Cao Cao called me to rob a tomb

Chapter 309 Hongqiao (plus 4000 more)

These hanging coffins were indeed made by human beings.

These coffins also bear traces of the rammed earth used to backfill the tomb.

Combining the two together and thinking carefully, Wu Liang has vaguely drawn a puzzling inference: Could it be that someone dug out the coffin that had been buried in the ground, and then moved it here deliberately to make a hanging coffin ?
For this inference, Wu Liang is not very confident.

Because he really can't understand this approach.

It should be known that burial is the mainstream funeral custom in China from ancient times to the present. If there are no special factors, it is rare to carry out the act of moving the grave, and even if it is really necessary to move the grave, the people who have been buried before It should be difficult to accept the less mainstream burial form of hanging coffin burial.

It seems that even in the later generations who practice cremation, there are still quite a few old people who still insist on burial, and there is a reason why they refuse to accept cremation anyway.

People's thoughts and customs are often the most difficult to change.

In addition, Wu Liang also came to a relatively reliable conclusion:

If there is indeed a corpse buried in this coffin, then the social status of the owner of the coffin may not be too high.

Because if it is a deceased with a relatively high status who is qualified to build a mausoleum, the coffin usually does not come into direct contact with the rammed earth. At least Wu Liang has excavated so many large mausoleums before, and he has never seen someone's coffin buried directly in the soil. Human coffins are all placed in extremely spacious tombs.

Moreover, even if they were buried directly in the soil, according to the customs handed down from the early days of the Celestial Dynasty, there were several layers of coffins outside the coffins of people with high social status, and they still would not directly contact the layer of rammed earth.

Therefore, no traces of rammed earth will be left in the gaps in the wood of the coffin.

with this thought.

Wu Liang continued to inspect the coffin beneath him.

Up to now, only from the external structure, he has been unable to find more valuable things. He can only open the coffin to determine the identity of the deceased in the coffin, and infer the age of the deceased through the funerary objects inside.

The conclusion drawn in this way is much more accurate than just inferring from a little dust in the crack of the coffin.

This coffin has been weathered.

Not only was the wood on the outer layer of the coffin rotten, but even the copper nails used to seal the coffin were severely oxidized.

At this moment, a layer of uneven oxide layer has formed on the exposed cap of the copper nail, and with the natural fall off of part of the oxide layer, the size of the original cap and the firmness of the copper nail have also occurred to a certain extent. Change.

So it is.

Wu Liang just moved to the side of the coffin while being hoisted by the "Silkworm God Treasure Silk", stepped on the log inserted into the cliff to support the coffin, and then inserted the engineer shovel into the gap between the coffin lid and the coffin and pried it hard.

There was a certain degree of damage where the wood and the copper nails joined, and he easily knocked open a gap in the coffin lid.

Immediately, there was a decaying breath in the gap.

Although the smell was very unpleasant, but because the coffin itself was no longer sealed after a long period of time, it was not too strong.

Slowly push up the coffin lid halfway, and the sun shines into the coffin.

Wu Liang finally saw clearly what was going on inside the coffin.

There was indeed a human body in there.

However, because of the preservation environment and age, the bones have completely become dry and brittle bones, and even this dry bone is no longer complete, except for some relatively thick or dense main bones preserved After falling down, quite a few of the smaller bones no longer exist.

Also.

The bones inside are still very messy, not arranged according to the shape of the human body.

If he hadn't seen the still-complete skeleton head, Wu Liang wouldn't have dared to conclude that the dead bones inside were the corpse of a person.

This shows that the coffin in front of me has indeed undergone relatively rough handling, and it was carried out after the dead's body tissue had rotted severely, or had completely rotted and disappeared. Otherwise, the bones would definitely not be in such a messy state. .

Besides.

Wu Liang also saw some unrecognizable shards of linen and bamboo mats in the coffin, a few broken arc-shaped pottery shards, and dozens of small oval-shaped copper pieces that were also severely oxidized.

These things were also scattered in a very messy corner of the coffin, mixed with the messy dead bones.

This situation also fully confirmed Wu Liang's guess. If it hadn't been for rough handling, these things would definitely not have slipped to the corner of the coffin. It doesn't take the dead too seriously.

Those broken sackcloth fragments are likely to be the funeral clothes of the deceased.

The fragments of the bamboo mat may be the inner lining placed under the body of the deceased during encoffining.

Pottery shards may be pottery used for burial during encoffining. This kind of arc-shaped fragments has broken pottery, pottery bowls, or pottery pots on one side.

As for those dozens of small oval copper pieces...

Wu Liang supported the coffin lid with the wooden handle of the engineer shovel, leaned in and took one out for a closer inspection.

There is a small hole at one end of the small oval copper piece, and there is no pattern on one side, it seems to be just an ordinary copper piece.

But when he turned it over, Wu Liang saw a "ghost face" on the other side that was somewhat similar to the image of aliens in later generations?
That is indeed a "ghost face".

There are two big eyes on the top, and a wide quadrangular mouth on the bottom. Matched with this small oval copper piece, it really looks like a face.

If Wu Liang hadn't studied archeology, he might have been fooled by this "ghost face", and Bao Buqi would think wildly.

But people who have studied archeology should have a little understanding more or less.

This thing is not a ghost face, but a coin that was actually issued during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods. It has been discovered by later generations, and many archaeological books also have pictures.

It's called "Ant Nose Money".

It is a small currency issued by Chu State during the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period.

And the "ghost face" engraved on one side of this coin is not a grimace, but just a "curse" character, so that at first glance it looks somewhat similar to a face.

However, because there were many types of "ant nose money" issued by Chu State at that time, there were nearly ten kinds of face patterns engraved on the coins. .

This discovery undoubtedly fully confirms the age of the coffin owner.

It was the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

That is to say, what Sun Ye told before was not fabricated. These hanging coffins should have appeared here during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, which basically coincided with the time of Lu Ban's death.

Simultaneously.

This also confirmed Wu Liang's other conjecture - the social status of the coffin owner is indeed not too high, at most it can only be said that the family has a few small money.

Because Chu State also issued a high-level currency during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods.

This high-ranking currency is called "Ying (ying three tones) Yuan (yuan two tones)".

"Ying Yuan" is the earliest gold currency in ancient China. Although this currency is not exclusive to the royal family and nobles, it is usually only used by the royal family and nobles. After all, the purchasing power of gold and bronze is not at the same level. Cloth, the transaction volume will not be too large, and small money like "Ant Nose Money" is enough for daily life, there is really no need to use "Ying Yuan".

But in ancient times, burial was a big event.

If the owner of the coffin has a high social status and the family assets are relatively rich, under normal circumstances, he will definitely not take "ant nose money" for burial, unless the descendants of the family do not have the slightest filial piety.

Because in ancient times, "ant nose" was also synonymous with lightness and smallness.

"Donate the priceless pure hook with the lack of ant nose" means to give up the priceless sword because of a slight defect. It can be seen that "ant nose money" is indeed small money. It does not compare purchasing power, but only in a literal sense. , the status of currency should be equal to that of steel in the currency system of later generations.

And if the family background of the coffin owner is average.

Even without considering the burial customs at that time, it should be impossible to carry out hanging coffin burials for the coffin owner.

Hanging coffin burial in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period was quite difficult, and the manpower and material resources consumed were definitely beyond the reach of ordinary families...

Based on such an analysis, the coffin owner may not have been moved by his family members. In addition, the relocation process was very violent, and there was no respect for the coffin owner at all. This possibility is undoubtedly much higher.

Since it is not the family of the coffin owner who built the hanging coffin.

All kinds of signs show that these hanging coffins are not the "fairy traces" of the ancestors.

Then who would do such a thankless thing?

Wu Liang became more and more puzzled.

It's a pity that apart from these things in the coffin, there are no more valuable things that can prove the real identity of the coffin owner, such as seals and the like.

Wu Liang had no choice but to put the lid on the coffin again, thinking deeply...

at this time.

"My lord, you haven't moved for a long time, but what did you find?"

Yu Ji's voice came from above the cliff.

Wu Liang raised his head and looked up, only to see that the old boy was lying on the edge of the cliff with his head stuck out to look down.

Judging by his expression, he should also be a little nervous, the loose skin on his face is trembling, but there should be someone behind him to prevent him from falling, otherwise, how dare a guy who is greedy for life and afraid of death like an old boy lie on the cliff Talk to him on the side.

"I'll talk about it later."

A layman watching the excitement, an insider looking at the doorway, Wu Liang's discovery cannot be explained clearly in a few words, so naturally he would not talk nonsense with him in this situation.

"My lord, it's not that the old man doesn't know the seriousness, so he insisted on disturbing you at this time. It's just that the old man suddenly remembered something, and felt that it was extremely necessary to tell you in advance. Maybe it can provide you with some ideas when you investigate the hanging coffin."

Yu Ji then shouted at the top of his voice.

"Oh? Tell me?"

Wu Liang suddenly became interested, and finally spoke with patience.

"The old man once read in an unknown ancient book that the hanging coffin of this 'House of the Immortals' is also called 'Hongqiao', and the log inserted into the rock wall under the hanging coffin to support the hanging coffin is called 'Hongqiao' Board', Hongqiao connects heaven and earth across the sky, allowing the souls of immortals living here to freely enter and exit, and return to heaven."

Yu Ji didn't dare to delay, and quickly said to Wu Liang, "So the old man thought, if the young master didn't find any important clues in these hanging coffins, maybe we can change our thinking and start with the arrangement of the hanging coffins. The hanging coffin actually formed a weird formation or some other imperceptible mechanism, after all, Gongshu Ban is not an ordinary person, and his Gongshu Tomb is naturally not too ordinary."

"This……"

Yu Ji's words did provide Wu Liang with a new way of thinking.

However, when he was looking at these hanging coffins from the opposite side, he didn't see anything unusual from the way they were arranged.

When it comes to things like formations, Zhuge Liang is the best in the Huren army. The kid just watched it for a long time, and he didn't seem to put forward any constructive suggestions.

Besides the organs, this is the specialty of Sun Ye who inherited part of the "Gongshu Jing".

But this guy didn't seem to see anything from it. After all, he and his father came here every year to worship the ancestors since he was a child. If there was any discovery, he must have discovered it long ago. How could he wait until now?

"Understood, I will pay attention to this situation..."

Thinking of this in his heart, Wu Liang responded to Yu Ji in this way, and then took out a piece of silk cloth and a charcoal pencil from the small tool bag he carried with him.

There are nearly a hundred hanging coffins on this cliff.

If you only rely on your memory, it may be difficult to remember the location of each hanging coffin clearly.

But now sending someone back to the other side to record it would take a lot of time, so Wu Liang decided to draw a sketch of the hanging coffins while inspecting the coffins. Let Zhuge Liang and Sun Ye analyze it after the sketch is uploaded.

While talking.

"Ahhhh!"

But Yu Ji suddenly let out a series of exclamations again, his old face showed a strong look of fear, pointing to the river below Wu Liang and shouting again and again, "River, river god, be careful son, the river god is directly below you , looking at us in the water right now! Ah! It, it actually smiled at me, it fell in love with me, and it wanted to eat me!"

"River God?"

Wu Liang was startled, and quickly lowered his head to look down the cliff.

Looking at the past, Wu Liang's scalp tingled for a while!
I saw a giant creature about four or five meters long staring at him in the not-so-clear river below him.

The reason why the word "approximately" is used to describe the length of this giant creature is because it only has a huge head floating out of the water at this moment, and most of its body is still hidden in the river water, and only a part of it can be seen. A black shadow with a length of about four or five meters.

This is obviously bigger than Yang Wanli's previous description.

And the huge head that emerged from the water was actually a swollen and ugly human face.

At this moment, this human face was grinning, showing him that terrifying smile like that of the "Gap Girl"!
Is there really a river god? !
At this moment, Wu Liang only felt a sudden chill from the soles of his feet to the top of the sky, and he quickly grabbed the "silkworm silk" tied to his body.

(End of this chapter)