Cao Cao called me to rob a tomb

Chapter 872 Elemental Copper (4000)

After getting the engineering shovel, Wu Liang dug the nearby red soil and roots deeper, and then began to clean the roots near the two sharp corners.

Every movement he made was very cautious, especially when he got close to the two sharp corners, he just abandoned the sapper shovel and took out the small brush and copper dagger he carried with him to clean it up bit by bit. A lover's cautious gesture of pity for fragrance and jade.

"..."

Everyone in the Huanren Army has long been familiar with this.

Although sometimes I always feel that Wu Liang is a little too careful. Anyway, he usually does not take away most of the ancient tombs and ancient relics. There is really no need to cherish them so much. Bringing into the mausoleum or relics by the owner of the tomb must be the most cherished item of the deceased during his lifetime. If you damage it rashly, you may be retaliated by the soul of the dead, so there is nothing to say.

So influenced by Wu Liang, although they did not cherish those ancient relics like Wu Liang when they entered the ancient tomb, they had already formed a good habit of not messing around, touching or destroying, and whenever they saw something strange, they The first thought that flashed through his mind was to immediately report to Wu Liang and teach him to deal with it himself, so as not to cause any unnecessary trouble.

However, when Hua Tuo and Da Quan saw Wu Liang's appearance at the moment, they were somewhat anxious in their hearts.

Everyone is aware of the situation at this time, and they are no exception. Therefore, they are more aware that the most urgent task now is to find a way to leave this secret place as soon as possible, instead of cleaning it up slowly like Wu Liang. Isn't it a waste of time for a rusty copperware?
"Old sir, what exactly is Wu Taishi doing at the moment?"

After watching this for a while, Hua Tuo finally couldn't help touching Yu Ji beside him, and asked in confusion.

"Isn't this obvious? My young master is digging out the bronze artifacts hidden below."

Yu Ji turned his head and said lightly.

"Of course I know this. I just want to ask, is there something special about this bronze vessel that I haven't noticed?"

Hua Tuo asked again.

"Hehehe, Miracle Doctor Hua was joking."

Yu Ji immediately laughed, "This bronze ware has not been dug up yet, so how can we tell that it has something special... If there is nothing special about it, the appearance of this bronze ware in this ancient site is its largest." The special thing is, as my son often said, although these ancient relics can't speak like people, sometimes what they present is worth a thousand words. As long as we are careful enough, it can tell us many things that have been buried in The past in the dust of history."

"This... even so, it seems that there is no need to be like Wu Taishi... take it easy? We don't have much time left now, and we are fighting for the chance to leave here alive from the hand of time every moment."

Hua Tuo hesitated for a moment, and finally said what he wanted to say.

"The miracle doctor Laohua doesn't need to worry about that."

Yu Ji still smiled and said, "My son is very sober, he knows what he is doing better than you, let me tell you this, if there is a chance to leave here, my son will definitely not leave Miracle Doctor Hua behind, but if my son I can't find a way to leave, and it's even harder for others to find it. It's useless for Miracle Doctor Hua to be impatient, so it's better to relax and watch patiently, so as not to affect my young master's state of mind."

"..."

This was a kind of gentle warning, Hua Tuo could hear it, and knew that Wu Liang was his only hope at the moment, so he finally wisely chose not to speak anymore.

at the same time.

Wu Liang had already cleaned up the roots and red soil near the two sharp corners, and finally part of the things under the sharp corners were exposed.

Judging from the exposed part, what is connected with the two sharp corners is a spherical thing.

And the surface of this spherical thing is also covered with a layer of green rust, it is not difficult to see that this must also be a copper product.

If you look carefully at the connection between the spherical object and the two sharp corners, you can see that the two are completely connected together. Although it is covered by copper rust, it is impossible to tell whether it is welded together or molded in one piece. , but the relationship between the two should be very close.

To verify this.

Wu Liang deliberately grabbed one of the sharp corners with his gloved hand, and then tried to shake it slightly.

As a result, it doesn't matter if you shake it!

"?!"

Wu Liang withdrew his hand as if he had been electrocuted, and a look of surprise appeared in his eyes at the same time.

Because he obviously felt that with his shaking, the sharp horn twisted unexpectedly!
"Son!"

Seeing this, Dian Wei's expression changed, and he immediately dragged Wu Liang back two steps, and then stood between him and the bronze vessel with a halberd in his hand.

Everyone in the Huanren Army also became tense in an instant. They all stared at the bronze vessel with wide eyes, but they still didn't know what happened quietly just now. Why did Wu Liang react like this?

"This is exactly..."

Wu Liang calmed down and looked at the sharp horn again.

At this time, he suddenly discovered that the sharp corner had actually deformed to a certain extent.

The slightly curved sharp corners that were originally in the shape of a "C" now have a little bit of completeness in the opposite direction at the thinner end near the end, turning into a less obvious "S" shape.

Wu Liang was even more puzzled, and immediately recalled the feeling just now...

Although he felt the sharp horn twist just now, but thinking about it, it seems that the sharp horn did not twist actively, but moved with his slight force.

That is to say, the sharp horn may have been deformed due to his force, but he never expected such a thing to happen, so he mistakenly thought that the sharp horn twisted by itself, and he frightened himself. Jump?
"Brother Dianwei, I may be overreacting, don't be too nervous."

Wu Liang then patted Dian Wei on the shoulder, and tentatively came forward again.

Then he reached for the sharp corner again.

Seeing that the sharp horn is still slightly motionless at this moment.

Wu Liang tentatively stretched out his hand forward again, and lightly touched the sharp corner.

The sharp horn remained motionless.

In the end, Wu Liang pinched it again, and then exerted a little force...

bent!

The sharp corner was bent by him again, this thing is actually soft!

And as the sharp corners deformed, the layer of patina covering the surface also cracked like a hard shell, and some debris fell off with a slight "click, click".

"How could this be?"

Wu Liang was even more puzzled.

In the end, he returned to the original position again, and leaned closer to see the situation inside through the crack of the layer of patina.

He actually saw a touch of purple!

This is not the color shown by that kind of strange insect, but a special kind of purple red, and the surface reveals a touch of luster that is not smooth.

"What exactly is this?"

Wu Liang couldn't help frowning even tighter.

The doubts on the faces of the people in the Huanren Army became more and more serious. Although they didn't know what Wu Liang saw, they could still tell from Wu Liang's expression that this must be a big deal!

……

Under the strong onlookers of the crowd, Wu Liang used a small brush and a copper dagger to carefully peel off the layer of copper rust wrapped around a small piece of sharp corner.

The purple-red substance inside finally appeared in front of my eyes.

Of course it wasn't a strange bug. Wu Liang recognized the thing in front of him after a little identification, and then showed a look of shock: "Elementary copper?!"

"Young master, what is simple copper?"

Yu Ji didn't know when, he had the courage to get behind Wu Liang, and couldn't help but interjected after hearing this term.

"?"

Naturally, everyone in the Huanren Army couldn't hear this term. Seeing that Yu Ji had already asked this question, they immediately pricked up their ears and waited for Wu Liang's explanation.

Wu Liang came back to his senses after a while, but he didn't put away the shock on his face, but explained to everyone as simple as possible: "It's copper with extremely high purity, which hardly contains any impurities, and it's not like bronze. Usually mixed with other metals to increase hardness, such copper is usually purple in color and has excellent ductility, so I can bend it with a slight twist."

There is naturally formed "natural copper" in nature.

The main component of this kind of copper is simple copper, which also has the characteristics mentioned by Wu Liang, but "natural copper" must be mixed with some impurities, and even contains a small amount of iron, silver or gold. Due to oxidation, it usually does not show such a pure purple color.

Of course, it is not to say that there is no elemental copper with extremely high purity in this era.

In fact, the copper smelting technology of the Celestial Dynasty had reached a considerable height as early as the Xia and Shang Dynasties. Such simple copper could be extracted by fire smelting. It was only for the sake of practicality that metals such as lead and tin were mixed into it to make it. A hard and stable alloy used to make weapons or copper for everyday use.

In the current Han Dynasty, although copper has been gradually replaced by more practical iron in many fields, copper is still an indispensable metal, and it is the main material for casting coins, ritual vessels, utensils, etc.

It's just that the casting of these copper wares also does not directly use elemental copper, but the elemental copper is extracted by fire smelting and then mixed with other metals to make it into a hard bronze alloy.

Therefore, everyone in the Huanren Army must have understood Wu Liang's explanation.

The reason why Wu Liang was shocked at the moment was that there were various indications that this place should be a relic from the ancient times, and it was most likely related to Jiuli Kingdom.

Although historical records mention that the Jiuli Kingdom had mastered the use of copper as early as this time, and said that they produced metal weapons far superior to those of the Huangdi and Yandi tribes based on this, occupying a great advantage in equipment in the war , but is Jiuli State's technology at that time really capable of extracting such pure copper?
Wu Liang expressed doubts about this.

Because at least the archaeological world of later generations came to the conclusion after consulting many relevant historical documents: Although the Jiuli Kingdom mastered the use of copper and made the earliest metal weapons, their copper mainly came from some rich people. "Natural copper" that is naturally formed in the copper area, rather than copper extracted from copper mines using refining technology.

Other relevant historical facts can also be corroborated.

For example, for a long time after the Yellow Emperor defeated Chi You, copper ware had not been popularized. Just imagine if the Jiuli Kingdom really mastered the copper smelting process, which is a strategic level technology, how could the Yellow Emperor not hold it firmly? Hold it firmly in your hand?

Unless the Yellow Emperor had other intentions, such as completely monopolizing the copper smelting technology obtained from the Jiuli Kingdom, and only using this technology to arm his own army, he would form an oppressive advantage over the various tribes under his rule and further ensure his own The dominant position is more stable.

But that doesn't quite make sense either.

Because the earliest records related to bronze wares in the Celestial Dynasty only date to the Yao and Shun period, and the bronze cultural relics discovered by later generations are all after that, even if the Yellow Emperor mastered this technology, even if he implemented a strategy of technological monopoly, he and his direct tribes would always be the same. Will there be some brass left?
But the fact is that the cultural relics discovered in that period were all pottery and bone utensils...

At least before Wu Liang crossed over, the archaeological circles of later generations generally believed that the Xia Dynasty established by Dayu was the initiation period of bronze smelting technology, and even if there were records of using copper before that, they were all formed naturally. natural copper.

But speaking of Dayu and the Xia Dynasty...

"Mi'er, it is said that Emperor Yu divided the world into nine states and ordered each state to offer bronze and cast nine tripods. As far as you know, did this really happen?"

Wu Liang looked back at Zhen Mi, who had witnessed it, and asked.

"Qi'er, who casts Jiuding, has nothing to do with Wenming."

Zhen Mi lowered her eyes and said calmly.

The Qi'er she was talking about was naturally Xia Qi, who was the son of Tu Shannvjiao and Dayu. The second king of Xia.

"Then can you explain clearly how far the copper smelting technology has developed at that time?"

Wu Liang asked again.

"Speaking of this..."

Zhen Mi recalled and said, "I don't know much about this technology, but the output of copper was still very low at that time, so it was more precious than gold today. In addition, as far as I know, the copper used by Qi'er to cast Jiuding Copper was finally pieced together with the copper contributed by Kyushu, and in the end only such a big tripod was cast."

"One big tripod? Isn't it nine tripods?"

Wu Liang looked suspicious, but Yu Ji was the first to ask this question.

"It's just a tripod."

Zhen Mi took a look at Yu Ji and continued, "Actually, 'Jiu Ding' is just the name of that tripod, the full name should be 'Jiuzhou Ding', and this name is because there is a picture of Kyushu engraved on this big tripod, which symbolizes the Kyushu in the world. It is the land of Great Xia, so this tripod has always been regarded as the treasure of the Great Xia... As for the nine tripods, it is just a random guess by later generations based on the title of 'Nine Tripods', and finally a misinformation."

"It's so..."

Yu Ji obviously still needs to digest this matter.

But Wu Liang has already got the answer he wants: King Xia needs the copper contributed by Kyushu to cast the Kyushu tripod. It can be seen that the copper smelting technology in the early Xia Dynasty has not been greatly developed, so before the Xia Dynasty, It's only less likely that technology exists capable of extracting elemental copper of such ultra-high purity...

(End of this chapter)