be honest.岲
Weng Tong's brain has been down a lot more times today than in the past ten years combined.
Among all the events that caused the downtime today, the current news surprised Weng Tong the most.
After all, that's...
Golden nanmu.
As everyone knows.
Wood...or wood, is one of the words that occupies the largest space in ancient Chinese civilization.
From ordinary firewood to furniture, buildings, coffins...it can be said that ancient people were inseparable from the intersection with wood from birth to death.岲
Among the many woods, nanmu, camphor, catalpa and eucalyptus are the most valuable.
Therefore, these four types of wood are also known as the four famous trees in ancient China.
At the same time, there is still a ranking within these four famous trees, among which the one ranked first is...
Phoebe.
Xie Zaihang recorded in "Wuzazu":
"The nanmu was born in Chu and Shu. It is unknown how old it is in the deep mountains and poor valleys. A hundred-foot stem is half buried in the sand, so it is cut into a coffin, which is called a sand board. There are textures in the good boards and they are as hard as iron and stone. Those who try it, use it as a coffin. The moon is made into a box, and the raw meat is stored in it for several days, and the color does not change."
As for the golden nanmu.岲
It is also the best type of nanmu.
Golden nanmu has golden wood fibers. It has always been a wood only used by the royal family and is known as the national wood.
It is yellow in color, as bright as gold, and extremely exquisite.
It also has a light fragrance and is insect-proof and rot-resistant. It can be buried in the ground without rotting for thousands of years.
That is to say, "Water cannot soak it, and ants cannot nest in it."
At the same time, it is not easy to deform, difficult to crack, and feels warm in winter and cool in summer.
Students who have laid themselves in golden nanmu coffins should all know this.岲
The corpse is very comfortable to lie down in the golden nanmu, the waist support is very stable, and it is not prone to heat stroke and cold when resurrected.
all in all.
This is a perfect wood.
Of course.
Such perfect wood also has its own little temper, that is, it grows extremely slowly.
It takes at least two hundred years for golden nanmu to grow from a small seedling to usable wood. In addition, it is mainly concentrated in places such as Sichuan and Guizhou, so transportation in ancient times was quite troublesome.
Therefore, in ancient times, golden nanmu was extremely valuable.岲
Even for an emperor, a top being in the feudal period, having a coffin made of golden nanmu after his death was considered to be of very high standard.
The result was unexpected...
Under the underground palace of Emperor Jiajing, in the bronze box of the "Yongle Dadian"...
There is actually a layer of golden nanmu attached?
Of course.
Seeing this, some students may have questions:
That's not right.岲
According to previous measurements, the total volume of this "bronze box" is only about 150 cubic meters - the volume here refers to the volume.
Deduct the hollow part used to hold the "Yongle Dadian".
The actual volume of the golden nanmu lining should be only about tens of cubic meters.
The volume of tens of cubic meters cannot be said to be small, but compared with the golden nanmu pillars in Changling's En Hall, it is completely two orders of magnitude. Do you need to be so excited?
Thump thump thump thump.
Update 30,000 per day·The rumor-refuting small class has started again.
There is indeed a famous nanmu pillar in Changling's En Hall, which is considered one of the most famous nanmu buildings in China.岲
Changling refers to the mausoleum of Emperor Yongle, which is the largest mausoleum at the head of the Thirteen Tombs.
The entire Changling Mausoleum was built from the seventh year of Yongle to the completion of the second year of Xuande, which took 18 years. The underground palace alone took four years to build.
Among them, the place where Emperor Yongle was worshiped was the Xien Hall.
The entire hall is built on a three-story white marble platform. It is nine rooms wide and five rooms deep, symbolizing the emperor's "nine-five-year-old dignity."
The whole hall covers an area of 1956 square meters, and the hall is paved with gold bricks.
In addition, there are 60 giant nanmu pillars with a maximum diameter of 1.17 meters and a height of 14.30 meters.
In the mouths of many marketing accounts, these nanmu trees are called "golden nanmu".岲
But what needs to be explained is...
These pillars are just ordinary nanmu, not golden nanmu.
In terms of exact type.
These nanmu all belong to the standard grainless fine-leaf nanmu, which is a category under nanmu.
The strength of grainless Phoebe is very high, but this kind of wood has no or only a small part of the texture, and has almost no value other than being solid. Of course, this sentence is mainly aimed at the royal family.
For the ancient common people, the value of the grainless and fine-leafed phoebe was still high.
In fact, you know it if you think about it.岲
If these nanmu are all golden nanmu.
Then it was necessary for Qianlong to "remove the big ones and replace them with small ones" when repairing the Ming Tombs, and spent all his brains to dig out dozens of large and small pieces of golden nan from the entire Ming Tombs to make a coffin for himself?
The Grainless Phoebe and Golden Phoebe are similar to the Red Panda compared to the Giant Panda. Apart from some similar names, they are actually very different.
Similar rumors include the gold bricks that live in the same hall as the nanmu pillars.
Ancient gold bricks are also called fine square bricks or "slurry bricks". They are a special kind of bricks fired from Suzhou, Jiangnan. The firing process is very complicated.
It takes a full 190 days from firing to completion, which is one week longer than Chubang soy sauce.
Because it made the sound of gold and stone when struck, the ancients called it "gold brick".
As a result, some marketing accounts said that the Changling Hall was paved with gold.
And the weird thing is that there are a lot of people who believe that they are going to dig for gold bricks...
joke.
If this thing was really gold, would it still be there today?
Therefore, you cannot just blame marketing accounts for having no bottom line in some matters. Sometimes the people who believe them are quite outrageous.
Just when Weng Tong was shocked by Jiajing's generosity.
Tong Huaijun on the side suddenly blinked and let out a light sigh.岲
He made a fist with his right hand, struck it hard on the palm of his left hand, and said to Weng Tong:
"Wait a minute, old man, I think I understand!"
Weng Tong subconsciously turned to look at his good partner.
At this time, Tong Huaijun seemed a little excited. He ignored Xu Yun, Academician Pan and others around him, and asked directly to Weng Tong:
"Old man, do you still remember the topic about golden nanmu in the archaeological community?"
At this time, Weng Tong had not yet fully recovered. He could not keep up with Tong Huaijun's rhythm for a while, and asked in a daze:
"What topic?"
Tong Huaijun didn't care when he saw this. He took a deep breath and said word by word:
"The golden nanmu with dragon scale pattern showed a cliff-like decline between the Ming and Qing Dynasties."
Weng Tong was stunned for a moment, looking a little surprised.
But he soon came back to his senses, his eyes suddenly opened wide, and his tone was full of disbelief:
"Old boy, you mean... the golden nanmu below is dragon scale wood?"
Tong Huaijun nodded heavily.
Weng Tong opened his mouth again, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he remained silent.岲
Because after taking Tong Huaijun's guess into account, Weng Tong suddenly felt...
Is it really possible?
I saw that the two of them were quite enjoying themselves.
Xu Yun on the side couldn't help but cough slightly and said to Tong Huaijun:
"Professor Tong, I wonder what the dragon scale pattern you and Professor Weng are referring to..."
There was a trace of doubt in Jiang Chenggu's eyes when he said this. Why do the three words "dragon scale pattern" sound so like the words in Zhiguai...
However, Tong Huaijun didn't get Jiang Chenggu's intention.
He pondered for a moment and then said:
"Dr. Xu, you may not be aware that although golden nanmu is valuable, it is not strictly the name of a specific tree species."
"According to the density and shape of the texture, it can be divided into more than thirty categories."
Hear Tong Huaijun’s introduction.
Weng Tong also nodded.
To some extent, golden nanmu is similar to jade.
Jade can be divided into jadeite, Hetian jade, Dushan jade, etc. according to the variety, among which jadeite is also called the king of jade.
The interior of jade can be divided into glass, ice, waxy, bean and so on according to quality.岲
The same is true for golden nanmu.
Golden nanmu is the first nanmu, and there are different grades inside the golden nanmu.
Among them, the more common ones include gold thread pattern, mountain peak pattern, etc., which are mainly used to make small wooden utensils.
The gentian pattern, dragon scale pattern, golden jade pattern, rose pattern, and grape pattern gall wood are relatively rare and highly valuable. Historically, they have been auctioned for millions or even tens of millions.
Of course.
There are actually not that many gold nanmu auctions valued at tens of millions, and many of the news are still exaggerated.
For example, you can often see a report on the Internet:
[At an auction in 2013, a squirrel and grape floor-standing cover carved from golden nan wood sold for a sky-high price of 30 million yuan...]
But actually.
This is an auction held by Yanjing Poly in 2013. The LOT number of this collection is 6100.
The pre-auction estimate was two to three million, and the final transaction price was 920,000. (polyp/assest/detail/0/art5042326100/34/3 This is the historical auction information from Poly’s official website)
Among all types, there are only three most expensive textures of golden nanmu:
Flame pattern, gentian pattern and dragon scale pattern.
Among them, in ancient times, the dragon scale pattern had the highest value - because it perfectly matched the meaning of the emperor's coffin.岲
The emperor is a dragon, and the coffin made of dragon scales is simply their custom buff.
Unless the size of all golden nanmu with dragon scale patterns is really inappropriate, it will basically be used as the material for the emperor's coffin.
After Tong Huaijun introduced the value of dragon scale patterns, Weng Tong added:
"However, with the development of archaeology, archaeologists have gradually discovered a very strange phenomenon."
"That is the golden nanmu with dragon scale pattern in the four dynasties of Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasty. The quantity used is considered normal - although many imperial tombs in these dynasties have not been excavated, but from relevant historical records, You can find the burial standards of a certain emperor, or in the collection field you can see some small pieces made of dragon scale patterns that are not suitable for coffins."
"But starting from the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the number of dragon-scaled golden nanthias began to drop off a cliff."
"So much so that by the time Kang Mazi... ahem, during the Kangxi period, it was difficult to assemble even a dragon scale pattern golden nanmu coffin."
Xu Yun was stunned for a moment:
"I'll go... Is this actually happening?"
Xu Yun's surprise was really not fake. He really didn't understand the situation.
But soon.
He then thought of what he saw and heard on the Qiying in the 1850 copy:
At that time, the Qiying had many wooden products, including precious wood species such as huanghuali.
But from beginning to end, Xi Sheng never mentioned Golden Phoebe even once.岲
This is indeed a bit strange.
After all, the person standing behind Xisheng at that time was the famous Prince Zheng, Aixinjueluo Duanhua...
At that time, Duanhua even dared to trade the Imperial Seal and the "Yongle Dadian". In theory, there must be golden nanmu.
Just when Xu Yun was lost in thought, Weng Tong added:
"Regarding this phenomenon, it is currently rumored that
A more popular statement is this: "
"That was the dragon scale pattern golden nanmu that was in stock for making coffins. It was burned when Li Zicheng burned the Forbidden City."
"But if you study carefully, you will find that the decline in the number of golden nanmu with dragon scale pattern was not in the late Ming Dynasty, but around the Wanli period."
"Li Zicheng was only 14 years old when Wanli was buried. He was still working as a young monk in the temple. How could he possibly burn down the Forbidden City?"
Weng Tong's tone was a little subtle. As a researcher of the Ming Dynasty, he was naturally no stranger to this phenomenon.
It's just that there are too many unsolved phenomena in the Chinese archaeological community, and the decline in the number of dragon scale pattern golden nanmu can only be regarded as a very partial field.
In addition, the imperial tomb cannot be pried open for inspection, so it has not been of great value for discussion.
But for now.
If Jiajing really used the dragon scale pattern golden nanmu stored in the Ming Dynasty to make the inner walls of the Bronze Palace, then there would be a reasonable explanation for this phenomenon.
After all, assuming the thickness is the same, the surface area of an imperial coffin is only about 8 square meters.岲
The area of Yongling Mausoleum is more than 150 square meters of golden nanmu with dragon scale pattern, which can be enough to prepare nearly 20 emperor coffins...
At the same time, given Jiajing's selfish character, it is not surprising at all to do such a thing.
Think of this.
Weng Tong couldn't help but look at Tong Huaijun again, and they both saw strong feelings in each other's eyes...
excited!
That's right.
excited!岲
After all, if the golden nanmu in the Bronze Palace is really dragon scale pattern wood, then this will definitely become the largest dragon scale pattern golden nanmu cultural relic ever discovered in China!
This is a must-have for any museum.
At the same time, for archaeologists like Weng Tong and Tong Huaijun, bringing such precious cultural relics to the world is undoubtedly a great achievement and honor in life.
However, compared to Weng and Tong, whose expressions were gradually rising, Jiang Chenggu on the side was much calmer.
He thought seriously for a while and asked Xu Yun:
"Dr. Xu, have you finished introducing the detection results of the gravity gradiometer?"
Xu Yun nodded lightly and handed the report to Jiang Chenggu:
"Yes, the more important results in terms of cultural relics and layout are the ones mentioned before, and the rest is the structural data."
Jiang Chenggu took the report, looked at the dense formulas on it, and slapped his forehead:
"Damn, I'm blind."
Xu Yun:
"......"
Then Jiang Chenggu took a deep breath, carefully put the report away, and said to everyone:
"Okay everyone, our detection process went very smoothly today, and the results are quite gratifying."
"Whether it is the cultural relics in the underground palace, the "Yongle Dian" or the golden nanmu, they are all national treasure discoveries, and they are most likely to be well preserved."
"But from the perspective of the entire project, what we have accomplished today is just a small basic step."
"The excavation phase we face next is the real difficulty. After all... the lessons of Dingling were too painful."
Jiang Chenggu's last words were like a basin of cold water, pouring heavily on Weng Tong and Tong Huaijun.
Their expressions suddenly froze, and their eyes dimmed visibly.
Dingling.
This word is always painful for any practitioner in the archaeological field.岲
[Archaeologists are tomb robbers with licenses] A large part of the "basis" for this sentence comes from the original Dingling Incident.
indeed.
It is undeniable that some practitioners in the archaeological field do have extremely strong selfish desires. They excavate imperial tombs just to satisfy their personal interests.
But this group of people actually only account for a small proportion of the archaeological community.
certain
To some extent.
The archaeological community is somewhat similar to the Chinese scientific community mentioned before:
There are more than 1,700 academicians of the two academies, but because of the dirty information of a few academicians, the entire Chinese scientific community has been labeled as academic misconduct.岲
This is actually a very unfair approach.
Unfortunately.
Instead of shrinking in recent years, such labels have expanded.
For example, the food circle in recent days.
The term "technology and ruthless work" came out of nowhere, making everyone feel insecure, and the degree of distortion was outrageous.
A video of a vegetable farmer washing vegetables on a certain video platform turned out to be a shady businessman soaking vegetables in liquid medicine. How helpless...
But it’s different from the food circle.岲
The archaeological community now has an opportunity like Yongling to prove itself.
The last one to seize a similar opportunity was the Chinese Academy of Sciences. With the dark matter press conference an instant hit, the image of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has now completely changed from Chen Peisi to Zhu Shimao.
Therefore, regardless of emotions or reasons, the excavation plan of Yongling must be perfect.
Think of this.
The eyes of Jiang Chenggu, Weng Tong and others locked on the person beside them almost at the same time...
Zhang Ziang.
............岲
Note:
The dungeon will be opened in a few days. You will never expect the contents of this dungeon. I am really looking forward to the next dungeon.
I also opened a site B account called "The Fishing Man Who Doesn't Want to Code". Please pay attention. I still don't know how to bring goods. I mainly share some daily life. Every time you pay attention to more than 300, one chapter will be added. The statistical period will end on the 31st of this month. Well, return it in April.
