Master Archaeologist

Chapter 268 "Liu Bingji, you are so ruthless!"

A batch of gold that has been buried in the ground for more than 2000 years has not been engraved with any signature or mark.

However, according to the records left in the history books, it is possible to accurately find out the origin of this batch of gold, and even know who ordered the manufacture of these gold, and how it fell into the hands of Haihunhou.

This kind of behavior has spanned more than 2000 years of history, but it can still be traced back to the root.

Only Huaxia, only Huaxia with complete historical records, can do it!

These arguments made by the archaeologists in the rear laboratory naturally aroused a strong sense of pride in the hearts of Chen Han and other front-line archaeologists!

But be proud.

In the face of the newly discovered gold in front of me, these proud emotions have long been thrown into the sky.

Without him, the gold discovered this time is really too much!

Previously, the tomb of Liu Xiu, King Huai of Zhongshan, had the most gold of its kind unearthed.

In his tomb, two large and small horseshoe gold pieces, one Linzhi gold piece, two large gold cakes and 2 small gold cakes were unearthed.

And this is already the record for the most gold artifacts unearthed at one time in the archaeology of Han tombs.

When the gold was unearthed that year, it can be said that it shocked the Chinese archaeological community.

However, the record that shocked the archaeological world this time seems somewhat bleak in front of Haihunhou's tomb.

Between the inner and outer coffins of Haihunhou's main coffin, there are a large number of gold cakes scattered.

Just by Chen Han's visual inspection, there must be one or two hundred gold cakes.

Moreover, there are many Linzhi gold and horseshoe gold, as well as an unknown number of gold plates, scattered in the inner coffin.

Gold was called "shangcoin" in the Western Han Dynasty, and it was actually circulated among princes and generals.

Moreover, the circulation method is only used as a settlement unit for bulk goods. In fact, there are not many cases where gold is actually used, and most of it is for collection.

So, what was the value of gold in the Han Dynasty?
According to the unearthed "Juyan Han Bamboo Slips" and the "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic" and "Hanshu" written in the Han Dynasty, a catty of gold can buy 50 shi of grain.

According to the food records of "two liters, three liters, and four liters per day" in "Mozi Zashou", if one person eats up to four liters a day, it can be eaten for roughly 1250 days, or about three years.

In other words, a gold cake can buy a person's food rations for three years.

The great purchasing power of gold means great temptation.

In addition, the value of gold is stable and easy to carry.

From the emperor to the common people in the Western Han Dynasty, all showed great enthusiasm for gold.

For the emperor and the government, enough gold was the backing of financial security.

For the people, gold is the guarantee for their livelihood.

Therefore, this thing is actually regarded as the bottom of the box in more cases, and it is the greatest guarantee for a family to pass on stably.

Based on the amount of at least 300 catties of gold buried in Haihunhou's tomb, these golds are estimated to be most of the gold that Haihunhou kept.

Although people in the Western Han Dynasty died as they lived, there was absolutely no reason to bring most of the family's gold to the tomb for burial.

This is not to give life to the descendants who are still alive
Therefore, the discovery of such a large number of gold cakes in the tomb is the first time in the archaeological history of the Western Han Dynasty!

In addition to being shocked, Chen Han was also puzzled by this situation.

But soon he remembered the previous discussion between the teacher and other experts.

Liu He, Marquis of Haihun, expelled his country after his death.
So it seemed to him that there was no other way to deal with the gold than to take it underground.

Because the removal of the country not only means that the title is no longer inherited, but also means that all the things in the line of Haihunhou have no inheritance rights for future generations.

The removal of the nobles in the Western Han Dynasty was not just as simple as being demoted to common people.

Take Liu He as an example. He became emperor from king of Changyi, and then from emperor to commoner.

When he became emperor from King Changyi, what belonged to King Changyi naturally still belonged to him.

Because he has been promoted, it is unreasonable to say that he has lost his things after the promotion.

However, when he became a commoner after being emperor for 27 days, in theory, when he was the king of Changyi, the gold and silver treasures he inherited from his father and the gold and silver treasures he had saved no longer belonged to him up.

These things belong to the "Changyi King" series, and he is not the Changyi King, so he can no longer have these things.

It's just that the Empress Dowager Shangguan at that time didn't know whether it was out of the desire to stay on the front line so that we could meet each other in the future, or if she really felt sorry for Liu He.

So it was ordered that Liu He was allowed to take away all the belongings of Changyi Wang's family.

Note that this is a charter, which was ordered by the Empress Dowager.

Only then can Liu He continue to retain the original gold and silver treasures of the Changyi king's family after becoming a commoner.

Otherwise, under normal circumstances, once other princes and nobles, and even princes and kings, were expelled, even if they did not die, they would leave the house clean and could not take a dime with them.

There is absolutely no possibility that the title is gone, but the family property is still there.

Back to Liu He.

Later, Liu He was conferred the title of Marquis of Haihun by Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty again after being under house arrest for more than ten years.

At this time, all the gold and silver treasures in Liu He's hands, whether they were inherited from the King of Changyi or saved by himself, all belonged to the Haihunhou family.

After his death, except for the gold and silverware that Liu He used daily, he would be buried with him.

Things like these horseshoe gold and gold cakes are to be passed on to the next Haihunhou.

However, the next Haihunhou is gone.

Liu He's two consecutive sons died suddenly before they could succeed to the throne.

So Emperor Xuan of the Han waved his hand, and Haihunhou was removed from the country, and there will be no Haihunhou in the future.

Then these various gold and silver treasures belonging to the family of Haihunhou no longer belong to Liu He's descendants.

Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty may also be more face-saving, and he was not ashamed to put these treasures into the Shaofu, so he simply buried all these things with Haihunhou and asked him to take them to the tomb.

Because although Haihunhou was expelled from the country, Liu He still belonged to Haihunhou, and these gold and silver treasures belonged to him legally.

After all, Haihunhou was not expelled from the country because of a crime, but because no one inherited the title after death.

Therefore, this is the tomb of Haihunhou, which is full of gold and silver treasures and resplendent!

In fact, these golds are the ancestral property of Liu He and his father, who have been saving for decades for the descendants!

It's just that there is really no way to pass it down, so they have to bury them all in the grave.

If Liu He, after his death, knew that after his death, the Haihun Marquis was gone, he probably wouldn't be happy when he saw these gold and silver treasures
If there is a soul after death.

Liu He is underground, and when Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty arrives, he will definitely rush up and give him two mouths, and there will be a vigorous post-mortem battle!

"My body hasn't cooled down yet, will the Haihunhou kingdom be gone if I'm so big?"

"I have saved so much gold and silver treasures for future generations, so they just followed them underground?"

"Liu Bingji, you are so cruel!"

(End of this chapter)