For such a large imperial mausoleum, no one knows where the entrance to the underground palace is. After all, it was Han Kongque's first time to excavate an imperial mausoleum, and he had no idea. Baocheng Baoding should be the center of the underground palace. There was nothing wrong with the team's exploration here.
They have all used "digging trenches" before. This is a method used in field archaeology. When the situation is unknown and cannot be judged, the trenching method is used to tentatively find the cultural relics. This way, it is less likely to damage the cultural relics.
In field archaeological excavations, the ditching method can only be used for ancient towns, ancient villages, and large underground ancient cultural layers.
In the past archaeological excavations, the trenching method was rarely used to excavate tombs, because most of the tombs were "points" and there was no need to dig trenches.
Why is the trench method used here? This is because it is the first time for Han Kongque to excavate the imperial tomb, and he has to be careful. Before, it was because trenches have been excavated here. This is not because those tomb robbers are unprofessional.
, but because the underground terrain here is complex.
And here, not only because of caution, but also because Han Peacock discovered that the underground tomb is so huge.
Since the tomb was sealed very well, Han Peacock couldn't tell where the gate of the underground palace was for a while, so he used the ditching method to be cautious.
According to the signs made by the work team with ropes, the migrant workers shoveled out the loess with spades, and then carefully put the turned up soil into baskets and transported them to distant places.
Archaeological excavation is not like building embankments or farming. Every shovelful of soil has to be examined. You might find something in the soil.
Han Peacock knew that if there was a treasure city in Huangling like this in the Ming Dynasty, then there would definitely not only be a treasure city on the site, but also Ming Tower, Leng'en Hall, Leng'en Gate, left and right verandas, slaughtering pavilion, divine chef, and divine chef.
After looking around the library and stele pavilion, Han Peacock only found Baocheng and Minglou here.
After turning around in a circle, Han Kongque saw that at this time, under the command of Professor Wang, the staff were searching and detecting land after land like minesweepers.
However, after half an hour of investigation, they still found nothing. They found no trace of the entrance to the underground palace.
"This treasure city is relatively well preserved and will be easier to restore in the future, so our work is very troublesome." Professor Wang said, perhaps sensing Han Peacock's gaze.
Han Peacock nodded. Although the underground palace here is a treasure city, not a mausoleum, it cannot be destroyed casually, so digging trenches cannot be done too casually.
"Look, this treasure city seems to have been destroyed." At this moment, Professor Wang said.
"Yeah." Han Peacock had discovered this situation a long time ago: "It's not a simple destruction, it seems to have been burned by a fire, and it wasn't burned once."
After rummaging through the soil from digging trenches, Han Peacock directly stated his inference.
"This situation should be considered normal. According to historical records, this Yin'an Hall has been destroyed several times, so it is not surprising that there are traces of destruction under the Yin'an Hall." Professor Wang said.
"Professor Wang, this way." At this moment, a staff member shouted loudly.
Han Peacock looked over and smiled. Of course he knew there was a hole over there.
Over there is a wall of Baocheng. Just under this wall, a black hole was discovered, and this black hole is the road leading to the underground Xuan Palace.
And Han Kongque reminded them that he only moved a few bricks before those people discovered it.
Of course, the whole process was full of surprises. After the work team arrived here, they also started surveying in front of Baocheng. After several days of hard work, the team members all had numb necks, sore waists and legs, and were exhausted. However, they were still rewarded with
Nothing was found.
By now, their excitement had almost been exhausted. So Han Peacock wanted to give them a little excitement.
So just now, when a team member wandered to a corner of Baocheng, the team member suddenly discovered that several city bricks had collapsed above the city wall more than three meters above the ground, revealing a round hole about half a meter in diameter!
Since there was no ladder, the team members took a ladder to the cave entrance.
After observation, the hole looks like the upper end of a door ticket, and traces of brickwork can be discerned in the bright areas.
"This is the entrance to the underground palace!" the team members cheered, putting aside their long-standing confusion.
Two hours later, the stone strips built inside the Baocheng were exposed. In front of a stone strip, a migrant worker suddenly shouted in surprise: "There are words on the stone strips!"
Everyone followed the sound and surrounded the stone bar. They saw rough carvings on the stone bar: "Tunnel Gate".
"It's this thing again. Do ancient tombs in the Ming Dynasty like to mark them like this?" Professor Wang looked at the stone strips in surprise.
"This is the entrance to the underground Xuan Palace tunnel," Han Peacock confirmed with a smile.
As expected, a few hours later, when they dug a trench to a depth of 4.2 meters from the ground, they discovered brick walls neatly laid with city bricks on both sides. The distance between the two walls was 8 meters, like a
The arc-shaped alley stretches from south to north.
"Such specifications are definitely the architectural specifications of the imperial tombs of the Ming Dynasty, and they are standard specifications." Professor Wang quickly came to a conclusion.
"This passage made of brick walls is the same as the construction method of the Ming Dynasty imperial tombs recorded in historical books. This should be the first tunnel leading to the imperial tombs - the brick tunnel." Han Kongque also said.
"If it's correct, the emperor's coffin was buried here."
"So the three words "tunnel door" are facing the center of this tunnel."
The discovery of the small stone tablet increased the excavators' work enthusiasm and accelerated the progress of trench exploration.
In order to enable the unearthed underground palace cultural relics to be sorted out, repaired, and protected in a season that is neither too hot nor too cold and the climate is relatively humid, the excavation committee decided to increase mechanized operations and brought in a winch from outside.
I bought a few small mine cars and installed small rails, so that the excavation progress would be much faster.
Just as the excavators were vigorously digging in the direction pointed by the small stone tablet, another problem faced them: the brick tunnel they were exploring from the tunnel door was interrupted.
It stands to reason that you should be able to find the entrance by following the brick tunnel, but why is the tunnel interrupted here?
To solve this mystery, we must look inside.
So the working team decided to open another trench according to the direction pointed by the small stone tablet.
The hard work paid off. Soon after excavation of the third exploration trench to the west, two stone walls running east-west were discovered. The two walls were 8 meters apart from the north to the south. They were built with spotted stone strips and ran from the 1st floor to the 17th floor.
Sloping down to the west, with a total length of 40 meters, this is a "stone tunnel" of a higher grade than a brick tunnel.
Soon, under the carved stone of "Tunnel Gate", a gate made of city bricks was revealed.
The excavators did not dismantle this door. Instead, under the guidance of Han Kongque, they opened another straight passage. From here, they dug a distance of ten feet inward, which was the second and final tunnel leading to the underground Xuan Palace.
A tunnel - "Stone Tunnel".
The exact distance from here to the front of the Diamond Wall in front of Xuan Palace is not far away. At this time, the entire estimating team is very tired. If they follow the steps, nothing will be discovered today.
The next day, the migrant workers took the initiative to make a wooden cover to cover the small stone monument they had hoped for at this critical moment, and carefully protected it in place.
This stone tablet clearly states the distance between the stone tablet and the Vajra Wall. The Vajra Wall is the protective wall of the underground palace. Behind the wall is the underground Xuan Palace. It can be said that if you find the Vajra Wall, you have found the underground palace.
If the record on the small stone tablet is accurate, it means that if we dig 16 feet further and reach a depth of 3 feet and 5 feet, it will be the Diamond Wall.
Based on the excavation conditions in the previous section, it was decided to deepen the trench.
Another hour passed, and a migrant worker dug down with a pickaxe, and the sound of a blunt instrument was heard.
He gently dug away the soil with a pickaxe, and a stone was exposed.
This stone is about one foot long and half a foot wide. It is engraved with the following words: From this stone to the front of the Vajra Wall, it is sixteen feet deep and three feet five feet deep.
This small stone tablet should be the key to the Xuan Palace under the mausoleum. With it, it is equivalent to finding the coordinates of the underground palace.
Finding the stone tunnel means that the underground palace is not far away.
Sure enough, at the end of the stone tunnel, a large wall made of exposed bricks appeared across the north and south.
The wall is 8.8 meters high and 1.6 meters thick. The thick wall base is paved with 4 layers of stone strips.
The top of the stone foundation is built with 56 layers of city bricks and mortar. There is a yellow glazed tile eaves on the top. This is the small stone tablet. The "Vajra Wall" recorded on the small stone tablet really looks like a burly and powerful Vajra Hercules guarding the underground Xuan Palace.
door.
Through careful observation by the team members, they found that in the center of the diamond wall is a Gu-shaped brick door ticket, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. Due to the lateral pressure of many years of filling in the mausoleum road, it is recessed inward by more than two centimeters.
The bricks on the Gu-shaped gate were laid dry without mortar, which made it easier for the excavators to demolish the wall.
At this point, the staff breathed a big sigh of relief, because it was not far to enter the underground palace.
It can be concluded that after entering the Keixingmen Pass, there is the underground Xuan Palace where the emperor and empress are buried.
The discovery of the Diamond Wall and the introduction of the briefing immediately caused a sensation in the cultural circles. A large number of historians, archaeologists, scholars and political figures rushed to Longting to see the majesty of the Diamond Wall.
The sensitive press community reacted immediately, with journalists holding interview notebooks and cameras swarming around.
"Isn't it too early to start publicity now?" Professor Wang was a little uneasy. After all, he didn't know whose tomb belonged to him, and he wasn't sure. There was an imperial mausoleum below.
"It's not too late. Such an ancient tomb needs a large number of scholars to come and verify it. Otherwise, if we only rely on us, when will we be able to prove whose tomb this is?" Han Kongque said with a smile.
Han Kongque was not worried at all about the empty tomb underneath, so he did not stop Secretary Zhang from reporting their findings to the outside world.
The time to solve the mystery of the underground Xuan Palace is just around the corner. The excavators are feeling excited and nervous at the same time. What is exciting is that their hard work these days has finally yielded results.
At this time, they were also very nervous. What made them nervous was that the underground palace was deep and mysterious, and the various records and legends were really terrifying. (To be continued...)