The French envoy lowered his head and thought for a moment, Chen Qiang's request to calculate the depreciation rate is indeed very reasonable, no one can guarantee that those antiques can be intact in the war, and no one can guarantee that the antiques will not be damaged in the process of preservation.

What's more, these antiques were not in the hands of Free France in the first place, and the French envoy was equivalent to a white wolf with empty gloves, since the things were not their own, it was not distressing to give some concessions.

"Okay, let's calculate it at a 10% discount rate." The French envoy spoke.

"Mr. Special Envoy, it seems that you don't know about the defense of Stalingrad, the whole of Stalingrad has been reduced to ruins." Chen Qiang said.

"The places where we store our antiques are all in the suburbs, and there will be no fierce street battles like in Stalingrad." The French envoy argued.

"Well, let's not mention Stalingrad, let's talk about the British Museum, you're from London, you should know something about the British Museum, right?" Chen Qiang said.

The British Museum was affected by World War II, and although many of the artefacts were moved ahead of schedule, some of the larger artefacts were not so lucky. During the bombing of London, the British Museum building was attacked by high-explosive bombs and incendiary bombs, and was severely damaged.

Among the four major museums in the world at that time, the most severely damaged was the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad, which was almost completely destroyed.

The French envoy had come from London, and he certainly knew a lot about the situation at the British Museum.

"Then Mr. Chen thinks that what discount rate is more appropriate?" The French envoy asked.

"I don't think a 30% discount rate is too much, right?" Chen Qiang said. He was going to say more, but considering that there were other means of lowering the price later, he said a 30%.

The French envoy discussed it with the left and right, and felt that the figure was acceptable, so he nodded and agreed.

Chen Qiang continued: "32,000 pieces of antiques, according to the 30% discount rate, is 22,400 pieces. Now it's time to talk about the price of each antique. ”

"Wait a minute, Mr. Chen, shouldn't we be on top of the $10 million price, minus the 30% discount price? The final price should be $7 million! The French envoy said in surprise.

"Mr. Special Envoy, 22,400 antiques sold for $7 million, don't you think it's an exaggeration? On average, the value of each antique is $312, and at the current price of antiques, are you sure that the antiques in mainland France are worth $312 each? Chen Qiang said.

The so-called prosperous antiques and troubled gold, the price of antiques during World War II was originally very low, plus the dollar in this era is very valuable, and the dollar can buy any commodity, so the price of 312 US dollars does exceed the average price of antiques in this era, at least the average price of antiques currently purchased by Chen Qiang is not 312 US dollars.

Chen Qiang continued: "Mr. Special Envoy, you can go to the antique market in New York and inquire about the average price of Chinese antiques. Of course, I don't deny that some fine antiques can fetch high prices, even four or five figures at auction. At the same time, I do not rule out that many of the antiques in the French collection are priceless pieces. But the average price of 312 US dollars is not too exaggerated, you French antiques, it is impossible for every piece to be worth more than 300 US dollars. ”

After some discussion with the French envoy, he finally agreed with Chen Qiang's statement.

"Then let's discuss the price of antiques." The French envoy spoke.

"Mr. Special Envoy, I don't think you would be satisfied if I offered a random price. So I have a suggestion, we might as well go to a professional to calculate the price of antiques, as far as I know, there are some antique shops in Washington, we can go to the owner of the antique shop and ask, so that we can know what the average price of Chinese antiques is, if it doesn't work, we can also send a telegram to the notary office in New York, entrusting them to investigate the average price of Chinese antiques in New York City, so that the price, I think is more fair. Chen Qiang said.

The French envoy nodded, if Chen Qiang made a price, the French side would definitely bargain, and eventually it would become a situation of bargaining in the vegetable market, and Chen Qiang's proposal was indeed able to avoid a relatively large disagreement between the two sides on the price issue.

As a result, the negotiations were temporarily suspended, and the two sides went to professionals in the field to figure out the average price of Chinese antiques in the United States.

……

After Chen Qiang left, the French envoy left a few henchmen behind.

"Mr. Special Envoy, we have made too many concessions! If we trade at the average price, we will lose even more! Someone spoke.

"Then what can you do, do you really want to sell the antique to that Chinese at an average price of more than three hundred dollars?" He's not a fool and won't accept the price. The envoy spoke.

"Then we can reduce the price appropriately." The man continued.

"How much should we drop?" The French envoy continued: "Or if I ask from a different angle, would you buy a product if it sells for much more than its average selling price?" ”

The man was immediately speechless when asked, and the French envoy continued: "I just proposed 10 million US dollars, but it was just a lion's mouth, and only by giving a relatively high price first, there would be room for bargaining." And in the end, we need to give a price that seems reasonable, so that we can make that Chinese pay for it. But don't worry, I still have some connections in the United States, whether it's a notary office or an antique store, I can find a way to raise the price! Eventually, we'll sell our hearts. ”

……

The next day, the price list from New York appeared in front of everyone, and the three owners of the antique store in Washington were also invited to the negotiation site.

"Gentlemen, this is the price of antiques that I commissioned a notary office in New York to find, which investigated a total of 12 relatively large antique shops, and each antique shop sold a different number of Chinese antiques and the average price, the specific number is on this table. But one thing I can confirm is that the numbers on this form are true and valid. The French envoy spoke.

Chen Qiang glanced at the table, and then asked, "What is the average price of all the antiques on this table?" ”

"$126." The French envoy spoke.

Chen Qiang frowned slightly, this price is very high.

In later generations, the kind of antiques that sold tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars at auctions were a minority, and the antiques traded by the private sector were considered expensive for tens of thousands of yuan. It's like an ordinary antique store, and antiques worth hundreds of thousands can be regarded as the treasure of the town store. Of course, what is said here does not include jewelry jadeite, the value of jewelry jadeite is relatively high, taking jadeite as an example, the value of a good material may exceed its value as an antique.

The price of antiques exceeds hundreds of thousands, which can basically be counted as the category of precious cultural relics, and the cultural relics at that level must be protected by law.

Therefore, when it comes to the level of precious cultural relics, it is theoretically impossible to value, these are genuine priceless treasures, even if they are traded, the price is all based on speculation.

In the 40s, the average American earned about $25 a week, blue-collar workers in the military industry and white-collar workers who graduated from college, and restaurant waiters and the like were paid lower, earning an average of more than $100 a month. The average price of $126 is equivalent to a month's salary for an average American.

During this period of time, Chen Qiang has acquired a lot of Chinese antiques, he knows what the general price of antiques is, in this era of European and American countries, antiques from China are not so valuable, such as a lot of porcelain in the official kilns of the Ming Dynasty, but it is sold as ordinary works of art, many Americans do not understand the value of Chinese antiques. In contrast, the relics left over from the European Renaissance are more popular with Americans.

The average price of $126 far exceeded Chen Qiang's expectations, and Chen Qiang began to wonder if the French had done something to deliberately raise the price of antiques in collusion with the notary office.

If you think about it, this is also possible, France is also an early country of immigrants to North America, for example, Canada has a French-speaking province, and the French also helped a lot in the process of American independence. There are many French citizens in the United States, and many American schools teach French, considering French as a second language in the United States. For example, the movie "Cat and Mouse Game" starring Leonardo and Tom Hanks is set in the sixties, and the first time the protagonist in the film deceives people is that he pretends to be a French substitute teacher in the school after transferring schools, which also reflects that French Americans occupy an important position in the United States.

Although Chen Qiang suspected that the French were secretly using methods, he had no evidence, not to mention that he was a professional notary office, and there were ways to fool Chen Qiang.

So Chen Qiang could only not say anything and watch the French envoy perform.

I saw the French envoy ask the three antique dealers again: "Three gentlemen, you are all businessmen specializing in antique business, I would like to ask, what is the average price of Chinese antiques sold there?" ”

"About $125!" The first person spoke.

"It's almost $125, and the error shouldn't be more than $5." The second man spoke.

Later, the third person also made the same offer, and it was obvious that the three people had already been bought by the French envoy, so they deliberately quoted an offer of $125.

The French envoy nodded with a smile, and then said, "Mr. Chen, you have heard that the average price of Chinese antiques sold in the United States is 125 US dollars, so how about we trade at this price?" In this way, neither you nor I will suffer. ”

Chen Qiang shook his head: "Mr. Special Envoy, please wait, I still have a few questions for the three antique shop owners." ”

"Okay, Mr. Chen, please ask." The French envoy acted indifferent, anyway, the three antique dealers had already been bought by him, and it was impossible for him to sell his own. No matter how Chen Qiang asked, people said that it was an average price of 125 US dollars, and Chen Qiang had no choice.

I only heard Chen Qiang ask: "Three gentlemen, the $125 you mentioned just now is the average selling price of antiques, right?" ”

"Yes." The three of them replied in unison.

"If the three gentlemen buy antiques, they shouldn't use this average selling price as the standard, right?" Chen Qiang asked again.

Hearing Chen Qiang's question, the French envoy's face changed abruptly. And the three antique shop owners also realized something, they look at me, I look at you, and finally nodded helplessly: "Yes." ”

Chen Qiang turned his head with a smile and said to the French envoy: "Mr. envoy, since I am buying your antiques, then I think we should calculate according to the purchase price of antiques, what do you think?" ”

"No, no, Mr. Chen, the account can't be calculated like this, we are the party that sells antiques, and what we do, like the three antique shop owners, is to sell antiques to customers, so it should be calculated according to the average selling price of antiques." The French envoy said immediately.

"In that case, then I can go to the three antique shop owners and buy it, the price is the same anyway." Chen Qiang spread his hands, and then said: "The key person is still spot. ”

"But if we buy antiques at the price, we can also sell them to the owners of antique shops, and as you say, the price is the same! We won't have anything to lose either. The French envoy replied aggressively.

"But you don't have it in stock! You can ask the three antique shop owners and tell them that your antiques are on German territory and that you can't get them back until after the war is over, and see if they want to take them! Chen Qiang said with a smile.

Mentioning that there was no stock, the French envoy suddenly coaxed, and then he remembered that this time he had written a blank check, and it was a white wolf with empty gloves! It was not easy to catch such a wronged person as Chen Qiang, and if he was replaced by those antique shop owners, if he couldn't see the real thing, he would definitely be unwilling to pay.

This is also the most passive part of the French envoys in this negotiation, that is, the antiques they want to sell are not in their own hands at all, so the French have no say in the whole process. Therefore, the French envoy could only do everything possible to stabilize Chen Qiang.

Finally, the French envoy made a compromise: "Well, let's calculate the purchase price of the antique!" ”

Chen Qiang immediately turned his head and asked the three antique shop owners: "The three gentlemen just said that the average sale price of Chinese antiques is 125 US dollars, I think the average purchase price of antiques should be lower than this number, what is the average purchase price?" ”

The three antique shop owners stole a glance at the French envoy, and one of them said, "About $110!" ”

"It turns out that you can only make $15 for a Chinese antique worth $125! That's about 12% gross profit. Chen Qiang said with a smile.

"In business, 12 percent profit is already very high." The French envoy hurriedly said.

"It just so happens that I have a batch of Chinese antiques in my hand, and I'll have them shipped to Washington right away, and I hope I can sell them at your store for an average price of $110." Chen Qiang said with a sneer.

The antique shop owner's face suddenly changed!

The average price of $125 he quoted before was originally a deliberate increase in price, and the purchase price of $110 was also deliberately raised. In fact, the average price is less than $110. If Chen Qiang wants to sell him antiques at this price, the purchase price is more expensive than the selling price, then he will not lose money!

——————

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