Because the time of the appraisal was set in the morning, Meng Zitao went to the headquarters of the No. 3 department early in the morning to ask for the disguise technique, although he had already learned a lot from the army, but the army was not a professional after all, and the level was still lower than the old man in the department, but with his memory, he learned it immediately.

After training, Meng Zitao changed himself into a young man in his thirties, and coupled with the change of clothing, Meng Zitao believed that even his parents might not be able to recognize him.

In addition to his disguise, Meng Zitao now has a real identity.

Shi Baixing, Ph.D. in archaeology at Cambridge University, is a nerd who only knows research, does not understand human feelings, he returned from abroad five years ago, and then plunged into archaeological excavations, only knowing research, last month, he died in a landslide accident.

Because Shi Baixing is dedicated to research, he doesn't understand the world, and there are only two friends who can talk to each other, even his mentor doesn't like his character, and his parents have died, and he has no wife and children, and now he is full of food alone, and the whole family is not hungry.

But Shi Baixing is indeed very powerful in academic research, he has published many articles in the world's authoritative magazines, and his research results have been recognized by many people, so it can be said that everything in him has been invested in archaeology.

Meng Zitao regretted that Shi Baixing died too early, but there was no pressure for him to play this kind of scholar, as long as he held an indifferent face all day long and didn't speak too politely.

After Meng Zitao changed his appearance into Shi Baixing, he also observed Shi Baixing's video materials, and also studied Shi Baixing's walking, sitting and lying, and he believed that unless he met someone who was particularly familiar, he should not be recognized as a fake.

At nine o'clock, Meng Zitao waited for a while at the agreed place before receiving a phone call, and then he got into an Audi business car and headed for his destination.

The car drove out of the city calmly and gradually drove into a mountainous area, where villas were nestled in the middle of a lake and mountains.

The car stopped in front of a villa, and when Meng Zitao got out of the car, he saw an old man with silver hair standing at the door to greet him.

"Is that Dr. Shi?" the old man asked with a smile as he took a few steps forward.

Meng Zitao was now pretending to be Shi Baixing, and he nodded indifferently.

The old man should have known about Shi Baixing's situation, and he didn't care about it, the smile on his face was as always, and he invited Meng Zitao to enter.

Walking into the villa hall, this is actually a reception room, Meng Zitao found that the decoration here is simple and elegant, and there are a lot of furnishings around, all of which are precious porcelain, bronzes, etc., the key is that these things are actually genuine.

Meng Zitao roughly estimated that all the furnishings in the hall alone were worth more than 500 million, which was several times more expensive than the entire villa. This is still a collection on the surface, and I don't know how many collections are in the secret.

However, the owner of this villa, Meng Zitao had never heard of it before, and if he hadn't come over this time, he wouldn't have known when he would have known that there was such a collector in the capital.

When Meng Zitao walked into the hall, there were already several people sitting on the sofa, these people were old and young, but he was the youngest, the youngest of these people was about forty, and the oldest was in his early sixties, a blonde and blue-eyed foreign old man.

Seeing Meng Zitao come in, the youngest middle-aged man asked, "Steward Zhang, which one is this?"

"This is Dr. Shi Baixing, Ph.D. in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge. The housekeeper Zhang introduced with a smile.

After listening to Steward Zhang's introduction, the foreigner's eyes lit up, he stood up, walked up to Meng Zitao, shook Meng Zitao's hand, and said a set of kind words in English.

Meng Zitao squeezed out a smile on his face, and said a few perfunctory words, giving people a very wooden impression.

This foreigner's name is Ryder, and when he saw Meng Zitao like this, he didn't have much interest in communicating, and after a few perfunctory words, he sat back in his place.

Meng Zitao also found a place to sit down, sitting there in a daze, in fact, he observed the situation around him, as well as the people.

After a while, Steward Zhang brought another young man, Meng Zitao was very familiar with this young man, it was Jiang Haoyan who had suffered several losses in his hands.

Meng Zitao thought that Jiang Haoyan had disappeared, but he didn't expect to meet him here again.

As for why Jiang Haoyan disappeared, the reason was that Meng Zitao had people investigate the collusion between him and Zong Yifeng, and found that the two of them deliberately colluded to buy the real thing as a fake and sell the fake as the real thing, and the money earned was at least seven or eight million.

Knowing this, of course Meng Zitao would not let them go, but Zong Yifeng's criminal evidence was easy to find, but Jiang Haoyan was very cunning, and he didn't personally touch the money he earned. You may think it is strange, in this case, how can Jiang Haoyan share the benefits?

The method is actually very simple, Zong Yifeng bought something at the market price, and then sold it to Jiang Haoyan at the price of the leakage, wouldn't the exchange of interests be completed? So, when Jiang Haoyan was investigated, he could completely push himself away.

However, when this matter gets out, it must be a big scandal for Jiang Haoyan, and the police can't investigate the evidence, but how can people in the industry not know, one ten, ten hundred, Jiang Haoyan's reputation will stink.

In fact, Jiang Haoyan is indeed like a rat crossing the street now, he has already gone through the procedures for immigrating to Xiangjiang, and the reason why he came here today is completely because he Xia Kaisheng didn't have the time to come over, so he asked him to come instead of him.

"Alright, everyone is here, please look at this mask, everyone has three minutes to observe, and after observation, write down their thoughts on paper. ”

Steward Zhang clapped his hands, and saw a young woman walking up with a tray in her hand, and a mask was placed on the tray.

Everyone began to appreciate in the order of first come, first served, although Steward Zhang said that there was a three-minute observation time, but in order to have a good performance, everyone tried to spend the least amount of time, so it didn't take long for Meng Zitao's turn.

Meng Zitao took the mask in his hand, and saw that it was well preserved, the gilt gold was as good as new, the facial contours were clear, the eyebrow bones were prominent, the eyes were closed, the lips were closed, and the expression was serene. Judging from the overlay, it has the characteristics of the ethnic minorities in the ancient north of our country.

In fact, as soon as the thing came into his eyes, he knew what it was, and after only observing it for a few seconds after getting it, he returned the mask, such a short identification time, everyone looked sideways, as for what they were thinking, only they knew in their hearts.

After everyone wrote down their opinions, Steward Zhang said with a smile: "Please also ask Mr. Ryder to express your opinion." ”

Ryder cleared his throat, and then said in fluent Chinese: "Judging from my experience, this should be a Khitan metal mask, this kind of mask is more popular among different classes, worn by men, women and children, and can also be called this mask covering or covering the face." According to historical records, the Khitan nobles used gold and silver as masks, and copper silk to wrap their siblings in burial customs. ”

"The coverings are divided into gold and silver to distinguish the identity, age and gender of the deceased. For example, in 1986, the tomb of Princess Chen Guo, the granddaughter of Ye Luxian, the fifth emperor of the Liao Dynasty, was unearthed, and the princess wore a gold mask and a silver wire net. Therefore, this mask should be a status symbol. ”

Hearing the end, Meng Zitao pursed his lips and looked very disdainful.

Of course, this expression fell into Steward Zhang's mouth, and he asked with a smile, "Dr. Shi, I don't know if you have any different opinions. ”

Meng Zitao said lightly: "Although this kind of mask does have a status symbolic cause, but in fact, this is not the original intention, generally after the death of the Khitan nobles, the body is not immediately buried, and the burial time is long, and when it is officially buried, the body has been unrecognizable, and the real intention of the mask is actually to cover up the ugliness." ”

Seeing Meng Zitao refuting himself so unceremoniously, Ryder was also a little angry: "What evidence do you have?"

"That's what I do. Meng Zitao snorted, and didn't explain much.

Steward Zhang was worried that the atmosphere would be frozen, and hurriedly said, "Mr. Ryder, Dr. Shi is indeed an authority on archaeology. ”

When Steward Zhang said this, he undoubtedly believed in Meng Zitao's judgment, and Ryder didn't want to be bored, so he kept silent.

Next, Steward Zhang took away the paper on which everyone had written their opinions, and asked everyone to wait for a while, and then he left.

Everyone waited for more than ten minutes, and Steward Zhang called a few people out of the door, leaving only Meng Zitao, the middle-aged man in his forties, Jiang Haoyan and Ryder.

After a while, Steward Zhang came back again, and he said with a smile, "Everyone should know what they are going to do today, right?"

"All I knew was that I had to come and authenticate a painting or calligraphy. Meng Zitao said expressionlessly.

Others nodded yes.

Steward Zhang said: "Yes, I invited you here today, it is indeed to identify a painting, but before the appraisal, please also sign a confidentiality agreement, not to say everything you see next, if you don't want to, I will send someone to send you back." ”

Since they have all come, coupled with everyone's curiosity, they all agreed.

"Then please come with me......"

Steward Zhang took everyone to the basement, this basement should be the place where the owner of this place places the treasures, and in the glass cabinets around it, there are all kinds of utensils, all of which are precious cultural relics, and most of them can be used as treasures of the town hall when they are placed outside.

Everyone can't take it back, and Meng Zitao is now pretending to be Shi Baixing, and his style of acting is in line with his character, so his performance is even more unbearable, and he can't wait to smash those glass cabinets.

At the urging of Steward Zhang, everyone entered a secret room, and there was a crystal glass cabinet about two meters long and forty centimeters wide.

At this time, there was already an old man in a wheelchair in the secret room, and he smiled at everyone: "Old man Zhu Zhongshi, I'm sorry, I can't go to greet you because of my limited mobility." ”

Everyone said that they were not welcome, and their eyes were all fixed on the paintings in the crystal cabinet.

Zhu Zhongshi said with a smile: "Don't worry about the appraisal, do you all know about each other?"

Everyone said they didn't understand, so Zhu Zhongshi asked Steward Zhang to help introduce it.

Steward Zhang first introduced the middle-aged man: "This teacher Yuan Shijia, also known as Yuan Painting Idiot, is a well-known expert in painting and calligraphy appraisal in China, and he has studied ancient paintings. ”

Meng Zitao had also heard of Yuan Shijia before, and he had also heard his master praise him, and his level of appreciation of calligraphy and painting must be beyond doubt.

After that, Steward Zhang introduced Ryder, who was an expert in the study of cultural relics in the Tang Dynasty, and there was no need to say much about Meng Zitao and Jiang Haoyan.

After the introduction, Zhu Zhongshi said to everyone: "I guess you should know the task and reward just now." ”

Everyone nodded, this time the reward was unusually rich, whether it was right or wrong, it was a million, and if it was genuine, the value would be even higher.

"Okay, next, let me introduce you to the painting to be identified today, it is a picture of Wang Wei's snowy landscape. ”

As he spoke, Zhu Zhongshi gave way and let everyone face this artistic treasure.

"What, Wang Wei's work!" Meng Zitao and the others all showed stunned expressions.

When it comes to Wang Wei, almost everyone will talk about Wang Wei's poems. Whether it is "Autumn Evening in the Mountain House" or "From the Army", Wang Wei's poetry has become an indispensable part of China's ancient culture. However, many people's understanding of Wang Wei is limited to his role as a poet. In fact, Wang Wei also has an important place in the history of ancient Chinese art, but it is his outstanding poetic fame that obscures his brilliance in painting.

Everyone should know Dong Qichang of the Ming Dynasty, and his most famous theory of the Northern and Southern Sects has influenced the theoretical system of Chinese painting to this day. In his theoretical system, Wang Wei is explicitly regarded as the source of Nanzong's paintings.

In Dong Qichang's eyes, the paintings that won with the artistic conception of painting and the outstanding literati taste were classified as Nanzong paintings. Although Dong Qichang's theory of the North and South sects is not scientific, as a painting theory that has influenced China for hundreds of years, Wang Wei is the founder of this sect, which undoubtedly shows that Wang Wei's painting is quite famous.

Wang Wei's paintings were already famous in the Tang Dynasty, but because his poems were too famous, they overshadowed the brilliance of his paintings. Wang Wei's works range from figure paintings to landscape paintings, although none of the surviving works are certain to be attributed to him.

For example, the "Fusheng Sutra Teaching Map" in the Toei Osaka collection and the "Snow Creek Map" in the Treasure Island Forbidden City. These two works that are attributed to Wang Wei are controversial because of their long history, and it is impossible to determine who the author is.

Now that I know that I actually want to appraise Wang Wei's works, and with Zhu Zhongshi's financial resources, this matter should not be untargeted, because of this, everyone's excitement can be imagined, even if Meng Zitao restores his identity now, the reaction will not be much better.

"Oh my God, is this Wang Wei's painting? How is this possible!" Ryder said this, but his face was already attached to the crystal cabinet. 10