This meeting, which was originally supposed to discuss the development of burial grounds, ended up with Zhuang Rui and Director Guo making a bet. Everyone in the tent was both amused and exasperated. These two, one old and one young, really didn't take this serious work meeting seriously at all.
However, Director Guo was not acting for personal gain, and everyone could understand Zhuang Rui's little scheme. They all regarded it as a good story.
After the meeting, Zhuang Rui immediately entered the underground tomb.
The entire working group is now divided into two shifts, with each shift working for twelve hours to clean up the tomb. As the deputy commander of this archaeological operation, Zhuang Rui often has to stay in the tomb for fifteen or sixteen hours at a time.
Zhuang Rui was in charge of cleaning the underground tomb chambers. Today, they were going to open the tomb chamber filled with Western Xia burial objects. Because there were many porcelain pieces inside, they needed to be handled carefully. Zhuang Rui personally led the team to open the tomb chamber.
"Zoom in, focus on that earthenware pot, yes, that wine vessel..."
"Teacher Meng, the shapes of these vessels are very rare in China..."
"Not surprising. This must have been looted from the Western Xia by the tomb's occupant. Old Zhao, you're an expert on Western Xia culture. See if there are any valuable written records later."
The tomb chamber, which was about 30 to 40 square meters in size, was filled with various ceramics and gold and silver artifacts. The shapes of the Western Xia artifacts had some Western Region characteristics, so the experts on the ground could recognize them at a glance.
“These items should only belong to the nobles or royalty of Western Xia. Xiao Zhuang, you must… you must be extremely careful. Anything that resembles writing must be properly protected…”
These artifacts have very unique shapes and scenery. Professor Zhao, who studies the Western Xia culture, has almost glued his eyes to the monitor inside the tent and is communicating with Zhuang Rui in the underground tomb by shouting.
In the eyes of these archaeologists, no matter how precious the cultural relics are, they are not as important as written records, because those records can bring the truth that has been lost in the long river of history back to people's eyes.
While the upper floors were buzzing with discussion, inside the mausoleum, a flurry of activity was underway. More than a dozen students, urgently dispatched from Peking University, were wearing oxygen suits and carrying buckets of specially prepared medicine, painting the colored ceramics.
By applying this special solution, these artifacts, which have been placed in ancient tombs for thousands of years, will not change color due to contact with outdoor oxygen.
Other wooden, bronze, gold, silver, and iron artifacts were covered with a layer of soil from the ground. This was only a temporary protection measure. After they were taken out, many more protective processes would be needed. Otherwise, most of these wooden artifacts would probably be damaged.
This is not an exaggeration; many archaeologists have experienced it firsthand, and it is an experience they have gained from numerous lessons.
In some tombs dating back thousands of years, vessels that were intact and adorned with beautiful colors when first entered suddenly became aged and decayed within minutes, with many wooden and woven items even turning to ashes.
That feeling of a thousand years passing in an instant is as if history is unfolding before your eyes. After losing many precious cultural relics, archaeologists have found the reasons and made some preservation materials based on them.
After each item is painted, it will be labeled with a number and sent to the cleaned tomb chamber. Then, staff will sort and classify it, seal and pack it, and send it to the surface.
Due to the unique geographical environment of the tomb, the manpower and resources mobilized for this excavation were unprecedented. Hundreds of archaeologists from various provinces across the country were recruited, along with over two hundred students from archaeology departments of major universities. ...
Although this tomb containing Western Xia burial goods is not the largest, it still contains tens of thousands of precious artifacts. After more than a week of cleaning work, most of the artifacts have been preserved.
Of course, during this process, some cultural relics were damaged due to contact with outside oxygen.
The discovery of Western Xia artifacts has led experts to speculate more strongly that the tomb's occupant was Ögedei Khan or Kublai Khan.
The reason is simple: Genghis Khan died while conquering the Western Xia, meaning he did not conquer the Western Xia. Therefore, it is impossible for his tomb to contain these items that should belong to the Western Xia royal family.
"Xiao Zhuang, how about it? A bet's a bet, when are you going to hand over that Yuan blue and white porcelain? I'll hold a donation ceremony for you then..."
Director Guo hadn't been able to catch Zhuang Rui for the past few days. Just now, after seeing Zhuang Rui emerge from the lake, he quickly grabbed him, looking quite smug.
Chapter 1181 Opening the Golden House (Part 1)
So far, the excavation work has uncovered twelve animal burial chambers and accompanying burial chambers containing artifacts, covering a total area of over 400 square meters. The sheer scale of the excavation has left even the most experienced archaeologists speechless.
Not to mention that this is a tomb hundreds of meters underground, even tombs on the ground rarely have such a scale. The excavation of this tomb has set a record so far.
The discovery of artifacts identified as belonging to the Western Xia royal family has further verified the identity of the tomb's occupant. Most of the experts now believe that this is very likely the tomb of Ögedei Khan, the second Great Khan of Mongolia, and even Professor Meng is inclined to this view.
So these past few days, Director Guo has been in a great mood. Whenever he thinks of the Yuan blue-and-white porcelain in Zhuang Rui Museum, he can't help but pull Professor Meng aside for a couple of drinks, making it seem as if the piece is already in his possession.
"Director Guo, since I've made the bet, I'll definitely admit defeat. However... the results don't seem to be out yet, do they? Aren't you being a little too impatient..."
Zhuang Rui was holding a diving suit, preparing to go into the lake, when he heard Director Guo's words and couldn't help but laugh and cry. This didn't sound like a high-ranking government official at all; he sounded like a loan shark chasing after usurers.
"Hehe, it'll be sooner or later, it'll be sooner or later. I'm just reminding you because I'm afraid you won't admit it..."
Director Guo chuckled upon hearing this, waved his hand, and said, "Alright, go back to work. If you're lucky, you should be able to reach the main burial chamber today. Then we'll see the results clearly, and there'll be no way you can deny it..."
According to experts, the next burial chamber is very likely the final resting place of the tomb's occupant.
The archaeological team made numerous preparations for today's excavation, including taking hundreds of kilograms of formalin underground and creating a highly airtight alloy coffin in case of emergency.
"Director Guo, let's talk after the answer is revealed. Just don't renege on your promise then..."
Zhuang Rui smiled and replied, then put on his diving suit and jumped into the lake.
Only Zhuang Rui knew that the tomb chamber awaiting his excavation was not the main burial chamber, but the golden house that had once captivated even Zhuang Rui. ...
"Teacher Zhuang..."
"President Zhuang is here, everyone, let's get ready..."
When Zhuang Rui arrived at a temporary office set up next to the underground river, he was immediately surrounded by a group of people. The group that called him Teacher Zhuang were still students from the school, while the group that called him President Zhuang were the veteran team members who were going to follow Zhuang Rui into the tomb.
The excavation of new tombs was carried out by Zhuang Rui and his experienced "veteran" scientific expedition team. Of course, the definition of "veteran" here refers to those thirty-four-year-old scientific expedition personnel from various places who have archaeological experience.
Dr. Ren was also in this group, and he was the deputy leader of the underground excavation team. His position in the team was second only to Zhuang Rui, but his prestige in the archaeological team was much lower than Zhuang Rui's.
"Teacher Zhuang, could we also go into the tomb chamber? We have several more sets of protective suits..."
A male student mustered up his courage and said.
"Yes, Professor Zhuang, I admire you so much! We also want to gain some experience in field excavation, so please grant our request..."
For safety reasons, these trainees, who were transferred from the school, were doing the later cleaning work and had not yet entered the tomb chamber. Therefore, they all admired Teacher Zhuang, who was "young" but had taken on such an important task.
"Well... let's talk about it another time. Our country's archaeological work will depend on you in the future..."
The female student's voice gave Zhuang Rui goosebumps all over. It wasn't that the voice was unpleasant, but when you put the voice and the appearance together, it was a bit of a disaster.
Among the female archaeology students, although there are some youthful and lovely girls like Xiao Lei, most of them are... cough cough, they are still girls with beautiful hearts.
"Professor Zhuang, could the next burial chamber be the main burial chamber? Who exactly is the owner of this tomb?"
Most of these students were participating in on-site archaeological excavation work for the first time. They were all like curious children, and the high-intensity, non-stop cleaning work every day did not stop them from resting.
"Ahem, the tomb hasn't been opened yet, so nobody knows. Anyway, you'll all be able to enter in a couple of days. Now, everyone, please quiet down..."
Zhuang Rui coughed, and the room immediately fell silent. After more than a month of work, Zhuang Rui had already established enough prestige among the underground archaeology team members.
"Alright, everyone retreat to a safe position. Dr. Ren, let's prepare to enter..."
As soon as Zhuang Rui finished speaking, the veteran archaeologists who were sitting in the room stood up and put on their protective suits, not daring to be careless in the slightest.
It's worth noting that when opening the first few tomb chambers, the research team conducted experiments with rabbits and mice, the results of which made everyone hold their breath.
The animals that entered the tomb without any protective measures immediately became restless. Although nothing happened at the time, after staying inside for a day, more than a dozen rabbits and mice began to die one after another.
This result shocked everyone in the archaeological team. Fortunately, they acted cautiously and required the team members to wear protective suits and oxygen masks before entering. Otherwise, it might have been the biggest tragedy in the history of Chinese archaeology.
The causes of the toxins in the tomb are naturally analyzed by professionals, but archaeological work cannot be stopped because of this.
After a week of experiments, Zhuang Rui and his colleagues discovered that the problem could be solved by simply removing the gas from the tomb chamber and allowing air circulation.
Although only a few hours had passed, those animals had lived on without illness or disaster in the freshly ventilated tomb.
This also relieved the leaders of the archaeological team. If this problem could not be solved, and the tomb cleaning work had to be carried out while wearing oxygen and protective clothing, it would probably take three to five years before the tomb could be seen by the world.
And even if the tomb is cleared, it can't be opened to the public. You can't exactly give every visitor an oxygen mask, can you? ...
The tomb door leading to the next burial chamber had already been found, but these tomb doors fit together very well. As long as they were not opened, not even a trace of gas would escape. At this moment, Zhuang Rui was standing in front of the tomb door with five archaeological team members and a CCTV reporter.
While Zhuang Rui and others had some time to rest, the two CCTV cameramen had a much tougher job. They were recording every scene in the tomb chamber almost 24 hours a day, their eyes looking like rabbit eyes from exhaustion.
"Damn it, this door won't budge. Another person is coming up..."
An archaeologist standing in front of Zhuang Rui was holding a crowbar and wedging it against the bottom of the tomb door. However, no matter how hard he tried, the tomb door remained unmoved.
"It still doesn't work, Team Leader Zhuang. Is the door broken, or is there a Dragon-Slaying Stone inside? And... don't bend the crowbar..."
After another person went up, both crowbars exerted force at the same time, but the straight crowbars bent in the middle, and they couldn't get through the tomb door. Everyone's eyes couldn't help but turn to Zhuang Rui.
"Let me give it a try..."
Zhuang Rui took a step forward. He knew, of course, that the tomb door wasn't broken. Behind the bluestone slab, there was a large door made of gold, several centimeters thick. Given the weight of this golden door, it was naturally something those two people couldn't push open.
Holding three crowbars in his hands, Zhuang Rui inserted them into the gap he had chiseled under the door, and with a sudden burst of strength, shouted, "Hey!"
A sharp shout.
"It moved, it moved..."
The tomb door trembled slightly, which then caused the rollers at the bottom of the door to slowly open inwards, as the previously motionless tomb door had been.
A beam of light shone into the room immediately, and at the same time, the camera lens was also pointed at the tomb door that was only slightly ajar.
The archaeological experts on the ground held their breath, staring intently at the screen, hoping for new surprises from the tomb.
Like the experts on the surface, the underground staff also stared wide-eyed, desperately tilting their heads to look inside in the light. If this really was the main burial chamber, then their names would be recorded in the annals of Chinese archaeology.
"Light...light, what...what kind of light is this?"
At this moment when everyone was filled with anticipation, both the experts on the surface and the staff underground were suddenly blinded by a bright light, making it impossible to see anything inside.
The intense light reflected from the tomb was highly unusual. Anything could happen in this eerie, thousand-year-old tomb, and for a moment, the staff below panicked.
Although the gold was tempting, it wouldn't emit any light or color in the dark. However, under the bright spotlight, it suddenly shone with a dazzling golden light. Zhuang Rui, caught off guard, was blinded by the reflected light. Hearing the commotion around him, he quickly shouted, "Everyone, don't panic, calm down..."
"Click...click click..."
Zhuang Rui was shouting, but his hands were not idle either. The tomb door was still slowly opening, and everyone had only been blinded by the light before, and now they all quieted down.
"Gold... gold..."
"All...all of it is gold?"
"My God, this... how is this possible?"
When the tomb door was fully opened, the screams and shouts made the people wearing headsets dizzy, but no one cared about that at the moment, because the appearance of this gold had already made their brains a little sluggish.
Chapter 1182 Opening the Golden House (Part 2)
The tomb door is now fully open, and both the staff at the entrance and the archaeological experts on the ground can clearly see the scene inside. The room, completely enveloped in gold, exudes an endless allure.
Under the lights, the gold shone brilliantly. Even though it had been buried deep underground for thousands of years, it could not conceal its bright color. Everyone who saw it stood speechless for a long time in front of the door of this golden tomb.
Even Zhuang Rui, who was mentally prepared, was deeply captivated by the gold-made tomb. As the earliest hard currency to circulate in the world, the value of gold has long been deeply ingrained in people's minds.
It's unlikely that anyone could remain calm in the face of such a large sum of gold, and Zhuang Rui was no exception. He was imagining what it would be like to live in this golden house for a day.