Chapter 120: 119, Faith And Wealth, Paris Auction House
Seeing Fang Wen’s actions, Lin Shuiwang also came over to pretend to pray.
But he said in a low voice:
“Mister, you believe in this too?”
Although his voice was low, it was still noticed by the people in front.
Someone stopped first, and others also realized the current situation and stood up one after another.
They formed three groups again.
People from both sides were watching Fang Wen.
“Did you know there was a holy relic here long ago?” Indiana asked.
The Weimar officer who spoke English also spoke up: “Is that the treasure you wanted?”
Fang Wen nodded.
“No.” Both sides refused almost in unison.
This was the difference in faith between Eastern and Western cultures.
Western faith emphasizes devotion and loyalty to faith.
Eastern faith is more practical: today I can worship this god, tomorrow I can worship another, as long as the deity fulfills my wishes.
Whether Catholics, Protestants, or believers of other denominations, they all have special feelings toward the True Cross.
Fang Wen, coming from a later era, could understand the current situation from a perspective different from people of this time.
He deliberately showed a surprised expression.
“Why?”
“I want to take it back to Cologne Cathedral, to where it belongs, to receive the worship of believers,” the Weimar officer replied.
Fang Wen looked at Indiana.
Indiana gave a similar answer: “Trinity Church in New York Manhattan is its best destination. Compared to the poor Weimar Republic, we can provide it with the best protection.”
The argument started again, but this time, both sides’ weapons were in Fang Wen and Lin Shuiwang’s hands, so there was no worry about anyone getting shot.
Fang Wen, who had already gotten the real treasure, acted as the peacemaker.
“If you must have this treasure, I’m willing to give it up. My suggestion is to first transport everything to the dock, otherwise, if dawn comes, it might be discovered.”
Fang Wen once again played a buffering role. Without him, the items couldn’t be transported from Turkey back to Europe, so both sides were willing to listen to him.
Besides, what if tourists came to the island during the day tomorrow and discovered something?
Immediately, everyone temporarily set aside the dispute and began transporting the items.
But they were still uneasy about the True Cross, so they left a German army officer, Indiana’s telegraph operator Roberto Kerr, and Lin Shuiwang to guard it.
The rest began transporting the treasure.
They cleared out the decayed and broken leather armor and scabbards, taking off the gemstones and gold ornaments on them.
The rest of the intact discolored gold, silver, and various jewelry were all taken out.
The large boat rented from the lake during the day to pull the iron ring became the best treasure transport tool.
Because the wooden boxes loaded with treasure were all rotten, everyone took off their jackets to hold the treasure and happily ran outside.
Under the attraction of wealth, everyone was full of energy. After two round trips, the kingdom’s treasure from a thousand years ago was transported onto the large boat’s deck.
The last thing left was the True Cross.
For such a possible holy relic, they didn’t dare touch it with their hands to avoid desecration.
Instead, they wrapped the exposed parts of their arms with clothing before carefully transporting it.
It wasn’t easy to lift the huge cross out of the underground passage.
Although the passage was designed to allow the cross through, there wasn’t much space left on both sides.
The transporters could only exert force at the front and back ends, with four people in the middle providing back support.
Fang Wen and Lin Shuiwang did not participate in this dangerous and sacred activity; one was in front and one in back directing.
Seven officers, Roberto Kerr, and Indiana became the labor for transporting the True Cross.
Every twenty meters, they would stop, and four people would take turns supporting from below the cross. They walked and stopped, taking more time than transporting the other treasure, before reaching the uphill part of the passage.
That was also the most dangerous spot; if the middle and rear people couldn’t hold it, the cross would slide backward.
To solve this problem.
Two officers left the passage and brought in the rope previously used to pull the iron ring.
The rope was carefully tied to both sides of the cross’s crossbar, then five people pulled hard from outside, four supported from below, and with inside-outside cooperation, the holy relic from a thousand years ago finally saw the light of day again.
Afterward, they buried the passage entrance with stones and soil, put the cross on the large boat, and returned to the dock under the cover of night.
In the dock’s wooden house, a large amount of treasure was piled on the floor.
To prevent it from leaking under the floor, they laid a bed sheet, and the cross was placed upright on the north side of the room.
Everyone was there, and Fang Wen presided over this temporary treasure redistribution meeting.
“Gentlemen, now the treasure has been retrieved. From the weight of these treasures, it will probably take two trips to transport it back. But the problem now is that you have objections to the allocation of that cross, and there must be a result before we can start transporting. I understand your special feelings for the cross. Here I declare that I voluntarily give up the allocation rights to the cross and replace it with other treasure. Next, please state your opinions.”
After Fang Wen finished speaking, he sat down. In this meeting, he was the host and also an outsider, curious to see what would happen.
Anyway, everyone was disarmed, so even if they fought, it wouldn’t be a big deal.
Roberto Kerr spoke first: “I think we should decide by everyone’s faith. I’m Baptist.”
Under his proposal, everyone stated their faith denominations.
Indiana was Anglican, so he chose to send the cross to Trinity Church in New York Manhattan.
The Weimar soldiers weren’t all of the same denomination; some were Catholic, others Protestant.
It could be said that this proposal wasn’t good and instead made things more complicated.
Afterward, both sides engaged in fierce argument again.
This argument had no result; neither side was willing to give up.
Fang Wen and Lin Shuiwang watched from the side.
Lin Shuiwang said in a low voice: “It’s indeed tricky where to house this immortal. In my hometown, inviting a god isn’t done casually.”
Fang Wen had a thought: if nowhere was good, why not build a new church and enshrine it inside?
He voiced this idea.
The argument stopped immediately.
This suggestion seemed feasible.
Fang Wen continued along his line of thinking: “If your faiths are so devout, why not build a church together and place the True Cross inside? It wouldn’t represent any denomination; it would just be the holy relic left by Jesus, for all who believe in Jesus to revere together. If you agree, I’m willing to give up ten percent of the profit sharing to invest in the church’s construction.”
Everyone was silent, then discussed quietly among themselves.
Indiana stated: “Roberto Kerr and I agree and are willing to donate ten percent of our portion.”
The Weimar officers also made the same statement: “We agree too, to take ten percent for building the church to house the True Cross. The question is, where to build it?”
Seeing the discussion about to continue.
Fang Wen quickly stopped them: “Gentlemen, where to build it is something for you to discuss later. I must return to Europe as soon as possible, finish the profit sharing, and then go back to Asia. What we need to do now is find some bags, pack everything up, and tonight I will transport the first batch of treasure back to Paris.”
Everyone nodded one after another. Only when the items reached Europe could they be considered secured; talking too much now was pointless.
So, after dawn, some people went to nearby Van and bought back a large number of canvas bags.
The entire following day was spent cleaning, sorting, and packing.
Meanwhile, Fang Wen was inspecting the Ford Trimotor and refueling it.
Time reached evening just like that.
Fang Wen and Lin Shuiwang removed the cover cloth from the Ford Trimotor.
Others carried canvas bags one by one out of the room.
First they weighed them, recording the weight and number on the label at the mouth of the canvas bag.
After boarding check, they carefully placed them in the cabin.
The items in each bag were different, with varying weights. Lin Shuiwang calculated the total weight in the cabin, and when it reached the airplane’s payload, he immediately reported to Fang Wen.
“Mister, it’s already 2000 kilograms.”
The Ford Trimotor’s payload was 2.5 tons, and there still needed to be two escorts.
Fang Wen called to stop further loading: “That’s enough. How much is left?”
Indiana ran back to the room and came out with statistics: “Only 3 bags. The problem is how to transport the cross on the next trip?”
This problem was indeed tricky; the cross’s width was much larger than the boarding gate and simply wouldn’t fit.
Fang Wen replied: “After returning, I’ll pay to have the cabin door modified into a sliding door, so the boarding gate opening can accommodate the cross. Also, the seats in the cabin will be removed. No need to worry about this. Now, who is going back with me?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Roberto Kerr and the English-speaking Weimar officer stepped forward.
They had been prepared long ago.
Immediately, the two followed Fang Wen into the airplane. The Ford Trimotor accelerated on the road, laboriously climbing into the sky.
At the moment of takeoff, because the weight reached the limit, it looked a bit risky, but once in the sky, there was little impact.
The airplane flew northwest under the cover of night.
From Lake Van to Paris, the range was 3000 kilometers.
This time, it wouldn’t land in Istanbul but fly directly over the Black Sea, pass through Bucharest in Romania, Budapest in Hungary, and land at a southern farm in Vienna.
It took 10 hours, arriving in Vienna at 3 a.m.
They completed the transaction with people at the farm again, and an ox cart dragged large drums of fuel to refuel the airplane.
After filling up with fuel, the Ford Trimotor took off again.
It flew from night into sunrise.
6 hours later, the airplane appeared over Paris and landed on the runway at the Farman Aircraft Factory in the suburbs.
Farman executives who had been pre-arranged came to greet them and brought a rented truck.
They loaded the thirty canvas bags onto the truck. Fang Wen drove the truck, the other two climbed into the carriage, and they drove into the urban area of Paris.
The truck went straight into the Ile-de-France area in central Paris.
That was where many art collection enthusiasts gathered, and also Paris’s art transaction center.
There were the best private item storage companies, as well as institutions providing on-site authentication and auctions.
The truck stopped outside a classical house. Roberto Kerr entered the room accompanied by the English-speaking officer, while Fang Wen stayed in the truck waiting.
After a while inside, Roberto Kerr used the contact method given by Indiana to find an auction house manager.
This auction house also operated private valuables storage services, perfectly able to handle item valuation and storage, as well as signing insurance contracts.
Subsequently, ten security guards from the auction house came downstairs and, under the watch of Roberto Kerr and the Weimar officer, transported the 30 canvas bags to the second floor.
Once everything was transported, the auction house appraisers began opening the canvas bags one by one to appraise the items inside.
From the first canvas bag opened, exclamations from the appraisers rang out.
They put on special microscopic glasses and carefully observed each item, giving evaluations.
“This is a Byzantine-style artifact. My god, it even has Emperor Basil II’s mark on it.”
“There are also Armenian-style ornaments; these styles are very rare.”
The auction house manager said eagerly: “If we can auction it at our auction house, it will definitely attract many collectors. This batch is very rare. We can waive part of the storage fee.”
Fang Wen and the other two exchanged looks and reached a tacit understanding. Wealth was best cashed out; holding it too long brought risks and was hard to preserve.
They had come with this plan in mind.
But not yet; the auction could only proceed after all members returned to Paris.
Therefore, they agreed with the auction house to hold it in a week, with pre-heating now, but the origin of these auction items must be kept confidential.
In response, the auction house manager patted his chest, guaranteeing no leaks; their business relied on credit.
They paid the storage and insurance fees, and under the insurance company’s third-party supervision, all items were transported into the vault.
With matters settled, holding a stack of documents, Fang Wen and the other two drove the truck back to the aircraft manufacturing plant.
There, Fang Wen discussed with the Farman executives, willing to pay a hefty fee to modify the Ford Trimotor’s boarding gate into a sliding door, so the opening could accommodate the cross. Also, all seats in the cabin needed to be removed.
For an old airplane about to be phased out, money to earn meant no problem; the Farman people gladly agreed and immediately arranged workers for the modification.
Taking this time, the three casually got some food at the manufacturing plant and rested in the hangar.
Half a day passed, and under heavy rewards, the workers completed the hangar door modification.
Fang Wen was called to wake up for inspection.
The sliding door opened 3 meters from left to right, nearly opening one side completely, and the seats inside were all removed.
This width could fit the cross, and with the Ford Trimotor’s wider-at-the-bottom internal structure, the cross could even lie flat in the cabin.
With this modification, the subsequent transport would have no issues.
After nightfall, the airplane took off again, following the original flight path back to Lake Van.
Upon returning to Lake Van, the treasure hunting team members who had waited a day asked their teammates about what they saw and heard in Paris. When they learned the auction would be in a week, they were overjoyed.
Another day of rest and waiting during the day.
At night, everyone wrapped their hands with cloth bags and carefully lifted the cross out of the room into the cabin.
This time, everyone would go back together. To ensure payload, all brought supplies, including diving suits, were sunk into the lake to destroy evidence.
Afterward, everyone carefully boarded the airplane, curling up in the four areas separated by the cross, and flew toward Paris, the land of wealth hopes.
