Happy Tycoon

There are 13 paintings, 8 oil paintings, and 5 sketches in total.

These oil paintings are all spread out flat on the big bed in the hotel room, because they can't put it down, there are also several unfolded paintings on the table and chairs in this room.

And among all the oil paintings spread out on the big bed, the middle painting directly made Lin Dan's eyes unable to move away.

"God, don't tell me that this painting is that painting!" Lin Dan was a little at a loss, even speaking incoherently.

Yang Jing smiled and nodded and said: "If I am not mistaken, this painting should be that painting!"

"Wow," Lin Dan screamed, and almost fit and jumped on it, but he stopped abruptly by the bed.

"Brother Yang, can I, can I touch her?"

"Yes, but you'd better put on gloves first. You know, the value of this painting is now at least more than $300 million!"

It was an oil painting. In a slightly gloomy room, a man was sitting with his back facing the front. On the left and right sides of the man, there were two girls. The **** the left was playing the piano, and the **** the right. 'S girl is standing, seeming to be talking to the man.

Lin Dan hesitated, then shook his head and said, "Forget it, I still don't touch it, I'm so careful that I'm afraid of touching her."

Yang Jing smiled without saying a word.

In fact, Yang Jing was taken aback when he saw these paintings for the first time, and when he used the holy ring to appraise these paintings, even he was a little at a loss.

Up to now, only Yang Jing and Lin Dan knew about these paintings. Even Chris Barton and John Bruno didn't know about these paintings. As soon as they returned to the room, Yang Jing let them rest, and don't come to him if there is nothing to do.

The two bodyguards naturally knew why this was, and they consciously never came to Yang Jing.

It's not that Yang Jingxin, but these two bodyguards, is really too much involved in these 13 paintings.

Without him, these 13 paintings are swag! And it was also a stolen property known as "the biggest theft in American history."

On March 17, 1990, that day was the biggest carnival in Boston, the United States-St. Patrick's Carnival.

Every March 17th is St. Patrick's Day in the West, also called "Green Hat Festival". This holiday originated in Ireland at the end of the 5th century. In 1737, some Irish gentlemen and businessmen gathered in Boston, Massachusetts, USA to commemorate St. Patrick and established the Irish Charity Society. Since then, the United States has celebrated this holiday every year. On St. Patrick’s Day in the United States, people usually hold parades, church services, and dinners.

On this day, Boston also fell into a carnival.

But no one of these carnivals noticed. Just next to the famous Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of Art in Boston, there are two sneaky figures sitting in a red Dodge Daytona, waiting for the carnival. The people eventually dispersed.

Soon after the early hours of the morning, the carnival Boston citizens slowly dispersed, and then at about one in the morning, two guys in police uniforms got out of the Dodge Daytona.

The two guys in police uniforms pressed the alarm at the entrance of the museum and told the security personnel in the museum that they had heard abnormal noises in the park and needed to check in.

Security personnel at the museum understand that uninvited guests should not be allowed into the museum late at night, but they don’t know whether this rule is effective for the police. So the security officer Abate decided to open the door. After opening the door, the "policeman" suddenly said that he looked familiar, like a wanted criminal, so he was asked to show his ID. The "policeman" ordered him to face the wall and handcuffed him.

Abate originally thought this must be a misunderstanding, but later he realized that the two "policemen" didn't search his body before handcuffing him. In addition, he found that the beard of one of the police officers seemed to be made of wax...

There were only two security personnel in the museum that night. After another security personnel arrived, he was handcuffed by two "policemen". When they asked the "policeman" why they were arrested, the "policeman" was very honest:

"You were not arrested. We just came to rob."

So two security personnel were taken to the basement of the museum.

Eighty-one minutes later, the two pretending police officers walked into multiple exhibition halls, took down the famous paintings on the wall one by one in a leisurely manner, and then selectively snatched up to 13 famous paintings. .

Among them are five sketches by Edgar Degas, a representative of French impressionism; the same "A French Gentleman" by Edward Manet, a representative of French impressionism; and Rembrandt Hall, a 17th-century Dutch painter Manson Van Rein’s works "A Storm on the Sea of ​​Galilee" and "Portrait of Men and Women in a Black Background" and a self-portrait of Rembrandt. Among them, "A Storm on the Sea of ​​Galilee" is Rembrandt’s The only seascape painting in Zhi's paintings.

In addition, three works by the famous Flemish painter in the 17th century in the Netherlands and early representative of the Baroque school, Peter Paul Russborn, were also stolen by these two courageous guys.

Among the thirteen missing paintings, the most precious one is "The Concert" by the famous Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer in the seventeenth century. Among the only 34 paintings left by Vermeer, this painting is definitely the most valuable one. Some people say that this painting is worth 200 million U.S. dollars, and some people say that this painting is worth up to 2.5 billion U.S. dollars. Anyway, anyway, This "Concert" is definitely the most valuable painting stolen in history.

In that joke-like “robbing case”, a total of 13 masterpieces were stolen. According to the estimated price given by later generations, the value of these 13 masterpieces was as high as 500 million US dollars!

The two brave robbers did not use any offensive weapons, and even took the video tape from the monitor before leaving. Since there was no sirens connected to the police station installed on the back of these paintings, the two robbers had already escaped when they called the police at dawn.

But before the two guys left, they went to the basement again and said to the two security personnel, "You will see us in a year."

But they never appeared again.

Yes, from 1990 to the present, a full 27 years and more than eight months have passed. Not to mention that these two robbers did not reappear. Even the 13 lost masterpieces have never been found. .

The fb in the United States has been inquiring about this case for two decades, but it has never heard of it.

The stolen Gardner Art Museum even offered a $10 million reward, but it turned out to be nothing.

Everyone thought that these thirteen famous paintings might never be in their early days, but now they appear in the room of the hotel where Yang Jing lives.

Actually, Yang Jing didn't know about this famous theft before. After all, this case took place in Boston, USA, and it has been a long time since. Yang Jing was not even born when the case happened.

However, after he identified these 13 paintings with the holy ring, he immediately checked the 13 famous paintings on the Internet, and got a result that made him painful.

As for Lin Dan, although he is of Chinese descent, he is an American born and raised in the United States. In particular, Vermeer's "The Concert" is so famous that he has seen this famous painting several times. Of course, he had also heard of the case that happened that year, so when he first saw the painting, he recognized the origin of the painting at a glance.

Of course, just one piece of "The Concert" almost made Lin Dan dying of his soul, and when he saw the remaining twelve works, he actually returned to his soul.

"Brother Yang, don't tell me that these 13 works are hidden in the warehouse I photographed today."

Yang Jing shrugged and said, "Then where do you think these 13 paintings came from? Did they fly with wings on their own? Or did they fall from the sky? That's right, brother, these 13 paintings came from there. Found in a warehouse"

Lin Dan touched his head, "Brother Yang, how do we deal with these paintings?"

Yang Jing smiled bitterly and said, "What do you say to deal with? I'm worrying about this."

After a pause, Yang Jing asked Lin Dan: "These 13 paintings are stolen goods. It has been confirmed. Although they were not stolen by me, they are in my hands. You said, if fb knows, will they take them? Going back?"

Lin Dan also wryly said with a wry smile: "I am not very clear when you ask me about this, but it involves the legal provisions on'good faith acquisition' stipulated in the Uniform Commercial Code of the United States. The Uniform Commercial Code clearly stipulates that The conditions for good faith acquisition, as far as I know, if the deceived or defrauded stolen goods are obtained in good faith, then the police have no right to recover the things obtained in good faith. For example, these 13 paintings were not stolen, but passed It was obtained by fraud or fraud, but now I have obtained it in good faith, so the police have no right to return these 13 paintings. But these 13 paintings were not obtained through fraud or fraud, but looting. Although I have obtained the stolen goods in good faith, I still don’t know whether the stolen goods are protected by the Uniform Commercial Code.”

When Lin Dan said so, Yang Jing understood a little bit. The laws of the United States are not the same as the laws of China, especially the regulations on good at obtaining stolen goods are quite different.

In China’s legal provisions, as long as it is stolen goods, whether you obtained it in good faith or not, you must return the stolen goods obtained in good faith to the original owner. Of course, you can ask the original owner for the expenses you spent in the process of obtaining it in good faith. .

For example, Yang Jing spent two million to buy a landscape painting at an auction, and the landscape painting was later proved to be a stolen property. Then Yang Jing must return the painting to the original owner, but he can ask for it from the original owner. Two million auction fees.

But it's different in the United States.

In the past, the United States treated in good faith acquisitions in the same way as China Xia, no matter what, the stolen goods obtained in good faith must be returned. But with the development of society, this kind of brutal treatment of bona fide acquisitions has become increasingly incompatible with the process of social development, so the United States promulgated the "Uniform Commercial Code", which distinguished bona fides obtained in good faith.

Lin Dan grabbed the phone and made a call. After talking for a long time, Lin Dan put down the phone and said, "I just consulted the company's lawyer. The lawyer told me that there is something about the stolen goods, if I get them in good faith. The original owner and the police also have no right to go back. The Uniform Commercial Code has clear regulations on this area. So, if I don’t want to keep these 13 famous paintings, then there is no problem.” (ps : Lao Mo here to explain. In fact, Article 2-403 in the Uniform Commercial Code of the United States clearly stipulates that all stolen goods shall not be protected in good faith. But here is a novel, and these 13 The paintings are too valuable. If you let the protagonist return these 13 paintings, everyone would be very upset. So I changed this legal provision without authorization to allow the stolen goods to be stolen. Protected by goodwill. Well, there are book friends who are proficient in the law, please don’t spray. It’s good for everyone to look at it.)

Hearing Lin Dan's words, Yang Jing asked in surprise: "You mean we can keep these 13 famous paintings?"

"Well, we can indeed stay, but not in your name, but in my name. After all, the warehouse where these 13 paintings are stored was photographed in my name, and the b1 visa you got cannot be in the United States. Conducting such auction activities."

Yang Jing nodded and said, "It's not a problem. I can trust you. I am worried about how to take these 13 paintings out of the United States. Although the police do not have the right to go back, they will definitely treat you. Strict surveillance will prevent you from taking these 13 paintings out of the United States."

Lin Dan smiled and said, "Brother Yang, you don't have to worry about this. There must be a way to the mountain. Don't worry, as long as you can make these 13 famous paintings appear in front of the world, there will always be a way to make These 13 famous paintings are out of the country. I have to ask the relevant personnel about the specific method. They cannot go abroad through illegal routes. They must be transferred to your name in an open and honest manner. However, the process should be more troublesome."

Yang Jing shook his head and said, "In fact, if it weren't for this thing, I really don't want to cause such a big trouble." Yang Jing said, picked up a bronze ware like a trumpet from the table, "this The bronze ware is called "Hu". It is a bronze ware of our Chinese and Shang dynasties. It was lost together with those 13 famous paintings. Seeing that our national treasure was taken away by the Americans, they can openly exhibit in the museum instead of Give it back to us, so I feel angry in my heart. Since these 13 paintings are okay, then I also want to take away these 13 paintings openly, so that Americans can also taste this kind of thing that they can see but don’t want to go back. taste!"

Lin Dan took the bronze ware and shook his head helplessly.

"Brother Yang, don’t worry, I promise you that these things will go smoothly under your name. Don’t forget, I’m a Chinese, I live in San Francisco, but San Francisco is an important gathering area for our Chinese in the United States, and the associations there. There are many ways to ensure the safety of these 13 famous paintings. Even the U.S. police dare not openly deal with the Chinese people there. After we go back, I will consult relevant parties and try to get them as quickly as possible. These thirteen famous paintings are transferred to your name."

Yang Jing nodded and said, "Okay! When we return to Beaumont tomorrow and deal with the old oil well, we will go directly back to San Francisco!"

ps: I would like to bow to thank the "Ice Town Octave" 500 for the reward.