An old grave robber named Jiao Si described in "Qing Ren Banknote Thief" is a master of "seeing mud marks". "Look at the mud marks" is to observe the color of the soil. This is the knack of grave robbers in the north, and of course it is also the entry skill of grave robbery.
When the coffin is sealed after burial, special soil is usually used. Even the in-situ soil backfilled at the top of the tomb was mixed with different levels of soil when digging the pit, resulting in different soil colors. This kind of soil has a noun called "flower soil", and some people call it "five flower soil" and "big flower soil". If you find the "flower soil", you will find the clue to the ancient tomb.
The discovery of Tomb No.1 of Qin Gong was due to the appearance of "flower soil". At 1976, a villager named Zhao came here with a small dirt cart. He wanted to dig some dirt to repair his courtyard wall. Some clods of the shoveled loess are very mixed in color, which is obviously different from other places, such as yellow and red, and there are many gravel in the soil, so the soil is very hard.
The villager surnamed Zhao mentioned this strange thing when chatting. It happened that archaeologists from Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology came to investigate and concluded from experience that there was something underground. Soon, the archaeological team came to investigate on the spot. It is indeed an ancient tomb, and it is not an ordinary tomb. Qin Jinggong, who had been sleeping for more than two thousand years, was discovered.
Because "flower soil" is easy to expose the target, the ancients also thought of a method, that is, when digging a burial pit, the excavated soil was piled up in different order from bottom to top, and then backfilled in turn when sealing the soil. No tomb of the Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty has been found so far, which is directly related to the secret burial. During the secret burial, the Mongols dug the pit deeply, but the soil should not be broken, but cut into pieces. The clods should be carefully placed in order, and after the coffin is buried, the clods should be put back to their original positions. Even the "Luoyang shovel" used by the North School grave robbers could not find anything unusual.
But the Han people have not considered it so far, and it seems to be irregular. Not only is it not a secret burial, but it is also afraid that no one in the world will know that the old and tall grave will be watched. This kind of carelessness, intentional or unintentional, provides an excellent goal and opportunity for grave robbers.
If you see the "flower soil", the probe or Luoyang shovel down, and then you see the white paste, then there is an ancient tomb below, which is certain.
White gypsum mud, scientific name "microcrystalline kaolin", is an extremely pure clay, which is distributed in many places in China, but the white gypsum mud in Gaoling, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province has the best quality, hence the name "kaolin". Kaolin is fine, moist and full of viscosity, and its most obvious feature is low water permeability, which is the reason for producing fine ceramics and chemicals. Jingdezhen ceramics are famous at home and abroad for their good soil quality.
Why is kaolin also called white plaster mud? Because this soil is blue-gray when wet, it is called green paste mud; After drying, it is white or bluish white, which is called "white paste mud".
Through modern scientific detection and analysis, white plaster mud is composed of oxides such as silicon dioxide, alumina, iron oxide, calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium. Because of its high viscosity and compact molecules, it has magical antiseptic effect. The ancients in our country discovered this characteristic of white plaster mud very early, and white plaster mud was rarely used in large tombs in Qin and Han Dynasties. If there is no plaster in the local area, it is synthesized with gypsum and lime, and artificial plaster is also very useful.
Now everyone thinks of Luoyang shovel when they mention grave robbery. Why is this shovel so magical? It is easy to bring out the underground soil. According to the color of the soil, especially the white paste and mud, it can be concluded that there is an ancient tomb under it by simple discrimination.
Experienced grave robbers will also smell the smell of flower soil and white mud paste. If the smell is heavy, the burial time may be earlier, and vice versa; In addition, the materials of tomb tools in different times are different, the composition of white plaster mud used is different, and the smell formed is different, so we can judge which dynasty the tomb belongs to.