The landing was smooth, without the expected turbulence. Under the airport's guidance, He Shuang skillfully parked the plane on the tarmac rented by Zhuang Rui. The maiden voyage of the "Xuan Rui" was a complete success.
"He Shuang, contact this person. We're heading to Paris the day after tomorrow morning. Have him arrange the flight route and airports for refueling along the way. You and Ding Hao can handle the specifics..."
After the plane came to a stop, Zhuang Rui called He Shuang and Ding Hao over and handed them a business card. This person was a powerful figure in civil aviation, and Zhuang Rui had just made contact with him a few days ago through Ouyang Jun.
However, Zhuang Rui didn't have that much time to deal with these things. From now on, he planned to hand over all matters related to airplanes to He Shuang and the other person. Who has ever seen a big boss running around for private jet routes?
After finishing this, Zhuang Rui asked Tianya and Liuli to prepare some food and fruit for the plane, and to buy back anything the airline had on board that they could think of.
After explaining these things, Zhuang Rui got out of the car with Qin Xuanbing and Peng Fei. Hao Long had already received Zhuang Rui's call and parked the car not far from the plane, saving Zhuang Rui the trouble of hailing a taxi outside the airport.
Only then did Zhuang Rui feel a sense of superiority; the money he spent... was definitely worth it.
Back home in Beijing, Zhuang Rui formally met with Chairman Ouyang again. However, to Ouyang Jun's utter frustration, Zhuang Rui was again asking for his help. Since RMB wasn't accepted in Europe, Zhuang Rui wanted Ouyang Jun to exchange his 60 million yuan for euros. ...
"These things look pretty good..."
Zhuang Rui frowned as he looked at the information Huangfu Yun had sent him.
Judging from the available information, all the items auctioned at this Paris auction can be considered national treasures, ranging from calligraphy and paintings by famous figures throughout history to imperial porcelain and bronzes. Zhuang Rui's several million euros are really not enough to compare.
"Damn it, why should I have to pay to buy back what those foreign devils stole..."
Zhuang Rui grew angrier and angrier as he looked at the auction. He angrily slammed his fist on the table and started racking his brains. Was there any way to sabotage the auction?
"Protest? March? Or how about putting pressure on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?"
Zhuang Rui shook his head. Foreigners don't buy into that. Even if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs protests, they still won't listen. Besides, relations between China and France haven't been very good in recent years. The long-standing Sino-French friendship of the de Gaulle era is now a thing of the past.
After thinking for a long time, Zhuang Rui still couldn't come up with any ideas, so he could only shut down the computer and take it one step at a time. Zhuang Rui could only do his best to avoid taking action himself.
However, Zhuang Rui has no way of knowing or preventing large domestic conglomerates from bidding on Chinese cultural relics.
Chapter 624 Indignation
"Brother Huangfu, thank you for your help. I need you to pick me up from the airport..."
After Zhuang Rui's private jet came to a stop at Charles de Gaulle Airport, Zhuang Rui got off. The weather in Paris had been bad these past few days, with a light drizzle falling from the sky. Huangfu Yun, holding an umbrella, stood in front of a black sedan.
"Hehe, Brother Zhuang, you've got quite the airs. This must be your wife, right? Holy crap, why did you bring a lion with you?"
Huangfu Yun came forward and saw Qin Xuanbing behind Zhuang Rui. He opened his shoulders to give her a hug, but then he saw the white lion jumping out of the cabin. Huangfu Yun was so frightened that he quickly dropped the umbrella in his hand and jumped back a few steps as if he had been electrocuted.
The white lion raised its head and glanced at Huangfu Yun, shook off the raindrops that had fallen on it, and followed behind Zhuang Rui. After being on the plane for more than 10 hours, the white lion was quite bored.
"This is a white lion, a snow mastiff, not a lion, Brother Huangfu, it's alright, white lions won't bite..."
Zhuang Rui couldn't help but laugh when he saw Huangfu Yun's actions. However, the white lion was really eye-catching. Zhuang Rui opened the door of the car that Huangfu Yun had driven and let the white lion sit in the passenger seat.
Zhuang Rui's original intention in buying this plane was to take the White Lion out for a spin. Although the White Lion missed the maiden flight, Zhuang Rui still decided to bring it along on this trip to England and France.
"Brother Zhuang... Brother Zhuang, you still need to drive this car. I... I can't..."
Upon suddenly seeing the white lion's enormous size, even Peng Fei's legs went weak, let alone Huangfu Yun. The fact that he didn't fall to the ground was a testament to his courage.
Back at the Capital Airport, the appearance of the white lion scared Tianya and Liuli so much that they screamed. Even He Shuang and Ding Hao were terrified when they saw the white lion.
However, the white lion is extremely docile when it is with Zhuang Rui. It lies there quietly the whole way. Tianya and Liuli have grown fond of this big guy, but their attempts to feed the white lion have all ended in failure. Apart from Zhuang Rui, Qin Xuanbing and others, the white lion now only accepts food from Peng Fei.
"I'll drive, I know Paris very well..."
Qin Xuanbing smiled and got into the driver's seat. However, Huangfu Yun only drove one car, so Zhuang Rui had to let Peng Fei and the crew go to the hotel together. He Shuang still had some matters to attend to with Charles de Gaulle Airport regarding the grounding issue.
Paris is the capital and largest city of France, as well as its political and cultural center. It is one of the four world-class cities, alongside New York, Tokyo, and London.
Paris is the largest city in continental Europe and one of the most bustling cities in the world. As soon as Zhuang Rui got off the plane, he felt that the temperature here was lower than in Beijing, probably less than 10 degrees Celsius.
After leaving the airport, the car entered a highway and, after about twenty minutes, drove along the beautiful Seine River into the city of Paris.
Driving through the culturally rich streets of Paris, one can see various museums, theaters, gardens, fountains and sculptures everywhere, creating an extremely strong artistic atmosphere. Along the way, Zhuang Rui saw more than one couple kissing in the street, and passersby seemed to take it all for granted, with no one stopping to watch.
"Is that Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris?"
As the car drove through the center of Paris, Zhuang Rui saw a Gothic-style Catholic church. Although he was geographically illiterate, he still knew about Notre Dame Cathedral, which Hugo described.
Qin Xuanbing nodded and said, "Yes, Zhuang Rui, let's go there together tomorrow..."
Paris is a romantic and sentimental city. People from all over the world are infected by its atmosphere when they come here, and Qin Xuanbing is no exception. She also wants to hold hands with Zhuang Rui and stroll slowly through the streets and alleys of Paris.
French cuisine is on par with Chinese cuisine, and shopping is dominated by the Champs-Élysées. When Qin Xuanbing worked as a jewelry designer in London, she would come to Paris for two days every week. Compared to the rainy and damp London, Paris was undoubtedly more attractive.
"Great! Let's go check it out tomorrow. Brother Huangfu, isn't the auction the day after tomorrow?"
After Zhuang Rui figured out the key point, he lost interest in the auction. Taking out treasures looted from China and then selling them to the Chinese at high prices was a robbery.
Before Zhuang Rui arrived in Paris, relevant national departments had protested and condemned the auction. However, the French side covered up the ugly auction by claiming it was a private commercial activity. Since the state was unable to resist it, Zhuang Rui naturally had no way to stop it. He just lost much of his interest in the auction.
With this realization, Zhuang Rui felt it would be better to spend time with his wife in Paris, a city steeped in culture, which also has many aspects worth exploring.
"It's the day after tomorrow, Brother Zhuang. I've decided to withdraw from this auction..."
Huangfu Yun's words surprised Zhuang Rui. If he didn't want to participate, why did this guy come all the way to Paris?
"Was it because of that statement in China that you saw the true nature of this matter?"
Zhuang Rui asked with a smile, "Huangfu Yun is a good friend. He is very honest. More importantly, although he has a green card, he still considers himself a Chinese citizen."
"These artifacts were provided to the auction house by the French Frey family. I asked a friend to investigate, and it turns out that these artifacts from China are not the most valuable in the Frey family. The most valuable items, the Qianlong jade seal and portraits of emperors and ministers from the Qing Dynasty, are still kept in their home..."
Huangfu Yun did not answer Zhuang Rui's question, but instead revealed a piece of news that shocked Zhuang Rui.
"Damn it, it's that bastard again..."
Zhuang Rui couldn't help but swear. He was familiar with the name "Frédéric," who was the highest-ranking French general in the French army during the Eight-Nation Alliance invasion of Beijing in 1900.
In recent years, however, the name of this looter has frequently appeared in the art market related to Chinese art, and has been associated with many precious Chinese cultural relics.
The only source for the painting "Portrait of Consort Chunhui" that Zhuang Rui saw in his email, advertised by the auction house, was a single sentence in the auction catalog: "From the Frey family collection." "By the way, Brother Huangfu, how did you know all this?"
Auction houses always keep the information of sellers who put up items for auction strictly confidential. Even if Huangfu Yun's friend is an employee of the auction house, he probably wouldn't dare to disclose it, as that would be illegal.
"Let's talk about it when we get back..."
Huangfu Yun shook his head and didn't continue the topic. Instead, he started introducing the cultural landscape of Paris to Zhuang Rui. However, once the topic was brought up, Zhuang Rui lost interest in it and remained somewhat absent-minded even after arriving at the hotel.
Although Zhuang Rui wasn't the kind of hot-blooded, angry young man, he felt extremely uncomfortable that cultural relics left over from thousands of years of national history were being openly auctioned off by a family of robbers.
After entering the hotel room that Huangfu Yun had already booked for Zhuang Rui, Zhuang Rui asked eagerly, "Brother Huangfu, stop hiding things, what exactly happened? How many of our country's cultural relics does that Frey family still have?"
"Here's the thing, I have a junior from university in Paris who's very enthusiastic about this. But since he's a student, he's also been involved in some things, so I hired a private investigator to look into it. They found that most of the Chinese artworks in Paris came from the Frey family..."
Huangfu Yun's words startled Zhuang Rui. It turned out that this guy, who seemed unassuming, had even hired a private investigator behind the scenes. However, as Huangfu Yun's story unfolded, Zhuang Rui's expression gradually became serious. Huangfu Yun's investigation was far more detailed than the history Zhuang Rui knew.
When the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing, the French headquarters was stationed in the Shouhuang Hall in Jingshan Park. According to the Qing Dynasty's ancestral rules, the portraits and seals of the deceased emperors and their consorts had to be enshrined in the Shouhuang Hall.
The French Major General Fauré and his men naturally wouldn't let the treasures in the Shouhuang Hall go to waste. It is said that Fauré himself had a good understanding of art, and many of the Chinese artworks he looted are recorded in the archives of the Shouhuang Hall.
Frey returned to France laden with spoils, and he and his descendants enjoyed a very comfortable life thanks to these "trophies."
The twelve sets of imperial seals from the "Peiwenzhai" collection used by Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, a "Treasure of the Supreme Emperor" belonging to Emperor Qianlong, and the Qing court paintings "Emperor Qianlong's Southern Inspection Tour, Volume 1" and "Emperor Qianlong's Southern Inspection Tour, Volume 7" have all come from the Frey family and have achieved remarkable results in the auction market in recent years.
In addition to the artworks that ended up on the market, Frey donated 18 important Chinese artifacts to the French government in batches between 1925 and 1934, including the fourth volume of "Magnolia" painted by Giuseppe Castiglione and four other portraits of Emperor Qianlong and his consorts.
Of the four oil paintings, the "Half-length Portrait of Emperor Qianlong in Court Attire" is generally recognized as being painted by Giuseppe Castiglione. As for its provenance, as Frey wrote in a letter to the Guimet Museum in 1914, it all came from "the Shouhuang Hall in Beijing, the site of the headquarters of the French Expeditionary Force, where ancestral emperors were worshipped."
This auction is yet another major move by the Frey family. One wonders just how many precious cultural relics these robbers actually stole from China back then.
"Damn it! This bastard doesn't know how to return the stuff to China, what kind of nonsense is it to give it to a French museum?"
Zhuang Rui stood up angrily. Hearing this was infuriating; the feeling of watching a national treasure being auctioned off was truly unbearable.
This is actually due to differing stances. If Zhuang Rui had robbed the Japanese Imperial Palace, he would never have returned it, no matter what.
Chapter 625 Paris
"Should we send Peng Fei to wreak havoc on the Frey family?"
The thought suddenly popped into Zhuang Rui's mind, but he immediately dismissed it. No matter how capable Peng Fei was, he wasn't 007. If he really caused trouble, it might lead to an international dispute.
Huangfu Yun had no idea what Zhuang Rui was planning. Seeing Zhuang Rui deep in thought, he immediately said, "Brother Zhuang, actually, these things are all because of those people back home who have spoiled us..."
In fact, the biggest culprit behind the loss of Chinese cultural relics is the Chinese themselves. There are at least 50 wealthy individuals in China whose collections cost hundreds of millions of yuan, and the main source of these collections is overseas auctions.
Huangfu Yun once conducted a survey and found that more than 85% of the collections that these wealthy people bought back from overseas auction houses were official kiln porcelains from the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, with Qing dynasty official kiln porcelains being the most prevalent.
According to Huangfuyun, these Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasty imperial porcelain pieces, which are often priced at hundreds of thousands or even tens of millions of yuan, are merely a sector hyped up by international auction houses in recent years and cannot be considered "national treasure" level cultural relics at all.
Zhuang Rui nodded and said, "I do know that. Some bronze artifacts and national treasures are not allowed to be auctioned in China, so many people smuggle them overseas. In fact, most of the buyers are wealthy people in China, and some people simply buy items directly from tomb raiders..."
"Huh? How do you know all this so clearly?"
Huangfu Yun asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Nonsense, have you forgotten that I'm about to start Professor Meng's graduate program..."
Zhuang Rui glared at Huangfu Yun with annoyance. "I almost lost my life because of those tomb raiders, how could I not know?"
When Zhuang Rui later came into contact with Professor Meng, he heard Professor Meng talk about the problems that the antique industry was facing, which were also issues that the archaeological community had to address: the inability to solve the problem of "three thefts".
The so-called "three types of thieves" refer to three types of people who rob tombs, salvage, and steal cultural relics, plus smugglers, sellers of stolen goods, and counterfeiters, forming a black cultural relics industry chain with nearly one million people involved.
From the 1980s to the present, over the past two decades, most of the cultural relics lost by China have come from ancient tombs, hoards, and underwater sites. They are of extremely high historical value. As for the exact number, even the most authoritative national departments would find it difficult to give an accurate answer.
Zhuang Rui had heard Uncle De mention that Uncle De knew a big businessman from Zhejiang whose private museum contained more than 3,000 pieces of ancient porcelain, bronzes, and jade artifacts, almost all of which were unearthed. More than half of these artifacts were acquired through auctions abroad.
These wealthy Chinese have a lack of cultural background. Some of them are Shanxi coal bosses and the earliest traders in old Beijing. Many of them even started their businesses by selling tea eggs at street stalls.
From an entrepreneurial perspective, they are commendable, but their entry into the field of collecting has only made the already murky waters even muddier.
These people are simply treating art as an investment, a new form of investment, just like speculating on stocks or real estate. For example, the prices of Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasty imperial porcelain have skyrocketed, especially Yuan blue and white porcelain, which is said to have only 300 pieces in existence. Scarcity drives up prices.
However, the claim that only 300 pieces of Yuan blue and white porcelain survive is absurd. Has anyone actually investigated this? What basis did they use to reach this conclusion? According to Professor Meng's analysis, this was actually fabricated by Western capital, auction houses, and blindly following Chinese theorists.