Chapter 292 Everyone contributes
The next day, Huang Dazhi got the chance and went alone to the place where he had been arrested last time.
It was in a village in Wangqiao Town. Although it was a village, the gambling house was not in the village, but in a mountain near the village.
Someone simply built a house in the mountain, which was usually used to store firewood and no one lived in it. At the end of the year, when there were more people gambling, the dealer would gather the gamblers here.
There had been a crackdown here not long ago, in which the dealer and some gamblers were arrested. Now when Huang Dazhi came over, there was no one in sight.
That's perfect!
It was difficult to ride a bicycle on the mountain road, so Huang Dazhi pushed the bicycle uphill. Now he put the bicycle aside and walked into the house.
The room was in a mess, with some cards scattered on the floor. The gamblers were playing poker before.
The hole in the ground is still there, but it has been dug loosely and messily.
Perhaps because they were afraid of getting involved in trouble, people from nearby villages probably hadn't come in yet. Huang Dazhi looked around and picked up a wooden stick. There was some yellow soil stuck to one end of the stick, which was the soil that had been used to dig before.
He bent down and began to search carefully with a wooden stick.
The house was built simply, with mud brick walls. The ground was not hardened with cement, but was made of loess. The doors and windows were not big, and the lighting was not good. However, there were some candle ends scattered around the house, as well as traces of candle oil dripping from the candles. It was obvious that the dealer would light candles for lighting during gambling.
Although the lighting is not good, it is daytime now and Huang Dazhi has good eyesight. The light coming through the doors and windows is enough to search for things in the pit.
He searched with a stick but found nothing.
In order to find all the gambling money, the police had already dug a very large and deep hole.
But because of the existence of the jade pendant, Huang Dazhi did not get discouraged, but searched inch by inch.
Finally, Huang Dazhi's hard work paid off and he found another jade pendant in the mud. It looked the same as the previous one, as if they were a pair, but this one was broken and only half remained.
Although disappointed, Huang Dazhi became more enthusiastic in his search after getting the result.
He was very strong, and even though the wooden stick was not as useful as the hoe, he still dug diligently. After some searching, he finally found a topaz in the shape of a lying cow.
The lying cow was covered with mud. Huang Dazhi wiped it with his sleeve and then he could see clearly that it was the shape of a cow.
As for the quality of the craftsmanship and the quality of the jade, he didn't understand, but he was still happy because he felt that he might become rich.
He had searched almost the entire house, but apart from a broken jade pendant and a yellow jade cow, Huang Dazhi didn't find anything else.
He put the things in his arms and walked out the door.
There was still no one around, so Huang Dazhi breathed a sigh of relief, walked to where he parked his bicycle, and rode down the mountain.
While Huang Dazhi was working hard to dig the soil, Gao Mingcheng didn't rest either.
He found a man carrying two kilograms of wild boar meat.
He had met this person once before, but had no contact with him again after that. He was Director Wang of the Cultural Relics Management Office.
Gao Guobing and Director Wang had some personal relationship. Gao Mingcheng had told Gao Guobing about the tomb robbers who had gone to the mountains to rob tombs. After Gao Guobing arrested the tomb robbers, he notified Director Wang first.
But this matter was quite big, so when we were digging the ancient tomb later, Director Chen from the police station and Director Lu from the Cultural Bureau also came over.
The tomb-robbing case was of certain help to the careers of Gao Guobing and Director Wang. I heard Gao Guobing mention before that after Director Lu retires, Director Wang will be able to make further progress.
Although he had heard of Director Wang's deeds, Gao Mingcheng and Director Wang never met again because the two sides did not have any more interactions.
Now, in order to determine whether the jade pendant Huang Dazhi obtained is an antique and whether it is valuable, Gao Mingcheng decided to meet with Director Wang.
He was carrying two kilograms of pork, and with his relationship with Gao Guobing, it would not be difficult for him to talk to Director Wang.
Sure enough, after he reported his identity as Gao Guobing's nephew, he soon met Director Wang.
For a cultural relics management office in a small place, this is a very quiet job. There is not much to do on weekdays, and all I do at work is drink tea and read newspapers.
Gao Mingcheng smiled and said, "I got some wild boars in the mountains yesterday and sent some to my uncle in the afternoon. At that time, my uncle said that I should also send some to you, Director Wang."
"This wild boar meat is not tough, and it tastes quite good when stewed. Director Wang, you can try it when you go home tonight."
Gao Mingcheng's words were quite polite, and Director Wang accepted the gift.
After the greetings, Gao Mingcheng got straight to the point: "Director Wang, have you cleaned out all the ancient tombs you dug up in Niuweiling last year? People in the village say that the ancient tombs were left by our ancestors, so I'm very curious about what's inside. Would you mind taking me to have a look?"
Gao Mingcheng did not take out the jade pendant directly, but asked to see the things found in the ancient tomb unearthed last year.
Director Wang did not hesitate, because Gao Mingcheng's identity was very strong and the request was not too excessive, so he naturally agreed.
So Director Wang took Gao Mingcheng to the warehouse where the antiques were kept.
The reason why it is a warehouse is that the county museum has not been built yet. The plan was proposed, but it was not completed until 1992, and then the stored antiques will be sent to the county museum.
The conditions of the warehouse were naturally poor, far from being suitable for storing valuable antiques. But fortunately, the things a small county could have were not that valuable.
Gao Mingcheng saw that the shelves in the warehouse were filled with some objects, most of which were relatively rough, including some ancient iron and copper wares, carved bricks and tiles, some pottery, porcelain and copper coins. There were even some worn-out clothes piled in the corner.
"What's piled on the shelf here is what we dug out from Niuweiling last year." Director Wang pointed to a shelf and motioned Gao Mingcheng to come and take a look.
Gao Mingcheng frowned after just one look.
In his previous life, he and the tomb robbers opened the coffin and divided the burial objects inside, so he knew exactly what was inside!
But now, several of the most valuable items on the shelves are obviously missing!
He remembered that there was a book in the coffin, which was quickly taken away by the tomb robbers. He did not recognize the traditional Chinese characters in the book at that time, nor did he know the value of the book, so he did not fight for it. However, he saw a porcelain vase. The porcelain vase was very beautiful. The porcelain body was very thin, and it could transmit light when viewed in the sun. The colorful paintings on it were also exquisite and very beautiful.
Because the tomb robber took the books first, then he took the porcelain vase, and in the end the porcelain vase was indeed very valuable.
But now, the books taken away by the tomb robber and the porcelain bottles taken away by him are not here.
"Director Wang...are all the things here? They don't look very valuable! The old people in the village said that the ancestors of our Gaojia Village were officials and gentry, and they were very rich." Gao Mingcheng wanted to confirm.
Director Wang smiled. He had a good relationship with Gao Guobing, so he naturally learned some of Gaojia Village's history from Gao Guobing. He smiled and said, "Your ancestors were indeed very rich. After opening the coffin, we found several very valuable items in it. Unfortunately, our place is small, and there are few people who know this, and the technology for preserving antiques is even worse. So after Director Lu reported the matter, someone from the Municipal Cultural Bureau came. After looking at the items, they said they would take the items to the city, saying that we don't have the conditions for research here."
"But those things were not taken away by the Municipal Cultural Bureau in the end, but by the Provincial Cultural Bureau! If you want to see them, you can only go to the museum in the provincial capital!"
Gao Mingcheng could understand this. A higher-ranking official can crush a higher-ranking official. If they encounter something good, who wouldn't want to get it to the place under their jurisdiction? If they get it, it would be considered their own political achievement.
Not to mention porcelain, antiques such as calligraphy and paintings are indeed difficult to preserve without the conditions for research, and it is impossible to accurately extract some of the information inside.
Gao Mingcheng decided that if he had the chance in the future, he would go to the provincial museum to see if those things were really there.
(End of this chapter)
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