golden ear

Chapter 311 Hire me for treasure hunting?

"What is this?" Wu Tianyuan took the invitation letter curiously, and asked in confusion, "The Indian government asked me to help with the treasure hunt?"

"No way, boss, you are so famous that even the government asks you for help!"

Wang Hong handed the information to Wu Tianyuan and said with a smile: "This is the information they sent. They said that a treasure was found in an ancient temple, but they encountered some problems."

Wu Tianyuan took the information curiously, and after a brief look, he roughly understood what was going on.Kerala is located in the southwestern part of India, across the sea from Sri Lanka.The Padmanabaswamy Temple is a famous Hindu temple. Its recorded history can be traced back to the 8th century AD. The temple has always been owned by the descendants of the local Varma royal family.

The discovery of the temple treasure is closely related to a person named Sandalalajiang. Sandalalajiang was an intelligence officer in the Gandhi government from the 60s to the 80s. After retiring, he accompanied his blind father to live in the Near Padmanabhaswamy Temple.The old man is a devout Hindu. Although he is over 2 years old, he still insists on going to the temple to pray at 30:8 in the morning every day, and each time lasts for [-] hours.

It has been rumored locally that there are a lot of treasures hidden in the temple, but no one really digs it.But Sandalalajiang firmly believed in Zang Baoyi, and he was increasingly suspicious of the temple administrators.

In 2012, he filed a complaint with the Kerala State High Court, saying that the relevant parties had mismanaged the temple and had improper security measures. The government should take back the management rights of the temple and be responsible for the disposal of property in the temple and anti-theft.

In January 2015, the Kerala High Court ruled that the state government should take over the temple. In May, the Supreme Court of India asked Kerala to set up a committee composed of seven people to count the total assets of the temple and make a detailed list before taking over the temple.

The inventory work has officially begun. Most of the temples in India contain treasures. However, after several wars, many temples were looted by invaders or tomb robbers.In contrast, the treasures in the Padmanabhaswamy Temple are relatively well preserved.

"That is to say, they only found four secret rooms, and they couldn't find two more, so they asked me for help?"

Wu Tianyuan pondered for a while, and decided to help. India has red sandalwood resources. This time, it happened to use the relationship to open up local contacts. Later, it will develop red sandalwood and enter the furniture market.

"You are Mr. Wu, the master of treasure hunting? I have heard of you for a long time. I am Patoka, and I am in charge of this treasure hunt."

When Wu Tianyuan saw the person in charge, he went straight to the point. This treasure hunt is free of charge. He hopes that after success, he can have the right to import red sandalwood and cooperate with the government in the red sandalwood trade.

After asking for instructions, Paituoka was approved to allow Wu Tianyuan to import 100 tons of red sandalwood raw materials every year, and then took a group of people to the site of the ancient temple.

"When our staff opened the F secret room, they made full preparations, and it took a lot of trouble. There was not enough oxygen in the underground. In order to prevent the staff from suffocating, a large amount of air was injected into the ground with a fan. Even the living room It took the excavators two and a half hours to open the big rusty lock. The door of the secret room opened, and under the illumination of strong lights and torches, we walked in nervously and curiously. But the secret room was almost empty!"

Paitoka said with some regret: "We didn't give up. We removed a few big stones in the secret room and found a secret passage leading to the depths of the secret room. After walking along the passage not far, we were seen Everyone was stunned and they really found a huge treasure!"

“在F密室中发现的财宝包括，1200多根长约2.7米、重2.5公斤的金链；3个黄金皇冠；近1吨重的黄金饰品、钻石古董珠宝、用丝缠绕的宝石；17公斤重的东印度公司时期金币；18枚19世纪初拿破仑时期的硬币；1只黄金制成的小象；3尺半高的镶钻毗湿奴神像；一座1尺高、约1公斤重的人形雕像。”

Wu Tianyuan was also shocked by the treasures in the secret room. The 1200 gold chains alone are worth a lot, not to mention other jewelry and antiques. It's a pity that I didn't find it!
Paitokar said excitedly: "In addition to the F secret room, the staff also found different amounts of treasures in the other two opened secret rooms. The preliminary estimate is that the total value of the treasures that have been discovered is more than 2 billion rupees, which is about $5000 billion!"

"More local media estimates are bolder, saying that these treasures are worth more than 1 trillion rupees, or about 200 billion U.S. dollars. According to previous records, the richest temple in India is the Tirubati Temple in Andhra Pradesh , Its property value is only 3200 billion rupees. The value of the treasures owned by the Padmanabaswamy Temple far exceeds this figure, and it has become the richest temple in India."

Wu Tianyuan secretly lamented that he had been busy for more than two years, but in the end it was only 200 billion US dollars. People dug an ancient temple and surpassed him. It seems that there are still few treasures dug!

Paituoka said in a low voice: "Mr. Wu is a great expert in antiques, and he also owns an auction house. This is a photo, can you help me look at it?"

Wu Tianyuan took the photo, looked at it and said: "The treasure includes some Venetian gold coins in the 17th century. This kind of gold coin was very popular in the coastal areas at that time, and was often used by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British as exchange currency for the spice trade. Monetary value and academic value are difficult to measure directly in modern money."

"The cultural relics also include 10 lamps made of pure gold, which were dedicated to the temple by the king of the Pandya Kingdom in South India in the 12th century. Even the top auction houses are difficult to accurately estimate the value of this rare antique. Liancheng!"

"Hey, it is for this reason that we are now encountering great resistance!"

Paitoka said with a headache: "The C secret room that has not been opened is the largest of the six secret rooms, and it is said that it is also the one with the largest amount of treasures. Now it has become the focus of attention. Some analysts say that if the C secret room is opened, There will be a new breakthrough in the total value of the treasures, and it may even be 6 times the current valuation!"

"10 times? That's 1000 billion US dollars?" This number shocked everyone.

"We originally planned to open Room C on July 7, but we were opposed by many believers. In recent days, a large number of Hindu believers have heard the news and have come from all over the world to sit around the temple and pray in protest. The government should not continue to open the secret room, so as not to bring disaster to the local area."

One of them is that opening Chamber B will open "Pandora's Box", which will bring curses and disasters to the area where Padmanabhaswami Temple is located, and those who open the Chamber will be destroyed.

"There are also believers who warn that there is an underground passage connecting Chamber C with the sea. If the chamber is opened, it will trigger the wrath of God, and the sea will pour in and flood the entire city."

"Someone even dug up a piece of news from the 30s, saying that in 1908 someone tried to open the secret room of the temple, but was attacked by a group of cobras. According to Hindu legends, sacred places will be guarded by cobras, so some believers believe that There must be a lot of cobras in the chamber, they have guarded the chamber for hundreds of years, always ready to attack those who try to enter."

"However, these legends are not credible in the face of modern technology. We asked a local snake catcher with 25 years of experience that there must be no cobras in the secret room, because there is not enough oxygen, and there is no food such as rats. Snakes come to eat, how do they survive?"

Patoka said helplessly: "These legends may not be trustworthy, but it is really difficult to open the secret room. The staff tried to open the iron door of the secret room, but found that it was impossible to use the key. The only way was to use a gas cutter Cut it open. But this idea was quickly rejected, because this kind of rough behavior is really a desecration of the temple and the gods. In the end, the government had to consider the religious feelings of the people and decided to suspend the opening of the C secret room. First, make an inventory of the treasures that have been discovered."

(End of this chapter)