One day in October 1962, Dong Faqing, a villager in Jiuxian Village in Liyang, Jiangsu Province, was cleaning up a fish pond. Rolling up his sleeves, he jumped barefoot into the black mud, and the rotten branches and mud were cleared out by his baskets. Unconsciously, the sunset fell, and he knew that the day's work was about to pass. At that time, the fish ponds were all public, and the peasants had not yet implemented the practice of contract production to households. Just as he was sorting out his tools and preparing to go home for dinner, a golden light flashed, shining in the black mud. He looked back and walked over and saw a small nugget of gold in the mud. The size is like a melon seed, is it gold?
Seeing that no one was paying attention, he grabbed the gold nugget and put it in his pocket and hurried home. Back at home, he closed the doors and windows, cleaned the gold nuggets, and was golden in the light, and when he heard that the gold was soft, he bit his teeth and there were marks. Gold nuggets are old objects because they have exquisite patterns and ancient scripts that they can't understand.
Dong Faqing couldn't hide his joy, this was really a pie in the sky! He borrowed a small scale to weigh Chinese medicine and weighed it 3 yuan and 3 cents. Dong Faqing did not dare to speak up, and privately found a buyer and sold it for 120 yuan. 120 yuan in the early 60s was almost equivalent to 10,000 yuan today, which is a huge amount of money. For Dong Faqing, who lives a hard life, it is really a life-saving straw. The buyer also recognized the goods, turned the small gold nuggets, and hit two gold rings. Both sides were quite satisfied.
In June 1965, good luck befell him again. He picked up a golden melon seed again in the fish pond and closed his mouth happily. Only this time it was a little smaller than last time. He had intended to sell it to private individuals, but in the environment at that time, people who could afford to buy gold were difficult to meet and too risky. His wife asked him to sell it to the bank.
The first time Lao Dong went to the bank, he was very nervous. His palms were all sweaty, and he took out the golden melon seeds and told people that he wanted to exchange this for some money? The staff looked at him like a thief and asked him, this is not something that ordinary families can have, ask him where did he get it? He also wrote down his village address. Old Dong was very scared, asked the staff, you don't ask so much, how much money can this be exchanged? The staff said with a cold face, 6 yuan.
Old Dong said, give me back the gold, not sell it. The staff said unforgivingly, you have not said, where did this gold come from? Don't say send you to the police station? Old Dong can't take care of so much, 6 pieces is 6 pieces. After getting the money, Old Dong ran away.
Old Dong was very scared in his heart, and he felt depressed. This time it was only 6 yuan, which is really too little!
The next day, the people from the police station and the county cultural center came and asked Lao Dong to take them to the fish pond to see and ask him to talk in detail about the process of discovering the golden melon seeds.
Coincidentally. In July 1969, villager Dong Jinfang shaved grass on the field and shaved it, and saw that there was a shiny little thing in the soil, which was actually a golden melon seed. Golden melon seeds are square, the size of soybeans, with patterns on one side and words on the other. Dong Jinfang was not willing to sell, and has been kept in secret. At that time, someone bid 360 yuan, and he was not moved.
After archaeological excavations in the area by cultural relics experts, more than 10 golden melon seeds were excavated. The golden melon seeds mentioned above are actually a kind of ancient name for broken gold, which is named because the shape is as small as a melon seed. But it is not an ordinary person who can get the golden melon seeds, because it is a royal reward from the emperor. However, due to the smelting technology at that time, no golden melon seed was exactly the same.
Experts deduce from the golden melon seeds picked up by the villagers that it is the royal gold coin of the Chu State during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, called Ying Ye. "郢" is the name of the capital city of Chu, and "爰" is the unit of monetary weight. It is also the earliest primitive gold coinage on the mainland. The purity of the best quality can reach 99%.
According to the "Liyang County Chronicle", as early as 1925, villagers found golden melon seeds. So, why are there so many golden melon seeds here? Archaeologists say that these golden melon seeds are related to a beautiful legend from the Spring and Autumn Period 2,000 years ago.
This legend is also the origin of the allusion of Miss Qianjin.
We know that there was a military expert in history named Wu Zixu, who was the doctor of wu in the late Spring and Autumn Period. Wu Zixu's father was named Wu Hao, and he was the wife of King Chuping. In 522 BC, the seventh year of King Chuping, Wu Hao and his eldest son Wu Shang were killed by King Chuping because of the slander of villains. The second son, Wu Zixu, received the news and fled from the State of Chu to the State of Wu, becoming a vassal of the King of Wu.
This legend tells a poignant story that happened to Wu Zixu on his way to escape from the Chu state. On the way to escape, Wu Zixu did not eat for two days, and he could not even walk. On this day, he passed by a large river and saw a young woman at the river
Wash clothes. There were a lot of clothes, so there was a bamboo basket next to the woman, and the basket contained food, and it seemed that the woman had to wash for a long time, so she brought dry food. When he saw that there was food, Wu Zixu's stomach grumbled, and he was embarrassed to beg the woman if she could give him something to eat.
The girl was suddenly compassionate and gave wu Zixu all her food. After Wu Zixu had a full meal, he told the girl that he was going to flee to wu, and there were pursuing soldiers behind him, and the girl told you not to tell them my whereabouts.
The woman agreed to Wu Zixu's request. But Wu Zixu was very cautious and did not trust the girl, and he repeatedly asked the girl to keep secrets for him. The girl felt humiliated, and in order to dispel Wu Zixu's concerns, she picked up a very heavy stone and threw herself into the water to die. Wu Zixu saw the situation and was ashamed and indignant. He bit his finger and wrote a blood book on the rock by the stream: "Erhuan Sha, I beg; I was full and drowned. Ten years later, a thousand gold rewards! ”
In 506 BC, Wu Zixu and Sun Wu led troops to attack the capital of Chu, excavated the tomb of King Chu Ping, and whipped the corpse of 300 to avenge his father and brother.
Then he went to the place where the woman had thrown herself into the river. Revenge has been repaid, and it is unforgettable! He did not know the address of the woman's home, so he had to throw thousands of dollars into the river. Folk legend has that Wu Zixu sprinkled "three buckets and three liters of golden melon seeds" into the river. This is the origin of Miss Qianjin's allusion.
This legend is also recorded in historical records, both in the Records of Sima Qian of the Western Han Dynasty and the Book of Yue Jie in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Later, when the poet Li Bai traveled to Liyang, he specially wrote the "Liyang Seshui Virgin's Inscription and Preface" to send the woman's righteous deeds. Among them are these few words: Wu Xu ran east and begged for food here. The woman sprayed can slurry and died. The voice moves the nations, and the righteous are strong.
Everyone noticed that No, Li Bai used the word "silence". This sentence should not be understood as a woman being chased by Wu Zixu or the Chu State. This sentence refers to the meaning of the girl's sealing from the sinking river.
Many people will wonder if this raccoon woman has a brain problem, why should she seal her mouth with death? And a stranger who is just a one-sided stranger? The author would like to say that you cannot evaluate the ancients in the Spring and Autumn Period with the thinking of modern people!
In the Spring and Autumn Period 2,000 years ago, everyone was educated in benevolence, righteousness, and wisdom, and regarded faith as more important than life. During the Warring States period, Zhuang Zhou wrote about a man named Ozai who agreed to meet under the bridge with a woman, and waited for a long time without seeing the woman. Later, the water rose and the tide rose, so Ozai held the bridge pillar until he drowned. When the woman arrived, she hugged the body of the tail and jumped into the river. This is the origin of the idiom "tail life holding pillar". The metaphor is used to keep the covenant until death.
It can be seen how much people in the Spring and Autumn Period value trustworthiness and gratitude. Therefore, it is possible that huansha women throw themselves into the river to keep secrets, and Wu Zixu throws gold into the river in order to repay the favor.
If you discover the golden melon seeds that Wu Zixu sprinkled into the river 2,000 years ago, did you sell them like dong Faqing, a villager, or did you protect your life like Dong Jinfang?