Chapter 1939 Vaduz Castle

"Good evening Jason, welcome to Liechtenstein, and welcome to Vaduz Castle~" Alois and his butler stood outside the gate of the castle to greet him, which was flattering.

However, he should not have obtained a title yet. Liechtenstein is a grand duchy and Hans Adam II is a prince. He has no right to grant noble titles to others. In other words, unless his children inherit his dukedom, they will at best be members of the royal family.

Of course, as long as Hans Adam is willing to operate, he can still invite someone to confer a knighthood.

Yang Cheng was not sure. To be on the safe side, it was better not to use titles randomly to avoid embarrassment. European titles were too complicated, and it was difficult for outsiders to understand them except for insiders.

"Good evening Mr. Alois, excuse me~"

"Don't say that Jason, William called me, we are all friends."

"I also had a sudden idea. It happens to be the annual Spring Festival in country Z. I would like to take advantage of the holiday to go out and have a look."

After a brief exchange of greetings, Yang Cheng introduced his family members to the crown prince one by one. Compared with Yang Cheng's "casual" treatment, Alois seemed more serious in his treatment of Yang Yuanshan, Liu Muqian, and the Yang Sen couple. After all, in the Chinese world, These are all well-deserved bosses, and Alois would not dare to neglect them even if he is backed by the Liechtenstein royal family.

"Please come in. From today until the end of the lease period, Vaduz Castle will be your private castle. Except for the closed rooms, everything else can be used by you. If you have any questions or troubles, please ask the butler Fan. Mr. Struth, he knows everything about this castle~"

"Dear distinguished guests, welcome to stay at Vaduz Castle. I will be your butler for the next week. I will do my best to serve you~"

The tall aquiline nose proves his Germanic ancestry. Those with the word "Fan" in their names are most likely from southern Germany or the Netherlands.

Without further ado, everyone entered the castle. Compared to the dilapidated exterior walls, the interior was still as people imagined. The ancient and luxurious atmosphere hit their faces. It seemed that everything here was older than Yang Cheng's age.

Yang Cheng and Alois walked in front, and the Crown Prince asked, "I heard that you have a company registered in Liechtenstein?"

"Yes, I have been registered for several years. Compared with other registration places, Liechtenstein's services are more complete."

"Oh~ Really? Thank you for your evaluation, I will tell my employees that they should continue to work hard~"

Yang Cheng likes this prince who is elegant in behavior and humble in speech.

This aristocratic temperament and heritage cannot be imitated by ordinary people. It is an innate temperament.

After hesitating for a moment, the crown prince looked back and found that the butler was introducing the furnishings in the castle to the Yang family. He took Yang Cheng and walked quickly for two steps, "The private bank in the distant mountains has been conducting business in a low-key manner, right?"

This news is definitely unknown to ordinary people, but to insiders, especially potential customers, it is already known to everyone, "Yes, it has been in operation for more than a year."

“Have you ever thought about moving your headquarters to Liechtenstein?”

Yang Cheng's eyes widened, "Are you going to steal the Swiss' business?"

"No, no, no, how can this be stealing business? I'm just making a good suggestion to you."

Yang Cheng frowned and said, "Although Liechtenstein is good, but..."

"Don't veto it in a hurry. I'll take you to visit LCT's private bank when I have time in a few days. We can talk about this after the visit?"

After all, we are on human territory, so we still have to give face, "Okay~"

Alois smiled and said, "Then you go to your room and rest first. I have something else to do. See you at the dinner later~"

"See you later. By the way, where are your family members?"

"They are all in Vienna, don't worry, in the next week, Vaduz Castle will belong to you completely, and no outsiders will disturb you~"

"Thank you~"

. . .

The crown prince went to work, and Yang Cheng turned around to join the large army. They were drawing money and stopped to comment.

It is said that Vaduz Castle is full of works of art and treasures. This is not an exaggeration. From the moment he entered, Yang Cheng has seen dozens of works of art, large and small.

For example, the two sides of the corridor where they were at this time were covered with art paintings.

Steward Van Strous introduced, "This is Prince Marx's favorite painting, Rubens's "Portrait of Clara Selina Rubens", opposite is Anthony Van Dyck "Portrait of Maria de Tarsis".

Look at Rubens's hunting sketches. He could draw so fast and yet so accurately. Others used pencils or pens, but he made oil paintings look like sketches.

Further ahead is a giant tapestry woven by Janres I based on Rubens' paintings. It is very rare to see. You must know that tapestries were 50 times more expensive than oil paintings at the time.

Don’t overlook the ogres and ghosts of Cornelius Saftelevine and David Teniers the Younger, The Temptation of St. Anthony, and the interior genre paintings with which the nobility of the time entertained the crowds.

This is a Flemish landscape painting, which depicts extremely small figures in detail, which reminds me of the landscape paintings of country Z. "

The housekeeper introduced it in detail, but except for Liu Yun, no one else could appreciate these European paintings from hundreds of years ago.

“The Liechtenstein royal family has a collection history of six hundred years and has the largest private collection in the world. The collection includes oil paintings, sculptures, hunting tools, jewelry, etc. The art collections are mainly concentrated from the late 13th century to the Biedermeier period.

Both in quantity and quality, the royal family’s collection of the Flemish School, an important art school in the Baroque period, is unparalleled in the world. For example, our collection of Rubens’ works may not even be found in large national museums. There are so many of us, and so is Van Dyck. "

As an art historical concept, Flemish painting was formed in 1581, when political and religious conflicts led to the division of the Netherlands.

Geographically, Flemish painting is located in an area roughly within today's Belgium, and its roots date back to before this split, with Rubens bringing the genre to prominence in the early 17th century, while in the north, the 17th century Dutch painting led by Rembrandt.

Rubens was highly respected during his lifetime. Because of his status as a diplomat, he was able to travel around the world and absorb the nutrients of Michelangelo, Caravaggio and the Venetian school through copying.

In addition to oil paintings, his creative fields include sculpture, architecture, illustration, prints and tapestries, and he is also a knowledgeable antique expert.

After Rubens became famous, he received a large number of commissions, so he hired many apprentices and assistants, the most outstanding of whom was Van Dyck, who eventually became the chief painter of the British court.

Van Dyck came to Rubens's studio in 1617. During the joint creation, the two painters, who were more than 20 years apart in age, not only forged a deep friendship, but also had similar styles. Some of the portraits that have been handed down to this day are very similar. It's hard to tell who made it.

After the two masters, there were many followers and imitators, the most interesting of which is believed to be by Abraham van Diepenbeck. In this allegorical painting of the Antwerp School, a figure who closely resembles Rubens The man is sitting on a throne covered with a canopy, holding a scepter in his hand, leaning forward, and carefully examining the drawing board.

Next to the man, Van Dyck is hugged from behind by another person, turning to look at the audience outside the painting. He is still holding a palette in his right hand. Since everyone in the painting is "left-handed", it is believed to be used for making tapestries. of sample.

And such a painting is hanging above the entrance, so luxurious!

But according to the steward, the royal family of Liechtenstein actually owns more 17th-century Dutch paintings than Flemish paintings, not to mention a large number of Renaissance masterpieces.

The royal family's collection is mainly stored in three places: Vaduz Castle, the City Palace and the Garden Palace in Vienna. In addition, a large number of collections are exhibited around the world, so what they saw today was only a part of it. Even so, it shocked the Yang family Incessantly.

In comparison, their collection is like toys and not worth mentioning.

The steward said, “Today, the royal family members have decided not to purchase works that are less than a hundred years old. On the one hand, their main business is not in the field of collection and they do not have time to deal with living artists; on the other hand, everyone does not like contemporary art.

Even the works of masters such as Monet and Picasso, because their first-rate works have long been out of circulation in the market, it is not worth spending a lot of money for those second-rate works. "

Yang Cheng is well aware of this. In recent years, at auctions, there have been fewer and fewer top-notch works by masters. On the contrary, those works that may not have been popular at the time can now be sold for hundreds of millions. It can be seen that this market has How much moisture.

Before they had time to visit the main collection room, the servant informed the butler that the dinner was almost ready. After asking Yang Cheng and others for their opinions, they decided to eat first and then visit.

In a restaurant facing the Alps, the long table is filled with rich Austrian-style delicacies. Most members of the Liechtenstein royal family live in Vienna, and the two countries are adjacent, so their eating habits are exactly the same as those in Austria.

Austrian cuisine is influenced by many countries and cultures, forming a unique style. For example, the specialties of neighboring countries such as Italy, Hungary, and the Czech Republic are also reflected in Austrian cuisine, making it unique.

German cuisine and Austrian cuisine also have similar characteristics. Although the territory is relatively small, Austria can be roughly divided into three different cuisine regions: Alpine cuisine, which is mainly distributed in western and southern Austria along the main peak of the Alps;

Mainly distributed in the South German cuisine extending from Salzburg along the Alpine piedmont to Upper Styria;

and “Viennese Cuisine,” a rich and varied blend of cuisines spread across the plains of eastern Austria that is deeply influenced by Austria’s past as a European power.

The food in these regions is not limited to the current Austrian borders, but is combined with the food of Austria’s neighboring countries. The most representative ones are Austrian meatballs, the Austrian version of boiled beef and the world-famous Sacher Torte.

txt download address:

phone-reading: