"Hey you two, do you still have the mood to watch those things?"
Yu Zhengjun, who was watching the two of them calmly, suddenly became so anxious that he jumped up and down. Although Mayor Cen hadn't said anything, even a fool could see that this matter was definitely not over.
Xu Guoqing was taken aback for a moment, then asked, "Then why? Isn't it too early to eat?"
"My brother, can you be normal for once? Do you know who you just offended? That's the mayor, he's in charge of millions of people. Do you think you'll get away with offending him?"
Boss Yu was actually more concerned about whether this matter would involve him. He had secretly gone out to take a look and it seemed that Mayor Cen's car was still parked outside. This scared him so much that he almost ran away by climbing over the wall in the backyard.
Xu Guoqing was unconvinced and twisted his neck, saying, "I neither steal nor rob, what can he do to me?"
"Yes, no matter how powerful the mayor is, he can't do anything to a law-abiding person, can he?"
Zhuang Rui also smiled and said that although he was also disdainful of the mayor's attitude in front of the Japanese, as Xu Guoqing said, he hadn't broken any laws. No matter how powerful the mayor was, he couldn't just kidnap him and send him to Japan, could he?
"Hey, you two, what... what..."
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Yu Zhengjun almost burst into tears. These two were being too presumptuous. They had plenty of ways to manipulate an ordinary citizen like him. Even someone with a modest amount of wealth like himself couldn't withstand their antics.
"Mr. Li, why don't you try to persuade this man..."
Helpless, Boss Yu looked at Li Dali. He didn't know Zhuang Rui's background and only thought that Zhuang Rui was a big businessman. These days, having money is not as good as having power. When a dragon from out of town comes to the local area, he will also be controlled.
"Hehe, Lao Yu, no need to rush. President Zhuang is right. Brother Guoqing hasn't broken the law, so no one can do anything to him..."
Li Dali had remained silent until now, but he was now strongly supporting Zhuang Rui. Although he was also not very clear about Zhuang Rui's background, he had received a business card at the clubhouse in the suburbs of Beijing. The title on the card was that of a newly appointed vice governor of Hebei Province.
If even a vice governor can only move between Building No. 3 of the clubhouse in the suburbs of Beijing, one can only imagine what kind of people live in the other two small buildings.
Chapter 792 The Price of High-Quality Imitation Porcelain
So although Li Dali also made a living in Hebei Province, he wasn't very nervous, and was even a little excited. He was hoping things would escalate further so he could see Zhuang Rui's connections.
In Li Dali's opinion, no matter how powerful the local officials are, they have to be humble and respectful when they go to the capital.
Putting aside other matters, even those section-level cadres in the less prominent departments of the capital, when they go to the provinces, it's called "inspecting work." Even if the local officials are of higher rank, they have to be all smiles and courteous. In ancient times, this would be like an imperial envoy saying, "Ah, Old Xu, you've really ruined me. They can't do anything about you, and they might turn around and deal with me..."
Yu Zhengjun put on a long face, thought for a moment, and said, "Old Xu, I think you should go out and hide for a while, and come back when things calm down. Anyway, you don't have the funds to continue your research now..."
"I haven't done anything wrong, why should I hide? Besides... besides... I don't even have any money left to go out..."
Xu Guoqing blushed slightly. He originally had tens of thousands of yuan, but his wife had taken it all back to her parents' home. He only had a few hundred yuan left, barely enough for food. The factory had been in arrears on electricity bills for three or four months, and Xu Guoqing had no money to pay them.
Xu Guoqing's words stunned everyone. They hadn't expected that Xu Guoqing had fallen into such dire straits. If he went out to hide for three to five months, he could have earned ten or eight thousand yuan, but they didn't expect that he couldn't even come up with that much money.
Zhuang Rui glanced at Li Dali and said, "Mr. Li, the money for the porcelain can be given to Engineer Xu now..."
The set of eight sancai (three-color glazed pottery) female figurines that Zhuang Rui bought some time ago is in the box that Peng Fei has. At that time, Zhuang Rui gave Li Dali 500,000 yuan, and this money is naturally going to Xu Guoqing.
Although he wanted to ask Xu Guoqing to leave, Zhuang Rui still disdained to take advantage of someone in distress.
"Right, right, I completely forgot about that. Lao Yu, Mr. Zhuang bought four pieces of porcelain made by Mr. Xu for a total of 500,000... Why are you looking at me? Mr. Zhuang said it's worth that much, so it's worth that much. You're not new to the antique business. Can modern imitations be compared to genuine articles?"
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Li Dali quickly took out a check from his bag. However, he didn't give the money directly to Xu Guoqing, but instead handed it to Yu Zhengjun, because he had obtained those Tang tri-colored pottery pieces from Yu Zhengjun.
However, Li Dali didn't know that Yu Zhengjun's reaction to his words wasn't that he thought the money was too little, but rather that it was too much. In Yu Zhengjun's opinion, modern imitation porcelain was worth at most three to five thousand yuan.
"Mr. Zhuang, you see, this is so embarrassing..."
Yu Zhengjun took the check and quickly handed it to Xu Guoqing, his face flushed slightly. He had originally planned to use these items to lure some rich guys, but he hadn't expected Zhuang Rui to offer such a high price after identifying the genuine item.
Zhuang Rui laughed upon hearing this, waved his hand, and said, "Boss Yu, Xu Gong's craftsmanship is worth this much money. Although these Tang tri-color pottery pieces were not made in the Tang Dynasty, they still have extremely high artistic value and appreciation value. Moreover, the cost must have been quite high, right?"
"I don't know about that, but I guess it's not worth much money?"
Although Yu Zhengjun knew that Xu Guoqing had spent a lot of money to reproduce these ancient ceramics, he did not know the exact amount.
In Yu Zhengjun's opinion, Gaoyi itself is a place that produces porcelain clay, and the clay is free. With ready-made kilns, firing these things doesn't cost much at all.
Moreover, Xu Guoqing's wife used to like investing in stocks, so some of Xu Guoqing's friends thought that his wife had lost all the money in the stock market. No one could have imagined that all that money was spent by Xu Guoqing on making porcelain.
Xu Guoqing gently shook the check for 500,000 RMB in his hand, making a rustling sound, and casually said, "If we start firing it, it should be enough for two months..."
"Damn, that's a huge expense! Old Xu, how many items can you burn out of this 500,000?"
Xu Guoqing's words startled Yu Zhengjun, who was standing next to him, and his eyes widened in surprise.
Xu Guoqing looked up, seemingly calculating something, and after a while said, "If all goes well, we should be able to fire two or three pieces of Cizhou ware. If we're unlucky, we might only be able to fire one at most..."
"Wh...what?"
Yu Zhengjun was completely dumbfounded, almost muttering to himself, "Five hundred thousand RMB, and you can only fire two or three pieces of porcelain?"
"Yes, just preparing those ancient glazes would probably cost a lot of money. Although I have mastered the firing formula for Cizhou ware porcelain, I have never fired any actual pieces. Moreover, I still have to experiment with the firing temperature. If I can produce one piece out of ten firings, I'd be considered lucky..."
The biggest challenge in using modern techniques to fire antique-style porcelain lies in the formula and glaze. The formula can be restored through various clues and a large number of experiments, but the ancient glaze is extremely precious due to the limitations of the conditions.
The ancient glaze used by Xu Guoqing was entirely formulated by himself. He collected various colored minerals from across the country at high prices, ground them into powder, fired them at high temperatures, and then mixed the colors and ingredients. It was a completely ancient process and contained no modern chemical elements.
"Old Xu, so... so the cost of the Tang tri-color pottery you made before was also this high?"
Yu Zhengjun's voice was already trembling slightly. You see, he had taken quite a few Tang tri-colored pottery items from Xu Guoqing, which he had given away as worthless things.
"No, not at all..."
Xu Guoqing's words relieved Yu Zhengjun.
"However, the initial research on the formula and glaze cost several million. The cost decreased relatively later, but because so many pieces were wasted, each finished piece would probably cost tens of thousands of yuan..."
Because of the unique nature of certain conditions, no two handmade replicas of antique porcelain are exactly alike. The sancai (three-color glazed) ceramic pieces that left Xu Guoqing's hands were all exquisite; the inferior ones had long been smashed by him.
In fact, over the past ten years, Xu Guoqing has only produced fifty or sixty high-quality replicas of Tang tri-color pottery, which means he only successfully produced three to five pieces a year.
Xu Guoqing was obsessed with researching how to restore the ancient ceramic firing process. He didn't care much about the finished products, and since he had money at the time, he generously gave away a lot of things.
Apart from the thirty-two items that Xu Guoqing brought out this time, the rest were items that his friends liked and took away on a whim, including Boss Yu.
Now that he was almost at his wit's end, Xu Guoqing took out his thirty-odd sancai (three-color glazed pottery) figurines, which he was most satisfied with, to sell. However, he really didn't understand the value of these things.
However, Xu Guoqing wasn't too surprised when Zhuang Rui pulled out a check for 500,000 yuan. After all, he had spent countless amounts of 500,000 yuan to make these things.
"God, why didn't you say so sooner? Damn it, I'm going to take them all back..."
Upon hearing Xu Guoqing's words, Yu Zhengjun was practically furious. He never imagined that the things Xu Guoqing had casually placed around his house actually cost tens of thousands of yuan each.
"Old Yu, forget it. What kind of person would ask for something back after giving it away?"
Xu Guoqing waved his hand dismissively and said that his family had become wealthy in the early 1980s. Back then, Xu Guoqing became obsessed with the restoration of ancient ceramics. Since his grandfather was good at making money, he could afford to spend it too, which led him to develop the temperament of a young master.
"By the way, Brother Zhuang, do you still buy Tang tri-color pottery? If so, you can order what kind of piece you want and what size, and I'll fire it for you. Don't worry, I'll only add a little bit of labor cost to the cost price..."
Perhaps spurred by the hardship of being broke during this period, Xu Guoqing is now facing a survival crisis and is even thinking about starting a business. However, he is too honest and tells Zhuang Rui all his thoughts.
If Xu Guoqing had thought of this earlier, even if the ceramics factory had to shut down, he could have made a very comfortable living by restoring and imitating antique porcelain. Of course, it's not too late now.
"I won't accept Tang tri-color pottery, but I'm quite interested in this Cizhou ware porcelain. Let's discuss it privately sometime..."
Zhuang Rui only got halfway through his sentence; what he was really interested in was selling all these high-quality replicas of porcelain to Japan.
Outsiders may not know how much the Japanese admire Cizhou ware, but Zhuang Rui is well aware of it. If it is indeed verified as a piece of Southern Song Dynasty official kiln Cizhou ware, then the price of one piece would definitely be several million or even tens of millions of RMB.
Naturally, the fewer people who know about something like this, the better. With Li Dali and Yu Zhengjun present, Zhuang Rui was unwilling to say much, because if this matter were to be successfully carried out and get out, Zhuang Rui's reputation in the international art market would be absolutely ruined.
However, Zhuang Rui had no qualms about harming the Japanese; the key was whether Xu Guoqing's Cizhou ware firing skills were up to par.
"Mr. Zhuang, I've already introduced you to the person, so there's nothing more for us to do here. Why don't you chat with Mr. Xu some more, while Lao Yu and I go discuss other matters related to the store?"
Having been in the martial arts world for so long, Li Dali naturally sensed that Zhuang Rui was up to something and didn't want them to hear. He quickly pulled Yu Zhengjun, who was still calculating how many porcelain pieces he had given away, and headed towards the door.
"Which one of you is named Xu Guoqing?"
As soon as Li Dali and Yu Zhengjun stepped into the courtyard, a group of uniformed people rushed in from outside, including police officers, business and tax officials, and others, and immediately forced the two back into the room.
Chapter 793 Joint Law Enforcement
Xu Guoqing's overgrown yard wasn't small, but quite a few people poured in—twenty or thirty in total. Upon entering, seeing Zhuang Rui and the others who were seeing Li Dali and Yu Zhengjun out, a middle-aged, overweight man in a police uniform asked, "Who is Xu Guoqing? Which one is Xu Guoqing?"
"Chief Zhao, what's going on? Why is it like this?"
Yu Zhengjun is considered a local bigwig in this county. He knows most of the people here, and yesterday he even drank with two of them and went to a sauna afterwards. The person Yu Zhengjun asked about is the director of the city police station, who was also involved in the corruption yesterday.
Yu Zhengjun chuckled, but he knew perfectly well what was going on. This retaliation had come so quickly. He hadn't expected that the mayor would cause such a big commotion in less than an hour.
In fact, Yu Zhengjun underestimated Mayor Cen. If it were just a matter of being offended by Xu Guoqing's words, Mayor Cen would not have made such a scene. But this is a major matter concerning investment promotion, so Mayor Cen had no choice but to use his power to suppress people.
"Old Yu? What are you doing here?"
Director Zhao was also surprised to see Yu Zhengjun, but he immediately straightened his face and said, "Joint enforcement by the Industry and Commerce Bureau, Tax Bureau, and Land Administration Bureau. Xu Guoqing, come out here for a moment..."
This was a task personally assigned by the county bureau leaders, and the county magistrate's car was parked at the factory gate. Director Zhao dared not reminisce with Yu Zhengjun at this moment, but privately he still gave Yu Zhengjun a wink, signaling him to wait a while before talking.
"I am Xu Guoqing, what do you want?"
Xu Guoqing stepped forward. He wasn't stupid; on the contrary, someone who could achieve such great success in ceramic restoration and reproduction was much smarter than the average person. He just hadn't put his mind to business. Now, seeing this scene, Xu Guoqing knew it was the work of those officials.
"Your factory is involved in illegal construction and unlicensed operation. Please assist them in conducting an investigation..."
When Director Zhao saw Yu Zhengjun, his expression softened. He then handed Xu Guoqing over to several other departments, saying that since Xu Guoqing hadn't committed murder or arson, he wasn't under his jurisdiction for the time being.
Although Yu Zhengjun was not well-known outside, he was a real local bigwig in this small county town, with a net worth of nearly ten million. He had a good relationship with both himself and the bureau chief, so Director Zhao still had to give him some face.
As for Zhuang Rui, Peng Fei, Li Dali, and others, they were automatically filtered out by Director Zhao.
Although he noticed the car had a Beijing license plate when it came in, he didn't pay much attention. Shijiazhuang isn't far from Beijing, and cars with Beijing license plates are a common sight.
"Xu Guoqing, we are from the Industry and Commerce Bureau. According to regulations, we need to check your business license. Please take it out..."
Because of its proximity to the provincial capital, this small county needs to emphasize civilized law enforcement, and as County Chief Kong just instructed, it must be based on law, reason, and evidence.
"Business license? Wait a minute, please come in and have a seat, I'll go get it..."
Xu Guoqing led the group to an administrative office near the workshop entrance and went to look for the business license. His wife used to handle these matters, and Xu Guoqing only remembered roughly where it was kept.
"Old Zhao, what's going on?"
Yu Zhengjun didn't go into the office; he stopped Director Zhao at the door.
"Mr. Yu, are you friends with the owner of this place?"
Director Zhao asked a question, and after seeing Yu Zhengjun nod, he glanced around and said, "This is no small matter. It was ordered by County Chief Kong. I'm afraid it won't end well. Mr. Yu, you shouldn't get involved. You should leave quickly..."