readytorunbook Chapter 109 Exquisite Porcelain, Japanese Bank Shocked
Chapter 109 Exquisite Porcelain, Japanese Bank Shocked
"President Jiang, let me introduce you."
"This is my core team—"
"Qiao Na, Song Nan, and Cheng Yongren are all excellent divers with rich experience and strong physical fitness."
"Li Guohao is a ship pilot. He can pilot all kinds of ships, including sailboats and submarines!"
"Zhang Yu is an expert in the field of machinery. He can handle all kinds of mechanical equipment, communication equipment, and vehicle modifications with ease!"
"I am skilled in feng shui and cultural relic appraisal."
Huang Weiming introduced his team, and Jiang Feng also introduced his team.
Whether it's a cowboy, a bodyguard, or a girl, there's no need for excessive introduction or hype.
It's normal for others to shout out their wares when they're selling something.
What's with all the shouting about "buying things"?
Everyone greeted each other, engaging in the usual mutual flattery.
Then, head directly to the target sea area—
Two kilometers to the southeast!
Boss Huang and his team are also decisive and efficient, they do things quickly and are used to running away as soon as they're done.
Making a living through shady dealings in the long run~
They'll be arrested soon!
╮(╯_╰)╭
The salvage vessel has an operations team; all that's needed is for someone to direct it. Once it arrived at the target area, it conducted a sonar scan.
Sure enough, an unusual echo was detected on the seabed.
The three divers, Qiao Na, Song Nan, and Cheng Yongren, changed into their gear and went down with their underwater cameras.
Twenty minutes later, they finally surfaced.
He took off his helmet and shouted with delight:
"There's a large shipwreck down there!"
"Most of the ship's hull was buried by sand."
"There is also a thick layer of seaweed covering it."
"It's hard to spot without careful observation!"
"It's full of this kind of porcelain—"
They brought up several porcelain samples, and Huang Weiming took a look at them and immediately judged:
"This is a shipwreck from the Ming Dynasty!"
"Wow, it's a shipwreck from the Yongle era, the time when Zhu Di was emperor. Things were so advanced back then! The ceramic craftsmanship of that period was extremely high, and it's very valuable."
"We might find some rare porcelain!"
He exclaimed in amazement, his Cantonese accent thick, as he introduced the types of porcelain to Jiang Feng and the others.
"This is a sweet white glaze porcelain."
"This is celadon porcelain."
"This is Yongle blue and white porcelain."
These porcelain pieces were filthy, tightly covered with algae and dirt. The celadon glaze had no patterns; it was just a bean-green color.
The tender beans are green with a slight yellowish tinge.
It's all dirty.
There is no pattern yet.
Is it valuable?
Huang Weiming, understanding the unspoken message, explained: "Don't be fooled by the fact that these celadon and sweet white glaze porcelains look dirty and have no patterns. They can easily sell for tens of thousands of yuan!"
"It can even fetch tens of thousands of dollars at auction."
“These blue and white porcelains are even more extraordinary.”
"The patterns are no less impressive than those of official kilns!"
"It should be export porcelain."
During the Yongle reign, Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean prompted the Ming Dynasty to produce special porcelain for export and as gifts to foreign countries.
Its exquisite craftsmanship is almost on par with that of official kilns!
After all, even official kilns were run by the government but privately operated.
But the cost is extremely high!
(It is said that the average price was as high as 1 tael of silver per piece)
Su Meng, Xu Jiao, Xu Lin, Zhou Kai, and the other cowboys watched curiously, taking turns to examine the items.
"Is this ancient Chinese porcelain?"
"Cool."
"It's not as beautiful as the porcelain in President Jiang's house."
"nonsense!"
Everyone was talking about it.
Huang Weiming was very curious: "President Jiang also likes collecting things? I wonder what treasures you have at home?"
Jiang Feng smiled nonchalantly:
"These are all family heirlooms—"
"There are Yuan blue and white porcelain jars with figures, porcelain from the Qing Dynasty (Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong periods), paintings of ladies by Tang Bohu, genuine works by Emperor Huizong of Song, purple clay teapots by Chen Mingyuan, imperial green jadeite of glass type, and so on."
Huang Weiming, his eyes gleaming, inquired with flattery:
"Wow, really? A Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain jar with figures? A painting of ladies by Tang Bohu? A Yixing teapot by Master Chen Mingyuan?"
"Wouldn't that be a national treasure-level collectible?"
"Mr. Jiang, if I have time sometime, could I visit your home to see these treasures? I love art the most!"
Jiang Feng nodded, jokingly teasing:
"Of course, you are welcome to visit us."
"Just don't do archaeology in my house."
Huang Weiming rolled his eyes, speechless: "President Jiang, this isn't tomb raiding, nor is it theft. Don't joke around!"
"But this time you'll be rich!"
"Such a large ship full of Yongle porcelain salvaged from the sea."
"Good heavens, I dare not even estimate the price."
"Making a killing!"
If each piece of porcelain costs tens of thousands of yuan on average, tens of thousands of pieces of porcelain would have a total value of over one billion yuan, or even several billion yuan!
He traveled all over the country, spending most of his life on archaeology.
Even combined, I couldn't get this many antiques!
(T～T)
Situ Wan'er exclaimed in amazement, "So many porcelain pieces, they must fetch a lot of money! Should we hold an auction?"
Jiang Feng smiled and shook his head: "No need, I plan to collect them myself and build a private museum."
Situ Wan'er suddenly realized and jokingly said:
"Oh, right, I was too narrow-minded."
"Unlike us, you don't make money so easily. Why sell these treasures? It would be much better to keep them for yourself!"
"Ah~"
After some casual conversation, everyone officially started work.
Now that the location of the shipwreck has been determined, a crane was deployed to lift the net cages and quickly move the porcelain back and forth.
Three divers carefully cleaned the seaweed.
Use a water pump to remove the silt.
The surface of the sunken ship was cleared.
The fishing boat released a set of high-powered lights to illuminate the top of the wreck and connected an underwater camera.
Jiang Feng and his group could watch from the ship—
It was indeed a very large shipwreck!
The hull is relatively intact.
Most of them were buried in the sand on the seabed, very stable, and the porcelain was well protected with minimal damage.
Divers cleaned the rotten wooden crates.
The porcelain was wrapped and protected in stacks.
Pack them into a small plastic box.
They were piled up inside the net cages.
They were hoisted onto the ship in huge numbers!
Jiang Feng and his companions were also very excited as they watched thousands of pieces of porcelain emerge from the water on the boat.
Huang Weiming carefully examined the artifacts on the deck:
"That's right!"
"That's right!"
"It really is a shipwreck from the Yongle era."
"They are all high-quality folk kiln products, as well as export porcelain."
"Holy crap! How come there's official kiln porcelain here?"
He reacted in shock: "Damn it! This is a smuggling ship. We've struck it rich! Imperial porcelain!"
"These bastards are really fearless!"
"Your background is pretty strong!"
Celadon, blue and white porcelain, red glaze, sweet white glaze, cups, plates, bowls, basins, bottles, pots, jars, incense burners, brush washers, etc.
A wide variety!
Everything!
"A Yongle red-glazed celestial globe vase? This is a treasure!" Huang Weiming was very excited as he looked at the large pile of red-glazed porcelain.
The copper-red glaze from the Yongle period is of great value.
The price is also very high!
Although Jiang Feng and his group were unfamiliar with the antique market, they could tell at a glance that the red porcelain was not cheap.
Su Meng also found a large ceramic spoon.
He even tapped it in his hand.
Huang Weiming's pupils trembled, and he hurriedly reminded, "No, no, no, little ancestor, take it well, take it well, you must take it well!"
Su Meng: (?_?)?
Huang Weiming explained earnestly, "There is only one known ceramic ladle from the Yongle period to date; this is the second one!"
"It broke the former's status as an isolated artifact."
"This is of great significance!"
Su Meng: (￣ Pan￣)
So many treasures?
Are any random piece of porcelain a rare gem?
6
Divers were salvaging underwater, and the people on the boat were also busy. Huang Weiming demanded that the porcelain be kept moist and not dried too quickly, otherwise it might crack or peel off.
It must be thoroughly cleaned and soaked in a protective solution.
It dries very slowly.
It's best not to make it too dry!
Huang Weiming, Li Guohao, and Zhang Yu taught Zhou Kai and the others how to clean and maintain porcelain, in an assembly line operation.
The cowboys were responsible for carrying and guarding the goods.
Su Meng and the others were in charge of supervision.
Remote monitoring divers
Supervising the crew of the salvage vessel
To prevent anyone from secretly keeping the porcelain from the shipwreck!
Jiang Feng, along with lawyer Zhang Wei, went through the process of compiling statistics, registering items, collecting evidence, and confirming the legal ownership of these porcelain pieces.
Registered in China
Stored in the United States
Soon, the divers reached their physical limit and went ashore to rest. Jiang Feng had already sent people to prepare food and hot water.
"Thanks for your hard work!"
"Thanks for your hard work!"
"Everyone, take a break and have free time. You can take photos and post them on WeChat Moments without worrying about leaks."
Click, click, click~
Everyone took photos and short videos, and posted them on their WeChat Moments, Twitter, Facebook, and video accounts.
The Japanese banks have also received the news!
Bank executives: (⊙﹏⊙)?
Nani?
Shipwreck?
Treasure?
puff~
.