Half an hour later, the Metropolitan Museum.
A conference room in the office area.
Xiao Ran and the others brought the "Dante's Ark" triptych, and Jonathan and the others brought four sturdy portable safes. They were all here, ready to make a deal.
Also in the conference room was an appraisal team led by Thomas, whose members were all the top oil painting appraisal experts in the United States.
Then there are the consul and counselor of the Chinese Consulate General in New York, the cultural counselor and deputy counselor of the Chinese Embassy in the United States, and two other staff members.
In addition, there was a team of lawyers employed by Xiao Ran at the scene.
There are four people in this legal team, all of whom are top lawyers from Wall Street.
Their main task is to witness this heavyweight art transaction and provide a certain deterrent.
In fact, their appearance does make some people fearful.
In addition, a confidant of the crazy old woman from Capitol Hill was also present in the conference room.
The Pelos family lawyer and the mafia scoundrel named Alejandro did not appear in the meeting room because they wanted to avoid suspicion.
But they are in the adjacent lounge, only one door away from this conference room!
Thousands of miles away in China, countless people are paying attention to this conference room and everything that happens here.
This includes an appraisal team composed of top calligraphy and painting appraisal experts from the Forbidden City and the National Museum, ancient rare book experts from the National Library, and a number of top historians.
Through the high-definition camera he carried with him, Xiao Ran showed everything that was happening in the conference room in two live broadcast rooms and in front of the Chinese people.
At this time, his eyes were extremely bright, staring closely at the four portable safes in Jonathan's hand.
What was contained in those four portable safes, Jonathan could see clearly through perspective as soon as they arrived.
Installed in those portable safes are the 40 volumes of "Yongle Dadian" that have been lost overseas for hundreds of years and have been hidden in the Library of Congress.
Through the beautiful colors and light released by those "Yongle Dian", Xiao Ran was instantly determined.
These 40 volumes of "Yongle Dadian" are all genuine, and each volume is a genuine and priceless treasure.
Moreover, the preservation conditions of these "Yongle Dadian" are very good. Apart from normal aging, there are no other problems and each volume is complete.
Maybe it happened suddenly and there was no time to fake it; maybe it was because he was afraid of Xiao Ran's sharp vision and was afraid of making things worse.
In these 40 volumes of "Yongle Dadian", the Americans did not do anything.
This is somewhat unexpected, even commendable!
When looking through these "Yongle Dian", Xiao Ran made a special observation.
Let’s see if the Americans have applied a special potion on these "Yongle Dian", which will take effect after the transaction is completed and transported back to the country, completely destroying these priceless treasures.
Fortunately, Xiao Ran didn't notice this situation.
After confirming this, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed a lot.
After the two parties sat down on both sides of the conference table, they exchanged a few polite words as usual before getting down to business.
"Sean, let's start the appraisal. You will appraise these 40 volumes of "Yongle Canon", and we will appraise the "Dante's Ark" triptych."
"I believe you have been waiting impatiently, and so are we, eager to see those three pioneering works of romanticism."
Jonathan said with a smile, but there was a bit of pain in his eyes.
"You're absolutely right, Jonathan. I really can't wait. Let's get started now."
Xiao Ran smiled and nodded.
Then, he nodded to his two employees.
After receiving the order, the two guys took action immediately.
They picked up a black painting bag placed next to Xiao Ran and opened it gently.
Then he took out the painting "Dante's Ark" that was inside and put it on an easel next to the conference table.
Jonathan also took action, opening four portable safes one after another, taking out the 40 volumes of "Yongle Dadian" one by one, and placing them gently on the conference table.
Just when they took out those "Yongle Dadian".
Xiao Ran and the others who were at the scene, the many fans in the live broadcast room, and all the Chinese people who were paying close attention to this deal all held their breath, fearing that something would go wrong!
Everyone was so excited, everyone's eyes were shining, and they didn't even dare to express their anger!
In particular, many domestic historians, cultural figures, and calligraphy and painting appraisal experts are even more excited.
For Chinese people, it is almost unimaginable to recover 40 volumes of "Yongle Dadian" at one time.
Even if everyone dreams, they would not dare to dream of such a good thing!
But such an incredible thing has become a reality today.
The person who facilitated all of this was a young man in his twenties, and the miracles he created were far more than this.
Thinking of this, many people feel like they are in a dream.
While talking, the triptych of "Dante's Boat" was taken out and displayed on three easels.
All 40 volumes of "Yongle Dadian" contained in four portable safes have been taken out and placed on the desk.
The conference room fell silent.
Both parties to the transaction were staring closely at their respective goals, their eyes so hot that they were almost on fire.
The same was true in the live broadcast room, which instantly became quiet.
Everyone was staring at the yellow rare ancient books on the conference table, not even willing to blink.
It took a long time before someone exclaimed.
"I'll go! Xiao Ran really did it. Am I not dreaming?"
"I got back 40 volumes of "Yongle Dadian" at once, which is really awesome!"
exclaimed the harvest fields with excitement.
Following this burst of exclamations, the two live broadcast rooms instantly boiled, like a volcano erupting.
Xiao Ran woke up immediately, and a bright smile immediately broke out on his face.
The next moment, he stretched out his hand and made a gesture of invitation.
"Jonathan, gentlemen, please!"
"You can now identify the "Dante's Ark" triptych. I believe you will get a huge surprise."
Hearing this, Jonathan followed suit and made a gesture of invitation.
"Sean, you can also authenticate these 40 ancient books and documents. We are really reluctant to part with them!"
Having said that, Jonathan walked towards the three easels immediately, obviously impatient.
Thomas and the Western oil painting appraisal experts were the same, each one more excited than the other.
Xiao Ran stood there, admiring the 40 volumes of "Yongle Dadian" in front of him intoxicatedly, his eyes instantly turned red.
At this moment, Counselor Wang and the others came over.
Before he could stand firm, Consul Zhao from the New York Consulate General asked in a low voice impatiently:
"Xiao Ran, how are you? Are these "Yongle Dadian" genuine?"
"If these are genuine, there is no doubt that they are all national treasures!"
Xiao Ran calmed down a little and then responded with a smile.
"Before this, I had only seen "Yongle Dadian" on the Internet and never used it in person, so it is difficult to give an identification conclusion."
"But according to some methods of identifying ancient Chinese calligraphy and painting works, judging from the cover alone, this is indeed an ancient book from the Ming Dynasty."
"Whether these 40 volumes of "Yongle Dadian" are genuine or not, I believe the appraisal team in Beijing will give an accurate appraisal conclusion."
When he said this, he took out a pair of white gloves and put them on, then handed Counselor Wang and each of them a pair of gloves.
After getting ready, Xiao Ran began to carefully look at these "Yongle Dadian"
The 40 volumes of "Yongle Dadian" in front of you are divided into four piles, with 10 volumes in each pile.
The dimensions of all 40 ancient books are the same, about 50 centimeters high and 30 centimeters wide.
The thickness is basically the same, both are about 50 pages, the format is grand, and they have the majesty and courage of a royal family.
Due to its long history, it has gone through many vicissitudes of life and has been displaced.
The covers of these "Yongle Dadian" have turned apricot yellow, which is slightly dull, but adds a sense of historical vicissitudes.
Each ancient book is beautifully bound, with a clean and elegant cover design that exudes the atmosphere of a great country.
All 40 volumes of "Yongle Dadian" are mounted on the highest grade rice paper and wrapped with a layer of yellow silk on the outside, which is particularly solemn.
Just this ancient and uniquely Chinese mounting technique cannot be learned by Americans.
Even if they want to forge a fake, they won't be able to do it in a short period of time.
In the upper left corner of these 40 ancient books, there is a small rectangular frame.
The inner title is "Yongle Dadian", which is the name personally inscribed by Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty.
Under the four words "Yongle Dadian", there are two lines of small characters, which write the volume number of this book.
In the upper right corner of each ancient book, there is a small square frame in which the rhyme of the book is written.
All these things are the basis for identifying the "Yongle Dadian".
And they all exuded a splendid nobility that could not be faked by Americans with shallow backgrounds.
Just when Xiao Ran was checking the "Yongle Dadian" in his hand, an old man from the Rare Books Department of the National Library suddenly said excitedly:
"Xiao Ran, you are right. Judging from the covers and mountings of these "Yongle Dadian", they are all genuine."
"To be precise, these 40 volumes of "Yongle Dadian" are all copies copied during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, and are known as the Jiajing edition in history."
"They are all national treasures among national treasures, a wonderful book of Chinese civilization, and the largest collection of classics in ancient my country."
"The return of these 40 volumes of "Yongle Dadian" can definitely be called a cultural event. You have made a huge contribution!"
Following the old man's words, the live broadcast room suddenly became excited again.
