Chapter 449 Amazing Basement
What Friedrich took out of the drawer was not something strange, it was just a porcelain bowl. However, it was this porcelain bowl that shocked Xiao Peng, and he leaned forward to observe it carefully.
Friedrich smiled and said, "Just pick it up and look at it. It's okay even if it breaks."
"Is this fake?" Xiao Peng repeated the question again after hearing Friedrich say this.
Friedrich shook his head and said, "I can guarantee that this is true. It couldn't be truer."
"Hiss..." Xiao Peng took a breath of cold air.
He examined the bowl carefully:
The entire bowl is white with an enamel pattern on it. On the bowl is a pattern of 'apricot blossoms in full bloom, spring breeze blowing green willows, and two swallows flying side by side'. On the side is a poem in Qianlong's imperial cursive script: The jade scissors pass through the flowers, and the colorful clothes return with the moon.
Of course, this is not a poem by Emperor Qianlong. It is from the two lines in the poem "Answering the Imperial Order to Write a Fan" by the poet Shen Shixing: "Lightly turning the jade scissors through the flowers, trying to dance in colorful clothes and returning under the moonlight."
Fortunately, this is not Qianlong’s own poem, otherwise the bowl would definitely be ruined.
Lu You wrote over 9,300 poems over a period of sixty years, boasting of his "10,000 poems in sixty years." But he would have been ashamed to hear Qianlong's words: Qianlong wrote over 45,000! His number of poems alone could easily be compared to the entire "Complete Tang Poems"!
But the quality of his poetry is quite poor. For example, what does "The Bride" say? "Downstairs, gongs and drums are beating, the bride is shyly sitting in the sedan chair; today is the wedding night, the jade hairpin pierces the red crabapple blossoms."
Is this a pornographic poem? And what the hell is "ding dong"?
Xiao Peng didn't hesitate and picked up the bowl directly. There were four words "Made in the Qianlong Period" written in regular script on the bottom of the bowl.
Although "Made in the Qianlong Period = Standard Fake" in the domestic antique market, Xiao Peng's expression became more serious.
He gently placed the bowl back on the table and asked Friedrich, "How did this bowl end up in your hand?"
The origin of this bowl is really not simple!
Its full name is: "Enamel-colored Bowl with a Picture of Spring Swallows in an Apricot Grove, Made by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty". It was sold at a Christie's auction that year for a sky-high price of 123 million yuan.
Of course, this is not the most expensive Chinese porcelain. A Yuan Dynasty blue and white plum vase with the pattern of "Xiao He chasing Han Xin under the moon" was sold for 840 million Hong Kong dollars, but this "Qing Dynasty Qianlong Imperial Enamel Bowl with Pattern of Spring Swallows in Apricot Grove" was sold for this price in 2006.
At that time, the price was shockingly high!
"You mean to give me a bowl as a reward?" Xiao Peng looked at Friedrich. "Then I can only say sorry. This bowl is indeed quite nice, but I really don't care about it. I'm not an antique collector. You know I've salvaged a lot of antiques, but I chose to sell them all."
Friedrich laughed and said, "Of course I know this. You can sell Cleopatra's golden crown and the Sultan's ring. Not everyone can do that."
Xiao Peng shook his head and said, "I gave the Sultan's ring to charity."
Friedrich smiled noncommittally. "We're all thousand-year-old foxes, what's the point of playing Tales from a Chinese Studio with me?" Everyone has a charitable fund, and everyone knows what a charitable fund is for...
"Mr. Xiao, could you please move with me to a place?" Friedrich said.
Xiao Peng nodded: "Of course."
Friedrich maneuvered his electronic wheelchair to a bookshelf on the side. He took out a book and found an electronic palm print lock inside. He put his hand on it and the bookshelf opened directly to reveal an elevator. He took Xiao Peng into the elevator and the elevator went underground.
It is not surprising that there is a basement here. Most old buildings in Europe have basements.
As the elevator door opened, the lights in the basement came on, revealing a huge space filled with shelves in front of Xiao Peng. After Xiao Peng saw clearly what was on the shelves, even though he was now a wealthy man, he still took a breath of spiritual energy.
Is this a museum?
All the shelves are filled with various cultural relics! And most of them are Chinese cultural relics as you can tell from their shapes!
Friedrich wheeled himself out of the elevator and grabbed a bowl from a nearby shelf, handing it to Xiao Peng. Xiao Peng was stunned when he took it. Another 'Enameled Bowl with Spring Swallows in an Apricot Grove, Made During the Qianlong Period of the Qing Dynasty'? Are you selling this wholesale?
Friedrich answered Xiao Peng's question: "There aren't that many 'unique' or 'one-of-a-kind' antiques in the world. Most things are produced in batches. Do you think your ancestors would open a cellar just to make a single bowl? So it's no surprise that I have quite a few here."
Xiao Peng said displeasedly, "Yes, these things were looted with blood! Are you trying to stir up hatred and make me hate you even more? Are you trying to remind me of the evil your ancestors committed in our country?"
"Of course that's not what I meant," Friedrich said. "What I meant is: you can take whatever my ancestors brought back from China."
"Hiss..." It was Xiao Peng's turn to be surprised. This warehouse was about 300 square meters in size, and looking around, at least half of the items inside were from China. There were also many unopened boxes... How many antiques could there be?
"Can I know why?" Xiao Peng asked Friedrich: "These things are very valuable!"
Friedrich shook his head. "Valuable? Mr. Xiao, it's not as simple as you think! Take this bowl, for example. I have seven of them. One of them can sell for 20 million euros? Then all seven together might only sell for 1 million euros. Do you understand what I mean?"
Xiao Peng nodded: "Scarcity makes things valuable."
"Many old aristocratic families in Europe have many cultural relics from China. After all, so much wealth was plundered from China back then. I may only have one thousandth of it here." Friedrich said, "And antiques are only valuable if they maintain their rarity. So many things here are not as valuable as you might think. But I think for the Chinese, this must be a very precious treasure, right?"
Xiao Peng didn't answer him. He saw a scroll on the easel next to him and took it up to open it. It was a painting called "Green Mountains in Misty Rain." Xiao Peng looked at the signature at the bottom and wondered, "Wow, is this a painting by Wang Meng?" He then looked at the calligraphy next to it and opened it, which turned out to be by Tao Fuchu... But it was obvious that it had not been treated as a treasure and had not been properly preserved.
Xiao Peng took a deep breath. Any item in here could be taken to a museum and even regarded as its 'treasure'.
"Two questions," Xiao Peng turned to face Friedrich. "First: Are these things really real? Second: What exactly is in that shipwreck that you value so highly?"
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