The French envoy lowered his head and thought for a moment. Chen Qiang's statement that he asked to calculate the loss rate was indeed very reasonable. No one could guarantee that the antiques would be intact in the war, and no one could guarantee that the antiques would not be damaged during the preservation process.

What's more, these antiques are not in the hands of Free France, and the French envoy is making a fortune. Since the things are not their own, it is not a pity to give some concessions.

"Okay, let's calculate based on a 10% loss rate." The French envoy said.

"Sir Special Envoy, it seems that you don't know the situation of the Stalingrad defense battle. The entire Stalingrad has become a ruin." Chen Qiang said.

"The places where we store antiques are in the suburbs, and there will be no fierce street fighting like Stalingrad," the French envoy defended.

"Okay, let's not mention Stalingrad. Let's talk about the British Museum. You come from London. You should have some understanding of the situation of the British Museum, right?" Chen Qiang said.

The British Museum was affected during World War II. Although many cultural relics have been transferred in advance, some large cultural relics are not so lucky. During the London bombing, the British Museum buildings were attacked by high-explosive bombs and incendiary bombs and were severely damaged.

At that time, among the four major museums in the world, the most severely damaged was the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad, which was almost completely destroyed.

The French envoy came from London, and of course he was quite familiar with the situation of the British Museum.

"Well, Mr. Chen thinks it is more appropriate to use the loss rate?" asked the French envoy.

"I think the 30% loss rate should not be too much, right?" Chen Qiang said. He originally planned to say more, but considering that there are other ways to reduce the price in the future, he said 30%.

The French envoy discussed with the left and right and felt that the number was acceptable, so he nodded and agreed.

Chen Qiang continued: "32,000 antiques, at a 30% loss rate, it is 22,400. Next, we should discuss the price of each antique."

"Wait, Mr. Chen, shouldn't we bet on the price of 10 million US dollars, excluding the 30% discounted price? Then the final price should be 7 million US dollars!" said the French envoy in surprise.

"Mr. Special Envoy, 22,400 antiques are sold for 7 million US dollars. Are you a little exaggerating? On average, the value of each antique is US$312. At the current antique price, do you know that the antiques collected in France are worth US$312?" Chen Qiang said.

The so-called antiques and gold in the prosperous times. The price of antiques during World War II was very low. In addition, the US dollar in this era is very valuable, and the US dollar can buy any goods, so the price of 312 US dollars does exceed the average price of antiques in this era. At least the average price of antiques purchased by Chen Qiang is not as high as 312 US dollars.

Chen Qiang continued: "Mr. Special Envoy, you can go to the antique market in New York to find out what the average price of Chinese antiques is. Of course, I don't deny that the price of some fine antiques will be relatively high, and can even be sold at auctions in four or five figures. At the same time, I don't rule out that many of the antiques collected in France are priceless. But isn't the average price of 312 US dollars too exaggerated? The antiques collected by you French cannot be worth more than 300 US dollars."

After discussing with the left and right, the French envoy finally recognized Chen Qiang's statement.

"Then let's discuss the price of antiques." The French envoy said.

"Mr. Special Envoy, I think if I offer any price, you may not be satisfied. So I have a suggestion. We might as well find professionals to calculate the price of antiques. As far as I know, there are also some antique shops in Washington. We can go to the owner of the antique shop to ask, so that we can know the average price of Chinese antiques. If it really doesn't work, we can also send a telegram to the notary office in New York and entrust them to investigate the average price of Chinese antiques in New York City. I think the price obtained in this way is fair." Chen Qiang said.

The French envoy nodded. If Chen Qiang offered a price, the French side would definitely bargain, which eventually turned into a situation of bargaining in the vegetable market. The suggestion made by Chen Qiang can indeed avoid the two sides' major differences on price issues.

So the negotiations were temporarily suspended, and both sides went to find professionals in this field to find out the average price of Chinese antiques in the United States.

...

After Chen Qiang left, the French envoy kept several confidants.

"Mr. Special Envoy, we have made too many concessions! If we trade at the average price, we will lose more!" someone said.

"Then what can you do? Do you really have to sell the antiques to that Chinese at the average price of more than 300 US dollars? He is not a fool and will not accept this price." The envoy said.

"Then we can reduce the price appropriately," the man continued.

"How much should we reduce?" the French envoy continued: "Or I would ask from another perspective, if the price of a product is far beyond its average selling price, would you buy it?"

The man was speechless when asked. The French envoy continued: "I just asked for 10 million US dollars at the beginning, but it was just a lion's big talk. Only by giving a relatively high price first can there be room for a price cut. In the end, we need to give a seemingly reasonable price so that the Chinese can pay. But you don't have to worry. I still have some connections in the United States, whether it is a notary office or an antique store, can find ways to increase the price! In the end, we will sell our psychological price."

...

The next day, the price list sent from New York had already appeared in front of everyone, and the three bosses who run antique shops in Washington were also invited to the negotiation site.

"Gentlemen, this is the price of antiques I have commissioned to find in a New York notary office. This notary office has investigated a total of twelve larger antique shops. Each antique shop sells different quantities and average prices of Chinese antiques. The specific number is on this table. But one thing I can confirm is that the numbers on this table are real and valid." The French envoy said.

Chen Qiang glanced at the table and then asked, "What is the average price after adding all the antiques on this table?"

"126 US dollars." The French envoy said.

Chen Qiang frowned slightly. The price is very high.

After all, antiques sold at auctions of tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of yuan were a minority. Antiques sold by private transactions are expensive even if they cost tens of thousands of yuan. For example, in an ordinary antique shop, antiques worth hundreds of thousands of yuan can be regarded as treasures in the store. Of course, what is said here does not include jewelry and jade. The value of jewelry and jade is relatively high. Taking jade as an example, the value of a good piece of material may exceed its value as an antique.

Antiques cost more than hundreds of thousands of yuan, which can basically be considered as a precious cultural relic. At that level of cultural relic, they must be protected by law. Trading privately is a reselling cultural relic, which is an illegal act. Of course, if you donate it to the country, you can get tens of thousands of yuan and a certificate.

Therefore, when it comes to the level of precious cultural relics, it is theoretically impossible to estimate. These are real and priceless treasures. Even if it is traded, the price depends entirely on speculation.

In the 1940s, the weekly salary of ordinary Americans was about US$25. Blue-collar workers related to military industry and white-collar workers who graduated from college were higher, and restaurant waiters and other salaries were lower. On average, they could earn more than US$100 a month. The average price of this 126 US dollars is equivalent to the monthly salary of ordinary Americans.

During this period, Chen Qiang had purchased many Chinese antiques. He knew the general price of antiques. In European and American countries in this era, antiques from China were not so valuable. For example, many porcelains from the official kilns of the Ming Dynasty were sold as ordinary works of art. Many Americans did not understand the value of Chinese antiques. Compared with the cultural relics left during the European Renaissance, they were more popular among Americans.

The average price of $126 is far beyond Chen Qiang's expectations. At this time, Chen Qiang began to doubt whether the French had made trouble and colluded with the notary office to deliberately raise the price of antiques.

If you think about it carefully, this is also possible. France was also a country that immigrated to North America in the early days. For example, Canada had a province that specifically spoke French. During the process of American independence, the French also helped a lot. Among American citizens, there are more French people. Many American schools will teach French and regard French as the second language of the United States. For example, the movie "Cat and Mouse Game" starring Leonardo and Tom Hanks is in the 1960s. The first time in the film is that the protagonist pretended to be a French substitute teacher in the school after transferring to school, which also reflects from one aspect that French people occupy an important position in the United States.

Although Chen Qiang suspected that the French used secret methods, he had no evidence, not to mention that he was a professional notarization office. If he wanted to fool Chen Qiang, there were ways to do so.

So Chen Qiang had no choice but to not express his opinion and watch the French envoy perform.

The French envoy asked the three antique merchants again: "Three gentlemen, you are all merchants who specialize in antique business. I would like to ask, what is the average price of Chinese antiques you sell there?"

"It's about US$125!" said the first person.

"It's almost US$125, and the error should not exceed US$5." The second person said.

The third party then quoted the same offer. Obviously, the three people had been bribed by the French envoy, so they deliberately quoted a offer of US$125.

The French envoy nodded with a smile, and then said, "Mr. Chen, you have heard that the average price of Chinese antiques sold in the United States is US$125. How about we trade at this price? In this way, neither of you nor me will suffer a loss."

Chen Qiang shook his head: "Mr. Special Envoy, please wait. I still have a few questions to ask the three antique shop owners."

"Okay, Mr. Chen, please ask." The French envoy showed no concern. Anyway, these three antique merchants have been bribed by him, so it is impossible for him to sell them. No matter how Chen Qiang asked, they said that it was an average price of 125 US dollars, and Chen Qiang had no choice.

Chen Qiang asked, "Three gentlemen, what you said just now is the average selling price of antiques, right?"

"Yes." The three of them answered in unison.

"If those three gentlemen purchase antiques, they probably won't use this average selling price as the standard, right?" Chen Qiang asked again.

Hearing Chen Qiang's question, the French envoy's face suddenly changed. And the three antique shop owners also realized something. They looked at me, and I looked at you, and finally nodded helplessly: "Yes."

Chen Qiang smiled and turned his head, saying to the French envoy: "Mr. Special Envoy, since I am acquiring your antiques, I think we should calculate based on the acquisition price of the antiques. What do you think?"

"No, no, Mr. Chen, the account cannot be calculated like this. We are the party selling antiques. What we do, like the three antique shop owners, sell antiques to customers, so they should be calculated based on the average selling price of antiques." The French envoy said immediately.

"Since that's the case, I can go to three antique shop owners to buy it. The prices are the same anyway." Chen Qiang spread his hands and continued: "The key is that they are still in stock."

"But if we follow the purchase price of antiques, we can also sell the antiques to the antique shop owner. As you said, the prices are the same! We will not lose any losses." The French envoy replied aggressively.

"But you don't have any stock! You can ask the three antique shop owners and tell them that your antiques are all on the German territory and will not be retrieved until the war is over to see if they are willing to collect them!" Chen Qiang said with a smile.

When the French envoy mentioned that there was no spot, he immediately became timid. At this time, he remembered that he had written a blank check this time, and he made a fortune by making a fortune! He finally caught a sucker like Chen Qiang. If he had been the antique shop owners, he would definitely not be willing to pay if he couldn't see the real thing.

This is also the most passive part of the French envoy in this negotiation, that is, the antiques they want to sell are not in their own hands at all, so the French have no say in the whole process. Therefore, the French envoy could only do everything possible to stabilize Chen Qiang.

Finally, the French envoy made a compromise: "Okay, let's calculate it according to the antique acquisition price!"

Chen Qiang immediately turned around and asked the three antique shop owners: "The three gentlemen just said that the average selling price of Chinese antiques is US$125. I think the average purchasing price of antiques should be lower than this number. What is the average purchasing price?"

Three antique shop owners secretly looked at the French envoy, and one of them said, "It's about $110!"

"It turns out that you can only earn 15 US dollars for a Chinese antique worth US$125! This is about 12% of the gross profit." Chen Qiang said with a smile.

"In business practices, 12% profit is already very high." The French envoy said quickly.

"That happens. I also have a batch of Chinese antiques in my hand. I will ship them to Washington immediately. I hope I can sell the average price of 110 US dollars in your store." Chen Qiang said with a sneer.

The antique shop owner's face suddenly changed!

The average price of $125 he quoted was originally intentionally increasing the price, and the purchase price of $110 was also intentionally increasing it. In fact, the average price of the selling price was not even $110. If Chen Qiang wanted to sell him antiques at this price, the purchase price was more expensive than the selling price, then wouldn't he lose money!
Chapter completed!