity. As a result, the international auction market was flooded with Chinese artworks, and various special auctions sprang up one after another.
Uncle De once roughly estimated that in just two or three months, those international speculators who had large amounts of Chinese antiques had taken away at least two billion US dollars from the Chinese, and this was just the beginning.
Many wealthy people collect things for the sake of prestige. Once this trend starts, even more people will likely get involved. Of course, there are some who genuinely want to contribute to the return of national treasures, but their actions, to some extent, have emboldened international speculators.
According to Uncle De's estimate, this craze will not subside for at least another two or three years. By then, the prices of these antiques will have dropped significantly, and those so-called "collectors" will be able to take a more rational view of antique collecting and investment.
“Xu Gong, these foreigners are using this method to plunder the wealth that belongs to the Chinese. However, Tang Sancai (Tang tri-color pottery) has always been highly regarded by foreign collectors in the international market, while domestic collectors don’t care much about it. That’s why I had the idea of taking your work to the international auction market. Foreign speculators can take money out of our pockets, so why can’t we fight fire with fire?”
After explaining his reasons, Zhuang Rui looked at Xu Guoqing sincerely. He wouldn't do it without Xu Guoqing's consent, as it would be disrespectful to the owner of the work.
To be honest, Zhuang Rui is not short of money, and he didn't have this idea for money. It's just that those foreigners went too far.
To give an example, the behavior of these foreigners is like robbing you from your home and then making you buy it back at several times or even ten times the price. It's simply robbery. Even the pirates in the Caribbean aren't that ruthless! After hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Xu Guoqing fell silent. He hadn't expected such bizarre things to happen in the antique trade and international auction houses. Xu Guoqing was just someone who imitated antique porcelain out of personal hobby. These things had left him somewhat confused.
"What if these things end up being bought by people in China?"
Xu Guoqing suddenly raised a question.
Zhuang Rui curled his lip upon hearing this and said, "Brother Xu, it's better for us to make this money than for foreigners to take it all. Besides, I'll invest a large portion of this money in your laboratory. If you can replicate the porcelain from the five major official kilns of the Song Dynasty, then I can break the scheme of those speculators and prevent them from speculating on Chinese porcelain again..."
The reason Zhuang Rui didn't say that all the funds he received would be used for Xu Guoqing's laboratory is because he also needs to cover costs, and since Zhuang Rui is bearing all the risks, he should at least set aside some money to subsidize the museum.
"Alright, as long as it can swindle those foreign devils, I'll do it. Brother Zhuang, you only bought eight sancai (three-color glazed pottery) figurines, there are still more than 20 left. I'll have Lao Yu give them all to you later, so you don't need to worry about the cost..."
After thinking it over for a long time, Xu Guoqing finally nodded heavily and agreed to Zhuang Rui's approach. As long as it didn't harm his own people, what did it matter to him whether the foreigners lived or died?
"good!"
Zhuang Rui was overjoyed upon hearing this. "Brother Xu, you can keep that 500,000 for your wife and children. I'll also invest another 10 million RMB in your laboratory so you can continue your research on Cizhou porcelain. If you succeed, then we'll let those little Japanese taste the power of 'Made in China'!" The Japanese highly regard Cizhou porcelain. If he could really make it, Zhuang Rui was confident that he could make a fortune in Japan. He wouldn't feel any guilt at all about swindling the Japanese.
Zhuang Rui's words made the usually taciturn Xu Guoqing burst into laughter, venting all the anger he had suffered at the hands of the Japanese today.
"By the way, Brother Xu, just say I invested in the lab, and no one will ask any questions. But the matter of selling these porcelains abroad must be between you and me. Absolutely no third person can know, not even your wife or children, because it involves..."
Zhuang Rui spoke very seriously. He was taking a great risk by selling fake antiques abroad, and the chances of being discovered were also very high.
Because if you accidentally break a piece of porcelain, you can tell the difference between old and new porcelain from the broken edge. Although the possibility is small, it is not impossible. If someone notices it, they will definitely trace it back to the country.
Zhuang Rui's family is well-defended and he is not afraid of retaliation from those people, but Xu Guoqing is not so safe. If someone were to take their anger out on him, it would be tantamount to harming him.
The reason Zhuang Rui didn't tell Li Dali and Yu Zhengjun about this was because, although these two had many connections, they came into contact with all sorts of people, and their mouths might not be able to keep secrets. Zhuang Rui didn't want to have two ticking time bombs around him.
As for how to get these items to overseas auction houses, Zhuang Rui already had a plan. He planned to use his private plane to transport the items intended for overseas auctions to Myanmar, and then let Hu Rong handle them.
As is well known, since the Han and Tang dynasties, Myanmar has been a tributary state of China. Many artifacts were transferred there. Items obtained from Myanmar and sold at overseas auctions are considered more credible, just as people in the past believed that antiques from abroad must be genuine.
Given Hu Rong's influence and connections in Myanmar, he could easily find some intermediaries to take these items to major auction houses in Hong Kong or the UK and the US for auction. Zhuang Rui himself would never show his face during this process.
In this way, even if these things are identified as fake, they cannot be traced back to Zhuang Rui. With Hu Rong's methods, he can definitely wipe the whole thing clean.
However, Zhuang Rui still asked Xu Guoqing to keep it a secret. After all, foreigners' money is still money. If word got out, Zhuang Rui would lose all face in the international art market.
Those domestic collectors who buy counterfeit items sold by Zhuang Rui will likely face dire consequences.
Zhuang Rui has elderly parents and young children to support, and he doesn't want to get into trouble, so he decided to make things clear from the start. If Xu Guoqing doesn't keep his mouth shut, he'd rather not do this kind of thing.
"Okay, I got it, I won't tell you even if you kill me..."
After realizing the importance of secrecy, Xu Guoqing jokingly quoted the classic line from the fat man in the movie "The Dream Factory".
Xu Guoqing is usually a quiet person. He only talks to his wife and doesn't communicate much with his son. Besides, his wife has no interest in these things, so it's pointless to talk to her.
"Well, Mr. Xu, for this laboratory, you'll contribute land as equity, taking a 40% stake, and I'll invest 10 million, taking a 60% stake. The future output value of these instruments will be distributed according to this ratio. Also, you'll take 100,000 yuan from this 10 million each month as your salary. What do you think, Mr. Xu?"
Even close brothers need to keep clear accounts. Zhuang Rui is trying to standardize everything beforehand to avoid future disputes and money issues. There are countless examples of couples turning against each other and brothers becoming enemies.
Xu Guoqing's dilapidated factory, apart from the land cost, could be sold as scrap. Zhuang Rui's offer of ten million yuan in real money for only sixty percent of the shares is already very generous.
"Alright, brother, without your money I'd be begging for food. You decide." Xu Guoqing had never really cared about money; otherwise, he wouldn't have squandered over ten million yuan of his fortune. Zhuang Rui gave him two hundred thousand yuan a month for living expenses, which Xu Guoqing was already quite content with. ...
Zhuang Rui talked with Xu Guoqing until late at night... After handwriting and drafting an agreement, he finally fell asleep and slept very soundly. He was not woken up until around 11 a.m. by Peng Fei knocking on the door.
"Mayor Xue, what are you doing here? I was just about to call you to say goodbye. By the way, Peng Fei, where is Engineer Xu?"
After Zhuang Rui went out, he was surprised to find that the mayor of Shijiazhuang was also waiting outside. He wondered if civil servants didn't have to do any work.
Peng Fei replied, "Brother Zhuang, Engineer Xu said he's busy renovating the lab and has to go back first. He'll contact you by phone..."
"President Zhuang, I'm here to inform you about the outcome of yesterday's matter concerning XCMG..."
Mayor Xue knows many people in Beijing. After inquiring about Zhuang Rui's background yesterday, he convened a mayoral meeting early this morning. He wanted to give Zhuang Rui a satisfactory answer before he left.
Chapter 800 Testing the Waters
"Brother Zhuang, just changing the division of labor, isn't that too easy on that guy surnamed Cen?"
Peng Fei and Zhuang Rui had already left Shijiazhuang City in their car. They would be entering Beijing in about half an hour. At noon, Mayor Xue stopped them and had lunch with Director Xia, who arrived later, before they finally left Shijiazhuang City.
"For an official in his thirties, Peng Fei has already been relegated to the sidelines, and no one dared to use him again..."
Zhuang Rui smiled and shook his head. Peng Fei knew too little about politics. He only saw the surface and didn't know what a simple division of labor meant.
At lunch, Mayor Xue briefed Zhuang Rui on the outcome of yesterday's incident.
Given that Mayor Cen did some things that were detrimental to the image of Shijiazhuang in his investment promotion work, the investment promotion bureau under his jurisdiction was taken over by another vice mayor, and Mayor Cen, no longer in charge of investment promotion, was practically idle.
For Mayor Cen, who held a high position before he was even forty, this outcome meant the end of his political life, which was even more painful than losing his life.
However, Mayor Cen knew he had offended someone he couldn't afford to offend, so he reluctantly admitted his mistake, made a self-criticism at the meeting, and reported it to the municipal party committee.
Those who got the big piece of the pie from the China Merchants Group were naturally very happy, while Mayor Cen quietly hid in a corner to lick his wounds. The turmoil caused by a small folk craftsman had come to an end.
During lunch, Mayor Xue, on behalf of the city, also expressed the city's commitment to vigorously support the revival of traditional cultural industries and to provide more preferential policies for folk artisans.
Zhuang Rui didn't say anything, but informed Mayor Xue that he would be working with Xu Guoqing to establish an ancient ceramics restoration laboratory, affiliated with the Beijing Dingguang Museum, which would be non-profit. He hoped the city could resolve the procedural issues as soon as possible.
Mayor Xue readily agreed to such a small matter and promised to allocate funds annually for laboratory research projects. However, Zhuang Rui declined this offer, asking, "If the research yields results, who will claim the credit?"
Cizhou ware was produced from the Song Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty, and it was widely circulated and had a great influence among the people.
However, because the Cizhou kiln produced official kilns for a very short period, only during the Southern Song Dynasty, research on this area is still lacking in China, and no physical artifacts have been unearthed. It is also a highly controversial topic in the Chinese academic community.
If Xu Guoqing could truly produce Cizhou official kiln porcelain, it would be a significant addition to the history of Chinese ceramics and of great importance.
Of course, Zhuang Rui also wanted to benefit from the museum's reputation by registering the laboratory under his own name. As the saying goes, "charity begins at home," and this would give the museum a free advertisement.
After returning to Beijing, Zhuang Rui asked Huangfu Yun to recruit several students specializing in ancient ceramics restoration and send them to Gao County. The combination of these theorists and Xu Guoqing's unorthodox approach might accelerate the research process.
Meanwhile, Zhuang Rui contacted Hu Rong and invited him to Beijing. After a day of private talks, Hu Rong returned to Myanmar with more than twenty Tang tri-colored pottery figurines.
In the year or so that followed, one or two exquisitely crafted sancai (three-color glazed pottery) artifacts could be seen from time to time at international auctions, most of which originated from Southeast Asian countries.
After being authenticated by multiple international art appraisers, all of them were confirmed to be genuine. Due to their excellent condition, a Tang tri-color pottery craze swept the international auction market during this period, and most of the buyers were foreign art collectors.
Aside from keeping the eight female figurines for himself, Zhuang Rui sold the remaining twenty-odd Tang tri-colored pottery pieces through Hu Rong's channels. In the end, he actually made a profit of nearly 200 million yuan. Of course, that's another story.
Zhuang Rui's museum is also doing very well, with a daily visitor flow of around 10,000 people. Although it is closed two days a week, it still brings Zhuang Rui nearly six to seven million yuan in revenue each month.
After operating for four or five years, and after deducting various expenses, the museum's net profit was about 25 million. Zhuang Rui didn't touch this money; he planned to use it to improve the museum and purchase its collection.
Hu Rong's recent visit brought Zhuang Rui a Swiss bank draft worth 50 million euros, which was also half a year's profit dividend from the jade mine. Zhuang Rui is not short of money now.
However, the difficulty of replicating Cizhou porcelain far exceeded Zhuang Rui's expectations, and after two or three months, there was not much progress.
The main problem now is that the firing temperature is not well controlled. It's either too high or too low, resulting in repeated kiln failures. Of the ten million RMB that Zhuang Rui invested, more than two million RMB has already been used up.
Zhuang Rui simply put the matter aside and began his studies seriously.
Kyoto University’s Faculty of Museum and History offers two types of courses: large lectures and small lectures. Large lectures are held in large lecture halls, where students from all relevant majors, regardless of year, can audit the classes.
Small classes are more targeted, usually consisting of 30 to 40 students from the same grade. Even doctoral supervisors like Professor Meng occasionally teach a small class.
After several months of professional and systematic study, Zhuang Rui discovered that archaeology is more rigorous than antique appraisal, and it also requires students with related majors to have a certain level of reasoning and judgment ability.
Since everything inside a tomb is inanimate, to reconstruct the social landscape of ancient times through these inanimate objects, one needs to deduce from them.
Many professors like to bring up some excavated ancient tombs in class for discussion, so archaeology courses are not as boring as Zhuang Rui had imagined.
In addition, Zhuang Rui would often go to the medical school to audit acupuncture courses, becoming very familiar with Zhang Meng and his group of students. He even spent over eight thousand yuan to have a set of acupuncture tools custom-made. ...
"Hey bro, are you serious? This... this thing can't possibly work."
In Zhuang Rui's courtyard house, Ouyang Jun looked at the gleaming silver needle in Zhuang Rui's hand with fear on his face. Zhuang Rui had just received these custom-made silver needles today and was so excited that he skipped class and drove straight home to do an experiment with Ouyang Jun.
Ouyang Jun had done acupuncture before and knew that under normal circumstances, it wouldn't kill people. However, since the person performing the acupuncture was Zhuang Rui, Ouyang Jun was unsure. There were many quack doctors these days, not to mention Zhuang Rui's half-baked skills; he couldn't even be considered a doctor.
"Yeah, Xiao Rui, you've only attended a few classes, is that really enough?"
Ouyang Wan also felt that Zhuang Rui's actions were a bit frivolous. Traditional Chinese medicine is profound and complex; how could one learn to practice it after attending a few classes? Even students from traditional Chinese medicine hospitals probably wouldn't dare to give acupuncture to people rashly after graduation.
"Zhuang Rui, I think we should just forget about it..."
Qin Xuanbing, heavily pregnant, looked at the silver needle, which was about ten centimeters long, and was also a little scared.
Qin Xuanbing is over eight months pregnant. Because she is carrying twins, her belly is much larger than that of a typical pregnant woman. Zhuang Rui's mother-in-law, feeling sorry for her daughter, put aside her business last month and came to Beijing from Hong Kong to stay.
"Xiao Rui, Zha, didn't your fourth brother say he wasn't afraid before?"