Riding the wind of rebirth

Chapter 594 Industry Changes
"It's something that can't be met, and it's impossible to sell." Zhou Zhi said with a smile: "So no matter how much it is, it can only be a number for fun."

Kicked the box under the hard bed: "It's serious to be able to get rid of these."

"Cut! That's my workmanship." Fei Guan began to despise Zhou Zhi again: "I don't like you self-employed people the most. You go there empty-handed. It's clear that you plan to return empty-handed. You want to make a fortune by picking up the leaks!"

"How many chances are there to make a fortune now? The world is different."

"That's right. Speaking of which, Elbow, you were born ten years late. If you had the ability you have now ten years ago, you can choose from the treasures everywhere."

"By the way, it's boring all the way, Uncle Fei, just tell us about the Longmen Formation in this business."

Fei Guan took out a lunch box from the salute, opened it, Zhou Zhi looked strangely familiar: "These lo mei..."

"I've eaten Lao Zhang's platter, and the other braised vegetables are not delicious. Yesterday I went to the kitchen specially to pack all the braised vegetables that he didn't use up. Let's eat and chat while we eat."

"The train is moving." Brother Yi said looking out the window at the platform slowly moving backwards.

Zhou Zhi took out a bottle of Laojiao from his bag: "Brother Wu, can you drink something today? Let's chat while drinking!"

Jiang Wu also took out a large bag of peanuts from his bag, and said with a smile, "This is a big peanut from Shandong. Our comrades in arms brought it from the north. Let's eat it all the way back."

The speed of the train gradually increased, and soon it drove out of the city, passed through the suburbs, and saw the plains with rice fields that were about to mature on both sides.

"Speaking of our country's antique business, I have gone through a few key points." Fei Guan picked up a piece of beef with his index and middle fingers and put it in his mouth, and took a sip of his wine: "Speaking of it, our country's antique business, It can be summed up in one sentence, that is, three major changes in 30 years."

"Do you know where the most antiques in our country were at the beginning of the founding of the country?"

"Aren't you always in the capital?"

"Wrong! At that time, the place with the most antiques was in the northeast, in Changchun!"

"At that time, the cultural relics on the streets of Changchun were priced in sacks, and many national treasures were mixed in. At that time, the antique shop was called 'Northeast goods', and antique dealers from all over the world went there to buy."

"Collecting in troubled times and golden times. At that time, the transactions between people in the country had been greatly reduced. Antique dealers received cultural relics through 'international trade'. The next buyers were antique dealers in Europe, island countries, and the United States. They were responsible for the acquisition."

"In response to this phenomenon, although the country has just been established, the southeast, the north, and the west have not yet stopped, so a law was first issued-"Interim Measures for Prohibiting the Export of Precious Cultural Relics and Books", followed by local laws and regulations in various places, and established the cultural relics management department.”

"The idea behind this decree is that precious cultural relics should be owned by the state and can only be traded within China and cannot be exported."

"In fact, this has always been the consensus of many old-timers. Many collectors are willing to lose their fortunes in order to keep the national treasures from being sold to foreign countries."

"However, the morality and rationality of a few people cannot overcome the profit-seeking desire of the majority. It was not until the establishment of this law in New China that the disorderly exodus of cultural relics was effectively stopped."

"Outflow without order, in fact there is still outflow." Zhou Zhi sighed.

"I don't think there are many. After one or two years, there will be basically no foreigners in China." Brother Yi suddenly came up with his unique black humor.

"Master Qiao is right." Fei Guan said with a smile: "Later, in order to earn foreign exchange, the rules were changed. At that time, the three ministries of foreign trade, public security, and culture jointly issued an order, stipulating that the three types of cultural relics were not allowed to be traded and exported—take a 1980 As a boundary, all cultural relics before; official kilns and family collections after 1980; and newly unearthed cultural relics after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Exports are not allowed, and everything else can be bought and sold.”

"It's one size fits all before the Eastern Han Dynasty, one size fits all official kiln wares handed down after the Eastern Han Dynasty, and one size fits all after the founding of the People's Republic of China. The rest can go out, right?"

"Yes, almost the same meaning." Fei Guan said with a smile: "But by that time, basically no one cares about antiques in China, and many antique shops have declined."

"Yunguzhai was the largest shop in Liulichang at that time. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were a dozen or so people, and there were only six people left after that. It’s all connected to the house.”

"In the end, I couldn't do it anymore and changed my business. Yunguzhai started a tea business after a public-private partnership, Yunyuzhai sold grain, and Baohuazhai sold roasted seeds and nuts."

"Of course, not all of them have been completely changed into tea buddies and rice noodle buddies. For example, Geng Baochang of Zhenhuazhai and Sun Yingzhou of Dunhuazhai donated cultural relics to the Palace Museum, and followed the cultural relics to the museum and became a research institute."

"More part donated the collections in the store to the country, and the antique shop became a 'handicraft company's cultural relics department' under the leadership of the foreign trade system, which is similar to the predecessor of our Gongmei, and the boss and staff in the store also became For those who eat public meals."

"Why the Ministry of Foreign Trade is the subordinate agency of the cultural relics department is because of the concept at that time—cultural relics are waste products, and old ones are encouraged to be exchanged for new ones. Exporting to foreign countries can be exchanged for foreign exchange and support national construction."

"Later, because the cultural relics business included old books, it was placed under the Xinhua Bookstore and the Cultural Relics Department of Xinhua Bookstore was established. Soon after, because more of its business had nothing to do with the book industry, it became independent and became a cultural relics store that has continued."

"Some stores can become bigger and become a shopping mall that also deals in arts and crafts."

Zhou Zhi understood: "That's why Shudu Xinhua Bookstore, Gongmei Shopping Mall, and Ancient Books Bookstore are all next to each other, because it used to be one!"

"That's the reason." Fei Guan said with a smile: "Later, the National Cultural Relics Headquarters managed cultural relics from all over the country. The main tasks are three things - receiving goods, delivering goods, and selling goods."

"Receiving goods is to collect scattered cultural relics and provide cultural relics to museums and research institutions as the top priority. At that time, the only units that had the power to purchase cultural relics were cultural relics departments and export companies."

"Take the largest capital of the city as an example. The capital cultural relics store has set up three purchasing stations in the city, which are located in Xidan, Liulichang and Di'anmen. Except for the three stores, the masters of the cultural relics store are divided into northeast and south. , Southwest and the three groups collect outside all year round."

"These people are basically the old folks of the former joint venture antique shop. They are connoisseurs with good eyesight and familiar contacts. They only show it to the Dong XZ house. When the newcomers go, the collectors are afraid to show good things. "

"This situation changed again in the 1960s. Before 1960, there were sales and purchases at the same time, because the master craftsman had an old style, and he would resell when the price was right; after 1960, the work of buying and selling was divided."

"The things purchased by the cultural relics store will be identified and sent to the head office for those with high cultural value, and will be distributed to museums and research institutions in various places. The rest will be divided into three classes and sold by the cultural relics store."

"The first class is placed in the 'inner cabinet' of the store, usually upstairs, for important customers, connoisseurs."

"The second class is in the 'Zhonggui', which is open to the general public."

"The third class is the high-end goods that can be exported. They have the sign of the foreign guest supply office. The so-called 'outer cabinet' exclusively sells cultural relics that can be exported."

(End of this chapter)