Three days later, Chujiu and I got on the train to Yuncheng, Shanxi.
"Guo Guo, is our mission this time far from your home? Can we drop by your home?"
Chujiu asked excitedly as he looked out the car window, as if the scenery in his eyes had turned to the north, clearly not leaving Chongqing yet.
This is the first time in Chujiu’s life that I have left the south and gone to a northern city, which is also my hometown.
Our mission location, more specifically, is a village in Yongji County, Yuncheng City.
However, Yongji County has now been renamed Yongji City. After I took the exam in my second year of high school last year, it was classified as Yongji City by the State Council, which is under the jurisdiction of Yuncheng City.
There have been reports on TV and newspapers, but I occasionally mistakenly say it is Yongji County.
Yongji City is well-known in our Shanxi Province. In the sixth year of Yongzheng reign in the Qing Dynasty, Puzhou was promoted to the prefecture, and Yongji County was established, which belongs to Puzhou Prefecture. There are scenic spots such as Stork Tower, Wulaofeng, and Pujiu Temple.
Although Yongji City is also along the Yellow River, it is still some distance away from our Lijia Village. It is separated by a city, more than 300 kilometers.
I could only tell Chujiu tactfully that he might not be able to go to my home this time and would have to wait until school is out for summer vacation.
"Guo Guo, tell me about Yongji City."
On the ninth day of the lunar month, I was completely lying on the berth without any sleep. Regardless of the fact that the lights in the carriage were turned off, I reluctantly asked me to talk about the customs and customs of my hometown.
This is all to make things difficult for me. Before I came to Chongqing to study, I had never even been out of our county, let alone Yongji City.
In order to maintain my elder brother's status in front of Chujiu, I racked my brains and thought about what the adults had said about Yongji City's consultation.
"The most famous thing in Yongji City is of course the Yellow River Iron Ox."
I remembered the record about the Yellow River Iron Bull in a newspaper that my father had thrown to me.
The Yellow River Iron Ox is one of the few cultural relics that has been excavated but has been displayed in the open air.
The Big Iron Ox of the Yellow River, also known as the "Kaiyuan Iron Ox" and "Tang Dynasty Iron Ox", was built during the Tang Dynasty.
During the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, with the development of Puzhou's economy, Puzhou City was promoted to one of the six great cities in the country, with a status comparable to today's "Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen".
Therefore, the transportation status of Pujin Ferry becomes even more important.
At that time, the Pujin Ferry used a bamboo cable boat bridge. Obviously, such a bridge was no longer worthy of Puzhou's status as a "majestic city".
The Minister of War at that time reported to Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Longji, stating that the Pujin Bridge was in dilapidated condition and was difficult to carry carriages and horses.
Hedong was the place where Li Tang made his fortune, and rulers of all dynasties of the Tang Dynasty attached great importance to it.
Therefore, Li Longji issued an edict to rebuild the Pujin Bridge, and at the same time required the new bridge to be able to bear the increasingly heavy traffic burden.
The Minister of Civil and Military Affairs brainstormed and finally came up with a plan to build the bridge:
First, change the bamboo ropes of the boat into iron ropes; second, strengthen the stone embankment; third, use cast iron oxen as rope piles.
Therefore, Kaiyuan Tieniu was originally created as a "rope stake".
At that time, the Tang Dynasty was in its prime. The imperial court issued an order, and the people on both sides of the Yellow River began to smelt steel, spending manpower and material resources to build a large iron bull.
After the big iron ox was successfully built, it was placed on both sides of the Yellow River. People tied iron ropes to its bodies and connected them to boats, thus building the first fixed iron cable bridge on the Yellow River.
Since then, the Yellow River's natural moat has turned into a thoroughfare.
At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, because the Pujin Bridge was destroyed and the Pujin Ferry was left unused for a long time, the Big Iron Ox became the "River Controlling Iron Ox".
During the Ming Dynasty, Pujin Pass became an important pass in and out of the Central Plains, so the emperor of the Ming Dynasty used the big iron ox to build bridges four times, which lasted for a hundred years.
During the Qing Dynasty, the Yellow River gradually changed its course to the west, Pujin Ferry was completely abandoned, and the Big Iron Ox was buried in the sand.
In the 1960s and 1970s, due to flood storage in the Sanmenxia Reservoir area, river bed siltation, and the westward movement of the river water, the Big Tieniu was buried deeper and was already located in the river beach more than 2 meters below the water surface of the Yellow River.
In 1988, with the strong support of the county party committee and the county government, the Yongji County Museum finally unearthed the Yellow River Iron Ox after more than a year of investigation and exploration the following year.
These four iron bulls are also the heaviest, oldest, and highest-level precious cultural relics discovered in my country so far. They are extremely rare at home and abroad.
"Guo Guo, how much does the Big Iron Bull weigh? Can it be called the heaviest in history?"
"The lightest Iron Ox is 45 tons, and the heaviest Iron Ox is 72 tons!"
I thought of what was in the newspaper and answered Chujiu easily. From the corner of my eye, I vaguely saw a trace of a bad smile in Chujiu's eyes.
I ignored Chujiu and continued to show him what I had read in the newspaper. Regarding the protection of the Big Iron Ox after it was unearthed.
In the newspaper, an archaeological research expert from the Cultural Relics Bureau said that the protection of iron cultural relics is still a worldwide problem.
Moreover, during the actual construction process, the archaeological team also encountered many difficulties.
For example, "the problem of lifting tools", "the problem of making a chassis for the iron bull", "the problem of rust prevention and removal", "the problem of making the big iron bull land safely without being damaged."
After much discussion, the Shanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau finally chose the “on-site improvement” protection plan.
The archaeological team raised the iron bull, iron man, iron pillar, etc. from their original places by 12.2 meters, then restored them to their original appearance on the ground and displayed them in the open air.
As for other relics, such as some stone embankments and steps built in the Tang Dynasty or Ming Dynasty, they will be restored on the ground, and the original site will be backfilled and buried.
The big iron bull is now displayed in the open air, which is what experts think is the best way.
"Guo Guo, are you sure that the Big Iron Bull was proposed by the Minister of War and Li Longji?"
After spending a long time talking, I finally finished telling all the information I knew about Big Iron Bull, but Chujiu asked me this question.
I thought about it and thought about what the newspaper actually said. It would be impossible for me to forget it in less than a year. I nodded to confirm.
"Guo Guo, thank you for learning the skills of a fortune teller, but you didn't know that the Yellow River Iron Bull was the suggestion of Qiu Yanhan, Li Longji's royal feng shui master. It is secondary to being a rope stake, and it can only suppress the power of the Tang Dynasty.
It’s the fundamental purpose.”
Chujiu told me with a smirk on his face that he had seen the report I mentioned in the library two days ago, and he just wanted to hear me, a local, tell it again, so that he would find it more credible.
Regarding the Big Iron Bull, it was Qiu Yanhan who brought it up. Chujiu told me that he had seen it in his uncle's Taoist books, but he had forgotten the specific location of the Big Iron Bull.
"Guo Guo, which emperors in the Tang Dynasty believed in Feng Shui the most?"
On the ninth day of the lunar month, when he saw that I was exhausted, he even more proudly tested me.
I suddenly have the urge to kill myself with a piece of tofu. My brain seems to be a bit exhausted recently, so I think I need to buy some walnuts to supplement it.
I actually overlooked the most important point. Among the emperors of the Tang Dynasty, Li Longji was obsessed with Feng Shui.
Qiu Yanhan, the royal feng shui master, must be consulted on all matters in life. How could such a big thing as casting a giant iron ox not be guided by Qiu Yanhan?
"In addition to the Big Iron Ox of the Yellow River, Yongji City also has delicious beef dumplings. I know where the most famous store is."
I have many ways to deal with Chujiu. Sure enough, he heard that I knew where the best dumpling shop was. He said obediently that he suddenly felt sleepy and wanted to sleep.