At this point, Xiang Weirong and Guan Xingquan can also guess: this artifact should have been unearthed from Hunan Province nine times out of ten, and Zhang Nan should have recognized it before.

So how did it come to America? How did the lid and the body separate?

Who bought 1 million silver dollars and 800,000 dollars 66 years ago?

At that time, the dollar was worth a lot of money, and one dollar was at least worth more than two silver dollars, at least the business was not at a loss.

Others have doubts, but Zhang Nan is clear, "There are two theories about the provenance of this object, the first is that it was unearthed in Taoyuan-county, Hunan Province in 1922, based on the confession materials of Zhou Pan, the collector of the lid and a high-ranking official of the Hunan army, before he was executed."

The second theory is that it was unearthed in another village in Taoyuan-County in 1919, based on the visit and research of researchers from the Hunan Provincial Museum and the records of the Taoyuan Republic of China.

At present, the second statement is considered to be more credible, and it is very likely that the senior national military official is mistaken.

Actually, it doesn't matter, it's all in a county anyway.

According to the latter account, it had just fallen heavily in the area, and a farmer dug up the dish in his field after the rain.

However, the family did not know its actual value at the time, and kept it at home as a household item until 1924, when an antique dealer surnamed Shi heard the news and went to their house. ”

At this point, Zhang Nan felt that his mouth was a little light, so he wanted to take out a cigarette, but he didn't bring it with him, Xiang Weirong looked at it, and knew that his brother-in-law was addicted to smoking, so he handed over a phoenix.

Because Henry was there, Zhang Nan and the others spoke in English, and Henry, who listened to the paragraph just now, felt a little incredible, and couldn't help but say: "Boss, this is incredible!"

He patted the body of the heavy, "black lacquer ancient" vessel, "That family actually used a bronze vessel worth millions of silver coins as a household container, it's incredible!"

Hearing this, Xiang Weirong, who had just taken a puff of cigarette, said with a smile: "Actually, it's not strange, this is just a documentary record, that's what I said."

Maybe it's true, maybe it's false.

If it is true, it is also normal, the early period of the Republic of China will be a very complicated era, from the antique aspect alone, the price of bronzes at that time was extremely high, according to the price, and even the transaction price of many important artifacts is more expensive than now!

Because collectors of that era admired bronzes.

However, even though the price is extremely high, there are still very few people who recognize it, and the concept of antiques and cultural relics is not as popular as it is now......"

Is it popular?

Relatively speaking, Huaxia can still Taobao at the scrap acquisition station this year, and it will be popularized after more than 20 years: an ordinary copper plate can be fooled into millions by scammers, and then the people still believe it and are deceived by the "auction fee".

There are many people who don't know it after being deceived, and they only think that others don't know the goods, and there are many stories that real antique lovers can't laugh and cry about.

In the past few years, my brother-in-law Xiang Weirong has also gained a lot of attainments in antiques, and he has seen and listened too much, and he is about to become an expert.

“…… The family said they were farmers, probably wealthy farmers, because they at least had their own land.

However, even if you are a landlord, your education level is very likely not high......"

Xiang Weirong would be talking to Henry, "...... My hometown is in a village at the foot of a hill facing the plains, and there are about three or four hundred people in the village. My father was born in 1919 and was a farmer with very little land, and the most he could produce every year was enough for food.

At that time, it was a very luxurious thing for children in rural China to receive education, and fortunately, my grandfather was still a part-time rural Taoist priest at that time, which was similar to the religious people in the United States, and he would have a considerable extra income every year, so the family still had a little spare money at that time.

When my father was 7 years old, he was sent to a private school in a large village next door, where he studied in a traditional Chinese miniature private school, and after three years of study, he returned home to help with farm work or to work as an assistant to my grandfather when he went out to work as a Taoist.

After three years of literacy learning, this is already a real cultural person in the village.

There are about 40 people in the village who are between the ages of five or six above him, and only three of them have received this systematic literacy education as a child.

As for the rest of the people in the village, after the founding of New China in the prime of life, they learned basic literacy in literacy classes, and this is still the basic education situation in the rural areas of economically developed areas in China before liberation.

My father used to say that in his youth, the people who could read a newspaper brought from the city and write a simple letter for others were very respected in the countryside, and he was the one who was respected, not blind.

At the beginning, many young people because they were illiterate, there were many people who had never been to the county in their lives, and they had little knowledge, and it was normal not to recognize these antique cultural relics. ”

Speaking of this, Xiang Weirong paused and said: "Maybe that family actually knows that this is a treasure, but at that time, for an ordinary farmer, it is very likely that having a heavy treasure is not a good thing, but it will be a disaster." ”

Zhang Nan was also listening, and added: "Just like me, when I won the award, I did my secret work like a spy, haha..."

At the beginning, the antique dealer surnamed Shi saw that this vessel was completely square, and immediately expressed his willingness to buy it for 400 yuan. When the peasant saw that he had paid a lot of money, he also had a heart, and while he was clever enough to stabilize the antique dealer, he secretly instructed his eldest son to take the cover to a nearby school and ask a learned teacher about it.

From this point of view, it is very likely that the son of the farmer will study in school, and the family should be well-off.

If the antique dealer offered a price that was more expensive than copper, there wouldn't be so much of a problem: two goods and one for one!

Who knows, it was seen by the principal, and the principal of this school saw that the lid was extraordinary, and after recognizing the inscription in the cover, he was even more overjoyed, and expressed his willingness to buy it for 800 yuan.

The child rushed back wildly, and couldn't help shouting all the way, but after the antique dealer heard it from afar, this one was also decisive, and immediately dropped 400 pieces of ocean, grabbed the door and fled with the body!

“… The story had just begun, and the antique dealer was a man of choice, and he soon sold the 'stolen' piece to two big collectors in Shanghai for 1 million silver dollars.

The two sent it to the United States 10 days later, and sold it to the oil tycoon Rockefeller for $800,000 that year, and it is not known whether it was John Rockefeller or his son John Rockefeller Jr.

In fact, it doesn't matter if it's Lao Tzu or a son, that Mr. Rockefeller likes this treasure very much, and it is estimated that he is still a perfectionist, and he is eager to buy the lid to complete the whole thing.

At that time, the oil tycoon entrusted someone to Huaxia with $140,000 to buy the cover, but at this time, the cover had been sold by the principal to a Hunan army commander named Zhou Pan for 3,000 silver dollars.

At that time, the Chinese warlords were fighting, and a regiment commander with real power was a powerful faction, and this Zhou Pan was also a ruthless character, and more than 20 years later, he also served as the deputy commander of the lieutenant general corps.

The guy sat on the ground and asked for $500,000, and the deal fell apart.

The lid was kept secret until the founding of New China, Zhou Pan wanted to exchange the cover for his own life, but he was unsuccessful, and was executed in 52 years when he rebelled.

Later, from 56 years to the present, the lid of this vessel has been preserved in the Hunan Provincial Museum. ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Nan himself was a little puzzled, and seemed to be talking to himself: "It's strange, Rockefeller sold it later because he couldn't get it together, and it should have been in the hands of a Japanese since the fifties and sixties, how did he get here?"

frowned, and said to Henry: "Ask the producer, who the seller is, and see if you can find out the origin of the thing." ”

In 2001, Zhang Nanji reappeared at Christie's Asian Art Auction in New York.

Two well-known Chinese museums teamed up to raise money to buy it, but they were unable to pay more than $9 million from a French collector.

At the time, this price seemed to be the highest price ever paid for a work of art in Asia!

In 2014, when Christie's Asian Art Auction in New York was preparing to auction the vessel again, some people in China decided to go all out to bring the heavy object back to China: a letter from the Hunan Provincial Museum to the president of Christie's Asia attracted attention.

The letter reads: "Your company will auction the Chinese Shang and Zhou Dynasty bronze gluttonous pattern Fang Li in New York on March 20, in view of its relationship with Hunan Province, we are very grateful for the favor to buy with our museum in advance!"

As the museum is a non-profit trustee of the estate, the cost of the collection is largely funded, and despite the efforts of various parties, only US$20 million has been raised.

Therefore, we hope that you can agree to close the transaction at this price (including your company's commission).

If this is agreed, we will make an upfront payment of $3,000,000 within one week and the balance within two months.

I would like to reply and look forward to good news. ”

At that time, a number of well-known Chinese collectors also jointly issued an open letter, appealing to Chinese collectors around the world: "I sincerely hope that Chinese collectors at home and abroad will put the overall situation first in the auction, and never raise prices based on personal likes and dislikes. ”

Later, it is said that Christie's actively communicated with the owner of the vessel at the time, and the buyer and seller reached an agreement that the vessel would be donated to the Hunan Provincial Museum.

After that, the "King of Bronze", which once set the highest auction record for Asian art in the world auction market, finally returned to China and entered the museum.

As for how much money was spent, Zhang Nan didn't know, and this kind of thing might never be made public.

But I just think: it's not cool!

Very unpleasant!

Please...

"Pray for you! In the 21st century, who else will China pray for?!"

Lose face!

It's all thrown to grandma's house!