There is a saying that the ancient emperors used the highest level of items, because they thought that they were the nine-five-year-old, and they deserved it. As we all know, the Forbidden City was the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and its scale and high rank were second to none in the world. The name of the Forbidden City comes from the ancient theory of astrology, the Purple Micro Wall (that is, the North Star) is located in the middle of the sky, is the residence of the Heavenly Emperor, and the heavens and people correspond, so it is named the Forbidden City.
According to historical records, the Forbidden City was built in the fourth year of Ming Yongle (1406) and was basically completed in the eighteenth year of Ming Yongle (1420), which lasted 14 years. If you have been to the Forbidden City, you will definitely be shocked by the grandeur of the Forbidden City, but behind it is the painstaking efforts of countless craftsmen. In order to make the Forbidden City palace more luxurious, Zhu Di ordered people to go to Sichuan Huguang and other provinces to find rare nanmu. Because rare nan trees often grow in the lofty mountains, there is no road, many people have lost their lives.
"One thousand into the mountains, five hundred out of the mountains", this is the description of the difficulty of harvesting nanmu by the literati at that time. Entering the Forbidden City, the vast majority of people focus on the magnificent palace and exquisite cultural relics, and ignore the feet. The floor of the Palace Palace is paved with gold bricks, and some people may say that gold bricks are common, which is also too luxurious.
This is a misconception that this gold brick is not a floor tile made of gold, but a floor tile with a metallic sound. During the Republic of China period, with the establishment of the Palace Museum, the department managing the Forbidden City repaired the damaged ground of the three halls, and as a result, they were once again shocked by the Forbidden City, and some craftsmen shook their heads after seeing the floor tiles, "Zhu Di is also too fierce!" ”
The reason why the restoration craftsmen are so emotional is because the production process of these floor tiles was extremely complicated and required a lot of manpower and energy. Not only that, these floor tiles must ensure the quality, otherwise the consequences are unimaginable, and the person in charge will fall to the ground. "Golden Brick" was originally called "Beijing Brick", a kind of fine material square brick specially fired for the imperial palace, because this floor tile was transported to the capital and put in the "Beijing Warehouse" for reserve, so it was "Beijing Brick".
The quality of this brick is very high, the texture is dense, and when it is struck, it emits a sound of gold and stone, and there is no hole in the break, so it is named "golden brick". To be sure, although it has nothing to do with gold, this kind of brick dedicated to the royal family requires huge financial and material resources from the selection of soil to the production of brick blanks, smoking, transportation, cutting, and laying, so its price is extremely expensive.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, 99% of the gold bricks used in the Forbidden City came from the Lu Tomb in Suzhou (now Lumu Town), which is located on the shore of Taihu Lake, the soil is delicate, and it contains a large amount of colloidal substances, which is highly malleable, and is the superior soil material for firing gold bricks. According to the records in the "Illustration of Brick Making", the production of each batch of gold bricks is as little as 130 days, and the number is as high as 720 days.
The success rate of the gold bricks is extremely low, if 6 of the bricks in a batch of bricks cannot meet the requirements of "knocking sound, breaking without holes", the gold bricks will be directly scrapped. Each gold brick must be engraved with the name of the worker, that is, the time of production, the name of the craftsman who made the brick, the position and name of the official who supervised the brick, and the seals of the prefect, the governor, the armor protector and the burner.
The author noted that the vast majority of the gold bricks used in the Palace Palace in Beijing were replaced after 1990, that is, made with the current process.
Reference: "Unveiling the Golden Bricks in the Forbidden City"