Chapter 24 Chapter 24 Mass Burial

It is said that Xiao Zhong finished reading the family letter sent back by Xiao Ziru, and then said to Xiao Ziyu: "The young master has been dismissed from office, that is for sure, as for what to do, we should first figure out the ins and outs of the matter." Xiao Ziyu sighed: "What you said is indeed reasonable, but my brother hasn't come back yet. You have to ask him about many things to find out. You can't tell anything from the family letter." Xiao Zhong said: "Eldest Young Master may come back soon, and there is another way to get some inside information. Just now I heard at Zhige Pavilion that there was an article in the "National Daily" that Eldest Young Master took the blame and resigned. Second Young Master Why don't you go to the bureau and find a copy?"

Xiao Ziyu immediately ordered Xiao Huoyang to go to the police station and bring back all the recent "National Daily".He and Xiao Zhong spent a lot of effort and finally found that article.After reading it, the master and the servant finally had a clue: it turned out that Xiao Ziru became the director of finance in Yunnan Province by virtue of his fellowship with Cai E. After Cai E died in Japan due to a throat disease, he lost his support and received many favors in the officialdom. crowd out.When he was under Cai E, in order to be worthy of the support of his fellow villagers, he was a clean and honest official, and he didn't have much savings around him.After losing his support, in order to gain a firm foothold, he had to spend money to establish a new relationship. In addition, his father died and spent a lot of money. Money was tight, and he embezzled part of the public funds in desperation, thinking that when the situation improved, he would make up for the shortfall.Unexpectedly, this matter was discovered by his opponent, and he reported it to the higher authorities, and his black hat was lost.After the master and servant knew what was going on, they agreed that if they had money, the matter would not be difficult to settle, and the elder brother could still be his official.Where does the money come from?Of course, it is to dig up Zhu Qifeng's tomb early.

There is little gossip, but it is said that on the night of the 29th day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar, Xiao Ziyu and Zhu Zixiang rushed to the cemetery of Zhu Qifeng in Tanjia Village with twenty strong farmers.They settled in Tan Xiaoku's home, and Zhu Zixiang directed them to work in the cemetery. Zhu Zixiang's excavation site was in a very inconspicuous place, which puzzled Xiao Ziyu.In his subconscious mind, the excavation point should be under that inscription, because Jiang Yilang's ancestors had opened it to enter the tomb.Seeing that Xiao Ziyu was a bit puzzled, Zhu Zixiang explained: "Do you know why Zhu Chengsheng failed? It was because he chose the tomb entrance under the inscription - there are as many as thirty-six organs designed in that tomb passage, and all of them are Permanent, no matter how many years, it can be fatal."

Xiao Ziyu asked: "What mechanism is so powerful?" Zhu Zixiang said: "It can be divided into two major categories - one is mechanical, such as traps and mazes, once people enter it, they can never get out; Once inside, if you accidentally touch a certain place, the poisonous gas will be released, and Jiang Yilang's ancestors were killed by this kind of thing." Xiao Ziyu sighed endlessly: "Sure enough! Why did you design two access corridors?" Zhu Zixiang said: "It's very simple. One passage is for the craftsmen who built the tomb and the funeral workers. After they enter, they can never come out - it is the passage dug by Zhu Chengsheng; the other passage is for the tomb owner's relatives and guests to enter and exit." Because they have to go to the site to supervise the craftsmen to build the tomb according to the requirements, and they have to urge the migrant workers to place the coffin according to the regulations during the burial, so there must be a safe passage—this is the place we are digging now. In fact, both passages are It was built by craftsmen, and they themselves didn't understand why they had to do so much. The mechanism was designed by the people in the palace. Usually, when the project was nearing completion, the craftsmen went to bed at night to do tricks. On the last day of the completion of the project, the people in the palace asked The craftsmen enter from the safe passage, and then close the stone gate, and when the craftsmen complete the final work and want to come out, they can only take the rigged passage."

Xiao Ziyu nodded and sighed: "Wuqing is the emperor's family the most, they have really racked their brains to harm people!" Zhu Zixiang went on to say: "It's the same during the burial. Migrant workers transport the coffin into the tomb through the safe passage, and then the passage will be closed quietly, and they can only embark on the road of death without knowing it. After the migrant workers were killed, the royal guards who hid at the end easily opened the safety gate and swaggered out of the tomb." Xiao Ziyu pondered for a while and then asked: "I have great doubts about one detail - when Zhu Qifeng was buried, the forty-eight empty coffins in the palace were still waiting to enshrine the forty-eight headless corpses, that is to say, those who carried the coffins After migrant workers enter through the safe corridor, they must come back from the original road, isn’t that the case?”

Zhu Zixiang nodded: "Yes, that's right." Xiao Ziyu said: "This is the suspicious point, but after a few years, Zhu Chengsheng went to dig the tomb according to the direction pointed out by Li Shijiang before his death, why did he still fall into the trick!" Zhu Zixiang said: "It seems that Director Xiao really has a heart. Almost all the listeners of Zhige Pavilion will ignore this point, but you have thought of it! Now I will reveal the answer to you. In fact, once the answer is revealed, all the answers will be simple. Even children will think it is simple. That’s how it is. After Li Shijiang and his workers sealed the entrance of the safety corridor and placed the inscription, they will go to the workshop to have their last meal. It was only at this moment that the people in the palace immediately moved the inscription to the entrance of the tunnel with the organ while the craftsman was not there!"

Xiao Ziyu opened his mouth wide in shock: "So, they are so thoughtful, they are really tight!" Zhu Zixiang finally said: "In fact, it is not completely watertight. Any trap that harms people has a loophole to be found. The loophole is on this inscription! At that time, in order to check whether the tomb was stolen in the future, my ancestor A base of lime was made under the inscription—a pedestal that is easy to break, and the inscription erected by Li Shijiang does not have this item.” Xiao Ziyu said: "Li Shijiang is not a god, how could he have guessed that the people in the palace would do such tricks! No one but you insiders would have expected this tiny flaw!"

Zhu Zixiang nodded and said, "It's the same as magic tricks. Outsiders can't figure out those mysteries with their own heads." The excavation project is still going on, the project is not very big, at most there are more than 50 square meters of soil, just digging for one night is enough.The problem is still "tomb robbery", and safety is the first priority. If so, the next morning, people in Tanjia Village will find that a large pile of dirt suddenly rises in that place, and the news will spread like wildfire—once it reaches Zhige Pavilion, There will be big trouble.Therefore, the biggest project of digging the tomb is how to make these redundant seals disappear from people's vision.

Tan Xiaoku is a native and is most familiar with the terrain here. He told Xiao Ziyu that there is a small river one mile away from the tomb, and the water in the river is bottomless.When Wang Anshi traveled in Duliang and heard the depth of the water here, he connected them with forty-eight pairs of grain ropes, tied a stone at one end and sank into the river, but it still didn't reach the bottom.For this reason, Wang Anshi named the river "Baidijiang" and wrote two characters on the rock at the source - "Bingyan". In this way, everyone has something to do, Zhu Zixiang, Tan Xiaoku and Xiao Huoyang are responsible for excavating and loading soil, and the rest of the farmers are responsible for transporting soil.There were not enough dustpans, so they went to steal them from the eaves of each house, causing the dogs in Tanjia Village to bark.It was late at night, and an old man who was awakened by the barking of dogs thought that there was a thief in the village, so he bluffed and shouted in the house: "Catch the thief, stop him, he can't escape!"

The barking of the dogs gradually diminished, and finally there was only an old dog barking at the figures walking back and forth between the graveyard and the bottomless river with an old and deep voice. From late at night to Yinshi in the early morning, a hole more than one foot deep was dug. According to this progress rate, it only took three nights to dig.The rooster crowed twice, and although it was pitch black all around, this was a sign before dawn.Xiao Ziyu didn't dare to be greedy for the progress, so he made people pretend to be the hole and announced the end of the work.At that time, the busy cook at Tan Xiaoku's house had already prepared the meals.After eating, everyone lay in disorder in the room and slept.

At dawn, the villagers of Tanjia Village woke up. They gathered on the threshing field in front of the village and chatted, saying that the dogs in the village barked so much last night. At first they thought they were thieves, but when they went to the window and saw It's another scene - there are many shadows shaking outside the house... In the middle of the night, who is still making noise outside?In the end, the villagers unanimously agreed that Tanjia Village was haunted... Later, many people found that they had lost dustpans and shoulder poles... It was getting dark, and what was different from usual was that the children in Tanjia Village no longer played hide-and-seek outside their houses, and went to bed after taking a bath early.The mountain village seemed extremely quiet, with occasional sounds of pigs scrambling for food and chickens jumping out of cages, but it returned to calm in an instant. At the time of Xupai, the dogs in the village barked again. At this time, men, women, old and children have already gone to bed, and most people have fallen asleep.But the elderly man still didn't fall asleep, he pricked up his ears to listen to the movement outside.Based on their experience, this time the dog was not calling a thief, let alone a ghost, but an outsider passing by the village.This village is the only way to go to the Immortal Temple. It is not surprising that monks often pass by late at night. The feeling of the old people was not wrong, only one person entered the village this time, but it was not a monk, but Xiao Ziyu's housekeeper, Xiao Zhong.He opened the door of Tan Xiaoku's house with a secret signal. At this time, the people in the house had just had dinner and were about to start work.Xiao Zhong came straight to Xiao Ziyu and told him that Xiao Ziru, the boss, had arrived home.What the newspaper said was correct, Xiao Ziru was dismissed and investigated for misappropriating public funds because of financial constraints.If a huge sum of money can be raised for activities, the situation may turn around.Xiao Ziyu asked after hearing the old housekeeper's report, "Does my brother know what's going on here?" Xiao Zhong nodded: "I told him about it, and he was very happy, so he insisted on coming with me to have a look. I saw that he was exhausted from the journey, so I advised him not to come." "What does he think of things here?" "He didn't object, and said that it was God's help for him. He was most interested in Tang Yin's "Four Seasons of Pleasure". He said that this group of paintings could not be sold, but should be given to the most important political figures. Get a bigger official." Xiao Ziyu nodded: "Official positions are indeed important in China. Without this, even if you get rich by chance, you can't keep it." Xiao Zhongdao: "Jiang Xinghe has made such a fortune, and there seems to be no one in his family who is an official." Xiao Ziyu said: "If you think so, you are wrong. He took another path—although no one in his family is an official, many officials in key departments are supported by his financial resources." Xiao Zhong seemed to have realized something, and said: "This road really made him go the right way. No wonder he has done such a big business, but no one dared to touch him." Seeing that it was getting late, Xiao Ziyu said, "Old housekeeper, I can't leave the house without you. You go back and tell my brother to rest well. I'll be back soon when I'm done. We'll discuss what to do then." After Xiao Zhong left, Xiao Ziyu gave the order to start work.Like last night, only the old dog barked in a low, old voice in the village.The people in the mountain village are superstitious, and they have a proverb passed down from mouth to mouth - "two pigs and one dog", which means that if there is only one dog barking in the village late at night, it is a sign that the village is going to die.Therefore, it is very taboo for a dog to bark alone in a mountain village. In order not to cause trouble to the upper body, no one dares to show his anger, no matter how long the dog barks. The progress of the second night was very smooth, until Yinpai finished work, and the stone gate had already been dug.Zhu Zixiang said that this is the stone gate of the safe tomb passage. If it is closed, the craftsmen in the tomb can only choose another way of death.Seeing the stone gate, Xiao Ziyu was very excited, because the priceless treasure was only separated by a gate.He ordered to call it a day, and when he left, Zhu Zixiang disguised the entrance of the cave. If he didn't watch carefully, he wouldn't be able to see any flaws even if he stood in front of it.This is all thanks to Zhu Zixiang, who has mastered this trick in his long career of tomb robbers. After dawn, the people of Tanjia Village woke up and returned to their usual calm, as if nothing happened yesterday.Later, when the shepherd boy in the village was grazing in the Wudi River, he found that the clear and calm water suddenly turned turbid and yellow. After a closer look, the mound from the riverside to the back of the village was covered with fresh broken soil along the road... The shepherd boy then Guess—someone picked up the soil from the mound and poured it into the bottomless river... Who did it?Why do you want to do this?But in the past few days, no one has been found digging here at all. Could it be that they did it at night?A series of question marks aroused the curiosity of the shepherd boys. Among them was a bold shepherd boy named Tan Xiaotian who searched along the broken soil, followed by several shepherd boys. A strange thing happened before Tan Xiaotian came to the mound——the soil here has never been moved!The seal grass on the mound is growing well, and it is swaying in the morning breeze!This phenomenon made Tan Xiaotian's headache suddenly big, and he couldn't figure it out no matter what with his thinking. He was scratching his head and thinking hard, when a shepherd boy whispered: "It couldn't be a ghost, could it?" The shepherd boys panicked and ran away from the mound, screaming all the way: "There are ghosts, there are ghosts, ghosts are coming!" Tan Xiaotian, who was the first to go to the mound, collapsed. When he fled back to the bottomless river, his face was already pale, and he opened his mouth wide and frozen into a terrified expression... It was time for breakfast, but Tan Xiaotian didn't go home. The buffalo he grazing ate a lot of seedlings from other people's homes.The victim took the buffalo that caused the accident and questioned Tan Xiaotian's parents Xingshi.Tan Xiaotian's father was furious and looked for his son everywhere... It was already noon when they found Tan Xiaotian, and Tan Xiaotian had turned into a corpse at that time, and was fished up from the bottomless river.His mother was crying like hell, and his father was dejected and helpless.It was the patriarch Tan Yanliang who had his own opinion. He asked the people in the village who knew carpentry to make a wooden box out of old boards to enshrine Tan Xiaotian.Then use a bamboo stick to carry it up to the "Gui Zai Zai Grave Mountain" in the south of the village.Firecrackers were also set off during the burial, and the sound of firecrackers awakened Tan Xiaoku who was sleeping at home. Tan Xiaoku, who was born and raised in Si, knows the customs of Tanjia Village best, and knows that it is not a good thing to set off firecrackers on the mountain in broad daylight.Standing in front of the window and looking south, he saw two uncles of the same clan were putting a "ghost coffin" into the pit, and singing the folk song: "Dig deep, bury deep, Don't let the yellow dog pick it up..." In Duliang, the dead are also graded. The dead who are over sixty years old and full of children and grandchildren have the highest status and deserve to be buried in the orthodox ancestral graves; dead people under the age of sixty are called "short-lived ghosts". Those who have children and grandchildren can only be buried in the second-class cemetery; if they are over 60 years old, they can only be buried in the third-class cemetery. , but this kind of cemetery does not only bury underage "short-lived ghosts", such as "dystocia ghosts", "hanged ghosts", drowned, gray crawlers, whores, villains... etc. are all buried here.Tan Xiaoku's sister was also buried on the "Guizaizai Cemetery".I heard that after his mother died in dystocia, someone suggested that she should also be buried there. It was his father who argued that she had a son, and was finally buried in the fourth-class cemetery.Accompanied by his mother are some old people in the village who died abnormally. Du Liang has a conventional name for them to "hurt people". When Tan Xiaotian was buried, there were several frightened shepherd boys standing at the gate of Tan Xiaoku's house looking at Nanpo.Anxious parents found them here.It is only natural for adults to inquire about the cause of Tan Xiaotian's death.The shepherd boy explained the cause and effect in every word, and when the adults heard that the horrible big mound was causing trouble again, they quickly warned their children not to make it public. Knowing the whole story, Tan Xiaoku went back to sleep next to his master. The whole room was full of people in their dreams, and they didn't know what happened outside. For Tanjiacun, Tan Xiaotian's death proved two points: anyone who dares to offend that sacred mound will provoke unreasonable disasters-whether intentionally or unintentionally; In order to hide, the cook dared not cook until it was dark. After eating, it was late at night, and the Tan family village was eerily quiet.Suddenly there was a woman's mournful cry, "Heart, baby" screamed heart-piercingly.Everyone else was puzzled and looked at each other. Only Tan Xiaoku knew what was going on in his heart, so he explained: "This morning the shepherd boy was grazing cattle by the river and saw that the water was muddy, so he followed the broken soil to the mound. There was no sign of movement, so they thought they had encountered a ghost, and one of the children fainted from fright and fell into the water and drowned. This crying woman is the mother of the deceased.” After hearing this, everyone sighed. The bereaved woman cried for a while, but was persuaded by her family to go back, and the village returned to peace.In the calm, the melodious bells of the Immortal Temple on the mountain came.Xiao Ziyu thought that the earthwork had been completed, and waited until midnight before announcing the start of construction. This time there is no need for a dustpan and a hoe, only steel brazing, hammers, axes and shovels.When a group of people came to the grave, the old dog in the village barked away again. Zhu Zixiang took off the camouflage turf, and a dark hole appeared in front of him.Tan Xiaoku entered the cave first and lit candles, and then gradually placed them on both sides of the tomb passage for lighting. It is about 20 feet from the entrance to the stone gate, and the tomb passages along the way are all made of green bricks fired with firewood.The following words are printed on each brick: The bricks of the tomb of Min State, Liangzhou, the capital of Baoqing Prefecture, weigh fifty catties. The master and apprentice came to the stone gate, and Xiao Ziyu and several of his confidantes also rushed there afterward.The stone gate is very big, weighing about five hundred catties, and it stands still as if it grew here. Xiao Ziyu touched the stone gate and asked, "It's so thick, can it be broken?" Zhu Zixiang said: "Smashing it is definitely not acceptable. It is not difficult to open the gate after knowing the inside story. You see there is a hole in it. It is controlled by the agency." Zhu Zixiang took out a two-pound stone key from the top of the stone gate like a magic trick, inserted it into the hole, and then pushed hard—— The stone gate miraculously opened, and in an instant, a big hole opened up, and a musty air-conditioning rushed in... After the smell dissipated, everyone entered the tomb with a candle each. The first thing that came into view was a huge bronze oil tank with dragon and phoenix patterns engraved on the outside. A metallic sound echoed, "Master Zhu, what is this?" Zhu Zixiang said: "This is the ever-burning lamp placed in front of the coffin. It used to be filled with a jar of ghee, and I hope it can last forever. In fact, once the entrance to the tomb is closed, it will be extinguished long ago due to lack of air inside." The scale of the tomb is not very large, but it is enough to accommodate more than fifty people, and the farmers guarding outside couldn't resist their curiosity and came to watch.Holding a candle in one hand and a hammer in the other, Xiao Ziyu looked around. There were many funerary objects placed in front and on both sides of the coffin, including porcelain, lacquerware and jade, and most of them were silk products.The silk fabric looks bright and dazzling, but it turns to powder when you hold it in your hand.Everyone knew that all the valuables were in the coffin, and Xiao Ziyu couldn't wait to open the coffin.He already had some experience in stealing the tomb of Concubine Xia, so he asked Zhu Zixiang, "This coffin should be of 'push tenon' structure?" Zhu Zixiang nodded: "The coffins of the royal family in the Ming Dynasty are all of this kind of structure." Xiao Ziyu hit the sides of the coffin with a hammer as if he knew how to do it, so that the dry paint in the gaps fell off, and then said: "The coffin can be opened." After Xiao Ziyu finished speaking, he became even more nervous. He had already suffered a loss once, and he was afraid that he would be an empty coffin again—because he had learned the complexity of Wangling.Zhu Zixiang seemed to understand his thoughts, so he said, "Don't worry, Director Xiao, this time it will definitely not be an empty coffin!" Xiao Ziyu gathered herself together, bent down and began to push the lid of the coffin, and the dealers rushed to help.The coffin lid finally moved. When the coffin lid cracked a seam, a strange thing happened—a smoke came out from the coffin. When everyone was puzzled, Zhu Zixiang shouted: "Attention, this is poisonous gas, let us let it go!" Come in after it's gone!" As soon as the bankers heard that it was poisonous gas, they rushed to flee, and Xiao Ziyu followed closely behind, fearing that it would be unpleasant.Tan Xiaoku wanted to follow him when he saw her, but was grabbed by Zhu Zixiang. Xiao Ziyu and his tenants all entered the safe tomb passage. Just when the people in the front were about to escape from the tomb passage, Zhu Zixiang, who was walking behind, pried off a stone on the wall of the tomb passage with a steel fiber—the sky fell and the earth cracked instantly. There was a loud noise, the tomb passage at the exit collapsed, and Xiao Ziyu and his farmer were locked in the tomb passage. At this time, Tan Xiaoku also reacted, and quickly closed the stone gate... Xiao Ziyu and his farmer were locked in the tomb. In the middle of the tomb passage, Tan Xiaoku looked at Zhu Zixiang: "Master, if they can't get out, neither can we." Zhu Zixiang said: "Don't be afraid, there is another exit here." "Didn't you say that the tunnel is full of traps and traps?" Tan Xiaoku asked in confusion. "You don't need to ask, just follow me. In short, we still have a glimmer of hope to get out alive. But be quick, the air inside has just come in, and the burning candle consumes a lot of air. Wait until the candle can't light up." Then there will be no more air..." Then Tan Xiaoku understood that when the candles were no longer lit, there was no hope.In order to escape quickly, Tan Xiaoku threw away the shovel in his hand and said, "Then hurry up and escape, I'll listen to you!" "Don't throw the shovel, we can't escape without it!" Zhu Zixiang reminded. Tan Xiaoku picked up the shovel again, and looked around the tomb with a candle in his hand: "Master, where is the door?" Zhu Zixiang searched for a while, then stopped at one place, and after careful inspection, he said: "Back then, Zhu Chengsheng never entered the tomb at all." Tan Xiaoku asked, "How did Master know?" "You can see that the bolt of the stone gate has not been moved at all. Zhu Chengsheng may have been turned away because he could not find the key." Zhu Zixiang pulled the bolt as he spoke, and worked together with Tan Xiaoku to push the stone gate. When they opened the door, a gust of cold air rushed towards them, almost blowing out the candles in their hands...Zhu Zixiang led the way carefully, reminding Tan Xiaoku from time to time, "Follow me, be careful and don't be afraid." Tan Xiaoku walked behind Zhu Zixiang step by step: "Such a scary place, it would be a lie to say that you are not afraid." Zhu Zixiang didn't say much. After walking about three feet away, he stopped and said, "See clearly, there is a trap ahead!" After saying that, he jumped over. Tan Xiaoku took a closer look, and it turned out to be a deep pit. He didn't know what was inside the pit, but there was a strange smell. He didn't dare to look too much, so he jumped over like his master, and asked, "What is this pit for?" ? It seems to still have a smell." Zhu Zixiang said: "This pit is a pool of mercury. It turned out that there was a layer of extremely thin wooden boards on it. Children would fall if they stepped on it. Zhu Chengsheng fell into this pool and died of poisoning and panic." Tan Xiaoku said: "I heard that if you don't eat mercury, you won't die. 90% of the time he was scared to death. There were also children in Tanjia Village who were scared to death early this morning." "No wonder there are women crying 'darling baby' at night." Zhu Zixiang said without asking any questions, focusing on leading the way. This tomb passage is no different from the "safe passage" over there. Tan Xiaoku has walked for so long, and there are no other traps except for encountering the mercury pool.Maybe it's because Master is familiar with the mechanism here and doesn't touch it?He didn't know, and he didn't want to ask more.The two masters and apprentices finally came to the end - the front is Fengtu.At this time, the two of them obviously felt short of breath, and the light of the candle in their hands was flickering as if it was about to be extinguished.Tan Xiaoku knew that the only way to escape was to shovel away the pile of sealed soil in front of him, so he asked before he could do it: "Master, how much are these soils, can we shovel them all at once?" Zhu Zixiang said: "It's much less than there, but there are more than ten squares." Tan Xiaoku was dumbfounded when he heard this: "Ten squares? How long will it take? The air is almost gone, we are dead!"