The "lion head" of the ancient city gate that shocked the world should have first appeared in public around 2012. There was a blurry photo of this lion head in a Zhejiang diving magazine. That was several years later.
It is said that the Chun'an Tourism Bureau plans to build a glass tunnel at the bottom of Qiandao Lake. Through this tunnel under the lake, tourists can directly see the thousand-year-old "lion head".
But it's just a plan. It's been so many years, and I don't even see the tunnel door. If it really builds a tunnel under the lake one day, then I guess there will be no less tourists than those who go to Xi'an to see the Terracotta Warriors and Horses.
Brother Yu's water quality is similar to mine. Due to the low water temperature, my swimming speed gradually slowed down.
When I put my hands on the blue bricks of the ancient city gate, I couldn't express the excitement in my heart.
This is a world forgotten by modern people. There must be countless treasures left over from the past in the city, just like Pandora underwater. Whoever finds it first and opens it first will become rich overnight.
At that time, people who dug water holes in the south generally used hs series metal positioning detectors produced by small workshops in Guangdong. There was a leather cover at the front and a metal hose connected in the middle. It looked like an old-fashioned desk lamp and could detect gold and silver.
It reacts with iron. Because it is designed for underwater treasure hunting, it is completely waterproof. When something is detected, the handle will continue to vibrate to issue a reminder.
Dou Sprout has the best water quality. He swam around the ancient city gate with the detector. Dou Sprout waved to indicate that the detector was responding, and Brother Yu and I swam over to help.
The bottom of the lake is full of silt and visibility is not high. After locating the bean sprouts, Brother Yu and I touched it with a small shovel. The water would instantly become turbid and would not clear up in a short time, which greatly affected our sight.
Toothpaste casings, cans, and rotten wire were all these things we touched at first. Bean Sprout was obviously anxious. If he hadn't been unable to speak in the water, I would have scolded him long ago.
I told Dou Sprout to stay calm and not to mess up, because I knew that searching underwater is a delicate job, and you might miss a big item if you don't pay attention.
Suddenly, I felt in the mud layer There was something like a "coin". I immediately lowered my head and illuminated it with a blue light, and saw that it turned out to be an "iron coin".
It is not a copper coin. You can tell it is an ancient square-hole iron coin by looking at the material. Since it does not like to rust in puddles, you can see the writing on the coin after a little washing.
"Chunxi Yuanbao."
Turn it over, and there is actually the word "永" on the back.
I immediately made a judgment in my mind that this was a Xiaoping iron coin from the Southern Song Dynasty. It was worthless in the market and probably couldn't even be exchanged for a steamed bun.
Then in this "mud area", we relied on the metal detector to fish out six more small iron coins like this one after another. Not all yet, Brother Yu finally found an "iron rod" that was half a meter long.
Son".
This iron rod is actually a row of "small iron coins" stuck together. After hundreds of years of underwater oxidation, it formed a stick.
The temperature of the lake was too low. We could not enter the water for more than forty minutes at a time, otherwise we would probably suffer from hypothermia. We immediately and decisively surfaced. During this period, I accidentally looked back at the city gate.
I vaguely saw a naked woman standing at the gate of the city. This "woman" had very long hair, which was dragged to the ground and completely covered her entire face.
Wearing an oxygen mask and unable to rub my eyes, I shook my head vigorously and looked. The woman was gone again. There was only a large group of black water plants swaying with the water.
Brother Yu thought I was drunk, so he swam over and tried to pull me away. I hurriedly broke away from Brother Yu's hand and said I was fine.
Damn it, what is that thing at the gate of the city? Maybe it was because I was short of oxygen and mistook the water plants for women. After I came up, I mentioned it casually, and both Brother Yu and Bean Sprouts said they didn't see anything.
.
"How
So, what's the gain?" He asked.
Dou Sprout said dejectedly, "Hey! Forget it! We found the city gate! But we were unlucky! We only got a few broken coins!"
I corrected Douyazai and said, "It's not a copper coin! It's an iron coin. It should be from the Southern Song Dynasty! It's not valuable."
The boss said, "Don't be discouraged. Having received the goods is a good start. Bring it to me for a look."
Dou Sprout immediately handed the small iron coin to the leader.
He frowned and said, "This iron coin is a bit strange, I've never seen it before."
"Isn't that strange, boss? Isn't this the Xiaoping iron coin from the Chunxi period of the Southern Song Dynasty? At that time, it was mainly circulated in the south, with the most in Sichuan."
It seemed as if Boss didn't hear what I said. He stared at the small iron coin, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.
I have seen countless big storms and scenes in my life, so I guess I wouldn't be too excited even if I had a golden jade dress in front of me, but now I have a puzzled expression on my head when I look at a small iron coin, which makes me confused about the situation.
.
"Yunfeng, take a closer look. Are you sure this is from the Chunxi period of the Southern Song Dynasty?" he asked me with his head turned.
After taking another careful look, I was instantly shocked.
I made a mistake!
The inscription on this small iron coin is not "Chunxi", but "Chunxi"! It is pure and pure!
This is very abnormal. This is a coin that is beyond my knowledge. It is 100% genuine. The patina, rust color, and craftsmanship are all genuine.
I know about copper coins, but ancient coins are not my specialty. My specialty is bronzes, porcelain, jades and miscellaneous items. This is the first time for Boutou and I to see this kind of Chunxi Yuanbao backed with eternal iron coins. We have never heard of it before.
As I said, it cannot even be dated in a short period of time. My intuition tells me that this is probably the first time it has appeared, and it may be a pioneering product in the world of ancient coins.
I wanted to use my mobile phone to search for relevant information online, and the result There is no Monternet signal at all on the island. We originally planned to send someone back to the town tomorrow, and we mainly had to charge our phones and buy gas bottles.
In the dead of night, Douyazai and I drove a boat out of the island overnight and went to the fishing village town in the central lake area. They asked me to stay in the fishing village for two days because the people who sent back the call duck were coming soon, so I could meet people in the fishing village.
Answer the duck.
At that time, a characteristic of the fishing village was that there were many Internet cafes, all open 24 hours a day. There were probably no less than forty Internet cafes in a small town, such as Shenlan Internet Cafe, Aqiang Internet Cafe, and Jike Internet Cafe, which were all famous in the local area.
I searched the Internet for a long time and found iron coins similar to our "Pure Chun Yuanbao". Why are they similar? Because they are not exactly the same. The small iron coins in the information are "same", and this batch we got is
It means carrying "forever".
By consulting relevant historical materials, I learned that the "Chunxi" era name was indeed from the Southern Song Dynasty, but it only took six days. From confirming the era name to ordering the coin, the official had cast a Chunxi iron coin with the same back.
, the actual total casting period was probably about three days, after which it was abandoned and changed to the "Chunxi" that people are now familiar with.
The kind of iron money we found was probably another type cast during those three days. This is definitely the first time in China.
Realizing that something big had happened, I immediately called Meimei.
"Pick it up, pick it up quickly!"
Meimei might still be asleep, and no one answered the phone.
At this moment, the network manager of the Internet cafe suddenly slapped me from behind, which shocked me.
"What?" I turned around and asked in confusion.
The Internet cafe administrator is a young man in his twenties. He held a cigarette in his hand and said to me, "Brother! It's not raining outside! Your shoes are wet. Look, you stepped on them."
I stood up and took a look, and saw a row of obvious wet footprints with mud on the floor from the door to where I got on the plane.