Although Kennedy didn't say it in detail, Chen Qiang still guessed the rough thing.

First of all, one thing is certain is that the British are almost out of money!

The British Empire's global colonization over the past hundred years has accumulated too much wealth for Britain. However, the First World War twenty years ago had consumed a lot of wealth accumulated by Britain through colonization. As the British colonies began to become independent one by one, the power of the British Empire had weakened a lot. Now that World War II is at its most critical moment, the British finances have finally begun to become tight.

In the colonial era, various resources from all over the world would be transported to the British mainland, giving blood transfusions to Britain, making Britain's supplies unprecedentedly rich. The British were also accustomed to the luxury of spending money. This can be seen from the British material allocation system during World War II. Even in difficult times, the amount of material allocation given to the people by Britain was still very high, with no shortage of meat, butter and sugar. At that time, many wealthy countries at that time, the consumption of daily life of the people was not as much as that of the British wartime supplies.

For example, "Mrs. Minnifer" won a box office of millions of pounds in the UK. You should know that Germany would occasionally bomb a wave of Britain, but this did not stop the British from entering the cinema in their spare time, which shows that the British were still very comfortable. For many British people, although war has come, as long as the Germans did not attack the British mainland, their lives will not change much.

After the outbreak of the European War, when European countries were tightening their belts, the British were still spending money with great effort, not only to ensure people's livelihood, but also to buy various weapons from the Americans, and they were not ruthless. For example, after Duncret retreat, in order to defend the sky of the British Isles, American fighter jet stocks were bought by the British, and the Americans even had to sell some active aircraft to the UK.

The British were very rich, but they could not withstand this kind of spending method. Especially after the German Navy adopted the "wolf-pack tactic", it became more difficult to transport materials to Britain. For every dollar of materials to Britain, two dollars of materials may be sunk by the Germans in the Atlantic Ocean.

The war emptied the wealth accumulated by the British for a century of colonization, and the British finance finally couldn't bear it. It was precisely because the war cleared the treasury that after the end of World War II, Britain chose to become the biggest beneficiary of the Marshall Plan and received 3.3 billion US dollars in aid from the Americans.

At this time, the British were almost out of money. In order to raise money to continue fighting, they could only sell the property left by their ancestors, such as gold, silver and other precious metals. They could be spent directly as money without selling them. Those colonies all over the world were definitely not allowed to sell. Even if Britain wanted to sell them, no one was willing to buy them at this time, so the British had the idea of ​​artwork.

The so-called works of art refer to those antiques and cultural relics. Over the years, the British have collected many cultural relics and antiques during the colonization process, and these antiques can be sold for a lot of money.

However, cultural relics are special items after all. Even in the 1940s, most independent countries formulated laws and regulations related to protecting cultural relics. Cultural relics cannot be sold casually, and if they are not done properly, it will cause diplomatic problems. Moreover, these cultural relics in Britain are all stolen from all over the world. They are originally from the wrong origin, so they should not be guilty of selling them. That is fake.

Among universal values, cultural relics are treasures of all mankind. Selling precious cultural relics involves moral issues, so even the British government does not dare to sell cultural relics casually. It is okay to buy one or two occasionally, but if you want to do wholesale, it will inevitably cause great controversy. Britain cannot do such a thing, after all, the British Empire of this era is still shameless.

Moreover, the British do not want to make the selling of cultural relics known to everyone. Just imagine if the news spreads, everyone knows that the powerful empire that the Sun-Downset is going to be in the process of selling cultural relics. Wouldn't that tell the whole world that Britain is about to be unable to hold on and will soon end up, and it will have to sell cultural relics to raise money. This is also a blow to the Allies, and it is exciting news for the Axis powers. Therefore, based on the consideration of the war situation, the British government cannot openly sell cultural relics.

In the end, the British government decided to sell dog meat in the form of an art exhibition.

As early as the World Expo in New York, the British transported a large number of precious art and cultural relics to the United States under the pretext of participating in the World Expo exhibition. This was also a concern that these precious art and cultural relics would be destroyed in the war. With the outbreak of the European war, more art and antique cultural relics were transported to the United States and Canada. Not only the British officials, but also the British nobles and wealthy people also transported many art to the United States.

If it were an ordinary person, he would definitely not know the inside story of this art exhibition, but the Kennedy family is not an ordinary person. Old Kennedy has been the US ambassador to the UK for many years and is quite connected in the UK. When the British transported these cultural relics to the United States, Old Kennedy was one of the people in charge. Therefore, the Kennedy family knew that the essence of this art exhibition was actually the British selling antique cultural relics plundered from various countries.

In theory, such things should be kept secret. It is enough for the Kennedy family to know. After all, if the selling of cultural relics is spread, the British government will be dull. However, the young John Kennedy is a complete playboy, and he is also full of the characteristics of a young boy, who likes to show off. Faced with Chen Qiang, a young millionaire, the future US president seems to have nothing to show off, so he talks about the art exhibition as a capital for boasting.

...

More than two hours later, those who were chatting were almost done, and the 15th Academy Awards ceremony officially began.

The first awards were awarded some small awards, such as four movies that won the best documentary, namely the Battle of Midway in the US Army, the Kokoda Frontline in the Defence of the motherland by the Australians, the Moscow Strikes Against the Moscow, and the Prelude to the War that introduced the U.S. Army Special Forces. The best animated short film gave a film "The Face of Hitler", which was obviously an animation that angrily criticized the German head of state.

Then there are awards such as Best Music, Best Visual Effects, Best Movie Editing, Best Sound Effects, Best Art Director, Best Photography, Best Screenwriter, etc.

"Mrs. Minnifer" was nominated for Best Acoustics, Best Movie Editing, and Best Visual Effects, but did not win these three awards, Best Screenwriter and Best Photography, and was still won by "Mrs. Minnifer".

...

"The one who won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the 15th Academy Awards is..." The award presenter deliberately pulled the long tone and then spoke: "Esther Chen!"

Americans generally follow their husband's surname after marriage. Although Chen Qiang did not ask Esther to do so, Esther still changed her surname. She is no longer "Esther Williams" but "Esther Chen".

Applause rang in the venue. Although Esther had known for a long time that he was the biggest favorite for the Best Supporting Actress Award, when he learned that he had won the award, he still couldn't help but cover his mouth with both hands and burst into tears excitedly.

Esther walked up to the podium, took the villain made of plaster from the award presenter, and then began to speak his speech on his award.

Due to the war, the winners from 1943 to 1945 were awarded plaster statues. It was not until the end of the war that the Oscars gave the winners a replacement. However, from the perspective of collection, this plaster statue may be more valuable than the plaster statue. After all, the plaster statues are available every year, and only in this special era can it be found and will be out of print later.

At this Academy Awards ceremony, "Mrs. Minnifer" did achieve great harvests.

In addition to Esther's Best Supporting Actress, the film star Greya Garson won the Best Actress, director William Wheeler won the Best Director, and the best film was also taken away by "Mrs. Minnifer".

As Chen Qiang had expected before, "Mrs. Minnifer" is a politically correct film. In this special era of World War II, such a politically correct film will inevitably win major awards. The values ​​expressed in this film are just in line with the propaganda of the US government. If such a movie does not win more awards, the US government will not agree.

And Esther's Best Supporting Actress Award does have some luck.

Chen Qiang has watched the movie. According to the standards of a newcomer, Esther's acting is indeed very good, but by the standards of an Oscar, Esther's acting skills are simply not as good as winning the Little Golden Man.

But the role played by Esther made her take advantage of it.

In the first half of the movie, the Miss Bell played by Esther is probably the most likable character in the whole movie. As a rich beauty in the noble family, Miss Bell's initial setting is like Miss Hinata in Naruto. Hinata Hinata has always been the most popular female character in Naruto, and is more popular with readers than Sakura.

Later, Miss Bell married into the Minnifer's family and became Mrs. Minnifer's daughter-in-law. Her husband, as a pilot, embarked on the battlefield against the German army, but she was killed at the gun of a German aircraft. Almost every point of this kind of person's experience is a bonus.

The character setting and experience make up for Esther's lack of acting skills. Similar situations are not uncommon in Hollywood. Many actors and actresses actually rely on the characters they play to win the best actor. For example, a certain actor who won the Oscar for two consecutive years, of course his acting skills are impeccable, but the fool he plays, the whole character's experience reflects the "American spirit". Compared to this, he has played a prisoner for decades, no matter how he performs his acting skills, he cannot compete with the "American spirit".

It can be said that Esther was definitely a big advantage in winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. If the role of Miss Bell was replaced by someone else, as long as his acting skills were not so rough, he would have a high possibility of winning the award.

...

After the Oscars ceremony, Esther faces a lot of media interviews every day.

Chen Qiang was not idle either. He became a hot bun in the eyes of producers and directors and screenwriters. Hollywood films people hope that Chen Qiang can get investment.

Chen Qiang still remembers an art exhibition mentioned by Kennedy, so three days later, he came to the exhibition site.

There are many treasures here, which are indeed used for exhibitions. These treasures are basically non-sale items, most of which are things passed down from Britain during the Renaissance.

In fact, European history has not been many years, so there are no very decent antiques, that is, things from the Renaissance can be taken out to show off. As for the United States, it is even worse. It was founded in the 18th century. Perhaps the Declaration of Independence in the National Archives in Washington is the oldest antique of Americans.

Chen Qiang didn't know much about the Renaissance in Europe. He looked at the exhibits as if he was just absurdly, and then came to another exhibition area where there were a lot of jewelry. In this exhibition area, Chen Qiang met John Kennedy again.

At this time, John Kennedy was standing in front of a gem necklace exhibit.

"Hey, Chen, are you here too?" Kennedy saw Chen Qiang, walked over, then lowered his voice and said, "Are you planning to choose some jewelry for Mrs. Chen in this exhibition area?"

Chen Qiang was slightly stunned, then asked, "Can the things in this exhibition area be bought?"

"Of course, Britain does not produce gems. Most of these jewelry were plundered by Britain in colonies in Africa and Asia. As long as the price is right, they will sell it." Kennedy said, pointing to the distance, and then said: "Not only this exhibition area, there, there, and there, everything can be bought. In addition, the exhibits in the hall on the back, the exhibits in the hall on the left are ready for auction, and the exhibits in the exhibition hall on the right are placed directly on the shelves, and those are sold directly in the name of souvenirs and gifts."

Chen Qiang nodded, and he probably guessed why Kennedy appeared in this jewelry exhibition hall. Kennedy wanted to buy a piece of jewelry here so that he could go to the female stars.

"I really don't understand jewelry. If I had known it, I should have brought Esther here today and let her see which one she likes. However, women like surprises. If she asks her to choose, there will be no surprises. I will pick up expensive and beautiful ones to buy one!" Chen Qiang said in his heart.

Chen Qiang planned to choose a piece of jewelry for Esther. He walked around the jewelry exhibition area, but found that he was blinded by the dog's eyes. There were too many jewelry exhibited here, and Chen Qiang had no idea how to choose.

Before he knew it, Chen Qiang walked to the back door passage.

According to Kennedy's description, the two halls on the back are for auction, while the right are for art and antiques sold in the name of souvenirs and gifts.

Chinese people are still used to walking on the right, so Chen Qiang also turned right and walked into the hall on the right.

This place is like a big shop, with items placed on the shelves on the counter. Here, Chen Qiang saw stone statues unearthed from Egypt, gold coins from the Macedonian Empire, vessels from the Persian Empire, golden swords from the Arab Empire, and Buddha statues from ancient India.

These cultural relics from ancient civilizations around the world are more like telling the history of British colonial invasion.

Suddenly, a dog's head appeared in Chen Qiang's eyes. Seeing this dog's head, Chen Qiang was shocked.

"This is the dog with the twelve zodiac animals in the Old Summer Palace!"
Chapter completed!