After the regulations were finalized, the camp suddenly became busy. Facts have proved that once the state machinery is in operation, the efficiency is not very high. Zhuang Rui just briefly mentioned the underground situation to Professor Meng yesterday. Today, many related equipment have been
Already prepared.
Five sets of diving equipment representing the most advanced level in the country were placed in front of Zhuang Rui and others, as well as various wireless equipment and a lighting system that could work continuously for more than 72 hours, all of which were brought with them this time.
If the preliminary survey had not been carried out, it is estimated that even the heavy diesel generator would have been brought down.
There are also five sets of clothes specially used for dangerous operations. According to relevant professionals, these clothes can withstand the erosion of strong acid in a short time. They are used for Zhuang Rui and others to pass through the rock wall covered with "snot".
"Insect" channel.
Except for Zhuang Rui, the people who followed him into the water this time were all young scientists who had a certain status in the domestic archaeological or historical circles. The main criterion for selecting team members this time was that they must be physically strong.
There is nothing we can do about it. There are turbulent undercurrents at the bottom of the lake. We can't let Professor Meng, who is seventy or eighty years old, dive into the underground river like the young people, right? Of course, this young is also relative, the oldest one is also forty-eight or nineteen years old.
Years old.
Ren Chunqiang was the second person to enter the underground river. Coupled with his age advantage, he was also fortunate to be a member of the exploration team. Among the other three people, there was also a professional who debugged wireless equipment.
Through the underwater cameras carried by Zhuang Rui and others, the group of people on the shore could clearly see the situation at the bottom of the lake, which made them amazed. If it were not for Zhuang Rui's "accidental collision", no one would have been able to find out that there were aquatic plants growing everywhere.
There is such a shocking secret hidden at the bottom of the lake.
With professional diving equipment, it became easy to enter the water channel at the bottom of the lake. After a few minutes, Zhuang Rui and the four of them successfully passed the water channel and entered the underground river.
After hanging a few lights on the rock wall, the situation inside the cave suddenly appeared clearly on the ground monitor, and the camera focused on the pile of gold cakes underground.
Counting all the dynasties and dynasties in China, the Yuan Dynasty is the era that has left the least historical traces. Whether it is objects or cultural inheritance, there are very few. Now that these objects with strong Yuan Dynasty colors appear, it immediately makes scientific research on the ground
The staff became excited.
The old Mongolian linguist with half of his teeth almost started dancing with excitement when he looked at the pieces of gold cakes that were zoomed in on the camera.
"Zhuang Rui, go ahead and take a look at the place where the acid is..." Professor Meng's temporary command post on the ground issued instructions to the exploration team below.
"clear……"
After Zhuang Rui nodded in agreement, he led the four of them towards the depths of the river. This time, they were all wearing one-piece clothes and boots. They were moving much faster than when Zhuang Rui first came in. After more than ten minutes, they arrived there.
The top of the rock wall is covered with dense "slugs".
"This is a unique phenomenon of karst landforms..."
"Yes, these objects do contain strong acid..."
After seeing those "slugs" on the top of the rock wall, two geological experts on site gave the answer. This phenomenon is extremely common in karst landforms and is caused by changes in soil and rock structure.
"You two, I want to know if people can pass through here without any defensive measures?"
Professor Meng asked two geological experts that what he was concerned about was related to archeology. This landform phenomenon must have existed for more than thousands of years, and it should have already existed when the tomb was built.
This raises a question. If those people thousands of years ago could not pass through here, then the tomb cannot be deep in the underground river. Going further, it is debatable whether there is a tomb inside.
In fact, after observing the underground conditions from the cameras, many experts present began to have reservations about whether there were tombs of Mongolian emperors deep in the underground river.
Because some sections of the underground river were very narrow, it was impossible to transport the materials used to build the mausoleum. Of course, no one at the site could have imagined that this was just an escape route for the craftsmen at that time.
After observing through the camera for a while, a geological expert said: "As long as you pay attention, people can pass through. The formation of these strong acidic substances takes a long time, and it may take years or decades for one drop to form.
Otherwise, the underground would not be a river but a strong acid flow.
If the human body accidentally comes into contact with those strong acids, it only needs to be rinsed with clean water in time. As long as there is no strong acid rain, there will be no fatal danger..."
"Okay, Zhuang Rui, you pass this area and continue to move inside..." Professor Meng gave instructions after receiving a reply from the geological expert.
Protected by their protective clothing, Zhuang Rui and his party quickly passed through the strong acid area and continued to go deeper into the underground river. In some places with relatively narrow terrain, they found several traces of man-made excavations.
All this makes everyone on the ground very puzzled, saying that there is no mausoleum below, right? These traces also indicate that humans have been active here, but it is simply a fantasy to build an imperial mausoleum through this underground river.
.
After traveling about seven or eight hundred meters, a fork appeared in the underground river. Fortunately, there were obvious man-made signs at the fork, which also saved Zhuang Rui a lot of effort, otherwise he would have led everyone directly to the right place.
The river course, I wonder what some people would think.
Although the straight-line distance on the ground from the entrance of the underground river to the secret passage of the mausoleum is only a short three or four miles, in the complex and winding cave underground river, this distance is infinitely magnified.
In addition, there are many underground creatures in the underground river that are unknown whether they are poisonous or not, which slows down the progress of Zhuang Rui and others. In some places, they need to conduct surveys while moving forward.
The group of people walked for nearly ten hours, resting three or four times in between. It was only when it was already dark on the ground that they arrived at the exit of the secret passage of the tomb.
The exit of the secret passage is in an open area with fast flowing water in the underground river.
Since this was an escape exit rather than an entrance, the craftsmen did not cover it up. The traces of manual excavation were very obvious. It didn't take much effort for Zhuang Rui and others to discover the hole covered with ringworm and moss.
"Burning hole?"
The experts on the ground, whose eyes were already red, couldn't help but make this sound after seeing the entrance of the cave. They are all experts in archeology and have rich experience in field excavations. They are no strangers to such cave entrances.
.
The emergence of this hole has also dispelled the doubts in the minds of some experts.
It is well known in the archaeological community that if there is a cave to rob, there must be a large tomb. Especially in such a mysterious and unpredictable place underground, it will not be easy to rob the tomb on the other side of the cave.
However, the emergence of robber holes also indicates that the tomb has most likely been damaged, which makes many experts feel surprised.
"Zhuang Rui, your work for today has been completed. Now you can return the same way..."
After some discussion, everyone in the temporary command center on the ground decided to withdraw the underground survey team, because if they rashly enter the tomb through the robbery hole, they will face many unknown dangers, and the next step of the survey will require a lot of careful work before proceeding.
Moreover, Zhuang Rui and others did not carry some necessary equipment to protect the burial objects, which would also cause damage to some precious cultural relics in the tomb.
…
By the time Zhuang Rui and his team returned to the ground, it was already past twelve o'clock in the morning, but a group of scientific expedition experts in the big tent were not sleepy at all and were having a lively discussion.
After hurriedly replenishing some water and food, the exhausted Zhuang Rui and others were also called into the tent. As the first batch of expedition team members under the supervision of relevant departments, they will all be part of this excavation.
"Now it is basically certain that there is indeed a large tomb underground, and it has been initially identified as the tomb of a Mongolian emperor. However, the identity of the owner of the tomb needs further investigation. I suggest that a relevant headquarters can be established for this excavation to coordinate follow-up work
…”
After some discussion and debate, Professor Meng announced the establishment of the Mongolian Emperor Tomb Excavation Headquarters. Since today’s date is July 28, this scientific expedition was also named the “7.28 Inner Mongolia Major Scientific Expedition Project”
”.
Everyone present, including Battelle and others who initially discovered the underground river at the bottom of the lake with Zhuang Rui, were also included in the scientific expedition team. There was also consideration for Battelle to coordinate the work with the locals.
In addition, Ouyang Zhenwu became the commander-in-chief of this excavation, but he was busy with work and had to return to Beijing early tomorrow morning, so Professor Meng became the on-site commander-in-chief of this operation.
As for the deputy commander-in-chief, there are six people, including a leader from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and several well-known experts in the domestic archaeological field.
As the discoverer of this tomb, Zhuang Rui was nominated by Professor Meng and became the deputy commander-in-chief of this operation. This was a bit unexpected for Zhuang Rui.
However, Zhuang Rui had previously discovered Liu Xiu's tomb, which unearthed a large number of precious cultural relics and historical materials. He also had two achievements, the skull fossil of Peking Man and the shipwreck of the Song Dynasty, which made him somewhat famous in the domestic scientific research community.
In addition, he discovered this tomb, and no one else had any objections. The framework of the command center was thus established.
Such a far-reaching scientific research project must be announced to the world, so Minister Ouyang's task is to hold a relevant press conference immediately after returning to Beijing to announce the news to the world.
And this originally eccentric place located deep in the prairie will surely become a place that the world focuses on.
