Chapter 207: Golden Winged Crown

It’s not that Zhang Yang has low EQ, but Shi Nannan just threw a punch, and then Shen Yiyi continued talking along her lines, making Zhang Yang think that these two came here to see Xiao Hongshu.

He's acting crazy here!

The key point is that after listening to it, Shen Yiyi also felt that what Zhang Yang said made sense, and nodded seriously:
"I see."

As a student of history, she cannot talk nonsense without considering the facts. Otherwise, wouldn't she be just like the screenwriters of those brainless historical romance dramas that she hates the most?
The brothers and sisters thought of the same thing.

Only Shi Nannan who was standing next to him didn't match her brain waves, and she felt unwell.

What the hell is going on here? I really don't understand.

What was supposed to be a big deal ended up being just a minor incident that was laughed off.

After coming out of the back hall of Emperor Wanli's underground palace, Shi Nannan fell completely silent. She was not interested in these things in the first place and came here just to be a matchmaker.

In comparison, Shen Yiyi and Zhang Yang are much more normal.

They really came to visit.

Moreover, as descendants of Tukeng Duan, the self-flowing stones in the tomb also aroused the interest of the two.

"The stone is so small? It looks like it's about the same height as me."

"This is not small." Zhang Yang guided Shen Yiyi to look at the main entrance of the underground palace. The height was only twice that of the stone.

During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, there were no machines and everything depended on manpower. It was not easy to build such a thick and high stone door.

"Brother, I heard that the self-opening stone can only be opened with a crutch key. How do you open it?"

“That’s not the case.”

Zhang Yang shook his head and told Shen Yiyi:

"The main purpose of using the nail key is to prevent the door stone from being damaged. In fact, many other tools can be used to open the door stone."

"Because there is a two-centimeter-wide gap between the two stone doors, it is very easy to operate."

"For a palace like this, there are no anti-theft measures at all. It mainly relies on human guards. An emperor would think that his kingdom can be passed down for thousands of years, so he would never think of using mechanisms to prevent theft."

"No matter how good the mechanism is, can it be as good as a small army guarding day and night?"

"If that's the case, the imperial tombs of the previous dynasties are indeed very suitable for excavation!"

Shen Yiyi skillfully turned the topic to tomb robbing.

Of course, she restrained herself a little, and those who didn't know would have thought she was discussing archaeology.

Zhang Yang simply ignored her words.

"That's about it. When the master comes back, you can have a good discussion."

"Now, let me take you to see the cultural relics found in the underground palace."

When everyone came in, they walked through the left side hall, and came out through the main gate of the underground palace. The archaeological team entered through the main gate.

Although many people have objections to the excavation of Dingling Mausoleum, Zhang Yang feels that from the perspective of the excavation itself, it is actually not a big deal, after all, Emperor Wanli himself did not say anything.

The main reason is that the cultural relics are not well preserved.

The benefits brought by the excavation are actually very obvious. At least everyone knows what the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were buried with.

It also slightly justifies why Wanli didn't like to go to court.

Because he was physically disabled, it was speculated from the bones that he was most likely lame. Ancient emperors were very taboo about such things, so the claim that his disability caused him to be unwilling to attend court now had a factual basis.

Of course, the most important thing is the unearthed cultural relics.

It allows modern people to see what level of treasures the emperors of the Chinese feudal dynasty could use.

……

Not far from Dingling is the Dingling Museum of the Ming Tombs. Apart from the underground palace, this museum is the most interesting part.

The precious "cultural relics" are all in the "Second Exhibition Room".

After Zhang Yang asked the old lady who had just come out of the museum, he went straight to see the key points.

The exhibition hall looks a bit old, and it feels like a building from the 80s. Generally speaking, if you see such an appearance, you can basically be sure that there is nothing real inside.

After entering the door, there is a circle of simple glass display cabinets against the wall. They are simple because there are not even temperature and humidity testers in the display cabinets.

The preservation conditions in the less ostentatious antique warehouse are good. At least the equipment there ensures constant temperature, humidity and weak light.

Seeing that Shi Nannan was not interested at all, Zhang Yang only communicated with his junior sister.

"Yiyi, come and look at this."

"Those are just daily necessities made of gold. They are just a waste of money and have no technical content at all."

"If we talk about level, it has to be these crowns."

The most eye-catching crown is a pure gold crown used by Emperor Wanli himself, the [Golden Wire Winged Crown].

A tour guide is explaining:
"The gold-thread Yishan crown is 24 centimeters in height, 22 centimeters in height at the back, and weighs 826 grams. It is the only gold crown of an emperor unearthed in my country."

"The entire golden crown is hand-woven from top to bottom using 518 fine gold wires with a diameter of 0.2 mm."

"And after it's woven, the gaps between the gold threads are even, the density is consistent, and there are no knots."

"But the most rare thing is actually the two coiled dragons on the edge of the hat. It is said that 8400 dragon scales were used, and they were welded on bit by bit."

"You can take a closer look. The one in the display case is a modern replica. It took three full years and the joint efforts of many experts to complete it."

"This is the case when gold thread is very easy to make in modern times. If it were hundreds of years ago, you can imagine how difficult it would be..."

"Senior Brother, can you do this?" Shen Yiyi asked in a low voice beside him.

"It's no big deal. This is called filigree inlay, a traditional Chinese craft." Zhang Yang responded in a low voice.

"So it took them three years. Is that amazing or slow?"

"If I only do this one thing and it takes me three years, then I can only say that I also want to retire to the cultural relic reproduction department of a museum."

Zhang Yang smiled reservedly. When he was making a travel guide yesterday, he discovered several intangible cultural heritage skills, including [filigree inlay], [kingfisher feather inlay], [mother-of-pearl], [bamboo weaving], etc.

They are not like calligraphy and painting or bronze ware, which have corresponding types of antiques.

It is often used locally in the production of various ornaments and furniture.

Using only one is less valuable.

Although cultural relics such as the Gold Wire Winged Crown, which are made simply of filigree inlay, are also precious, they are still a little far from being a "national treasure."

It is so famous simply because Wanli wore it and no similar ones have been unearthed.

In contrast, the queen's Nine Dragons and Nine Phoenix Crown unearthed from the same tomb is directly a national first-class cultural relic and is included in the first list of cultural relics prohibited from being exhibited abroad.

This is because it uses a variety of techniques such as bamboo weaving, filigree inlay, kingfisher feather inlay, and threading, which makes it noble and extremely complex.

It's not really that long to say it takes three years to copy something like that.

But the speaker may not have meant it, but the listener may have taken it seriously. What Zhang Yang said was heard by a fat brother behind him.

The other party came over and patted Zhang Yang on the shoulder, and said in a very exaggerated tone:

"Wow! You are so arrogant, bro!"

"Can you copy this kind of golden crown?"

"No, I can not."

Zhang Yang shook his head, took two steps back, and distanced himself from the other party.

But Zhang Yang's reaction seemed to give Fatty confidence. He sneered and shouted:
"Everyone, come and have a look. This gentleman said that he can make a replica of this gold crown in three months. I suspect that there is something wrong with the museum's level of replicating cultural relics."

"Oh my god, you're spreading rumors about me?"

"Isn't that right?" The fat man smiled smugly, "I hate people like you who pretend to be smart the most. Don't you like pretending? Let me help you."

"That's not necessary."

Zhang Yang shook his head and said loudly:
"I'm sorry to bother you all. I didn't put my pants on properly and this thing is showing."

(End of this chapter)