Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1024: 1019 [Mandated by Heaven, Long Live and Prosper]

Ma Kuo, who was already fifty years old, was ordered to go on a diplomatic mission again to see if he could see Yelu Dashi for the last time.

Several young officials from the Honglu Temple served him respectfully. Their mission was to learn more and be responsible for the diplomacy of the Western Regions in the future. They couldn't let Ma Kuo, who was already in his seventies or eighties, go on a long journey.

The person in charge of leading the army to protect them was Xiao Zhongxuan, a surrendered general from the Jin Dynasty, who was almost fifty years old.

After Xiao Zhongxuan surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, in addition to bringing his troops to surrender, he also offered an important piece of news: the imperial seal was in the Sanggan River!
It is said that when the Jin army broke through Liaozhongjing, Emperor Tianzuo hurriedly fled to Yuanyangbo Palace. Before he could even sit down, the Jin army came after him again, and Emperor Tianzuo hurriedly fled to Datong.

When crossing the Sanggan River, a batch of treasures accidentally fell into the water, including the imperial seal with the inscription "Mandated by Heaven, May you live long and prosper forever".

As the pursuers could arrive at any time, Emperor Tianzuo did not dare to stay and did not send anyone to salvage the body.

The Xiao Zhongxuan brothers were by the side of Emperor Tianzuo at that time.

After they surrendered to the Jin Dynasty, they provided information, and Wanyan Zonghan even sent people to salvage it. However, although some of the lost treasures were salvaged, the imperial seal was never found.

The news of the demise of the Jin Dynasty was brought back.

Zhu Guoxiang said to his ministers: "I have abdicated. You may ask the new emperor."

When Zhu Ming finally returned to Beijing, he said to his ministers, "Wanyan Zonghan has been fishing for several years but has gained nothing. There is no need to waste the people's energy any more."

Although the emperor said so, the ministers did not dare to really not take advantage of the situation!

The cabinet secretly instructed the prefect of Datong to dredge the Sanggan River and salvage the imperial seal from the bottom of the river.

After three years, the Sanggan River had been dredged thoroughly, but there was still no sign of the imperial seal.

The government of Datong has given up in recent years, but the people are still keen on treasure hunting.

Especially in the summer when drought strikes, the water level drops and the rivers become shallow. Many farmers bring their children to fetch water for irrigation, and when they pass by the dry riverbed, they let the children turn over the mud.

From time to time, people found treasures, most of which were lost by Emperor Tianzuo.

The more treasures are revealed, the more people will be attracted. Even if you can't find the imperial seal, you can still get rich by finding other treasures!
……

Ma Kuo and Xiao Zhongxuan set out from Luoyang to Western Liao with state gifts.

Meanwhile, by the Sanggan River, a group of scoundrels were searching for treasure.

Local farmers only come to look for treasures occasionally in their spare time or when the river dries up, but the scoundrels have made this their profession and have been searching for treasures for seven or eight years.

Wang Chongdu’s ancestors were from the Wang family of Taiyuan. Several generations before them had served as high-ranking officials in the Liao Kingdom, and some of their clansmen surrendered to the Jin Dynasty and became minor officials.

The Ming Dynasty did not make it too difficult to recapture Datong; it simply separated the clans and divided the land.

Wang Chongdu also studied for a few years, but his studies were not good enough and he failed the imperial examination. Hearing that there was a seal of the state in the Sanggan River, he took a group of friends and went to the place where the seal was found whenever he had time.

We searched downstream from the treasure land for more than ten miles over several years.

Two years ago, they found a golden Buddha.

The Buddha statue was made of pure gold and was more than one foot tall. The prefect of Datong bought it and sent it to Luoyang. Xiao Zhongxuan identified it as the one that Empress Xiao Duolilan of Liao used to worship.

The pure gold Buddha statue that is more than one foot tall made Wang Chongdu and his friends earn a fortune!
They became more active and went into the river every other day.

"Brother Wang, it's better not to look for it anymore."

Gao Wenbao lay shirtless on the shore, soaked in water, panting and tired, saying, "We haven't gotten anything in two years since we found the Buddha statue."

Wang Chongdu laughed and said, "Why do you say you didn't get anything? Aren't there a dozen copper coins and an ancient bronze mirror?"

Li Bin, who was standing next to him, said, "Those copper coins and bronze mirrors were all rotten. God knows which dynasty they were from. I excitedly sent them to be polished, but the mirror polishers rejected them, saying they were just scraps of copper and iron."

"Look again, look again." Wang Chongdu was still laughing.

Gao Wenbao said depressedly: "Han Sanlang and his men didn't look for it this year, so why should we bother? First the government dredged the river, and then the people went treasure hunting. The 20-mile river upstream and downstream has been searched countless times. Not to mention the treasures, even the chamber pots of the previous dynasty at the bottom of the river have been fished out."

As we were talking, a few more friends came ashore, lay down for a while, and then made a fuss about disbanding.

That night, everyone had a farewell dinner.

Wang Chongdu still wanted to insist, and only Gao Wenbao and Li Bin were left to play around with him.

Their treasure hunting team used to have more than twenty people, but now there are only three left.

Wang Chongdu, along with his two friends, continued to search downstream. They were now more than thirty miles away from the place where Emperor Tianzuo's treasure was found.

Gao Wenbao grumbled as he walked: "The jade seal is so heavy, no matter how fast the river flows, how could it be washed away for more than 30 miles? Besides, someone has come here to look for it, and the government has dredged the river, so there is no way it can be a treasure."

"Don't talk nonsense. Let's search for another half a year," Wang Chongdu said. "If we can't find it, we won't do it anymore."

Li Bin said: "During the Chinese New Year, my brother brought back a book called Arabian Nights from the south. It contains many stories about treasure hunting. I heard that there are treasures everywhere in foreign countries. Instead of searching blindly in the Sanggan River, why not take a boat out to sea to look for treasures in foreign countries?"

Gao Wenbao laughed and said, "I also borrowed your Arabian Nights. The treasure hunting stories are all made up. Have you ever seen the sea? Have you ever been on a ship? Although the three of us brothers are familiar with water, swimming in the sea is different from swimming in a river."

"What's the difference? It's all water!"

Li Bin said: "In the past few years of treasure hunting, my swimming ability has improved. I can now hold my breath underwater for half a quarter of an hour."

Wang Chongdu joked, "If we find the imperial seal, the government will definitely confer us a title. Then we can go to the south, get a ship, hire some boatmen and sailors, and go out to sea to look for treasures in foreign countries. Maybe we can meet some immortals overseas like the emperor did."

"That's a good idea," Li Bin said. "Ever since I read Arabian Nights, I've wanted to see the sea and travel around overseas countries. Maybe I could even marry a foreign princess as my consort."

Gao Wenbao asked, "Since your engagement is off, why don't you find another one?"

Li Bin said angrily, "How dare you ask! I followed you to the river to fish for treasures when I was fourteen, and I didn't do anything else. Although we did get some treasures, in the eyes of others, we were all idlers."

Wang Chongdu comforted her, saying, "I am not married yet either. Once I find the imperial seal, I won't have trouble marrying a good woman."

The three of them changed locations and dived and explored nearby for several days.

Got nothing.

Another day, Wang Chongdu carefully observed the water ripples and found a backwater next to a huge rock.

He dove into the water and felt that the backwater was quite deep. He did not dare to dive any further and surfaced: "Throw down the rope, and you hold the rope and stay on the boulder."

Li Bin threw down the rope and sat on the boulder to chat with Gao Wenbao.

Wang Chongdu tied a rope around his waist, picked up a stone and dived down.

There was a strong suction force below, and there was a whirlpool of water, and the water plants were swaying at the bottom of the water. Wang Chongdu couldn't see clearly, so he just closed his eyes and groped around.

After a few minutes, he couldn't hold his breath anymore, so he quickly pulled the rope, and his two friends pulled him up together.

Li Bin asked, "How is it?"

"No." Wang Chongdu gasped.

After resting for a while, Wang Chongdu dived again.

After repeating this five or six times, the rope was pulled again and the two friends pulled him up again.

Wang Chongdu then surfaced, holding something in his arms. He shouted excitedly, "I found a box. Even if it's not the imperial seal, it must be a treasure of the Liao royal family!"

"Get ashore quickly!"

Gao Wenbao and Li Bin were overjoyed when they heard this.

The box was tied with yellow silk cloth, which had been soaked in water for twenty years and had become rotten and discolored. It would rot if it was torn.

Wang Chongdu cleaned the box with water, and it turned out to be an exquisite lacquerware.

The box has no lock and can be opened easily with a push.

The lacquer box was lined with silk, and there was something else in the box, also wrapped in silk.

Li Bin took out a dagger and cut open the rotten silk fabric, and a jade seal suddenly appeared in his sight.

The three of them were stunned. They felt that everything was silent and they could almost hear their own heartbeats.

After a long while, Gao Wenbao swallowed his saliva and said, "How could such a large jade seal float more than 30 miles away?"

Li Bin analyzed, "The lacquer box is extremely exquisite and tightly covered, so not much water can get in at once. The seal was hidden inside, just like a person sitting on a boat. It seemed to have fallen into the water, but in fact it did not sink to the bottom. Instead, it was floating downstream between the water surface and the river bottom. It did not sink to the bottom until more water filled the box."

Wang Chongdu said, "Go to the city right away and pretend nothing happened. After entering the city, take out the imperial seal on the street and make it known to everyone in the city, so that the government won't take credit for finding the imperial seal!"

"Second brother is right!"

The three men packed up the jade seal and lacquer box and returned to the city in dejected mood.

When I met acquaintances along the way, they all said they had found nothing and claimed that they would never look for treasure again.

In the evening, they stayed outside the city.

The next morning, when the city gates were open and the people were gathering, Wang Chongdu suddenly shouted at the city gate: "We have found the imperial seal. Go and inform the governor!"

The gatekeepers were stunned when they heard this. After Wang Chongdu shouted several times, the gatekeepers finally reacted.

The people waiting to enter the city also became agitated and squeezed forward to watch the excitement.

A gatekeeper rushed into the city to report, and the remaining gatekeepers were responsible for maintaining order and protecting Wang Chongdu and the other two.

The three continued to shout:

"I am Wang Chongdu. We were the ones who found the imperial seal."

"I'm Li Bin. You all should remember this name. I, Li Silang, will also bring honor to our family!"

"My name is Gao Wenbao, and you are not allowed to call me a playboy anymore!"

Soon, officials from the prefecture and county levels arrived one after another, and the three were escorted into the city by gatekeepers. The two sides met more than a hundred steps away from the government office.

"Who found the imperial seal?" asked the prefect Yao Changji.

"Wang Chongdu is here!"

"Li Bin is here..."

From the reign of Song Zhezong to Song Huizong, the former Song Dynasty had several incidents involving the transfer of the imperial seal, in which even Zhang Dun and Cai Jing were involved.

They are all real. There are several "genuine" imperial seals in the Northern Song Dynasty...

Anyway, whenever someone from the public offered a treasure as a gift, he would collect it as a good omen, and Cai Jing even personally identified a genuine seal.

But the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty did not like auspicious signs, so local officials had to carefully identify them, otherwise they might be criticized if they presented them.

More than a dozen officials gathered together, and some of them used glasses as magnifying glasses.

After carefully wiping it, the prefect Yao Changji used ink to press it on the white paper.

The jade seal was held up, and eight big words were printed on the paper: Mandate by Heaven, Live Long and Prosperous.

The font is fish and bird seal script.

The Yunzhong County Magistrate questioned, "This jade seal is not missing a corner. I heard that the imperial seal was missing a corner and it was repaired with gold. Could it be that the Liao Kingdom did not obtain the imperial seal back then and carved a fake one out of jade?"

The prefect Yao Changji was the first Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty. He had no idea about the imperial seal.

But the imperial seal disappeared in his own jurisdiction, so Yao Changji would naturally pay attention to this matter.

Not only him, but all the previous prefects of Datong in the Ming Dynasty were very concerned about the imperial seal and collected a lot of official and unofficial historical materials.

Yao Changji observed it repeatedly with a magnifying glass and said:

"The legend that the Heshi Bi was used to make the imperial seal is a hard one to tell whether it is true or not. According to historical records, the imperial seal of Qin Shihuang was carved from Lantian white jade. I don't know much about jade, so I don't know if this is Lantian white jade. But the shape is correct, it has a Chihu button."

"There is a crack on the horn of the dragon. It was caused by Empress Ping throwing it on the steps of the palace when Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty."

"On the side of the seal, there is a line of small characters: Great Wei receives the national treasure from the Han Dynasty. This line of small characters was carved by the craftsmen ordered by Emperor Wen of Wei, Cao Pi."

Yao Changji looked around at everyone and said firmly, "It must be the imperial seal!"

In fact, Yao Changji did not say something. During the hundreds of years of the Three Kingdoms, the Jin Dynasty, and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, many copies of similar imperial seals were made.

If it was fished out from the Sanggan River, it can only prove that the seal in front of us was the imperial seal used by the Tang Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty. It cannot prove that it was passed down from Qin Shihuang, because it may be a replica of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. It may also be a forgery of the Liao Dynasty itself.

Of course, since the imperial seal has appeared, it must have originated from Qin Shihuang.

Not too!

(End of this chapter)