He poured himself a cup of hot tea, and it was a unique feeling to be able to sit across from him and drink with the cool CEO amidst the overflowing aroma.
"It seems like you have a lot of confidence in your patience."
Seeing that her plan to whet her appetite failed, Jiang Yingxue made an insinuating comment, as if she wanted Bai Ning to give her some steps to land safely.
Speaking of embarrassment, there was already a more or less awkward atmosphere between the two of them.
"How can there be such delicious scented tea in this deep mountain and old forest? I was really intoxicated for a while."
Bai Ning responded lightly, with a slight smile at the corner of his mouth, but it inexplicably hit Jiang Yingxue's strange smile, and he burst into laughter.
His heroic appearance somewhat matches the slim-fitting mountaineering outfit he is wearing today, with a hint of vitality amidst his composure.
"It is undeniable that you have your own unique opinions on many things, but when you know too many things, it is easy to overlook many obvious details."
It seemed as if he was about to throw out the useful information in his hand, but there was still a sense of hiding it. Seeing Bai Ning still looking indifferent, Jiang Yingxue, who felt a little boring, was too lazy to continue this boring game.
"Show me that jade pendant."
This seemed to be a disguised power strengthening process after failure, with a hint of habit. Bai Ning had no intention of resisting and handed over the cologne jade pendant casually.
The jade pendant was purchased in such small quantities that it is hard to imagine that it was a personal item taken out of Bai Ning's coat pocket.
This alone is enough to show the magic of this ancient dragon jade pendant.
Jiang Yingxue looked at it carefully for a moment or two. Apart from the simple luster, she couldn't judge the reason. She could only cough and signal to the beings waiting outside to come in.
"This is Professor Huang, an expert in jade and archaeology."
An old man in his fifties or sixties came in. Even though his face was full of weathered skin and there were wrinkles on his forehead and corners of his eyes, his bookish air blessed by a pair of black-framed eyes gave him a feeling that he should not be underestimated. .
Even though Jiang Yingxue took the initiative to introduce him, Professor Huang had no intention of taking the initiative to talk to Bai Ning. He just took two quick steps and took the ancient dragon jade pendant from Jiang Yingxue's hand, looking at it solemnly.
While watching, he kept nodding his head. The smile in his eyes seemed to be a bit greedy, and he seemed to be hungry for something he cherished.
“Whether it’s in terms of shape or appearance and color, this looks like an ancient jade produced in the Xia and Shang dynasties.
The jade dragons of the Shang Dynasty are mainly in the shape of a single dragon, with the body mostly in a curly shape, connected head to tail, and some have ridges on their backs. The head is large, with an open mouth and teeth, and the top of the head is decorated with thick, mushroom-shaped horns.
"Chen"-shaped eyes, moiré nose, and body decorated with rhombus, triangle or deformed moiré patterns. Some also have heavy ring patterns and double arc patterns engraved on the cheeks.
There are many jade dragon flakes in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and the decorative lines have also changed from the square folds of the Shang Dynasty to be straight and straight, and the rules have become stretched and smooth, making them more natural and lively.
In the late Western Zhou Dynasty, some dragons were longer and thinner than before, and the carving of the horns was less obvious. Some even turned into moiré-shaped ears. At the same time, the "chen"-shaped eyes were gradually replaced by round eyes.
It's just that this thing seems to be an orphan, and it is quite different from the various Shang and Zhou dragon-shaped jade pendants currently unearthed. I am afraid it did not come from a certain prince's ancient tomb. "
As expected of an expert in this field, he was able to tell at a glance that this was the exclusive jade of the Yulong clan.
After the appraisal was completed, Professor Huang placed the jade pendant on the table with some reluctance. Even though the corner of his eye would glance at the ancient dragon jade pendant from time to time, this move also showed his character as an archaeologist.
"If you just want to determine the age of this ancient dragon jade pendant, you don't need to go through so much trouble.
Have jade pendants of this shape appeared in your other investments? "
Since Jiang Yingxue has found an expert on ancient jade, he must have gained some inspiration in the field of jade.
"It's said that you keep everything close to your heart. It's already this time, but you still come to ask me this question. Isn't it a bit redundant?
Among various urban rumors, is there any jade more famous than the Pisces Jade Pendant? "
Jiang Yingxue finally solved the mystery of the trip, which really shocked Bai Ning instantly.
The Lop Nur Pisces Jade Pendant is as famous as the Yingkou Dragon Falls Incident, but precisely because of its fame, Bai Ning cannot associate it with it.
The reason is impossible, because these two locations, one is on the far east coast of the Chinese map, and the other is on the sand sea in the far west. They span thousands of kilometers and are completely unrelated.
"Lop Nur dried up after 1970. Before that, its largest area may have reached 5,000 square kilometers. It was once an important water source for Guloulan.
Even if Lop Nur was indeed a water town in the Western Regions, this does not prove that the dragon clan existed there. "
The ancient dragon jade pendant is a symbol of the existence of the dragon clan, and it is impossible to forcibly connect it with Lop Nur because of the association of jade.
To Bai Ning's rebuttal, Jiang Yingxue just responded with a meaningful smile.
"Lop Nur" is called "Youze" in "The Classic of Mountains and Seas". Youze and Yaochi have certain similarities in ancient sounds.
Yaochi and the Queen Mother of the West are naturally connected, and the Queen Mother of the West is bound to the Kunlun Mountains.
Kunlun Mountain is the ancestor of all dragon veins in China. "
Jiang Yingxue's response made this confrontation full of possibility and imagination.
There is the Queen Mother of the West on Kunlun Mountain, which is also recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. As for where the Yaochi is, not many people can verify it.
Furthermore, there are many lakes near the Kunlun Mountains, and there is never an ancient lake near the Altyn Mountains.
"When it comes to the historical records of Yaochi, the most famous one is King Zhou Mu.
"Liezi·King Mu of Zhou" records that (the king) then visited the Queen Mother of the West and drank wine in the Yaochi. The Queen Mother of the West sang a song to the king, and the king congratulated her, and her words were mournful.
Among them, it is recorded in more detail in the book "The Biography of Emperor Mu". He crossed the Yellow River from the north of Zhou Dynasty, crossed Taihang, crossed Hutuo, left Yanmen, arrived in Baotou, crossed Helan Mountain, passed Qilian Mountain, took the North Road of Tianshan Mountain to the Kingdom of the Queen Mother of the West, and then Traveling north for 1,900 miles to the "Great Wilderness of the Northwest", we finally returned to the capital via the South Road of Tianshan Mountain.
According to this record, Yaochi should be on the side of Tianshan Mountain, which seems very funny.
If you want to force an explanation, then the person who wrote the biography of Emperor Mu misunderstood the concept of the north and south roads of Tianshan Mountain.
After passing through the Qilian Mountains, King Mu of Zhou followed the Altun Mountains connected to it to reach the vicinity of Lop Nur, then went north along the Lop Nur to the Tianshan Mountains, and finally arrived at the Kingdom of the Queen Mother of the West (Gu Loulan), and then continued northward, traveling northward along the Tianshan Mountains for 1,900 miles. To the Outer Mongolian prairie (Northwestern Great Plains), and finally back south along the Tianshan Mountains.
If this explanation is adopted, then what you said about Youze being Yaochi is correct. "
Although there were many questions in his mind, Bai Ning did not rush to refute Jiang Yingxue's judgment. Instead, he made an overall analysis of some common information on the Internet.
Combining them into one, ignoring some important details, and making them more self-consistent, we can indeed conclude that Lop Nur is Yaochi.
This way of discussing seems to support Jiang Yingxue, but in fact it also implies that Jiang Yingxue is far-fetched.
Since it is far-fetched, the result is tantamount to speculation.
In addition to wanting to point out that Jiang Yingxue's conclusion was too arbitrary, I also wanted to correct Professor Huang's implicit position and prevent Professor Huang from being limited by Jiang Yingxue's employment relationship and unable to make a fair decision from a third party's perspective.
Bai Ning's citations were indeed very effective. Hearing that Bai Ning was able to conduct research and self-thinking on various historical documents, this immediately put Professor Huang into a state of pure academic thinking.
“Many people regard the Altyn Mountains as a branch of the Kunlun Mountains. It is indeed very rare that you can separate them.
However, I do think that the Altun Mountains are a branch of the Kunlun Mountains.
Even though there is a long and narrow river valley as the dividing line between the Altun Mountains and the Kunlun Mountains, from the perspective of ancient people, the mountains will not be separated by a long and narrow river valley.
For example, take the most famous Eight Paths of Taihang. The ancients would not have divided Taihang Mountain into pieces because of these eight paths.
The separate division of the Altun Mountains is more based on geological time. The Altun Mountains are dominated by Proterozoic strata, while the East Kunlun Mountains are dominated by Late Paleozoic strata.
Furthermore, the names of the mountains surrounding the Tarim Basin are Tianshan Mountains, Kunlun Mountains and Altun Mountains. The sudden transliteration of the Altun Mountains is very jarring.
The upper half of the mountain range is collectively called the Tianshan Mountains, while the lower half is divided into the Kunlun Mountains and the Altun Mountains. This is not natural in terms of naming conventions.
Therefore, if Lop Nur is really Yaochi, then it is indeed in Kunlun Mountain. "
As soon as Professor Huang made a move, he immediately showed his skills and directly attributed the Altyn Mountains to a branch of the Kunlun Mountains. It can be said that he broke through the tit-for-tat implicit in Bai Ning's words.
In this way, whether it is from various historical documents, ancient pronunciation, or geographical location, Lop Nur is Yaochi.
"If Lop Nur is Yaochi, then the Queen Mother of the West is the Queen of Loulan.
Considering the characteristics of Loulan Westerners, the existence of a queen is not impossible.
However, according to historical records, the ancient city of Loulan had a population of no more than 10,000, a soldier count of less than 3,000, and the city wall was an earthen city made of reeds and mud.
A small place like this, where the Han soldiers arrived and destroyed the city, does not seem to be the home of a mythical and legendary figure like the Queen Mother of the West.
Furthermore, it is stated in the Classic of Mountains and Seas that the Queen Mother of the West has tiger teeth and a leopard's tail. The cave is a half-human and half-demon being living in a cave.
If it were beautified a little, it would be a half-human and half-immortal sitting in the paradise of cave heaven.
This is different from what King Mu of Zhou experienced.
If you want to reconcile myth and reality, King Zhou Mu did reach Yaochi, but what he met was not the Queen Mother of the West herself, but Queen Loulan who believed in the Queen Mother of the West.
As for the ancient Loulan City recorded later, it was also built by followers of the Queen Mother of the West, not the location of the Queen Mother of the West.
Combined with the rumors of the Pisces Jade Pendant, if the Queen Mother of the West has died, her mausoleum is likely to be in Yaochi, which is also Lop Nur. "
Bai Ning seemed to be refuting Jiang Yingxue and Professor Huang, but in fact he was looking for points of agreement in the chaos, which was a process of showing off his skills.
