Chapter 614: The Ledger in the Heart

Thinking of this, someone finally reacted: Why did Lin Sicheng put the most value-added celebrity effect at the end, and instead laid such a long foundation, with photos, historical materials, and long-winded arguments, going to such great lengths to link these two items to the Revolutionary Base?

The reason lies in his previous statement: The essence of Cultural Relics is telling a story.

Now, compared with the authentic works of Fu Shan collected by major Museums, it can be fully determined: whether it is the album or the handwritten Medical Book, they are both authentic works of Fu Shan's late-life Landscape Pattern and Running-Regular Script, with the brush and ink embodying Fu Shan's core spirit of "preferring awkwardness to cleverness" and "preferring death to submission." Since his surviving paintings are already rare, and Cultural Relics are valued for their scarcity, how low could the price of this album be?

This is the artistic value; then look at the historical value: these two items are directly linked to the Zhu-Clad Daoist case, are evidence of Fu Shan's contact with the northern rebel armies, and are even more so the physical carriers of Fu Shan's participation in anti-Qing activities.

The secret poems and mountain stronghold maps in the album can fully corroborate the underground activities of the northern remnants and anti-Qing rebel armies, serving as the most intuitive historical research materials for the remnants of the late Ming Dynasty.

The key is that it is also endowed with a special red historical layer: Do you dare say that it wasn't because Fu Shan traveled through the mountains and wilderness of the three Jin regions, visiting all the remnant loyalists, that the anti-Qing rebel armies chose these twenty-four best underground Revolutionary Bases?

Do you dare say that the behind-enemy-lines organizations during the War of Resistance did not refer to and borrow from the actual sites when they chose these twenty-four bases from hundreds of rebel army ruins?

Otherwise, how did the sixteenth painting, which is the Hebei Shexian Chian Village Terrace—that is, the 129th Division Headquarters of Liu and Deng and the military Command Center of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu Border Region—come to be?

And the twenty-third one, the intersection area of the Matian River Valley, the location of the Eighth Route Army Frontline Headquarters and the CPC Central Northern Bureau from 1940 to 1942—how did this come to be?

Both were about resisting foreign insults and reviving the nation; resisting the Qing was, and resisting the Japanese even more so. Therefore, these two items not only witnessed the history of national salvation but also carry the nation's unyielding will.

And they have carried it for more than three hundred years, from the end of the Ming Dynasty to the modern era. Think about that sentence from Mr. Sun: Expel the Tartars and restore our China.

To put it another way: the spirit it carries has long exceeded that of ordinary antiques and Cultural Relics. From this point of view, these two items are fully qualified to enter a history Museum.

It even carries a bit of metaphysics: regarding the sixteenth and twenty-third paintings in the album, as early as three hundred years ago, Fu Shan firmly believed that these two places were suitable to be a headquarters. Three hundred years later, they really became a headquarters—

This historicity, this story-telling quality, is about to explode, isn't it?

A group of guests looked at each other: So, to bid or not to bid?

Of course, one must bid.

At least Lin Sicheng was not wrong: the essence of Cultural Relics is telling a story; even if there is no story, one must force it, let alone these items that naturally carry extreme historical depth and memory, involve highly legendary historical figures, and bear the spiritual weight of the era's memories and the rise and fall of the nation.

Thinking of this, some people couldn't help but sigh: they had to admire Lin Sicheng.

Why didn't he, like an ordinary auctioneer, tell you the answer directly, but instead took such a long detour, only laying out evidence and letting you think for yourself?

Because the insights one thinks of oneself are the deepest—

Subconsciously, several fund managers looked at each other, and then simultaneously withdrew their gazes.

They are all peers; who doesn't understand whom?

High-end collectors will look at the brushwork and seals, and understand calligraphy history, appreciation, and cataloging better. But what about ordinary collectors, or those who only have a half-baked understanding of collecting and only hope their investments will appreciate?

Simple: lower their cognitive threshold and let them understand the story.

For an auction, a story is the best carrier for dissemination. Especially for collections with such heavy narratives, a little bit of promotion can create a hot topic.

For foundations, this kind of collection with national narratives and special historical accumulation is no longer just a hot topic, but an explosive one:

As long as it is acquired, it can instantly support the fund's valuation premium and widen the gap with competing products.

To put it bluntly: at least the story I tell is easier for clients to understand and more in line with the mainstream—

In an instant, several managers made up their minds: it doesn't matter if they can't acquire it themselves, but they must never let their peers acquire it.

Even if they can't win the bid, they must make these bastards pay a heavy price—

A principle that even a few semi-laymen can figure out, more professional collectors can think of even more.

Many people have already started to estimate how much this item might sell for and whether their own capital strength allows for it.

In an instant, the originally quiet venue became lively; those who brought professional Appraisers hurriedly consulted them, while those without professional help pricked up their ears to listen.

There were also quite a few who made excuses to go to the restroom and ran outside to make phone calls.

More were probing each other: "General Manager Zheng, are you bidding?"

"Oh, let's take a look first—"

"What about you, General Manager Sun?"

"I'll also take a look first—"

Look at what?

Do you think I don't know you just sent a text message asking the board of directors for authorization?

They are all thousand-year-old foxes; what kind of ghost story are you acting out—

There was a half-hour break, and the waiters pushed in several dining carts, on which were tea, pastries, and fruit.

But no one had time to eat; in the venue of nearly a hundred people, more than half the seats were empty.

Many people ran up to consult, and Lin Sicheng answered every question without reservation.

After explaining, he asked Li Zhen to take out several machine inspection reports and project them onto the screen.

The first two were carbon-14 and X-ray Fluorescence Detection: the former is used for dating, and the latter is used to detect elements in ink marks, pigments, and seal paste.

Combining the two, one can basically determine the approximate creation period and the production region of the main raw materials.

Besides this, two supplementary tests were also performed:

The first is "Ultraviolet UV Fluorescence Imaging."

The principle of this test is very simple: it judges Calligraphy and Painting by the difference in fluorescence reaction between old paper, old ink, and modern materials. The scope is very wide: it can identify later-added ink marks, later-added seals, traces of later mounting, repaired paper, as well as modern glue and chemical aging agents; the second is Infrared Reflection Imaging (IR).

This test is slightly more complex: the rays can penetrate the surface ink, allowing one to see covered ink marks, altered text, blurred seals, covered colophons, etc., and even the bottom-most line draft (base drawing outlines).

With these two tests, it can be fully guaranteed that the Calligraphy and Painting have no issues such as alterations, repairs, splicing, re-mounting, or artificial aging.

Besides these, there is the most critical one: the "Microscopic Texture Comparison of Ancient Calligraphy and Painting" from the Yachang Testing Center.

This test can not only detect paper fibers but also compare microscopic images of handwriting, ink diffusion patterns, ink layer particles, pigment particles, and seal paste particles.

To put it bluntly: whether the writing on this was written by this author, and whether the painting on this was painted by this author, can be compared in Yachang's massive Database in half a day.

Looking at the five inspection reports, the group of guests felt at ease: at least it could be fully proven that these twenty-four album leaves and these six volumes of Medical Book were indeed works of Fu Shan, Fu Qingzhu, from the late Ming and early Qing periods.

At least there was no need to worry about being cheated; the rest was merely a question of whether the bid would be high or low.

At the same time, they were filled with emotion: one doesn't dare go up to Mount Liang without real skills.

They had attended hundreds, if not thousands, of auctions, and which one wasn't a major international or domestic firm, but which one dared to be like Lin Sicheng, bringing out a full set of machine inspection reports?

It's not that they don't exist, but you might not see one in ten thousand auction items.

If you were to ask for the reason, he would give you ten thousand excuses: technical limitations, industry rule restrictions, costs being too high, the consignor not agreeing, and so on and so forth.

The most legitimate one, and also the one with the highest acceptance, is: machine testing will indeed cause a certain degree of damage to Cultural Relics.

However, the damage is so minuscule that it can be completely ignored: take a painting, for example; even if sampled, it only involves taking three or four needle-sized holes. Without damaging the painting core, without damaging the later colophons and collection seals, and only sampling from the edges, what kind of loss could it cause to the painting?

It is nothing more than a lack of confidence, or even worse, knowingly selling fakes.

If everyone could be like Lin Sicheng, tossing out a few machine inspection reports from authoritative institutions when putting items up for auction, would there still be any worry about things not selling?

While sighing with emotion, the time arrived, and the guests returned to their respective seats, waiting for the auction to begin.

Lin Sicheng said straightforwardly: "Everyone, regarding the authenticity of these items, I assume there are no objections, so I won't waste time: the paintings and the Medical Book are originally a set, starting price eight million!"

As soon as his voice fell, the room suddenly went quiet for a moment, and many people had the same expression: surprise, suspicion, as if they had misheard?

It seemed as if everyone was asking: Lin Sicheng, how much did you say?

They had thought the price of these two items would not be low, but they did not expect the starting price to be this high?

A rough calculation: it was almost more than double their psychological expectations.

First, let's talk about Fu Shan's calligraphy: this category is also the mainstream work of Fu Shan that appears at major auctions, with high ones at three or four million, low ones at three or four hundred thousand, and even some at over one hundred thousand.

Among them are a few imitations, a few ghostwritten pieces, and a few "laundered" goods, but these we shall set aside for now. Let's only talk about the few pieces that have been appraised by authoritative Experts, consigned by well-known collectors, successfully bid on by well-known collectors, and confirmed to be authentic works by Fu Shan:

2006 BJ Hanhai Autumn Auction, Fu Shan's Cursive Script Seven-Character Poem Hanging Scroll, sold for 2.6 million.

2008 BJ Kuangshi Spring Auction, eight volumes of Calligraphy Album from the Zhang Xueliang collection, sold for 4.3 million.

And last month, again at the BJ Kuangshi Spring Auction, the Seven-Character Poem Hanging Scroll with a title slip by Naito Konan of Japan, sold for 4.2 million.

These three pieces can be considered the three Fu Shan works with the highest transaction prices in history. Taking the one with the most similar format and category for comparison: the eight volumes of Calligraphy Album from the Zhang Xueliang collection: they contain regular, running, and cursive scripts, which are complete artistic works of calligraphy.

Whereas the six volumes of the Medical Book on the table can only be classified as ancient literature, and by comparison, the price can only reach one to three tenths of a calligraphy work of the same length

and by the same author.

The Zhang Xueliang collection of eight volumes sold for four million, averaging five hundred thousand per volume, so these six volumes of the Medical Book would be at most one hundred fifty thousand each, totaling at most nine hundred thousand for the six.

Even with the historical bonus, the heavy narrative, and the added value bestowed by the era's chapters and national spirit, even if it could trigger a sensation, it is not without a limit: even if I double it for you, that is the absolute ceiling.

Nine hundred thousand multiplied by two is one point eight million; rounding it up, I'll give you a clean number: two million.

Then let's talk about the paintings: Fu Shan's paintings are indeed rare, but they are only rare, not non-existent.

Every year or two, small pieces like Fu Shan's "Bamboo and Stone Painting" or "Ink Bamboo" appear at auction, with prices mostly between three hundred thousand and five hundred thousand.

The highest was in 2006, China Guardian's twelve-panel "Return to the Fields," which sold for 3.35 million.

But those were large panels, six square feet each, so twelve panels would be seventy-two square feet.

The "Twenty-Four Hidden Strongholds Album" is a small album, each page twenty-four centimeters by sixteen centimeters, one opening has two pages, and twenty-four openings make forty-eight pages, which calculates to just fifteen square feet, roughly one-fifth of the twelve panels.

Based on area alone, the price of this album should be around six hundred thousand. Including the historical bonus, doubling it again, one point two million is the absolute ceiling.

Therefore, the psychological price point most guests had set for these two items was around three million.

Even if someone got hot-headed and raised the price for a couple of rounds, it wouldn't go higher than four million.

Lin Sicheng, on the other hand, set the starting price at eight million; how are we supposed to bid?

A group of people looked at each other in dismay, and then, complaints arose from all sides.

"The starting price is too high; this is the first time I've seen a starting price exceed the valuation, and by more than double at that?"

"That's not right; General Manager Lin didn't set a base price or valuation."

"Fine, then let me ask you: is eight million high or not?"

"Nonsense, of course it's high!"

"Could it be that General Manager Lin wants to 'launder' it?"

"It's possible, otherwise he wouldn't have invited such a big shot!"

The "big shot" in this person's mouth naturally refers to Zhang Zongxian. Even if Zhang Zongxian didn't come today, with the influence of Sheng Guoan and Tian Rulong in the collection and appraisal circles, as long as they raise their paddle once, it counts as setting the price for this item.

Thinking about it this way, the possibility of this item being used for "laundering" is actually quite high.

These were the ordinary guests; the circle of non-ordinary ones didn't even make a sound.

After a long while, Sun Yan sighed: "It'll probably fail to sell, right?"

Zheng Shanghui nodded without hesitation: "Nine times out of ten."

The remaining one or two tenths is the space left for Lin Sicheng to "launder" it.

As if by prior agreement, several Persons in Charge slowly leaned back in their chairs, their faces showing lazy expressions.

This clearly meant they would not be bidding.

But in reality, these people were all using the corners of their eyes to secretly observe the expressions of their peers: it would be best if no one bid, so I can pick up a bargain—

Looking again at Zhang Zongxian and Sheng Guoan in the front, the two were whispering to each other, and it seemed they had no intention of raising their paddles either.

Suddenly, the discussion in the room quieted down a lot:

Since the few parties with the most strength and the most intention to bid had no interest, why should we join in the fun?

At first glance, it was contradictory: the interest was so high before, but after the auction started, they suddenly lost all momentum?

In fact, it was not contradictory at all: no matter how high the interest is, everyone has their own account in their heart.

How much money to bid to make a profit, how much to bid to break even, how much over the limit is acceptable, whether one can take a gamble, and whether it will suddenly appreciate if held for a year or two.

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