One of the young Taoists jumped down into the pit and carefully knocked on the stone door with a shovel. Sure enough, there was a crisp knocking sound. It was expected that there was an open space behind the stone door, which meant that there was probably a narrow corridor to enter the tomb behind the stone door.
"Keep digging!"
After Yue Guanchao gave the order, other servants continued digging in the soil until the threshold and lintel were dug out, and a stone door about two meters high appeared from under their feet.
If you look carefully, you will see that the stone door is sloping up and down, as if the giant door is lying half a meter flat towards the tomb passage. There are unicorn stone beasts on the left and right, half of their bodies dug out of the soil.
Yue Guanchao and the others walked down the slope to the stone door and knocked on the door panel carefully. Amidst the clear knocking sound, they could hear the trembling sound of metal.
He picked up a shovel and knocked near the crack of the door. He could see that metal debris was stuck in the crack of the door. He rubbed the sand on his fingertips and already knew what it was: "This is a door sealed with clay and copper. These decayed Just clear away all the dregs and blow it up with gunpowder. Maybe we can stay away from each other then."
Sun Tianqi understood the idea and led his people to remove all the clay copper from the cracks of the door. At the same time, they shoveled out grooves in the upper, middle and lower positions of the door, just in time to insert the bamboo tube into the grooves. Then, they twisted the three leads into one Pull out of the ground.
When everyone hid away to the side, they heard only a roaring sound. The gunpowder in the bamboo tube exploded instantly, and the thick smoke generated filled the surrounding robber holes. After the smoke completely dissipated, they walked to the robber hole to see what was happening. A hole has been blown out.
With this opening, the stone door was much easier to open. A few people opened the door inward without any effort. As the tomb door opened left and right, air was poured into the tomb passage, and the inner wall made a whining sound, like a ghost crying and a wolf howling without response. The smoke that had not dissipated just now was completely inhaled as the air flowed into the tomb passage.
With this thick smoke, everyone can judge whether there is enough air in the tomb. If the smoke no longer flows into the tomb passage, it means that the air inside and outside has been balanced, making it easier for them to go to the tomb to search.
After about one stick of incense, the smoke flow became slower and slower. Yue Guanchao walked to the side and lit a piece of wet wood. The thick smoke lingered near the thief's cave and was indeed drifting away. He was relieved: "The air inside has almost been replaced." , we can go to the grave now.”
Everyone descended from the Robbery Cave and walked into the tomb passage. It could be seen that the tomb passage was slowly descending. After walking for nearly a hundred meters, they were almost at the end of the tomb passage.
"Is it too humid here?"
When Song Siyuan was walking, the back of her hand touched the wall of the tomb passage, and she could already feel the moisture, like dewdrops in summer and autumn, which was so wet that her nose could already inhale the moist mist.
"It is said that wetness lasts for thousands of years and dryness lasts for thousands of years. If it had not been turned into a water tomb, there is a high probability that it would have been soaked by water. We must be mentally prepared."
Sun Daqiao's guess was the most likely. Yue Guanchao held a torch and carefully stood at the exit of the tomb passage. He felt the moisture coming towards his face and immediately turned on the flashlight.
The place he was standing on was a rectangular platform. There was no way further forward, and it turned completely into a huge underground cave. The underground river was so vast that if you shine a flashlight, you can't see the edge at a glance.
Turning the flashlight upward, they could see that the landscape was the same as the Yanshan cave they had seen. It was all eroded limestone, and there were some stalactites, like canine teeth intertwined nearby, and there were sinkholes of various sizes dozens of meters high. When the sun shines over, it looks like stars in the sky, emitting white light above the head.
With the light of flashlights and torches, they could see clearly what was in front of the port. It was a water dam built entirely in the center of the lake!
What is a water tower?
Water towers are also called water pavilions, which refer to buildings built on the water. These water towers are either independent from the shore and can be reached entirely by ship, or they are connected to the port and connected by curved bridges. They have different styles and shapes. The only What is certain is that it is built on water rather than land.
Yue Guanchao turned on his flashlight and looked at the water tower carefully.
This water tower is not small in area. It is located on a giant stone platform that is 100 meters long and wide. This stone platform is only half a meter above the water surface.
On top of the stone platform is a palace-style tomb built in the style of a Song Dynasty palace.
The architecture of the Song Dynasty is completely different from the architecture of the Tang Dynasty. Generally speaking, the Tang Dynasty is majestic, luxurious, majestic, and has the aura of a unified era and the center of the world.
As for the Song Dynasty, the northwest, southwest, and northeast were not included in the territory at all. They only conquered the Han territories of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. This kind of peaceful regime certainly did not have the courage to be the center of the world.
However, due to the economic prosperity of the Song Dynasty, it promoted the development of architectural art, decorative arts, and handicrafts, and also caused the Song Dynasty architecture to change towards a variety of combinations and gorgeous decorations. Compared with the grand and dignified architecture of the Tang Dynasty, the processing of spatial depth and spatial modules were strengthened. The combinations are varied, resulting in rich architectural details and numerous colorful paintings.
These pavilions have square courtyard walls, hundreds of meters long and hundreds of meters wide. The gray-green boulders are coated with yellow mud, and the rammed earth is regularized to form a frosted surface. The courtyard walls are mostly covered with glazed gray tiles, mottled green and black, and the shapes are outlined like lines. courtyard.
In the courtyard, the double-eaves Xieshan main hall is about two stories high and is built in the middle. The single-story side hall is like a trapezoidal triangle, connecting the front, back, left and right. Verandas extending from the front and back of the hall parallel to the courtyard wall form two veranda spaces, with the hall in the middle. When, and the verandah form a "日" pattern.
At the four corners of the "sun"-shaped courtyard, there are flying corridors and arch bridges connecting the octagonal pointed helmet top floor.
These penthouses are about three or four stories high. The highest roof is the crest of the helmet, and the rest of the floors are of the cusp-shaped structure. There are windows and pavilions protruding from the walls on all sides of the well-shaped structure. The ridges and corners of the roofs are stacked with complicated and exquisite workmanship. There are countless The eaves have a tendency to rise, which makes them look particularly skillful and flexible, like a palace in the sky, extremely gorgeous.
In the backyard of the main hall, there is a pagoda with five or six floors. The floors are slender, beautiful and extravagant. Each floor has raised octagonal eaves, decorated with gold tiles and glazed glass. The top is as slender as a needle, making it the highest point of the temple building.
The entire tower is similar to the shape of a "vessel" and is divided into main hall, side hall, front yard, backyard, pagoda, and tower. All buildings have cinnabar red walls, green tiles, windows, towers, carved railings, and painted buildings. Gorgeous color paintings, the top of the eight-jeweled helmet and the pagoda in the middle are covered with gold tiles, which are bright and gorgeous, sacred and dignified.
The overall structure combines the strictness of the palace with the splendor and luxury of the temple. The architecture is gorgeous and luxurious, the details are clever and smart, the paintings are complex, and the style is mixed, noble and unique.
If you look outside the courtyard, you can still see countless bodhi trees planted outside the courtyard wall. Thousands of years of growth have covered the courtyard wall, as if lush clouds have appeared around the courtyard. Looking outside, there are only The boundless underground river, the tiankeng, the sunlight shining on the water surface, like the shadows of smart stars that never fade away.
Sun Daqiao looked at the Shuique Tomb Palace in front of him and couldn't help but praise: "This tomb is probably still intact to this day. The tomb of the concubine in front of us can be said to be unique in history."
"Why? Are there no other Song Dynasty tombs?"
Yue Guanchao asked.
"You are right to ask. We may not be able to find the same type of Song Dynasty tomb even if we search with a lantern."
He paused, his tone became mysterious, and explained the path: "Back then, the Jin people once robbed all the tombs of nobles in the north, but even the larger tombs of landlords were also stolen. As for the Yuan people, After destroying the Jin Kingdom, he quickly sent his troops south to destroy the Southern Song Dynasty, and the noble Yang Lianzhenjia stole all the tombs of the nobles in the Southern Song Dynasty..."
Not to mention the grief and indignation among the people during this period, the tombs of nobles in the Song Dynasty were frequently robbed, which in disguise allowed the common people and gentry at that time to develop the custom of sparse burials, so as not to be remembered by tomb robbers after death and suffer another crime.
So far, the tombs of the nobles of the Song Dynasty have basically been looted. If you want to enter the tombs of the Song Dynasty, it will either be a noble tomb that has been stolen or a commoner's tomb of little value. At most, you will have to scrape out a layer of soil from the inside. Less than.
This tomb was built at the turn of the Song Dynasty. For special reasons, the Jin people built this tomb in person so that they would not rob it again. As for the Southern Song Dynasty, in order to show filial piety and etiquette, Emperor Gaozong We can only continue to protect this tomb.
After the Yuan people destroyed the Jin Kingdom and the Southern Song Dynasty, the tombs here would actually be robbed to a large extent, but the geographical location saved this tomb.
This place is close to Guangxi and is a smoggy land. At the same time, the environment in the south of the Yangtze River is more dangerous. In ancient times, it is not an exaggeration to say that it has bad mountains and bad waters. After the Yuan people took over the Han Dynasty, this place belonged to Huguang Province and there were many ethnic minorities. , adopted the chieftain restraint system, even the Yuan people suffered a lot in these places, and they were easily unwilling to come here.
Even if they really want to rob tombs, when ancient technology was not developed, it is very likely that large equipment cannot be transported in, so why talk about tomb robbing.
In addition, the Yuan Dynasty was short-lived, so the tomb was completely preserved due to various mistakes.
Speaking of this, Sun Daqiao was quite emotional: "To say that there is indeed a paradise under the Xuanwu cover. Countless noble tombs from the Southern Dynasties have been stolen. Only this Song Dynasty tomb remains. Isn't it proof? From this point of view, Chao Feng The master does have two brushes."
"Think about it. This tomb has been in the water for thousands of years. It is not easy to keep it as it is. Constant humidity has indeed extended their lifespan. It is rare to find it."
"That being said, how do we get there?"
Yue Guanchao picked up the flashlight and carefully estimated the distance: Judging from the size of the light spot, the Shui Que Tomb Palace is about 200 meters away from our location. "
After speaking, he picked up the stone and threw it into the underground river at his feet. Under the light of a flashlight, it could be seen that the stone disappeared five seconds after it fell: "This underground river is probably very deep. It is almost impossible to swim across it."
"We can't lift the canoe here. Now, we have to see how best to get there."
The problem they are currently facing is really difficult. Except for the port where they are standing, basically no one can stand on the rest of the underground river banks. They are all rugged and winding, making it impossible to build a port.
Song Siyuan looked at the cave and explained: "This cave is similar to Chiba Island. There are probably some underground lakes under the cave. The water depth is unfathomable. It is best not to enter the water rashly. Since this tomb was built by the Jin Kingdom, Probably, there are some passages that can lead to the Water Tower Tomb Palace."
Some people died, but not completely...
