The national-level underground tomb, as ntioned by Yao Yun at the ti.
With the term "national-level," the artifacts unearthed must also be national-level items.
What constitutes a national-level cultural relic?
For those who may not frequently co across antiques, let explain it this way.
A unique treasure, a national heritage! This is what we call a "national treasure" relic.
According to the grading system used by the Palace Museum, it is classified as national level: top-tier national relics, first-level national relics, second-level national relics, third-level national relics, and general relics.
Items like the Golden Thread Jade Garnt are only classified as first-level national relics. This is because the Golden Thread Jade Garnt is not unique. To date, a total of twenty-one half-Golden Thread Jade Garnts have been discovered.
Those national treasures are far superior to the Golden Thread Jade Garnt, items like the Changxin Palace Lantern. These are irreplaceable national treasures, such as the Simuwu Ding, the Four Sheep Square Zun, the Zeng Hou Yi Bell Set, the Bronze Blood Square Lu, and the Galloping Horse with a Flying Swallow. These are examples.
Why did Yao Yun hesitate at that ti?
In this era, such items could not be exported from the country. They could only circulate in the mainland market, but no one dared to collect them, because no matter how powerful the buyer or collector was, the final outco was usually the sa.
They would permanently belong to the National Museum.
Once these items were uncovered, the governnt would investigate thoroughly, and in the end, the reward would be a lifelong sentence with permanent imprisonnt.
Yao Yun wanted to quit because she was scared, but the Sun brothers were not pleased.
The atmosphere at the ti was very tense. Xiao Pingtou Yao Wence had a pale, fearful expression. The two sides disagreed, and the tension was palpable.
"Was I scared at that ti?"
To be honest, I was seventy percent scared and thirty percent curious. The fear didn’t need much explanation, but I was curious about what kind of scene lay beyond the stone door in the underground tomb. It felt like the door led to an unknown world. What national treasures had yet to be revealed?
We couldn’t know.
We were just a small team from the North, and at the ti, there were many stronger factions in the field. Even if we opened the tomb door and entered after breaking through the stone, if we took anything from inside, we wouldn't be able to handle the consequences. Because what lay behind the stone door was like a ticking ti bomb. Once you dared to take it and sell it, it would be over.
The intercom signal was bad, so I relayed what was happening to Wang Bato.
There was silence on the intercom for a long ti.
"Everyone," the voice of Wang Bato ca through the intercom, "Big Boss, Third Brother, Yun Feng, what Yao Jiayin said is correct. This has gone beyond our ability to safely retreat. Co up. Don’t look for Second Brother anymore."
Upon hearing Wang Bato's words, the usually calm Sun Lao San rubbed his head. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked almost mad, kicking the huge stone door repeatedly. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn your mother!"
The massive stone door remained immovable, only a faint dust floating down from the air. Sun Lao San sat weakly in front of the stone door, pulling at his hair.
I felt a lump in my throat, feeling uneasy. Second Brother had been the lively mber of our team, and his sudden disappearance was likely bad news. We wanted to save him, but there was no trace of him. He had just vanished into thin air in this Western Zhou tomb.
Aside from the pressure, another very realistic reason we couldn’t get inside was the self-locking stone behind the door.
The self-locking stone, also known as the sealing stone, was one of the basic thods used in ancient tombs to prevent tomb robbers. Many tombs had self-locking stones. For example, the tomb of Emperor Shenzong Zhu Yijun of the Ming Dynasty had a 1.6-ter-long self-locking stone. This was part of the tomb's chanism.
People who studied and invented chanisms naturally studied how to crack them.
There are generally two ways to break these hard chanisms and get inside.
One is using intelligence, and the other is brute force.
A famous example is when Sun Dianying stole the tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi. At that ti, Sun Dianying used brute force, relying on a team of strong n, and eventually used explosives to blow open the door, breaking the self-locking stone. He then stole priceless treasures, including the Ming dynasty pearl, jade cabbage, and the Nine Dragons Sword.
Another thod is known in the field as the "Cow Nose Ring thod."
You’ve seen the iron rings used for bulls, right?
These rings have a hollow center with small holes on both sides to attach ropes.
This is how it’s done.
First, the position of the self-locking stone behind the door is marked. Then, a hamr and chisel are used to carve the shape of a cow nose ring on the surface of the door. Through the door crack, you can see the self-locking stone pushing against it.
Next, a tool called a Half-Circular Dragon Claw is used. The Northern faction calls it the "Half-Circular Dragon Claw," while the Southern faction calls it the "Curved Needle."
The National Archaeological Team tried everything (except explosives) and couldn’t remove the 1.5-ton self-locking stone from the Dingling tomb. In the end, they consulted ancient texts and, according to so rumors, even brought in tomb robbers who were imprisoned to help. Only then did they manage to open the tomb without damaging it.
The Half-Circular Dragon Claw and the Curved Needle may sound complex, but their principle is simple.
The Curved Needle is a tal tool with a long handle on one end and a half-circle shape on the other. First, the Curved Needle is inserted through the crack in the door, and the circular part is placed over the self-locking stone. A rope is then tied to the Curved Needle and passed through the cow nose ring-shaped groove. Finally, with effort, the rope is pulled either to the left or the right.
When the self-locking stone shifts, the security chanism is broken, and the stone door can be pushed open.
The self-locking stone is just one of the most common chanisms used in ancient tombs.
For thousands of years, ever since people began to believe in being laid to rest in the earth, tomb robbers and anti-tomb robbers have never stopped. Whoever has the better skills wins in the end.
At around 3 a.m. that night, we all climbed out of the tomb and left. Wang Bato’s face was grim. Having spent half his life in this business, Wang Bato knew how to asure things carefully.
The sealing stone weighing over two or three tons, even with the Curved Needle and ropes, could not be moved by just two or three of us.
Wang Bato changed his original plan. He had Old Sun quickly contact the buyer to sell the seven or eight bags of bronze artifacts, turning them into cash. anwhile, Wang Bato contacted a person nad Zhi and instructed her subordinates to find a way to fill the hole. We couldn’t leave any traces. We needed to quickly leave Shunde and lay low.
Wang Bato also sternly warned us not to let tonight’s events leak, to avoid bringing ourselves to prison.
The three Sun brothers, who had grown up together, drinking and making money together, now suddenly had one missing.
Under Wang Bato’s urging, Old Sun reluctantly started selling the bronze artifacts as quickly as possible.
We didn’t know when we’d be able to sell them for money. The waiting days dragged on slowly, and Sun Lao San drank heavily every day, drowning his sorrows in alcohol.
I saw him sotis, half-drunk, muttering to himself while holding a bottle.
"In the past, this was the ti when Second Brother was happiest, shouting the loudest because the money was about to be divided."
"Second Brother, where are you?"
"Co back and share the money."
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