Chapter 232: Unprecedented and Unrepeatable

The rack-mounted mechanical drill bit is simple to assemble, but its power is not small.

Three two-meter-long drill rods were connected, and with a few "whirring" sounds, it reached the bottom.

There was not the slightest obstruction; what does that indicate?

Within six meters, it is all soil layers; one can see how deep this pit is.

The drill rod was rotated in reverse and pulled out section by section; everyone gathered around.

The soil layers brought up this time were even more chaotic: the first layer was intermittent fine soil, the second layer became raw soil that should have been buried deep underground, then came semi-disturbed heart soil, and only at the end was the mature soil that should have existed on the very surface.

The first three layers were fine, each only thirty or fifty centimeters thick. But the mature soil layer at the very bottom was a full one point five to one point six meters thick, and it was all wood ash.

A group of Archaeology Team members blinked their eyes: before drilling, what did Lin Sicheng say?

"Director Tian, Captain Gao, feel free to drill down; underneath this, there should be a wood ash pool."

Sure enough, a wood ash pool.

Lin Sicheng squatted down and carefully rubbed it: the color was gray within black, very fine, very smooth, also very light, and very pure.

Judging by the material, it should be white poplar wood burned at low temperature in a smothered fire, then ground and washed.

An ancient saying goes: "Without ash, there is no glaze." This thing has only one purpose: preparing glaze.

If there is a wood ash pool, there must be other glaze materials and glaze-preparing facilities.

He clapped his hands and looked around: "Director Tian, Captain Gao: divide a team to probe the pit next to this one; this should be the wood ash washing pool..."

"Divide another team to the edge of the pit to probe that raised mound of earth; underneath that should be limestone... Go a bit further west, twenty to forty meters, there should be a Small Ash Kiln (where wood ash and limestone are mixed and fired into glaze ash)..."

"The third team goes east; do you see that slightly square high platform on the riverbank? There must be white porcelain clay for glaze preparation there. The big pit next to it is very likely a mud washing pool. So, pay attention when drilling: if you encounter things suspected to be wooden or stone structures, pause for a moment; those are likely the water wheel and stone mill for grinding porcelain clay..."

While giving instructions, Lin Sicheng picked up a tree branch and drew on the ground: "From this, it seems this area should be the Glaze Preparation Area: divide another team to probe the range along the riverbank, sixty to eighty meters east-west, and about fifty meters north-south..."

Gao Zhangyi was stunned for a moment: "Teacher Lin, the Glaze Preparation Area alone is three to four thousand square meters?"

"Yes, about five to six mu, so the porcelain kiln ruins will not be small!"

More than just "not small"? The overall scope is at least around thirty mu.

And anything over ten mu exceeds the scope of a workshop and should be called a "Kiln Factory."

Tian Jie and Gao Zhangyi assigned personnel, while the others gathered in a circle, discussing incessantly.

Wang Qi Zhi stood with his hands on his hips, looking left and right: he could barely make out the outline of an ancient riverbed; the bank terrace was empty, with wild grass stretching to the horizon.

Right against the foot of the mountain, there was a gravel fault, not very thick, but very uniform. It should be an ancient road destroyed by water.

Further up, one could see the exposed coal seam zones in the mountains; apart from that, there were just these few big pits in the vicinity.

If one said a Coal Mine had been opened here, that would be no problem; there were roads and traces of open-pit mining. Anyone with a little common sense in stratigraphy could see it.

But to say a mining disaster had occurred, or even that it had buried a porcelain kiln... anyway, no matter how he looked at it, he couldn't see it.

After pondering for a long while with no leads, Wang Qi Zhi looked at Tian Jie again.

Tian Jie sighed: what Lin Sicheng was relying on must be these few big pits and the fault in the gravel ancient road.

If they were naturally formed ponds or lakes, they could be in open, low-lying plains, or relatively flat mountainsides, or even mountaintops, but they would never be on a bank terrace to the side of a riverbed.

Have you ever seen a lake higher than the river surface and right next to the riverbed?

This is very contrary to geological common sense; if it exists, there is only one possibility: it was formed by a geological disaster after the riverbed dried up.

For example, an earthquake or a collapse.

The ancient road fault at the foot of the mountain could also confirm this, but the strange thing was that the surrounding strata were intact?

The mountain body was natural, the riverbed was complete, including the exposed coal seam zone—which was relatively loose and extremely susceptible to landslides from geological movement—was intact; that could rule out an earthquake capable of causing large-scale geological changes.

This was a coal mining area, from which one could infer that a collapse-type mining disaster had occurred.

Secondly, if it were a large-scale collapse, it should be one big pit, not like it is now, one here and one there, scattered and chaotic.

At first glance, they were big and small, deep and shallow. But if one compared this area to an ancient porcelain kiln factory: the pits before them fit the layout of a Glaze Preparation Area perfectly: washing pool, accumulation pool, storage platform, and even a grinding pool.

But to be honest: these were all inferences Tian Jie made after having a coordinate reference point based on this wood ash pool. Before discovering the wood ash, let alone guessing, Tian Jie wouldn't have even thought of it.

Therefore, being able to find this place was entirely Lin Sicheng's personal subjective judgment. As for how he judged it, Tian Jie did not know either.

Just as he was secretly marveling, Liu Ming and Xu Chengyan arrived late. The two stared at their feet, as if stunned.

A long section, like a mud stick, looked like it had just been poured out of the drill pipe.

The layers were chaotic, raw and mature soil reversed... what does this indicate?

A large-scale geological collapse-type mining disaster.

A wood ash layer over a meter deep, ground so fine and so pure, besides being used to prepare glaze for porcelain, what other use could it have?

Recalling again what the two had said before: "Looking for a porcelain kiln here, have these old Shaanxi guys lost their minds?"

And now, have they lost their minds?

The two blinked their eyes, staring at the mud stick on the ground for a long time, then looked around aimlessly.

Even for a trial survey, there must be some basis, right?

But they saw it very clearly: Lin Sicheng just wandered around twice, asked if a mining disaster had ever occurred here, and then started looking.

Then, with one drill, he probed the wood ash pit; how small a probability is that?

Even winning five million in the lottery couldn't be this accurate...

An exclamation came to their ears; Liu Ming and Xu Chengyan subconsciously raised their heads, and Gao Zhangyi came running over.

Although it wasn't far, he was panting, holding two specimen bags in his hand, and handed them forward: "Teacher Lin... look!"

What is this, a clay brick?

The color was very light, close to grayish-white, and the texture was extremely fine, just like putty powder for wall plaster that had clumped together.

Glaze Fruit, also known as White Not-Mud, its main component is Silk Mica, made by grinding porcelain stone that has been less weathered, then repeatedly pounding it.

It has only one purpose: to be mixed with glaze ash (wood ash and limestone fired together) to prepare Glaze Paste.

This means they were one step closer to Lin Sicheng's inference: the few pits around here were indeed the Glaze Preparation Area.

"Where was it discovered?"

Gao Zhangyi pointed: "That pit!"

"Explore the surrounding area further, measure the scope!"

"Understood!"

Gao Zhangyi gripped the walkie-talkie and gave instructions to the team members.

Liu Ming raised his head, his lips twitching: "Teacher Lin... a porcelain kiln?"

"Yes, a porcelain kiln!"

"How big is it?"

Lin Sicheng made an estimate: "Looking at the distance between the wood ash pit and the White Not-Mud Washing Pool, the Glaze Preparation Area alone is about seven mu. Based on this, I infer the kiln site area: approximately thirty mu.

But this is only for the same period and the same stratigraphic level of the ruins... In short: it is impossible to have built it this large the first time the kiln was established; it must have started small and grown, gradually expanding until it finally reached such a scale."

"Besides that, due to changes in the river course and water flow, as well as factors like the mining and transport of timber and porcelain clay, the Kiln Factory would inevitably have had to relocate after firing for a certain number of years. Therefore, there must be earlier kiln ruins in the surrounding area... My preliminary prediction is that the total area is at least over fifty mu..."

Xu Chengyan gasped: How much?

Fifty mu, that is over thirty thousand square meters.

And anything over ten thousand square meters can reach the "medium-sized ruins" category. But let alone medium-sized, to date, not even a small porcelain kiln had ever been discovered in Hejin.

Just as he was feeling shocked and uncertain, Gao Zhangyi returned, still carrying two specimen bags. But this time it wasn't soil or bricks, but several pieces of Black Porcelain.

"Teacher Lin, a Waste Porcelain Pit was discovered next to the glaze mud pool..."

Lin Sicheng nodded, took them, and glanced at them: "Calcium Glaze Black Glaze Porcelain, around the mid-Qing Dynasty!"

Everyone was silent: with a Glaze Preparation Area and a Waste Porcelain Pit, there was no doubt it was a porcelain kiln site.

Seeing that the two were stunned, Lin Sicheng explained further: "The scope is indeed not small, but the era won't be too far back. This circle should be the central ruin point, and also the largest ruin point. Looking at the waste porcelain, it is roughly mid-Qing.

There must be ruins from even earlier, but the earliest shouldn't exceed the end of the Ming Dynasty... And it can be basically confirmed that they were all firing civilian-grade coarse porcelain, mainly Black Porcelain..."

Let alone the end of the Ming Dynasty, even if it were from the end of the Qing Dynasty, it would still fill a historical void for Hejin County.

Xu Chengyan still couldn't figure it out: "But why is there no record of it in any historical documents?"

Lin Sicheng thought for a moment, then shook his head.

To be honest, he didn't know either.

If one were to say it was because this place belonged to Xiangning County in ancient times, and thus was not recorded in the Hejin County Annals, then Guzhen, which is ten kilometers to the south and has always belonged to Hejin, also has no historical records of firing porcelain.

Yet Lin Sicheng was very certain that there must still be porcelain kilns in the Guzhen area. Otherwise, where were those White Porcelain and Carved Flower Porcelain fired?

"Teacher Lin, since the area is so large, why are there no remains on the surface?"

Lin Sicheng was concise: "It must have been buried when the Coal Mine was opened during the Republic of China!"

Although there was plenty of Coal here, due to poor transportation, it was only small-scale operations in the past.

But by the Republic of China, with the need to support an army and the widespread use of mechanical equipment, the area and depth of development must have grown geometrically.

The key is that with semi-open-pit mining, the waste soil and slag after screening the Coal were dumped right on the spot; how could it not bury a ruin of any size?

If it weren't for the mining accident that created a few strange pits on the river terrace, it might not have been discovered at all...

Turning these thoughts over, Lin Sicheng smiled: "Museum Curator Liu, Bureau Chief Xu, report it!"

The two nodded vigorously and simultaneously took out their phones. One reported to the county, the other to the city.

Wang Qi Zhi glanced over and also took out his phone.

After saying a few words, he handed it forward: "Bureau Chief He!"

Lin Sicheng took it, and He Zhigang's voice came through: "Little Lin, I will arrive tomorrow..."

"Good!"

Hanging up the phone, Lin Sicheng thought: Once Bureau Chief He arrives, this area will likely be handed over to local departments. With only one day, what needs to be measured should be measured as soon as possible...

"Officer Tian, put the Glaze Preparation Area aside for now, pull two teams: one to measure the approximate scope of the ruins, using this place as the center: one hundred meters north-south, one kilometer east-west, measure the river terrace in this entire area..."

"The other team find the Kiln Furnace, measure a bit deeper..."

Tian Jie nodded forcefully and arranged it over the walkie-talkie.

Wang Qi Zhi felt a secret sense of emotion.

If it were before, it was only because of the favor owed to Lin Sicheng, plus He Zhigang's repeated and stern emphasis, that Tian Jie followed Lin Sicheng's instructions so obediently.

But now, Tian Jie was absolutely convinced: that's right, Lin Sicheng is indeed not a professional archaeologist, but this layman knows more than he, the expert...

As he thought this, Gao Zhangyi's voice came over the walkie-talkie, saying that a Stone Mill had been discovered next to the White Not-Mud Washing Pool.

Lin Sicheng told them to continue exploring.

Without needing his instruction, Shang Yan led the data team over, some taking photos, others drawing diagrams.

Afterwards, the walkie-talkie rang from time to time: Water Pestle, Water Wheel, porcelain pit, Kiln Furnace.

More and more were discovered, and the scope grew larger and larger...

It wasn't until three o'clock in the afternoon that the phone rang; He Zhigang said he had arrived in Hejin City.

After giving a few instructions to Tian Jie and Gao Zhangyi, Lin Sicheng took Wang Qi Zhi and Shang Yan into the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

The large conference room was strangely quiet.

The phone vibrated occasionally, and the secretary walked out on tiptoe. After returning from answering, they whispered into the leader's ear.

Several local leaders looked excited, but Wang Qi Zhi remained calm and composed, sitting as steady as a bell.

How professional and authoritative Lin Sicheng is—it's not something blown out of proportion by talk, is it? If he says there is a kiln site, then there is definitely a kiln site; it would be abnormal if it couldn't be found.

It's a pity it's all Black Porcelain...

Just as he was thinking this, three figures in camouflage uniforms entered the conference room; He Zhigang looked over and paused for a moment.

Having spent over ten days eating and living in the mountains, their appearance was as one could imagine.

Relatively speaking, Wang Qi Zhi and Shang Yan were a bit better off; they basically did not participate in the surveying, only their clothes were a bit dirty and they looked a bit haggard.

But Lin Sicheng followed the Archaeology Team the entire time, and most of the time, he was probing with a rod alone, walking further than the team members.

After being exposed to the Wind and sun for over half a month, his face looked as if it had been smeared with a layer of soy sauce, and He Zhigang almost didn't recognize him.

He stood up subconsciously, and the other leaders stood up as well.

After exchanging simple greetings, they sat down one after another. Lin Sicheng took the Folder from Shang Yan's hand and reported in a clear voice:

"As of now, seven Kiln Furnaces have been identified, the earliest dating back to around the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, about four hundred years ago. The latest dates to the 1960s. It can basically be confirmed that from the early Qing Dynasty to after the founding of the country, Lao Yaotou has been continuously firing porcelain..."

"Four Waste Porcelain Pits have been discovered in the surrounding area, with the main vessel shapes being Black Glaze Bowls, followed by Sauce Glaze Jars, Pottery Vats, Pottery Jars, etc... The physical samples are extremely rich."

"In addition, two porcelain clay pits and associated mine pits have been discovered, along with three fuel pits and three mud storage pools each, as well as processing areas and equipment: Water Wheels, Stone Pestles, and Water Mills. There are also glazing areas, Firing Auxiliary Areas, etc... The site is seven hundred meters long from east to west and over eighty meters from north to south, with a rough area of over fifty thousand square meters..."

Hearing "over fifty thousand square meters," everyone was stunned in unison.

Calculating the area first, it was at least eighty or ninety mu.

But the size was secondary; the key was the completeness: the Kiln Furnace structures, raw material processing, Firing Auxiliary areas, raw materials and fuel, unearthed relics, and even the Kiln Industry Waste Layers (Waste Porcelain Pits).

To put it another way, this is the first complete porcelain-making site discovered in Hejin... oh no, in Yuncheng.

One dare not say it is unprecedented, but at the very least, it is unparalleled...

(End of this chapter)