Chapter 167: An account book worth tens of billions

"This secret account book of the Qing Dynasty maritime merchants should be kept close to you!"

Xu Lao took out a book protected by a special film from a secret compartment and handed it to Zhou You with a precious and heavy hand.

Xu Lao also specially reminded: "Maybe you haven't seen the stakes yet." The secrets hidden in this ledger are worth billions, and it is possible that they may even reach tens of billions. ”

Zhou You almost shook the account book in his hand when he heard this.

Billion!

What a crazy number.

It is estimated that even Xu Jie, who owns the entire Xu Group, can't resist such a temptation, let alone travel around with just the word "100 million". Zhou You now finally realizes Xu Lao's hard work, and dares to love this is a hot potato, and whoever touches it will be uneasy.

At the same time, Zhou You also saw the noble sentiments of Xu Lao from here.

In China, I don't know how many teachers and tutors let students work for free, and even openly encroach on students' research results. If a student does not cooperate, he will not only deliberately make things difficult, but will even make a punishment of lowering credits and not giving students any punishment for various reasons, which can be described as a jackal with a sacred aura.

Zhou You was moved and became more and more puzzled, and asked, "Teacher, what is recorded in this secret ledger, and how can it have such a terrible potential value?"

At this time, Xu Lao was trying to take out a calligraphy and painting, but the angle of placement was high, Xu Lao took it very hard, and Zhou You hurriedly went over to help.

"It's useless to be old!"

After Xu Lao sighed, he replied to the topic of travel: "This secret account book is the account book of the maritime merchants in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties to record various important affairs, not only has detailed records of their dozens of large-scale shipping, but also records in detail the specific circumstances of several shipwrecks. ”

"Shipwrecked?"

After listening to it, Zhou You first wondered, and then he was shocked.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the main body of trade was naturally those valuable silk, tea, traditional Chinese medicine, books, porcelain, gold, silver and bronze ware, and so on. Silk, tea, Chinese medicine, and books cannot withstand the wear and tear of time and seawater, but precious crafts such as porcelain, gold, silver, and bronze are valuable antiques that have survived to the present. If it is developed, I am afraid that its value is unimaginable.

After Xu Lao put away the calligraphy and paintings, he saw Zhou You's eyes shining, and immediately smiled: "It seems that you also perceive the value in it." Although these shipwrecks are recorded in great detail, only one of them can be explored and salvaged, because the other places are located in China's domestic sea, and even if we salvage them, they are also state-owned. ”

After listening to it, Zhou You secretly called it a pity, but he secretly kept a heart.

Xu Lao didn't think so much, and continued: "The problem is that the only wreckage of the sea ship that can be salvaged is the returning sea caravan, and it is estimated that most of the goods carried inside are pearls, spices, ivory, rhino horn and other Southeast Asian specialties, and their value is much lower than that of ancient artworks such as porcelain, gold, silver and bronze. ”

Zhou You replied: "It doesn't matter, even if we can't salvage it, as long as this account book is there, we can reach certain mutually beneficial conditions for certain officials who need merit." Even if it is not good, it can also be secretly transferred to those patriots who have the ability to salvage, so that some national treasures can see the light of day. ”

"Clever!"

After praising the tour, Xu Lao also stopped talking, because they had already walked out of the room, and what caught their eyes was Teacher Bai who was full of anticipation.

"Come and see!"

Mr. Xu took out the calligraphy and painting, showed it to Mr. Bai very generously, and introduced: "This calligraphy and painting was purchased by me at a stall in the early years, you can study it." ”

"Ghost Diagram!"

When Teacher Bai saw the picture scroll, he almost stared out his eyes.

Even the tour that I haven't paid attention to all this time is hot to watch. The picture of gods and ghosts is very common in ancient times, and the picture of the Zhenwu Emperor that you get can be regarded as a picture of gods and ghosts, but the problem is that there are gods and ghosts in front of you, and it is not a symbol of auspicious meaning of collecting demons and subduing demons, but a terrible picture scroll of gods and ghosts mixed together and crying.

Xu Lao introduced very mysteriously: "This picture of the Devil Weeping God does not have any signature, I thought it was scribbled by some unknown painter at will, but after several years of research and investigation by the old man, I found that it was actually from the hand of a famous artist." ”

"There is such a thing!"

Teacher Bai was also anxious, and hurriedly said, "Lao Xu, don't tell me first, wait for me to take a closer look." ”

Long.

Teacher Bai asked solemnly: "This painting has the style of the Luo Jiamei School, I wonder if it is from Luo Ping, one of the eight monsters in Yangzhou?"

Xu Lao obviously didn't expect Teacher Bai to have such extraordinary discernment ability, and exclaimed: "Brother Bai can get the prestige he has today, it is indeed not foolish. Yes, this painting is by Luo Ping. ”

Teacher Bai said with a smile: "Luo Ping's "Ghost Fun Map" is a masterpiece in the world, how could the younger brother not know it, and the younger brother's company still has two masterpieces of the Luo Ping family hidden in the treasure house." If it weren't for your guidance, I wouldn't have been able to guess the origin of this painting. ”

Xu Lao has a feeling of finding a confidant, and sighed: "Luo Ping has tasted the warmth and coldness of the world all his life, and his perception of gods and ghosts is very profound, his "Ghost Fun Map" and "Zhong Kui Marrying Sister" are among the masterpieces, but those masterpieces lost in the long river of history are countless, this "Ghost Crying God" depicts a strange and strange ghost world in an exaggerated way, in order to satirize the social reality at that time, and "Ghost Fun Map" is also a rare masterpiece. ”

Teacher Bai also said: "Luo Ping's family of five are all painters, and they are especially good at painting plum blossoms, so later generations call it the Luo Jiamei School." Such a scholarly family is rare in ancient times, even in modern times. If it weren't for the many wars and turmoil, they would have handed down more paintings and calligraphy than they do now. ”

But Zhou You still had doubts and asked: "Two teachers, the students still don't understand why you can be so sure that this painting is made by Luo Ping, after all, this painting has no money, and it cannot be confirmed that it is his handwriting." ”

Teacher Bai explained with a smile: "The problem of style. In ancient times, there were not many famous painters who painted ghosts and gods, and even fewer painted so outstanding and famous. The most important thing is to be able to draw the style of the Luo Jiamei School into the ghost map, and only Luo Ping is the only one. ”

Xu Lao further explained: "Also, Luo Ping was very bold and profligate when he was in the capital, which led to his always being quite poor when he left Beijing three times, and even owed a lot of debts, in order to go home, he not only sold everything, but even took away all the valuable underwear, and finally if it wasn't for the help of friends, otherwise he wouldn't be able to return to his hometown." I don't know if Luo Ping, who was in trouble at the moment, was ashamed to see people, or for other reasons, he painted a lot of calligraphy and paintings that did not pay off his debts to pay off his debts, and this "Devil Crying God" is likely to be born at this delicate moment. ”

Zhou You suddenly came over.

It's not that he hasn't read Luo Ping's relevant records, not only does he know that Luo Ping's behavior is extremely strange and he repeatedly does contradictory things, but also knows that Luo Ping is penniless and can't get back, and when he is helpless, he personally copied a poem written by his wife and gave it to a dignitary of the dynasty, hoping to win him a little charity, but it backfired, and he couldn't get the sad story of the money for the trip home.

It's a pity that Zhou You didn't combine historical stories with some realistic materials for deduction, so he had previous doubts.

"A painting of "Devil May Cry" is not enjoyable, why don't you go to my study and have a look. ”

Mr. Xu seemed to be more and more interested, and invited Mr. Bai into the study to observe his collection together.

"I can't ask for it!"

A painting of "Devil Crying God" opened Mr. Bai's eyes, not to mention Xu Lao's other collections.

In this way, the two teachers left behind and went into the study to study their antiques.

I don't know how to say it for a while.

"Xiaoyou, why are you here?"

Wang Hao came out of nowhere.

Xu Jie also said in wonder: "Zhou You, didn't you go to Shencheng with Brother Cheng to study antiques? Why are you in Guangzhou now?"

Surprised and inexplicable, Zhou You looked at Wang Hao and Xu Jie and them coming slowly, and hurriedly told them what had happened in the past two days, and Wang Hao and Xu Jie also said that they would come out because they had delayed until now.

It turned out that Wang Hao and Xu Jie only left Yingjiang after playing crazy for three days, but after getting off the plane in Guangzhou, they did not take the car back to Mingyuan City directly, but went to Xiangyuzhai to visit Xu Lao. After all, passing through the door without entering, this is not the style of being a grandson and a proud disciple.

They were very happy to meet Wang Hao and Xu Jie, who were traveling.

Jiang Jun also said excitedly: "This is a coincidence, Zhou You, we just said that we want to go back one day later and wait to participate in the black market auction in Guangzhou." ”

"Black market auction?"

Zhou Yu was interested.

The previous auction in Mr. Bai's apartment was a bit of a black market auction, but now it sounds like it's even darker, and it is estimated that only a few people are qualified to attend.

Sure enough, Xu Jie said: "I received an invitation a few days ago, inviting me to participate in a small large-scale black market auction. However, because of my grandfather's relationship, I avoided these things, but when I heard about your opportunity at Mr. Bai's house on the plane, I couldn't help but think about it. ”

Jiang Jun said with a little excitement: "Although Guangzhou's black market is not as famous as Beijing's, because of the relationship between economy and geographical advantages, many tomb robbers have transferred the treasures dug up here, among which there are several underworld figures who specialize in this business, and the one who invited Jie Shao to attend is one of the best." ”

"Is it Xiao Wu's business?"

Teacher Bai came out when he heard this, and looked at the newly arrived Xu Jie and them with a smile.

Xu Lao also walked out at the same time, and said with a smile: "You guys are slow, I said that I could come back in the morning, but now it's almost noon." ”

"Huh, why is it so lively?"

Cheng Feihu, who had finished handling the affairs, rushed over in a hurry, but as soon as he entered the door, he saw many familiar faces, and a feeling of uneasiness suddenly rose, and he asked in surprise: "Don't you tell me that I will delay my trip to Mingyuan City again?"