It is said that Dayu succeeded in controlling floods and divided the country into nine states. The governors of various states paid tribute to Dayu, who used it to cast nine tripods, which became a symbol of national power. When Xia Jie died, Ding moved to Shang; when Shang Zhou died, Ding moved to Zhou. However, after the death of Zhou Dynasty, the Qin Dynasty only obtained eight tripods, one of which was blown into the Si River by strong winds. Qin Shihuang once sent people to salvage it, but they returned with no success. After the death of Qin, the whereabouts of Jiuding were unknown. Qin Shihuang, the sixth emperor of the Qin Dynasty, conquered the remaining feudal lords for two weeks and established the first unified feudal dynasty in the history of our country. In order to demonstrate his achievements, Qin Shihuang used one-third of the He family's jade to make the imperial seal, which was engraved with eight characters: "I am ordered by heaven, and I will live forever." The priceless jade quality, ingenious carving, and unparalleled calligraphy make this jade seal not only an exquisite work of art, but also a symbol of heaven and destiny, passed down from generation to generation. It was not until Li Congke, the deposed emperor of the Later Tang Dynasty, was defeated by the Khitans that he climbed a building with the jade seal and set himself on fire. The whereabouts of the jade seal are still unknown.
Jia Yi's "On the Passage of Qin" said that Qin Shihuang collected all the soldiers of the world, gathered them in Xianyang, sold Feng Dy, and cast them into twelve golden figures to weaken the people of the world. After Qin Shihuang unified the world, in order to prevent the refugees from rebelling, he collected the weapons of the six countries and sent them to Xianyang to cast them into twelve huge bronze figures. Because the copper was yellow, they were also called golden figures. Wearing Qin warrior armor, they all showed off their power and guarded Afang Palace day and night. Legend has it that when Xiang Yu set fire to Epang Palace, he destroyed the twelve golden people.
Each of China's three great national guardians has its own legendary story, and its final whereabouts have been debated for thousands of years. Take the Nine Tripods of Dayu as an example. There are rumors that all the Nine Tripods of Dayu sank to the bottom of the water after the death of Zhou Dynasty. However, there are records of Qin Shihuang traveling with the Nine Tripods in later generations. In the author's opinion, Qin Shihuang most likely buried the Jiuding in the underground palace, but this is just speculation. The truth will only be revealed in broad daylight when the Qin Mausoleum is excavated in the future. There are relatively detailed records in history about the whereabouts of the jade seal passed down to the country. The most reasonable one is that Li Congke, the deposed emperor of the later Tang Dynasty, climbed a building and burned himself with the jade seal. The whereabouts of the jade seal are still unknown. In later generations, Huang Taiji's claim that he had found the jade seal passed down to the country and that his destiny was mine were all lies. He was just trying to give himself a legitimate reason to proclaim himself emperor.
There are two more reliable theories about the whereabouts of the Twelve Golden People. One is that the Twelve Golden People were destroyed at the hands of Dong Zhuo. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Dong Zhuo led his army into Chang'an, destroyed ten of the golden figures and cast them into copper coins. He ordered the remaining two to be moved to the Qingmen of Chang'an City, and were finally destroyed by Fu Jian of the former Qin Dynasty. Another theory is that these twelve golden figures were Qin Shihuang's favorite things during his lifetime, and were buried as funerary objects in the Lishan Tomb after his death. Sima Qian said in "Historical Records" that Qin Shihuang began to build the mausoleum after he succeeded to the throne, and drove more than 700,000 people to build it for 37 years. It was built through three springs, with mercury as a source of water for hundreds of rivers and seas, and with mermaid ointment as an everlasting lantern, hiding all the treasures in the world. There are strange treasures inside. Therefore, it is very likely that Dayu's Nine Cauldrons and Twelve Golden Men, as well as the remaining two-thirds of the imperial seal and his family's bi, are still buried in Qin Shihuang's mausoleum, accompanying the emperor day and night.