None of the five old men had expected that Yang Jing would come up with such an earth-shattering thing.
Yes, if this scroll is finally identified as the authentic "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", it will definitely be a world-shaking event. There are few paintings in the world more precious than this one.
Mr. Xiao just measured it with a ruler. This silk scroll is much larger than the "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" treasured in the Palace Museum. It is 34.8 cm long and 746.4 cm wide. No matter which data, it is much larger than the "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" in the Palace Museum.
The size issue is not mentioned, the seals on this scroll are hard to ignore. There are very few seals on this scroll, only the seals of Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhao Ji, and Zhao Lingrang, but no one dares to underestimate this scroll.
If this painting was really hidden by Zhao Lingrang, then the few seals on it actually prove the true identity of the painting.
The painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival, which is treasured in the Palace Museum, has experienced many disasters. Although no one knows how the painting was preserved, just looking at the seals on the painting is enough to prove how many people have touched it.
Some people may say that there are so many seals of famous people on the fragment, including some well-known collectors. Is it possible that those top collectors cannot tell whether the painting is authentic?
But what if the fragment of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" treasured by the Palace Museum was a high-quality imitation from the beginning?
Who can tell the difference between these two things?
Old Xiao let out a long sigh and said to Yang Jing in a very serious tone: "Xiao Jing, the five of us must take this painting back to the Palace Museum and organize experts to appraise it together. This painting involves too many aspects, and even a few of us cannot make the decision."
Yang Jing hesitated for a moment and asked, "Second Master, it's not that I don't believe you. You just said that this painting involves too many aspects. What if the academy keeps this painting? Once this painting is authenticated as an authentic work, it will be a first-class national treasure..."
The old men were silent.
As employees of the academy, they knew exactly what kind of people the academy was like. Once the academy learned that a private person had collected valuable items, it would usually send experts to lobby for the valuable items at a very low price, under the pretext of "contributing to the country"...
They had done this kind of thing many times before, and now it was their apprentice's turn, and they were really at a loss as to what to do.
According to relevant regulations, the ownership of national first-, second-, and third-level cultural relics can belong to the state, collectives, or individuals. Cultural relics that belong to the state cannot be bought or sold, which is illegal. However, first-level cultural relics that belong to individuals can be circulated in China as long as they are not taken out of the country.
In terms of ownership, this painting of Yang Jing belongs to Yang Jing personally, which is beyond doubt. It was not stolen, robbed, or obtained from a tomb, but acquired through legal purchase, so even the state has no right to force Yang Jing to hand over this scroll of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" to the state.
But once this painting is authenticated as an authentic one, the impact will be huge, and the museum will definitely find a way to acquire the painting.
But how much money can the museum pay for this painting? One hundred million? Or two hundred million?
Liu Lao and the others knew that if the academy wanted to collect such precious cultural relics, they would always be very ruthless and would like to get them without spending a penny. But is this realistic? His disciple is a real rich man with a net worth of several hundred million US dollars and two oil fields that generate huge profits. He is really not short of money. Once this painting is identified as an authentic work of Zhang Zeduan, one or two hundred million yuan will definitely not impress his disciple.
But Mr. Liu and the others also understood that once the painting was really taken back to the institute, it would be almost impossible to get it out again.
Mr. Xiao also immediately realized that he had thought too simply. His face blushed and he said, "Xiao Jing, Master didn't think this through."
"Second Master, it's okay, you don't have to blame yourself."
Mr. Liu and his friends have a master-disciple relationship with Yang Jing, but Mr. Huang is not. He still wants to insist on taking the painting back to the institute for appraisal.
In this matter, the four of them, of course, sided with their apprentice. They had been searching for decades to find such a good apprentice, and today he had just become their disciple, so as the master, they had to support their apprentice no matter what.
Seeing that his four masters were about to quarrel with Master Huang, Yang Jing quickly said, "Isn't there a scroll that hasn't been opened yet? Why don't we open it first and see what's inside. Maybe there's other information about the painting hidden inside it?"
After Yang Jing said this, the old gentlemen realized that there was still an important scroll that had not been opened, so they immediately stopped their work. Mr. Guo once again took the lead and opened the other scroll himself.
After opening the scroll, there were indeed things hidden inside, but compared to the things hidden in the first scroll, there were much fewer things in this scroll.
It was also wrapped in a piece of faded silk. After Mr. Guo carefully uncovered the wrapping, he revealed the contents.
It is a small seal and a scroll of silk.
Mr. Guo first picked up the small seal. After just one look, he was so surprised that he cried out, "Oh my God, this, this is the 'Imperial Calligraphy' gourd seal among the seven seals of Xuanhe?"
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