The meeting lasted until 2 a.m., and the attendees were exhausted, but still in good spirits, after all, this was very likely the first Mongolian imperial tomb in China.
"Mr. Zhuang, Minister Ouyang wishes to see you. Please wait a moment..."
After the meeting ended, Zhuang Rui was about to go back to sleep when Ouyang Zhenwu's secretary stopped him. The original chief secretary had already been sent to another post, and Zhuang Rui was unfamiliar with the current secretary.
After everyone had left, Zhuang Rui looked at the exhausted Ouyang Zhenwu and said, "Uncle, it's so late, you should rest first. We can talk about it tomorrow..."
Ouyang Zhenwu is over sixty years old. He arrived here in the morning and has been working with the experts to demonstrate the possibility of the tomb's existence. He hasn't had a break since.
"I'll be leaving soon, just wanted to say a few words to you..."
Ouyang Zhenwu shook his head, pinched the bridge of his nose, and said, "There's another thing I need to tell you this time..."
"What's wrong? Couldn't you have just called and told me?"
Zhuang Rui was a little puzzled. Ouyang Zhenwu's expression was quite serious, so it must be a matter of official business. But would it be so important that Ouyang Zhenwu would personally inform him about such a matter? How could a high-ranking minister act as a mouthpiece?
"This matter isn't a huge deal, but it's not insignificant either, but you absolutely must go..."
"Uncle, what is it? Don't keep me in suspense..."
Zhuang Rui was somewhat dissatisfied with Ouyang Zhenwu's words. "I'm not part of the system. When a leader says something, everyone has to understand its meaning. Can't you just finish in one sentence? Aren't you tired?"
"You brat, I didn't expect you to be so troublesome, even your uncle got involved..."
Ouyang Zhenwu looked at Zhuang Rui with a smile on his face. He had long known that his nephew was quite capable. Although he was young, he was already a well-known figure in the domestic antique and archaeology circles and had a certain status in cultural circles.
However, Ouyang Zhenwu never expected that Zhuang Rui would cause so many things that would attract the world's attention.
The discovery of the Peking Man skull made Beijing a gathering place for anthropologists from around the world, while the excavation and salvage of Liu Xiu's tomb in Mangshan and the Song Dynasty shipwreck have also unearthed a lot of evidence for the study of those two periods of history.
The discovery of the Dunhuang manuscripts can play a groundbreaking role in the study of the history of the Western Regions during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and at the same time alleviate the awkward situation of the so-called Dunhuang culture abroad.
Zhuang Rui's actions, through some deliberate guidance, have now become a hot topic of discussion in China, and have also added considerable achievements to the cultural department under Ouyang Zhenwu's supervision.
Originally, Zhuang Rui's maternal uncle was already in a central position, and for the sake of balance, Ouyang Zhenwu originally had no hope of advancing any further.
However, given the outstanding achievements of the cultural sector in recent years, the possibility of Ouyang Zhenwu entering the central government after Zhuang Rui's uncle's resignation cannot be ruled out.
Ouyang Zhenwu has received conclusive information that he may be appointed as the Party Secretary of Zhongyuan Province within the year. Many people see this high-ranking and powerful position as a harbinger of Ouyang Zhenwu's entry into the central government.
Ouyang Lei is currently thriving in the military. If Ouyang Zhenwu can enter the next leadership core, then the Ouyang family will remain prosperous in both the military and political circles for the next twenty years.
If the large tomb being investigated is indeed the mausoleum of a Mongolian emperor, it will be another world-shaking discovery, with an impact comparable to the excavation of the Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang and the Egyptian pyramids, adding another political bargaining chip for Ouyang Zhenwu.
And all of this, more or less, seemed to be related to Zhuang Rui. Looking at Zhuang Rui, Ouyang Zhenwu didn't know how to evaluate his nephew; it seemed that he had encountered all the good things in the world.
"Uncle, don't scare me. What I did shouldn't have alarmed you, Uncle, right?"
When Zhuang Rui heard Ouyang Zhenwu mention his uncle, he was really startled. Ouyang Zhenwu knew about his affairs because of his work responsibilities, but his uncle was a national leader. Why would he care about such trivial matters?
After hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Ouyang Zhenwu smiled and shook his head, saying, "What you did was quite significant. Do you remember the time you went to Tibet a few years ago to search for the reincarnated Living Buddha?"
"I remember, so what? Didn't you say it would take several years to get results?"
Zhuang Rui nodded. How could he not remember this? After all, he was the one who brought the golden eagle down from the snow-capped mountains, an experience that Zhuang Rui would never forget.
"You do the math, how many years has it been?"
"Three...three years has passed, time really flies..."
Zhuang Rui calculated that it was indeed true; more than three years, almost four years, had passed since the trip to the Great Snow Mountain. Presumably, the search for the reincarnated Living Buddha had yielded results by now.
"Yes, the reincarnated Living Buddha has been confirmed. He is a child from the village you visited back then. The enthronement ceremony will be held next March, and the State Administration for Religious Affairs has received a notification that you are invited to attend..."
Ouyang Zhenwu paused here, then emphasized, "This is a big event. The national leader in charge of religious and cultural affairs will be attending. You better stay put for a while and don't go running around..."
Religious issues in Tibet and ethnic issues in Xinjiang have always been matters of great concern to the top leadership of the country. Apart from the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, there are other influential reincarnation ceremonies of Living Buddhas, for which the country will send relevant senior leaders to attend and observe.
Zhuang Rui knew that Ouyang Zhenwu was worried that he would run away abroad again, so he said with a smile, "Alright, Uncle, I know. I'm focused on my work right now, how can I have time to run around? Besides, there's still more than half a year left."
The mysterious place of Tibet was still very attractive to Zhuang Rui. In addition, in recent years, Zhuang Rui had always wanted to take the golden eagle and the white lion back to the snow mountain to see the golden eagle's parents and the snow leopard, but he just hadn't had the time. This was a good opportunity to go back and take a look.
"You little rascal, if I hadn't given you a heads-up, you'd be nowhere to be found..."
Ouyang Zhenwu glanced at his watch, stood up, and said, "Alright, I have to go back to Beijing. Be careful here. There are many dangers inside the tomb. We need to thoroughly survey it before starting any excavation work..."
"Please rest assured, sir, I guarantee the mission will be accomplished..."
Zhuang Rui gave his uncle a rather awkward salute, leaving Ouyang Zhenwu both amused and exasperated. How could his usually well-behaved and quiet sister have given birth to such a quirky child?
On July 29, the Ministry of Culture held a press conference to announce to the world that a tomb suspected to be a Yuan Dynasty royal mausoleum had been discovered in Inner Mongolia. Preliminary archaeological surveys suggest that this possibility is extremely high.
At the same time, the press conference also announced the list of members of this archaeological operation, and after the existence of the tomb is confirmed, the excavation will be broadcast live on CCTV, unveiling the mysterious veil of the ancient tomb of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty to people all over the world.
After the press conference ended, radio waves were transmitted to all parts of the world, causing a sensation in the global scientific community. Within just a few hours, several countries and organizations sent notes to relevant Chinese departments, requesting to participate in the archaeological expedition.
While many scientific experts were still verifying the veracity of the information presented at the press conference, even more experts and scholars had already purchased tickets to fly to China. Everyone in the world who knew about Genghis Khan's conquests of the world was focusing their attention on the Inner Mongolian grasslands of China.
He is known by Europeans and Americans as the "Emperor of Mankind"!
The Mongol Dynasty founded by Genghis Khan has always been a focus of research for countries around the world. Nikolai Lerich, a famous Soviet Tibetologist, once said: "No nation has ever been so powerful since the beginning of time."
The famous American military general MacArthur once called on soldiers to learn from Genghis Khan. In a report to the Secretary of War, he said: "If all records of wars were erased from history, and only detailed records of Genghis Khan's battles were preserved well, then soldiers would still have an inexhaustible wealth."
Former US President Roosevelt and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan both praised Genghis Khan's great achievements on different occasions, expressing their high regard for him.
It could also be said that it is the history of the Mongol Dynasty's conquest of the world that has led people today to pay great attention to the excavation of its imperial tombs.
However, there is another possibility: after the decline of the Mongols, the wealth plundered from various countries around the world disappeared. The whereabouts of these treasures is also a reason why people are concerned.
According to some historians, the gold and silver looted by the Mongols from all over the world at that time accounted for more than 60 percent of the world's total gold and silver, which would have been an unimaginable fortune at any time.
The Ming Dynasty, which drove the Mongols out of the Central Plains, does not seem to have inherited this enormous wealth. The whereabouts of this wealth has been a mystery for thousands of years, prompting countless people to search for it.
The discovery of the imperial tombs has led people to consider the possibility that these treasures were hidden deep within the emperors' burial sites.
Following the press conference, the grasslands immediately became the focus of attention for scientific expeditions and explorers from various countries, and even the staff involved in the excavation also came under scrutiny.
Zhuang Rui was no exception; many people became very interested in that unfamiliar name in the archaeological team.
In the past, Zhuang Rui's actions mostly caused a sensation within certain circles, but this time, he has entered the eyes of people all over the world.
As the deputy chief commander of the archaeological team and the discoverer of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty imperial tombs, Zhuang Rui has garnered much attention for both titles.
Chapter 1176 Preparations Before Entering
In the short span of two or three days following the press conference, countless people flocked to the tranquil grasslands. Among them were archaeological experts from various countries, businessmen who came under the guise of investment and environmental inspection, and tourists who, under the pretext of tourism, actually wanted to witness the archaeological excavation firsthand.
Regardless of their purpose in coming to the grasslands, these people were unable to approach the archaeological area because it was under military control.
Although Zhuang Rui firmly believed that ordinary people could not plunder the underground tomb of Genghis Khan, tomb raiders had many tricks up their sleeves, so Zhuang Rui had taken some precautions.
On the day of the press conference, at Zhuang Rui's suggestion, the Alzhai Grottoes were closed to the public under the pretext of renovations to prevent them from falling into disrepair. The area within a radius of fifty miles was also designated as a military restricted zone, and tourists were strictly prohibited from entering.
The Inner Mongolian grasslands are often used as satellite recovery bases and military exercise sites. There are no herder settlements around the Alzhai Grottoes. After the archaeological team submitted their report, a military unit immediately surrounded the area.
However, this has drawn strong objections from many scientists from various countries who wanted to enter the archaeological sites, and they have lodged protests with the relevant departments.
However, China's attitude this time is very firm. In its external communications, it stated that after the archaeological work is completed, it can provide relevant film and television materials to other countries, but the entire excavation process will be carried out independently by Chinese scientific research experts.
Of course, the film and television materials provided to various countries will be edited before being released to the public.
This suggestion was actually put forward by Zhuang Rui. After all, there are countless treasures in the underground Mausoleum of Genghis Khan, especially gold, which is a hard currency that would make any country envious.
On Chinese soil, those foreign experts and scholars, though unwilling, were helpless and could only stay in nearby cities, hoping for more news to break.
As for those with ulterior motives, they quietly set up camp across the grasslands like wild beasts eyeing their prey, still clinging to a sliver of hope that they could find any omissions left behind by the archaeological team. ...
At this moment, Zhuang Rui was completely unaware of what was happening outside. He had been extremely busy these past few days, and was currently negotiating with many scientists about the next steps in the survey and excavation work.
After three days of research and surveying, the secret passage leading to the tomb in the underground river has been confirmed to be free of traps, meaning that it is now ready to enter the tomb.
In the past few days, some narrow sections of the underground river leading from the bottom of the lake to the secret passage to the tomb have been opened up and widened. As for the area overgrown with "slugs," the strong acid secretions have been completely destroyed. In the face of such a major discovery, protecting the underground topography has become less important.
Many excavation equipment and tools used inside the tomb have also been transported to the entrance of the secret passage.
Inside that spacious underground river, the lights were on full display. Dr. Ren was leading several young researchers to transport the last batch of supplies to the designated location.
Unlike previous archaeological expeditions, this one, while also overseen by veteran scientific experts, was entirely staffed by young people working on the front lines.
There is a reason for this situation. Yesterday, an expert who is nearly seventy years old insisted on going down to survey the site himself.
The old man was very old and a highly respected figure in the archaeological community. No one could dissuade him, so we put diving equipment on him and let him go into the lake.
Who knew that when he had just dived to a depth of six or seven meters, the old man couldn't withstand the pressure and fainted. If it weren't for the people around him who saw the danger early, the old man would probably have sacrificed himself for the scientific expedition.
After this incident, Minister Ouyang, who was far away in Beijing, also gave instructions that the underground archaeological work would be fully managed by Deputy Commander-in-Chief Zhuang Rui. The senior experts could only give instructions from above and were strictly prohibited from going down to the archaeological site. Such an order is probably the first of its kind in the history of Chinese archaeology.
Some people have suggested opening a passage from the surface so that everyone can enter the underground river and speed up the excavation of the tomb. This suggestion received a lot of support at the time.
However, after a brief survey, the group discovered that four or five meters below their feet was a layer of rock, more than twenty or thirty meters thick. It was not impossible to open a passage through it, but it would require large machinery and blasting techniques.
After consulting with road and bridge construction experts overnight, the conclusion was that, without affecting the underground river, the opening of this passage would take at least four months.
Because if we get too close to Swan Lake, it will cause the lake water to backflow; if we get too far away, the rock layer is too thick, and using explosives could very likely collapse the underground river. So we can only proceed slowly and patiently.
At that moment, the actual depth of the underground tomb was also measured, reaching a full 121 meters. When the results were announced, this number left everyone present speechless.
It should be noted that the deepest known tombs in China are only 10 to 20 meters deep. Even the large tombs built in the mountains during the Han Dynasty are only 20 to 30 meters deep.
Including the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum, which cannot be excavated due to technical reasons, modern instruments determine that it is only thirty or forty meters deep. This tomb, which is over a hundred meters deep, is something that even these experienced archaeologists have never heard of before.
The suggestion to build a passage through the ground was thus completely rejected, as it was not practically feasible at least before entering the tomb.
Even if everyone is patient enough to wait for several months, this passage is still three or four miles away from the entrance to the mausoleum. If they want to build a passage in that secret passage, the depth of hundreds of meters there would be enough to stump even road and bridge construction experts.
While this conclusion disappointed many experts, it also sparked endless imagination. In ancient times, the identity of someone who had the resources to build a tomb of this scale was obvious; it could only be an emperor.
Some experts have even concluded that this tomb is the legendary mausoleum of Genghis Khan, or at the very least, the tomb of the first three emperors of the Yuan Dynasty. These conjectures made Zhuang Rui feel ashamed. He had worked so hard to determine the patriarch of the tomb's owner, but these experts could guess it with just a few words.
However, archaeological work must always be based on facts. Professor Meng stopped these discussions and focused his work on the preliminary preparations before entering the tomb.
Thus, the archaeological work returned to its original track. After the command issued orders, all preparations were carried out in an orderly manner. The veteran experts who could not go down in person tried their best to anticipate all kinds of difficulties and problems that might be encountered.
At Zhuang Rui's insistence, over a hundred kilograms of formalin were urgently procured from hundreds of kilometers away. His reasoning was that, given the tomb's excellent sealing, the deceased's body might have been preserved, and preparing a strong preservative was a precaution.
"Teacher, I think the time is ripe; we can consider entering the tomb passage now..."
For Zhuang Rui, the mysterious tomb underground was almost completely undefended.
If it weren't for the fact that the origin of the Imperial Seal of the State was impossible to explain, and that the traces of his entry couldn't be erased, Zhuang Rui would have even considered secretly entering the tomb to take the Imperial Seal of the State for himself.
There was once a very wealthy man abroad who specialized in collecting the most valuable burial objects from tombs around the world. Over the decades, this directly led to rampant tomb raiding in various countries, with countless tombs, from nobles and emperors to ordinary people, suffering terrible damage.