Collection of Gods

Chapter 911: Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature

From early morning to dusk, the treasure excavation work was carried out in an orderly manner.

The 4th and 5th hiding places were full of precious artifacts such as porcelain, jade, bronze, and sacrificial utensils. The 6th and 7th hiding places, which were excavated next, contained a large number of bronze artifacts, Buddha statues, imperial court robes, lacquerware, celebrity paintings and calligraphy, etc., totaling 28 boxes, with a wide variety and huge quantity.

Everyone at the scene went from being excited and shocked at first, to gradually becoming numb in the end. There were simply too many good things here, and if you picked any one out and put it in the collector's market, it would be a treasure that would attract countless people to scramble for.

However, these treasures that are rarely seen in normal days are now scattered everywhere like debris. Some people originally wanted to calculate the value of these treasures, but they soon gave up because the number is too large and the types are too many. In the end, they could only give four words: inestimable.

"Made!"

"Not only did these people steal the dragon robe, they even stole the phoenix crown that the queen wore at her coronation. How cruel!"

Tang Yuan stood in front of many wooden boxes, his hands on his hips, looking a little speechless.

"These people are robbers. They would not even let go of something like a snuff bottle, so how could they let go of the queen's phoenix crown? After all, they have never seen such an exquisite piece of clothing before."

Dong Wenhui stood next to Tang Yuan. The two of them looked at the crane that was lifting up hiding spots No. 8 and No. 9 not far away, and responded in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Director Dong, you said there are so many things. How long will it take us to count them all?"

Tang Yuan pointed to the dozens of wooden boxes in front of him and asked Dong Wenhui.

"Even if our masters at the National Museum work at their best, it will take at least ten days to barely count the treasures, and that's without taking into account other tasks such as restoration and maintenance. If all these tasks are taken into account, the time required will be endless."

Dong Wenhui shook his head and only gave an approximate time.

"From this perspective, Director Dong will probably come to Zhonghai more often in the future."

Tang Yuan looked at Dong Wenhui and smiled, then took the lead and walked towards hiding point No. 7 and hiding point No. 8.

Dong Wenhui laughed when he heard this and said, "Director Tang, I brought our National Museum's most professional team with me on this trip. After they return to China, they will most likely come back to the National Museum to take charge. If you want us to be fully responsible for the follow-up work here, that's a bit unrealistic. I'll contact some experts from local museums for you then."

As the two were talking, they soon came to the many wooden boxes dug out from hiding spots No. 7 and No. 8. The number of treasures buried under these two hiding spots was even more astonishing, with a total of 52 wooden boxes.

At this moment, after checking and confirming that there was no danger, dozens of wooden boxes in front of them were opened one by one by experts from the National Museum.

The first wooden box was filled with books.

The second wooden box was also filled with books.

The third wooden box was still filled with densely packed books.

……

From the first wooden box to the last wooden box, a total of fifty-two wooden boxes were filled with books neatly arranged together.

After all the wooden boxes were opened, everyone at the scene looked at the scene with a little surprise. Obviously, they did not expect that the objects buried in the last two hiding places were all books.

However, many experts from the National Museum soon took action, because books are not like porcelain, jade, and bronze. As long as those things are not affected by external forces, they can be preserved for a long time without decaying. But the paper of books will easily become very fragile after being buried underground for a long time. Although they are now neatly arranged in front of everyone, if you are not careful, they may turn into a lot of debris, causing irreversible damage.

Under this circumstance, most people at the scene did not move, only a few experienced masters walked to the front and began to carefully take out the books using many instruments. The scene soon became extremely quiet, and everyone was afraid that their voices would disturb the masters who were working.

About ten minutes later, several masters successfully took out a book from a wooden box. Then they carefully opened the book and began to explore the contents.

"This is……"

"Is this..."

Facing the attention of the crowd, several masters gathered together to study for a while. Suddenly, one of the masters pushed his reading glasses on the bridge of his nose, and then made some surprised and doubtful sounds.

"Lao Liang, what is this?"

"Can you please stop talking in half sentences? It really drives me crazy!"

There was an impatient National Museum expert in the crowd who couldn't help but urge the other party.

"If I'm not mistaken, these books are most likely the set of Sikuquanshu that was rumored to have been burned in Wenyuan Pavilion in Yuanmingyuan more than 150 years ago!"

The old master's words were shocking, and his one sentence silenced the entire place. However, the quiet atmosphere did not last long, and the place soon became lively again.

"Is this true? Lao Liang, please look carefully!"

"Is it really the Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature? Wasn't it said that the Complete Library in the Wenyuan Pavilion of the Old Summer Palace was burned by the British and French forces?"

"Just now I thought these books were some secret royal books, but I didn't expect them to be the Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature. This is such a huge gain!"

"Lao Liang, Lao Zhao, hurry up and check whether the other wooden boxes are full of Sikuquanshu. If they are all full of Sikuquanshu, it would be a great harvest!"

"It looks like they are all original letters and books, and they are well preserved. God bless them!"

……

Many experts from the National Museum of China were very excited. Although the Siku Quanshu has been well preserved in China, when it comes to archaeology, no one would complain about having too many things. Even if the Siku Quanshu in front of them is exactly the same as the complete Siku Quanshu in domestic collections, it still has great research value.

"Mr. Tang, you are so lucky."

Dong Wenhui looked a little strange: "You even dug out the Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature. I really don't know what to say about your luck."

"Director Dong, didn't you say that I was born with the holy body of archaeology?"

Tang Yuan smiled and said, "Relax, you have only read one volume so far, so it is still unclear whether it is the complete set of Siku Quanshu. Let's take a look."

"Okay, then I'll send a few more masters over to help, and try to check everything in these wooden boxes before dark."

"Thank you, Director Dong."

"Small things."

(End of this chapter)