Chapter 487: The Hidden Second Level of the Underground Palace (Continue with the nine thousand words!!!)
"..."
On the open ground.
Hearing Xu Yun's words.
Jiang Chenggu and others were stunned subconsciously.
As a civilian employee of the GWY General Office, Jiang Chenggu's knowledge in science may be relatively limited, and his knowledge of many physics and biology subjects is indeed far inferior to that of Xu Yun and Academician Pan.
Like a gravity gradiometer report.
To him, the words above seemed to be the same as a heavenly book from beginning to end.
But if it comes to academic disciplines...especially history, Jiang Chenggu's reserves are enough to hang up and beat up the science and engineering men at the scene.
So less than two seconds.
A possibility popped into Jiang Chenggu's mind:
"Dr. Xu, what do you mean..."
"In Emperor Jiajing's coffin, there are still a few...'elixirs' that he usually takes?"
Xu Yun nodded with a subtle expression:
"If nothing else...it should be."
be honest.
Xu Yun really didn't expect to find this thing in Jiajing's coffin.
As expected of you, Taoist Priest...
As we all know.
As one of the most popular dynasties in Chinese history, the Ming Dynasty lasted for 276 years and had a total of 16 emperors.
I don’t know if it’s due to the blood of Lao Zhu’s family.
These 16 emperors may have different abilities, but they basically all have a variety of quirks and quirks.
For example, the commoner emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.
The famous murderer in history was as decisive as Li Guding cutting books.
Another example is Zhu Zhanji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Zhanji's career after taking office was quite brilliant. He solved the rebellion of his uncles, further consolidated the northern Xinjiang region, and created the "Government of Renxuan".
But he has a very strange hobby:
Love fighting crickets.
Unable to find an opponent in the palace, he surrendered in the marketplace and fought crickets with ordinary people, rarely losing.
Moreover, he always mocked his opponents after winning, and even got beaten for it, but he still enjoyed it.
Another example is the social guru Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen, who is also a top-notch weirdo.
Due to the early death of Emperor Xuanzong, this emperor became emperor when he was 9 years old.
As a result, the emperor became restless and refused to listen to the eunuchs to lead the expedition. In the end, Tumubao was defeated and captured, and became a prisoner.
According to normal circumstances, this person is almost cold, right?
Unexpectedly, Zhu Qizhen activated his social skills and not only turned the guard into his fan, but also the leader's brother also formed a deep friendship with him and even married a wife in Wala.
Later, Yang Shan cheated and took Zhu Qizhen back to the Ming Dynasty.
When he was returned to the Ming Dynasty, the Wala people saw him off one way and then another, very reluctant to part with him.
Later, the Tumubao God of War launched another coup to seize the throne and became emperor again.
There is also Mingguangzong Zhu Changluo.
This man was the product of his father's inadvertent creation, and he was not treated favorably by his father and stepmother since he was a child.
Fortunately, the ministers supported him, and he finally became emperor after 39 years of hard work.
After taking office, Zhu Changluo was busy with political affairs every day, and his stepmother arranged for a large number of beauties, and his body was quickly drained.
Upon seeing this, the stepmother ordered someone to give laxatives, and she had to defecate thirty or forty times in one night. The sound of the imperial toilet changed from plop to clatter, and finally to tick tock...
This isn't over yet.
Then another wise man offered a red pill, saying it could be a great supplement, but it was actually a product of lead and mercury.
This person took two pills and immediately died - it took a month from the top to the top of the memorial tablet.
There are many similar examples, such as the Carpenter Emperor and so on.
On the contrary, Emperor Chongzhen, who lost his country, was relatively normal. When he left, there was Wang Chengen beside him who died with him.
Among these strange emperors of the Ming Dynasty, there is one more person who must be mentioned.
That is Jiajing.
This wonderful person explained one thing with the events of his life:
What does it mean [all talent points are incorrectly clicked]?
Emperor Jiajing ascended the throne at the age of 15, and his cousin was Zhu Houzhao, Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty.
So what he originally took was the script of a vassal king who was arrogant and extravagant, living alone and waiting to die. If he couldn't keep it all, he could start a rebellion or something.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Houzhao died without any children and no one could inherit the throne.
Therefore, Yang Tinghe and others in the cabinet who were ordered to prepare the will could only complain about having no children, and at the same time, from the perspective of patriarchal clan and blood relationship, they selected Zhu Houcong, a cousin of Ming Wuzong, as the successor.
be honest.
When Jiajing first took over, he indeed showed strong talent and ability.
He first issued an edict to abolish the bad government of Emperor Wu Zong, and then killed the sycophants Qian Ning, Jiang Bin and others, so as to reform the government.
Then, another dispute arose over the ceremony.
The final result was that Jiajing revered his father as Ruizong and brought the god into the Ancestral Temple, fully assuming the authority of the emperor.
True.
The great ceremony prompted a group of upright ministers to retire, and some sycophants took the opportunity to ascend to power, making the water in the court muddy again.
But purely from the perspective of Jiajing... or the emperor, this matter is profitable - he has officially transformed from a puppet to a real emperor.
If Jiajing could be diligent in government affairs, judging from his previous methods and judgment, those sycophants would probably not be able to make any big waves.
For example, Hai Rui once commented on the early Jiajing period in terms of public security:
"Your Majesty is gifted with heroic judgment and wisdom. He can serve as Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, and Wu... In the early years of his accession to the throne, he eradicated the long-standing evils and rejuvenated the world."
But unfortunately.
Jiajing suddenly went astray from then on.
He first became an avid cat slave.
Looking at all the emperors in Chinese history - including outsiders such as the Yuan and Qing Dynasties, no emperor's love for cats can compare with Jiajing.
Jiajing raised more than 2,000 cats in the palace. There was also a special cat room in the palace. The eunuchs and maids carefully served the famous cats in the cat room.
1560.
Jiajing’s beloved cat “Shuangmei” passed away.
Regardless of the objections of his ministers, he buried Shuangmei in a golden coffin and buried her with high standards on the north slope of Wanshou Mountain.
A tombstone was erected and named Qiulong Tomb.
In addition to petting cats, Jiajing also has a more well-known weird hobby:
That is cultivating immortality.
Jiajing was almost obsessed with cultivating immortals. He did not go to court for a full 24 years, and his working time was second only to his grandson Wanli.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Students who have read novels about cultivating immortals should all know this.
In addition to practicing Kung Fu, the most common routine is naturally taking the 'elixir'.
Ever since.
Jiajing spent the rest of his life "refining elixirs" almost every day, and the materials used in elixirs were extremely weird:
fingernails,
Saltpeter in Laoba Restaurant,
Bird droppings....
Even the blood of the palace maid's aunt was used to make elixirs - this is not an exaggeration.
During the reign of Jiajing, a major change occurred called the "Renyin Palace Change" - this was a palace change recorded in history books and encyclopedias.
The cause of the palace turmoil was that the palace maids could not bear the torture, so they tried to strangle Jiajing to death.
If it weren't for the fact that the two knots couldn't be tightened together, Jiajing would have truly soared...
Among these elixirs, there are two essential ingredients:
Lead and mercury.
Therefore, after Xu Yun said that there was mercury and pill-like reaction in the Jiajing coffin, Jiang Chenggu immediately thought of...
The ‘elixir’ taken by Jiajing!
More importantly...
Although the Yongling Underground Palace is currently filled with a lot of water.
But when the water is filled to a high degree, the contents inside the coffin may remain intact.
Because for plant-derived vectors.
What they are most afraid of is an environment with relatively rich moisture and air - because they will quickly become spoiled under the action of microorganisms and oxygen.
And if it is in a very dry environment or completely submerged in water, it can be stored for a long time due to the lack of humidity and air (water plays the role of isolating the air).
As long as one of these two conditions is met, it will be stable in the long term.
Organic matter can be stored for a long time.
For example, the buildings in Venice are hundreds of years old, but the wooden piles buried under the water still have not rotted.
The wooden pile of Our Lady of Jinci is over 900 years old and is still working.
There is also a jingle in archeology and the wood industry about this:
It will be dry for thousands of years, wet for ten thousand years, and it will only take half a year if it is neither dry nor wet.
Not to mention the exterior of the 'elixir', there is also a jar and Jiajing's coffin for secondary protection.
So from a theoretical analysis, the degree of preservation of the 'elixir' should be...
Very high!
True.
This 'elixir' can never be a real elixir, it will do all kinds of harm to the human body without any benefit.
But it has extremely high research value in analyzing the ‘culture’ of ancient emperors’ Taoism:
Everyone knows that many emperors in ancient times liked to cultivate immortality and take lead and mercury, but what kind of medicine did they take?
This question has never been answered before.
Even the National Museum has never had a specimen of 'elixir' before.
So there is no doubt about it.
This is a discovery with high research value and topicality. If it is made public, it will inevitably cause a lot of discussion.
Think of this.
Jiang Chenggu couldn't help but raise his eyelids and asked Xu Yun again:
"Dr. Xu, can the gravity gradient instrument detect the completeness of the 'elixir'?"
Xu Yun waved the report in his hand twice, shook his head slightly, and explained to Jiang Chenggu:
"To be honest...it's difficult. After all, the gravity gradiometer is not a perspective mirror. Its working principle is to complete the measurement based on the gradient difference."
"For example, for a three-centimeter elixir, the gradient meter will detect the gradient difference in the interval according to a certain accuracy...for example, 0.01 millimeter, and then collect the gradient difference, which will be analyzed and interpreted by the computer - this is why during the measurement process
The reason why we cannot have specific information in real time."
"So we can currently only determine the size of the 'elixir' and the mercury content. As for whether it is complete... I am afraid we will only know after opening the tomb chamber."
Jiang Chenggu touched his chin thoughtfully:
"I see......"
I think so.
If the gravity gradient instrument could completely analyze the degree of preservation of the elixir...
So why should we call it a gradiometer? Let’s just call it a gravity fluoroscopy machine.
Then Jiang Chenggu thought for a moment, looked up at the sky, and continued to say to Xu Yun:
"Dr. Xu, let's stop here about the elixir first. Let's continue the previous discussion - besides the elixir, are there any other discoveries in the tomb?"
At this time, the drone carrying the gravity gradiometer has landed and returned to its position, and the scene looks the same as ordinary remote sensing mapping.
Therefore, even if the images on the ground are captured by satellites, there is no big problem, and it is impossible for the secrets to be leaked.
Therefore, Jiang Chenggu was not in a hurry to ask Xu Yun to submit the report.
Instead, we learned about the specific situation at the scene to see if there were any other findings.
"Except for the elixir..."
Xu Yun turned over a page of the report, looked at the results above and said:
"In addition to the elixir, the equipment also scanned out a gradient difference shadow of the order of 0.068E inside the coffin that was highly suspected to be the Jiajing Emperor's coffin."
"This shadow is about the size of two palms, and the gradient is evenly distributed, with a very obvious reaction of pure gold - gold is one of the substances with the highest feedback in gravity gradiometer mapping, especially in an environment like the underground palace."
"In addition, in the other three coffins, we also found three hat-shaped objects with gradient feedback of pure gold and gemstones."
"So according to the judgment of the supercomputer 'SSOM' that assisted in compiling the data... they should be Jiajing's burial imperial crown and the queen's phoenix crown."
I heard the words Golden Winged Crown and Phoenix Crown.
Jiang Chenggu's expression did not change.
However, I felt relieved in my heart.
Although the superiors have a very firm attitude towards the excavation of Yongling Tomb this time, there is no delay in the approval of various procedures, and the support they deserve is also great.
But since the news became public, the competent authorities have indeed come under considerable pressure.
First, it is a lesson learned from the Dingling tragedy.
Secondly, I am worried that the preservation of cultural relics inside Yongling is not optimistic - after all, there was not much water inside Dingling at the time.
Now it is known that there is an 'elixir' and four imperial crowns and phoenix crowns in the back hall alone.
So no matter what the final result is, at least there will not be the dilemma of not being able to find important cultural relics after the Yongling Tomb is excavated.
This is obviously good news.
At the same time, the back hall is where the coffins of Emperor Jiajing and the three queens are located. There are not many objects inside except the coffins.
So after a few minutes.
Xu Yun then finished introducing the situation in the back hall.
"The next detection situation is...oh, the right side hall."
Xu Yun then lowered his gaze and introduced the second tomb that was detected:
"The area of the right side hall is about 240 square meters, which is about 20% larger than the right side hall of Dingling. There are many items stored inside."
"About 40% of these items have obvious metal gradient differences, and the rest are bulk items, such as swords, clay figurines, etc."
"At the same time, the positions of these items are extremely irregular, with horizontal and vertical orientations. It seems that the original order of placement was disrupted by accumulated water."
"What? There is something in the right side hall?"
Hear this sentence.
Tong Huaijun, who had just rushed to Xu Yun's side, was stunned and quickly asked:
"What about the left side hall?"
Xu Yun turned another page of the report, his eyes stayed on the paper for about ten seconds, and he quickly gave the answer:
"Professor Tong, according to the test results... Although there are not as many objects in the left side hall as there are in the right side hall, the density is still considerable."
"Judging from the gradient difference, they should be lamps, clay figurines and the like."
"In short, whether it is the left side hall or the right side hall, it is impossible to have a large number of books inside - even if they are sealed in boxes."
Tong Huaijun subconsciously opened his mouth.
But in the end he didn't speak.
As a professional archaeological researcher, how could he not understand the value of Xu Yun's words?
It has been introduced before.
In the Dingling Underground Palace of Emperor Wanli, the left and right side halls are empty.
Some people believe that the left and right auxiliary halls of the underground palace follow the old system and were used as tombs for the burial of concubines in the early Ming Dynasty. They are equivalent to the settings of the six east and west palaces in the Forbidden City.
So after the sacrifice of concubines and concubines was abolished.
The system of setting up left and right auxiliary halls in the underground palace of the imperial mausoleum still continues, but it has a symbolic meaning and does not actually store things.
Another view is that the side halls are originally the place where funerary objects are placed. The reason why the left and right side halls of Dingling are empty is mainly because Wanli was buried in a hurry:
Wanli's affairs were not finished, and Taichang was gone again - Taichang was Zhu Changluo of the Mingguang Sect who died suddenly of diarrhea and red pills one month after he ascended the throne...
If two emperors were to be buried at the same time, there would definitely not be enough burial objects.
Therefore, Wanli's funerary objects are definitely not as numerous as Dingling's presets. Instead of placing them scattered in the left and right side halls, it is better to concentrate them in the middle hall, leaving the left and right side halls empty.
Now it seems...
The reason why the auxiliary halls on the left and right of Dingling Tomb are vacant is indeed the latter, so there are other funerary objects in Yongling Tomb.
True.
Xu Yun's detection results confirmed that there are no books in the left side hall of Yongling, thus denying the possibility of the existence of "Yongle Dadian" in the left side hall.
But on the other hand.
However, he managed to confirm some speculations about the imperial tomb without opening the tomb.
To know.
Since only the Dingling Mausoleum has been opened so far, many details of the tombs of emperors during the Ming and Qing Dynasties can only be analyzed, without any empirical evidence to refer to.
In a sense.
Today’s archaeological community is actually similar to domestic military fans:
Fans in the military circle can only use mops as Bartley to comfort themselves, and the archaeological community can also only flip through books to guess a lot of ancient information.
And now there is a gravity gradiometer...
It’s hard to say what the burial objects were, but at least the structure of the tomb can be analyzed, right?
If I can fly to a few more mausoleums next...
Maybe the archaeological community can come up with an authoritative set of conclusions on the etiquette of imperial tombs without destroying the tombs!
This is indeed a big topic, and may even have an impact on the entire East Asian civilization circle - after all, there is no Tangling Mausoleum.
And just when Tong Huaijun was in high spirits.
Xu Yun coughed again and continued to start a new round of reporting:
"In addition, according to inspections, there are also a number of items stored in the small hall behind the two side halls on the left and right, but the specific types are still unclear."
"However, the area of these two small halls is only a few square meters, so it is unlikely that there are large cultural relics."
As he spoke, Xu Yun turned to the next page and introduced without changing his vocabulary:
"Then there is the middle aisle and the three tomb chambers in the vertical direction. From a structural point of view... eh?"
The result is said and done.
Xu Yun let out a sigh again and stopped talking.
See this situation.
Jiang Chenggu on the side couldn't help but be shocked and asked quickly:
"Dr. Xu, did the gravity gradiometer detect something new?"
When he said this, Jiang Chenggu's tone still contained a hint of excitement and curiosity.
As the mausoleum of the supreme ruler of the ancient Chinese dynasty, the Imperial Tomb must have a large number of cultural relics inside. This is a concept that has been ingrained in everyone's cognition.
So theoretically.
Simply expensive things - such as jade, crowns and other utensils would not surprise Xu Yun so much.
After all, I have already been mentally prepared.
Only something beyond precognition could make Xu Yun raise such questions.
For example, the previous ‘elixir’.
And this time...what did Xu Yun discover?
Is it the cat’s coffin?
Ultraman's transformation stick?
Or a large bronze vessel?
Or...the legendary "Yongle Dadian"?
Just when Jiang Chenggu was thinking crazily, Xu Yun's light words suddenly came to his ears:
"Um, Director Jiang, how many fish are there..."
"..."
Jiang Chenggu was startled when he heard this.
After regaining consciousness.
His neck subconsciously poked forward a few centimeters in a comical way, and his originally calm expression was full of astonishment:
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Dr. Xu, what did you say?"
Seeing this, Xu Yun raised the report in his hand towards him and explained:
"Director Jiang, according to the test results of the gravity gradient instrument, there are at least five fish in the corridors of the underground palace."
"The longest of these five fish is about 18 centimeters, the shortest is four to five centimeters, and the average length is around 10 centimeters."
"Also, I want to take back what I said before. Compared with pure gold, fish in the water are the things with the highest feedback accuracy..."
Jiang Chenggu was silent for a few seconds, licking the corners of his dry mouth, still a little unbelievable:
"But...but how come there are fish in the underground palace?"
"This is impossible. No one can put fish in the imperial mausoleum, right? That is the emperor's mausoleum."
"Besides, what kind of fish can thrive in the closed conditions of the underground palace from hundreds of years ago to the present..."
"No, it's still possible."
Facing Jiang Chenggu’s barrage of questions, Weng Tong suddenly spoke:
"Obviously there won't be fish in the imperial tomb at the beginning - even if there were, they wouldn't be able to survive for a long time, because there was no water-filled environment in the underground palace at the beginning."
"But Director Jiang, have you ever thought about it, if the conditions are right, exotic fish may survive in the underground palace."
Jiang Chenggu was stunned:
"Exotic fish?"
Weng Tong nodded, gestured to the treasure city in front of him with his hands and said:
"For any imperial mausoleum, apart from the site selection... which is the geomantic treasure land, there are only two most critical aspects."
"One is the confidentiality of the tomb passage, and the other is the design of the drainage system."
"There are two types of situations that the drainage system targets, one is underground water seepage, and the other is external rainwater."
Hear this.
Rao, a science student like Xu Yun and Academician Pan who didn't know much about archeology, also nodded at the same time.
The underground palaces of imperial tombs are generally located very deep underground, which was a common problem among ancient emperors.
For example, Qin Shihuang’s underground palace.
Anyone who was a classmate of Qin Shihuang in his previous life should know this.
The Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang is located 35 meters underground, with a vertical height equivalent to an 11-story building.
This height is far beyond the depth of many wells. Although the area where the mausoleum is located may not have water veins, over time, there will always be some underground water seeping along the sand and gravel.
The same is true for the Ming Tombs.
The average underground depth of the Ming Tombs is 25.6 meters, so water seepage is a factor that must be considered.
As for rainwater, it is easier to understand. When it rains, the rainwater accumulated on the ground flows into it.
Then Weng Tong paused and continued:
"Faced with the two possible water accumulation situations, most imperial tombs have designed very effective drainage facilities."
"These drainage facilities are very efficient at first, but over time, they will gradually develop functional problems or even... completely fail."
"For example, Emperor Qianlong's Yuling Mausoleum had a gap of more than 40 centimeters in the drainage facility of this mausoleum. It was only repaired by the Cultural Relics Bureau in 1994."
"Therefore, if there is a gap in the drainage facilities of Yongling and there are some floods at the same time... then it is indeed possible for river fish to break into the interior of the tomb."
"Coupled with underground water seepage and periodic rainwater inflow, the accumulated water inside Yongling is not considered 'dead water'. If moss and other plants grow on those stone statues, then there will be a food source for fish...
..”
Looking at Weng Tong talking eloquently.
The initial surprise on Jiang Chenggu's face gradually calmed down and was replaced by a look of thinking.
At the same time, he quickly recalled the map near the Ming Tombs in his mind.
The Ming Tombs are located on the outskirts of Changping District, close to Dongsha River, a tributary of the Wenyu River, and next to the Ming Tombs Reservoir.
Historically, this area has experienced frequent floods.
Actually.
It was precisely because of the floods that affected the villages and farmland on both sides of the river that the country established the Ming Tombs Reservoir here.
So theoretically.
During a certain flood, several fish flowed into the underground palace through the drainage gap in Yongling. It seems...
Does that make sense?
Think of this.
Jiang Chenggu's expression couldn't help but be a little subtle.
He suddenly remembered that when he was sorting out the equipment, he also found a fishing rod in the trunk of the car. The owner of the fishing rod at that time said that he would go and throw a few rods in the pit...
Is this the fishing guy?
Of course.
The news was unexpected. After experiencing the early surprise, everyone quickly accepted the fact.
Anyway, just a few small fish.
So after a few minutes.
Everyone once again focused their attention on the test report.
"These fish are located in the aisle of the mausoleum. In addition, traces of some lamps and utensils are also clearly detected in the aisle."
Xu Yun turned over the page again. After several introductions, he became more and more familiar with the layout of the report:
"The area perpendicular to the aisle is the three tomb chambers, the middle one is the nave, then the front hall, and finally the tunnel."
"In terms of area, the three are reduced in order. The area of the nave is also about 240 square meters, the front hall is about 150 square meters, and the tunnel is about 30 square meters."
Tunnel tickets.
Although the name may seem a bit awkward, it is actually a very important node in the underground palace.
It is the guiding part of the underground palace, that is, the excavated sand will be transported out from here.
In other words.
The stone wall of the tunnel ticket is the exterior of the underground palace gate, which is equivalent to the entrance hall in nature.
This part was called "Ticuo" before the Ming Dynasty, but after the Ming Dynasty it was called tunnel coupons.
In the Qing Dynasty, it was further expanded, and structures such as tunnel coupons, tomb passage coupons, hall passage coupons, and Mingtang coupons appeared.
Then Xu Yun picked up a bottle of Yibao from the side, moistened his throat, and said:
"According to the detection results, the tunnel coupon is filled with a large amount of sand and gravel, completely blocking the entrance."
"There are a large number of funerary objects sealed in the middle hall and front hall. It seems that they should be jewelry and other artifacts. They were also submerged in the water."
After listening to Xu Yun’s introduction.
Jiang Chenggu nodded again.
Xu Yun did not explicitly mention the information about the funerary objects this time, which means that in terms of shape, there should be nothing particularly weird among these funerary objects.
The next second.
Jiang Chenggu suddenly discovered a situation:
At this time, Xu Yun had already reported on the conditions of nine large and small tombs, but the thickness of the report in his hand was still...
Fully half.
True.
There is still some information about the current underground palace that has not been fully reported.
For example, the length and width of the external tunnel, whether a certain area has collapsed, etc.
But even if the entire tunnel collapses and becomes blocked, theoretically, half of its thickness will not be left - after all, this is Zhang Ziang's job.
Think of this.
A flash of lightning suddenly flashed across Jiang Chenggu's mind, and he asked Xu Yun hastily:
"Dr. Xu, could it be..."
Xu Yun glanced at him, understood his thoughts, and quickly nodded and said:
"That's right, Director Jiang, we also found a tomb below the level where these nine tombs are located."
"one......."
"A tomb without water."
........
Note:
Four chapters with 9,000 words in a row will be updated tomorrow! Please give me your monthly vote!!!
