Chapter 492

"……"

This archaeological team member said a lot, and Fang Yang nodded again: "Then let me take a look."

This cave located in the mountain peak looked as if it were formed naturally.

The archaeological team members had been very careful, so the traces they mentioned were actually preserved.

Such as the piles of grass on the ground, clothes that had become moldy, and clearly damaged paper money.

"This cave doesn't look very big."

"There are obvious traces of chiseling on the walls."

Fang Yang could feel that there were good things in here, but he couldn't determine the specific location.

He needed to get closer to these.

So, under the gaze of others, Fang Yang kept tapping and knocking on the stone walls inside.

The cameraman felt that Fang Yang looked like he was picking a watermelon, but seeing the serious expressions of the others, the cameraman didn't dare to joke with Fang Yang here.

The cameraman swallowed, and then, like the archaeological team members, fixed his gaze on Fang Yang.

Seeing Fang Yang's focused gaze, the cameraman felt that his desire to joke was really not appropriate at all.

Time moved forward minute by minute. Fang Yang suddenly looked at a place where moss was growing, then picked up a small knife and scraped the mossy area.

An archaeological team member couldn't help but take a step forward: "Could the item be inside this wall? Did someone hide them like this?"

Fang Yang heard their question and said slowly: "I have already checked the vicinity just now. There are no suspicious places, but this wall has obvious traces. Clearly, someone either left text on it or there is something else, or perhaps it was for some other purpose. I'm not sure about these, so I checked everything."

"Hmm, hard work pays off. Finally, I've seen what I should see."

Having said this, Fang Yang couldn't stop smiling.

The curve of his lips lifted even higher.

Hearing Fang Yang say this, the others had no more questions at this time.

The only thing they wanted to know now was if Fang Yang could really find something from this wall.

In order to find cultural relics or other things, they had already stayed on this mountain for several months.

However, everything indicated that what they had done was just a waste of effort.

If it weren't for someone suggesting to bring Fang Yang over, I'm afraid they would still be wasting a lot of time now.

Just under their nervous and expectant gazes.

Suddenly, they saw Fang Yang press hard on the wall, and the force looked exceptionally heavy.

For a moment, they felt as if the cave was about to collapse.

Of course, that was just an illusion. In reality, there was no collapse at all; instead, something suddenly came out from another wall.

"What is going on? Could there be a mechanism?"

One of the archaeological team members couldn't help but laugh dryly, feeling that such a guess was very absurd, yet the reality was right before their eyes.

There was indeed a mechanism, but this mechanism was exceptionally crude.

Actually, there had always been a long string outside to fix it, but because of the moss on it, the others didn't notice it at all.

Because the position was very high, they initially thought it was a normal natural formation.

Now it seems they thought too much.

"Something fell out from inside just now. Hurry and see what it is!"

It was a package, a very thick-looking package. Because the suddenly protruding part of the wall was very close to the ground, it made a very heavy, muffled sound when it fell to the ground.

In fact, it was not affected too dangerously.

They opened it immediately and soon found a considerable number of small jade and gold items inside. However, what shocked them the most was a large piece of golden material engraved with text.

【Wu Zetian's Gold Slip】

【36.20 cm long, 8 cm wide, 223.5 grams】

【Made of gold, with a gold content as high as 96%.】

【……】

"This is actually a gold slip. This might be the first gold slip discovered in our country, China, after all, no such cultural relic has ever been unearthed before."

The archaeological team members were very excited.

They knew there would be discoveries, but they didn't expect that such a discovery, which hadn't been found after months of effort, would be found by Fang Yang.

They were not jealous of Fang Yang; anyone who could find good things was their good comrade.

Their gazes were focused, involuntary, and they looked at the content on it very seriously.

As for why a simple mechanism was used to hide these cultural relics in here, they didn't want to pursue it anymore.

"Great Zhou Sovereign..."

An archaeological team member slowly read out these words one by one.

Many of the characters inside were familiar, but some characters could not be determined as to their true reading.

But even so, it basically allowed them to determine which period the item was from.

"If I am not mistaken, this should be Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty?"

One of the archaeological team members said this while suppressing the excitement deep in his heart.

Fang Yang had been standing by watching. Facing the excited emotions of these archaeological team members, he and the cameraman were probably the calmest of everyone.

"This is indeed an item of Wu Zetian from the Tang Dynasty."

As soon as Fang Yang spoke, he instantly attracted the attention of the others.

"This tells of Wu Zetian feeling that her sins were heavy."

"She earnestly instructed the Daoist priest Hu Chao to go to the top of Mount Song on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on her behalf and throw a gold slip."

"And the other party doing this was to pray for the gods to forgive her sins of a lifetime."

Having said this, Fang Yang couldn't help but sigh softly.

"The struggle for power is cruel. As the saying goes, since ancient times, there has been no affection in the imperial family. Wu Zetian, in controlling supreme power, directly or indirectly caused the deaths of many people."

"She had people throw this gold slip on the mountaintop, probably hoping that heaven could forgive her sins."

"Praying for blessings and removing evil."

336. The only empress in history, immeasurable contribution to Buddhism!

【Popularity】+1+1+1+1.

……

——【I never felt that Grandma Wu Zetian was that bad. You can see it from her wordless stele. This empress knew her own faults. If it weren't for her rule, the Tang Dynasty wouldn't have had the Kaiyuan Prosperity, so she was a good empress.】

——【She was capable and talented, but she was ruthless.】

——【There are many ruthless emperors, and I haven't seen others feeling that their sins were heavy.】

——【After all, she was a woman, and she bore much more in every aspect than previous monarchs.】

——【Indeed, Emperor Wu of Han also had a self-reproach edict. The more excellent a person is, the more they will introspect.】

——【Forced by rebellion, and also getting old, her heart softened, but that doesn't erase her achievements in this life.】

——【Most emperors, even if they know they did something wrong, won't say it, because the Son of Heaven receives the mandate from heaven and represents the national prestige. If there really is a problem with governance, they will find eunuchs and ministers below to take the blame. Usually, eunuchs take the blame more often.】

——【Wu Zetian's contribution to Buddhism is immeasurable. During the peak of Buddhism in China, the Shurangama Sutra could only be circulated because she funded its printing.】

——【"The supreme in Buddhist scriptures... wishing to understand the true meaning of the Tathagata" was written by Wu Zetian.】

——【Yes, Buddhism was what she valued most because she had practiced it devoutly. It's just that being in the position of an emperor wasn't enough, otherwise Wu Zetian wouldn't have lived to be 82. All kinds of people who wanted to harm her were protected by Dharma protectors. By the time of Li Longji, there wasn't so much Buddhist culture. Wu Zetian was influenced to some extent by Li Shimin, who also particularly believed in Buddhism.】

——【For personal desire, she even killed her own children. Even if she vigorously promoted Buddhism to offset the guilt in her heart and not fall into the evil path, her next life will still show evil retribution.】

——【Where did you read that unofficial history novel? Official history doesn't say she killed her children at all. At that time, the "Declaration Against Wu" scolded her to pieces, and didn't miss a single stain, but it didn't mention her killing her children at all. If she had killed her children, such a big stain would definitely not have been missed.】

——【The person earlier probably didn't read unofficial history, but watched too many TV dramas. Now, many things about history in TV dramas are wrong, and they don't care about the truth of history.】

——【The New Book of Tang was written by people of the Song Dynasty, so the element of smearing cannot be ruled out. The Old Book of Tang doesn't mention her killing her own children.】

——【I'm really impressed by the misogyny. It's as if male emperors haven't killed their own children. There are plenty of them who killed their own sons for the sake of a favorite concubine, and I haven't seen the people earlier being so indignant.】

——【Commenting on monarchs shouldn't be based on personal character, but on their importance to the whole country and the people, and even more on the recognition of the people at the bottom.】

——【Li Longji killed his three sons, and Li Shimin also killed his own brothers.】

——【What kind of values are these? For the sake of power, killing siblings is worth admiring?】

——【Why can't we mention Wu Zetian's political achievements of inheriting the Zhenguan era and starting the Kaiyuan Prosperity? Using things not even mentioned in history to smear her, and besides, are there few emperors in history who killed their wives, children, and brothers?】

The people in the livestream were discussing constantly.

Fang Yang looked at the archaeological team not far away treating Wu Zetian's gold slip as if it were a treasure, and then looked at the heated discussion in the livestream.

He curled his lips and smiled.

"Wu Zetian's gold slip is also called the 'Sin-Removing Gold Slip'."