When will I see the snow in the south? The plum blossoms and I will have white heads.
——"Untitled" Anonymous (Qing Dynasty)
…
Having said this, Sun Dashan added: "The secret passages and culverts in the entire mansion are like the underground water supply and drainage system of Chang'an City. The culvert pipes are made of clay, like large sewer pipes, and are connected section by section like bamboo joints.
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Based on the age of the clay, it can be determined that this culvert was not built by Mrs. Guo Guo but should have been built in the era of Princess Taiping.
However, the seals on the copper boxes containing treasures in the caves all belonged to Mrs. Guo. Therefore, I deduce that when the imperial court ransacked Princess Taiping’s house, they discovered this culvert and confiscated the treasures hidden by Princess Taiping.
Later, when the Emperor gave this mansion to Mrs. Guo Guo, he told Mrs. Guo Guo the secret of the culvert. Therefore, Mrs. Guo Guo also used it to hide treasures.
As for the other parties who knew the secret of this cave, judging from the character of the Supreme Emperor and Mrs. Guo Guo, I am afraid they have all been silenced."
Upon hearing this, Bai Fu immediately became alert and said, "So, Xuanzong should know that Mrs. Guo's treasure is hidden here?"
Sun Dashan nodded.
Bai Fu looked solemn and said: "Then let's restore this place to its original state first. The news that the Ministry of Internal Affairs has transferred Madam Guo's mansion to our hands should soon reach Xuanzong's ears.
If my prediction is correct, Xuanzong will send people down to the well to check it out in the next few days and nights."
Sun Dashan asked: "Brother Bai, do you still dare to want this batch of goods?"
Bai Fu sneered and said: "If it were anyone else, I might think about it. I will settle Xuanzong's private money!"
The Sun brothers looked at each other and laughed.
Sun Dashan smiled and said: "Brother Bai is so courageous, then this matter will be easy to handle."
Seeing the doubtful look on Bai Fu's face, Tu Xingsun smiled and said: "I'm not afraid of Brother Bai's jokes. We have been in this business for a long time and have been deceived by others. We have all become spirits.
Let’s put it this way, there are many masters in making antique counterfeits in the Shangluo area, and they all have ancestral craftsmanship. We can customize a batch of ‘gold ingots’ and ‘jewels’, and then replace this batch of treasures with fake goods.”
Bai Fuqi asked: "Won't that be discovered?"
Sun Dashan smiled and said: "The level of counterfeiting is extremely high, and even a jeweler will need some time to identify it. And under the light of the cave, even an expert can't detect it.
This batch of treasures is huge in quantity. As long as the mansion is not in their hands, it is impossible to move all the belongings within a few days. They can only sneak into the well of the mansion late at night when no one is prepared, move the ants, and take out the belongings bit by bit.
Therefore, as long as the top few layers are true.
Next, we need to sell the mansion as soon as possible. It is best to find a few Hu merchants to serve as shills and change hands several times. As long as the process is designed well, by the time they discover that the goods are not right, the mansion has already been transferred many times.
Since it changed hands many times, they couldn't guess for a while which Hu businessman discovered the secret of the culvert.
By the time they checked one by one, the 'treasure-stealing Hu Shang' had already fled."
This method was very interesting, and the three of them tacitly understood each other and laughed.
Seeing that the matter was well arranged, Bai Fu said: "I propose to divide the treasure here into three equal parts, and each of the three of us will take one. What do you think, two seniors?"
Sun Dashan said with a smile: "We have a saying, 'The tomb will never be empty.' The reason is that you have to take some as a lucky draw. However, the amount of treasure here is huge, and it is too much to give two copies to our brothers. I
I suggest that we both take 10% of the total."
Just as Bai Fu was about to continue his persuasion, Sun Dashan said: "Brother Bai is so generous and we appreciate it. If Brother Bai feels bad about it, we two brothers have something on their minds and may need Brother Bai's help in the future."
Bai Fu said: "I would also like to ask the two seniors to make it clear that if Bai can be of help, I will do so without any hesitation."
Sun Dashan sighed and said: "There is no need to rush into this matter. This is the curse of our family from generation to generation. If we dig out graves too much, the retribution will be on future generations..."
…
Just as Bai Fu expected, there was another scene at Xingqing Palace.
Xuanzong scolded with a sullen face: "What? Our people failed to buy Mrs. Guo Guo's mansion?"
"Yes, the relationship between the internal servants and the ministers has been sorted out. When the land deed was being issued, Princess Qingluan found your majesty, and your majesty issued an order to sell all the mansions and houses of Mrs. Guo Guo in Chang'an to Qingluan at a low price.
The princess's business name." Gao Lishi observed Xuanzong's face and replied carefully.
"You bastard! The majestic Princess of the Tang Dynasty actually went to do business. Wouldn't it make the world laugh at our royal family?" Xuanzong was furious.
"Who are the other proprietors of the company?" Xuanzong continued to ask.
"After checking, they are the two sons of King Qing - Li Yan and Li Qiu." Gao Lishi replied.
After guessing Xuanzong's thoughts, Gao Lishi suggested: "Otherwise, I will go directly to your Majesty. Please take back your orders and grant us these mansions.
After all, you are still a relative of Mrs. Guo Guo, and according to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, these mansions should also belong to you."
Xuanzong's face was clouded and he said coldly: "Even you understand the truth. As the king of a country, how can Heng'er not understand?
Do you think I don’t know about everything he planned behind the scenes of the Maweipo Incident? If he hadn’t been behind it, would Chen Xuanli have been unable to control the Imperial Army? Could it be that Chen Xuanli and his group of officers had the deepest hatred against Yang Guozhong?
He did not dare to hand over Mrs. Guo Guo and the Yang family's mansion to me because he was afraid that I would still remember these things!"
Xuanzong's tone was so cold that even Gao Lishi did not dare to look directly at it. You must know that the Maweipo Incident was a fatal issue for Xuanzong. From the day when Concubine Yang was hanged, no one dared to mention it again.
After being silent for a long time, Xuanzong spoke again and said: "Lishi, don't go to Hen'er, otherwise he will definitely notice something. Turning Mrs. Guo Guo's mansion upside down will be even worse.
You arrange for someone who has nothing to do with us to buy this house from the market normally. Do your best and don't let them see anything."
Gao Lishi nodded and obeyed.
…
A few days later, Sun Dashan invited Bai Fu to his house as a guest. Although Sun Dashan's mansion in Chang'an did not occupy a large area, it was decorated as luxuriously as any other wealthy family.
The Sun brothers invited Bai Fu into the secret room. In the middle of the secret room was a huge Dougong. The Dougong was made of four kinds of parts: Dougong, Gong, Ang and Fang, and hundreds of small parts spliced together with mortise and tenon.
Sun Dashan smiled and said: "This bracket is made by me according to the ratio of one to one, replicating the original bracket under the eaves of Mrs. Guo Guo's main hall."
Bai Fu was confused and asked: "Senior, haven't you found the treasure? Why do you still need to assemble this bracket?"
Sun Dashan said: "My ancestral dragon-seeking ruler never points blankly. There must be a reason why it points to this bracket. I couldn't see the clue for a while, so I used a stupid method to draw them one by one. Reply
After the mansion, I ordered the carpenters in the mansion to make the bracket parts to equal proportions and then assemble them one by one to get a closer look."
Bai Fu was filled with admiration and said to himself: "No wonder he is a figure who is like a god of the world. With this persistence and seriousness, he can become a master in any profession."
Sun Dashan introduced the Dougong components to Bai Fu one by one: "Brother Fu, looking from top to bottom, the long strip under the rafters is the eaves fang, and the corresponding one is the Luohan Fang. Connect the eaves fang and Luohan Fang at the Together is the rafter covering board.
The lower part of the eaves and fangs are riveted with the Shandou and Qixindou. The Linggong and Shuantou are connected together with the Shandou and Qixindou.
Further down are the cross-bucket arch, Xia'ang arch, melon-seed arch, and Hua arch. The corresponding ones in the middle are the capital arch, the wellhead arch, the slow arch, the riding arch, and the mud arch.
The entire bracket is finally collected into the brackets, which are spliced together with the mortise and tenon joints of the railings and columns."
…
This time Tu Xingsun did not interrupt Sun Dashanren. Bai Fu knew there must be a reason and he carefully remembered Sun Dashanren's explanation.
Sun Dashan said: "This bracket is made of large materials, with refined proportions, reasonable force distribution, and strong load-bearing structure. The shape is simple and exquisite, beautiful, and has a metaphor of the sky."
The main hall has only one bracket, which is the pinnacle of Tang Dynasty craftsmanship. It is really hard to put down.
The function of the Dougong is to break the stress of the beams and columns into parts, and resolve the external force and transmit the weight through hundreds of component nodes. The core of the stress is the "lord" position of the Dougong.
Therefore, every component in the bracket is indispensable. Once the mortise and tenon joints are assembled, they cannot be separated.
But there is nothing unusual about Dougong’s ‘jun’ position. The strange thing is actually Dougong’s ‘pawn’ position!
Brother Bai, give it a try and see if you can pull out this Sandao?"
Bai Fu followed Sun Dashan's instructions and touched an inconspicuous Sandao. With a little force, he actually pulled out the Sandao! However, the entire Dougong was not damaged, and the mortise and tenon structure was still extremely strong!
Although Bai Fu didn't understand the art of craftsmanship, he also knew that this was an incredible thing for Dou Gong, so he couldn't help but look at the Sun brothers blankly.
Sun Dashan laughed, patted Bai Fu on the shoulder, and said: "Brother Bai, today we have to go to Mrs. Guo's Mansion again to find this No. 1 bucket in the sky!"