antique masters in modern times

It was a red and rusty bronze vessel, flat and slender, about the length of a palm, in terms of shape, it looked a bit like a bamboo section split in half.The festival head is carved in the shape of a dragon, with symmetrical curly cloud patterns engraved on the forehead, protruding nose, protruding eyes, curved horns and bulging cheeks, overlapping scales and armor, with distinct layers. It looks rough and majestic, and it is the style of the Warring States Period.

But anyone who sees this thing for the first time will not linger too much on this very distinctive dragon head, but will first notice its lower part: the front of the polished slender and flat bronze piece , engraved with five large golden characters.But except for the "king" character drawn with a silver hook and iron on the top, the other few characters are mysterious and difficult to distinguish, and still have the characteristics of pictographs.People who can recognize these words are rare.

The most famous bronze wares of Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties are basically bells and tripods.Although this thing, because of its color and rust, everyone can basically conclude that it is at least from the Zhou Dynasty, but it is impossible to answer what it is.

At that moment, low voices of discussion sounded from the crowd, everyone whispered to each other, and exchanged opinions with their companions in a low voice, but they all insisted on their own opinions, and there was no certainty.I don't want to speak easily, lest I lose face.

Old Ying and Pei Xiuyuan knew each other well, so he didn't have any scruples, so he immediately used the flannel lining to cushion it, held the ancient object in his palm, and examined it carefully with a magnifying glass.

After a while, he put the things back into the box and sighed softly: "It's rare, it's rare! This is the Dragon Festival of the King's Order. I didn't expect to see the real thing here today after thinking about it for many years. It's really rare!"

In just one sentence, Yinglao even mentioned three things that are rare, obviously he attaches great importance to this item.

Pei Xiuyuan immediately showed a bit of complacency when he was able to impress his old friend with his eyes high above his head.Looking around, seeing many people still looking blank, he suggested: "Aside from being rare, what else do you see?"

"Are you trying to test my eyesight or to show off your own stuff?"

Old Ying pierced his real intention with one word, and before he answered, he said appreciatively: "However, it is indeed a good thing and worth showing off. It is an object from the late Warring States period. Judging from the carvings, it should be a piece of gold from Chu State." Made. The big characters on the front are "Wang Ming, Ming Chuan, Lease". The Dragon Festival is a messenger's token. As long as you hold this festival, you can ask Chuanshe to provide food and lodging wherever you go. Well, it's probably a bit like the ones of later generations. Post station. I only saw fragments of this thing back then, and I heard that there are intact ones, but I have never seen it with my own eyes. Old Pei, you have yours, where did you get it?"

Pei Xiuyuan laughed, and slapped twice symbolically: "Master Ying, you really deserve it. After only watching for a while, the score was as good as the appraisal certificate. You know, the auction house had gathered several researchers back then. An expert in Chinese antiques, it took more than half a year of research to understand its origin. This is the gorse auction house where the sun never sets, and I bought it at a price of 270 million pounds. At that time, my wife also said that With a good name, the money is worth the money. I said that she is chasing the bottom, and getting it is the greatest gain in itself."

The king's order is passed on to the Dragon Festival, and what is passed on is the king's order.Pei Xiuyuan's wife used this name as a joke, hoping that her husband's wishes would be as unstoppable as the king's order.And in the business world, that means wealth.

The business partners who guessed this point, after being amazed, couldn't help but start joking and complimenting, even Madam Kua was right, this is indeed a treasure, after Mr. Pei got it, his business grew bigger and bigger, and so on.

For these wealthy businessmen, money accumulated to a certain extent is just a number, so they are not very surprised by its price.A little emotion, that's all.

But the teachers and students present at the meeting were all ordinary people, and the exchange rate between the British pound and the Huaxia currency was quite strong these days. When they heard that the bronze ware was auctioned for an unimaginable astronomical figure, they were all surprised and speechless.

Only Yan You has a strange expression.

Elder Ying, who was still immersed in amazement, didn't notice the strangeness of his lover.

After listening to his old friend talk about the origin of this item, he nodded and admitted: "When I was a child, I heard that there was a complete Wang Ming Festival circulating in the world, but it was only a flash in the pan. My father didn't even know which shopkeeper it was. In his hand, he suddenly heard that he had already made a move. The old man was not very reconciled, and after inquiring around, he found out that it was confiscated by the authorities under the pretext of contraband and given to a high-ranking official in the United States who claimed to love Chinese culture. Probably I felt that this matter was embarrassing, and I issued a password to warn the shopkeeper not to mention it again. I thought, the officer was probably looking for an excuse to ask for bribes, brought it back to the country and sold it to other people, and finally fell into the hands of the auction house Here, it is exactly what you said. Alas, I didn't expect to meet something that the old man had no chance to see, but let me meet it."

After all, Ying Lao couldn't put it down and continued to play with Wang Mingjie.After a while, there was a new discovery: "Ha, it turns out that there are round rope holes on both sides of its head, and the button handle is engraved with words. When I asked about it back then, no one mentioned this to me. Old Pei Ah, don’t blame me for being unable to let go of good things, just let me have another look, and it’s right to end my long-cherished wish.”

"Be polite to me again. Don't you say that, I can still grab it by hand?"

When the two old men were chatting and laughing, a disturbing voice suddenly broke in: "Bronze wares are national treasures. Strictly speaking, they are stolen goods. Mr. Pei should not buy stolen goods to fuel their arrogance. And Professor Ying, neither should I just want to be happy, and I need to persuade Mr. Pei more."

This seems quite reasonable.Hearing this, many people woke up from the shock and fell into deep thought.Several students even showed eagerness to help.It was only because of the teacher around him that he didn't speak.

As for the two old people who were named, their smiles faded before they knew it.

Seeing his shocking words, Jiang Luyun's eyes suddenly showed complacency.

However, although he said it righteously, he didn't really think so.It's just that he was blinded by the sky-high price, and felt that he was a dignified college student, but he couldn't even earn a fraction of the transaction price of Wang Mingjie in his life. He might as well live a nourishing life like this black-hearted businessman, and his jealous heart suddenly resurfaced.

However, he is quite knowledgeable about current affairs, and knows that Pei Xiu is no better than those teachers and students in the school who let him criticize him. If he annoys him, he might not even be reimbursed for the train ticket back home.So he thought about finding an excuse to make the other party unable to attack, so as to disgust the rich man.With an idea, he really came up with such a high-sounding reason.

Suddenly, the atmosphere suddenly became rather weird.The purely impulsive students were excited to hear it, while the mature and prudent teachers were in a dilemma: it seemed bad to pretend not to hear, but seriously, Pei Xiuyuan was the biggest owner of this exchange meeting.It's really unreasonable to eat people who live in people and have to break up with them.

Jiang Luyun didn't care about these things.To achieve the effect, he still wanted to make persistent efforts to ignite the fire, but he heard Elder Ying suddenly asked: "Student, do you know the law on the management of antiques on which the sun never sets?"

Jiang Luyun originally thought that the old man would make excuses and make excuses, or even tell him to shut up.He also dreamed up a bunch of "heroic" scenes in which he refuted the old professor with great principles.But I never thought that what the old man asked was this, so I couldn't help being dumbfounded.

His major is history, but in fact he doesn't have much to do with antiques. This time he won the trip because of his instructor's face. He originally came here for fun.As for antiques, he only knew a little bit, and he couldn't even remember exactly which year before cultural relics were not allowed to leave the country.Asked by Mr. Ying, he immediately squeaked and couldn't tell why.

Seeing his embarrassment, Old Ying shook his head slightly, and said to Yan You beside him: "Xiao Yan, do you still remember, I mentioned it to you in the last chat."

Yan You was still looking at the "ancient artifact" in a daze, but when he was called by Elder Ying, he immediately understood: With his identity, it is impossible for Elder Ying to argue with a junior, and it doesn't matter whether he wins or loses.Moreover, Mr. Ying himself has a bad temper, and it is common for him to stare at people at the table when he says something out of tune. It is a habit of decades, and he can't change it.In college, everyone was used to his temper and knew it was out of intention.But outside, if you use it against children from other schools, you will inevitably get the reputation of bullying the small.

No matter how you look at it, it is safest to answer by yourself.

However, at that time, Elder Ying only mentioned it briefly, and the two masters and apprentices did not conduct in-depth discussions on this issue.I don't know if my answer can satisfy Mr. Ying?

But right now, I don't care too much, the most important thing is to make things right first, and not let old Ying and old friends get down.Fortunately, I have always paid attention to this issue, and after coming to this era, I have consulted a lot of information, so I am not stage frightened.

"The laws of different countries are not the same. It is not uncommon for things that are illegal in China to become legal in another country. Like the sun never sets, smuggled or stolen antiques are allowed or even encouraged to circulate in the market; some countries are even more unscrupulous and directly It is stipulated that even if there is clear evidence that it is stolen goods, as long as the thief holds it for a certain number of years, it will belong to him.”

Speaking of this, Yan You ignored Jiang Luyun who wanted to interrupt, and continued: "Of course, I have no intention of whitewashing their banditry. I just want to explain that in terms of China's current national strength and the political situation of all countries in the world, There is no way to change the status quo for the time being. After all, reasoning does not make sense, and we are not as good as others in terms of strength and force. It is even more impossible to go to war for a few ancient relics and destroy the strategic goal of peaceful development of the country. Therefore, we can only start from other aspects .”

Yan You's words not only calmed down the passionate young students, but even the teachers became interested, wanting to hear what he could say.

"The robbers took away the treasures not because of love, but because they wanted money. That's why there are auctions one after another. In addition to Chinese antiques, there are also tsar's crowns, European scepters, ancient books of Arabia, etc. It has changed its appearance and appeared as an auction item in these countries that have become rich due to colonization and aggression. Most of the auction houses are related to smuggling and robbery groups. This is not news in the world. The origin of the auction item is naturally It is also conceivable."

Originally, Yanyou just wanted to persuade Jiang Luyun.But when I really said those thoughts accumulated in my heart during countless sleepless nights, I still inevitably felt sad, and my tone became more and more serious: "The robbers took our things, but they can only pay a high price. It is a double loss of antiquities and wealth. But sadly, for those who really want to protect the antiques of the motherland, this is the only way at present."

"Maybe we can find a more effective method when the country is strong or for other reasons, but this does not mean that we can underestimate the efforts of our predecessors. 270 million pounds, this student may just be surprised However, I was wondering how much Mr. Pei had put in so much effort to accumulate this wealth. But the so-called auction house easily took away Mr. Pei's hard-earned accumulation with only one piece of stolen goods. "

"This is the second plunder of the fair! But at present, the domestic antique market has just started, and we can't even protect the local antiques well, and we don't have the energy or ability to recover the treasures lost overseas. As a person, I can only complain. , People without much ability, I am grateful, even fortunate, that there are people like Mr. Pei in Huaxia! I am willing to use my wealth to exchange for a chance to go home for the wandering treasures."

"Student, do you still think that Mr. Pei shouldn't participate in the auction?"