After Zhang Yuan asked, the two fell into a strange silence. Professor Zou seemed to have something to say, but was struggling.
"actually."
Professor Zou took the initiative to break the silence.
"Those words were carved by humans..."
"Man-made? What you mean is that it was not the original decoration on the ship's hull, but was deliberately carved on it by someone later."
"Yes, I suspect it is related to Emperor Jianwen."
Zhang Yuan was already half convinced at this moment. The ancient characters carved by humans, Emperor Jianwen, ancient ships, Zheng He, and several irrelevant clues came together, which made Zhang Yuan very distressed.
"Where's the evidence?"
"it's here."
Professor Zou opened his mattress full of books and pushed Simmons away. There was a hidden compartment underneath.
He clicked on a few partitions, and the hidden compartments appeared on their own. Inside was a long and narrow antique box.
"This is?"
Zhang Yuan became more and more curious. The contents of the box were calling him faintly. Even before he opened it, there was a strong and pungent smell of blood that ordinary people couldn't smell.
"Just wait and see."
Professor Zou gently took the box out of the secret compartment and opened the box cautiously.
A silver-white long knife suddenly appeared. It looked like it was old, but the tip of the knife was still extremely sharp, constantly cutting the surrounding air.
"This is!"
"This is the evidence - Jin Yiwei's Wind and Frost Knife!"
Jinyiwei?
Jinyiwei was a famous secret spy organization and prison agency in the Ming Dynasty.
It was built by Zhu Yuanzhang himself, and his original intention of establishing the Jinyiwei was just to record the ceremony.
But later, due to his wanton slaughter of heroes, he felt that the traditional judicial institutions, the Criminal Department, Dali Temple, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate were not comfortable to use, so he upgraded the protective function of the Jin Yiwei and made them the emperor's private police.
This knife was stained with the blood of an unknown number of people, and the smell of blood vaguely solidified, affecting Zhang Yuan's brain.
But how could Jin Yiwei's sword remain intact after so many years?
More and more questions wrapped around Zhang Yuan's thoughts, making him feel dazed for a while.
Zhang Yuan subconsciously reached out to touch the knife. As soon as he touched the handle, his head immediately became dizzy and swollen.
When he opened his eyes again, the scene in front of him had changed.
On the roof of an ancient building, there is a silver crescent moon in the night.
An ancient knight whose face could not be seen clearly held a long sword in his hand, and the moonlight poured on his body, which was very pleasant.
But that comfort was condensed with endless murderous intent, and the red bloody air rose, dyeing the moon red.
The knight's sword flew up and down, stirring up a storm. Zhang Yuan stood there blankly, unable to move, watching the scenes in front of him.
Suddenly, the man seemed to have discovered Zhang Yuan's prying eyes, and he quickly slashed at him with his sword.
The knife, with its monstrous blood, was about to devour Zhang Yuan.
"Zhang Yuan!"
Professor Zou saw him touching the handle of the knife and was in a daze for a long time. He felt a little strange and quickly patted him.
"What’s wrong with you?"
Professor Zou looked concerned and touched his forehead.
"Are you too tired recently and have a cold?"
"fine……"
Zhang Yuan comforted Professor Zou and told him that he was just obsessed with thinking about things.
"Is it an hallucination? But the hallucination is so realistic! Could it be the memory of this ancient sword?"
In that trance, he seemed to have once again returned to the era of knights who enjoyed revenge and revenge. After suddenly waking up, he still felt a little lost.
Moreover, the monstrous blood lust is definitely not something ordinary people can experience. It seems that the owner of this knife is also extraordinary, and the person who can be killed or escorted by this knife is definitely an ordinary person.
He straightened his collar and his mood returned to normal. He looked at the professor and motioned for him to continue.
"Go on, Professor."
"Well, this is an item that was salvaged a few days ago. It's important to me. I only dared to hide it alone and study it secretly. But when I found out that it was the saber of Jin Yiwei, I knew that the discovery now
It has broken my previous views.”
"Previous point?"
Professor Zou's rhetoric made Zhang Yuanyun confused, and he didn't understand what he meant. He could only look at Professor Zou with a confused look.
"Do you still remember what I told you before that Zheng He went to the West to find Emperor Jianwen?"
"Yes, isn't it?"
"Yes, I now think that was a wrong idea! The main purpose of this ship must be to escort Emperor Jianwen!"
Zhang Yuan looked surprised. This was completely different from what was recorded in historical records, and it was also contrary to what he had guessed before.
Ancient books record that Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty seized power and rebelled, causing chaos in Emperor Jianwen's palace.
When Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty led an army to attack Nanjing, the palace was turned into a sea of fire, and Emperor Jianwen was nowhere to be found.
Different purposes represent different intentions of Ming Chengzu.
If you are looking for Emperor Jianwen, then there is a high probability that he will be hunted down to death to avoid future trouble; there is a small probability that he will be imprisoned.
But as for the escort, maybe Ming Chengzu was soft-hearted and wanted to let go of his cowardly nephew? Or maybe someone in the palace secretly protected Emperor Jianwen?
However, both Zheng He and Jin Yiwei were close associates of Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, so the possibility of the latter is not high.
With so many thoughts on his mind, Zhang Yuan thought for a long time before speaking.
"Then this is a big discovery! But this knife alone is not a key piece of evidence!"
"That's natural, look at this again!"
Professor Zou chuckled and began to move his bed again. In a corner, he picked up an inconspicuous small fragment.
"This is it!"
It was a fragment from a porcelain bottle. It seemed ordinary, but it contained a mystery.
"Look inside it."
There are remnants of writing, and there are burnt marks inside.
"I see."
As smart as Zhang Yuan, he naturally thought of the whole story.
"The interior of this porcelain vase is an exclusive print that can only be used by the royal family. It may have been given to a member of the royal family by Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, or it may be an item belonging to a member of the royal family. This is one of them."
"The remaining scorch marks mean that it may be an item left over from the fire in Emperor Jianwen's palace. This is the second reason.
So the only person who can carry palace items or is a descendant of the royal family is Emperor Jianwen, right?
Do you think my reasoning is correct?"
Zhang Yuan looked at Professor Zou. He was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly.
"Yes, but these speculations are just general concepts and are still a bit weak. More evidence is needed!"
"for example?"
"This porcelain bottle is evidence that it belongs to Emperor Jianwen, and the fire marks are evidence of the fire!"
Although the two of them talked very enthusiastically, the atmosphere became depressed again.
How difficult is it to prove what happened a hundred years ago?
"Why."
They all sighed in unison, explaining the difficulties of archaeologists.