Chapter 446

Because this set of chime bells was simply too shocking!

The foreigners who had originally rushed into this livestream wanting to slap Fang Yang in the face were also shocked speechless by the large chime bells unearthed at this moment.

Of course, it wasn't just this large set of chime bells.

It was just that the large chime bells were placed right in front of them first, and they looked exceptionally huge, so they attracted their attention first.

However, if they shifted their gaze away from the large chime bells and looked at the other cultural relics, they were still extremely shocked.

【Popularity】 +1+1+1+1.

……

——【The chime bells are indeed shocking, but you can't ignore the others either. Look at the lacquer colors in that ancient tomb! After two thousand years of history, they are still so vivid.】

——【If I didn't estimate wrong just now, Fang Yang dug out a range of 500 square meters, but in reality, the area of this ancient tomb is at most a little over 200.】

——【It's not just the chime bells; I see that the coffin also looks very heavy. The excavator can't be of much use here anymore; I reckon they'll need to use a crane or a hoist.】

——【I'm a bit curious; I wonder if these ancient musical instruments from over two thousand years ago can still play music.】

——【Even if they could play music, ordinary people wouldn't dare to use them like that, right?】

——【I'm getting more and more curious about Marquis Yi of Zeng. All these unearthed cultural relics have his name written on them, especially these musical instruments. It seems he particularly liked musical instruments.】

——【Could it be that this person named Marquis Yi of Zeng was someone who loved to indulge in pleasure?】

Anything that is heavily linked to things like musical instruments always makes people think in a less-than-positive direction, especially when it's a feudal king.

……

While everyone was discussing, most of the cultural relics had already been dug out and cleaned up.

Because the quantity was simply too massive.

It was difficult to decide where to put these cultural relics in a short time, and there was no way to send so many things to the same place all at once.

Thus, under the arrangement of the Mayor of Yangquan City.

In a short while, quite a few staff members arrived.

To prevent the cultural relics from being damaged, these staff members directly set up quite a few tents.

Doing this was just to prevent exposure to the sun and rain.

At the same time, it was also to allow the Mayor of Yangquan City and others to better think about what the next step should be.

"Fang Yang, what is your opinion on this tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng?"

The Mayor of Yangquan City had finished handling everything that needed to be handled, and soon, he set his sights on Fang Yang.

He knew that Fang Yang was usually very familiar with the ancient objects dug up, just like the Zun-Pan of Marquis Yi of Zeng earlier, which he had introduced quite a bit.

He believed the situation this time should be the same.

"Mayor, if you want me to explain, then I will explain. But everyone is very busy now; won't I be delaying everyone's work?"

Fang Yang was almost somewhat cautious when he said this.

After all, the quantity this time was simply too massive.

"Isn't there a recording? Everyone can watch it together later. Just consider it an explanation for the netizens who are watching right now. Don't let everyone wait too boringly. I reckon it's not just people from our country who are paying attention; there are quite a few people from abroad watching as well."

The Mayor of Yangquan City laughed happily.

278. The Ji clans of Hanyang are the greatest; the most powerful evidence of the State of Zeng!

Seeing that the Mayor of Yangquan City had said so, Fang Yang naturally had no reason to refuse.

He had already organized his words, and there was naturally a lot to say at this moment.

"Before, we dug up the Zun-Pan of Marquis Yi of Zeng, and then the thing that left a deep impression on everyone was the chime bells of Marquis Yi of Zeng."

"At the same time, the number of cultural relics left in this tomb is numerous. I think, at this point, everyone must be very curious about this person, Marquis Yi of Zeng."

"Because the owner of this tomb is Marquis Yi of Zeng, and the owner of these cultural relics is also Marquis Yi of Zeng, then this time, we will focus on talking about this person who has almost no historical records."

Fang Yang said this while taking a sip of water, and then he continued.

"During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the State of Chu was thriving and its ambitions were expanding. It annexed several small neighboring countries one after another, and the State of Zeng was also one of Chu's targets."

"The ruler of the State of Zeng, Marquis Yi of Zeng, relied on excellent diplomatic means to allow his country to live securely under the powerful Chu."

"Although the State of Zeng was destroyed by the State of Chu less than two years after his death, he did quite well during the time he was alive."

"Of course, this is just one of the claims. In fact, the claim that the State of Zeng was destroyed right after Marquis Yi of Zeng died is very ridiculous."

"Because after Marquis Yi of Zeng died, there was still a person named Marquis Bing of Zeng."

"You might think I'm talking nonsense because there is no person named Marquis Bing of Zeng in the existing historical documents."

"But before this tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng was dug up, there were no records of a person named Marquis Yi of Zeng in historical documents either."

"In existing historical documents, there is relatively more and deeper understanding of the history of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period."

"We can understand other countries through our understanding of the State of Chu; after all, history is interconnected and can be mutually verified."

"What kind of country was the State of Chu during the Warring States period? The thing that leaves the deepest impression on us is that it was very warlike."

"You must know that being warlike does not mean being powerful. The State of Chu was a country with weak national strength, and it could even be described with the word 'frail.' There was constant palace intrigue, such as killing brothers and fathers, constant militarism, repeated defeats, and it was prone to falling apart at any moment."

"So, the previous claim has a high probability of being wrong."

【Popularity】 +1+1+1+1.

……

——【I support the claim that the State of Chu was actually not powerful, but there is one thing I must refute: I have studied history for so long, and in history, there is simply no such country as the State of Zeng!!】

——【Let's not worry about whether the State of Zeng exists for now, but Marquis Yi of Zeng definitely exists. After all, the evidence is right in front of us.】

——【Fang Yang has almost never said anything wrong. Everyone, don't be blind. Are you still going to refute what Fang Yang said at this point?】

——【No matter what kind of research is done, historical verification is needed. If Fang Yang said this was just a story, then I wouldn't have any problems. But now, Fang Yang is clearly doing historical verification. This is a very obvious thing. Is it that I can't even raise an opinion on this?】

……

Fang Yang took in everyone's doubts.

"It is very normal for everyone to have doubts. I won't feel angry because of this. If you have questions, just bring them up, and I can explain them to everyone."

"What everyone cares about most is that the State of Zeng does not exist in history……"

"Actually, it's not that it didn't exist. If you are not familiar with the State of Zeng, then you must be familiar with the State of Sui. The State of Zeng and the State of Sui are actually the same country."

"At that time, there was not only the State of Zeng, but also the State of Li, the State of E, the State of Tang, and the State of Er. In terms of the distribution of cities, from the Western Zhou to the early Spring and Autumn period, Sui County was the place where 'five capitals were linked like pearls'."

"Historical records say, 'The Ji clans of Hanyang, Sui is the greatest.' Why did Marquis Yi of Zeng have so many funerary objects? In fact, according to inference, Marquis Yi of Zeng was very likely a descendant of Nangong Kuo, one of the four friends of King Wen."

"Nangong Kuo was a key minister who assisted King Wen and King Wu in destroying the Yin, and his status was quite high in the early Western Zhou period."

"Although the State of Chu was very powerful in the later period and the State of Zeng was relatively weakened, the relationship between the two countries was still good, especially since the State of Zeng had a very solid foundation."

"Why was the foundation of the State of Zeng so solid?"

"For this, we must talk about the value of copper during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods."

"Copper was used to make ritual vessels, weapons, and coins during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. It can be seen how precious copper was at that time. And such precious resources were extremely scarce in the Central Plains, while they were relatively abundant in the south. Therefore, under normal circumstances, copper needed to be transported to the north, and the transport route had to pass through the Zao-Sui Corridor."

"The State of Zeng happened to be located on the Zao-Sui Corridor."

"Collecting some taxes or doing some entrepôt trade was easy for the State of Zeng, and it was extremely profitable."

"Not to mention anything else, just look at the cultural relics that have already been unearthed."

"It's not that Marquis Yi of Zeng only knew how to indulge in pleasure; these are exactly what can prove that the State of Zeng was the orthodox representative of the ritual and music civilization of the Zhou Dynasty."

"It was not a small country as everyone thought, but should have been a major power in the early Spring and Autumn period."

"I hope that this time we can have a general understanding of the State of Zeng."

"I also hope that the cemeteries of the State of Zeng dug up later will allow us all to learn more about the State of Zeng."

……

【Popularity】 +1+1+1+1.

……

——【I didn't feel it before, but now I realize that I am a frog at the bottom of a well. Not only do I not know Marquis Yi of Zeng, but I also know very little about the history of China!】

——【Following Su Yang to learn about the history of China, I believe that even if I can't recite history backward, I definitely won't make any mistakes.】

——【I can't understand it. Even though the State of Zeng was sitting on copper mines in the Sui-Zao Corridor and was rich as oil, if it were really a major power, it's impossible that no news would have been revealed in the past few decades. Cultural relics should have been discovered.】

——【That's right, these are all one-sided words from Fang Yang, and they can't stand up to scrutiny.】

——【How can it not stand up to scrutiny? Isn't the historical record 'The Ji clans of Hanyang, Sui is the greatest' the most powerful evidence?】

——【I have one point I don't understand: why not take the waterway to transport copper?】

——【During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the Yunmeng Marsh hadn't dried up yet. Taking the waterway was definitely the most convenient way from the State of Zeng, but going directly along the Han River would definitely have been robbed by the State of Chu.】

——【Fang Yang made a small mistake. It wasn't because the south had many copper mines, but because at that time, only Daye produced copper mines. To transport it to the Central Plains, the State of Sui had a toll station on the only way through, haha!!】

——【There actually is a person named Nangong Kuo. I used to think it was a character fabricated by the Records of the Grand Historian and the Investiture of the Gods.】

——【Nangong Bo Kuo, not Nangong Kuo. Nangong was just a branch of the State of Zeng!】 ===== CHAPTER 447 =====