In 2016, a number of rich and invincible treasures appeared under the water of the Minjiang River in Jiangkou Town, Sichuan Province, pure gold coins, gold books, gold ingots, silver ingots, copper coins, countless, some of which weigh up to 100 taels, and there are also various types of jewelry, seals, weapons and other items made of pure gold, which are unique in the archaeological history of China and even the world.
This is the treasure of Zhang Xianzhong, once excavated, it shocked the world, and the number of treasures ranked first in Asia, which was called "Asia's first treasure".
There is an old legend in the villages near the Minjiang River: the minjiang river is buried with treasures that are rich and invincible
"Stone cattle to stone drums, gold and silver, some people can see it, buy all the Chengdu Province", this is a song about Zhang Xianzhong's treasure.
It means that whoever can unravel the poem can find a huge treasure that can buy the entire Chengdu province.
Legend has it that this treasure was left by Zhang Xianzhong, the leader of the peasant army in the late Ming Dynasty.
However, for more than 300 years, this song was more often treated as a rumor, and people laughed it off after listening to it, until 2017, when no one doubted the authenticity of this ballad.
I really found the treasure of Zhang Xianzhong, who is "rich and invincible"!
The fishermen picked up 50 large silver ingots, and Zhang Xianzhong's treasure first appeared
In 2015, a major event occurred in the town of Jiangkou in Pengshan District, Meishan City, Sichuan Province, when a local fisherman picked up a large silver ingot of 50 taels on the Minjiang River beach while fishing.
A few days later, another outlaw who coveted the treasure sneaked into the bottom of the river to fish out a large gold ingot of 50 taels.
The news of the treasure appearing in Minjiang did not go away, instantly attracting the surrounding villagers to frantically come to search for treasure.
For a time, the Minjiang River was overcrowded, and the scene was very lively, which quickly attracted the attention of the local government.
At the same time, the matter also quickly spread to the Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Bureau.
In order to reduce unnecessary losses, at the end of 2016, the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics immediately set up a large-scale archaeological team to enter Jiangkou Town.
In addition, a team was sent to visit and investigate the area around the Minjiang River.
What is interesting is that at the discussion on the treasure site of Zhang Xianzhong, there was an expert from the Tianjin Institute of History, whose name was also Zhang Xianzhong.
The archaeological team was surprised to find after arriving in the local area
On the third day of the archaeological team's arrival, in the dense forest of the mountains by the river, they found a stone tiger standing majestically on the rock, and on the stone wall opposite it, there was a beautifully carved stone dragon.
To the surprise of archaeologists, the direction corresponding to Shi Hu and Shi Long is the mouth of the Minjiang River, which is also the approximate excavation area of the Minjiang River Estuary that archaeologists have just determined.
Is this a coincidence? Or is it the mark that Zhang Xianzhong made here?
At this time, archaeologists found a stone saying with engraved font not far from the south of the stone beast: "Stone dragon to stone tiger, gold and silver to count mountains, Chinese treasure Xing, national zhao ancient."
What do these fonts mean?
It was learned from the local villagers that the confluence between Shi Long and Shi Hu was the place where Zhang Xianzhong's army was defeated and sunk.
What is the connection between the two? Perhaps this is the owner of the treasure, marked by two stone beasts to facilitate the location of the treasure.
In search of treasure, experts decided to drain the river
After three months of visits and field visits, the archaeological team finally identified the specific excavation area.
However, a big problem that came head-on made the first step of archaeology stand still.
This excavation belongs to underwater archaeology, the treasure is buried under the water, the river surface is wide, the water is turbulent, the underwater visibility is almost zero, diving into the water blind like a fool is useless, the special circumstances make normal underwater work impossible to implement normally, can only find another way, looking for new excavation methods.
If the water at the mouth of the river is not drained, archaeological excavations simply cannot be carried out.
After many discussions, archaeologists finally found a solution, that is, "cofferdam embankment, beach archaeology".
Experts decided to produce a 20,000-square-meter dike, with an overall area equivalent to the size of four World Cup final football fields.
Such a grand cofferdam embankment is unprecedented for the entire archaeological community.
It not only created a precedent for the archaeology of inland rivers in China, but also a unique feat in the history of world archaeology.
20 high-horsepower pumps work non-stop 24 hours a day,
It took four months to drain all the water, and the pebbles at the bottom of the river piled up more than three meters thick.
The working area of more than 20,000 square meters is really overwhelmed, and experts decided to divide the key areas first, and then use some scientific and technological means.
Archaeologists hold ground-penetrating radars to detect in the demarcated key areas, and the more metal buildup, the greater the radar's prompt.
There are also large washing equipment, and archaeologists guarding the conveyor belt are watching intently, even the smallest artifacts.
Another day, when archaeologists were cleaning up the sediment in the drainage ditch, they finally found the treasure, and a silver book came into view, which was from the Ming Dynasty.
Zhang Xianzhong's treasure unearthed countless treasures and were of great value
After archaeological excavations, Zhang Xianzhong's treasure unearthed a large number of gold ingots, silver ingots, gold coins, copper coins, as well as gold books, gold vessels with gemstones, silver hairpins with gems, gold bracelets, gold locks and so on.
At that time, only one silver ingot unearthed could be exchanged for 10,000 kilograms of rice.
The excavations are so many artifacts that archaeologists do not even have time to rest, and the treasures are piled up in piles, like a cornucopia.
Such a large amount of money as "Xi Wang Rewards Merit" is even rarer in the world.
Because of the scarcity of the number, this kind of medallion-style large money is very sought-after in the collecting world.
Only this big money in the market is valued at a conservative 2 million.
There was such a big money sold for 3 million yuan at the auction in Hong Kong.
Double bronze mirrors, exquisite gold pendants, gold mouths of beasts, gold rings, golden sparkling hollow unicorn patterns, gold books, a cornucopia came into view.
A pure gold book weighs 740 grams, which is estimated according to the value of market gold, which can also be worth more than 200,000, and the value of cultural relics is even higher.
A tiger button gold seal is even more eye-catching to the world, and only one is valued at more than 80 million yuan in the market.
The archaeological excavation work lasted for 5 months, and it took nearly half a year to dig out all the treasures, and the value of the cultural relics recovered by the police alone was as high as 500 million.
This time, there are more than 30,000 treasures under the minjiang river, what do you think the total value of these treasures is?
According to the World Yearbook, Zhang Xianzhong ranks third in the world in terms of the number of treasures and first in Asia.
Write at the end
The huge value of Zhang Xianzhong's treasure has made countless people salivate.
However, although such treasures are valuable, they are also illegal wealth, but they must not be imprisoned because their greed violates the law!