"You are experts. Pen, Fun, Pavilion www.biquge.info do as you say. Li Sheng nodded and said. "Is your auction going to take place in half a month? When will I get the auction money?"

When the woman heard him say this, she knew that he might be in a hurry to get the money: "After the auction, the auction proceeds will be transferred to your account within three days, minus taxes and auction fees. However, if you can't wait for the auction, we can also help you connect with buyers. The estimated price of those high-grade jadeite is added to the auction price by 50%. I think there are still customers who will agree to buy directly. As for those rosewood that will be more interested, we give an estimate of 100 million euros. I think if it were to be auctioned, it would probably fetch around 200 million euros. However, if you buy it directly, it will probably only cost 150 million euros. ”

Christie's is a British company, and many of their auctions began to be settled in euros two years ago. This is also related to the continued downturn of the dollar in recent years. Perhaps they would prefer to settle in pounds, but after Brexit, the UK's position is a bit uncertain, and the pound is not necessarily a more confident currency than the dollar.

Li Sheng thought about it for a while, there are actually a lot of those things in the space. He sold it to make money also to buy a farm. If it drags on too long, the farm might be bought. So he nodded and said, "Yes, if the deal can be completed as soon as possible, I can accept it." ”

"Okay. However, we will charge a 3.5% mid-point fee for these transactions. ”

"Yes. "If it can be sold, Li Sheng doesn't care about this money.

The next day, Christie's informed him that a European buyer was interested in his red sandalwood and would be rushing to Lingang today. Ask him if he's free tomorrow morning. If you have time, invite him to Christie's headquarters.

At 10 o'clock the next day, Li Sheng arrived at Christie's Lingang headquarters on time. He was taken to a conference room where a handsome blonde man sat at the conference table, and behind him stood two stout European men.

The woman who received Li Sheng before said: "This is Mr. Fernando, from Portugal. This is Mr. Li Sheng, the owner of that batch of small leaf red sandalwood. ”

After a set of diplomatic rhetoric, Fernando first got to the point: "Mr. Li, I'm very interested in your red sandalwood. ”

He spoke English, and the woman acted as an interpreter.

So after some modest bargaining, Fernando finally said, "I'll pay 170 million euros to buy the whole thing." That's the highest price I can offer. ”

Although he knows that this price may still be a lot worse than the income from the auction, Li Sheng's main purpose now is to raise money, as long as the money is enough, he can still afford this loss: "I can use this price to give it to you." However, I asked for the money to be received within two days. ”

"Two days? You know, Mr. Li, 170 million euros is not a small amount, and Huaxia's financial management is relatively strict, so I am afraid that it will not be possible to complete the formalities in two days. Can it be done in a week?"

Li Sheng shook his head and said, "If you have to wait for a week, I might as well wait for the auction." ”

Fernando didn't want the bargain to go well, but there was a disagreement over the timing of the payment. He thought for a moment and asked, "Forgive me, Mr. Li." I don't know if you're going to use the money for investment or what you're going to do. Of course, if it's inconvenient to say, when I didn't ask. I mean, do you have to get all the 170 million euros?"

Li Sheng knew that he was going to pay in installments, but it was not unacceptable: "I need at least 40 million euros." I'm going to buy a ranch. ”

After hearing the translation, Fernando suddenly smiled and said: "I think that the only ranch that can be worth close to 40 million euros in the market today is the 13,000-acre ranch that was listed in Montana two weeks ago. But I think Mr. Lee may be disappointed. Because the ranch has already been bought. ”

Li Sheng looked at him suspiciously.

Fernando continued unconcernedly: "Of course, if Mr. Li doesn't believe it, he can check it on the Internet to see if the transaction has been completed. ”

Li Sheng took out his mobile phone and checked it, and sure enough, the list on the website really said that the transaction had been successful. The huge disappointment is certain, I have been busy for the past few days, but I didn't expect the result to be like this.

He smiled wryly and said, "If that's the case, I think Mr. Fernando has made a trip for nothing this time." I think it's more in my interest to shoot those red sandalwoods. ”

"No, no......" Fernando said with a smile. "Mr. Li, you must know that the farm was bought by a friend of mine. But that has nothing to do with me. ”

Li Sheng continued to smile bitterly and said, "Mr. Fernando, you misunderstood. The main reason for my change of attention is that my motivation to urgently need money has disappeared, and there is no need to compromise my own interests in order to get the money as soon as possible. ”

"You're honest!" Fernando said with a smile. "But if you're looking to buy a farm that's big enough, I don't think you have to be disappointed to miss it. ”

"What do you mean? Do you have a farm to sell?"

"No, I don't have a farm. But I have a piece of land that is more than four hundred times larger than that farm. If you are interested, I can sell it to you. ”

"More than 400 times, more than 5 million acres?" Li Sheng asked with wide eyes. "Sell it to me?"

Fernando smiled and said, "yes, I don't know how old it is. If calculated in terms of planar area, that is 25,000 square kilometers. There are some hills, so we haven't really confirmed exactly how much surface area there is. ”

Li Sheng was excited for a moment, but immediately smiled bitterly and said, "How can I afford such a big place?" unless you are willing to divide and sell it. Also the local government ......"

"I also want to sell it in a split section. But the law does not allow it. As for the local government, I will handle it and there will be no problem. Fernando said with a shrug. "That's not American soil. And the land is not very suitable for the development of agriculture. So the price is much cheaper than the unit price of the land on that American farm that you fancie. ”

Hearing that it was cheap, Li Sheng immediately asked, "Then how much do you want to sell it for?"

"You know, that land is in the Brazilian Amazon basin, and it's bounded by rivers on the east, west and south. To the south is plains, while to the north there are low hills. About 40% of the forests there have been cut down, mainly in the plains. The forests to the north are still pristine. The Brazilian government has issued a new timber export decree that increases taxes by 150 per cent on the export of 35 major logs and timber, where the timber business can no longer compete with Southeast Asia and Africa. That's why our family plans to sell that land at a low price. Fernando seems to be explaining why he wants to sell the land, but he is actually explaining the current state of the land: there is no more logging there. If Li Sheng wants to cut wood in the future, but is punished, don't blame him for not reminding him.

"It's that big, it's completely usable for farming. Li Sheng didn't believe his words very much.

"Yes, the plains are huge. There are also many people who have cultivated land in the area or used it as cattle ranches. Unfortunately, the soil is very thin. In areas where trees have been cut down, they are not well protected in the morning, and the soil erosion is very serious, and the land that has lost forest protection for decades is only loess. Fernando said with a smile. "Also, large areas of land that have lost forests and can't conserve water, often experience droughts in those areas. ”

"Will the Amazon plains be arid?" Lin Ming really couldn't imagine. "Isn't it in a tropical and rainy area?"

What he didn't know was that in the 21st century alone, the Amazon Plains experienced a once-in-a-century drought in '05, '09, and '14.

"The rain falls to the ground and it doesn't take a day for it to all flow into the river. The loess on the ground does not store much water at all. Therefore, those cattle farms cannot grow grass at all, and cattle must also buy a large amount of feed and convert it into farms, which is too costly. Moreover, we are a company developer, and we have to pay a large amount of land tax every year. This is the main reason why we can't sell it separately. If you buy it, the land can become personal land. According to Brazilian law, farmers are only required to pay personal income tax. Of course, that requires you to be Brazilian first. I guess that's not a problem for you. Because as far as I know, in order to buy land in the United States, you have to be an American. ”

"And how much do you hope to sell it for?"

"Two hundred million euros. Fernando said with a smile.

25,000 square kilometers are sold for 200 million euros, which seems to be a very cheap price. But for the average person, it's not worth the price. You must know that a few years ago, a large ranch of more than 100,000 square kilometers in Australia was listed for more than 300 million US dollars. The value of land is not based on its area, but on its productive capacity.

According to Fernando, it was unprofitable to cut down trees on that land, and the conditions were too poor as a farm. The low price of unit land is a certainty. If it weren't for Brazil's possibility of changing its timber export policy in the future, no one would buy that piece of land for 100 million euros.

However, Li Sheng felt that it was not expensive, and he was sure that he could get that piece of land right.

But what he didn't expect was that Fernando also concealed a piece of information. That is, there are natives in the Indian bushes in that land. The family's company wanted to sell the land because it had problems with the indigenous population.

"I need detailed information about the land, and I'm willing to buy it if it suits me. But you also said that I have to be Brazilian. I hope you can help with the procedures for naturalization in Brazil and the procedures for land transactions. Li Sheng thought about it for a while and felt that such a large piece of land could be taken down. "Also, I would like to get a copy of the land statement issued by a notary public. ”

In fact, he didn't really care about the vegetation and soil quality of that land. As long as the land was on earth and the terrain was suitable, even if it was a desert, he thought there was a way to turn it into fertile soil. The manipulation of water, as well as the biological resources of space, gave him enough confidence.

Fernando clapped his hands and said, "Of course, there is no problem. ”