Chapter 16 Seize the Opportunity

  "The ceramics of the Song Dynasty are renowned worldwide, and now foreigners are imitating them. The Song Dynasty ceramics can be divided into six major categories in the north and south. In the northern region, there are Dingyao, Yaozhou, Junyao, and Cizhou kilns. In the southern region, there are Longquan celadon and Jingdezhen white porcelain! I only know these about Song Dynasty ceramics." Deng Zixuan said with joy, looking at the newly cleaned ceramics.

  After the ceramics were transported home, Deng Zixuan immediately ordered his brothers to clean them. Especially when the 12 sealed boxes were opened, inside were ceramic bottles, vases, and various ceramics, which were dazzling and varied in shape. What was most shocking was that the ceramics in the boxes were all radiant and spotless.

  "Master Deng, the colors of these porcelain are almost all green and white with floral patterns. Are they from the north or south?" Chen Jintang asked excitedly.

  "These should be Longquan celadon and Jingdezhen white porcelain from southern China. Unfortunately, I haven't studied ceramics, I only know a little about it. However, Song dynasty porcelain is very valuable because there are not many in the world. It's true that rarity makes something precious, I didn't expect this to be an unexpected fortune."

  "Brother, brother! Mother said you're back, and indeed you are!" Eldest son De strode in hastily. "Thanks for your concern, big brother!" Deng Zixuan greeted him with a bow. "Our family isn't short of pots and pans, what's the point of messing around with these ceramics?" Deng Dexu picked up a Qinghua porcelain bowl and suddenly froze, "Brother, this is Song Dynasty porcelain, where did you get it from?" Dexu was shocked. "It was Chen Ge and his crew who found it on a deserted island!" Zixuan shifted the blame away from himself.

  "Zixuan, you should have a share too! Song Dynasty porcelain is very valuable now. I know an antique shop owner, let him come and appraise it." Zide said with shining eyes, clearly trying to curry favor.

  "Just in time to estimate the price of this batch of porcelain, go invite the boss over! Brother, I won't treat you unfairly."

  Zide was overjoyed after hearing this, and carefully examined the porcelain, seemingly reluctant to part with it. Fortunately, he didn't see the 12 boxes of dazzling porcelain, or who knows what would have happened.

  After Zide was satisfied, he immediately went to invite the antique shop owner.

  "Brother, if you want to have a share of the profits, I, as your brother, cannot be stingy!" Chen Jintang said tentatively. "I have great use for these porcelain pieces, but giving him a few porcelain bowls is acceptable." Deng Zixuan replied lightly. An hour later, Zi De brought the antique shop owner over. After exchanging greetings, Deng Zixuan sized up the visitor, seeing that he was in his 50s, with sparse eyebrows and a pair of narrow eyes, with an obvious fake braid hanging behind him, and a small hat on his head serving to cover up his ugliness. Deng Zixuan made up his mind not to let him see the 12 boxes of porcelain, but instead have him appraise scattered pieces of porcelain, which would also reveal their value.

  "Old master! Let's not exchange pleasantries, if you speak the truth and don't deceive me, I'll give you two Qinghua porcelain bowls for free!" Deng Zixuan said with his hands clasped together. The old man picked up one of the Qinghua porcelain bowls, suddenly narrowing his eyes and widening them again. He took out an old magnifying glass from his pocket and examined it carefully, then shook his head and said: "This Qinghua porcelain bowl is a Longquan celadon official kiln product from the Southern Song Dynasty, it's a top-grade item. Look at this pattern, it's beautiful but not gaudy, the glaze color is pale blue, the tone is elegant and refined..."

  After listening to the old man's introduction, Deng Zixuan was extremely shocked. He gave two Qinghua porcelain bowls to the old man, who left with satisfaction. Then he also gave his brother 10 Qinghua porcelain bowls plus a porcelain bottle, and Zi De had nothing to say. Deng Zixuan savored the old man's detailed explanation and appraisal, and roughly calculated in his heart that these Song Dynasty porcelains were worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. A single Qinghua porcelain bowl was worth 1,000 taels of silver, which was simply priceless, what a treasure! This is truly a treasure.

  The next day, Deng Zixuan taught the children for a day and found that they had made great progress. Their self-study ability had improved significantly, which made Deng Zixuan very happy. Due to the use of Arabic numerals in calculations, the children's math calculation skills also advanced rapidly. Therefore, Deng Zixuan decided that from next year on, not only would they learn new subjects such as physics, but he would also teach them English. He believed that if they wanted to grasp modern world scientific knowledge, not knowing English was absolutely impossible.

  On this day, after careful consideration, Deng Zixuan decided to sell a batch of porcelain and then cooperate with the British to open a match factory. Early in the morning, Deng Zixuan carried two Qinghua porcelain bowls to the EWO Shipping Company. "Oh! Old friend, it's been a long time since we've seen each other, where did Mr. Deng go to make his fortune?" Charlie came up and hugged him as soon as they met, as if they were old friends meeting again. "Mr. Charlie, I went to the south and got a batch of porcelain!" "Porcelain?" Charlie's eyes widened. Deng Zixuan took out one of the porcelain bowls from the box and said: "Mr. Charlie, this is a Song Dynasty Qinghua porcelain bowl, according to current market prices, a single Qinghua porcelain bowl is worth 1000 taels of silver, I'm giving it to you!"

  "Ah, Mr. Deng, you're too generous! Is this really for me?" Charlie exclaimed loudly, his eyes widening in surprise as he took the porcelain bowl from Deng and examined it carefully, clearly an aficionado of ceramics. "Mr. Deng, our acquaintance is not deep, yet you give me such a valuable gift. According to your Qing dynasty's unwritten rules, do you have some request of me?" Charlie asked with a shrewd gaze at Deng. "Charlie, sir, you are indeed a astute businessman," Deng replied, "I was thinking of entrusting you to host an auction for the porcelain in my possession, on the condition that it be limited to foreigners only, I don't want to stir up a big commotion."

  "OK! No problem, the reputation of EWO is first-class!" Charlie was overjoyed and ordered his subordinates to bring wine. "Mr. Deng, cheers to our cooperation!" "Cheers to our cooperation!" Both parties clinked their glasses together. A few days later, Deng Zixuan took out half of the porcelain and carefully packed them into specially made boxes with Chen Jintang and other brothers, then transported the porcelain to EWO. At this time, in front of the EWO building, there were many cars and horses passing by, and many foreign ladies had come to join in the excitement.

  Deng Zixuan chose to hold an auction, which was in line with the foreigners' style. Moreover, he had to sell at a good price, and the auction would invisibly drive up the price through competition. As he walked into the foreign trading company's auction hall, seeing so many blond-haired and blue-eyed foreigners, Deng Zixuan knew that the auction would definitely be successful. Soon, one by one, the porcelain pieces revealed their true value, and the scene became lively. With the final hammer falling, the last piece of porcelain was sold to its new owner, and the auction ended with great success. After the dust settled, Deng Zixuan checked and found that he had sold 720,000 taels of silver. Wow! This was only half of the porcelain pieces. It's worth noting that foreigners have a special affection for Chinese porcelain. In their eyes, owning a piece of Song Dynasty porcelain is a matter of great pride and something to show off.

  The auction ended with great fanfare, and not only did Deng Zixuan reap a handsome profit. Charlie also gained a windfall, because the silver coins that Deng Zixuan earned were naturally stored at the HSBC bank. "Mr. Charlie! Thank you for your help, I'm deeply grateful. To show my appreciation for Mr. Charlie's kindness, I've decided to do a personal business deal with him!" "What kind of business can we do between us, Mr. Deng?" Charlie was deeply shocked and knew that at present, the Qing government people were afraid of being cheated by foreigners, let alone doing business together.

  Deng Zixuan smiled and said, "Mr. Charlie! I understand your thoughts. But I admire the adventurous spirit of you foreigners, and at the same time, I am also a man who follows the rules. Now that the government is encouraging private enterprises to set up factories, I was thinking of cooperating with Mr. Charlie himself to run a factory?"

  "Mr. Deng! Running a factory is not my expertise, and the risk is too great for our cooperation to work out, I'm afraid it's not possible, I regret to say!" Charlie immediately declined.

  "Mr. Charlie, would you like to hear my terms?" "Please go ahead!" "Mr. Charlie, as you know I'm just a commoner, setting up a factory is easy, but facing the government makes me nervous, to be honest, dealing with them consumes a lot of energy, and one mistake can ruin everything. So I need Mr. Charlie to use his identity as a British citizen as a shield!" Charlie's eyes rolled around and he said: "Mr. Deng, I understand what you mean, tell me your terms?"

  Deng Zixuan smiled and said, "Mr. Charlie! Our cooperation is a surefire win-win situation for you. I promise to bear all the costs, and you'll be responsible for purchasing machinery, steam engines, hiring engineers and technicians! After the factory makes a profit, I'll give you 20% of the profits!" Charlie heard this and thought it was too good to be true: "What kind of factory do you want to set up?" "A match factory!" "Mr. Deng, setting up a match factory is easy, but the patent for matches needs to be purchased, and you may not know that patents are very expensive!"

  "Mr. Charlie, to be honest with you, I only need the machinery equipment. The safety match formula I can come up with myself!" Then Deng Zixuan casually mentioned the formula for the matches. To be frank, even Charlie wasn't clear about the formula for the matches. Charlie hesitated and said: "Mr. Deng, there's a saying that goes 'seeing is believing', if I see your match formula, we can discuss cooperation matters further!" "No problem, I'll send over the formula in two days. However, I must say something unpleasant beforehand, if you lack sincerity, I will cooperate with the French, Americans, and Germans!" "Mr. Deng! Please believe a banker's sincerity!" "Alright! It's settled then!"

  On that day, Deng Zixuan bought a lot of sulfur, red phosphorus, and other necessary materials at the foreigner's store. After returning home, he rushed into his room and ordered no one to disturb him for two days. The formula for safety matches is not difficult for an ordinary middle school student like Deng Zixuan, as long as they have the conditions. He mixed sulfur, red phosphorus, and a binder together, then mixed red phosphorus and antimony sulfide (dissolved in concentrated sulfuric acid) with a binder. The next step was simple: he made match heads and matchsticks separately, and after drying them with an alcohol lamp, the matches were complete.

  But the experimental results were extremely disappointing, either not igniting or the medicine head falling off. Deng Zixuan knew that the formula and dosage were unreasonable, and it seemed that only repeated experimentation could solve the problem. After several days of repeated experimentation, the dosage issue was finally resolved. He then made dozens of matches and put them in a small wooden box, sticking medicinal stickers on the outside of the box. Finally, he carefully recorded all the experimental data, and the safety match was born.

  Charlie could hardly believe his eyes when he saw the safety matches, and after repeated rubbing and ignition, there was no doubt. Charlie is a shrewd banker who won't let go of any benefits. The next step was to discuss cooperation, and soon both parties reached an agreement. Before signing the contract, Deng Zixuan said: "Mr. Charlie, I have additional conditions!" "What additional conditions?" Charlie's eyes widened. "Firstly, Mr. Charlie is responsible for purchasing the machine, and payment will be made after the machine arrives. Secondly, the steam engine comes with a generator. Thirdly, I need to purchase equipment and technology for manufacturing sulfuric acid. Fourthly, in addition to hiring engineers and technicians, I need to hire a manager! Fifthly, I want to establish a transportation fleet and affiliate it with the EWO Shipping Company!"

  "Mr. Deng, you must take out 50% of your deposits in our bank as a guarantee!" "It's settled!" "Nice doing business with you!" They clinked their cups together to celebrate.