Chapter 515: Five Billion Dollars in Hand
Several old experts in the calligraphy and painting area were also confused:
"Am I seeing things? All the calligraphy and paintings in this vat are by Tang Yin? This is 'Moon Spring Scroll,' this is 'Stone Forest Summer Vacation,' this is 'Wild Monk Fighting the Cold'? And this one... Wow, Old Li, Old Huang, hurry over here."
How could the expert named Lao Huang come over at this time? He also has a treasure in his hands:
"Look what treasures I found! These are all Dong Qichang's calligraphy. Haha, this is 'Imitation of Various Calligraphy Album', and this is 'Imitation of Various Calligraphy Album'. Oh~~ and this is a boxed set of 12 paintings called 'Landscape Paintings and Calligraphy'?"
Rumor has it that this "Landscape Painting and Calligraphy" was burned in a fire in an unspeakable era. I sighed and lamented for a long time at the time. I didn't expect it to be burned, but sold in an antique shop? Haha, a blessing in disguise, a blessing in disguise.
Lin Sanqi thought that this was all thanks to himself for intercepting the opportunity in 1961.
If he had not bought out all these antiques from the antique shops in 1961, these national treasures would have been destroyed in that man-made disaster and would have disappeared from the world.
So from this perspective, Lin Sanqi is definitely the benefactor of these thousands of antiques. He couldn't help but feel intoxicated in his heart:
"I'm such a fucking saint! Hehe."
When Zhan Shaoyuan heard that his colleagues had discovered treasures one after another, he could no longer hold back. He was an expert in porcelain identification, and at this time he also rushed out roaring.
"Wow, this large Ming Yongle blue and white nine-dragon vase is absolutely authentic and belongs to the royal family. It's a treasure!!!"
"This large Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain jar with phoenix, unicorn and peony branches is the largest Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain discovered in China. It's a treasure!!!"
"This is... This is a large revolving vase with a phoenix-arriving ceremony, carved in foreign-style porcelain from the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty? A similar revolving vase was auctioned last year for 260 million yuan. Oh my god, this one is in better condition, with richer colors. This one is even more valuable."
Zhan Shaoyuan was so excited that he asked Lin Musen:
"Doctor Lin, do you have any chicken-glazed cups here? Or any Song Ru kilns? Bring them out so I can see them."
Lin Musen nodded quickly:
"Yes? We have the Chicken Cup, the Twelve Flower God Cup, and the Five Famous Kilns. But they're all on display in our Chinese Medicine Clinic and not for sale for now."
Zhan Shaoyuan was dumbfounded:
"Oh my god, you really have it! Your collection is far richer and more refined than our Dongguang Provincial Museum. If all these cultural relics are real, they can compete with the Forbidden City."
Huang Delai, deputy general manager of Sotheby's, was even more excited than the experts:
"Doctor Lin, Mr. Lin, are you going to sell all of these?"
Lin Musen glanced at Lin Sanqi and saw his son nod, so he smiled and said:
"Let's pick out some to sell first. These treasures belong to the virtuous. Let's see which wealthy owner has the fate to buy them."
Manager Huang Delai clapped his hands excitedly:
"Doctor Lin, you can completely hand over your Lingnan Hall to us at Sotheby's. We will hold 10 special auctions for you, inviting collectors from all over the world and major museums around the world. We will definitely help you achieve a sky-high price."
Lin Sanqi coughed lightly:
"Mr. Huang, I have no objection to which auction house you hand it over to. To be honest, Sotheby's is the leading auction house in the antique and curio industry, but we have two requirements."
"Mr. Lin, please tell me."
"We have no objection to whether you choose to hold the auction in mainland China or Hong Kong, but we only want US dollars or euros in exchange for the proceeds, and all funds must be kept in Hong Kong or overseas."
As a global auction company, this small request is not a problem at all for Sotheby's.
Because during the auction, they can also ask customers to settle in US dollars or Hong Kong dollars, and foreign currency transactions are convenient for collectors.
Which rich person doesn’t have funds overseas now?
"Mr. Lin, don't worry. No matter which currency you want to transfer the money to or which bank to transfer it to, we at Sotheby's can help you complete it."
Lin Sanqi chuckled and made another small request:
"The last request I have is if you could offer a lower commission rate. As you can see, our volume is very large, which is enough for you to make a huge profit margin. And my family is in urgent need of money."
"Boss Lin, my opinion is that there is no problem with different commissions for different clients, but I need to ask my superiors for help."
Manager Huang walked away for a while and came back with a smile on his face:
"Mr. Lin, I've consulted with you. Our company's proposal is to cover all expenses and take a 20% cut. Mr. Lin, please don't worry. Although our commission is high, we can help you transfer your funds to a safe country without paying any taxes."
Lin Sanqi thought about it and felt that this was a good idea. After all, the tax rate would start at 20% in China, and the tax rate would probably be even higher abroad.
Sotheby's auction house does have connections and experience. Based on this, their 20% commission is not too much.
"Okay, it's a deal then."
After the discussion ended, Zhan Shaoyuan on the other side became anxious:
"Doctor Lin, General Lin, some cultural relics cannot be photographed. They are national treasures and cannot leave the country. You can donate them to domestic museums. This is a great and meritorious deed."
Lin Sanqi thought so too. If national treasures were auctioned in Hong Kong, the collectors might be foreigners, and the relics would be lost.
If we use the perspective of moral kidnapping, Lin Sanqi has become a cultural relic dealer and a national sinner.
But it is impossible for Lin Sanqi to donate.
But if he follows Ma Modu's example and sets up a museum, that would be impossible. Setting up a museum requires a huge investment and it would be a money-eating beast. Why would he waste such money?
Don’t talk about how much the domestic government values cultural relics. They really value them. Back then… cough cough…
So Lin Sanqi made up his mind:
"Look, Mr. Zhan, pick out the cultural relics you have identified as national treasures. I'll auction ordinary antiques in Hong Kong, and if they're national treasures, I'll auction them in mainland China. That way, the ones who buy them are Chinese, and the cultural relics won't be lost."
General Manager Huang nodded and had no objection to the proposal.
After all, the largest audience for Chinese antiques and curios is the Chinese community, especially in recent years, when enthusiasm has surged in the country and collecting has become a trend, and they can still fetch sky-high prices at domestic auctions.
Zhan Shaoyuan still didn't give up:
"Mr. Lin, as a Chinese, we should put cultural relics in museums so that more people can understand our history and marvel at the greatness of our motherland's civilization. If this is auctioned off, it will all be in private hands."
Lin Sanqi smiled and suggested:
"Mr. Zhan, I know your museum has a fund for purchasing cultural relics. I've read a lot of news about the precious cultural relics you brought back from abroad.
You can't just bid high prices for cultural relics in the hands of foreigners while expropriating cultural relics from Chinese people for free, right? You're letting foreigners profit while Chinese people suffer losses. I don't agree with this idea.
So, if your museum wants to auction any antiques you like, I can sell them to you at a 50% discount, which can be considered a contribution from our Lin family to the country. If you want it for free, then I really can't help you."
Yin Lianyi also chimed in:
"Mr. Zhan, our Lingnantang Company paid 2 billion in taxes in the first half of last year, and this year's full-year tax payment will definitely exceed 4 billion. I believe we should be a responsible and socially conscious company, and definitely not a black-hearted company."
After all, they are young people who dare to "show their swords" and will not be timid or intimidated by authority.
When Zhan Shaoyuan heard this, he knew that it was impossible to get it for free, but the cultural relics in front of him were national treasures that had been lost in society for many years, and he was unwilling to put them up for auction like this.
"Okay, Mr. Lin, give me some time. I'll go raise the money right now. You said you'd sell it to us at a 50% discount."
Lin Sanqi was a man of his word: "Okay, 50% off, but it has to be 50% off the market price."
A month later, Sotheby's held 10 large-scale Chinese cultural auctions, selling a total of 500 rare antiques. The auction proceeds amounted to US$5 billion in Lin Sanqi's overseas account.
The Dongguan Provincial Museum bought 32 cultural relics. Because they are all national treasures, even at a 50% discount, it still needs to pay nearly 3.5 billion yuan.
However, the government did not give the money. In the end, it gave a piece of land for demolition of an old state-owned enterprise in Tianhe District as a transaction. The total area was 50,000 square meters, but its use was limited to commercial purposes and could not be developed into residential properties.
General Manager Lin Tianhua plans to use this plot of land to build a Lingnantang corporate headquarters.
After taking pictures for a long time, Lin Sanqi still had a total of 6,500 cultural relics in his hands, including works by modern and contemporary painters.
At this point, Lin Sanqi truly achieved financial freedom.
Since Lin Sanqi and Lingnan Hall do not accept any media interviews, they have also signed confidentiality agreements with experts from Sotheby's and the Dongguan Provincial Museum.
But there are no absolute secrets in this world.
The Lin family put so many antiques up for auction, and although the exact number was kept secret, this was a cultural auction after all, so items sent by others were also auctioned.
The total amount of money the Lin family received was kept secret, but very few people knew that the Lin family was wealthy, and speculated that they must have pocketed more than 1 billion yuan from the auction.
But there are different opinions as to whether the Lin family needed to auction antiques to raise money because they were in debt, or whether the Lin family was just a white glove, cleaning up the dirty work for others.
At that time, the capital giants had already begun to secretly observe Lingnan Hall. No matter whether Lin Sanqi was willing or not, in the eyes of capital, Lingnan Hall was a piece of "doubtful" fat meat.
Once Lin Sanqi gets the money, he can start implementing some of his plans.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
