In 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, and then unified currency, unified weights and measures, and founded the Qin Dynasty, laying the foundation for the political system of nearly two thousand years in the future, therefore, Qin Shi Huang is also known as "one emperor of thousands of years", Qin Shi Huang In addition to unifying the world, Qin Shi Huang also had three major projects in his life, in addition to the Great Wall and Appang Palace, is the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang.
From design to construction, the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin took a full thirty-seven years, involving countless human and material resources.
Regarding the golden splendor of Apan Palace, from the poet Du Mu's "A Fang Gong Fu", we can see a little bit. Of course, The Apang Palace was burned to ashes by Xiang Yu, the King of Chu.
Although the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang is still there, but due to the current level of science and technology, it is still not enough for excavating the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, therefore, the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang is temporarily sealed underground, and people can only imagine the scale of the underground palace of Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum through historical records.
The most interesting legend about the tomb of Qin Shi Huang is that the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang contains a large amount of mercury, which is said to be thirty-five meters high, is this true?
It is true that the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang contains mercury, and there are two bases:
1. According to the records of the ancient books "Shi Ji" and "Book of Han", it is mentioned that the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang contains a large amount of mercury, for example, in the historical record: "Mercury is the hundred rivers and seas", and the Later Han Dynasty said: "Mercury is the river and sea, and gold is the goose"
2. Archaeologists have found that the mercury content on the ground of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang is twenty times higher than that of the surrounding land according to modern remote sensing and other means, which shows that the records of mercury in the tomb of Qin Shi Huang in the historical materials are true.
Of course, the mercury content of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang is not as high as the legendary thirty-five meters, because people estimate that the entire imperial tomb is only thirty-five meters high, and it is impossible to fill it with mercury. If, as the legend goes, mercury is thirty-five meters high, then the mercury content of the entire imperial tomb must reach 10,000 tons, and it is obvious that ancient metal mining technology did not reach this level.
Therefore, the legend about qin shi huang mercury is mixed, the mercury is thirty-five meters high is false, and the mercury containing a large amount of mercury is true.
So, there is so much mercury in the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, what is it used for? People give the following guesses:
1. Anti-theft tomb thieves. Mercury is volatile and highly toxic, which can well defend against tomb robbers.
2. Anti-corrosion. The ancients discovered early on that mercury has antiseptic properties, so mercury was also used in ancient tombs.
3. There is a spirit underground. According to historical records, these mercuries mimic the movement of rivers, lakes and seas, indicating that Qin Shi Huang had a spirit after his death and continued to dominate the world in another world.
So, where did these large amounts of mercury in the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang come from? There are two ways to say it:
The first claim was made only recently. People found that about a hundred kilometers away from the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin, there is a wealth of mercury minerals, and this place is the Xunyang Bronze Ditch. People found that there are nearly a thousand ancient mines of different sizes in this place, and all of them are specialized in the mining of mercury.
What is even more reminiscent is that in the Qin Dynasty, There were two ancient roads (Kugu Road and Meridian Road) in Xunyang that led to the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin. Therefore, it is reasonable to guess that a large amount of mercury from the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin was produced in Xunyang, a hundred miles away, and after mining in the local area, it was directly transported to the Imperial Tomb through the ancient road.
The second theory is based on ancient texts. According to the records of the "Historical Records", Qin Shi Huang admired a widow very much, not only named her a "virgin woman", but also after the widow's death, Qin Shi Huang also repaired the "Huai QingTai" to commemorate her, this widow, the historical record called her "Ba widow Qing"
"Ba" means Bashu, and Qing is the widow's name, so why did Qin Shi Huang appreciate this widow so much? Because this widow, rich and invincible, she almost monopolized the entire Warring States to the Qin Dynasty's "Dansha business", and Dansha was the raw material for the ancients to extract mercury.
Therefore, the mercury in the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang may also have been provided by Ba Widow Qing.