12dz Chapter 506 Luoyang Xie Family Restaurant
Chapter 506 Luoyang Xie Family Restaurant
Wang Meng never expected that the middlemen could make so much money from the price difference, from two thousand to five hundred. I'm afraid that when it comes to Hu Dadao's younger brothers, they would probably only be lucky enough to get one dollar each!
"Ma Longtu, I can't understand why you don't do it yourself? After all, you are a professional. You have been in the antique industry for so many years. You must know some stonemasons, right? Why do you have to hand this job over to Hu Dadao? He is a reckless man."
When Ma Longtu said this, he seemed to regard Wang Meng as a close friend. He sighed and started to complain.
"Who said it wasn't? I wanted to do it myself at the beginning. Although the Nationalist government issued a decree prohibiting the excavation of Buddha statues, who is in charge?"
Ma Longtu originally contacted three stonemasons, Wang Guangxi, Wang Shui and Wang Huicheng, from Yanggou Village in Yanshi County, and prepared to work on his own.
Later, while they were chiseling, Hu Dadao suddenly showed up. In his capacity as the head of the security team, he arrested the stonemasons and wanted to punish them for destroying cultural relics.
In the end, Ma Longtu was forced to reach an agreement with Hu Dadao.
Ma Longtu outsourced the work of carving Buddha heads, murals and stele carvings to Hu Dadao.
Hu Dadao used armed and violent means to destroy cultural relics.
It's no wonder that with the addition of Hu Dadao, the excavation speed has indeed increased, and no one dares to stop it, after all, he has hundreds of guns in his hands.
"Hey, Ma Longtu, who's your boss?"
Ma Longtu looked at Wang Meng warily. Although this was his business secret, he was now at the mercy of others and it seemed that he had no other choice.
"Good man, since we are planning to cooperate, I will be frank with you. The buyers who contact me are not fixed, but I have only a few regular customers. The one who wants to buy the mural this time is Yue Bin, an antique dealer from Peking!"
There is quite a story to tell about Yue Bin.
Yue Bin is now a big antique dealer in Beijing Liulichang.
In 1910, 14-year-old Yue Bin left Zhangjiawan, Tongzhou, and became an apprentice to Zhu Er, who sold second-hand goods in the ghost market. Twenty years later, he had become a famous antique dealer in Liulichang.
Yue Bin can be said to be a mythical figure. There is a saying that goes, if Yue Bin stamps his feet in Liulichang, all the shops will collapse!
In 1914, Yue Bin moved to Xinglongdian in Gouweiba Hutong and started his own baggage business.
Yue Bin is sweet-talker and good at dealing with people, and is deeply loved by Bai Ruizhai, the owner of Ruiji Antique Shop in Xinglongdian.
So, Bai Ruizhai began to teach Yue Bin the tricks of doing business with foreigners.
Over time, the M people love to buy bronzes and Jun kiln porcelain; the French love to buy lacquerware and cloisonné; the Japanese love to buy ancient jade and Longquan porcelain; the British and Germans want things with high archaeological value... Yue Bin knows all of these clearly.
There is no shortcut to success. Yue Bin relied on his own expertise, his independent background and his courage to gradually start selling cultural relics.
Around 1930, a man from the M country often visited Yue Bin. They all called him "Master Bu". He was Pu Ailun.
This Pu Ailun is the director of the Far East Department of the New York Museum of the United States. He was originally a researcher, but later he saw that countless antique dealers made a fortune by smuggling cultural relics, so he began to think about smuggling and also set his sights on the Longmen Grottoes.
So, just a month ago, Pu Ailun found Yue Bin and offered to pay ten thousand dollars to buy the painting of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty worshiping Buddha.
Yue Bin bargained and finally sold it for 14,000 yuan.
Yue Bin found a local antique dealer in Luoyang named Ma Longtu to cooperate with him. Ma Longtu contacted his partner Hu Dadao and prepared to start the work of carving the picture of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty worshiping Buddha.
On the first day of the action, he was caught red-handed by Wang Meng.
"When can I arrange to meet Yue Bin?"
"What a coincidence! I told him a few days ago that he would come over to take a look after the action yesterday! Considering the time, he should be here in the evening!"
Wang Meng smiled and said, “No trade, no harm.”
I'm afraid that only by killing Yue Bin and then sending a message to Pu Ailun can we stop them from stealing the Buddha head mural.
"Then could you please help me arrange a meeting, Boss Ma?"
Ma Longtu was a little hesitant. Although he had already told Wang Meng about the people upstream, this industry had its own rules and the people from both ends could not meet directly.
"My good man, this is inappropriate, isn't it? For the safety of both parties, the rules of the industry do not allow us to meet."
"What's wrong with that? I have thousands of guns in my hands, who am I afraid of? Even if you, Jiang Dingwen, come, I'm afraid you'll have to make me a major general!"
Ma Longtu looked at Wang Meng with saliva flying everywhere and secretly exclaimed that this kid was either really capable or he was a lunatic.
But no matter which side he occupied, he, a local antique dealer in Luoyang, was really no match for him.
"Okay, but we should keep a low profile and try not to annoy Yue Bin. If we really annoy him, I'm afraid no one in China will dare to accept our goods!"
"I know, I know. When will Yue Bin arrive? Where shall we meet?"
"Luoyang Xie's Restaurant! Specializes in Henan cuisine!"
"Okay, let's go meet him!"
After Wang Meng finished speaking, he waved to Monk Wei.
"Monk, we're treating you today, but you can't be like Li Yunlong and eat without manners!"
"Hehe, that's great, I'll go fix it up!"
Monk Wei put on his long gown again, took six soldiers with him, and hid both pistols under his gown.
Including Wang Meng and Ma Longtu, there were nine people in total, heading towards Luoyang City.
It was already twelve o'clock noon when they entered Luoyang City. They went straight to Xie's Restaurant and went up to the private room on the second floor.
Ma Longtu asked for two private rooms. He took Wang Meng and the monk into the room on the left, and the other six soldiers went to the room on the right.
"Well, serve all the signature dishes, such as the Yellow River carp and the big pork elbow!"
"Okay, Master Ma, do you want to serve this master a vegetarian meal?"
Wang Meng laughed when he heard this. Even if Monk Wei wore a long gown, as long as he took off his hat and exposed the scars on his head, he would still be mistaken for a monk.
Monk Wei's face turned green and he was furious.
"I used to be a monk, but I'm not one now. Give me another serving of pork elbow!"
The waiter quickly slapped himself lightly on the face and went to prepare the food.
"Well, the private room next door also served the same dishes, so put it on Boss Ma's head!"
"Got it!"
In less than twenty minutes, most of the dishes were served. If there were no pre-prepared dishes in that era, Wang Meng would have suspected that these things were not freshly made.
Monk Wei held his big pork elbow in his hands and ate it with his mouth full of oil.
"Hey, hey, hey, pay attention to your identity! Didn't I tell you not to learn from that guy before I came here?"
"Hey, it's better to be busy after eating!"