How much does the main coffin of the Marquis of Haidu, that is, the inner and outer coffins plus the coffin cover and other things combined?

According to the archaeological team's estimates, it may weigh at least four or five tons.

So, how did such a heavy coffin be transported into this tomb buried more than ten meters deep in the ground in that BC era when there were no cranes?

The answer is simple.

What technology did the ancient Egyptians use to build pyramids by using manpower to build pyramids with pieces of boulders weighing several tons?

It is a log piled under a boulder to act as a "roller".

And the coffin of the Marquis of Haidun was also transported by "wooden wheels".

Chen Han squatted next to the coffin bed, holding two bamboo sticks, and was carefully looking at a semicircular component protruding from the corner of the coffin bed in front of him.

"On the four corners of the coffin bed, there are these wheels."

"The wheel body of this wheel is still very well preserved and very clear!"

Kong Jianwen, who was standing next to Chen Han, pointed to the semicircular thing and said.

This semicircular component is actually the exposed half of the wheel, and the other half of the wheel is inside the coffin.

Depending on the size of half of the wheel, it can be judged.

The wheel was probably cut from wood that was more than twenty or thirty years old.

The diameter of a wheel should be forty or fifty centimeters.

Kong Jianwen said affirmatively: "It is these four wheels, as part of the coffin bed, that carry the coffin on the coffin bed, and push the entire outer coffin and the inner coffin together from the tomb road to the main tomb. ”

On top of the pavilion board, there was actually a layer of coffins, each of which was more than seven meters long and more than 1.5 meters wide, all of which were made of giant trees that were more than 100 years old.

The inner and outer coffins plus the coffin board, a coffin bed of such a weight, even with the assistance of wheels, is not easy to transport from the tomb.

If the owner of this tomb is indeed Liu He.

Before his death, Liu He was a loser in the political struggle, and his life was undoubtedly very miserable.

But after death, he was still very glamorous.

At least it's a glorious burial.

......

"Okay, pay attention, your hands are down!"

"Be careful, prepare, one, two, three! Rise! ”

"Okay, get up!"

"It's too heavy, be careful, be careful."

"Don't be busy, put it in the middle, it's heavier, be careful, it's so heavy!"

In the main coffin, although the shouting was very noisy, the movements of all the archaeologists were very calm.

Chen Han dragged a tray and watched Kong Jianwen and other three or four leaders put a stack of gold plates that had just been extracted from the coffin into the tray in his hand.

As soon as he entered the plate, a heavy weight pressed on Chen Han's arms, and his hands couldn't control the pressure and sank down.

Fortunately, Zhuang Yunpeng was quick and reached out to help support the tray together.

"Good fellow, there are a lot of gold plates!"

In fact, the area of the gold plate put into the tray is not large, that is, more than a dozen thin gold plates with a length of less than 20 centimeters and a width of 10 centimeters are stacked together.

But gold is very dense, so these gold plates are very heavy.

I guess it's a hundred or twenty kilograms!

These gold plates were found on the first day of the coffin.

But because there were some other cultural relics stacked on it, it was not officially extracted until the seventh day of the coffin, that is, today.

And these gold plates are also the last batch of pure gold objects in the coffin.

Before that, the horseshoe gold, lintoe gold, and gold cake had all been extracted.

With the addition of these gold plates, it is estimated that more than 120 kilograms of pure gold were extracted.

For this amount, Chen Han has long been numb.

In fact, what he cared more about was why the Marquis of Haidun had so much gold?

Theoretically, even a prince, or even a prince, can't save so much gold, right?

Don't think that 120 kilograms seems to be a small amount, but in the era when it was very difficult to collect gold BC, more than 100 kilograms of gold may be the annual gold production of the entire Western Han Dynasty.

In modern times, what kind of person can keep all the gold produced in China in a year?

As for why there is so much gold in the Marquis of Haiding, in fact, the archaeological team has also met and discussed it many times, and almost gave a few guesses.

First of all, horseshoe gold and lintoe gold are easy to explain.

This thing was given by the emperor.

It is recorded in the history books, and there is nothing doubtful.

But it is very puzzling where these gold cakes, as well as the gold plates that were first found in the Han tombs, came from.

After many discussions, the archaeological team tentatively reached a consensus.

This gold may be related to the gilding system of the Western Han Dynasty.

The gold system was a system that restricted the expansion of local princes and princes, and centralized power.

To put it simply, each prince, king and prince had to pay a certain amount of gold to the central government every year as a sacrifice.

The princes, kings and princes should offer gold sacrifices according to the population of the feudal country, four taels of gold for every thousand mouths, and four taels for the remainder of more than 500 mouths, which will be accepted by the Shaofu.

The central government of the Western Han Dynasty had strict regulations on the amount and purity of the tribute.

Once the quantity is not enough, or the purity does not meet the standard, it is common to reduce the fiefdom, or even directly take back the feudal state.

Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, once used the name of inspecting the lack of money to weaken and attack the power of the princes and princes.

In the fifth year of the Yuan Dynasty, because no one responded to the call of the marquis to go to South Vietnam, in September, he took away the titles of one hundred and six marquis.

Prime Minister Zhao Zhou was also imprisoned on charges of ignorance and was forced to commit suicide.

In fact, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was not really dissatisfied with the lack of gold dedication of the princes.

He just used this reason to crack down on a group of princes who ate and waited for death every day and were unwilling to contribute to the country's southern expedition to South Vietnam.

After deposing the 106 princes in one go, the remaining princes immediately took an active part in the southern expedition to South Vietnam.

Since then, borrowing the gold system to take the opportunity to suppress a group of disobedient or mixed things such as dead princes has become a favorite thing for many emperors in the Western Han Dynasty.

And for good reason.

It is a tribute to the ancestors, for the Han family, who ruled the country with filial piety and inherited part of the patriarchal system of the Zongzhou Dynasty.

Disrespecting one's ancestors is one of the most serious offenses.

Not to mention the reduction of fiefdoms, even directly giving death is a very correct approach in terms of legal theory and public opinion.

And these gold cakes in Liu He's tomb, as well as gold plates that have never been found in Han tombs before.

It is very likely that it was used to pay for the money.

It's just that for some reason, these gold medals were not delivered to the Central Committee of the Western Han Dynasty, but remained in Liu He's hands.

So much so that when he died, he took all this gold to the grave.

In addition, the only possibility left is that Liu He didn't know where to find a gold mine, and after many years of mining, he saved so much gold.

But no matter what the reason, in the end, the gold was not spent by Liu He, but all of them were brought into the grave.

From an economic point of view, the money that is not spent is undoubtedly a piece of waste paper.

And the gold brought into the ground is also equal to some discarded stones.

This is undoubtedly a very tragic thing for the Marquis of Haidu.

I saved so much money, but it was all gone, and I didn't spend a dime.

But for archaeologists, this is a "surprise"!