Not to mention that literati are disdainful of each other, in fact people who play with antiques are even more disdainful! These people are not very greedy about money, but once it comes to their professional fields, they are all greedy and evil-hearted.
Why do you say that? Because everyone in this circle knows that although money and rights are good, they are renewable resources. Once the money is spent, you can still make money again. If the rights are gone, then you can continue to operate.
There is no problem with this, but the glory brought by antiques, relics and expedition archeology is unique and non-renewable!
Which of those priceless antiquities is not a unique treasure? The honor of exploring the ruins will always belong to one person and will not be shared.
Samuel Baker is recognized by the Western exploration community as the first person to discover the source of the Nile River, but has no one explored the source of the Nile River before or after him?
There must be, but none of them have as much influence as Samuel, so this honor goes to him alone.
Just like some of the antiques from the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt and those tombs that King Shangtai found in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. Because he was the first to discover them, his name was linked to this archaeological work. Qing Shi Leave your name!
It was the same today. As soon as Zuo Zuo heard that Samuel was also going to Dunhuang, he knew that this guy wanted this honor. He wanted to be the first European to explore the Dunhuang treasure house, and this guy would definitely start hunting for treasures.
In this era, there were no explicit laws and regulations to protect unearthed cultural relics. Basically, whoever discovered it would belong to whoever found it. For example, the Venus de Milo was unearthed by two Greek farmers.
As a result, it was discovered by a French officer and he bought it from a farmer with a small amount of money. Then this treasure became French.
Mona Lisa's Smile, a world-famous painting, was actually bought by a Frenchman from an Italian, and it became a national treasure of France.
This was a barbaric era when humans were exploring the earth. Explorers were just like captains in the Age of Discovery. When they found an island, they claimed it belonged to their own country. It was a complete staking claim.
If Samuel had appeared in Dunhuang, then some of the antiquities would have been brought back to Europe by him. This was almost the practice of that era.
So the left side asked him to share resources. You Samuel, don’t even think about taking advantage of it without paying anything. You formed an expedition team in India and traveled all the way across the Pamir Plateau... All these things must be shared!
Photos, drawings, finds you pick up along the way...including all the notes you take must be shared!
When Samuel heard the blackmail conditions on the left, the flesh on his distressed face trembled, but after weighing the pros and cons for a long time, he finally couldn't resist the temptation and agreed to the conditions.
At this point, the two expedition teams have officially merged, and they are recuperating in Guazhou to formulate plans, and by the way, Samuel and others can recuperate!
Zuo Zongtang couldn't play with them every day, so he provided them with a series of approval documents that allowed the expedition team to freely enter and leave the fortresses in various places. The local garrison also had to provide protection, and local government agencies also took care of them.
In the end, a military doctor and a team of fifty cavalry veterans were assigned to protect them along the way. Even if this was Master Zuo's wish, he would not bother to care about future matters.
Samuel did not break his promise. When Gordon set out for Lanzhou, he brought a letter to the British Minister in Beijing, which explained the reason for his stay in Guazhou and also explained his illness. No one forced him.
You have shied away everyone's responsibilities, and everyone is happy that you are less of a burden. In fact, Gordon and Samuel don't know each other very well at all!
The merged expedition team got to know each other, repaired equipment, and improved their health. It was not until December 1871 that Samuel's typhoid fever was six points better, and he could finally walk on the ground.
While waiting for his body to recover, Zuo almost tormented him to death. The great emperor of the capital rushed to the warehouse of the British expedition team every two days.
He wanted to keep an eye on all the antiquities collected in Central Asia. Although Samuel lost most of the cultural relics in Ili to avoid the pursuit of Tsarist Russian soldiers, there were still many small pieces left, which was enough. More than ten large parcels and more than 300 unearthed cultural relics scattered here and there.
Not only that, Samuel also has a large number of photos, which record the customs and scenery along the way and the surrounding scenes of each monument.
If these things are combined, it will be a golden key to open the archaeological treasure house of Central Asia!
The person on the left always remembers what Xiao Letian said when he was in the UK: "In this era, the craze for archeology has not yet spread throughout mankind, and mankind is still in a period of striving to fill its stomach and develop productivity!"
"The subject of archeology is only available in a few universities in countries such as Britain and France. There is nothing we can do about it. After all, most governments in various countries still focus on how to build hard national power, and not many people care about soft power. …”
“The small amount of archaeological activities in European and American intellectual circles are mostly privately funded, with very little government action…”
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! There are many treasures in this world that are easily accessible, hidden in remote corners of the countryside!"
"As long as you are willing to pick them up, those things are as good as free... So we need to collect more clues and search for more before the wave of European archeology rises!"
"Why do I, Xiao Letian, want to build a private museum? Isn't it because once archaeological funds appear in the Chinese national budget, once the government starts to get involved in archaeology, Westerners will be wary!"
"It's easy to explain whatever private individuals do, but everything is afraid of official actions... If the Chinese government starts to support this kind of activity, it will definitely stimulate the UK to increase its bargaining chip!"
"How can we be the rival of the British now? They have more money, territory, and navy than us... The Empire on which the Sun Never Sets wants to compete with us, but we are really no match!"
"So you have to do it secretly, and don't shoot... and quietly cheat to get more and more good things!"
Since the Yuan Dynasty supports his own deception, he should act quickly. The left side is now treating Samuel Baker as a cow that cannot resist, milking it desperately, and desperately searching for the secrets of Central Asia!
Not to mention, it is really fruitful. Among the archaeological data shared by Samuel Baker, there are even several ancient city ruins recorded in Monk Xuanzang’s Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty.
The people on the left have made up their mind to encourage King Shangtai to launch archaeological operations in the Pamir Plateau of Central Asia as long as the fighting here eases a little.
Stolen and stolen, Samuel Baker's huge and thick 16-karat leather notebook gradually became one of the targets on the left.
But never expected that when Zuo Zuo wanted to borrow the adventure notebook, Samuel Baker changed his usual pleasant manner and rejected him flatly.
