Guanzhong Tomb Robbery Notes

In the past, the elderly in the family would prepare funeral clothes and supplies for themselves in advance.

Especially coffins.

Often they are prepared many years in advance.

"Oh, Shaanxi is evil. Speak of the devil and he will appear."

"Old Li, how many coffins did you make today?"

The coffin maker, Old Li, as everyone called him, came trotting over with a grin on his face.

"Let's make the coffins today, and tomorrow we'll go to the village downstairs and order a few more to make together."

Old Li has a dark complexion, rough skin, and thick joints on his hands.

His accent is a bit mixed, not a pure Guanzhong accent, but I can't tell which specific accent it is.

Because at that time I had never been out of Shaanxi and had little exposure to foreign accents.

"You Henan kid are quite clever." An old man joked.

The old man's joking words "Henan eggs" made me realize that Lao Li was from Henan.

In 42, Henan suffered a famine, and many Henan people fled the famine with their families, many of whom fled to Shaanxi.

Because they carried loads on their backs when fleeing famine, they were called "Henan Loaders".

Later, as the word was passed down, "dan" was written as "dan".

"Hey, what's the point of being so smart? If you were really smart, you wouldn't do the hard work."

"Brothers and sisters, if anyone has relatives who need funeral supplies, please introduce them to me."

As Old Li spoke, he took out some Yangqun cigarettes and distributed them to the old men who were chatting.

The old men took the cigarettes and couldn't stop smiling.

"To put it in your Henan dialect, it's right!" The oldest old man said in a Henan accent.

Old Li clasped his fists and bowed: "First of all, I would like to thank all the elder brothers and sisters."

"They say you rely on your parents at home and your friends when you go out. I'm here with a few apprentices to make a living, so I rely on everyone's support."

I looked at Lao Li silently and always felt that he didn't look like a carpenter.

Old carpenters all have a bit of wood smell about them.

But I was quite close to him and didn't smell any wood.

Instead, I smelled some earthy smell from him.

After Lao Li finished telling everyone to take care of business, he turned to the oldest old man and said, "Old man, continue with the story from yesterday."

"Yes, let's continue."

"It is said that Weiqi Village in Ganhe Town was originally called Shangyi Village. In the early Ming Dynasty, the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty invaded. The imperial court was furious and ordered the Chang'an Governor to suppress them."

"The governor led his troops through Shangyi Village and camped there for over forty days. Hearing that the villagers were good at Go, he sought out skilled players to play against him..."

The villagers nominated an old man named Jiang, who had the best chess skills, to play chess with the governor.

The warlord won three games of chess one after another, and the soldiers cheered, but the villagers were puzzled.

Dozens of days later, the commander-in-chief returned victorious from the Western Expedition and camped in Shangyi Village again. He again asked the old man surnamed Jiang to play chess with him.

This time the old man won three games in a row, leaving the governor with no chance of fighting back.

The warlord asked in confusion, "You are such an extraordinary chess player, why did you lose to me three games in a row before going to the battle?"

The old man said, "Before the battle, the general was responsible for the safety of his country. How could I dare to dampen his spirit? Therefore, I lost three games in a row to enhance his prestige."

The warlord was deeply moved after hearing this, so he named the village Weiqi Village.

At this point, Shangyi Village was renamed Weiqi Village.

"Later, a fourth-rank official emerged from Weiqi Village. After his death, he was buried in his hometown. The stone sheep, stone horses, and stone lions placed in front of his tomb are still there."

"Oh, the stone sheep and stone horses are very big, as tall as a person!"

"It's just that the grave mound was leveled sometime in the past."

"Now I can't even tell where the grave is. It might have been visited by tomb robbers a long time ago."

Old Li kept smiling while listening to the story.

He nodded and said a few words from time to time.

But when he heard about stone sheep and stone horses, and tomb mounds, his hands clenched involuntarily.

It was obvious that he was not at peace.

I also speculated from this that he was most likely in the same industry.

The coffin maker was just a cover-up.

My colleague from Henan might be an expert!

I pondered secretly in my heart.

According to Tuoye's family notes, the skills of Henan tomb robbers are quite impressive.

It can be said that in the northern tomb-robbing circle, tomb robbers from Henan are the best.

Not to mention the distant past, the Luoyang shovel has already gone down in history.

The Luoyang shovel is not only a magical tool for tomb robbers, but also an archaeological artifact!

The Luoyang shovel is not only used in domestic archaeology, but also in international archaeology.

Later, the Luoyang shovel was given away as a state gift.

There is also a legend that a Chinese person took a Luoyang shovel abroad and became a well-known archaeological expert overseas within a few years. He discovered many ancient relics with a Luoyang shovel.

In the early 1980s, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage held two training courses on the use of the Luoyang shovel.

Relevant experts and recruited tomb robbers were invited to receive detailed training on how to use the Luoyang shovel.

Later, Luoyang shovel was widely used by cultural relics teams in various places.

Before the construction of many projects, drilling teams will be organized to use Luoyang shovels to explore cultural relics.

Most members of the drilling team are hired migrant workers who start work after a short training on how to use the Luoyang shovel.

After the drilling team workers mastered the use of the Luoyang shovel, many of them embarked on the path of tomb robbing.

Let’s put aside these later stories for now and talk about Old Li now.

Old Li acted like he hadn't seen anything before: "I've never seen a stone sheep or stone horse that big."

"Does anyone have relatives in Weiqi Village? Introduce me to someone so I can go over and gain some experience, and maybe even make some money."

"Hahaha, I think you're just here to make money. My nephew happens to be in Weiqi Village, you can stay with him when you get there."

The old man was very enthusiastic and gave Mr. Li his nephew's name and address.

Old Li thanked me repeatedly: "You are truly my dear brother, thank you so much, I will treat you to a delicious meal when I come back."

I have to say that Lao Li is very good at scouting and asking questions.

He got the information out without leaving any trace.

It just so happens that I am also interested in the tomb in Weiqi Village, and I am planning to go there tomorrow.

See how Lao Li finds the grave.

While I was thinking about tomorrow's itinerary, Lao Li made an excuse to leave.

He glanced at me discreetly as he left.

I felt his gaze, and when I looked over, he had already turned and left.

hiss!

Did he realize that I was in the same industry?

If he really saw through it, then his vision would be too sharp.

At that time, I thought I disguised myself very well, but I forgot one thing: I was too young!

Cui Hao and I, two young guys, stood out among the group of old men and women listening to their conversation.

So Lao Li glanced at me before leaving.

As it got darker, the people chatting gradually dispersed.

Cui Hao and I also returned to Tian Liben's house.

"Brother, it would be great if we could find the tomb of the fourth-rank official." Cui Hao muttered in a low voice.

For tomb robbers, news about tombs is like a delicacy. As soon as they hear the news, they want to go and dig.

"Some colleagues have their eyes on us. Let's go over there tomorrow to see how they do their work."

"Ah? Traveling together?" Cui Hao asked in surprise.

"Why didn't I see that?"

"That Old Li is a colleague of mine. Don't you smell the earthy smell on him?" I asked with a smile.

"Isn't Lao Li a coffin maker? How come he's our colleague?"

Cui Hao scratched his head in embarrassment.

He wasn't thinking about Lao Li at all, so he didn't notice the earthy smell.

"Haha, Lao Li is not only a colleague, but also a master."

"If I'm not mistaken, he has noticed us."