Starting My Treasure Hunting In England

It snowed several times in London before Christmas, so that Liang En, who was driving with a bunch of things, had to tighten his nerves. Although the guns had been sent to the White Knight before, he felt that these jewelry were still It is better to send it yourself.

Fortunately, the newly acquired card gave him good driving skills. In addition, the performance of the off-road vehicle previously auctioned by the court was indeed good, so they arrived at the Corinthia Hotel in London smoothly.

This hotel is a typical British style hotel. The hotel's predecessor can be traced back to 1885, during the reign of Queen Victoria, and was the famous Grand Metropole hotel at that time.

It was requisitioned as the British Ministry of Defense office building in 1936. During World War II, Prime Minister Churchill strategized here. It also served as the headquarters of the British Military Intelligence Special Agency MI9.

Comic artist Jaroslav Horak once depicted the building as the military intelligence headquarters visited by James Bond 007, which gave the hotel a lot of fame.

In 2008, the Pisani family successfully bid for the building and became the lifelong owners of the building after succeeding the British royal family. Then, after 3 years and an investment of 320 million pounds, this historical building was turned into an elegant and gorgeous hotel space. Become the group's flagship store.

One of London's most luxurious hotels, the hotel's design is both classic and contemporary. The guest rooms are spacious, the tall glass windows provide good lighting, and smart technology is also used in the rooms, which is very user-friendly.

After walking into the lobby through the sliding door, the first thing that catches the eye is the twinkling crystal chandelier "Full Moon" designed by Parisian designer Chafik Gasmi and produced by Baccarat, a famous French crystal products store.

The crystal lamp is composed of 1,001 crystals, so beautiful. Below the crystal lamp is a round table with glass mirror. The crystal ball above is like big beads falling on a jade plate. The light and shadow flicker so psychedelically. The top of the round table is filled with the most blooming daffodils in the UK in spring.

"This hotel is selling one of their top seven suites recently." Liang En said in a low voice while looking at the splendid lobby. "It costs £11 million."

"A suite costs 11 million pounds. Sure enough, I can't understand the thinking of those rich people at all." Joan of Arc replied quietly in French, "But this is also good news. I am somewhat optimistic about this auction now."

Joan of Arc was not optimistic about this auction before, because when Liang En said that he had a batch of antique jewelry and firearms for sale, the auction staff seemed very excited.

The reason why the other party is so excited is also very simple, that is, compared to various treasures, auctions are now in great demand for these auction items that have stories behind them and have historical value but are not too expensive.

The reason for this situation is also very simple: not everyone among the participants is rich, but since they can come here, it is best to spend some, otherwise they will easily be marginalized by their social circle.

That's why these gadgets, which are regarded as warm-up auction items, are taken so seriously by the auction house, because they can make those who are tight on money look good.

After all, not all of those nobles have money, and if those nobles don't show up, at least half of the money in the auction will be lost, so the level of this auction will naturally not be as high as it is now.

This also made Joan feel a sense of disillusionment. At least these nobles who relied on the name of their ancestors had completely broken her original view of the nobles in her mind.

"It seems that my family is one of the better off among the nobles." Joan of Arc smiled, "I didn't see any business talent among my brothers back then."

Of course, not all of the auction items that Liang En brought this time were such unsaleable trinkets. As a newcomer attending this auction for the first time, he still brought some very valuable things.

"Be careful, this box is still very heavy inside." Liang En reminded when he saw the workers carrying things. At this time, they were led by the auction organizer to the side door of the hotel and started carrying work.

Inside the box are two pieces of gold, each weighing 400 ounces, or about 12.5kg. They are standard international trade gold ingots. The biggest difference between this gold ingot and ordinary gold ingots is the stamp printed on it.

Judging from the stamp on this gold nugget, this gold nugget came from the Kazan treasury of Tsarist Russia, and was later taken to the Far East by Kolchak and finally taken away by the Czech Legion.

Although most of this batch of gold eventually became the national reserve of Czechoslovakia, Legion Bank still kept a small part, and Liang En and the others finally found three such gold bricks in that batch of treasure.

At this auction, Liang En planned to sell such a gold brick. Because of the history condensed in this gold brick, it would not be inappropriate to enter such a high-end auction.

After completing the handover of items, Liang En also received the key to the guest room. As soon as they entered the room, they saw the auction brochure placed on the table.

"There are some things here that are not considered clean." After briefly looking at the things on this pedigree, Joan frowned, because it was written unabashedly that the sources of some things were not very legal.

"But if you pay attention, you will find that although the sources of these things are not clean, they are in compliance with the law." Liang En smiled with a helpless expression on his face.

As we all know, those Europeans robbed almost the entire world back then, so they had a large amount of wealth plundered from all over the world.

Therefore, when they relied on their international status to formulate laws in this area, they naturally did not forget to include private goods in it to launder these things.

The reason why this auction writes such things in such detail on the list is purely because the guests at this auction are all people with status and status, so this kind of information must be written clearly to avoid disputes later. .

After all, for these people, no one wants to be involved in complex legal disputes for other people's reasons. After all the contents are clearly written, even if something goes wrong, it will be the buyer's own problem.

For this reason, there are two iron rules for auctions: on the one hand, it is forbidden to sell illegal things, and on the other hand, it is forbidden to conceal the true origin of those things.

"It's really disgusting." Although she is a European, Joan of Arc's morality makes her feel that this kind of thing is not something worth showing off, but a shame.

Of course, as someone who was able to unite the entire French military, Joan of Arc is not the kind of moral gentleman who likes to preach. She does not intend to prevent others from doing these things. At most, she just does not buy things from unclean sources. That’s all.

The day or so before the auction started was reserved for guests attending the auction to communicate with each other. Under the introduction of the members of Golden Dawn, Liang En met many big shots who came to attend the auction.

Of course, this kind of understanding is just a familiarity, but it is a good start for Liang En. Although he does not like this kind of social activities very much, some things are necessary, so he should naturally learn to adapt to all this. .