Li Yazi, who had extensive experience in tomb raiding, immediately realized that this tool was much easier to use than the iron shovels he usually used to explore ancient tombs. Inspired by this, he made a paper model of the tool, found a blacksmith to make a physical copy based on the model, and that's how the first Luoyang shovel was born.
Chapter 244 Site Exploration and Selection
For a long time after the invention of the Luoyang shovel, it was used for tomb raiding.
The Mangshan Mountain in Luoyang, Henan Province, is filled with towering tombs, leaving almost no room for an ox to lie down. The underground burial objects are extremely rich. Before the liberation, almost every corner of the mountain was explored by the Luoyang shovel, and a large number of unearthed cultural relics were lost abroad.
In 1928, the renowned archaeologist Wei Juxian, after witnessing firsthand the use of the Luoyang shovel by tomb raiders, applied it to archaeological drilling, which played an extremely important role in the excavation of famous ancient city sites in China such as Yinxu and Yanshi Shangcheng.
In the 1950s, Luoyang became a key city for construction. When factories were being selected, they often encountered ancient tombs. Using machines to drill and sample was time-consuming and labor-intensive. So, construction workers used this concave probe to accurately detect more than a thousand ancient tombs.
Today, the Luoyang shovel is a symbol of Chinese archaeological drilling tools, and of course, an indispensable piece of equipment for tomb raiders.
Learning to use the Luoyang shovel to identify soil types is a fundamental skill for every archaeologist. Professor Meng didn't stop Zhuang Rui and his two students from exploring the soil, wanting him to get acquainted with the use of the Luoyang shovel first.
"Xiao Fan, why are all these Luoyang shovels different?"
Zhuang Rui followed the two men to the place where the Luoyang shovels were placed. Upon inspection, he found that there were more than ten small shovels on the ground, about 20 to 40 centimeters long and about 5 to 20 centimeters in diameter. However, some of them had blunt bottoms, while others looked like crescent shovels, which were different from what he had heard.
"Brother Zhuang, these are used to detect different tombs. This one is called a heavy shovel, which is specifically used to detect Han tombs. Because a horse trampling a flying swallow was unearthed here, the teacher suspected the existence of a Han tomb, so he brought it here."
Fan Cuo then pointed to the shovel that looked somewhat like the crescent-shaped shovel used by Lu Zhishen in Water Margin and said, "This is called a flat shovel, which is what we often call a Luoyang shovel. Tang tombs used this."
As Fan Cuo explained, he and Ying Ning selected two Luoyang shovels and then handed one to Zhuang Rui.
Seeing Zhuang Rui examining the Luoyang shovel in his hand, Ying Ning explained, "Brother Zhuang, don't be fooled by its simple appearance. It's actually quite complicated to make. It requires nearly twenty steps, including blanking, firing, heat treatment, shaping, and sharpening. The most crucial step is shaping the curve, which requires careful hammering. If you're not careful, the shovel won't be able to hold the soil, and it'll be ruined. It can only be made by hand. The one you have is from your teacher's collection; the rest were provided by the local cultural relics department..."
After Zhuang Rui took it, he found that it was just a shovel head. There were hollow, internally spiraled threads on the head of the shovel, which was probably used to connect the wooden rod.
For easy carrying, these Luoyang shovels are all detachable, and even the wooden handles can be chosen according to your height. These wooden handles are specially made, usually high-quality white ash wood, which is extremely tough and can be easily bent without breaking.
"Brother Zhuang, use this. This was specially made by our teacher for his Luoyang shovel."
Just as Zhuang Rui was about to bend down to choose a wooden pole, Fan Cuo handed him a leather case about 60 or 70 centimeters long. Zhuang Rui reached out and took it, feeling that it was somewhat heavy. When he opened it, he found that it contained a hollow threaded steel pipe about half a meter long.
After removing the steel pipe, Zhuang Rui discovered that there was more than one steel pipe inside, but rather layers nested together, somewhat like a fishing rod, which could be extended at will. At the end of the steel pipe, there was a buckle with a rope about the thickness of a thumb tied to it, neatly coiled around it.
How to use it? It's not like you need someone to teach you. Zhuang Rui pulled out three sections of steel pipe, aligned them with the threaded ends, and tightened them. He measured them and found they were about two meters long. He weighed them and found they weren't too heavy, so they should be fine to use. Zhuang Rui put the remaining steel pipes back into the leather case and slung the case diagonally over his shoulder.
Zhuang Rui took the white waxwood Luoyang shovel that Ying Ning had attached. Compared to the one he had, it was about half the weight, although the white waxwood shovel was over two meters long. It was far less convenient to carry than the tool he had. In fact, there are now many types of Luoyang shovels, such as the recently appeared electric Luoyang shovel, which is practically a small drilling machine.
"Brother Zhuang, let's move a bit further away. The area within two or three hundred meters of this place has already been explored."
Fan Cuo and Ying Ning each carried a Luoyang shovel and wore straw hats. If you didn't look at their clothes, they would be no different from farmers who worked year-round.
"Within several hundred meters, this is the only place with mature soil?"
Zhuang Rui was somewhat puzzled; it was possible that a tomb could be built beneath that earthen mound.
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's question, Ying Ning turned around and replied, "That's right. In other places, when we went down more than ten meters, we encountered a layer of rock, and the same was true below the soil layer. We probed very thoroughly, and apart from the topsoil, there was nothing else."
"Perhaps the tomb isn't that deep. I've heard that in ancient times, tombs that were seven or eight meters deep were very rare."
As soon as Zhuang Rui said this, he realized something was wrong. A tomb seven or eight meters deep was definitely not suitable for a royal mausoleum. He didn't know about other tombs, but the underground palace of the Thirteen Tombs was dozens of meters deep.
“We basically drill a hole every three to five meters. If there’s something down there, it will definitely be brought up with it…”
Yingning knew that Zhuang Rui knew nothing about archaeological excavation, so she explained it to him.
Upon hearing Ying Ning's words, Zhuang Rui realized that the Luoyang shovel could not only identify the soil quality underground, but also bring up objects from the tomb.
If, during the drilling, ceramic burial objects such as cups, bowls, plates, and pots, or items made of iron, gold, or wood, are encountered, these can be brought up. From these items, it can be determined whether there is a tomb below. Archaeologists can then use these objects to deduce the nature and layout of the underground artifacts.
Even more so, experienced tomb raiders can judge the underground conditions by the different sounds produced when the Luoyang shovel strikes the ground and by the feeling in their hands. For example, solid walls and hollow tomb chambers and passageways are naturally very different.
Some tomb raiders, with just a Luoyang shovel, can accurately dig a hole into the main burial chamber where the coffin is placed. When it comes to the use of the Luoyang shovel, most archaeologists are probably far inferior to those tomb raiders who have inherited the skill.
Which way should we go?
Zhuang Rui asked the two of them. He had been standing on the burial mound and looking around. It seemed that only the place they were digging now was a feng shui treasure land. Further along the mountain range was the tail of the dragon vein, which rose up to form a small hill. Logically, it shouldn't be there, because when choosing a burial site with a dragon vein, people usually choose a solid feng shui treasure land at the head and tail to gather qi, rather than severing the dragon vein, which is a major taboo in feng shui.
"Let's go take a look at that little hill. It's the only one around here that hasn't been explored yet..."
"Wait, wait for me, I want to go too!"
A voice came from behind the three of them. It was Meng Qiuqian, the little girl, who had followed them up, holding a Luoyang shovel in her hand, looking quite professional.
Aren't you afraid of getting a tan like an African?
Fan Cuo and the little girl were used to bickering. He couldn't help but tease her.
"Don't worry, I have sunscreen..."
Meng Qiuqian proudly waved her little fist at Fan Cuo, leaving the others speechless. So this was a vacation, she even brought sunscreen.
Meng Qiuqian ignored Fan Cuo and instead moved closer to Zhuang Rui, saying, "Brother Zhuang Rui, you're about to take the entrance exam for my grandfather's graduate program. I'll be your senior then. Could you ask your Tibetan Mastiff to be a little more affectionate towards me?"
Zhuang Rui was immediately in a bind upon hearing this. This girl actually had designs on White Lion. Not to mention her, even Liu Chuan, who had watched White Lion grow up, had never received a kind word from White Lion, let alone this girl.
"Hey, Qiuqian, it's not that I don't want to help you, but you know Tibetan mastiffs have a bad temper. They don't listen to anyone except me. I think you should stay away from them, otherwise with your skinny arms and legs, it would be troublesome if they got bitten off."
Zhuang Rui was afraid that the girl would tease the white lion, so he deliberately exaggerated a bit, hoping to scare her.
"Hey, wait a minute, girl, you're not Professor Meng's student, you're just here for fun. Besides, we're not even twice the same age, you should call me 'Uncle-Master,' why should I call you 'Senior Sister'?"
Zhuang Rui suddenly thought of this question and blurted it out.
"Fine, don't help me then. But you expect me to call you 'uncle'? No way..."
The little girl pouted, glared fiercely at Zhuang Rui, then rummaged in her bag for a while and took out a bag of beef jerky, intending to feed it to the white lion. However, seeing the white lion's size, she didn't dare to get close. When she was still three or four meters away from the white lion, she threw the beef jerky over.
To everyone's surprise, the white lion didn't even glance at Zhuang Rui and ran ahead, making the little girl stomp her feet in anger.
This hill is not far from the excavation site, only four or five hundred meters away. The hill is covered with kiwi trees, which are in bloom at this time of year. The entire hill is covered with small yellow flowers, which looks very beautiful from a distance.
As the group approached, they discovered that someone had built a fence around the small hill, with wire tied to it, presumably to prevent wild animals from damaging the fruit trees.
"Woof...woof woof..."
Before we even got close to the fence, we heard loud barking from inside, and then two large, muscular wolfhounds rushed out from the woods.
"roar……"
The white lion that had been following Zhuang Rui let out a low growl, and the two wolfhounds immediately tucked their tails between their legs and disappeared into the orchard.
"What are you yelling for, you stupid dog? Why don't you go and bite me!"
A man's voice came from inside the orchard.
Chapter 245 One Thing Subdues Another
"Is anyone living here? I haven't seen anyone here for so many days?"
Fan Cuo said with some surprise. They knew that the orchard was contracted by the villagers, but this season was only the flowering season for the fruit trees, so there was no need to guard it. Besides, they had been here for a week and had not seen anyone come or go.
"What are you doing? Get lost if you have nothing to do. Damn it, you can't even sleep peacefully."
Amidst a chorus of curses, a man emerged from the orchard, his steps unsteady. He reached the railing, grabbed the waist-high railing, and finally regained his balance.
How can you talk like that?
Fan Cuo was somewhat annoyed by the scolding. Just as he walked to the railing to argue with the man, the man suddenly stood up straight and met Fan Cuo's gaze. Startled, Fan Cuo involuntarily took several steps back.
At this moment, Zhuang Rui also got a clear look at the man's appearance, and his heart skipped a beat. The man in front of him stood up straight, half a head taller than Zhuang Rui, probably over 1.9 meters tall, wearing only a pair of briefs. He had a strong, muscular physique, and the arm he was holding onto the railing was probably thicker than Meng Qiuqian's waist.
What truly terrified them was the man's appearance. Half of his face looked normal, but the other half, from the eyes down to his neck, was completely black. If it weren't for the bright sunlight overhead, not only Fan Cuo and the others, but even Zhuang Rui would probably have been scared into turning and running away.
If a normal person saw this ghostly face in the dead of night, it would give them a heart attack.
"Is this the legendary two-faced face?"
The group took a few steps back, the thought popping into their minds. However, they had rarely heard of a face with two sides that could grow all the way up to the neck.
"That's how I talk, so what? You disagree?"
The man slammed his large, fan-like hand heavily on the railing, his eyes wide and bulging like donkey testicles as he stared intently at Comrade Xiao Fan, who had just spoken. With his other hand, he reached down to his groin in a rather unseemly manner, and the others could clearly see a few fine hairs fall to the ground from between his fingers.
Not only did Meng Qiuqian turn her face away long ago, but even Zhuang Rui couldn't stand it anymore. This guy was just too damn awful.
“We’re from the national archaeological team. Please open this barrier. We need to go in and take some soil samples…”
Seeing Fan Cuo and Ying Ning's expressions, Zhuang Rui knew that the two students were frightened. It was no wonder; if Zhuang Rui had encountered someone like that a few years ago when he had just graduated, he probably would have run away as well.
The man completely ignored Zhuang Rui and cursed at the crowd with a fierce look: "What are you taking... this bird of a feather? This is our family's contracted orchard, understand? It's privately contracted. You want to cause trouble? Get lost. If you make me angry, I'll cripple you little brats."
Seeing that he couldn't reason with this person, Zhuang Rui pulled the others a few steps back and whispered to Fan Cuo, "Xiao Fan, go and call the child who came with me earlier."
Fan Cuo agreed and turned to run back the way he came.
Seeing that only one person had left while Zhuang Rui and the others remained, the man became enraged and shouted at the two wolfhounds behind him, "Get out of here, Tiger! Big Yellow, go and bite them!"
The two wolfhounds charged forward a few steps, but the white lion suddenly let out a low growl, scaring them so much that they darted back into the woods and wouldn't come out no matter how much the man called out to them.
"Damn it, you useless things, I've been feeding you for nothing."
The man, cursing, turned and went into the orchard. Zhuang Rui and the others breathed a sigh of relief. They couldn't reason with this scoundrel; if he really beat them up, they would only suffer the consequences.
Less than a minute later, the masked man ran out again, carrying a bottle of liquor in his left hand and a machete in his right, pointing the blade at Zhuang Rui and the others, cursing, "If you don't get out of here, I'll cut you all down one by one and kill you bastards."
Zhuang Rui was initially somewhat afraid of this man, but now his temper flared up. He and his men hadn't done anything wrong, and the fruit trees in the orchard weren't bearing fruit yet, so why were they acting like they were guarding against thieves?
"Try killing me then?"
Zhuang Rui took a few steps forward, gripping the Luoyang shovel tightly in his hand. He was a little nervous, but it would be too embarrassing to be scared away by this scoundrel.
"Brother Zhuang, don't bother with this guy. Let's go back and talk to the people in the village."
Standing beside him, Ying Ning pulled Zhuang Rui along. He didn't even dare to look the man in the eye; he was truly horrifying. Ying Ning didn't know if he would be able to sleep that night.
"Kid, you think I wouldn't dare? Don't you dare run away!"
With a "thump," the masked man gulped down the remaining half-bottle of wine, tossed the bottle aside, braced himself against the railing with his left hand, and leaped off, lunging fiercely at Zhuang Rui.
"Waaah..."
Before the man could get close to Zhuang Rui, the white lion, which was lying on the ground, suddenly darted out like lightning. Its entire body was in mid-air, and its front paws slammed into the right hand of the masked man holding the knife. The knife in the man's hand was immediately knocked away. Before he could recover, the white lion's huge body had already pinned him down.
"Oh my god!"
The masked man was now fully sober. Opening his eyes, he saw a gaping maw snapping at his neck. Hot breath hit his face, and the gleaming white teeth were as sharp as daggers. He had no doubt that one bite would tear his neck in two.