Chapter 297: This Thing Is Enough to Change the World!
Can 2 Billion Even be Considered Expensive? (2)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Although the starting bid was quite low.
Ultimately, everyone could tell that the final transaction price would soar to astronomical values. 30 million was worth jack squat at the end of the day.
“I’ll bid 100 million!” Sun Daozhen announced with a bold demeanor.
The richest museum of all was the Shanghai Museum. As long as the local authorities could allocate funds, Beijing was not even a competitor for them.
“All I need is one!” Sun Daozhen’s bid was high, but his tone was quite amicable.
Those who understood knew that owning one Terracotta Warrior would suffice; having more held no significance. They needed to save their money for bidding on more impressive items later, like the imperial jade seal and the Tai’a Sword.
“Our Jiangnan Museum wants two!” Soon, the second and third statues were sold, both purchased by Lin Yide.
The fourth and fifth statues were claimed by the Guangdi Museum.
In reality, there were 99 statues, and only around 130 official museums had arrived. There simply were not enough statues to go around. Those who could not win the bid had no choice but to accept their fate.
If only a few museums had shown up, would these items have remained unsold, or could they have still reached prices in the hundreds of millions?
Regardless, it was because some museums could not acquire these items that competition arose.
But with a starting bid of 100 million, some smaller museums could no longer raise their bids. Regardless, museums like Shanghai, Guangdi, and the Forbidden City were not short of that kind of money. They had no desire to bicker with smaller museums.
“The next item up for auction is the last one for this morning!” Qin Rubing continued the auction. After all, the 99 Terracotta Warriors had taken up a significant amount of time, and there was only time left for one final item to be auctioned in the morning session.
“This is a gold nugget, about 3 centimeters in size!” she announced. “It is covered in many Taoist symbols and weighs approximately 200 taels. This gold nugget comes from Zhao Gao’s tomb and was used to suppress the king’s energy. The value of the gold itself is already incredibly expensive, and when you add its antique value… My starting bid is 50 million yuan!”
Although the starting bid was high, this item was classified as a second-level cultural relic. As such, wealthy individuals could participate. However, after the announcement, there was an unusually long silence.
“Damn! Why does nobody want it? Our Jiangnan Museum might just find a bargain!” Lin Yide wondered, baffled. Had the wealthy bidders died or simply gone quiet?
“Damn! I forgot, this is a second-level cultural relic!”
Bids began to rise. “I bid 55 million!” “I bid 56 million!”
“60 million!”
After all, the morning had been filled with bidding on first-level cultural relics and above, with museums taking center stage. The sudden appearance of this item left the wealthy bidders unprepared to compete. However, once they realized their misconception, the bidding frenzy began.
In the end, the gold nugget was purchased by a real estate company for 68 million yuan. The two-hour lunch break arrived quickly, and the first item of the afternoon session was another highlight.
“The afternoon auction begins! This item is one you may have heard about in history books!” Qin Rubing exclaimed, “Indeed, it is Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s edicts!”
Instantly, the wealthy bidders and museum representatives exchanged glances. After all, when Luo Feng entered the tomb, it had been livestreamed. Everyone was well aware of what Luo Feng had obtained.
The most valuable items were the three boxes: one made of stone, one of gold, and one of jade. Both the stone and jade boxes contained Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s edicts. The stone box held the genuine edict, while the jade box contained a fake one. The golden box contained the imperial jade seal.
Of course, the story of the genuine and fake edicts has a rich history. As recorded in Sima Qian’s “Records of the Grand Historian,” it is said that Emperor Qin Shi Huang died in a massive carriage during his travels, amidst the sand dunes. However, Zhao Gao and Li Si kept the death a secret and used salted fish to mask the smell of the emperor’s body. Eventually, they seized General Meng Tian’s power and forced Fusu to commit suicide, before finally placing Hu Hai on the throne.
Thus, the real edict would have appointed Fusu as emperor, while the fake edict would have designated Hu Hai. However, this was merely Sima Qian’s account; he had not witnessed it firsthand and therefore could not be certain.
Consequently, throughout history, there has been doubt about the legitimacy of Hu Hai’s succession to the throne, but no solid evidence has been found.
Now, this genuine edict of Emperor Qin Shi Huang could reveal the truth. The stone box was sealed to suppress the king’s energy and prevent it from ever escaping or being exposed to the light of day. Even gods and ghosts would not know of its existence. Zhao Gao had intended to hide his crimes.
From a cultural relic’s perspective, the seal of Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s jade seal on the edict had left only a faint trace after years of erosion. Logically, such an item would not hold great significance. However, considering its historical importance, it would be used to verify the rightful heir to the throne during the Qin dynasty, making its value soar.
If it had been any other imperial decree of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, it would not have held such significance. Qin Rubing glanced at the edict and addressed the audience, “The edict contains 15 characters and is stamped with the imperial jade seal. After joint verification by historians and experts, it is believed to be an oral statement of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, not written by him personally. This is the only edict of the Qin dynasty and the only unearthed example of a Qin imperial decree!”
“In my opinion, the starting bid for this item should be at least 1 billion yuan!” With that statement, Qin Rubing dropped a bombshell..
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