AD 2345, May 4th, in a community in Guangdong.
"In 1992, an ancient tomb from Wang Mang's New Dynasty was discovered in Hanjiang County, Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. A cultural relic was unearthed in it that made experts excited after seeing it. This cultural relic was a bronze caliper. Before the bronze caliper was unearthed, there were no other artifacts in the world. The earliest recognized vernier caliper was invented by the French mathematician Vinier Pierre in 1631. However, after the bronze caliper was unearthed, the ancient Chinese civilization was clearly superior, a full 1,600 years earlier than the Western vernier caliper. .”
"The new dynasty founded by Wang Mang straddled the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty. It started in AD 9 and was overthrown by the Green Forest Army in AD 23. The regime only existed for fifteen years. In AD 25, Liu Xiu established the Eastern Han Dynasty. After more than ten years of war, the country was reunified and Luoyang was established as the capital. China's political, economic and cultural development has entered a new chapter."
"Wang Mang has also been ridiculed by many netizens as a time traveler. He has taken breakthrough and subversive measures in politics, economy and religion."
"..."
At the computer desk, Bai Yichuan, who loves history, repeatedly inquired and read historical news about Wang Mang's New Deal period. Recently, as if drawn by a mysterious force, he has developed a keen interest in the history of the New Deal period.
China is one of the four ancient civilizations. It has given birth to countless splendid civilizations in the long history, and each generation of civilization has its own unique charm.
"Use history as a guide to understand the ups and downs, use history to correct people's gains and losses, and use history to make things clear and clear." This is the reason why Bai Yichuan has loved history since he was a child.
Bai Yichuan is eighteen years old, and today is also his birthday. His family conditions were not very good since he was a child, and he almost forgot the feeling of celebrating birthdays. At the age of fifteen, he entered the society to make a living. In real life, his main job is to run an antique shop in partnership with his friends. When he has nothing to do, he sells some antiques.
So, he decided to go to Hanjiang County, Yangzhou, to explore this history in more detail, and maybe he would make some new discoveries.
The next morning, it was just dawn. He then drove on, covering a total distance of more than 1,400 kilometers. It took a full day of driving and resting, and it was already early the next morning when he arrived in Hanjiang County, Yangzhou.
I found a hotel with board and lodging near the Xin Dynasty Ancient Tombs in Hanjiang County. After taking a short rest, I went to the Hanjiang Museum in the afternoon to take a look at the historical relics found in the ancient tombs.
It was already one o'clock in the afternoon when Bai Yichuan woke up from the hotel. After briefly washing up, he went downstairs to prepare for some lunch. While waiting for the meal, a beast-shaped bronzeware played by a child at the door of the hotel caught Bai Yichuan's attention. The animal-shaped bronze vessel is not large, about the size of a ten-year-old child's hand, and only three to four centimeters thick.
"Kid, what are you playing with? Can you show me?" Bai Yichuan asked the child with a gentle smile.
"Here, here you go." The child stretched out his fleshy little hand and handed the animal-shaped bronze vessel to Bai Yichuan. After Bai Yichuan got it, he weighed it and confirmed that it was a bronze product.
Bai Yichuan observed carefully. Judging from the shape, it is engraved by Bai Ze, and there are some unknown and strange patterns. Baize is an auspicious beast in ancient Chinese mythology. Able to speak, understand the emotions of all things, know the things of ghosts and gods, and can ward off all evil spirits in the world.
Baize generally appears in stone carvings, embroidered clothing images, or embroidered flags. Bronze Baize cultural relics are rare in history. Coupled with its exquisite and meticulous carving technology, Bai Yichuan couldn't help but suspect that this was a modern product.
However, the copper spots and rust stains on this animal-shaped bronze vessel, as well as its strong historical atmosphere, do not look like a modern product. Just as Bai Yichuan was wondering, the lady boss passing by said with a smile:
"Young man, this is an object left by the child's father. When it was passed to us, we also asked someone to appraise it. It is a modern product and not worth much."
Bai Yichuan smiled when he heard this and asked: "Madam boss, I am very interested in this small object. Can you resell it to me?"
"Hey, it's an imitation. It's useless to keep it. I'll give it to you." The landlady laughed.
Bai Yichuan was not someone who liked to take advantage, so in the end he still forced himself to give five hundred yuan to the proprietress. An unexpected transaction made the two of them familiar. In the subsequent exchanges, the proprietress also learned that Bai Yichuan was a literary and toy enthusiast, so she told Bai Yichuan that there should be such modern imitations in the homes of nearby villagers.
After lunch, Bai Yichuan drove to Hanjiang Museum. Looking at the bronze products in the exhibition hall, Bai Yichuan couldn't help but sigh again at the wisdom of the ancient people.
Soon, Bai Yichuan's eyes were fixed on the bronze calipers. This copper caliper is composed of a fixed ruler and a movable ruler. The fixed ruler is 13.3 cm long, and the fixed claw is 5.2 cm long, 0.9 cm wide, and 0.5 cm thick. Compared with modern vernier calipers, the similarities between the two are striking.
Looking back at Wang Mang's life, Bai Yichuan couldn't help but wonder: Could it be that Wang Mang is really a time traveler? His ideas were indeed too advanced for his time.
Thinking of this, Bai Yichuan shook his head and laughed at himself. Today, with such advanced technological civilization, he still believes in the mysterious and mysterious saying of time travel.
After leaving the exhibition hall, it was already four o'clock in the afternoon. Bai Yichuan is also planning to visit the surrounding villages. The hotel proprietress said that there should be modern imitations of this kind in the homes of nearby villagers. Bai Yichuan wanted to try his luck again.
After visiting several villages, Bai Yichuan found nothing. When ancient tombs were unearthed before, archaeologists came over to scan them and basically handed them over.
Next to the last village, there is a low-income family living in a dilapidated tile-roofed house. This is the last family I have not visited.
Bai Yichuan parked the car and knocked on the door. The person who opened the door was a lame old man who looked like he was dying.
"Old man, I'm from Guangdong. I usually like to collect some knickknacks. Do you have any bronze products like this at home?" Bai Yichuan took out the bronze Baize and raised his voice, fearing that the old man would become deaf due to old age.
"Oh, are you collecting waste? I have collected plastic bottles and paper boxes here for a few days. How much do you collect?" The old man opened his cloudy eyes, trying hard to hear clearly.
"No, I don't collect scraps, I collect objects like this." Bai Yichuan smiled and pointed to the bronze Baize in his hand.
...
After explaining it with great effort, the old man took out a round bronze product from under the bed and handed it to Bai Yichuan.
This object is about 30 centimeters in diameter and is covered with dirt and grime. Bai Yichuan took out the lining cloth, carefully wiped the round bronze vessel, and finally confirmed that it was an ancient bronze mirror.
When the ancient bronze mirror enters the eyes, a strong and heavy aura hits the face. The whole body is covered with green embroidery, the rust color is integrated with the body of the vessel, the depth is the same, solid and uniform, smooth and natural. Bai Yichuan can conclude that this is not a modern product.
There is an animal-shaped groove on the back of the ancient bronze mirror!
"Why is this shape so familiar?" Bai Yichuan thought to himself, and suddenly realized it. He took out the bronze Baize he bought in the hotel, and the two matched surprisingly well!
"Old man, are you selling this object?" Bai Yichuan raised the ancient bronze mirror in his hand.
"Sell, how much does a pound of scrap metal cost?" the old man asked.
Bai Yichuan smiled when he heard this, then took out two thousand yuan and stuffed it into the old man's hand. "Here are two thousand yuan, take it." Bai Yichuan felt so happy that he missed it.
The old man stared at his cloudy eyes and kept thanking Bai Yichuan. Two thousand yuan was enough for him to live for a long time.
Bai Yichuan returned to the hotel. After a brief dinner, he studied these two objects in the room. Due to the rush to come out, Bai Yichuan did not bring any professional cleaning tools, and there was still a lot of stubborn dirt on the ancient bronze mirror that had not been removed. Bai Yichuan decided to go back immediately tomorrow.
With something to look forward to, Bai Yichuan was eager to return home, and the car drove very fast. The original drive of about seventeen hours took Bai Yichuan fourteen hours to arrive.
Bai Yichuan didn't rest after arriving. He excitedly took out professional cleaning tools and started cleaning the ancient bronze mirror.
Bai Yichuan's brushes are made from a kind of African wolf hair. Their elasticity and wear resistance are better than PBT filaments and nylon brush filaments, and they do not harm cultural relics. Regarding the detergent, Bai Yichuan uses an ancient method to make it by mixing shell ash and plant ash.
It took a long time to clean up. I don’t know how long the ancient bronze mirror had been there, and the dirt was very stubborn. Bai Yichuan is also very patient and his technique is always gentle. After several hours of cleaning, the ancient bronze mirror looked brand new.
