Chapter 616: The Shit-Stirring Stick

Lin Sicheng finally understood: why Zhang Zongxian, who had already become a living totem, didn't know, but Sheng Guoan, several fund Persons in Charge, and Huang Zhi did.

Because this was an entry by a cross-industry buyer; he had nothing to do with collectors, nor did he know such people.

But coal bosses have plenty of money, and when they have more money than they know what to do with, there are only a few safe ways to invest: bank deposits, making movies, or buying funds.

Of course, it also requires pulling strings; after learning of General Manager Huang's identity, it was not strange for them to entrust him and ask him to keep an eye out.

So, is that how Fu Shan's works were hyped up?

Lin Sicheng pondered for a moment and looked at Sheng Guoan: "Qu Benqiao, Qu Renfu?"

Sheng Guoan didn't speak, he just nodded.

Zhang Zongxian's eyes lit up with a "whoosh."

Previously, Sheng Guoan had told him that Lin Sicheng was well-read and had a photographic memory; there were few allusions related to antiques and collections that he didn't know.

But Zhang Zongxian didn't quite believe it: no matter how good Lin Sicheng's memory was, his age was right there; could he really keep all the knowledge of Cultural Relics and

historical allusions in his head?

But now he believed it a little: that General Manager Huang had only mentioned "Qixian Qu Clan," and Lin Sicheng had figured out all the connections in less than three minutes.

Qu Benqiao was originally named Benqiao, a fifteenth-generation descendant of the Qixian Qu Clan, and an industrialist in the late Qing and early Republic of China. His father, Qu Yuan, was a capitalist in the Shanxi draft bank industry, founding the Sanjinyuan and Baiquantong draft banks.

In Qixian at that time, the Qu Clan's residential scale occupied the eastern half of the city, and people called them "Qu Half-City." The Qiao Clan lived outside the city, and people called them "Qiao Family Fort."

Both families operated draft banks, but the Qu Clan placed more importance on industry; in terms of strength, politics, ethnicity, and historical influence, the Qu Clan was higher.

Unofficial history claims that in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the Qu Clan established cargo depots in Shangdang specifically to smuggle salt and grain for the anti-Qing righteous armies of the three Jin regions.

Whether it's true or not is unknown, but if one analyzes historical materials, the Qu Clan had always been in contact with Fu Shan's descendants. Even after the Fu family declined, they received no shortage of relief from the Qu Clan.

This continued until Qu Benqiao's generation.

In 1909, he served as the supervisor of the Shanxi University Hall, promoting the merger of Western and Chinese learning. After the Xinhai Revolution, when Yuan Shikai declared himself emperor, Qu Benqiao refused the post of Shanxi Pacification Commissioner and lived in seclusion in Tianjin. He devoted himself to collecting and writing, on one hand collecting rare ancient books and calligraphy and painting by famous masters, and on the other hand collecting documents, organizing, printing, and distributing them.

It is unknown what exactly he collected, but in the early years of the Republic of China, he purchased the old collection of the Dai family's Danfeng Pavilion and the silk-bound volume of "Record of Danfeng Pavilion" from the descendants of Dai Tingshi (a close friend of Fu Shan).

This is Fu Shan's premier masterpiece. And Danfeng Pavilion was the very study where Fu Shan, Gu Yanwu, and other Great Confucians discussed classics. Many works by Great Confucians, as well as the classics they needed to consult or their leisurely elegant writings, were all collected here. It contained a large number of rubbings, calligraphy and painting, and ancient bronze vessels, with a collection of books totaling over ten thousand volumes.

Likewise, this was also a secret base for anti-Qing patriots and Ming Dynasty loyalists.

In the fifth year of the Republic of China (1916), when Qu Benqiao printed "Banke Collection Backup" (Dai Tingshi's collected works) at the request of the Dai descendants, he even wrote a preface at the beginning of the volume: "Visiting and seeking the master's lost works, I begged the Dai descendants for the master's portrait and the 'Record of Danfeng Pavilion' he wrote; the record is also Qiaohuang's writing—"

The "Qiaohuang" here is one of Fu Shan's self-styled names, and also one of his aliases during his travels in the Taihang Mountains. Qu Benqiao did not say "purchase," nor did he say "seek," but rather "begged," which shows his respect for Fu Shan?

Following this deduction, this volume and these six Medical Books might really be Qu Benqiao's old collection.

Qu Renfu was Qu Benqiao's nephew; after Qu Benqiao passed away, he took over the Danfeng Pavilion old collection passed down by Qu Benqiao: he also operated the "Shuye Cheng" ancient book and calligraphy/painting shop in Taiyuan.

After the founding of the People's Republic, Qu Renfu built a large number of schools and libraries, and in 1955, he donated all of the more than one hundred thousand rare and ancient books collected by "Shuye Cheng" to the state. And among these, more than half were allocated to the Forbidden City.

If the buyer seeking to purchase the Qu Clan's old collection was a descendant of the Qu Clan, then finding Sheng Guoan was the most appropriate choice: Director Sheng was the former Person in Charge of the Exhibition Department and also the Person in Charge of the Calligraphy and Painting Hall; he knew better than anyone how many of the books and calligraphy/paintings donated by the Qu Clan remained today, and which ones had already flowed out.

As for the several fund managers: the several funds were all art funds; if works by famous masters appeared in the collection and auction circles, they would know about it the first moment.

Since the buyer entrusted them, they would certainly be told in detail which ones might be the Qu Clan's old collection and which ones were not. They might even be given a list of the Qu Clan's old collection directly.

Lin Sicheng finally understood: why did the price of Fu Shan's works suddenly rise several times, even ten times over?

Because a cross-industry buyer had appeared, and their strength was strong enough.

More importantly, their purpose was not simple investment, nor simple collection, but buying back the family's old collection.

It's even possible that the buyer was not one person, but an entire family—

Lin Sicheng looked at the volume at hand, then looked at the six Medical Books: no wonder General Manager Huang suddenly raised his paddle, and those fund Persons in Charge all had expressions like they were constipated?

Just when they were about to pick up a bargain, they were suddenly intercepted; who wouldn't be in pain?

From this, one can infer: inadvertently, one seems to have told an extremely wonderful story with a perfectly closed logic.

So there is no need to hold onto them for another year or two; these two sets of items can now sell for tens of millions—

The expressions of the several fund Persons in Charge were like they had swallowed a fly; they couldn't be more uncomfortable.

Pick up a bargain, what kind of bargain is there to pick up?

They never thought that those several General Managers Qu had entrusted so many people, and they all thought General Manager Qu had only told them.

But now, not only did General Manager Huang know, but Director Sheng from the Forbidden City also knew, and even the peers beside them knew even more clearly.

Could they not bid?

For them, these two items were no longer just a matter of how much collection value they had, but a matter of whether they could maintain their big clients and whether they could cooperate for a long time.

If operated well, it wouldn't just be the several General Managers Qu who were happy, but the entire Shanxi Xie. By then, the increase in fund sales volume would be more than just hundreds of millions? If these nouveau riche revealed even a little bit from between their fingers, it would be hundreds of millions or billions.

And the higher the sales volume, the higher the fund's appreciation, and the more people would buy. What's more, these two items were already very valuable—

Huang Zhi had his eyes on this point, which is why he stuck his oar in.

Do you think he really wanted to bid on this item? Wrong, it was only the several General Managers Qu who had to curry favor with him, not him returning favors to the Qu Clan.

He just wanted to let Lin Sicheng know that your item is very valuable. At the same time, he helped Lin Sicheng raise the price, and by the way, fanned the flames for the several fund Persons in Charge:

You brothers have all thought it through; once this village is passed, this shop will be gone. Big clients like General Manager Qu are not something you see every year—

Thinking of this, the few looked at each other, but as their gazes crossed, they all sighed in unison: they were all in this business, who wouldn't want as many clients in their hands as possible?

They knew clearly that General Manager Huang was fanning the flames, but they had no choice but to take the bait.

There was no other way; things had come to this, they could only compete with strength.

Sun Yan nodded slightly, Liu Taiqi understood in a second, and his hand was raised immediately: "Eleven million!"

A million increase just like that?

If it were a normal auction, items over ten million would mostly increase according to the "2, 5, 8, 0" bidding rule, which would mean raising the paddle four times to add one million.

Only a very small number of popular items would increase by five hundred thousand at a time.

But this was not a normal auction, these two items were not normal auction lots, and the people who really wanted to bid on these two items were not normal collectors.

So, the moment Liu Taiqi's hand was put down, before Lin Sicheng could even call the price, Zheng Shanghui's secretary raised his hand: "—

Twelve million."

Jiang Cheng sighed, signaled, and his deputy raised a hand: "Thirteen million."

Liu Taiqi was not to be outdone and directly added two million: "Fifteen million!"

General Manager Zheng's secretary followed closely behind: "Sixteen million!"

It was Liu Taiqi again: "Eighteen million!"

Jiang Cheng's deputy's voice was like a booming bell: "Twenty million!"

The sound was extremely loud, making the eardrums of the people nearby itch, and even more so, it made the eyelids of the guests in the venue twitch: what was the highest valuation for these two items before? Only 1.5 million.

And in less than a minute, it had reached twenty million—

For a moment, it was as if a mute button had been pressed; the venue was extremely quiet.

Suddenly, with a "boom," the sound waves converged as if to flip the roof.

Several private equity funds hadn't even had time to make a move; just Fujian Province, Taikang, and Poly Investment—these three alone had pushed the price to a figure that was hard to comprehend.

Get this straight, this is twenty million, not two thousand.

The other guests were just surprised by the speed and the height of the price increases, but the several Persons in Charge of the funds had their eyelids twitching.

Because twenty million was a threshold: even if the several General Managers were sparing no expense, even if these two items had a very high narrative quality, and even if they wanted to earn favors, the price of twenty million was already hitting the ceiling.

According to Sun Yan's estimation, for these two items, General Manager Qu could at most give this much. If the bidding went any lower, they would only be paying out of pocket.

It might even be that they couldn't give that much. If they were more conservative, it might only be around fifteen million, which meant Poly Investment had already lost five million.

Jiang Cheng naturally knew this too, and he frowned tightly: "Everyone, let's not kill each other. I'm asking for a favor, could you please hold back? I'll return the favor later!"

Sun Yan and Zheng Shanghui looked at each other, and neither spoke.

In the field of art funds, Fujian Province was the pioneer and also the first to eat the crab. At the time, there were many people waiting to see a joke, but the result was unexpectedly good.

Last year's Fund No. 1 had a final return exceeding twice the expectation, and this year's Fund No. 2 had just been released to the market and was sold out instantly. They were bidding on this item just to prepare for next year's Fund No. 3.

To put it bluntly, it wasn't hard to sell anyway; having a few more big clients was at most just icing on the cake.

But then again: Fujian Province sold art funds, but didn't Taikang and Poly sell art funds too?

Not holding such capable business groups in one's own hands, but letting them run to the opponent, was equivalent to aiding the enemy.

This was Sun Yan's thought, but Zheng Shanghui's thought was different: they were crossing the river by feeling the stones after Fujian Province, having already lost the first-mover advantage. If they were robbed of a piece of meat by Poly, who was in a hurry to enter the market, what would they have left to compete with Fujian Province?

If things went poorly, they wouldn't even be able to secure second place and would have to be third.

Therefore, his mindset was more urgent than Sun Yan's: it was best if he could bid for it, but if he couldn't, he had to try his best to let Fujian Province bid for it.

Just like that saying: when the boss and the second-in-command fight, get rid of the third-in-command first.

Seeing that these two didn't make a sound, Jiang Cheng understood: the three parties were opponents to begin with, so where was there any room for sentiment?

But Poly entered the market the latest; if they didn't make a splash with this first shot, let alone grabbing the market, whether they could even pick up some scraps was still a question.

He sighed and raised his hand: "Thirty million!"

At this, even the deputy was stunned: Wait—General Manager Jiang, I was the one who called the price just now?

You just said not to kill each other, but in the blink of an eye, you stabbed yourself in the thigh?

Sun Yan and Zheng Shanghui were both shocked: Old Jiang, are you not going to live anymore?

Even if you are in a hurry to grab the market, you can't tear down the house to sell the bricks?

Your total fundraising amount for the initial investment plan is only three hundred million; even if the annualized return is calculated on the high side at twenty percent, the annual profit is only sixty million.

And this one item alone would account for ten percent of the capital. The key is that thirty million will definitely result in a loss, even a conservative estimate would be around ten million.

Does that mean your fund has already lost twenty percent of its annual profit before it has even been launched to the market?

Seeing what they were thinking, Jiang Cheng smiled: "It's fine, at worst I'll lose money to gain publicity; at least the fame will be out there!"

Sun Yan and Zheng Shanghui were left speechless.

To be precise: at least, he had made a connection with the Shanxi Xie clan and established a friendship. If he didn't make money the first time, wouldn't it be the same if he earned it back the second or third time?

If one thought this way, half-buying and half-giving, it wouldn't matter if he lost a bit more.

Sun Yan sighed: Fujian Province would definitely not use this method. Because their funds were not hard to sell, there was no need to fight the third-in-command to a mutual destruction, only to let the second-in-command pick up the bargain.

Moreover, the budget approved by the board of directors was not enough: only around twenty million.

Jiang Cheng had raised it directly to thirty million, so he wouldn't even consider it anymore.

That left Zheng Shanghui, who was momentarily dumbfounded, his expression both conflicted and pained: his budget was indeed higher, at thirty million.

However, Jiang Cheng had clearly set the stance that if you follow, I will fight to the end.

This was damaging oneself by a thousand to hurt the enemy by eight hundred—

But no matter how conflicted he was, he had to try: what if Old Jiang was at the end of his rope and was just bluffing?

Zheng Shanghui turned the thought over and raised his hand: "Thirty-one million—"

Before the words fell, Jiang Cheng's voice rang out: "Thirty-three million!"

Zheng Shanghui gritted his teeth: What's the point of bidding anymore?

If he followed his previous thought, it was fine if he couldn't bid for it, but it would be best if Sun Yan got it. But it was clear that Sun Yan didn't want to lose money to gain publicity.

Then take a step back: at least he had to raise the price a few times to make Old Jiang bleed heavily.

The goal was indeed achieved, but why did he feel so uncomfortable inside?

He sighed: "General Manager Jiang, you win!"

Jiang Cheng was expressionless: "General Manager Zheng, you concede!"

But inside, he was gritting his teeth: Zheng, you just wait for me!

He knew that Zheng Shanghui's bottom price was thirty million, but this son of a bitch had stubbornly raised it once, forcing him to shell out an extra three million.

Banks were big players; for an auction item of several tens of millions, three million wasn't a very high premium.

What he didn't understand was Zheng Shanghui's approach: isn't this motherfucker just a troublemaker?