Treasure hunt begins in England

Chapter 555 Tang Dynasty Silver Box and Silk Road

After admiring this very rare pink diamond for a while, Liang En focused his attention on the gold box, but as soon as he got started, he realized that the box should be a silver-plated box.

After all, the real gold box should be much heavier than the current box, and if it is made of other materials, the hand feel will be different from the current situation.

However, what attracted Liang En's attention the most was not the material of the silver-gilt box, but the pattern on the box. Yes, this pattern is indeed very exquisite and can match the necklace inside, but it is a bit strange to appear here.

The reason why it is strange to appear here is because this box is not in the native Indian style at all, but has a strong Chinese and Tang Dynasty style.

The whole body of the silver box is gilt, and the body and cover are respectively composed of four lotus petals covering upwards. The lower part of the box body is a trumpet-shaped high ring foot.The cover surface is raised high, like a covered lotus.

The embossed pattern engraved on the whole box is mainly decorated with two phoenixes soaring with grass, surrounded by 8 pairs of flying geese facing each other around the edge, and intertwined lotus and caviar patterns.

Eight pairs of running deer are chiseled along the cover, all of which are female deer running in front and looking back, and male deer running behind with their heads up and chasing eagerly, echoing each other with vivid expressions.

There are also 8 pairs of running deer engraved on the body and abdomen of the box, which are the same as the decoration along the lid, and 8 peonies are engraved on the lower abdomen.10 wild geese are engraved on the high-circle foot, and a modified lotus petal pattern belt is engraved on the edge of the foot.

The bottom of the box is engraved with "King Kong" and "one hundred five hundred and forty two one money two characters" chiseled inscriptions, indicating the brand of silverware and the weight of the silver box, and also clearly indicating that the box came from China in the Tang Dynasty.

Although the word King Kong sounds weird as a brand, it was a very trendy word influenced by Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty, and similarly there is Hercules.

"This box is already very valuable." Liang En held the box vigorously and said after weighing it, "As far as I know, this kind of silver box can reach five or sixty taels and it is already very big. Boxes of 60 taels are very rare, even in China, there are not many of them."

"But how did this box appear here?" Fan Meng looked at the exquisite pattern on the box and said, "This thing should always be the box of the necklace, but where did the Indian earth king find this box? .

"Of course it was ordered." "Liang En pointed to the patterns on the box and explained to Joan, Fan Meng and the camera lens of the video camera that started recording.

Of course, he wasn't too afraid of making mistakes in this regard, because after using a [Appraisal (N)] card, he could already determine the origin of the box.

As for Liang En, who had mastered sufficient basic knowledge, after knowing the correct history of this thing, it was not too difficult to deduce the reason from the clues.

"—We can find that this box is larger than normal boxes, that is to say, there is a high probability that this thing should be specially ordered, rather than a common item in that era." Liang En spoke to the camera lens. talk.

"We can also know from the text on the top that this thing was not made by the government-run workshop at that time, but came from a commercial gold and silver shop."

"At the same time, we can also see from the style of this silver-gilt box that this box should be a box produced in Yangzhou in the middle and late Tang Dynasty."

"That's right, it should be like this." Looking at the patterns of gold and silverware from the Tang Dynasty on his mobile phone, Fan Meng nodded. Thanks to the excavation work going on nearby, his mobile phone still has a certain signal.

Although it is basically impossible to send video, it is still possible to do it just by looking at a few pictures. After comparing it with the pictures on the phone, Fan Meng immediately confirmed that the box was from the middle and late Tang Dynasty as Liang En said. Yangzhou in the period.

"But I have a question, that is why the silver boxes from Yangzhou appeared in this place. I know that Yangzhou was indeed the center of gold and silverware processing in the Tang Dynasty at that time, but why Yangzhou and not other places."

"This is mainly because of the Silk Road." Liang En said with a smile, "Many people have the impression that the land Silk Road was from the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, while the Song Dynasty was mainly a maritime Silk Road."

"But in fact, this is not the case. In other words, these different Silk Roads in real history are not so clear-cut. At least the Maritime Silk Road began to prosper in the Tang Dynasty—"

The Tang Dynasty was an open dynasty, so there were a lot of foreign exchanges. For example, it continued the overland Silk Road that started from the Han Dynasty to trade with Central Asia, West Asia, Europe, North Africa and other regions.

However, with the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion, whether it was the huge chaos within the Tang Dynasty or the rise of Tubo and the occupation of Longyou, the previously prosperous land Silk Road was almost completely interrupted.

Although there was a period of time in the middle, the northern line of the Silk Road that passed through the territory of the northern Uighurs was maintained for a period of time, but the chaos in northern China and the ever-changing international situation at that time did not allow this Silk Road to last long.

Fortunately, with the southward shift of the economic center of gravity and the development of navigation technology, the Maritime Silk Road gradually prospered. At that time, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Yangzhou, etc. became the ports where the Maritime Silk Road started.

Under such circumstances, the special products from these places gradually replaced the original northern special products and became the main force of the Silk Road export. After all, in the ancient transportation environment, many things were not suitable for long-distance land transportation.

Like the last time Liang En and others found a large number of Longquan kiln porcelain on a shipwreck that was probably from the Yuan Dynasty, it is an important evidence for this point, and the same is true for gold and silver wares.

Especially in the mid-to-late Tang Dynasty, the separatist rule of feudal towns led to constant chaos in the inland areas, and there were tax collection checkpoints everywhere. At that time, long-distance transportation of goods was definitely asking for trouble.

According to information Liang En knew, before the Anshi Rebellion, the gold and silver wares exported by the Tang Dynasty were still mainly produced in the north. For example, some gold and silver wares in the early Tang Dynasty brought back by Japanese envoys from the Tang Dynasty had obvious Persian gold and silver wares. style.

But after the Anshi Rebellion, those gold and silver wares quickly became the unique production style of the south after the fusion of the Central Plains and the Western Regions, reflecting the changes of the times at that time, and those who went to Japan sailed from Yangzhou. .

Considering that many cultural relics from the Tang Dynasty have been found all the way to the east coast of Africa and even the coast of the Persian Gulf, it is naturally reasonable to find a custom-made gold and silverware in India.

As for the Buddhist style exposed on the gold and silverware, it was very suitable for that era. After all, Buddhism in India was still the mainstream at that time, so it is normal for these people to have Buddhist-style gold and silverware.

"So, although this silver-gilt box does not seem to have the pink diamond money, it is worth no less than that diamond from a historical point of view."

At the end of the explanation, Liang En began to make a final summary in front of the camera lens, and at the same time, the joy in his heart also burst into a smile on his face.

"So I want to say that we actually found two extremely precious cultural relics this time, which can be regarded as a perfect end to this exploration work."

(End of this chapter)