Master Archaeologist

Chapter 111 Visiting the construction site next door
The excavation site of the tombs of Zeng Guo nobles in Wenfeng Pagoda.

After more than half a month of hard work, the cleaning work of M1 and M2 tombs has almost been completed.

Compared with the stolen tomb M2, the number of cultural relics unearthed from tomb M1 is relatively rich.

Although there are only a dozen bronzes.

But there are 8 chimes among them, except for the two broken ones, the remaining six are well preserved.

There are more than 200 inscriptions on the six well-preserved chimes.

There are more than 1 inscriptions on chime No. 180 alone.

Although this set of chime bells is not as exquisite as Zeng Houyi's chime bells, it is even worse in terms of quantity.

However, this set of Zenghouyu chime bells and the Zenghouyi chime bell unearthed in SZ City in 1978 can be said to be the most important weapons of Zeng State among the vassal states of the Zhou royal family!

The above inscription, except for a part boasting that Marquis Zeng Yu was excellent in literature, governance and martial arts, was a wise monarch.

For the rest, it can be said that every word is a national treasure!
It's not just Professor Li and Chen Han who are doing research.

The rubbings of the inscriptions have already been distributed to experts, professors and historians who study ancient characters.

Experts from the Academy of Social Sciences, Peking University, Fudan University and other universities and scientific research institutions jointly researched and interpreted the content of the inscription, which is basically similar to the interpretation made by Professor Chen Han and Professor Li.

It can be confirmed that the inscription does record "The Battle of Master Wu's Entry into Ying"!
And these inscriptions can not only be used as favorable evidence to solve the mystery of Zeng Sui!
Moreover, the Zhou Dynasty vassal state, Zeng State, which has been buried in the ground for nearly 3000 years and is rarely recorded in historical documents, has been restored!
According to the inscription, Zeng Guo had already been enfeoffed in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

It was not until the middle of the Warring States period that Zeng Guo was annexed by Chu State, and the state had been established for more than 600 years, almost 700 years, almost coexisting with the Zhou royal family.

In terms of the time of prosperity, it was earlier than Qin, which later unified the six countries.

When the ancestors of the Qin State raised horses for the Zhou royal family in the northwest, Zeng Guo was already the hegemony of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He ordered the vassal states of the Eastern Han Dynasty to conquer Huaiyi in the east, and Jingchu in the south, guarding the southern gate of the Zhou royal family. !
Even in the early and mid-Spring and Autumn period, the Zeng (Sui) state with developed production, advanced culture, and strong military strength was once the main obstacle for the Chu people to move eastward.

The vassal states surnamed Ji in the Eastern Han Dynasty were annexed by Chu State one after another.

But only Zeng State has been able to stand still, and even defeated Chu State many times, which is worthy of the name of "Handong Great Country".

After confirming that the owner of tomb No. M1, Zeng Houyu, was the Marquis Sui who saved King Chu Zhao.

In the eyes of the archaeologists at the Institute of Archeology of the Academy of Social Sciences, Zeng Sui is a country is no longer a guess and controversy, but a 100% fact.

Chen Han also began to focus on the inscription on the No. 1 chime, and prepared his first thesis on participating in the "Zeng Guo Noble Tombs of Wenfeng Pagoda".

"The main harvest of Marquis Zeng and his tomb at No. M1 of Wenfeng Pagoda in Suizhou!"

In fact, Chen Han already had a clear idea about his doctoral project at this time.

[Princes dug out of the ground]

He was going to surround Zeng Guo.

Around the Wenfeng Pagoda excavation project.

Surrounding this mysterious vassal state with scarce historical records and no surviving genealogy, all must be found through archaeological excavations.

Come and conduct research on a doctoral topic!

The first step is to make sure that Zeng Sui is the same country.

The second step is to supplement and perfect Zeng Guo's monarch lineage and the lineage of national inheritance!
How many papers should be written, how high is the gold content of the final integrated paper, and whether it can pass the doctoral graduation defense.

It all depends on how many secrets and surprises hidden outside the historical records can be brought to him by the 66 tombs in the Wenfeng Pagoda tomb group!

Even, not only the excavation project of Wenfeng Pagoda, but also the cemetery of the Western Zhou Dynasty in Yejia Mountain and the cemetery of the Spring and Autumn Nobles in Zaoshulin, which are next door, may also supplement his research content!

After the excavation of the M1 and M2 tombs of Wenfeng Pagoda came to an end.

Before the excavation of tombs M2 and M3 officially started, Chen Han took advantage of this gap and planned to go to the Xizhou cemetery next door to Yejiashan to inquire about the situation!
Saturday, February 2019, 2.

At eight o'clock in the morning, Chen Han drove the work car allocated by the local government to Jiangzhai Village, Xihe Town, Suizhou.

As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the village, Chen Han saw layers of warning lines on the farmland outside the village.

In December last year, the villagers of Yejiashan in Jiangzhai Village discovered the bronze wares when leveling the land outside the village.

Then the archaeological team intervened and preliminarily judged that there was a group of tombs from the Western Zhou Dynasty.

This Western Zhou cemetery in Yejiashan is a little farther away from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, 20 kilometers away.

However, it is only about one kilometer away from the Miaotaizi site, which is the civilization site of the Neolithic-Shang and Zhou Dynasties in Suizhou!

This is also the reason why Chen Han wanted to come to the Yejiashan cemetery first instead of going to the jujube forest to inquire about the situation first!
According to the inscription on the chime bell unearthed from Tomb M1 of Wenfeng Pagoda, Nan Gongshi, the founder of the Zeng Kingdom, was airborne to Suizhou from the Zhou royal family.

According to his guess, at that time, the first Marquis Zeng came to Suizhou with his army and conquered the local Yin Shang State.

That is, the ancestors of the Miaotaizi site.

And the Yejiashan cemetery is just one kilometer south of the Miaotaizi ruins!

And it is another tomb group from the Western Zhou Dynasty, or even the early Western Zhou Dynasty!
In all likelihood, this group of tombs is the mausoleum area of ​​the early Marquis Zeng!

If you want to trace the origin of Zeng Guo, it must be more convenient to search from the source!
It is much easier to find the first generation, second generation, and third generation of Zenghou first, find out their names and biographies, and then search down, than to find the later ones first!
Moreover, in the tomb of Marquis Zeng in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, it is very likely that some inscription records about "Sui" can be found!

For example, bronze inscriptions such as "On a certain day of a certain month and a certain year, Zeng Hou came to Suidi and conquered the people here. In order to celebrate this victory and demonstrate his martial arts, he made this tripod to commemorate it."

Because the princes and nobles of the Eastern and Western Zhou Dynasties loved to record these things on bronze wares!

Why did the famous "Li Gui" record the Battle of Muye?
Wasn't it because, at that time, he was acting as a minister (official name) for King Wu of Zhou, and participated in the Battle of Muye, so when King Wu rewarded him for his merits, he gave Li a lot of metals such as copper and tin.

In order to commemorate this event, Li used these copper and tin to make this sacrificial vessel for the ancestor Tangong. By the way, he told the ancestor that I participated in such a big event and was rewarded. I have the intention of boasting to the ancestors .

In the same way, if Chen Han's guess is correct, Zenghou with the surname of Ji came to Sudi as a conqueror.

Then, when the first, second, and even third generation Zeng Hou made bronze wares, it was possible to record this event in the form of an inscription on the bronze wares to tell the ancestors!

Just like Zeng Houyu saved King Chu Zhao and helped King Chu Zhao quell the chaos in Chu State, so he recorded this incident on the chime to show his martial arts and glory!

In the eyes of the people of Zhou, the important affairs of the country are the only sacrifices and soldiers!

For the Zhou royal family and the nobles of the Zhou Dynasty, sacrifices are very, very important. Whenever the country or itself does something important, it must be sacrificed!
As a prince surnamed Ji, he came to Suizhou from the Central Plains and conquered the Marquis Zeng here.

This glorious and proud event will definitely be recorded on the bronze ware to worship and tell the ancestors!
Is it what Chen Han thinks?
The Xizhou cemetery in Yejiashan may be able to give the answer!

(End of this chapter)