Chapter 621: Sharpening the Knife Huo Huo to the Pig and Sheep (Asking for Subscription, Asking for Reward)
More than an hour passed quickly, and several more museums completed transactions with Ye Tian and happily walked out of the temporary conference room.
However, instead of taking the stolen top-notch antique artworks, they continued to keep them in the banquet hall to take them with them when they left Boston the next day.
In comparison, this ballroom is the safest place in the Bartley Hotel, and it is obviously safer and more reassuring to be placed here.
The transaction continues.
Sitting opposite Ye Tian this time were several people from the Château de Fontainebleau in Paris, France, as well as two senior executives of Chubb Art Insurance Company.
"Steven, can we change the way we trade? We do like Chardin's Still Life and Selesier's Seine, which are masterpieces!
But we are also reluctant to give up those Chinese antiques, which are the collection of the Chinese Pavilion at the Château de Fontainebleau, and without them, our Chinese Pavilion will lose a few points.
If possible, how about we pay some more cash to buy back these Chinese antiques, based on the market value of these antiques at the time of their theft?"
The deputy director of the Château de Fontainebleau is still making his last efforts, and his words are very earnest.
He tried to bring all the stolen antiques back to France, and along the way, two more masterpieces, and his imagination was perfect!
Hearing this, Ye Tian didn't react, but the faces of the senior management of Chubo Art Insurance Company changed instantly and became very ugly.
Are your buyback funds from the Château de Fontainebleau? Not our insurance compensation! It's too much!
But considering the occasion, the two insurance company executives didn't say anything, just sat with their faces sunk.
The two of them are going to listen to what Ye Tian has to say first, and then deal with it, no one wants to be wronged and be cheated, and they are no exception!
Ye Tian chuckled and shook his head, firmly rejecting the other party's non-divisive thoughts.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Victor, I can't agree to your request, let's trade according to the contract signed before, for those Chinese antiques and artworks, I am determined to get them.
As we all know, almost all the Chinese antiques and artworks in the Château de Fontainebleau come from the Old Summer Palace, a famous royal garden in China, which was looted by British and French troops in 1860.
We Chinese have always wanted to take back these antique works of art belonging to our own country, and have never given up! I personally like things of my own nationality very much, and naturally I will not give up this opportunity."
The faces of several Frenchmen on the other side changed, and everyone showed embarrassment and a little shame on their faces!
Each of them understood that what Ye Tian said was right!
I know best that the establishment of the Chinese Pavilion at the Château de Fontainebleau is to collect the top Chinese antiques and artworks looted from the Old Summer Palace, which is very straightforward and undisguised!
As a result, the Château de Fontainebleau became the official museum with the largest collection of Old Summer Palace artifacts, which is well known in the field of antique art collections.
After the British and French forces sacked and burned the Old Summer Palace in 1860, the then commander of the French army, Mentoban, divided the looted cultural relics into seven carts in 1863 and dedicated them to Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie.
It was with these artifacts that the Château de Fontainebleau opened the Chinese Pavilion, dedicated to the storage of these treasures.
Since then, the nature of these antique works of art has never changed, and they have always been marked as stolen goods!
Therefore, for Ye Tian's words, several Frenchmen couldn't even find a word of rebuttal, so they could only hold it back!
"Cool! Dude isn't used to you guys!"
Ye Tian complained secretly, and then continued:
"These antiques are not the most representative collection of the Chinese Pavilion at the Château de Fontainebleau, and due to certain political considerations, the Chinese Pavilion at the Château de Fontainebleau has been closed for many years and is rarely open to the public.
Even if you take all these Chinese antiques back, they will only be shelved and stored in a pavilion that is almost never open to the public, and let the years gradually erode and lose their charm!
Instead of this, you should let go and let these antique works of art return to us Chinese, I believe that is their best destination, and only Chinese know how to appreciate their beauty!"
The voice fell, and the conference room fell silent.
From these words, everyone felt Ye Tian's firm determination, and it was impossible to make any concessions!
In this case, the French had no choice but to put away their wishful thinking!
After a moment of silence, the Frenchman Vic on the opposite side said with a wry smile:
"Okay, Steven, since you insist, let's trade according to the contract we signed before, whether it's a bank transfer or a check?"
"You're not a museum in the U.S. after all, so it's a little troublesome to check the check, so let's make a bank transfer! It's faster, it's our company's bank account number."
As he spoke, Ye Tian handed the company's bank account to the Frenchman opposite.
......
After the Château de Fontainebleau, the meeting room was attended by a top art dealer.
He is here on behalf of a famous American collector who is also a famous billionaire!
He was joined in the conference room by a senior figure from an art insurance company.
The deal went pretty quickly.
After a few words of greeting, the art dealer took out a cash check and put it down, and then left the conference room with two stolen paintings belonging to the original collector, and it didn't even take two minutes!
And they didn't do any appraisal, obviously they had a lot of trust in Ye Tian's appraisal level, and they also understood that he wouldn't do anything!
This is indeed the case, of course Ye Tian would not do that kind of thing to smash his own signboard!
The amount filled in the check has been agreed on the contract before, this is the style of the super-rich, it is neat and neat, Ye Tian likes it very much!
Next up in the conference room was the director of the Mexican Museum of Anthropology.
The deal was also completed quickly, and Ye Tian almost half-sold and half-give, allowing the museum director to take away two artifacts from the Aztec Empire.
......
The conference room door opens again.
This time, Jason was followed into the conference room by Duke Torresky and several other Poles.
In their hands, those Poles were carrying portable safes, which contained the Chinese antique artworks that had just been transported from the Torresky Museum in Poland and were also named by Ye Tian!
We've met several times, and we're old friends, so there's no need to be too polite.
After a few pleasantries, Duke Torresky immediately went straight to the point, looking rather eager.
"Steven, everything you want is here, a pair of Northern Song Dynasty Jun kiln plum bottles, a Southern Song Dynasty Longquan kiln jade pot spring bottle, a Ming Xuande blue and white plate, a pair of Xuande blue and white pressure cups, and a Chenghua Doucai Coats cup.
Mi Fu of the Northern Song Dynasty "Dongting Landscape Map", Song Huizong Zhao Ji's two calligraphy works, Yuan Dynasty Wang Meng's "Dongshan Seclusion Map", Ming Dynasty Qiu Ying's Gongbi album, a lot, the total value is not less than 300 million US dollars.
We're really unlucky to meet you greedy guy, after your ransacking, the essence of Chinese antique art in our museum has almost been swept away, and there are few valuable products left!
We've got $200 million in cash ready, how do we pay for it? Bank transfer or check? The choice is yours, start trading, I want to get that Raphael painting back as soon as possible!"
As he spoke, Duke Torresky couldn't help but have a painful expression on his face.
The rest of the Poles were the same, everyone was distressed, and their eyes were also very unfriendly when they looked at Ye Tian.
The total value is nearly $500 million! What a huge fortune! Anyone who has been knocked away like this will feel distressed! Without exception!
As soon as Duke Torresky's words fell, Ye Tian chuckled and said:
"Hehehe, Mr. Duke, don't you mean it! Are you really unlucky? You know, what you have recovered is Raphael's Portrait of a Young Man, which is a well-deserved Polish national treasure!
And what you paid was shelved and there are few Poles who know how to appreciate Chinese antique art, in my opinion, you definitely made it, and of course, I am very satisfied with this deal!
The $200 million repurchase money should be transferred to our company's account, but before the transaction, I have to identify these Chinese antique artworks, and you don't object to it, right?"
"Is it useful for me to object, you greedy bastard!"
Duke Torresky laughed and scolded angrily, his expression quite helpless.
"Okay, let me have a good look at these perfect works of art!
As he spoke, Ye Tian got up and walked towards those Chinese antique artworks.
While he was conducting the appraisal, several Poles were not idle, and they all gathered in front of the famous Raphael painting, and admired it with burning eyes.
"Mr. Duke, it seems that the maintenance of the artworks in your museum is not very good! These ancient Chinese paintings look a little bad!"
Ye Tian pointed to Wang Meng's "Dongshan Seclusion Map" in the Yuan Dynasty and said, his tone was full of regret and even a little distressed.
The ink landscape painting he was referring to had several damages, both creases and moth-eaten bites!
The most serious damage is a hole about 15 centimeters long in the upper part of the painting, which looks like it has been torn apart, which is shocking and distressing!
Duke Torresky turned his head to look at it, then explained with a wry smile:
"Our museum has been collecting these antiques for more than 100 years, and as you know, for more than 100 years, we in Poland have had a lot of fate, often at war!
In those war-torn times, the fate of our country and people was very tragic, and even these antique works of art were not spared, and it is not easy to preserve them until now!
The injuries were caused by the displacement decades ago, and there are no new scars, and although we are not the most famous museum, our professionalism is not inferior to that of any top museum!"
Ye Tian agreed with his words very much.
Under the perspective, he has long understood that the age of these dilapidated formations really has little to do with the current Torresky Museum.
As before, the identification was completed quickly.
Then, the two sides sat back down at the conference table and began to trade.
A few minutes later, Duke Torresky walked out of this makeshift conference room with several Poles.
When they left, each of them was very excited and smiled brightly, because of the famous Raphael painting in their hands, the well-deserved Polish national treasure of the year!
And in the makeshift conference room behind them, there was already a sound of high-fives and cheers of excitement at this time!
These cheers came from the extra few top-quality Chinese antiques in the conference room, as well as the extra $200 million in deposits in the company's bank account!
There is no doubt that this is a happy ending!
The celebration was short-lived, after all, there was still work to be done.
When all the deals are done, there's time to celebrate, and there's time to go crazy!
"Jason, bring in some gentlemen from the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, as well as Picasso's "Doves and Peas" and Matisse's "Pastoral"!
This is a famous museum that has been most harmed by international art thieves, and we can't spare them, who let them have countless top artworks, it's really eye-catching!"
Ye Tian said jokingly, with a posture of sharpening a knife and facing pigs and sheep.
"Hahaha"
There was a burst of laughter in the room, and everyone laughed heartily.
The laughter fell, and Jason pushed the door and walked out of the conference room!