How did such a good thing come to Japan? You know, now in China, even the top richest people want to get together these three-piece sets of rosewood furniture, as well as special historical bonuses, it is not so easy.

Not to mention anything else, even if you are in the Palace Museum and want to see such an original three-piece set of furniture, you can't find it.

So thinking about it, it also makes people feel sad for a while.

Looking at the introduction below this three-piece set, Jin Muchen was even more angry, it turned out that this three-piece set of furniture happened to be Prince Gong's son and grandson who made him uneasy, Pu Wei, the cousin of the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and sold it to the Japanese.

And the guy who bought these three-piece furniture sets is none other than the founder of the infamous Yamanaka Chamber of Commerce, Yamanaka Jojiro!

This Yamanaka Dingjiro, in the Japanese antique industry, is a legendary figure, his life experience, said that it is definitely no worse than the three giants of the Japanese collecting industry mentioned earlier, Takashima Kikujiro, Yokogawa Minsuke, and Hirota Matsu Shirai.

The Yamanaka Chamber of Commerce, which he founded in Osaka, Japan, was active in the trading of Chinese cultural relics and artworks in China, Japan, Europe and the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century, and was once the most eye-catching and successful antique chamber of commerce.

Born in Osaka in 1866 to a family of antique dealers, Yamanaka was born to a family of antique dealers, and he began to follow his father in and out of antique shops at an early age, and he became interested in buying and selling antiques.

At the age of 13, Jojiro Adachi began his antique career as an apprentice at Yamanaka Yoshibei, the most famous antique store in Osaka at the time.

During his apprenticeship, Jojiro Anda showed considerable talent for antique appraisal. And he is also diligent and studious. It soon became the backbone of Yamanaka Yoshibei's antique shop.

And he was in the process of doing business in this antique shop. He also came into contact with scholars and collectors from Europe and the United States, who opened a door to the world for the young Andai Dingjiro, and made him realize that there would be a large market for oriental art in the future exchanges between the East and the West, and that it would be of great profit.

This Andata Jojiro found a golden way to make a fortune, so he began to study English at night school in preparation for the future antiques business with Westerners.

But the first turning point in Anda Dingjiro's life was when he was 23 years old, when Yamanaka Yoshibei, the owner of the antique shop, watched his apprentice get better and better. So he married his eldest daughter to Anda Dingjiro, and he was also proud to join the Yamanaka family and changed his name to Yamanaka Dingjiro, and then he began his own road to win Bai Fumi and embark on the peak of life.

Yamanaka Yoshibei not only married his daughter to this Anda Jojiro, but also handed over the financial power of their family to this son-in-law who he was optimistic about.

Yamanaka Jojiro, who took control of the Yamanaka family's finances, soon began his own expansion plan, opening an antique store in New York in 1894, followed by branches in Boston and Chicago, and a branch in London in 1900. I opened an agency in Paris in 1905 and put the original Yamanaka Yoshibei antique store. It was changed to the Yamanaka Chamber of Commerce.

Moreover, in just a few years, he grasped the rapid economic development of Europe and the United States in the early 20th century, and the curiosity and thirst of the wealthy class for oriental art. It has quickly established a sales network overseas, cultivating the sales market of oriental artworks in Europe and the United States.

And the Yamanaka Trading Company that he founded single-handedly became an internationally renowned brand specializing in oriental antiques in the hearts of the people in Europe and the United States.

If it weren't for the later world war, perhaps his Yamanaka Trading Company would have become a world-famous luxury brand like Cartier, Tiffany, and Enzo in Europe.

It is said that after Yamanaka Jojiro established the Yamanaka Chamber of Commerce, it was not just as simple as opening branches in the United States, England and France, and he immediately began his journey to China to search for antiques.

And the time that made him famous was the time when he successfully dug out Prince Gong's old house, Taobao trip.

In 1900, after the Yamanaka Chamber of Commerce opened an antique branch in London, one of the serious problems faced by the Yamanaka Chamber of Commerce was the problem of insufficient supply.

At that time, European and American countries were just in the late stage of the Industrial Revolution, and the citizens of all countries enjoyed the benefits brought by the Industrial Revolution, and their basic lives were relatively rich, so everyone was more curious and fresh about Oriental antiques.

In order to show that your B grade is high enough, or to highlight your literary and youthful temperament, anyway, at that time, the wealthy class in Europe and the United States, if anyone did not collect some exotic gadgets at home, then you would be embarrassed to invite others to your home.

At that time, especially from East Asia, to put it bluntly, especially the cultural relics from China, were particularly popular with the wealthy classes in Europe and the United States.

After all, China has a history of thousands of years, and it was once brilliant, this country used to be in the hearts of European and American countries, it was a golden country, although it is now in decline, but in their opinion, the ancestors of the Chinese, made things, the quality is not bad.

Therefore, they like to collect all kinds of gadgets from China, and the Yamanaka Chamber of Commerce, in order to cater to the tastes of these Europeans and Americans, began to search for treasures everywhere in China.

Even in 1901, they also set up an office in the capital, East @ Cheng Ma Line Hutong No. 3, and later with the smooth development of the business, in the most glorious time, they even bought in 1917, the original Prince Su's family of a 300 square meters courtyard as a branch of the Yamanaka Chamber of Commerce in the capital, and they were in the capital, the main development is the acquisition of Chinese antiques business, at that time the manager of the Yamanaka Chamber of Commerce in the capital branch is named Takada Matashiro, this branch has 4 Japanese clerks, 15 Chinese employeesYamanaka comes to the capital twice a year, staying for about 2 weeks each time.

At that time, China had just been freed from the rule of the Manchus, and because the state was still weak, the concept of the modern state and nation was only just taking shape.

At that time, the government had no concept of cultural relics protection and cultural protection, so it took advantage of this opportunity to start a crazy journey of looting cultural relics in China.

They usually do a lot of things to buy and sell, and later, as long as they hear that there are cultural relics that they are interested in in that place, they will come like flies.

When they arrived at the local area, they relied on their Japanese status to force them to buy and sell, and if the seller did not agree, they would use extraordinary means.

If they really can't solve it, they simply roll up their arms and start stealing and robbing, anyway, they don't care about the law at all, they are completely a bunch of villains and robbers hidden under the skin of antique dealers.

The craziest time was that the old Wang Ba, the old king of Yamanaka Dingjiro, personally led the team and brought nearly 200 people to Jinxi to steal treasures......

Let's not talk about that, let's talk about the origin of these three pieces of rosewood furniture.

It is said that in 1912, Prince Gong, who liked to ********** shit-stirring sticks and bullshit, decided to sell all the collections of Prince Gong's Mansion in order to help his cousin, the last emperor Puyi, carry out restoration activities, and raise military salaries.

The manager of the Yamanaka Chamber of Commerce's Beijing branch, Matashiro Takada, got the news as soon as possible and quickly informed Yamanaka Dingjiro of the news.

When Yamanaka Dingjiro heard this, he was ecstatic at that time, so he called several of his own financiers, Yamanaka Rokuzaburo, Okada Yuji and others, and quickly came to the capital from Japan.

Then, accompanied by Takada Matashiro, he came to Prince Gong's Mansion to watch the treasures of Prince Gong's Mansion, which was divided into dozens of treasure houses such as Ruyi Library, Calligraphy and Painting Library, Jade Library, and Bronze Library.

According to this Yamanaka Dingjiro later recalled: Among those treasure houses, there were countless treasures, and even many jewels were covered with dust, and in the jade treasury, the butler of Prince Gong's Mansion picked up a bunch of jade ornaments and showed them to us, which stunned us at that time.

And Pu Wei, who was standing aside, asked directly to Yamanaka Dingjiro: "How much are you going to pay for these things?" ”

Yamanaka Dingjiro recalled with a face: At that time, my heart was almost jumping to my throat, but on the surface, I didn't dare to show half of my joy, secretly thinking that this business could be bigger, and at the same time thinking that this Qing Dynasty, so rich, how could it be so defeated? I couldn't figure this question before, but when I saw this Prince Gong Pu Wei and the jewels in his treasury, I suddenly figured it out......

These memories of Yamanaka Dingjiro, as well as the introduction of the Yamanaka Chamber of Commerce, are actually all clearly written next to these three-piece sets, and when Jin Muchen saw these introductions, he didn't mention the discomfort in his heart.

Yes, the Japanese can figure it out, let alone themselves!

Although he had heard countless times in history textbooks about the corruption, cowardice and incompetence of the Manchu government, it was only when he saw this introduction that he could really feel the pain.

In this Prince Gong's house, what is hidden is a mountain of gold and silver, and all kinds of gold, silver and jewelry are insect and moldy, but when the country is in danger, they don't think about it at all, take out the money in their treasure trove, and revitalize the country, but think about raising taxes, squeezing the people, and making the people pay for their incompetence.

When you think about Japan at that time, it is said that during the Meiji Restoration, in order to give the country the financial resources to buy machinery and warships from Europe and the United States, even the emperor donated his family's gold and silver jewelry, and even he himself was hungry and ate only two meals a day. (To be continued.) )