Origin

Epitaphs record the life of the tomb owner. Some of them were written by the tomb owner himself during his lifetime. The content is more realistic and more like a memoir. But most of them were written after the death of the tomb owner, and later generations asked literati to help write them. This type of epitaph is often more lofty, uses more words of praise, and is more like singing a hymn.

Qian Yunzhi's epitaph is the second case. It was written by someone else after his death. More than 50% of the entire epitaph is about praising virtues and has no practical significance. The rest records Qian Yunzhi's life experience. .

Qian Yunzhi was over 70 years old when he died. His experience of more than 70 years can be summarized in just over a hundred words. It can be imagined how concise it is.

The things that happened before Qian Yunzhi retired and returned to his hometown are of no significance. If there are any clues, they will definitely be hidden in some of the things that this person did after he retired and returned to his hometown.

Like other officials who retired and returned to their hometowns, Qian Yunzhi also did some good deeds after retiring, building bridges and roads, and providing relief to the victims. Although this man was a military general, he believed in Buddhism and spent most of his later years fasting and chanting Buddha's name.

However, believing in Buddhism and being a monk are two different things. According to the epitaph, Qian Yunzhi had two sons, one was his direct son and the other was his second son. The first son was his wife's child, and this child was also an official. The other child came from the side, that is, the child of a concubine. Regarding this child, there is not much record on the epitaph. It only says, "The youngest son died of illness. Mr. Qian was sad and depressed, and his life was shortened." ’

After reading the epitaph, Wu Zhongyuan said to Wang Xinran, "Go and get their genealogy."

Wang Xinran didn't ask why, nodded, got up and left.

Wu Zhongyuan stayed where he was, frowning and thinking. In ancient times, "young son" was usually used to describe children under eight years old. It can be seen that after Qian Yunzhi retired, his concubine once gave birth to a child for him. Because the youngest son died of illness, Qian Yunzhi Very sad, and finally died in depression.

Soon, Wang Xinran brought the genealogy. There was a record of Qian Yunzhi's legitimate son in the genealogy, but there was no record of his concubine.

Wang Xinran naturally knew what Wu Zhongyuan was looking for. Seeing that there was no concubine's name on the family tree, he asked suspiciously, "What's going on?"

"Boys who died young are not included in the genealogy." Wu Zhongyuan said casually. People in ancient times favored sons over daughters, and boys born from side wives would be recorded in the family tree, but girls would not be written in the family tree even if they were born from the first wife. Therefore, the reason why the bastard did not appear in the family tree was not Because he did not have enough status, but because he died when he was very young.

"If it is not included in the family tree, does it mean that it cannot be buried in the ancestral grave?" Wang Xinran asked.

Wu Zhongyuan nodded.

"The legitimate son's grave is also nearby." Wang Xinran said.

Wu Zhongyuan knew what Wang Xinran meant, "Wait a minute, let me think about it."

Wang Xinran did not insist on digging up the grave of Qian Yunzhi's eldest son, because the descendants of the Qian family were watching not far away. These were their ancestral graves and they could not dig up one after another.

Before thinking about who Qian Yunzhi might have given the spirit stone to, Wu Zhongyuan re-evaluated the possibility of Wu Lu giving the spirit stone to Qian Yunzhi. After careful consideration, he still felt that Wu Lu gave the spirit stone to Qian Yunzhi. The possibility of ambition is very high. Wu Lu's grave was dug up before. There were only some wine jars and weapons inside, but no gold and silver buried with him. This shows that Wu Lu regarded money as dung and had little savings, and lapis lazuli was very rare. Expensive, suddenly receiving such an expensive commemorative gift from his boss, Wu Lu had to give something in return, and the Hetian jade in his hand was also known as Khotan jade, which was a very precious jade in ancient times.

Wu Lu only gave it as a return gift.

After confirming this, we began to think about what Qian Yunzhi would do after he got the spirit stone. Qian Yunzhi was a fourth-grade military attache who retired from old age and returned to his hometown, which was equivalent to the retirement of a deputy provincial or department-level leader. He was definitely not short of money. For his subordinates, The souvenirs given to yourself will definitely not be pawned for money, nor will they be given to outsiders casually. If nothing else, they will be kept forever.

However, no spiritual stone was found in Qian Yunzhi's tomb, which means that Qian Yunzhi probably gave the spiritual stone to his relatives. Who would he give this spiritual stone to? Is it the eldest son or the younger son who died young?

Seeing that Wu Zhongyuan kept frowning and saying nothing, Wang Xinran called the archaeological team and asked them to explore the situation of the tomb on the right side of this tomb. According to ancient funeral regulations, sons are usually buried on the right side of their parents.

The Luoyang shovel is a good thing. This thing was first invented by tomb robbers, and was later adopted by the archaeological community. After drilling several holes around it, they came to the conclusion that the tomb on the right was also complete and dated slightly later. Yu Qian Yunzhi's grave.

"Let's take another gamble." Wang Xinran said.

"Betting on other people's ancestral graves?" Wu Zhongyuan frowned and shook his head, "Don't worry, let me think about it again."

"Don't think about it, there is a high possibility that Qian Yunzhi will leave the jade to his eldest son." Wang Xinran said.

"I don't think so." Wu Zhongyuan shook his head.

"What do you think?" Wang Xinran asked.

Wu Zhongyuan asked instead, "What do the experts at the headquarters think?"

"No reply," Wang Xinran shook his head. "Historians are usually very old and cannot stay up all night."

Wu Zhongyuan said, "When Qian Yunzhi retired and returned to his hometown, his eldest son was already in his thirties, and he had already left home to become an official. In ancient times, it was not like now, where people can take planes and cars wherever they want. His eldest son was working in the south, so Maybe come back to see him often.”

Wang Xinran nodded, "You are right, but this does not prove that Qian Yunzhi did not leave the jade to his eldest son."

"The jade quality of the spirit stone is very good. The ancients believed that jade has spirituality and is a better burial object than gold and silver. If he really left the spirit stone to his eldest son, the eldest son would not keep it for himself and would definitely let it go. Put him in the coffin and bury him with him," Wu Zhongyuan said.

Wang Xinran did not refute, because after thinking about it carefully, Wu Zhongyuan's statement did make sense.

"Do you think the spiritual stone is in his youngest son's grave?" Wang Xinran asked.

"The possibility is very high." Wu Zhongyuan nodded.

"Reason?" Wang Xinran asked.

"Chinese people have the custom of appreciating jade and playing with it. Although the jade quality of the spirit stone is very good, it is not big and cannot be used as ornaments or bracelets and hairpins. The round and round rough stones are most suitable for handpieces," Wu Zhongyuan said, "If Qian Yunzhi really took the spirit stone and played with it, he would most likely put the spirit stone into his youngest son's coffin."

Before Wang Xinran could interrupt, Wu Zhongyuan continued, "Whether it's a relative or a lover, if the yin and yang are separated, you will always leave your beloved things to the other person, so that he can accompany the deceased on his behalf. He will also leave behind the things that the deceased often used during his lifetime. Things, seeing things and thinking about people, to comfort lovesickness.”

Seeing Wang Xinran frowning, Wu Zhongyuan said again, "This is not what I said, this is what the university professor said."

After Wang Xinran nodded, he said, "You just said that a child who died young cannot be buried in the ancestral grave. If the spiritual stone is really in his grave, the possibility of finding it is very slim."

Wu Zhongyuan shook his head, "Not necessarily. Qian Yunzhi loves this child very much. Maybe he will make an exception. You can ask them to look in front of Qian Yunzhi's grave to see if there is a grave."

Wang Xinran complied and asked the archaeological team to conduct another investigation.

While the archaeological team was investigating, Wang Xinran was in contact with the headquarters, while Wu Zhongyuan continued to frown in thought.

The scope of the survey this time was very wide. It took the archaeological team more than an hour to search the area in front of Qian Yunzhi's grave, but no grave was found.

"Is there any news from the headquarters?" Wu Zhongyuan looked at Wang Xinran who was stretching.

Wang Xinran said, "They also don't think the spirit stone will be in the tomb of Qian Yunzhi's eldest son, and they don't recommend that we dig it, as it can easily intensify conflicts."

Seeing that the sun was about to shine on this area, Secretary Qian came over. First, he asked for the genealogy, and second, he hoped that the two of them could restore Qian Yunzhi's tomb to its original state.

After confirming that the spirit stone was not in Qian Yunzhi's tomb, the two ordered the archaeological team to carry the epitaph back to the tomb and sealed the tomb. The previous gray bricks were not damaged and were still in use, but the white ash was rarely used now and could only be used Cement smear.

After restoring the tomb to its original state, Secretary Qian took the old men away with the excuse that he had to go out for business today. They also knew that it was impossible for the two of them to dig without their permission. People dig again.

The archaeological team was also very tired. Seeing that Wu Zhongyuan couldn't figure out the reason for a while, Wang Xinran also let them go back.

Soon, everyone was gone, and in the end only two people were left sitting on the rocks at the foot of the mountain in frustration.

For a long time after that, no new clues came from the headquarters, and the search reached a deadlock.

After a long time, Wang Xinran put out his cigarette butt and asked, "Where are those children who die young usually buried?"

"There are no fixed rules for this. In short, you cannot be buried in the ancestral grave." Wu Zhongyuan shook his head.

"Will it be buried to the north of Qian Yunzhi's grave?" Wang Xinran asked.

Wu Zhongyuan waved his hands repeatedly, "It's impossible. The north is the greatest. If a son is buried north of his father, he is riding on my head."

"Where are the things?" Wang Xinran pointed left and right.

"To the west are the ancestors, and to the east are the descendants." Wu Zhongyuan said.

"Is the mother of this child who died young one of the three female skeletons in the tomb?" Wang Xinran asked.

"It should be," Wu Zhongyuan said. "It is rare for couples to be buried together in tombs with three women and one man. It is usually two women and one man."

"Huh?" Wang Xinran was puzzled.

Wu Zhongyuan explained, "The ancients had two legal wives, one was the official wife and the other was the common wife. Only they were qualified to be buried with their husbands. Concubines were not qualified to be buried with their husbands. Qian Yunzhi asked his concubines to be buried with him. The acupuncture point is an exception, but it is actually against the regulations.”

"Since he loves this concubine so much, he probably won't bury their children far away." Wang Xinran said.

"It makes sense." Wu Zhongyuan nodded.

"Where will it be buried?" Wang Xinran looked around.

Wu Zhongyuan did not answer immediately. He pondered for a long time before saying, "The child died at a young age. They will probably bury him where they can see..."

This book was first published on 17K Novel Network, so you can read the original content immediately!