Demystification: The internal organization of the ancient Chinese Tomb Robber Sect
In recent years, works on the theme of tomb robbery have been very popular in the market, and works on the theme of tomb robbery are also adapted from some historical stories. Although tomb robbery is not a glorious thing, but there are always people who want to be opportunistic and get something for nothing, many rich and noble families and even the tombs of the royal family will have a lot of valuable funerary goods, which is also one of the motivations of tomb robbers.
However, such a big thing as tomb robbery is not something that can be done by one person or two people, often they all form a sect, a "professional" tomb robbery team, they are often experienced, their actions are perfect, and the plan is realistic. In fact, tomb robbery has been around since ancient times, and whenever our experts unearth some cultural relics, they will find that some of the tombs have traces of destruction and theft.
The first case of tomb robbery in history appeared in the Shang Dynasty, to the Spring and Autumn Period, the society underwent tremendous changes, gradually rise the atmosphere of thick burial, coupled with the fact that the society was very turbulent at that time, often fighting wars, people were miserable, often even did not have enough to eat, the normal order of life was interrupted, so some people began to take crooked roads, gradually embarked on the road of tomb robbery, and more and more people robbed tombs, from this point on, tomb robbery has become an "industry" to obtain wealth during social turmoil.
In the Western Han Dynasty, tomb robbery was very popular, and there were many coins at that time, and in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Qin Dynasty, most of the funerary items were some bronze objects, which became the direct driving force for tomb robbers. Although the tomb robbers did not damage the structure of the mausoleum much, it also had a huge impact on some later studies.
Gradually, the tomb robbers also have their own "circle of friends", the people in the circle will do things in accordance with the rules of the jianghu, each line has the rules of each line, because this job will lose their lives if they do not do well, so the division of labor is particularly meticulous, and the work is also very exquisite.
The first step is to find clues, find targets, and choose a large oily mausoleum to start, this kind of person is called "support pot". After the specific goal is determined, it is necessary to ask the "palm eye" to look over, and the "palm eye" is to put it bluntly a cultural relics dealer. Then go to select a good engineer to conduct a specific analysis of the structure of the mausoleum.
In fact, the role of "supporting the pot" is like the contractor in the construction site, playing the role of total responsibility. He is mainly responsible for the deployment of personnel and the allocation of funds. His input cost is very large, because after an action, whether he has got something or not, whether he has made money, he has to pay according to the price negotiated before cooperation, and often the money of some gig workers is calculated as a big expense. When he really got the goods to exchange for money, he could only get 20%, and the rest of the people had 10% each.
The role of "palm eyes" is very important, he relies on his own technology to eat. They must have a precise route to find ancient tombs, but also have the ability to identify whether the cultural relics are true or false, and their "location" is very flexible, which can provide the location of the mausoleum for the upper family, become a collaborator, or be a buyer who buys things in the mausoleum. In fact, this kind of person is the biggest beneficiary of the entire tomb robbery team, to put it more directly, there is a profit distribution, there is him, and any risk has nothing to do with him.
In fact, this is also a long-term consideration, if the government arrested in the action, at least can keep the most critical figure "palm eye", other people can be released after the comeback, if even the "palm eye" is also arrested, it will be difficult to get up again, so the people in this circle for the "palm eye" is still extra protective.
Moreover, "Palm Eye" has its own sales channels, judging the authenticity of cultural relics at the same time, you can quickly change the stolen cultural relics for money. Often they have some of their own old customers, if the shipment is large, they can quietly transport a few tons of cultural relics abroad within a few days. Therefore, this kind of character is definitely the most well-connected in the tomb robbery circle, and it is also the richest type of person, after all, people rely on their own technology and brain to eat, and they can easily obtain wealth without relying on others, which is really the most soulful role.
With the "palm eye" and the "support pot", the rest are the people who work. "Grave robber legs" is one of these people, that is, knowledgeable engineers, which is equivalent to the current "project manager" position. They generally know some fist and foot kung fu, know how to steal ancient tombs, and can clearly judge the structure of ancient tombs, which belongs to technical people. Under normal circumstances, the "support pot" is not directed on the spot, so the "leg" is fully responsible.
Finally, there are those who work hard, called "underdogs," that is, diggers who work as coolies. These people are generally honest local farmers, or junior scholars in the tomb robbery industry. Their wages are calculated according to the quantity, and no matter how much valuable things are in the tomb, they only take the share they deserve.
The above are the different "positions" in the Tomb Robber Sect, each with its own position. In ancient times, the tomb robbery industry is a mysterious and extremely strict organization, all the dynasties have been very severe blows against tomb robbers, especially in the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan's punishment for tomb robbers was only capital crimes, which made the rampant tomb robbers gradually decrease, but there are still desperate people.