One by one, precious porcelain or gold and silver artifacts were passed down from the ship. This work was extremely tedious, and it continued until late at night when the deck lights were turned on, and there were still four or five trainees busy on the ship.
Although Professor Meng and the others were in high spirits, their bodies simply couldn't keep up. Zhuang Rui persuaded them to go and rest. However, Zhuang Rui stayed on site the whole time, and he couldn't bear to lose even one of these things.
"Mr. Zhuang, do you have a moment? I'd like to have a chat with you..."
Just as Zhuang Rui was wiping a bronze mirror clean and putting it into a plastic bag, a voice came from below the boat.
"And you are?"
Zhuang Rui stuck his head out and saw a fair-skinned, chubby man in his forties. Zhuang Rui vaguely remembered him; this man seemed to have boarded the ship with Professor Meng, but the teacher hadn't introduced him, so Zhuang Rui hadn't paid much attention.
"Mr. Zhuang, my name is Dou Zhe. I work for the Ministry of Transport, specifically in charge of maritime transportation. Our leaders have given high praise to your salvage operation. I think we could find a place to talk..."
The man introduced himself, and Zhuang Rui was stunned. This official was quite high-ranking, actually a department-level cadre. He wiped his hands and climbed down the ladder next to the ship.
"Director Dou, please come to the room and sit down..."
Although he didn't know what the bureau chief wanted to talk to him about, Zhuang Rui didn't want to offend anyone for no reason. It was already past 1 a.m., so the fact that the other party had come to see him showed that he was sincere.
"Director Dou, what can I do for you?"
After sitting down, Zhuang Rui made Director Dou a cup of coffee. He had been relying on it to stay awake these past few days, and there were no other drinks on the ship.
Director Dou seemed to know Zhuang Rui's background. He stood up, accepted the coffee with both hands, and said, "Mr. Zhuang, on behalf of my superiors, I would like to congratulate you on the success of this deep-sea salvage operation..."
"Hehe, Director Dou, thank you for your concern, but as you can see, this work is quite busy. The artifact cleaning is only halfway done, if..."
Zhuang Rui didn't finish his sentence, but his intention to leave was clear. "I'm exhausted after a long day. Wouldn't it be better to spend time with my wife and kids? Why waste my time wasting time chatting with these bureaucrats?"
Seeing Zhuang Rui's somewhat impatient expression, Director Dou quickly put down his coffee and said, "It's like this, Mr. Zhuang, although this salvage operation was entirely your personal undertaking, the ship you salvaged still belongs to the state..."
"Wait a minute, Director Dou, isn't that a bit ridiculous? It's true this ship is from the Song Dynasty, but claiming it belongs to the country is a bit of a stretch. This is the Strait of Malacca in the South China Sea, not our country's territorial waters." Zhuang Rui was immediately enraged upon hearing Director Dou's words. Was Director Dou just trying to steal the credit? He had spent hundreds of millions to salvage the ship, and now he thought he could just take it away with a simple "it belongs to the country"? Did he think he was easy to bully?
"No...no, that's not what I meant, Mr. Zhuang, you've misunderstood, you've misunderstood..."
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Director Dou's pale face immediately turned red. He quickly stood up and explained, "This sunken ship certainly belongs to you, Mr. Zhuang. Our leader's idea is, could we classify this salvage operation as a joint effort between Mr. Zhuang and the state?"
After all that talk, Director Dou finally got to the point. China's first deep-sea shipwreck salvage, possibly even the world's deepest salvage, has an extraordinary and important role in boosting the political achievements of certain people.
The leader instructed Director Dou to negotiate with Zhuang Rui to see if the name of the relevant national department could be added to the salvage agreement. Although Director Dou knew that Zhuang Rui had a powerful background, seeing that Zhuang Rui was young, he took it upon himself to try to use official jargon and see if he could gain more benefits.
What embarrassed Director Dou was that Zhuang Rui didn't buy it at all and directly shut him down, which made Director Dou, who was used to playing it safe and leaving himself an out in everything, very uncomfortable.
"State action?"
Zhuang Rui smiled and said, "The ship is registered in Panama, and the salvage site is in international waters near the Strait of Malacca. The salvage cost of up to 300 million US dollars was paid by me personally. Director Dou, is it not appropriate to characterize it as a state action with just one sentence?"
Zhuang Rui now fully understands that this person wasn't after the artifacts that were recovered from the water, but rather after the impact of this salvage operation.
Chapter 951 Picking the Fruit? (Part 2)
"Three...three hundred million US dollars?"
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Director Dou jumped up as if his pants were on fire. This... wasn't this extortion? How could a single salvage operation possibly cost three hundred million US dollars?
It should be noted that the total cost of salvaging the Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck in China was only a little over 30 million RMB.
The recent salvage operation of the Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck showed the greatest determination, yet the budget did not exceed 150 million. Okay, even if Zhuang Rui's costs were high, the figure of 300 million US dollars is still a bit ridiculous.
"President Zhuang, I know you've invested a great deal and made significant contributions to this salvage operation, but the impact of this successful deep-sea salvage is immense. Therefore, I hope you can consider sharing this honor with the nation..."
Director Dou gave a wry smile. He had no reason to accuse the other party of extortion. He was the one who made the request first, and the other party had just made up a number without any basis.
However, Director Dou was thick-skinned enough to simply pretend he hadn't heard, and changed the subject to national honor, never mentioning the ownership of the ship again.
"This...isn't this a bit inappropriate? Director Dou, I've already prepared the press release for this matter. If I hadn't been so busy yesterday, it would have been released long ago...Besides, you really didn't put in much effort on this. Chairman Mao taught us to seek truth from facts back then, didn't he?"
Zhuang Rui cursed the old fox in his heart, but he refused to budge, and his words even carried a threatening tone.
Where did he spend 300 million US dollars on this salvage operation? It didn't even cost 300 million RMB. Moreover, the platform and floating crane are not disposable items; they will continue to play a role in future salvage operations.
However, Zhuang Rui did not want to let the other party take advantage of him for nothing. He could also see that this Director Dou was definitely not representing the country, but at most representing a leader of a certain department to steal credit.
If it were someone else, they might have to give Director Dou some face, since they still need to make a living in China, right?
But Zhuang Rui was different. He had enough confidence to ignore the other party. Did the Ministry of Transportation have the right to prevent his car from driving on the road in the future?
"Is the press release ready?"
Director Dou was stunned upon hearing this. Regardless of whether Zhuang Rui's words were true or false, he couldn't bear the wrath of his superiors after the news was released. He quickly said, "President Zhuang, Mr. Zhuang, please make your request. This matter... we can discuss it..."
Director Dou was sweating profusely. The salvage operation of the "Nanhai No. 1" shipwreck, which had been the subject of much domestic media hype, had failed for various reasons, already causing the leadership to lose face. If something like Zhuang Rui's incident were to happen, it would be even more impossible to explain to the public.
Director Dou wished he could slap himself twice. Why did he bully Zhuang Rui because he was young? Now he had no way to save face and was completely controlled by others.
"Requirements? I don't have any requirements..."
Zhuang Rui raised an eyebrow and decisively refused Director Dou's offer. He was not short of money. He had already received more than 100 million US dollars from Liu Minghui, which offset the cost of the salvage operation and made him a fortune. What could he possibly ask for?
Moreover, Zhuang Rui had some concerns. If he announced that this was a joint salvage operation with the state, he was afraid that these people would take advantage of the situation and try to take possession of the cultural relics.
It's important to know that the ceramic and gold and silver artifacts unearthed so far are worth hundreds of millions of RMB, not to mention the well-preserved ancient ship from the Song Dynasty, whose value is immeasurable.
"Mr. Zhuang, please reconsider. We can discuss anything as long as you agree..."
As the saying goes, "He who has no desires is invincible." Zhuang Rui's attitude left Director Dou completely baffled. He was neither short of money nor power, had not committed any illegal acts, and had no dirt on him that anyone could find out about.
So even if Director Dou's superior is just a department head, or even if he's two levels higher, there's nothing he can do about Zhuang Rui. At worst, he can just buy a small island abroad and live the same life.
"There's no need to discuss that. Since Director Dou is here, I can have someone share some of the relevant experience from this salvage operation with you. I believe it will be helpful for the upcoming salvage of the 'Nanhai No. 1' shipwreck..."
Zhuang Rui waved his hand, ending the conversation. He really had nothing in common with this bureaucrat. In China, they could control everything, but abroad, whether he paid them any attention depended on his mood.
After Zhuang Rui left, Director Dou picked up the teacup on the table and was about to smash it on the ground, but when he raised his hand halfway, he gave a wry smile and put it down.
Director Dou finally understood that the sense of superiority he had in front of some department leaders or successful businessmen in China was a complete joke in front of Zhuang Rui.
In terms of power, his background is at the central government level; in terms of wealth, the value of that one museum alone is staggering. For a mere bureau chief like myself to try and outmaneuver him is simply overestimating my abilities.
Zhuang Rui didn't take these trivial matters to heart. After a long day of work, he didn't go back to the shipwreck to continue cleaning the artifacts. Instead, he went back to his room, took a shower, and went straight to sleep.
"Who is it? Calling so early in the morning?"
Zhuang Rui was awakened from his sleep by a ringing phone. When he opened his eyes, Qin Xuanbing was no longer in bed, and the phone call was coming from the living room.
"It's Fourth Brother. Zhuang Rui went to bed a little late last night. If there's anything you need, please tell me, and I'll pass it on to him..."
Zhuang Rui has been spending day and night in the monitoring room these past few days, which makes Qin Xuanbing feel sorry for him. When she saw that it was Ouyang Jun calling, she immediately took over the matter. Mainly, Ouyang Jun never has anything important to say when he calls Zhuang Rui.
"Xuanbing, I'm up. Give me the phone..."
Zhuang Rui came out of the room. He hadn't seen Ouyang Jun for a while, so he guessed he had something to discuss with him.
"Why didn't you sleep a little longer..."
Qin Xuanbing glanced at Zhuang Rui, but still handed the phone over.
"It's alright, your husband is in good health. Didn't you get to experience it yesterday?"
Zhuang Rui's words made Qin Xuanbing pause, then walk away with a blush on her face.
After taking the phone, Zhuang Rui sat comfortably on the sofa and said lazily, "Fourth Brother, it's not fair to let someone sleep soundly..."
"You little rascal, not only have you disappeared lately, but you've also managed to steal your wife away?"
Ouyang Jun was very dissatisfied with Zhuang Rui. It was said that this guy was sailing all over the world in a big cruise ship without telling him, and he even took his wife and children with him, leaving his son without any playmates.
"What's wrong, jealous? Come on..."
Zhuang Rui laughed upon hearing this. Of his mother's relatives, he was most familiar with Ouyang Jun. The others were all in the system, and their speech and actions were very formal and rigid, making it far less relaxed than chatting with Ouyang Jun.
"Alright, I'm too busy to go. Oh, by the way, I have something to tell you. Didn't you salvage a Song Dynasty shipwreck? I..."
"Wait, Fourth Brother, who told you this?"
Before Ouyang Jun could finish speaking, Zhuang Rui interrupted him. The sunken ship was only brought to the surface yesterday noon, and Ouyang Jun already knew about it. Could it be that Fourth Brother Ouyang had planted spies on the ship?
"Hey kid, wait until I finish..."
Ouyang Jun said with dissatisfaction that when he was on the phone, few people dared to interrupt him, but this younger brother was unscrupulous and did not treat him, the chairman, as a leader.
"Alright, you go ahead..."
Zhuang Rui laughed; he just loved arguing with Ouyang Jun.
"Here's the thing, your boat was salvaged, and some people wanted to get some benefits, but they heard you refused them, so they came to me..."
"Damn, Fourth Brother, you're getting involved in this too? I spent hundreds of millions to salvage this item, and you think someone can just take it away with a single sentence?"
This time, Ouyang Jun was interrupted by Zhuang Rui before he could finish speaking, which made Ouyang's fourth brother very frustrated. Why is his younger brother getting more and more temperamental as he gets older?
"You little brat, let me finish what I have to say..."
Ouyang Jun was really angry. Although he didn't know how much Zhuang Rui had spent on this salvage operation, even if Zhuang Rui hadn't spent a single penny, he couldn't let others take advantage of him. This was simply judging a gentleman by the standards of a petty person.
"Nobody wants to take your ship. Just adding your name to the salvage company's list is a boost to the country's reputation, isn't it? Besides, helping others with this kind of thing will naturally bring you benefits in the future..."
Fearing that Zhuang Rui would interrupt him again, Ouyang Jun finished speaking in one breath this time. He had received a call from a high-ranking minister early this morning, and it was about this matter.
The person who made the call was someone on par with his father, personally calling to plead for him, which gave Ouyang Jun a lot of face. So, although Ouyang Jun was usually quite arrogant, he still agreed to the request. These days, it's always better to have more friends than more enemies.
"Fourth Brother, I refused this request yesterday, so please don't bring it up again. Why should I, who salvaged this shipwreck all by myself, have several names written on my name? I don't need anything, and I have no one to ask for help from..."
To Ouyang Jun's surprise, Zhuang Rui dared to disrespect him and shut the matter down with a single sentence, which made Chairman Ouyang, who originally thought that a single sentence could solve the problem, somewhat anxious.
He had readily agreed to that person's request. If he couldn't get past Zhuang Rui, Ouyang Jun would lose face in front of outsiders. Besides, he and Zhuang Rui were relatives. If he couldn't get this done, countless people would laugh at him behind his back.
“Hey kid, you think you’ve got too much influence now? You’re not even going to give Fourth Brother face anymore? You have to agree to this…”
Ouyang Jun yelled into the phone, then lowered his voice and said gently, "Fifth Brother, just consider this a favor from your Fourth Brother. When have you ever asked your Fourth Brother to do something for you and I haven't done it well?"
It must have been quite difficult for Ouyang Jun, having to play both the bad cop and the good cop all by himself.
Chapter 952 Picking the Fruit? (Part 2)
"Well, Fourth Brother, what you're saying really makes me feel ashamed..."
Zhuang Rui quickly interrupted Ouyang Jun, saying that he had indeed troubled this man quite a bit, and now that he was asking for help, he couldn't refuse.
"Fourth Brother, you know perfectly well how difficult those people are to deal with. If I agree to let them participate in the salvage operation, what if they turn their backs on me when we get back to China and devour me whole?"