In 2009, the "rat head" and "rabbit head" of the 12 Zodiac signs stolen in China began to be auctioned in France.
As soon as this news came out, it instantly stirred up terrifying waves.
In particular, Chinese people were even more indignant after learning this news. How can something stolen from China be auctioned internationally?
The Chinese government was also the first to issue a statement condemning France's shameful behavior.
But the French side, still going their own way, continued to hold auction ceremonies at Christie's.
Many patriotic businessmen, in order to get back our own cultural relics, also participated in this auction.
However, at the auction site, a very low-key businessman sitting in the back row raised his hand and called the number plate, and auctioned two animal heads for 31.49 million euros, about 270 million yuan.
Afterwards, the businessman gave away two animal heads that had been auctioned off for a large price to China.
However, while the Chinese applauded the businessman, the director in charge of the auction said that the man had not paid at all.
So, who is this businessman who auctioned the heads of two beasts for 270 million yuan? Why didn't he pay?
Shrewd but upright businessman
The businessman named Cai Mingchao, who photographed the two beast heads, was born in a wealthy family in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, and the family foundation can be described as quite rich.
With the development of the times, Quanzhou, where Cai Mingchao lived from childhood, has gradually developed into one of the most important trade ports in China.
The prosperous business environment has brought business opportunities to a group of merchants in Quanzhou.
Under the influence of this environment, Cai Mingchao also entered the business world early and was ready to show his fists in this world.
With the wave of reform and opening up, China's commercial and trade undertakings have flourished.
At that time, young people in the southern region pursued fashionable and beautiful clothes, and the streets were full of stalls to buy clothes.
Cai Mingchao seized this opportunity to set his sights on the garment industry and opened a number of large garment processing factories.
I have to admit that Cai Mingchao has a keen sense of business.
With these garment factories, Cai Mingchao can be said to have made a lot of money.
Subsequently, he spent several years in the business world.
During this period, Cai Mingchao began to slowly come into contact with the antique collection industry. At that time, some people advised him to simply stop opening a garment factory, buy a few valuable antiques, wait for the appreciation, and then sell them at a high price.
But Cai Mingchao refused on the spot, because he felt that now was not the best time to join the antiques industry.
What's more, the current clothing industry has such a good prospect, if you rush to sell a few garment factories in your hands, it is likely to be more than worth the loss.
As a result, Cai Mingchao continued to run several of his own garment factories.
By the early 1990s, with the deepening of the mainland's opening up to the outside world, more and more foreign enterprises and businessmen came to China.
It was also at this time that Cai Mingchao found that foreign merchants were very interested in Chinese porcelain. As a businessman, Cai Mingchao feels that this may be a good business opportunity.
In order to test his suspicions, he first opened a small porcelain processing factory to test the waters. After a period of experience, the porcelain exported by this processing plant was favored by many foreigners.
At this point, Cai Mingchao can finally do it boldly with confidence.
Therefore, he set up a ceramic culture co., LTD. in Xiamen, specializing in the export of ceramics. Over the years, the company made more profits than the processing plants before him.
In business, Cai Mingchao can be described as a very good businessman, not only with a keen business acumen, but also with an upright and noble spirit.
Once, while he was out talking business, the owner of a company wanted him to use slightly inferior raw materials in the production of porcelain, and to raise the overall price and sell it to foreign merchants.
Hearing this, Cai Mingchao couldn't sit still, and he directly got up and left.
The other party saw the situation and quickly pulled him aside, and said to him: "Boss Cai, don't you go first, or you see this, I produce raw materials, you are only responsible for production and sales, when we are five or five points, how about it?" ”
But Cai Mingchao snorted coldly and ignored him.
Seeing that Cai Mingchao still refused to agree, the other party gritted his teeth and said: "Otherwise, you occupy the big head, I occupy the small head, we are three or seven points, you seven and I are three." ”
Cai Mingchao threw away the other party's hand and said very dismissively: "Even if it is one or nine points, I will not agree to help you do such a lack of morality." You can make a lot of money by doing this, but the credibility and face of the country have been lost by you. ”
After saying that, he left without turning his head.
Although Cai Mingchao is a businessman, he also has a sincere patriotic feeling. He will not do anything that harms the national interest.
And all this thanks to his early childhood, the teachings of his parents and elders.
When Cai Mingchao was young, the elders in the family always told him about the heroic deeds of Chinese soldiers during the anti-Japanese period.
It is precisely because of this that the young Cai Mingchao has a warm patriotic feeling.
Not only that, Cai Mingchao is also particularly easy-going and low-key, full of love.
Once, on his way to the company, he saw a mother holding her child and constantly prostrating herself on the street, with a very worn bowl in front of her.
Cai Mingchao told the driver to stop the car and came to the mother and daughter to check the situation.
When the woman saw that there was a man dressed in a noble dress, she picked up the bowl on the ground and cried, "Poor poor mother and daughter, give us some money." After saying that, he went straight to his knees.
Cai Mingchao hurriedly lifted the woman up and asked, "Big sister, what's wrong with you?" You get up first, and tell me about something first. ”
The woman slowly stood up and told Cai Mingchao her story, it turned out that the woman's daughter my daughter suffered from leukemia, and she and her husband worked day and night to make money in order to make money for her treatment.
But not long ago, when they were working on the construction site, a piece of steel suddenly fell from it, and the woman's husband, in order to save her, was hit by the falling steel bar and died on the spot. And she herself was hit in the leg. Later, after being rescued by the hospital, although his life was saved, his right leg was wasted.
After the accident, the construction site owner gave her thirty thousand yuan and sent her away. Originally, the woman did not want it, but her daughter's illness could not wait any longer, so she accepted the money.
Unexpectedly, when she took the money to see her daughter, the money was stolen. There was really no way she could come to beg.
Listening to the woman's words, Cai Mingchao said to the woman: "Big sister, you can rest assured, your daughter's money for medical treatment, I have come out." ”
Hearing this, the woman looked at him in disbelief and asked if he was lying to himself.
But Cai Mingchao did not speak, but beckoned the driver to help the mother and daughter duo to the car and take them to the hospital.
After arriving at the hospital, Cai Mingchao arranged a doctor for the girl to treat leukemia, and said that the costs after that were all paid by himself.
The woman looked at Cai Mingchao and couldn't help but shed tears, and she candled Cai Mingchao's hand and said, "Thank you, thank you for saving your life." ”
But Cai Mingchao told the woman that what she did was not a return, but just did her own little effort. With that, he left the hospital.
After this incident, Cai Mingchao also set up a special foundation to send warmth and help to families in difficulty every year.
Involving the auction industry
Fast forward to the 21st century, Cai Mingchao set his sights on tea again, and also opened a shop, specializing in selling tea.
In order to make his shop more classical, he bought some antiques to put in his shop.
Over time, Cai Mingchao has gradually become an acquaintance in the antique collection industry.
Whenever there is a good antique, the shop will always notify him as soon as possible.
Once, at the invitation of a Tibetan friend, he went to an auction abroad.
At the auction, there was a cultural relic from the Song Dynasty, and the rich people present held up their signs.
Looking at the cultural relic in front of the host, Cai Mingchao realized that this would be a business opportunity.
Therefore, after he returned to China, he had the idea of engaging in cultural relics collection. At the same time, he also began to learn about the analysis of cultural relics and art and auctions.
He also succeeded in becoming the manager of an auction company.
Since then, Cai Mingchao has officially stepped into the antique auction industry.
During his time at work, he saw a variety of antique artifacts. Every time he saw those cultural relics, Cai Mingchao always issued a sigh of admiration from the heart, "The production process of the ancients is really excellent, and the spirit of craftsmen like this should be inherited and developed." ”
In 2005, Cai Mingchao voluntarily gave up his position in the company, set up an art auction company in Xiamen, and began his own antique collection life.
Because of the previous experience, coupled with the wealth accumulated by opening a garment factory and a porcelain company before, the operation of Cai Mingchao's art auction company can be described as smooth sailing.
But because he was very low-key, few people knew of the existence of the company except for a few of his close friends.
It was not until October 7, 2006, at an auction held at Sotheby's in Hong Kong, that Cai Mingchao gradually became known.
This is a special auction of the gilded bronze Buddha in the early Ming Dynasty, and the price of the "gilded bronze statue of Shakyamuni Shakyamuni" during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty reached a climax.
The rich merchants raised their number plates one after another.
Cai Mingchao, who sits in the back row, is very low-key, and he looks at the rich merchants in the front row who keep holding up their cards, and he looks very calm.
In the end, only two people were left to participate in the auction, and it entered the white-hot stage for a while.
Just when the host asked if there was a higher price, Cai Mingchao held up the brand in his hand and suddenly raised the price to the price of hundreds of millions of yuan.
Hearing this price, everyone present was stunned. The rich merchants in the front row turned their heads to look at Cai Mingchao, and the other two people continued to bid unconvinced.
Cai Mingchao, on the other hand, was not in a hurry, no matter how others followed, he could come up with a higher price until the other two gave up.
In the end, Cai Mingchao took the Buddha statue for 116.6 million Hong Kong dollars. At the same time, he also created the highest price of Chinese art at auction in the world.
It is also this auction that makes Cai Mingchao and his company officially enter the vision of antique collectors.
Since then, many media reporters have come to interview him. People from the same industry also came to visit him.
For a time, Cai Mingchao and his art auction company became the highest-grade company in the antique collection industry.
But at this time, Cai Mingchao did not forget his original intention, and still maintained his previous low-key style.
Not only that, he also invested a lot of money in the construction of his hometown to help those who lived in poverty.
After the heat of the auction passed, Cai Mingchao's life returned to its previous calm.
However, his quiet life was once again broken at an auction in 2009.
An act provokes controversy
On February 25, 2009 at 8 p.m., Christie's auction began in Paris, France. Cai Mingchao also participated in the auction.
Originally he thought it was an ordinary auction, but when he saw the host say the "rat head" and "rabbit head" in the zodiac, he couldn't sit still any longer.
Because he knew that these two cultural relics were snatched from the hands of the state when the Eight-Power Alliance launched a war of aggression against China.
Now, they have put these two cultural relics to auction, which is simply shameless.
Cai Mingchao originally wanted to directly auction these two cultural relics at a high price, but this is something from our own country, and it is obviously unreasonable to participate in the auction.
At that time, when the Chinese government learned that two cultural relics were to be auctioned, it was also the first to stand up against this unreasonable behavior.
But the French did not pay attention and continued the auction.
Seeing that the auction was about to start, Cai Mingchao's heart was anxious.
After some thought, he called his friend Wang Dingqian and told the other party that he had decided to take the way of not paying after the shooting.
Hearing this, Wang Dingqian hurriedly advised him not to be impulsive, because doing so would bring great damage to his credibility and safety.
But Cai Mingchao couldn't take care of so much, and he said to Wang Dingqian: "If these two cultural relics are photographed by other countries, isn't it equivalent to punching China in the face?" I would never allow such a thing to happen. When he finished, he hung up.
Then, Cai Mingchao sent someone to come forward instead of himself and participate in the auction behind the scenes by telephone communication.
In the end, he auctioned off the two artifacts for 270 million yuan.
However, because Cai Mingchao did not appear, there was a lot of discussion in all walks of life about who photographed these two cultural relics.
However, within a few days, the organizers released Cai Mingchao's information and said that he did not pay after the auction, which has violated the rules of the auction industry.
As soon as the news came out, it caused an uproar in all walks of life.
Some people think that Cai Mingchao did the right thing, while others feel that his behavior is discrediting the Chinese collection industry.
There are even some foreign media that suspect that the Chinese government authorized Cai Mingchao to do so.
Seeing that things were getting bigger and bigger, Cai Mingchao stood up and said: "This is my personal behavior, and it has nothing to do with the state and the government." I did this entirely because of my patriotism. ”
For Cai Mingchao's behavior, most people think he is correct and call him a "famous hero".
In an interview with the media, Cai Mingchao also said: "After doing this, I do have some regrets. For those who support me or oppose me, I can understand, but I don't think I am a famous hero, I am just an ordinary businessman, my approach has been considered to break the industry norms, wrong is wrong, this is nothing to argue. But if I were given another chance, I would still make the same choice. ”
However, just when the crowd was arguing over Cai Mingchao's behavior.
The relevant state departments are actively communicating with foreign countries. In the end, through their efforts, the "rat head" and "rabbit head" of the zodiac signs that had been lost for many years returned to the embrace of the motherland.
After discussion, the relevant departments decided to exempt Cai Mingchao from responsibility and punishment.
There is nothing wrong with loving one's country, but the most important thing is to be rational and patriotic.