I changed the world.

Page 373

At the entrance of the City God Temple, where pilgrims constantly come and go, his attire was somewhat eye-catching. However, strangely enough, at this moment, no one looked at him, as if he didn't exist.

"Lord Jingming, please wait. In that case, I will be going." Zhang Jing cupped his hands to the man dressed as a military officer. This man was none other than Li Yuanlong, courtesy name Jingming, who had just been appointed as the City God of Jin'an Prefecture.

"Respectfully seeing off the True Lord."

......................................................

Back in his study at home, Zhang Jing pondered the matter of the imperial edict. With the experience of the previous conferment of the title of Prefectural City God in Linzhou, this conferment went much more smoothly. However, since it was the title of Prefectural City God after all, the conferment still consumed a considerable amount of energy.

Just then, Zhang Jing felt his phone vibrate. He opened it and saw that it was an encrypted email from his junior sister via the "Maze lock email address". They had previously agreed that for ordinary daily communication, instant messaging software would suffice, but if it involved the extraordinary, they would use encrypted emails. Of course, if the matter was extremely important, then they would communicate in person.

Opening the email, Zhang Jing saw that An Huiling's email was extremely brief and cryptic, presumably to avoid leaks. It didn't reveal much information, only asking:

"Brother:

I just noticed that there seemed to be a huge change in the southwest of Jin'an. There were strange phenomena in the sky, but they have now faded away. I am very suspicious.

Wishing you peace

Zhang Jing immediately thought that his junior sister had not yet returned to Linzhou and should have been in Jin'an before. It was inevitable that she would see the strange phenomena caused by the ascension of the underworld and the gods after the City God was conferred his title. After all, his junior sister was a cultivator and her sensitivity was far greater than that of ordinary people.

After thinking for a moment, he replied with a simple email:

"The gods have returned; there is no harm in it. Do not worry."

After sending the email, he turned off his phone. Coincidentally, just as he turned off his phone, it vibrated again.

He picked up his phone and saw it was a call from Jiang Shanlin. Knowing that his subordinate rarely called unless there was a specific reason, Zhang Jing answered the phone...

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 753 Venaen International Auction Company

"Hello? Yes, it's me."

"Hmm...hmm...oh? This is a good opportunity..."

"Hmm...hmm...okay, I think your approach is good. You're trying to find out their strength? Okay, go with your idea..."

"Yes, you're right. I think we should try to continue the discussion. This is indeed a good opportunity."

"Yes, I support that in principle. In addition, I suggest we seize the current window of opportunity and don't necessarily have to push it to the absolute lowest point."

"Hmm... I don't understand what you mean. But according to my profit forecast, the current stock market may continue to decline significantly, and the other party's thoughts may change at any time."

"Yes...yes, if their purpose is based on investment, we can't judge whether market changes will affect their investment strategy, so we should take advantage of the current window of opportunity..."

"Okay, fine... I'll wait for your message."

"Okay, just have them send it over."

"Okay, that's all then... goodbye."

After turning off his phone, Zhang Jing pondered the message Jiang Shanlin had just informed him. He had just received information from an intermediary that the owner of the well-known antique auction house "Vinaen International Auction Company" in the Western Continent was currently interested in selling it.

The Venaen International Auction Company is located in the Kingdom of Venaen, one of the three kingdoms in the northern part of the Western Continent. While its overall strength is relatively average, it was once powerful, but now it can only be considered a second- or third-rate nation. In Zhang Jing's understanding, its policies are heavily influenced by Rune.

The owner of "Venaen International Auction Company" is a viscount family in Venaen. "Venaen International Auction Company" has a history of more than 100 years in the Western Continent. Due to its limited size, it is not a comprehensive large auction company, but focuses on the auction of antiques and works of art.

Antiques and art auctions are a huge category, with calligraphy and painting auctions accounting for a considerable proportion and being one of the focal points of competition among major auction houses worldwide.

Due to limited resources, the competitive strategy of "Vinaen International Auction Company" has been to abandon the competition for popular categories such as calligraphy and painting and modern fine porcelain. In recent decades, it has focused on niche categories such as ancient antiques and colonial artifacts.

Last year, for example, "Venaen International Auction Company" held more than 70 auctions in major cities around the world, selling items worth nearly 100 million Imperial Scrolls.

According to the information Jiang Shanlin has collected, "Vinaen International Auction Company" has a wide presence around the world, especially in the western continent, and just two years ago it completed the renovation of its nearly 500-square-meter headquarters in Redfield, the capital of Rune.

In Jiang Shanlin's view, his most valuable assets are his antique trading network and auction licenses that span various countries in the Western Continent. These are important assets that the "Historical Relics Protection and Research Foundation" currently lacks.

Since Zhang Jing expressed his desire for the foundation to acquire one or more auction houses with international operations and requested Jiang Shanlin to conduct research on auction houses in various countries, Jiang Shanlin has devoted a great deal of energy to this endeavor. After all, in Jiang Shanlin's view, the previous "Historical Relics Protection and Research Foundation," although expanding its operations, was ultimately an organization that "purely spends money." The money was constantly being spent without any return, making it seem like a plaything for the wealthy Zhang Jing.

This left Jiang Shanlin, who had his own ambition and sense of responsibility, with a constant feeling of unease. It was as if everything before him was a mirage, and if Zhang Jing, this "big player," decided he didn't want to play anymore, then the foundation, which had lost its financial support and lacked the ability to generate its own revenue, would collapse like a castle on the beach.

In Jiang Shanlin's view, if the foundation could successfully acquire one or more auction houses, then relying on the auction houses' business, the foundation would have its own ability to generate revenue. Even if Zhang Jing changed his mind, it would only be necessary to divest or stop some of the foundation's business, rather than shutting down the foundation itself. In this way, the foundation could truly operate in the long term.

Therefore, Jiang Shanlin quickly completed his research on auction houses around the world and had already submitted the research report to Zhang Jing.

Overall, Zhang Jing's target this time is well-known auction houses whose main business is antiques and art. Such auction houses usually have their own antique trading and acquisition networks in addition to auction business, which can help complement the foundation's global layout. At the same time, the antiques that Zhang Jing has collected in various caves and ruins can also be converted into cash.

Auction houses that are too small are meaningless to the foundation, and Zhang Jing does not have enough time to develop them.

While those famous large auction houses have complete channels, they usually operate in a diversified manner, dealing in various other auction categories in addition to antiques and artworks. Those types of auctions are meaningless to Zhang Jing and would greatly deplete his funds.

Therefore, for Zhang Jing, those professional auction houses with a certain reputation and a high degree of business focus are his primary targets.

Zhang Jing has now basically finished reviewing the report submitted by the foundation. Comparatively, compared to the renowned auction houses of his previous life, he found that the valuations of these auction houses in this world are generally relatively low. This is likely determined by the prosperity of the auction market in both his previous life and this world. This is probably because humanity in this world has begun to take great strides towards the stars. The research and development of new technologies, the construction of spacecraft and ships, and the development of related industries have consumed too much attention and funds, resulting in less capital tied up in art, antiques, and related industries. This world doesn't have the situation of large amounts of capital that Zhang Jing experienced in his previous life, which could only be used to speculate on various investment products.

Even though the antique market has shown signs of a moderate increase recently, especially in religious collectibles, the overall size of the market for such collectibles in this world is still far smaller than in Zhang Jing's previous life.

Therefore, since the market supply is not that large, the valuations of those auction houses are not as high as in his previous life.

Even so, Zhang Jing still found that not many well-known, highly professional auction houses were willing to sell at this time. This was mainly because the auction house industry is a relatively stable profit-making industry, and in the West, it is generally controlled by aristocratic families. As valuable fixed assets within these families, they are not easily sold.

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 754 Acquiring an Auction House

This means that Zhang Jing only has two options: one is to acquire at a premium, that is, to purchase at a price far exceeding the market price; the other is to acquire several small auction houses and then reorganize them into a larger trading network.

However, the first option requires a considerable amount of money. Jiang Shanlin estimates that at least 2 million yuan would be needed to complete an acquisition.

As for the second option, Zhang Jing also felt it was inappropriate. The auction industry is one that values ​​reputation and brand. If it were a newly restructured auction house, not only would major clients be unwilling to participate, but sales capabilities would also be greatly affected. Furthermore, sellers would be unwilling to entrust their high-quality items to an unknown auction house. It's not feasible for Zhang Jing to provide all the items, is it? Even if Zhang Jing had the ability to provide such a quantity, it wouldn't work, because such a large number of unfamiliar antiques entering the market would inevitably attract the attention of interested parties and relevant departments.

So, just as Zhang Jing was pondering whether to raise more funds or simply wait until his investment in the capital market yielded results before making the acquisition, Jiang Shanlin's good news arrived.

It has to be said that this was truly a stroke of good luck, like a pillow for someone who's sleepy. Of course, in Zhang Jing's opinion, this was very likely another instance of the "good luck" he had been praying for coming into play.

Viscount Ferdinand Enrico, the original head of the Enrico family, which owns "Venan International Auction Company," has just passed away. The current Viscount Antoine Enrico, who has inherited the title, has always had differences with his father in terms of investment strategy. In contrast to his father's more conservative and stable investment approach, he, who studied at St. George's University, is extremely enthusiastic about new technologies and is also a passionate space enthusiast.

Therefore, shortly after inheriting the family business following his father's death, he made a more aggressive decision regarding investments. He hoped to reclaim the family's investments in traditional sectors, recovering all the funds previously invested in wineries, horse racing, hotels, and auction houses, and reinvesting them in areas with higher returns and greater potential, such as deep space exploration, aerospace equipment, and space energy.

He is even contacting other nobles to prepare to establish a foundation dedicated to participating in the exploration and development of deep space colonies in the future. After all, that would be an extremely costly undertaking, and not something that the Enrico family alone could accomplish.

Because stocks related to deep space exploration have fallen to some extent in the market, Viscount Anthony Enrico believes that now is a good time to enter the market. Therefore, the viscount is eager to sell some of the family's properties, including the "Venaen International Auction Company".

In fact, in the current market, the Viscount Enrico family is not the only large capital group looking to capitalize on the impending deep space investment opportunity. The pursuit of deep space is a kind of "politically correct" view. On the contrary, at this point in time, anyone who expresses a pessimistic view will be considered an "old-fashioned person abandoned by the times" or a "living fossil of the last century," and will be seen as out of touch with the times.

However, precisely because of this, finding a suitable buyer for an asset like "Vinaen International Auction Company," which seems to have little potential, is not an easy task. Coincidentally, Jiang Shanlin had recently spread the word that he had commissioned several well-known accounting firms to monitor this type of information, and thus, the two sides made contact.

Because they were afraid of missing out on investment opportunities and were eager to sell assets to raise funds, the Anlike family's offer was not high: 9000 million Imperial Vouchers. In Zhang Jing's opinion, this was already an acceptable offer.

"Venaen International Auction Company" operates stably in the antiques and art auction industry and is a world-renowned auction house. It has a well-established trading network and licenses in the Western Continent, and even enjoys considerable fame in the Eastern Continent and the Empire.

According to Jiang Shanlin, if the acquisition of this auction company is successful, it will only take some time to expand and develop its trading network in the Eastern Continent, which will further enhance its coverage and operational capabilities. If this takes too long, another small local auction house can be acquired and its business incorporated into "Vinaen International Auction Company" to improve its network structure.

Regardless of the method chosen, this is not a difficult task for the "Historical Relics Protection and Research Foundation," headquartered in the Empire. After all, under Jiang Shanlin's management and with Zhang Jing's continuous investment, the foundation's trading network and staff have now spread throughout the country, and it has also gained its own reputation in the industry. Nowadays, many industry exhibitions and collaborations invite the "Historical Relics Protection and Research Foundation" to send representatives, and some media outlets are even quite interested in the chairman of this newly emerging foundation. However, Zhang Jing never attends these events, leaving them all to be handled at Jiang Shanlin's discretion.

In the phone call just now, Jiang Shanlin said that he had connected with the other party and started preliminary price inquiries and negotiations. According to his idea, he wanted to keep the other party waiting for a while so that he could further reduce the price. After all, it seems that they do not have any strong competitors. Compared with those guys who are just looking to get a bargain, the "Historical Relics Protection and Research Foundation" is undoubtedly the most powerful and sincere. As long as the general situation of the capital market does not change, Jiang Shanlin felt that, based on the other party's somewhat eager mentality, he could further reduce the price.

Zhang Jing was certainly happy to see the price go down, but compared to Jiang Shanlin, he understood better that, given the current situation, the major problem with the leap experiment could not be hidden for long. When the fluctuations in the capital market made it impossible for any party to conceal it, the bomb would eventually explode; it was only a matter of time.

If the foundation has not yet reached an acquisition agreement before the scandal breaks, then Enrico may change its mind. After all, if it turns out that there are major problems with the technological direction of deep space exploration, then the Enrico family has no reason to jump into this pit.

Therefore, Zhang Jing reminded Jiang Shanlin of this issue during the phone call just now and asked him to seize the opportunity presented by the window of opportunity.

Fortunately, Jiang Shanlin, as a professional manager, has always shown great respect for and obedience to Zhang Jing's wishes in terms of business operations. He does not act on his own initiative due to seniority or personal preferences. This is one of the reasons why Zhang Jing is satisfied with him. After all, it is indeed difficult to find obedient and capable subordinates. If it weren't for the promise letter, he doesn't know if he could have found such a suitable professional manager.

Volume Two! The True Father Hidden Behind the History Books: Chapter 755, Section 15, Chapter 9, The Taoist Priest's Picture

Lu Bian Siling was testing Zhang Wojing on the questions, while Zhang Wojing and Shan Shan made a pot of tea for him. The tea they were drinking was Longxu tea from their own tea mountain. Due to the influence of the guardian spirit, the quality of their tea this year was a whole grade better than that of other regions. In fact, some of the tea had purple buds and leaves, which was a top-grade variety. Even the tea farmers who were picking tea there said they had never seen such tea before.

However, such tea is extremely rare; even by the end of this year's spring tea harvest, only a mere ten catties (approximately 5 kg) had been produced. Zhang Jing didn't have much knowledge of tea, nor was he very clear about the intricacies of this tea. He only knew that these purple-bud dragon whiskers tasted excellent and he could vaguely sense that they were beneficial to his health. He pondered that, perhaps, like the Howling Sky tea at home and the Weasel tea on the back mountain, this was some kind of mutation and couldn't be considered ordinary tea.

Therefore, Zhang Jing did not sell these purple bud dragon whiskers, but collected them all as his own daily tea and for occasional use when entertaining guests.

While sipping tea, I casually picked up a book that meticulously analyzed Western religions and began reading. About half an hour later, the doorbell rang.

A moment later, a maid carried in two large boxes. At Zhang Jing's signal, the maid placed the two large boxes in the study and then left.

This is the latest batch of cultural relics purchased by the foundation from all over the world, totaling 12 items. Since the establishment of the Historical Relics Protection and Research Foundation, the foundation has collected 358 ancient artifacts from all over the world, spending a total of more than 100 million yuan. It is no exaggeration to say that the foundation spends money like water.

It's no wonder that Jiang Shanlin sometimes worries that Zhang Jing, the sole investor, might eventually be unable to support such expenses and withdraw his investment.

Zhang Jing is currently storing these collected artifacts in the storeroom of Zhang Taihe's Changchun Temple. Because the quantity is too large, he does not have the energy to judge the function of each one, so he has entrusted them to his teacher, Zhang Taihe, for handling. As a fourth-level cultivator, Zhang Taihe has sufficient ability to identify these items, deal with any problems that may arise, and record them in the archives for future reference.

Currently, these ancient artifacts contain a large number of cultivation methods and scriptures of various paths, as well as a variety of treasures. Although many treasures are damaged due to their age and require repair before they can be used again, and the scriptures also suffer from numerous issues such as incomplete sets, partial damage or missing parts, lack of prerequisite or advanced cultivation methods, Zhang Jing still feels that the gains are worthwhile compared to the money spent. Not to mention, there are quite a few truly valuable items among them…

Of course, according to Zhang Taihe, not all of these antiquities are good; some of them are dangerous and have been sealed away.

In addition, a lost cave was discovered. Because the exploration and organization of the previously discovered caves are still ongoing, this cave is currently sealed off and has not been explored.

Zhang Jing believes that as the foundation continues to operate, he will collect even more items. It is precisely because of these continuous ancient relics that he is confident in restoring those legendary sects and bringing them to life in this world.

Zhang Jing put the two large boxes in front of him into his storage bead. After thinking for a moment, he decided to go there first.

He reached out and fiddled with a ring with a scrolling grass pattern on his left index finger. Immediately, a faint mist rose around him. In a few breaths, the mist thickened, and within the mist, an ancient bronze door appeared before Zhang Jing.

Their gaze fell upon the gate adorned with intricate patterns and mysterious designs, and in the very center of that gate stood a massive and bizarre bronze beast head, which slowly opened its eyes.

"Greetings, young master." The beast-headed creature lowered its eyelids and respectfully greeted Zhang Jing.

"Open the door," Zhang Jing said, nodding as he looked at it.

"As you wish." The beast head nodded to him, and then the bronze door opened slowly without wind, creaking and groaning. Behind the opened door was a dark, gloomy void, as if swallowed by black mist.

Zhang Jing had gone through this process many times before and was used to it. He lifted his leg and stepped into the doorway...