You have to be kind and have to vote for reading books. It’s been the last two days, and you can’t give me a monthly vote, so you’d better vote!

Han Peacock searched through several jewelry boxes and found a lot of good things. He found a red agate anklet, three gold and silver anklets each, one black diamond anklet, and one bronze anklet with an ancient style.

Among these chains, although the anklets of gold, silver and gems look luxurious, they are not as solemn and beautiful as the bronze necklace. Although they look inconspicuous, you will definitely see it at a glance among the many gold and silver jewelry.

This ankle is relatively large. At first, Han Peacock thought it was a necklace, but he saw that the necklace fell was a bronze butterfly. However, this bronze butterfly was not straight, but curved. Although such a butterfly was more beautiful, it was not comfortable to wear on his chest, and it could be said that it was uncomfortable.

Later, Han Peacock thought, isn’t the curve of this bronze butterfly the curve of the ankle?

He tried it and sure enough, the bronze butterfly can be buckled on the ankle. Although the ankle of Han Peacock is relatively thick and cannot be buckled perfectly, I think there should be no problem when I buckle it on a woman's ankle.

Next to this bronze butterfly anklet, Han Peacock also found a bronze cicada all the time. He picked it up and found that it turned out to be a ring. Han Peacock put the bronze cicada ring on his middle finger, as if a cicada was lying on his finger.

After clenching his fists and stretching his fingers, Han Peacock didn't feel any discomfort. It seemed that this was a good thing too.

Lying on the bed, Han Peacock caressed the bronze cicada ring with thick patina. He could not sleep any longer when he imagined the charm of the catkins with those anklets.

It turns out that when I didn’t have a woman, I didn’t think about it, so I didn’t expect it. Now I have it, but I can’t hold it, so I feel uncomfortable.

Unable to sleep, Han Peacock began to harass Liu Xu, sent several text messages to Liu Xu, and finally got a reply: I have an emergency room here. If you have time, please contact me.

Han Peacock lamented. There was no way, I couldn't sleep and went to the Internet cafe. Fortunately, he changed his phone, which could chat online and play games. Of course, there was no need to think about large-scale games.

As soon as I opened my phone, I heard a text message, which was a survey information sent by He Xiangshan.

Han Peacock opened his email and looked at it. It was a record of legends around Mocheng. It was not accurate, it was just a legend. After all, it only took half a day. No matter how powerful He Xiangshan and the others were, they could not do much.

After reading He Xiangshan's investigation report, Han Peacock discovered that there were still many emails in his mailbox that had not been processed.

Han Peacock read some of them interested in them. They were all investigation reports on treasures that disappeared in all dynasties. They were all general information and were of no use. Of course, if you really encounter clues about these treasures, these investigation reports would be useful.

There are more than twenty such reports. Han Peacock read a few of them with interest, and the last one was the most important one sent by Yue Mu Ling.

This is a survey report on the mystery of the disappearance of gold in ancient China. It has a lot of questions, but it does mean something.

Han Peacock didn't know if he didn't look at it. He was really shocked when he saw it. He never thought that there was so much gold in China. You know, the domestic gold reserves are now more than 1,000 tons. These sound like a lot, but is it a lot for a country?

You should know that the current social productivity is just one in the sky and one in the earth in ancient times. In this way, China's gold reserves still rank sixth in the world, and the United States, the number one, has only more than 8,000 tons of gold.

In ancient China, an important purpose of gold was that the emperor used it to reward civil servants and military generals. Therefore, the situation of the emperor rewarding gold was an angle for examining the changes in the total amount of gold at that time.

The Book of Han records that the emperor rewarded gold more than 100 times in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC to 23 AD). The Book of Later Han records that the emperor rewarded gold nine times in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 BC to 189 AD), and the total amount of gold rewarded two times was about 920,000 jin.

How many tons is 920,000 jin? One jin in Qin and Han dynasties is about half a jin now, that is, about 250 grams to 300 grams. Just calculate it by half a jin. 920,000 jin is considered to be 460,000 jin, 230 jin, and 230 jin.

Judging from the changes in the situation of the emperors of the Han Dynasty rewarding gold, the number of times the emperors of the Eastern Han Dynasty rewarded gold was less than 10% of the times the emperors of the Western Han Dynasty rewarded gold, and the number of times the rewards was reduced by 90%. The total amount of gold rewarded by the Eastern Han Dynasty emperor was more than 20,000 jin was only equivalent to 2% of the total amount of gold rewarded by the Western Han Dynasty emperors of the Western Han Dynasty rewarded about 900,000 jin, and the amount of rewards was reduced by 98%.

From this point of view, the time when a large amount of gold in ancient China disappeared seemed to be in the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty.

However, when analyzing the situation in the early and late periods of the Western Han Dynasty, there are also huge differences between before and after.

After Emperor Zhao of Han, the emperor rewarded more than 20,000 kilograms of gold, which was only 3% of the total amount of gold rewarded by Emperor Wu of Han (140 BC to 87 BC), and the reward amount was reduced by 97%.

Of course, the amount of gold given to Emperor Wu of Han was huge, which was an exception among the emperors of the Han Dynasty.

If the situation of Emperor Wu of Han is not considered, only the amount of gold rewarded by other emperors of the Western Han Dynasty was compared. The total amount of gold rewarded by the six emperors after Emperor Zhao of Han in 1991 was equivalent to 39% of the total amount of gold rewarded by the five emperors before Emperor Jing of Han (including Empress Lü) in 1966 years.

The total amount of gold rewarded by the emperor in the late Western Han Dynasty also decreased significantly compared with the early Western Han Dynasty.

Therefore, it can be inferred that the disappearance of gold in ancient China began during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, rather than during the Western Han Dynasty and Eastern Han Dynasty.

Liu Bang gave Chen Ping 40,000 kilograms of gold to buy Xiang Yu's subordinates;

When King Xiao of Liang died, his mansion hid 400,000 kilograms of gold;

Wei Qing won a reward of 200,000 kilograms of gold for his contribution to the battle;

Wang Mang hired the queen for a betrothal gift of 30,000 kilograms of gold;

Ten thousand kilograms of gold in Wangmang's treasury are one scarce, with a total of sixty scarce, etc.

During the Han Dynasty, one pound was about 200 grams, and ten thousand pounds of gold was about 2 and a half tons. Then the Wangmang Mansion had a deposit of gold as many as 150 tons, and the one prince's palace also had a deposit of 100 tons.

Why did Chinese gold begin to disappear in large quantities after Emperor Wu of Han?

Why did hundreds or thousands of tons of gold in the Han Dynasty suddenly disappear?

Where did the gold of the Han Dynasty go?

Some people say that it was mainly used to sculpt Buddha statues and use them. This reason seems to be quite reasonable. It cannot be said that it makes no sense. After Buddhism was introduced to my country during the period of Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty (58-75 AD), it used to paint the Buddha and write the golden scriptures to consume a lot of gold. This consumption is different from the creation of objects and cannot be recycled, so it reduces gold by one day and gradually lacks it.

The development of Buddhist temples and temples in China only formed a climate in the early Wei and Jin Dynasties, and reached prosperity in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Gold was used in large quantities in Buddha statues and magical instruments. It should have been after the development of Buddhist temples and temples.

The disappearance of gold in China began before Buddhism was introduced in the middle of the Western Han Dynasty, so gold cannot be used as the only reason for its use in Buddhism.

As for gold being used to make utensils, it should not be the main reason for the huge decrease in the total amount of gold. Because gold was a weighing currency in ancient China. When there was too much gold and the price was low, people cast gold as instruments. When gold was scarce and the price was expensive, people destroyed the weapon as gold. There should not be a reason why gold was expensive and people cast a large amount of gold as instruments.

According to historical records, Emperor Wu of Han started a trend of advocating luxury. Did this change make gold more used for luxury objects, resulting in a huge reduction in gold?

Therefore, Yue Muling's conclusion was that gold was buried underground, and there were also wealthy officials hiding a large amount of gold. Of course, this is also the most acceptable explanation for modern people.

After the huge amount of gold in the Western Han Dynasty entered the Eastern Han Dynasty, it suddenly withdrew from the circulation field and disappeared. The only answer is that part of the gold is buried or left underground as various gold objects, while the other part is buried in the form of gold coins with wealthy merchants and officials at all levels.

From the Warring States Period to the Western Han Dynasty, merchants concentrated a large amount of gold by buying low and selling low, while feudal rulers used state machinery to seize and occupy most of the country's gold. People stored gold one after another, and a large amount of gold was hidden by these people.

For example, when King Xiao of Liang died, "the remaining gold in the Tibetan palace was over 400,000 jin." During the late Han Dynasty, "the one who saved ten thousand jin of gold was one plaque, and there were still sixty plaques, Huangmen, hook and shield, Tibetan palace, and Zhongshangs, and there were several plaques everywhere."

There were also many people who stored gold in the cellar during the Eastern Han Dynasty, such as Dong Zhuo, who built a dock in Mei, treasured 20,000 to 30,000 jin of gold and 10,000 jin of silver in the dock."

Moreover, judging from the coins unearthed later, the amount of gold and silver treasures in Chinese history is indeed amazing.

Why do they store huge amounts of gold without using it?

First, merchants who mastered a lot of gold stored gold for later use. Second, a great peasant uprising broke out in the Western Han Dynasty. The wealthy officials who had a large amount of gold hid either died or fled, thus making the gold stored in the cellar like the huge amount of gold hidden in Nazi Germany, and there was no way to find out.

Some people also say that gold in the Western Han Dynasty was brass, but this reason was not tenable. Many people believe that the huge amount of gold in the Western Han Dynasty mentioned in history books was actually not real gold, but brass. There are many people who believe in this statement, but just a few simple examples make this statement untenable.

It is said that gold in the Western Han Dynasty was brass, and Yue Muling believed that it lacked evidence through investigation and analysis.

Because during the Han Dynasty, the difference between gold and copper was very obvious, the Han people never called gold copper, nor did they ever have the name of "brass".

Moreover, the weight units and names of gold and copper coins are also different. In the Qin and Han dynasties, gold was calculated by "jin" and "yi", while copper coins were called "zhu" or directly called "money". The distinction between gold and copper in the Western Han Dynasty was very clear, such as the one who managed gold mines was called "jinguan", and the one who managed copper mines was called "copper official".

With such a clear distinction, if brass is called gold, it is either the ancients are stupid or the moderns are stupid.

Finally, Yue Muling proposed a detailed argumentation and analysis. So far, how many ancient tombs in China have not been discovered, how many of them are imperial tombs, how many are high-ranking officials, and how many are rich.

Han Peacock looked at it and found that there were too many, even if it was not expressed in terms of numbers.

There is a reason for this situation. One is that our history is too long, and the other is that there is a tradition of burials in our country. Although there are tomb robbers, they dug up very little, unless there are more turbulent turmoils.

But for those who are buried every year, it is better to bury them secretly than to bury them much.

Although Yue Mu Ling tried his best to prove that the hidden gold recorded in ancient times was real gold, some people still insisted that the hidden gold was not real gold but brass.

The main basis for denying these records is the examination of archaeological achievements.

If a prince might have 100 tons of real gold, then there will inevitably be more large real gold objects in his tomb.

In fact, large real gold objects (such as weights of dozens or hundreds of kilograms) have not been discovered in the tombs of emperors and generals of the Han Dynasty excavated in the Central Plains.

In many Han tombs, there were gold-wired jade clothes, gold-plated Changxin Palace Lanterns, gold-plated gold Boshan Furnaces, gold-gold tiger talismans, etc. Although they all contain real gold, the main body of the artifact is copper, and the most real gold used for decoration is only a few hundred grams, which is already very precious.

Not to mention that there are 100 tons of real gold, even if there is only one ton of real gold, you can still cast large real gold objects, which are definitely much more brilliant than these.

There has been no news of large Han Dynasty real gold artifacts in museums or private collections.

In other words, there is no information from archaeology that could support a certain emperor, general, and minister of the Han Dynasty. There were records of several tons or even hundreds of tons of real gold.

This statement seems similar but not, and seems to be very well-founded, but Yue Muling only put forward a point of view. This statement ignores tomb robbers.

Let’s talk about the tomb of King Xiao of Liang of the Western Han Dynasty. This group of tombs was in the Western Han Dynasty when explosives had not yet been released. It was completely chiseled out by countless migrant workers with hammers. The engineering was so extensive and the skills were amazing. The Han Dynasty murals, gold-thread jade clothes, gilded chariots and horses, cavalry figurines and a large number of exquisite jade artifacts unearthed in the tomb are even more rare treasures.

This is a record when I discovered the tomb of King Xiao of Liang later. From here, we can clearly know that as mentioned above, there was no gold or silver found in the tomb of King Xiao of Liang, but is this correct?

Although it is difficult for us to know the truth that disappeared into the long river of history now, we don’t know it now, which does not mean that the ancients did not know it either.

Just talk about the imperial tombs of all dynasties, no one was secretly hiding and burying people, so that is not a secret.

Just like the tomb of King Xiao of Liang, there are many records in historical books.

"Records of the Grand Historian. The Family of King Xiao of Liang" Suo Yin's "Shuzheng Ji": "The tomb of King Xiao of Liang was found in Dang."

"Shui Jing Zhu. Huoshui" quotes Ying Shao: "The county has Dangshan, the mountain is in the east, and Wenshi comes out. Qin established Dang County, which is called the name of the mountain... There is the tomb of King Xiao of Liang in the mountain. The tomb of the mountain is cut into a contour, and the stone is penetrated into a hiding."

The "Yongcheng County Chronicles. Ancient Sites" compiled by Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty recorded: "The Cave of King Xiao is located on the eastern foot of Baoan Mountain, with a cross street and a pool of horses."

"Taiping Huanyu Ji" records: "The tomb of King Xiao of Liang is fifty miles in the county (north) and is four feet high. It is one mile from the circumference, and the Nanling Mountains of Dangshan."

So, as long as you have the intention, it is very simple to find a tomb of the king. Since it is that simple, have you ever stolen these tombs?

However, the tomb of King Xiao of Liang, the time when this tomb was discovered can be traced back to the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Cao Cao "leads troops to Dang, attacks the tomb of King Xiao of Liang, and destroys the coffin and collects tens of thousands of kilograms of gold treasures", resulting in "the gold is gone and the stone chamber of King Liang is empty."

It is clearly recorded here that the broken coffin collects tens of thousands of kilograms of gold treasure, which leads to "the gold is gone and the stone chamber of King Liang is empty."

What does this mean? There is only one answer. What we discover now is something that tomb robbers from all generations do not like and don’t want.

We all think that some things we don’t want are rare treasures, but what are those stolen?

Therefore, it is impossible to say that there is no gold in the Han tomb. It is obvious that Cao Cao would not want those copper chariots to put them in, which is a very obvious problem. If the gold at that time was copper, how could Cao Cao have put it there and not those copper chariots?

Yue Muling's investigation report is very detailed and well-founded. What stunned Han Peacock the most was that she collected a lot of information about the ancient tombs of the Han Dynasty.

All kinds of dragons, sons, phoenixes, and grandchildren, various high-ranking officials, and some legendary big merchants. It can be said that as long as it is possible to bury gold and silver in the tomb, they have become the targets of Yue Mu Ling.
To be continued...