The next morning.
After fasting and bathing, the First Emperor took his accompanying civil and military ministers to a newly built high platform by the Surabaya River and began to pray at the temple. The ceremony was very solemn, which shows that he attached great importance to the lost treasure tripod.
The Nine Cauldrons were passed down from Xia Yu and passed through the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. They are recognized as the most precious treasure in the world and a symbol of the emperor's power.
It has been coveted by princes since ancient times. In the Spring and Autumn Period, King Zhuang of Chu aspired to the Central Plains.
After the rise of Qin, all the kings of Qin in the past dynasties also yearned for these nine great cauldrons.
The most famous one is probably that King Wu of Qin lifted a tripod, but his leg was broken and he died with resentment.
At that time, the Qin State became the laughing stock of the entire world.
Some people even quoted Wang Sunman's words to persuade King Zhuang of Chu to retreat, "It is virtue but not the cauldron" to ridicule.
The people of the Six Kingdoms laughed at the Qin State as a country of tigers, wolves, and soldiers.
However, after the death of King Wu of Qin, King Zhao of Qin who ascended the throne was more violent and vicious than the previous Qin kings. He fought the six kingdoms with great trembling, with mountains of slaughter and bones everywhere, which cannot be called a virtue at all.
It was such a cruel King of Qin that he destroyed the Zhou clan and moved Jiuding to Xianyang.
This was an act by Qin to prove its destiny. But they didn't expect to meet a staunch prince of the Zhou Dynasty, who fled eastward with the Yuzhou tripod, and sank the boat, which made the Qin people's dream of collecting nine tripods missing.
"I don't know if King Qin Zhao has the same obsessive-compulsive disorder as the emperor. If he has it, he might still be thinking about not collecting all the Nine Cauldrons before he dies, tsk tsk."
Zhao Tuo looked at the emperor who was performing sacrifices and prayers, and secretly cursed in his heart.
After a while, the First Emperor finished praying at the temple, turned around, stood on the high platform, and formally gave orders to the crowd waiting below.
"Looking for the tripod!"
"The emperor has issued an order to enter the river to search for the tripod!" the visitor loudly announced the order.
Zhang De, the governor of Sishui County who had been waiting for a long time, immediately shouted to the three thousand people who were good at water: "Two or three sons, go into the river to look for the cauldron. If you can find such artifacts, you will be rewarded heavily!"
"Wei!" "Your Majesty!"
"Great Qin Dynasty for ten thousand years!"
Three thousand warriors who were good at water agreed together and shouted the slogans specially trained by the county guards a few days ago. The sound was so loud that the emperor on the high platform smiled.
No one doesn't like to hear good words, especially the First Emperor, who loves to listen to carols the most.
After shouting, the three thousand people each drank a glass of wine to ward off the cold autumn water, and then started to enter the water in batches to search for the cauldron according to the previously allocated river sections.
"Maybe you can't find it here, but you can find it upstream."
Zhao Tuo muttered.
He vaguely remembered a text he had studied before, which said that stone beasts fell into the river and could not be found downstream more than ten years later. Then a river defense veteran said that heavy objects that fell in the water cannot be found downstream, but must be found downstream. Upstream, in the end they really found the stone beast that had fallen into the water, which was very magical.
However, Zhao Tuo just thought about it and shook his head to reject it, secretly saying that he had no chance to show off.
Because the cauldron fell into the river with the ship. For such a big ship and the weight of a large cauldron, it is completely impossible for the water to hit it. Wherever it sank, it will probably stay there.
However, it was more than thirty years ago that Prince Zhou sank the ship. No one could determine the location of the shipwreck. They only knew that it was in a general area nearby, so the search area this time was very large.
Some of the three thousand people entered the water here, and some stepped on boats. They entered the water upstream and downstream to search for the sunken ship and the treasure tripod. The search range was very wide.
Zhao Tuo followed the others and waited by the river until dusk in the afternoon. Three thousand people searched for nearly 20 miles upstream and downstream, but they did not see the missing cauldron.
When the matter was reported, the Emperor's originally expectant expression turned gloomy, and his eyes fell on the governor Zhang De.
The fat Sheriff of Surabaya suddenly turned pale.
He listened to the persuasion of several wealthy families in Sishui County, followed the example of the Linzi County Sheriff in flattering the emperor, and confirmed that there was indeed a boat sinking by Prince Zhou thirty years ago, so he reported it to the emperor.
Unexpectedly, I didn't find it in the end. This thing is a crime of deceiving the emperor.
In panic, Zhang De did not think much and opened his mouth to defend himself: "Your Majesty, the cauldron must be too heavy, and the sand at the bottom of the river is loose and floating. The cauldron fell on the sand and gradually sank deeper and deeper. It is covered with sand at the bottom of the river, so it cannot be found. You probably need to shovel the sand at the bottom of the river before you can see the tripod. Please give your Majesty some more time, and I will ask the warriors who go into the water to search under the sand tomorrow. , we will definitely find the treasure tripod.”
Hu Hai muttered next to Zhao Tuo: "It seems like this. The cauldron must be covered with sand, and it will have to be shoveled away."
Zhao Tuo rolled his eyes and said, "Why are you looking for a tripod? You are looking for a boat. Now that the boat has not been found, I guess there is something wrong with this matter."
"ah?"
Hu Hai was startled, then realized and said, "What my brother-in-law said is that we should look for a boat. How could this county guard say such things as to deceive a child?"
Sure enough, after listening to Zhang De's words, the First Emperor's face became more and more gloomy.
He said coldly: "So the sunken ship was also covered with sand and soil, making it completely unrecognizable?"
There is no trace of the sunken ship within twenty miles upstream and downstream, proving that Baoding is not here at all.
Zhang De reacted and realized that he had made a mistake. He hurriedly lay on the ground and trembled: "Your Majesty, forgive me. I also listened to the rumors that the villagers saw a treasure light appearing in the Si River and heard the sound of ghosts crying. They thought that It’s because of the birth of the precious tripod that I’m advising your majesty. I have no guts to deceive your majesty!”
The governor cried out his injustice in front of the important ministers.
Zhang De was really helpless. If it were in a later dynasty, he could have used his power to recruit warriors who were good at water to search the river first, and then report to the emperor after he really found traces of the sunken ship and the tripod. .
But it was basically impossible in the Qin Dynasty, because the Qin Dynasty valued military power very much.
As the saying goes, "Every time a soldier is armored and employs more than fifty soldiers, he must know the King's Talisman and dare to do it." If an army of more than fifty people needs to be equipped with the Tiger Talisman, it must be registered, otherwise it will be considered as violating the prohibition. , is a great sin.
Even if Zhang De is the county governor, it is impossible to mobilize more than 50 troops without official official business, let alone summon people who gather water to search in Si River without authorization. This in itself is an act beyond his authority and against the law.
There is a censor in Sishui County who is directly under the central government and has the power to supervise the county guards. This makes Zhang De dare not break the rules.
And when the news about the light emitting from the Zhou Ding in Surabaya became more and more intense, Zhang De was persuaded by the wealthy people in Surabaya and wanted to use this to flatter the emperor. When he boldly submitted a letter to the emperor, the edict he received was to let him Recruit soldiers, then wait for the emperor to arrive in person, offer sacrifices and pray before salvaging.
As a result, he did not dare to send anyone into the water. He would only do it after the emperor offered sacrifices to the prayer temple.
Therefore, the county guard actually did not know whether there was Zhou Ding in Surabaya. He just guessed that the story of Prince Zhou Shen Ding was widely circulated in the local area. Many old people had said it with certainty, so he believed it. , I had the courage to flatter the emperor, but now I have capsized.
The First Emperor was very angry.
He originally had a good time on Zhifu Island. After playing on Zhifu Island, he originally planned to go to Chengshan to see the sea, and then take a leisurely stroll all the way to Langya.
As a result, he was so tickled by Zhang De's letter that he gave up his planned travel plan and traveled thousands of miles to Surabaya, only to find that it was all in vain. Anyone would be angry with such a trick!
Not to mention this domineering Supreme Being. The First Emperor took a deep breath and spoke sternly: "Liu Ting, you will handle this matter."
Tingwei Li Si immediately stood up and agreed.
When the county governor Zhang De heard this, he immediately collapsed on the ground.
Tingwei, this is the chief of the highest judicial tribunal in the central government, specializing in prison matters. The emperor asked Tingwei to handle it, which is to prepare him for punishment.
"Your Majesty, I also listened to the advice of those in the county, and that's why I became confused."
Zhang De shouted and immediately began to shirk responsibility.
Li Si sneered at him and said, "Don't worry, Sheriff, if you dare to deceive the emperor, no one will be able to escape from this matter."
The First Emperor snorted coldly, tossed his sleeves and walked away.
When Zhao Tuo saw this scene, he shook his head. He didn't pity Governor Zhang. After all, for the sake of merit, this guy lied about Jiuding, causing himself and the emperor to come here from Zhifu Island thousands of miles away. They worked hard all the way, and the result was that But he is a fake and deserves to suffer.
After searching this large section of Surabaya, no trace of the sunken ship was found. Where is the lost Yuzhou tripod?
"Perhaps everything was a rumor deliberately created by the Prince of Zhou, so that King Qin would give up and take the opportunity to hide with the Yuzhou Ding. After all, the ship-building incident was just a rumor. At that time, the Qin army had just captured Luoyang, which was still far away from here. The Wei State did not personally witness the ship-cutting incident. From this point of view, it is possible that this matter is a rumor."
"And the Yuzhou tripod is so precious. Since it fell here, there is no way that the King of Chu would not come looking for it. As a result, no Chu people have salvaged it in the past thirty years. Maybe it is because the King of Chu knew that this was a rumor. Prince Zhou The matter of hiding the cauldron may be facilitated by the State of Chu."
Zhao Tuo secretly speculated in his heart. Of course, he was just speculating.
No matter what the truth is, it seems that this tripod is impossible to get.
The First Emperor enthusiastically rushed from Zhifu Island to Surabaya to fish for the tripod, which will become a joke that will be passed down to future generations.
"Just looking at Zhang De's appearance, he also listened to the persuasion of the wealthy people in Surabaya. He did not plan this matter himself. So what is the purpose of these wealthy people in Surabaya? Let the county governor flatter the emperor, and then they will Flattering the Sheriff?"
Zhao Tuo was speechless, but he didn't think much about it, because the impact of this matter was too great, and the First Emperor was very angry.
Tingwei Li Si has already received the order and will definitely check everything up and down here. He will naturally know when the time comes.
"If we can't get the tripod, we will probably go to Pengcheng to rest for two days."
Zhao Tuo secretly said: "When we get to Pengcheng, I should persuade the emperor to go to the Prime Minister to see the Xiang family with his own eyes."
Some people died, but not completely...
