Chapter 147 Ancient Books Lost Overseas
Ma Weidu came here not only to deliver manuscripts to Liu Hongmin. Liu Hongmin called him over, mainly to ask him to help buy ancient books.
There are many ancient books in Xiangjiang, and Liu Hongmin has collected a lot of them over the years. However, there was an auction recently and Liu Hongmin didn't have time to attend, so he called Ma Weidu over.
He also distributed 10 million Hong Kong dollars in dividends from the toy factory, which was used specifically to purchase ancient books.
Mr. Wang, who came to Xiangjiang to see a doctor in the past two years, contacted Zou Shifang and wanted to sell the house in Beijing and all the ancient books collected by his father to Liu Hongmin. Mr. Wang's condition has worsened and he needs a lot of money for treatment. Zou Shifang helped Mr. Wang introduce a job so that he could live in Xiangjiang.
After Liu Hongmin handed over the auction information to Ma Weidu, he and Zou Shifang went to the hospital to visit Mr. Wang.
Mr. Wang didn't look very good, but after seeing the two of them, he still stood up and sat up.
"Xiao Zou! Are you here again?"
Zou Shifang put the fruit on the bedside table, "Yes! Uncle, I'm here to see you again."
< br>"Thank you! If it weren't for you, my life would have been handed down long ago. And you also helped Bojun introduce the job, otherwise he wouldn't be able to persist now."
Zou Shifang: "Uncle, what are you talking about? Brother Wang is a filial person, and we all want to learn from him."
Wang Bojun introduced his father: "Dad! This is the person I mentioned to you before. Mr. Liu Hongmin."
"Is that the writer who bought the ancient books I collected?"
Liu Hongmin nodded, "It's me, uncle."
Mr. He looked at Liu Hongmin carefully, looked up and down several times, and then sighed.
"It's all because of my old bones. Otherwise, I wouldn't have let Bojun sell all the things left by my ancestors. Young man, you are a good person. You are upright and not evil. Man. I feel relieved to sell those ancient books to you. I hope that if you have the opportunity in the future, you can make the contents of those ancient books public and restore the glory of your ancestors." Liu Hongmin's heart moved and he nodded quickly, "Uncle, I will."
After talking for a while, Mr. Wang was a little tired. The two said goodbye, and Wang Bojun sent them out.
"Mr. Liu, my father often said that there are huge secrets hidden in those ancient books. I hope you can keep your promise and not let him down."
Liu Hongmin promised: " Brother Wang, I collect ancient books to trace the origins and restore the historical truth.”
When Brother Wang heard this, he slowly took out a bunch of keys from his pocket and handed them to Liu Hongmin.
“These are the keys to three properties of my family in Beijing. One is the house I was allocated from my work unit, and the other two are courtyard houses passed down from my family’s ancestors. The buildings allocated by my work unit cannot be sold, but those two properties The courtyard can be sold to you. There are some ancient books hidden in the three properties. My father thinks that the eggs cannot be put in one basket to avoid being missed."
Liu Hongmin took the key and said: "In a few days. When I return to the capital, I will take away the ancient books and evaluate the value of the two courtyards. I will ask Lao Zou to give you 200,000 Hong Kong dollars as a deposit, and then pay the remaining amount after I complete the evaluation. You."
Wang Bojun did not bargain. He believed in Zou Shifang's character and Liu Hongmin's character. If Liu Hongmin hadn't asked Zou Shifang for help, his father would have died long ago. A few days later, Liu Hongmin took Zou Shifang and Ma Weidu to the auction.
At the auction, many ancient books appeared, all of which were lost overseas. Sotheby's officials believe that these ancient books have high collection value for the Chinese. Of course, compared with porcelain, calligraphy and painting, the value of ancient books is much lower, so they are regarded as a hot spot.
This gives Liu Hongmin a lot of convenience. Some ancient books can be bought for only 20,000 to 30,000 Hong Kong dollars, and the more expensive ones can also be bought for 30,000 to 400,000 Hong Kong dollars.
Liu Hongmin bid for ancient books many times, and collectors soon discovered it. They did not regard Liu Hongmin as a competitor. Except for collectors who also loved collecting ancient books, no one else participated in the bidding at all. They all have to wait until the main course is served before they can fight to capture the treasures in the photo.
More than 100 ancient books cost Liu Hongmin more than 7 million Hong Kong dollars, and he got all of them.
Zou Shifang went to go through the relevant procedures, and then Liu Hongmin and Ma Weidu watched the collectors fight for the so-called "art".
"I didn't expect these porcelains to be so valuable." Ma Weidu said in surprise: "To be honest, compared with the porcelains you collected, these porcelains are quite inferior."
Liu Hongmin said with a smile : "Where did I buy those? These antiques were brought out by international collectors. Let's not talk about authenticity, but in terms of value, there is a lot of moisture in them."
Ma Weidu: “I don’t know how much the ones you collected will sell for!”
“I’ll bring one over to test the waters next time I come to Xiangjiang.”
Don't say that national treasures cannot be sold abroad. Things that can be sold by Rongbaozhai are not considered national treasures. At most, they are ancient works of art in slightly better condition, and there shouldn’t be too many of the same type. Unless it is something truly unique, in Liu Hongmin's eyes, it is just a commodity. As long as the price given is enough, Liu Hongmin will sell them.
He doesn't know much about art. In his opinion, many of the porcelains he collected are not as good as Liu's father's modern art tea sets.
Even Qi Baishi's paintings do not have much artistic quality in Liu Hongmin's opinion. As long as someone can give a sufficient price, Liu Hongmin will sell it immediately.
Compared with the confusing "artistic", it is still real money.
After the auction, Liu Hongmin and the others returned to the company with the ancient books.
After counting, Liu Hongmin thought the money was well spent. These ancient books lost overseas are ones that he does not have, and may even not be available in the mainland.
Some of these ancient books are medical books, such as "Point Acupuncture" and "Xian Weng's Urgent Prescriptions Behind the Elbow", as well as annotations on classics and meanings, such as "Tang Xuanzong's Annotation of Xiao Jing", and craft books "Xuanming Powder" and "Xinzhou Stone Gallbladder" , Miscellaneous "Hongmao Fanhua Trade Notes"...
These books can be said to be all kinds of strange, but they all opened Liu Hongmin's eyes. Let’s not talk about medical skills. This requires Chinese medicine practitioners to verify the authenticity. The same goes for craft books. Craftsmen need to follow the instructions above to know whether they are true or false.
What is most interesting to Liu Hongmin is the book "Hongmao Fanhua Trade Notes", which turns out to be a foreign language dictionary. The contents recorded in it are also very interesting and worth studying. If you study it well, you can understand some of the foreign trade of the Qing Dynasty.
(End of this chapter)