In 1987, the young man Wang stole 3 terracotta warrior heads and was sentenced to death, how much did he sell?

In the cross-talk industry, it is common to smash and hang with partners, Guo Degang once ridiculed Yu Qian, saying that he went to steal the terracotta warriors and sell them to Vietnam, Yu Qian and his father covered their bodies with cement to pretend to be terracotta warriors, and after the incident, Guo Degang went to pick up the two back.

Clear-eyed people know that the two are playing with treasure, but art comes from life, and there are really people who are bold enough to fight the idea of terracotta warriors under strict prevention and control.

In 1987, Wang Gengdi stole 3 terracotta warrior heads and was eventually sentenced to death.

There are many underground treasures in Xi'an

As the ancient capital of the Thirteen Dynasties, Xi'an has a rich historical background, and the number of relics buried underground is difficult to judge, and even the entire Shaanxi Province has become a place rich in cultural relics.

Someone once ridiculed Shaanxi: "Shaanxi is full of ruins underground, and it is possible to dig out cultural relics at will." ”

Where there are ancient ruins, there are greedy tomb robbers, many ancient tombs are patronized by thieves, and by the time archaeologists find them, the artifacts in the ancient tombs have disappeared.

Thankfully, the Mausoleum of The First Emperor of Qin was preserved intact. For thousands of years, no thief has ever found a trace of the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, and even if he wants to rob the tomb, he can't do it.

Until 1974, when the native residents of Xi'an were digging wells, they accidentally dug out fragments of pottery figurines, which made the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, which had been buried for thousands of years, see the light of day.

After more than a year of painstaking excavation by archaeologists, the No. 1 pit of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shi Huang, which covers an area of more than 10,000 square meters, was able to appear in full in front of the public.

Since the discovery of the Mausoleum of The First Emperor of Qin, the Terracotta Warriors and Horses have become a hot topic in society. Watching the country attach so much importance to these figurines, people gradually realized how precious these cultural relics are.

When the precious terracotta warriors became the favorite of antique lovers, some improper people secretly started the idea of the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang.

The general figurines were stolen

In the winter of 1987, the staff came to the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum as usual for cultural relics restoration, because the age is too long, the excavated terracotta warriors and horses are mostly broken, and many terracotta fragments are placed in the place, and the restoration site is a mess.

At first, everything was going on normally, and the staff didn't find anything unusual. But when they were ready to put the newly excavated clay figurines in the storeroom, they found that the door of the storeroom had been artificially pried open.

The staff immediately counted the cultural relics in the warehouse and found that 3 terracotta heads were missing, one of which was an extremely precious general's head.

Among the many terracotta warriors, the number of general figurines is not much, and even fewer can be completely preserved.

Among the more than 1,000 terracotta warriors unearthed in the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the number of general figurines is only 6, which shows its preciousness.

When the cultural relics protected at the national level were stolen, the person in charge of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum was frightened and immediately reported it to the provincial leaders, who in turn hurriedly reported the matter to the State Administration of Cultural Relics.

The state attaches great importance to the theft of terracotta warriors and horses, and sends a special team to Xi'an to investigate. But in 1987, the country was still in the initial stages of development, the security system was not widespread, and even the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum lacked a complete surveillance system.

Three months later, the task force still had no clue. At this time, the news of the Terracotta Warriors came from the cultural relics resale market, and the special case team members disguised themselves as Macao buyers, circled with the terracotta warrior head sellers, successfully arrested 3 criminals at the scene, and recovered the 3 lost terracotta heads.

In the cold prison, the criminals honestly confessed their criminal experience to the police, and the main criminal, Wang, also explained in great detail how he stole the head of the terracotta warriors.

Money is empty

Wang Gengdi, a native of Lintong County, Xi'an, dropped out of school early at home, and was idle on weekdays, only looking around for some work to barely maintain his own life.

In the winter of 1986, Wang Geng worked as a temporary worker at Lintong Railway Station and met The Power of Train Passengers. The two men ordered a table of wine and dishes during their break, and the king was even more drunk, shouting in his mouth that he wanted to make a fortune.

Quan Xueli followed the train to the north and south, and he also heard about the development situation in the outside world, so he said to Wang Geng: "There are many good businesses to do now, but the most profitable things are antiques, and a single terracotta army can sell for hundreds of thousands of high prices." ”

Wang Gengdi was interested when he heard this sentence, the ancient capital of Xi'an has countless antique cultural relics, and it is also the birthplace of the Terracotta Warriors, if you can get a terracotta army, then you will be rich.

The ghostly Wang decided to cooperate with Quan Xueli, who was responsible for stealing the terracotta warriors himself, and Quan Xueli was responsible for finding a buyer.

On February 17, 1987, Wang Geng, who had already touched the door of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum, entered the museum with a screwdriver. It was the middle of the night, the museum was completely covered by thick snow, and the staff had already fallen into a deep sleep.

Wang even pried open the door of the storeroom, and when he looked up, he saw an imposing terracotta warrior. Wang Gengdi originally wanted to take away all the terracotta warriors, but the general's figurines weighed hundreds of pounds, and the thin Wang Gengdi could not lift them at all.

In desperation, Wang Gengdi had no choice but to use a screwdriver to cut off the head of the general figurine, and incidentally cut off the heads of the two soldier figurines around the general figurine.

After Wang Gengdi took the head of the figurine out of the museum, he did not dare to go home immediately, but hid the figurine head in the small forest.

After Quan Xueli learned that the head of the warrior had arrived, he first contacted his brother, and after being educated by his brother, he parted ways with Wang Gengdi and no longer interfered in the affairs of the terracotta warriors.

After losing his helper, Wang Gengdi was like a headless fly and did not know where to go, the outside world was full of wanted announcements, and once any wind noise was missed, Wang Gengdi would be arrested immediately.

Anxious to throw out the hot potato of the terracotta warrior head, Wang Gengdi found Zhang Chuanxiu, who sold cultural relics, and sold 3 terracotta warrior heads to Zhang Chuanxiu for only 50,000 yuan.

When the wind is tight, there are always people who are willing to take huge risks for their own benefit. After taking over the terracotta army head, Zhang Chuanxiu and other 3 people privately looked for buyers, seeing more and more collectors coming to the door to inquire, the greedy Zhang Chuanxiu 4 people raised the price of the terracotta army head to 300,000.

During the transaction with the police who incarnated as a Macau buyer, Zhang Chuanxiu was arrested at the scene, and other criminals were arrested one after another.

In the end, Wang Gengdi was sentenced to death, Quan Xueli was sentenced to life imprisonment, and Zhang Chuanxiu was sentenced to prison terms ranging from 8 to 15 years.

Stealing cultural relics is considered a felony, and for 50,000 yuan, wang, who is only 22 years old, paid the price of his life.

Such a clear example is in front of us, and it is also a warning to everyone not to break the law and commit crimes for their own selfish interests and temporary interests.