Seven hundred and eighty-fifth - seven hundred and eighty-six chapters prodigal
Chapter 785-786 The Prodigal Son
"Oh? Tell me..."
Zhuang Rui is full of curiosity about this Mr. Xu. The antique Tang Sancai with the word "Xu" is the only antique fake that Zhuang Rui can't find fault with. If it weren't for the word inside, Zhuang Rui wouldn't dare to rashly copy it.
It has been broken, and its authenticity can only be determined by carbon 14 detection.
"Mr. Zhuang, you would never have imagined that this guy named Xu is a prodigal..."
Li Dali smiled and continued: "Mr. Zhuang, the person you are looking for is called Xu Guoqing. He is forty years old this year. His ancestral home is Ci County, Handan, Hebei Province. In the mid-1960s, the newly born Xu Guoqing
Followed his parents to settle in Gaoyi County, Shijiazhuang...
In the 1980s, our country began to encourage private entrepreneurship. Xu Guoqing's father was skilled in firing ceramics, so he opened a ceramics factory. By the end of the 1980s, it had become a well-known multi-million dollar enterprise in Shijiazhuang.
household……
Xu Guoqing's father passed away due to illness in 1990, and the factory was handed over to Xu Guoqing.
It's just that this person didn't do anything serious. He didn't go out to run business, and he didn't care about the production in the factory. As soon as he took over the factory, he built a research institute where he played with ancient porcelain all day long.
Ordinarily, there is nothing wrong with studying ancient porcelain, but Xu Guoqing is different. He actually smashed several Tang Sancai objects that he bought for a lot of money from abroad. Many people knew about this, and it became a joke.
In the 1980s, there were relatively few private companies, and Xu Guoqing's factory had no one to compete with him, so the business was very good. However, this person did not know how to maintain relationships. After the 1990s, various private factories emerged one after another. His ceramics factory was very popular.
It will be eliminated soon...
No, in just over ten years, Xu Guoqing has almost ruined his family business, and the factory is in name only. Mr. Zhuang, do you think this person is a prodigal?"
"Haha, this guy is a bit interesting..."
Zhuang Rui smiled and shook his head. From the Tang Sancai porcelain fired by Xu Guoqing, Zhuang Rui could see his superb skills and understand why he broke the genuine Sancai porcelain. However, Li Dali did not describe it.
Wrong, this man is really an out-and-out prodigal.
You know, in the 1980s, if you could have a net worth of tens of millions, it would be a great thing, much higher than the wealth of billionaires today.
The current richest man in Taiwan, Boss Guo, who is said to have a net worth of tens of billions, was only worth a million in the late 1980s and had less than 100 employees.
If Xu Guoqing had a little bit of business acumen, not to mention becoming a billionaire now, he could at least occupy a place in the ceramics industry. Li Dali's evaluation of him as a "prodigal son" was absolutely correct.
However, this person also made Zhuang Rui more curious. He left tens of millions of dollars in business alone and specialized in making fake Tang Sancai. Zhuang Rui also couldn't figure out what this person was planning. He said he was making counterfeit goods.
If you sell fakes, you won't lose money and the factory will close down, right?
"By the way, Mr. Zhuang, I originally asked this guy to go to *** to meet you, but he was preparing to sell the factory and couldn't leave for a while, so I asked you to make this trip..."
Li Dali suddenly remembered this matter and quickly explained it to Zhuang Rui. Xu Guoqing was in Mr. Li's heart, but not even Zhuang Rui's little finger. Logically speaking, he did not call him to the *** to see Zhuang Rui.
Rui, I have already failed to handle this matter myself.
Zhuang Rui smiled and waved his hand and said: "It doesn't matter, it's not far anyway, so you might as well go there and have a look..."
Zhuang Rui also wanted to see what kind of environment Master Xu was able to imitate Tang Sancai utensils that even many experts could not see the flaws in?
You must know that to imitate ancient ceramics, not only the firing process must be completely based on the ancient ceramics process, but also the ancient firing formula must be used, including the materials used and the temperature and heat during firing. Sometimes,
One more degree or one less degree will make a kiln of porcelain useless.
For example, in ancient famous kiln sites unearthed in modern times, a large number of broken ceramics are often unearthed. Those things are not meant to be intact porcelain that has been broken after so many years, but that they were broken by the kiln workers after they were fired.
of.
In ancient times, the ceramic utensils fired for the royal family were extremely delicate. If there were any flaws, they would have to be broken and discarded. Sometimes more than ten kilns may not be able to produce a fine product, so the fragments all over the site are made of
Came from this.
The Tang Dynasty has been more than 1,000 years ago, and the secret recipe for making Tang Sancai has long been lost in the long river of history. What Zhuang Rui is wondering is, how did Xu Guoqing restore this craft?
Shijiazhuang City is located in the hinterland of the North China Plain. It is the third core city in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan area, an important central city for the pharmaceutical and textile industries in the country, one of the important modern service industry and bio-industry bases, and an important commercial port in North China.
After more than three hours of high-speed driving, Zhuang Rui and others arrived at the boundary of Shijiazhuang, but it was still more than fifty kilometers away from Gaoyi County. Li Dali originally wanted to entertain Zhuang Rui in Shijiazhuang, but Zhuang Rui was
He refused and drove directly to Gaoyi.
At almost 12 noon, two cars drove out of the Beijing-Shenzhen Expressway. At the intersection of the expressway, there was a car waiting there. Li Dali greeted Peng Fei and motioned for him to stop.
"Lao Yu, you didn't handle things properly this time..."
After Li Dali got out of the car, he hit a middle-aged man who got out of the car on the shoulder hard.
The man took a punch from Li Dali with a grimace, frowned and said: "Hey, Boss Li, I am also entrusted by a friend. I really have no choice. Come on, you are here today. I will be the host. Let's go first."
Let's go have a meal and talk about anything in the afternoon..."
"Well, we have an honored guest today, Lao Yu. Let's forget about that, but if we don't treat this guest well, our friendship of more than ten years will be gone..."
Li Dali himself was a fisherman, and the black market auctions he ran were never seen on the public stage. He was accustomed to this matter, and did not blame Lao Yu for asking him to help sell counterfeit goods.
"Hey, Mr. Li, Brother Li, just keep it in your heart. If you come to my place, you won't be able to leave if you don't drink well. Let me tell you, I have arranged for several young girls to drink with you later.
Yes, you can do whatever you want..." When Old Yu saw that Li Dali was not angry, he suddenly laughed, but his expression looked very lewd.
Lao Yu has known Li Dali for more than ten years and knows that he likes this style. Yesterday, he contacted several nightclubs and found a few good girls to come and prepare to serve Mr. Li comfortably today.
"What?"
When Li Dali heard this, he was so frightened that he almost jumped up. He quickly lowered his voice and said, "Hurry up and call to cancel. Don't do these things..."
Li Dali went to *** City, especially after spending a few days in clubs on the outskirts of Beijing, he no longer looked down upon the rouge fans in these small places.
According to Mr. Li's idea, based on Zhuang Rui's performance in the club, shouldn't he just play whichever star he wants to play?
"No more? I gave you all the money..."
When Lao Yu heard Li Dali's words, he was stunned for a moment. This old guy usually likes this the most. When the big city was severely cracked down, he often came here to have fun. Why is it so abnormal today?
Besides, Lao Yu called eight ladies today, and each of them paid 1,000 yuan. It would be a pity not to do that.
"The person sitting in the car is playing with big stars. If you don't like these, don't be self-defeating. Well, I won't leave tonight. Let's make arrangements for the evening..."
Mr. Li was not a good person either. After hearing what Lao Yu said, he immediately changed his mind and arranged the important work of accompanying the lady to the evening.
"Okay, let's drive and lead the way. Let those ladies evacuate. Remember, don't try to persuade him to drink later. That person is not on the same level as us..." Li Dali emphasized a few more words to Lao Yu.
You know, when friends come to the north to have dinner, it is impossible not to drink, and you will definitely drink too much. If you don't get drunk, you won't be hospitable. Li Dali is afraid that Lao Yu will turn around and talk carelessly, which will make Zhuang Rui angry.
"I understand, Mr. Li, don't worry..."
When Lao Yu saw Li Dali explaining the importance of the people in the car in a few words, he couldn't help but become more serious. He glanced at Zhuang Rui's Audi and saw that Zhuang Rui didn't get out of the car to say hello.
I mean, I turned around and got into my car.
After Li Dali returned to Zhuang Rui's car, he said: "Mr. Zhuang, Xu Guoqing's factory is not far from the county seat. Let's go have dinner first. It's already dinner time..."
"Okay, Mr. Li, please make arrangements. Just meet Xu Guoqing in the afternoon..."
Zhuang Rui nodded and agreed. He drank some porridge in the morning and was a little hungry now. After several cars drove into Gaoyi County, they stopped in front of a restaurant that seemed to be quite high-end.
"Lao Yu, this is Mr. Zhuang from ***. Mr. Zhuang, this is my old friend Yu Zhengjun. The goods this time came from his hands..."
After getting off the car, Li Dali introduced the two of them to each other. Yu Zhengjun was also a very discerning person. After a few polite words with Zhuang Rui, he led them to a private room in the hotel.
"Mr. Zhuang, these are our Hebei specialties, Shijiazhuang braised chicken, Majia Lao Chicken Braised Chicken, Bohai prawns, Qinhuangdao sea crabs, steam pot game eight immortals, come on, Mr. Zhuang, how do you like it?"
Yu Zhengjun had already ordered the food. Originally there should have been a few ladies at the table to add to the fun, but now they have all withdrawn. Old Yu remembered Li Dali's words and did not dare to persuade them to drink.
The dishes on the table are all good, especially the steam-pot game with eight immortals. When you lift the lid of the steam-pot, the room is filled with a fragrant aroma that makes everyone in the room salivate.
"This dish is good, Boss Yu is very interested..."
Zhuang Rui didn't know about the dirty things between Lao Yu and Li Dali, so he picked up the game Eight Immortals with his chopsticks and immediately ate it with praise.
"Haha, Boss Zhuang, eat more. This shop is called Baxian Guan. It is a time-honored restaurant. The main raw materials of this dish are roe deer meat, pheasant breast, mountain rabbit, ground sheep, Shafeng chicken, winter bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and green peppers.
, these ingredients are steamed in a steam pot. This dish is cooked by the boss himself..."
After hearing what Zhuang Rui said, Lao Yu quickly introduced the dishes on the table to Zhuang Rui. Apart from the fact that he didn't drink any wine, both the guests and the host enjoyed the meal.
After finishing the meal, Zhuang Rui got to know Xu Guoqing better. He knew that his boss was a neighbor of Xu Guoqing's family in the past. The two of them could be considered childhood friends.
The Xu family's prosperity in the 1980s led many local people to make a fortune. Although Xu Guoqing made a mess after taking over the factory, many people became rich, and some also worked in ceramics factories. Boss Yu was in the 1980s.
It started transporting in the 1900s and now has a sizable fleet.
As for collecting antiques, it is Boss Yu’s side job. Let’s start with Xu Guoqing.
Although Xu Guoqing's business was not very good, his relationship with Yu Zhengjun had always been good. In the early 1990s, Xu Guoqing would give away the ceramic objects he made to others.
Just like the army.
Yu Zhengjun initially drove his own car for transportation. He traveled to many places and made many friends. Once a customer from the south came to his home and saw the Tang Sancai displayed in the living room. He immediately looked at it.
Confused, Yu Zhengjun knew clearly whether this thing was worth anything, and immediately gave it to the customer.
It was from the mouth of this customer from the south that Boss Yu knew what antiques were. Later, when he drove out to other places, he kept his mind on it. Antiques were not so popular in the 1990s, and he actually got a lot of good stuff.
.
However, Yu Zhengjun had a more positive idea. Although he made money from antiques, he was still running the transportation business and established a transportation company. The scale of the business was expanding step by step. In this small county, it can be regarded as a big deal.
A successful person with a net worth of tens of millions.
After so many years, Yu Zhengjun also developed a bit of discernment, and later he met Li Dali. He gave Li Dali many real and fake objects from all over the country, and he was considered to be half a person in the antique circle.
After telling Zhuang Rui these things, Yu Zhengjun said seriously to Zhuang Rui: "Boss Zhuang, although my brother Xu is a bit dull, he is definitely not bad-minded. What happened this time is that I want to help him make some money."
, I made the decision, please don’t make it difficult for the Qing Dynasty..."
Zhuang Rui laughed when he heard this and waved his hands repeatedly: "Boss Yu, you have misunderstood. I came here just to get to know Mr. Xu. There is no other meaning. By the way, you said that Mr. Xu can't turn around his funds now?"
When Zhuang Rui mentioned this, Boss Yu's face suddenly showed a sad look, and he sighed and said: "Oh, he can't even call it a turnaround. The whole thing is completely depleted. The wife has gone back to her parents' home, and the children
I paid for all the money for college..."
"How could this happen? Doesn't Mr. Xu still have some wealth?"
Zhuang Rui was stunned for a moment, thinking that this master had already reached the end of his rope?
Yu Zhengjun sighed and said: "Old Xu doesn't know how to run a business. He was defrauded of more than three million yuan a few years ago. For three or four years, the factory had no output value. At that time, he still had to maintain it.
A bunch of people...
In addition, he often spends money to buy raw materials for making porcelain. He even sold the house that his father built. Now the workers have run away and he has moved to the factory by himself. I don’t understand.
Although the things are made authentically, they can’t be sold at a high price in China, so why does he insist on making this stuff?”
"Mr. Zhuang, don't forget that I am too old and dishonest. Qing Guo and I have known each other since we were kids. We have known each other since we were wearing crotchless pants. However, I can't help him with this matter. This is a bottomless pit, and I can't fill it.
hole……"
After hearing Yu Zhengjun's explanation, Zhuang Rui realized that the things made by Xu Guoqing were never sold. They were given to anyone who liked them. How much had been leaked out over the years?
But the cost of making this object is extremely high. Each one costs almost fifty to sixty thousand, not counting those that are ruined. He can't bear to sit back and have nothing, no matter how rich he is.
Xu Guoqing's wife used to support his hobby, but as her trouser pockets became deflated day by day, she refused to listen to Xu Guoqing's advice several times and simply ran back to her parents' home.
Now that Xu Guoqing's factory was almost unable to use electricity, he also came to his senses, so he sorted out dozens of fine ceramics that had been fired over the years and entrusted Yu Zhengjun to sell them.
Yu Zhengjun met a *** customer some time ago and took a fancy to Xu Guoqing's factory. However, Xu Guoqing was unwilling to sell it at all, and ended up breaking up on bad terms. It was precisely because of this incident that Xu Guoqing
Only then did Guo Qing take out dozens of works he had collected and gave them to Yu Zhengjun to sell.
However, Xu Guoqing's original intention was to sell these items as modern handicrafts. He did not expect that Yu Zhengjun changed hands and sold them to Li Dali. If they had not fallen into Zhuang Rui's hands, these items might have been sold there.
Auctioned on the black market.
…
"Mr. Zhuang, this is Lao Xu's factory. Now many people are eyeing this land..."
After dinner, a group of people, led by Yu Zhengjun, drove to Xu Guoqing's ceramics factory. His factory was not far from the county seat. After driving for about twenty minutes, you could see the factory wall.
It occupies a large area. It seems that Xu Guoqing's factory is really at the end of its rope. The lime and cement outside the wall have fallen off, revealing the red bricks from the 1980s inside. The roots of the wall are covered with weeds.
Grass, a scene of defeat.
Back then, Xu Guoqing's father chose this place to build a factory because it was surrounded by crop fields and the land was cheap. However, now that it is surrounded by residential areas and streets, placing this factory here seems a bit out of place.
"Old Xu, Old Xu, open the door quickly..."
After parking the car at the entrance of the factory, Yu Zhengjun smashed the rusty door. Several dog barks suddenly came from inside the door, but after hearing Yu Zhengjun's voice, it immediately turned into a low voice.
of whimpering.
"This guy can't even afford to keep a dog anymore, ugh..."
Yu Zhengjun took the leftovers that he had just packaged in his hand and gestured. Only then did Zhuang Rui understand what Boss Yu meant by asking the waiter to package them after finishing his meal.
"This guy doesn't know what he's doing anymore. Boss Zhuang, don't worry, I'll call him right away..."
After waiting at the door for five or six minutes, there was no movement inside. Yu Zhengjun quickly picked up his mobile phone and dialed. After the call was connected, the guy yelled and asked Xu Guoqing to open the door quickly.
"Lao Yu, you brought some food for Dahuang, can't you just throw it in through the door? Why did you have to ask me to come over?"
Xu Guoqing's temper was slow enough. After the call was connected, he still waited for another seven or eight minutes before he heard footsteps and voices coming from inside the door.
As the iron door made a tooth-aching sound, a middle-aged man with long hair, a slovenly beard, and thick glasses appeared in front of several people.
This middle-aged man's hair is very distinctive. At first glance, it is divided into three colors: white, red and blue. Zhuang Rui looked at it carefully and saw that it was stained with dye. It seemed that this man must be busy with something.
.
However, this image is far from the master in Zhuang Rui's mind. He is just a decadent old boy. This image does not need to be dressed up, but it is comparable to the American hippies of the 1970s and 1980s.
The middle-aged man raised his eyes and looked at Zhuang Rui and others, then turned to look at Yu Zhengjun and said: "Old Yu, didn't I tell you? The factory is not for sale but for rent. My laboratory cannot be moved.
Yes, if you want to rent it, you will not rent it to *** people. The porcelain making craftsmanship of *** little *** is still stolen from us back then..."
When Zhuang Rui and others heard this, they were all amused by Xu Guoqing. They were convinced that this was a patriotic and angry young man.
"Old Xu, apart from being normal when you are making porcelain, can you also be normal at ordinary times?"
Yu Zhengjun was a little helpless towards his old friend. After pouring the food he packed into the basin at the door, he said: "Old Xu, I mentioned to you that this is Mr. Zhuang, who specially came from ***
You guys are here, why don't you let us in and sit down..."
"Mr. Zhuang? I don't know that Mr. Zhuang?"
Xu Guoqing obviously forgot what Lao Yu had mentioned to him. However, although this man was obsessed with ceramics, he still understood the most basic human feelings and let a few people in immediately.
The yard of this factory is quite large, but in addition to the lime-paved roads, both sides of the road are covered with weeds. A workshop directly opposite the gate is even locked, and it is not known how long it has been without work.
.
"I only have room for people in the laboratory here. Let's go to the laboratory and do it..."
Xu Guoqing led everyone around the workshop. Zhuang Rui immediately saw a large chimney. Although it was not very high, it was very thick. Below the chimney was the laboratory that Xu Guoqing mentioned.
"Oh, I think about it, Lao Yu, is this Zhuangzong the same person you told me that you can tell that my three-color pottery figurines are fake, right?"
As soon as he pushed open the door of the laboratory, Xu Guoqing suddenly turned around as if possessed by a devil, startling the people behind him.
"Yes, Mr. Zhuang came to see you just after seeing those three-color pottery figurines of yours. I asked you to let us go in first and pour a glass of water."
Yu Zhengjun was very familiar with Xu Guoqing, and knew that this man was a bit talkative, so he pushed him away and let Zhuang Rui and others in.
