Xixia dead book

Chapter 10: Legend of the Undead in the Book of the Dead (10)
4
The third letter was written in 1951 by Menshikov (Lev Nikolaevich Menshikov), who later became a famous master of sinology, to his teacher, academician of the Soviet Academy of Sciences and famous sinologist Alik ( Vasily Mikhailovich Alekseev).

Dear teacher, hello:
As I write this letter, I can visibly feel my hands shaking.Don't worry, it's not because of my health, but because of the shocking discovery I made in the Winter Palace yesterday, which kept me excited.

Last week, Misha and I followed your instructions to study at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences. While browsing through the complicated research materials of the institute, Misha accidentally discovered some research materials written by Yi Fengge in the 30s and 20s .You know, searching for information is a boring and painful thing, but the research information of Yifengge made Misha and I feel extremely excited and excited.In this document, Yi Fengge mentioned that in the late [-]s, he accidentally discovered a treasure from the Xixia Dynasty in the Winter Palace.According to Yifengge, there are many strange symbols engraved on this jade screen. After a long-term study of this jade screen, Yifengge judged that those strange symbols on the jade screen belonged to the long-disappeared Xixia text, and recognized some Xixia characters above.By deciphering these Xixia characters, he discovered that there was an amazing secret hidden behind this Xixia treasure.It's a pity that Yi Fengge died in prison later and failed to complete his research.

Seeing this, Misha and I couldn't wait any longer, we rushed to the Winter Palace immediately, and finally found the Xixia jade screen in the vast warehouse of cultural relics in the Winter Palace.When I opened the red sandalwood box containing the jade screen, I was shocked. This is a beautiful treasure that I have never seen before. I don't know any words to describe my feeling at that time.The jade screen is made of a whole piece of high-quality Xinjiang Hetian sheep fat white jade. Two circles of lotus patterns are carved on the edge of the jade screen, which are wrapped around the jade screen. A row of jewels is inlaid in the middle of the two circles of lotus patterns. , this jade screen alone is already priceless!However, this is not what Misha and I are interested in. I saw those strange symbols on the jade screen, which may be the extinct Xixia script mentioned by Yifengge, although Misha and I don't know any of the symbols on it. , but both of us feel that those unrecognized symbols, as Yi Fengge said, must contain amazing secrets.

Misha and I decided to continue to study this Xixia jade screen in the Winter Palace and write a thesis on this topic.Enclosed are two pictures of Xixia jade screens, hoping to get help and guidance from the teacher.

I wish you a speedy recovery!

your student
After reading the third letter, everyone in the secret room was silent, and they opened the fourth letter directly.

5
The fourth letter, Arik's reply letter to Menglev, 1951.

Dear Lev Nikolaevich:
I am very pleased to receive your letter during my illness.No!It should be said that I am excited. Your letter has strengthened my confidence.I made you choose this path of academic research. I know that for a young man of your age, it is too boring to bury your head in archives, books, and materials all day long, especially if you are studying the ancient and distant East. civilization.But, young man, please believe in my vision, I will not misjudge you, you are talented in this area, as long as you persevere, I believe you will be able to replace me and surpass me in the future.

I am very glad to see that you are interested in the civilization of Xixia. You know, because of Kozlov’s astonishing discovery in the black city of China in 1909, our country has a large number of documents, materials, Cultural relics, even in China, the hometown of this civilization, it is impossible to have so many first-hand materials. Therefore, the Xixia civilization is in China, but the study of Xixia studies is here.But unfortunately, since Yifengge's death, our research on Xixia civilization has been interrupted. Now we are in urgent need of young scholars like you to conduct related research, hoping to carry forward Xixia culture one day.

As for the treasure mentioned in your letter, Yi Fengge mentioned it to me in the early years, but after he left, this treasure was gradually forgotten by people. If it weren’t for your reminder, I might not have seen it until I died. Will not think of this treasure again.Based on my many years of experience and intuition, I can tell you with certainty that your and Misha's research on this Xixia jade screen is very important.Through your description in the letter and these two photos, I am convinced that this Xixia jade screen is not only priceless, but also of great significance.I still don't know what amazing secret it hides, but I believe in Yifengge's academic level, he has studied this treasure for many years, and he still can't forget it until his death, so he must have made some important discovery.

That’s all for writing this, I hope to have a meeting with you and Misha, and see that Western Xia treasure with my own eyes.Finally, I would like to complain to you. The smell of the hospital is really bad, and the doctors here are also disgusting. I really hope that I can go out and work with you as soon as possible.

By the way, I suddenly remembered these lines of poems, if I remember correctly, it should be like this: "Heitou Shishihuang waters, red-faced father's mound Baigaohe, Changmi Yaoren country is there." (written in Chinese. ) In the late 30s, before Yi Fengge was arrested, he sent me a letter. In the letter, Yi Fengge was very excited, saying that he had made a major breakthrough in the study of Xixia studies, but he did not say that he had achieved What a breakthrough, but at the end I wrote these few poems in Chinese without thinking.My research interest at the time was not on Xixia, so I didn't delve into it.Unexpectedly, the news of Yifengge's arrest came later, and that letter became the last letter he wrote to me, so in the next few years, I would often find this letter to read. After a long time, I also memorized the few poems he wrote in Chinese, but I didn't understand the meaning of these poems.What a pity that this letter was lost later in the Great Patriotic War!I hope these few poems can be helpful to your research.

V. M. Alekseev
After reading this letter, Tang Feng said: "The third and fourth letters show that after World War II, the Xixia jade screen and the research materials of Yifeng Pavilion once again aroused the interest of Soviet scholars such as Alek and Menglev. Note that they must have carried out fruitful research in this area. We don't know what step they have reached in their research, but we can only see some clues from the few words in these two letters."

Professor Luo Zhongping, wearing reading glasses, stared at the two translated letters, pondered for a long time, and then said: "The key depends on how many research materials of Yifengge they have found. From the content of the letter Judging, Yifengge should be the person closest to the answer so far, so if Yifengge's research materials still exist, then it will be of great help to Mencius's research later. But in the chaotic era of the 30s , many scholars’ research materials have been discarded. I speculate that Meng Liev may only have found part of the materials of Yifeng Pavilion. As for their subsequent research and what results they have achieved, it is not clear. ..."

"Yes! What do those lines mean?" Tang Feng asked.

Professor Luo said: "Those lines in the poem must be very important, but I still need to study further."

"Have you noticed that in these two letters, a person named 'Misha' was mentioned. Who is this person?" Zhao Yong asked Professor Luo in puzzlement.

Professor Luo shook his head and explained: "According to the Russian habit of addressing, 'Misha' is obviously not the person's real name, but just a friendly 'nickname' among friends and acquaintances, so I can't judge who this person is. However, judging from the contents of the two letters, this Misha should be a classmate of Menglev, and it was they who discovered the jade screen together in the Winter Palace..."

"Let's read the fifth letter quickly!" Before Professor Luo finished speaking, Liang Yuan couldn't wait to open the fifth letter.

6
The fifth letter is a letter from Suslov (Mikhail Andreevich Suslov), the leader of the Soviet Union in charge of culture and ideology, to Alik in 1951.

Dear Comrade Vasily Mikhailovich:

The day before yesterday, two of your students told me about their recent research results. Please forgive me. I don’t know much about history, especially about the distant oriental civilization. I have never dabbled in it.But recently, earth-shaking changes are taking place in the Far East. We are delighted by this change. This change is also creating the necessary conditions for the request you and your students put forward—to go to China for a field trip.

Although I fully understand the urgency of you and your students to study in China, and understand the great research value contained in it, I still have to regret to inform you that the request of you and your students, at present, at least Is recently or not feasible.This is the final reply of the Central Committee, I am very sorry!
You know that a terrible war is going on in the Far East, and our enemies and the enemies of the new Chinese regime are doing their best to prevent the process of China's liberation and construction.The area you are going to is full of bandits, the natural conditions are extremely harsh, and it is more likely to be damaged by foreign hostile forces. Therefore, after careful research, we have decided to suspend your scientific expedition activities.It's just a suspension. When the situation stabilizes and the conditions are ripe, we will reconsider your suggestion.

I wish you a speedy recovery.

M. Ann Suslov
"From this letter, it can be seen that in order to further reveal the secrets of the jade screen, Alik, Mencius and others asked the authorities to come to China for field investigations. From this, I speculate that their research They must have made a lot of progress, so they are eager to come to China for field investigation. But judging from this letter, the authorities did not agree to their request, at least not in 1951." Tang Feng said first after reading the letter.

Zhao Yong went on to say: "The 'a terrible war is going on in the Far East' mentioned in the letter should refer to the Korean War, which coincides with the time when the letter was written. Moreover, the northwest area was indeed very unstable at that time. Considering security factors , so the Soviet authorities rejected the proposal of Alik and others.”

"Hehe, the authorities rejected the proposal of Alik and others. I don't think it is because of any security factors. It is mostly because of the research of Alik and Menglev, or those big figures who did not impress the high-level. Without sufficient evidence, they I don’t believe in the proposals of Arik and Menglev at all, it’s just the fantasies of those intellectuals. But if there is enough evidence to convince the authorities, they must go to the field to investigate, so the matter is stuck here.” Professor Luo Zhongping expressed his views.

"Then, did Alik come to China after all?" Liang Yuan asked Professor Luo.

Professor Luo shook his head and sighed: "Unfortunately, there is no later one, because Academician Alek passed away that year."

"Ah! Dead?" Liang Yuan was taken aback.

After a while of silence, Professor Luo broke the silence: "Continue to read the sixth letter. The sixth letter is also the strangest, most mysterious, and longest one among the seven letters."

7
The sixth letter was written in 1958, but the names of the sender and recipient were all erased.

(salutations blacked out):
The day before yesterday I visited the Winter Palace and the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in Leningrad. Here, I saw a large number of ancient cultural relics from the Northwest of my country.Most of these cultural relics are from the Tsarist Russian era and were stolen and plundered by Russian explorers.Among them, there are scriptures written by Tang people from the Dunhuang scripture cave, and there are also Xixia documents from Heicheng. These precious cultural relics were rarely known to Chinese people in the past. I may be the first Chinese to see these precious cultural relics.I don't know if this is a blessing or a misfortune.Thinking about it carefully, this is my personal blessing, but it is a great misfortune for the country.It is a great misfortune for the country that China's precious cultural relics are lost to foreign countries, and the people of the country don't know it!

Especially those precious Xixia cultural relics, even I, a so-called "scholar", have never heard of them before, and the world doesn't even know that there are such a batch of treasures in the world.In the Winter Palace, Soviet scholars also showed me a very precious Xixia treasure. According to them, the name of this treasure is "Inlaid Jewelry Wrapped with Lotus Pattern Jade Screen".Soviet scholars also told me some of their research results on this jade screen. Although I didn't fully understand it, I could hear that Soviet scholars attached great importance to this Xixia jade screen. (bottom row is blacked out)

When I arrived in Moscow today, senior officials from the Soviet side formally proposed to me to send a scientific expedition team to Northwest China for investigation when they received me.I have a faint feeling that this matter is not simple, and it may have something to do with that Xixia jade screen.But when I asked about the specific investigation content, both the Soviet officials and the Soviet scholars were secretive and seemed to have something to hide... (The following two lines are blacked out)
(The first line is blacked out) In my humble opinion, it is almost impossible for the Soviet side to do scientific research alone, only to form a joint scientific expedition team, which may be feasible...
"Why is this letter so messy, it's not finished at all, and the sender and recipient don't know who it is?" Liang Yuan quickly read the letter and asked first.

Professor Luo said: "So I designated this letter as a letter to a mysterious person. Everything in the letter that involves the identity of the recipient has been blacked out, and many other contents have also been blacked out."

"You set the recipient as a mysterious person, so what about the sender? You seem to know who he is?" Tang Feng asked.

Professor Luo shook his head and said, "Tang Feng, I'm not sure who the sender is, but judging from the tone and narrative in the letter, both the sender and the recipient should be Chinese. This is different from the other letters. And the sender, according to my judgment, should be a very important scholar in our country at that time, and this person should still have a high status, otherwise, why would the Soviet Union propose to him to send a joint scientific expedition team. "

"Well, what Professor Luo said makes sense. This is indeed a strange letter. Huh? Was this letter originally written in Chinese?" Tang Feng asked Professor Luo again.

"No! This letter is not written in Chinese, it is also written in Russian."

"A famous Chinese scholar wrote to another Chinese in Russian? It's so strange." Tang Feng was secretly surprised. Who is this mysterious person?

"This at least shows that the mysterious person who received the letter is also proficient in Russian, but we don't know who the recipient is..."

Zhao Yong interrupted Professor Luo: "What I am most concerned about is why this letter was blacked out? Has it been sent? Was it the sender himself? Or the mysterious person who received the letter? Or someone else? ? How did this letter get into the hands of the KGB?"

"Maybe this letter was never sent, or maybe it was the KGB who altered the letter." Tang Feng judged.

Zhao Yong retorted: "These are top secret documents of the KGB. Since they have been classified as top secret documents, there is no need for the KGB to alter the letters. If you are really worried, just destroy them."

Tang Feng was speechless. At this moment, Liang Yuan became impatient again: "Stop arguing, what happened next?"

"Later? Then there was that nightmarish joint scientific expedition team!" Professor Luo said angrily.

(End of this chapter)