money player

The heavy thunderstorms lasted for two days on and off, and the sky cleared up on the third day.

Xian Yaowen immediately went to the Lafayette construction site and discussed with Wang Chaoyun a plan of working in two shifts and combining light and heavy work on alternate days. He also arranged for people to dig drainage ditches and flood control walls to prepare for flood prevention.

The plan was set, and the working hours of bricklayers and laborers were extended by three hours a day, and the workload also increased significantly, but no one complained, because he asked Wang Chaoyun to increase the daily wage of bricklayers to NT$15 and the daily wage of laborers to NT$8, and even pay half the wages if they could not work on rainy days.

After leaving the construction site, he went to the US military advisory group and coordinated several tons of frozen pork and frozen beef, which were allocated first to the military and their families and which ordinary people had almost no chance to see.

Only pick the fat and leftovers, which are rich in oil and water. If you do heavy physical work, you need to eat more fat to withstand the consumption.

He also instructed Lin Wanzhen to buy brown sugar on the black market and place an order with the ice factory to deliver ice to the construction site every day. When the workers were tired, they could drink ice brown sugar water and warm salt water to replenish their energy as soon as possible.

After arranging the logistical work for the workers, Xian Yaowen went to work at Prince Enterprise.

Valerie had set up a small office for her assistant next to her office. Since the assistant was not in place yet, he could temporarily take over her office.

Less than twenty minutes after sitting there, the phone on the desk rang.

"Hello, Prince Enterprise, who are you looking for?"

"Yao Wen, it's me."

"Brother-in-law, what's wrong with you?"

"The matter I told you last time has reached the final step. I will come to find you in the afternoon and take you to a place."

"Come find me at home."

"it is good."

Xian Yaowen hung up the phone, processed some documents, and returned home before dinner time.

Fei Baoshu was not there, but Tang Yiying was there, along with Jin Jingyan, who was called over from Hong Kong by Tang Yiying. Tang Yiying was sitting at the table observing a bronze goblet with a magnifying glass, while Jin Jingyan was doing shockproof treatment on a piece of porcelain before packing it.

Xian Yaowen came to Tang Yiying and took a look through a magnifying glass. It turned out that she was looking at the inscription on the bronze goblet. There were four vertical characters in total. He carefully identified only one character, "卜".

"What era is the oracle bone inscription on it?"

Tang Yiying replied without even looking up: "This is called Fuyi Gu, of course it is from the Shang Dynasty."

"Is Fu Yi the father of Emperor Xin?"

"correct."

"Oh, what does it say?"

"On Bingzi day, someone asked, tomorrow is Dingchou day, can I chop up these ribs and make braised pork for my father? The following February is the sixth month of the lunar calendar, which records the date of the question."

"The cavity is the person?"

"A person whose head has been chopped off, leaving only the body."

"Human sacrifice?"

"A form of human sacrifice." Tang Yiying put down the magnifying glass. "This paragraph seems incomplete. At least there is another one that matches this one."

“Isn’t this thing a handed down generation after generation?”

"There are no Shang Dynasty artifacts handed down from generation to generation in the world. The only difference is the time of excavation. This one should be unearthed earlier than the Song Dynasty. I have seen records of it in Song Dynasty documents."

"Is it valuable?"

"Money is the least of this thing's worth."

Xian Yaowen chuckled, "When did you become so elegant?"

"From the day I started eating and drinking your food." Tang Yiying smiled.

Xian Yaowen twisted the white gloves on the table, picked up the Fuyi Gu, and carefully examined the words on it. After a while, he said, "Can I copy the inscription on it?"

"Nengtuo."

"Take it down. I'm a little interested in the words on it."

"Can you understand?"

"I don't understand, but you are here." Xian Yaowen put down his father's goblet and placed his hand on Tang Yiying's shoulder. "Study it carefully and sort out the thread. In the future, publish 'One Hundred and Eight Ways to Be a Human Being' to teach future generations how to be a human being."

"Not serious." Tang Yiying said angrily, "I have collected a lot of things these days, and I have spent a lot of money. I have sorted them and prepared to ship the common goods to Hong Kong for sale."

"It's up to you. I only have one request. Don't sell jewelry with exquisite craftsmanship, such as hairpins and bracelets, easily."

"You want to keep it for a woman?"

"Study the craft and produce first-class luxury jewelry in the future. By the way, do you know anything about the descendants of the gold and jade and filigree craftsmen?"

"During the Second Opium War, a large number of Suzhou and Guangzhou craftsmen went south to Guangzhou to make export products for the Thirteen Hongs. After the Westernization Movement began, another group of craftsmen turned to military manufacturing, such as the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau."

"So if we want to find a craftsman, we have to go to Yangcheng?"

"You want to support a craftsman?"

Xian Yaowen nodded, "I want to keep a group of people who are skilled in craftsmanship. There is no shortage of customers in this world who can appreciate and afford top-quality jewelry. A unique piece of jewelry that has taken hundreds of craftsmen more than a decade to create must be very tempting to women, right?"

"It is very tempting, but how many people can afford it? Do you plan to close the store for ten years and then make a profit for ten years after you open it?"

"You haven't heard the story about the birdbath?"

"Using a precious porcelain bowl as a bird feeder to trick people who want to get a bargain into buying birds?"

"Yes, the unique jewelry is just a cover. I don't expect to make money from it. Not to mention that not many people can afford it. Even if there are many people who can afford it, they will deliberately set up barriers to stop most people, so that only a small number of people with noble status are eligible to buy it."

"What you really want to sell is ordinary and luxurious jewelry?"

"You're right. I plan to rebuild the Jinyuzuo and Leisizuo in Hong Kong." Xian Yaowen pointed at Jin Jingyan, "She is the person in charge."

Tang Yiying subconsciously glanced at Jin Jingyan, and some things that were previously unclear suddenly became clear. No wonder Xian Yaowen did not fall for the beauty who came to his door, as if he was not interested in Yunyan, but bought Yunyan a mansion and provided her with a car and servants. It turned out that he was attracted by the royal name.

So, what Xian Yaowen said just now was not said unintentionally, but was intentional?

She withdrew her gaze from Jin Jingyan's blank face, looked at Xian Yaowen and asked, "What are you going to do?"

"I haven't thought it through yet. You continue to do the antique business. When you can get away from Taipei, help me go to Guangzhou to find the descendants of those craftsmen back then and bring as many back to Hong Kong as possible."

"You are not a royal family. There are too many craftsmen gathered together. Even if you can appoint the right people and clearly distinguish rewards and punishments, there will be people who would rather be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix and leave because they are not satisfied with the status quo. Aren't you afraid of being a scapegoat for others?"

Xian Yaowen patted Tang Yiying's shoulder and said, "When Nurhaci established the Eight Banners system, the generals of the Liaodong Ming army warned the court many times: the Jianlu soldiers are less than 10,000, but they are brave and difficult to control. If they are allowed to grow stronger, they will be a huge threat.

This is why if the Jurchens have less than 10,000 troops, they will be invincible.

In 1637, the tenth year of Chongzhen, the Ming Dynasty was facing internal and external troubles. The Weddell Fleet of the British East India Company ignored the Ming Dynasty's ban, forced its way into the Pearl River and arrived at Humen, attempting to use force to intimidate the Ming Dynasty to open up trade and bypass the Portuguese middlemen.

The Ming Dynasty mobilized its navy to surround the British ships and cut off their supplies. Weddell had no choice but to negotiate and eventually retreat. The East India Company realized that military deterrence was ineffective and turned to diplomacy and smuggling to maintain trade, with the smuggling target being Zheng Zhilong's group in Taiwan.

During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the British Macartney Mission visited the Qing Dynasty. The deputy envoy was George Leonard Staunton. He recorded in detail what he saw and heard along the way and wrote "The British Envoy's Audience with Emperor Qianlong", which included an evaluation of the Eight Banners Army: the Eight Banners Army was poorly equipped, their training was child's play, and they had no combat effectiveness at all.

For more than 300 years, the East India Company silently endured an average annual trade deficit of million taels of silver. Britain had to pay in silver, which damaged its gold standard monetary system. It could only make up for a small deficit by smuggling opium.

By 1839, the annual import volume reached 4 boxes, resulting in an average annual outflow of 600 million taels of silver from the Qing Dynasty and a 50% surge in the price of silver.

Daoguang thought this was unacceptable. Qing people should smoke Qing opium. How could they worship foreigners and smoke smuggled goods? So, he sent Lin Zexu to investigate the smuggling of opium and sent people to various places to investigate the feasibility of growing local opium. Who knew that this would stir up a hornet's nest?

Xian Yaowen spread his hands and said, "I don't need to say much about what happened next. How many people in this world can be content with the status quo? Once they see an opportunity, they all want to change from Zhu Chongba to Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. You can't stop them, you can only ease them.

Instead of worrying about being a stepping stone for others, it is better to always stay strong. Those who rest on their laurels will eventually be kicked off the stage by the times. "

Tang Yiying said thoughtfully: "It's more comfortable to live off the old capital."

"Open the history books, and you will see two words written all over them: cannibalism. The production method is changing, and the way of cannibalism is also changing. If you rely on your old capital and still maintain the custom of eating the Qiang people, you will only become a Qiang.

The only thing that remains constant in the world is change itself. Resources will run out, experience will become outdated, and appearance will age. "

Patting Tang Yiying's shoulders again, Xian Yaowen said with a smile: "I think the most attractive and dynamic part of the antique industry is counterfeiting. The others are just relying on old capital, only counterfeiting is keeping up with the pace of the times and always seeking change.

When you can convince beggars to use Qianlong enameled vases as chamber pots, you will definitely leave a strong mark in the history of antiques."

Tang Yiying rolled her eyes at Xian Yaowen and said, "You're being frivolous again."

"Isn't that serious?" Xian Yaowen shook his head. "In fact, I think the authenticity of antiques is not important. The key is scarcity and value recognition. The reason why fakes are annoying is that they can easily reap the fruits of victory that a group of people have worked hard for many years.

Personally, I really admire those who forge antiques. At least they are playing with technology. What are collectors and speculators playing with?

Human heart.

I heard that there are only a few hundred Yuan Dynasty blue and white Guiguzi Going Down the Mountain jars in existence. Collect more genuine ones and smash them, and sell some fine imitations to collectors and speculators. Buy high and sell high to drive up the prices. In a few years, the counterfeits will become the most genuine ones. "

Tang Yiying said disapprovingly: "No matter how well a fake is made, it can never be the same as the real thing. Unless you make those who know how to identify shut up, your idea will never come true."

"There is no such thing as being strong without desires. There are only differences in the level of desires. If a person does not seek fame or gain, he cannot become a leader. As long as the right method is used, everyone can become Zhao Gao who calls a deer a horse."

……

Thanks to my friends' kindness, I will join the short drama crew for the next ten days, eat boxed lunches, and participate in the on-site design and modification of the pretentious and face-slapping plots and dialogues. The update volume will be affected to a certain extent, but it will not be interrupted.

Apologies! (End of this chapter)