Chapter 174 "Eleventh" Secret Passage, the Empress Awakens
The creepy feeling only lasted for a moment, and then dissipated.
When Zhao Duan turned around and looked around, he saw the second-floor window of the small building was closed.
"Go check the pornography book." Next to him, Mo Zhaorong was also feeling uncomfortable.
"Okay." Zhao Duan nodded and thought no more. At this moment, he had never felt so safe in the capital.
…
The warehouse where the yellow books are stored is not located on "Huanzhou Island".
According to the old warehouse manager, it was because fires were made to make food on Huanzhou Island. To avoid fires, warehouses were set up on the other five islands.
After a while, the three of them arrived at "Yingzhou Island" by boat.
As soon as we got off the boat, we saw a huge warehouse facing east and west.
Outside, there are densely packed bamboo poles like clotheslines, with many huge yellow paper squares hanging on them, and many people coming in and out, as if they are drying.
"Is this the Yellow Book?" Zhao Duan was curious.
The old treasurer smiled and nodded:
"The sun is shining brightly in the dog days, so it's the right time to dry the big books. Unfortunately, there are too many backlogs, so even if we work from morning to night, it's difficult to dry them all."
Zhao Duan said: "It's bigger than I imagined, and the paper is better."
Mochou sighed:
"The yellow book is expensive to make, not to mention the tax involved. Over the past hundreds of years, the Yu Dynasty has developed a chain of interests that relies on the ten-year book making...
Well, you have said this word, and it is quite vivid.
Every year, the albums are dried on the island to prevent them from being damaged by insects. However, the visible insects are lost in the sun, but the countless invisible insects that lie on the yellow albums to make profits are becoming increasingly fat. "
Do you still understand this? I thought you would only be jealous of me... Zhao Duan glanced at her unexpectedly.
Then he remembered that the woman next to him was the first female official in charge of the Six Shang after all.
The two of them were led by the old warehouse manager into a warehouse.
The first thing you see is a long row of wooden shelves, on which countless yellow books are displayed.
Zhao Duan was in a trance, as if he had arrived at a certain distribution warehouse. The wooden frame was about ten feet high and needed to be climbed with a wooden ladder. There were movable wooden boards above it.
If the roof leaks, you can tilt it and pour the rainwater into the ditch on the ground to avoid getting the roof wet.
Zhao Duan picked up a volume casually, dusted it off, and opened it to read.
It was discovered that the population of a household in a certain village within a certain county area under the jurisdiction of Jiancheng Daoji Prefecture was increased or decreased over the generations.
How many people are there in this family, their names, their ages, the year the baby was born, and the month the old man died are all recorded clearly.
There is one book every ten years, and there are millions of books here. If the yellow books recording this family are arranged in a row, it will be the family history of this family for six hundred years.
Taking into account the fact that the Yellow Records of Dayu records the birth, old age, illness, and death of all people in the world.
This magnificent warehouse is like a historical museum.
Zhao Duan recalled in a trance that he had heard a less logical but very romantic joke in his previous life:
From the unification of Qin Shihuang to the present day, it is only more than 2,200 years, which sounds like a long time, but if one is calculated as seventy years old, the distance is only thirty people.
Thinking about it this way, as a modern person, the distance between myself and the Qin Dynasty is only thirty human lifetimes.
The thousand-year-old camphor tree at the entrance of my hometown village was planted during the Han and Tang dynasties.
"What are you thinking about?"
Seeing that he was silent for a long time, Mo Zhaorong thought he was thinking and asked softly.
Dabingtuozi still has advantages.
Whenever it comes to important matters or serious matters, she can temporarily put aside her prejudices and not be jealous of Zhao Thief.
"Nothing, I was thinking, these papers are really good."
Zhao Duan stroked the thick cardboard of the yellow book.
"You said this before," Mochou rolled her eyes. She also held a yellow book and said: "What do you care about the paper? The focus is on the words on it and how to solve it."
Zhao Duan closed the yellow book, took out a handkerchief to wipe the dust on his hands, and said:
"It won't be solved."
"Ah?" Mochou was stunned. The female official, who was as knowledgeable as Miss Dali, didn't understand.
Zhao Duan seemed to be looking at an idiot and explained helplessly: "As you said, the numbers in these yellow books have been concealed and tampered with by the people below for hundreds of years, and they have long been distorted. That is a What is the use of a pile of useless words?
Or do you think I have any way to restore such a large-scale, contaminated archive to its true form? "
Zhao Duan's tone was very calm.
Before seeing Huangceku, he did wonder whether some mathematical methods could be used to solve data pollution.
But after seeing the scale of this world's largest archives.
He gave up this unrealistic idea.
The six-hundred-year-old yellow book has been polluted to a complete mess.
Of course, the most crucial point is...
No sense.
"These yellow books have been abolished and we no longer need them. Do you remember the core of my three golden books?
In the past, the court collected taxes based on people, so it was necessary to know how many people there were in the dynasty and who they were.
But from now on, we will collect taxes based on the land, and the land has no legs and cannot run. Isn’t there still the ‘Fish Scale Atlas’ that was compiled by measuring the world’s fields?
Those are of some use, but the land still needs to be re-measured...
As for these millions, tens of millions of human records..."
Zhao Duan turned around, looked at this huge warehouse, and said in an understatement:
“The greatest value is only the paper itself.
I remember that there is a way to make armor, which is to hammer many layers of paper into cardboard. The armor is light and can withstand ordinary arrows. If these yellow books are used to make armor, a lot of money can be saved. The Ministry of War is in charge of the money of the Ordnance Foundry Bureau...
Or, simply take it out and sell it. Someone will buy such good paper.
Regardless of whether it is re-pulped into pulp or whatever, it should be able to sell for a large sum of money...
Isn’t the national treasury very short of money?
Selling the books on these islands should solve the urgent need. "
Next to him, Mochou was dumbfounded: "You...you said...sell it? Turn it into armor? Are you crazy?"
She found it difficult to accept:
"This is the household registration of all people in the world..."
Zhao Duan glanced at her calmly: "It is a piece of waste paper that has no reference value and has no practical use."
"But……"
"There is no but. Or, tell me, what will be the use of these things once the tenants are replaced?"
Mochou was speechless and a little dazed.
On the one hand, I emotionally believe that the archives that the Yu Dynasty worked so hard to build and protected for six hundred years should be extremely precious.
On the other side, reason told her that Zhao Duan was right.
After six hundred years of accumulation and nearly 10 million household registrations, it seems that it is indeed time to come to an end.
And their final value is turning waste into treasure.
For the implementation of the New Deal, a potentially considerable sum of money will be given.
"I know it's hard for you to accept, but you can accept it if you tolerate it."
Zhao Duan patted her shoulder habitually: "Let's go."
On this trip, Zhao Duan only looked through a yellow book and ended the six-hundred-year mission of these five islands.
Mo Chou was still a little distracted when she followed Zhao Duan out of the warehouse.
The old warehouse manager guarding the door smiled: "Miss Mo, Mr. Zhao, do you want to go to other warehouses to see? The closest one to us is Jiu Dao, or Seven Islands is not far away."
This veteran, who has been stuck on the island and guarding the archives for nearly twenty years, still doesn’t know what changes will happen next.
"No need, just send us back."
Zhao Duan said calmly.
Although rationally, he believed that the madman on the shore and the "lake god" in the lake would not threaten him.
But the feeling of being watched lingered.
It makes him reluctant to stay here any longer.
"By the way, what did you just say, Nine Islands, Seven Islands?"
Zhao Duan said curiously:
"There are less than five islands in total here? Do they all have names?"
The old treasurer explained:
"Sir, you don't know what's normal. What the official said is not an official title, but an old title for us island guards.
Speaking of which, it was still the order set for the islands when Emperor Taizu was in power.
Legend has it that when Emperor Taizu came to Beijing and founded the Yu Dynasty, he rode a horse around the capital to survey the landforms and compiled the order of the islands and hills he saw.
The five islands in our back lake are numbered 56, 789... also called Five God Mountains.
It was said to be an island, but in the eyes of Emperor Taizu, anything higher than the city wall was regarded as a mountain.
Haha, but hundreds of years have passed. In order to dredge the river, many of the islands have disappeared, and not many people remember this saying..."
Zhao Duan was suddenly stunned.
He looked vaguely at Mochou, who was staring blankly at the warehouse behind him, and asked seemingly casually:
"Oh? There is also this theory? I have never heard of it. What are the other islands you mentioned?"
The old treasury manager had no doubt that he was there and introduced them one by one with a smile.
When he talked about the "eleventh" island, it was in the capital.
Hundreds of years ago, it was dug out to make it easier for ships to sail.
Zhao Duan's heart speeded up quietly, and a thought came to his mind:
"Yuanzu Temple, secret passage, eleventh!"
This was the key word that Old Xu, Taizu of Dayu, told him that day.
Zhao Duan paid a lot of attention during these days, but he had no clue.
"Is it possible that the 'Eleventh' mentioned by Xu is the eleventh mountain he named after surveying the terrain?"
Zhao Duan suppressed his excitement, pretended to say goodbye to Mochou calmly, and returned to Houhu Pier by boat.
It wasn't until the two of them landed on the beach that the vague sense of surveillance on their bodies suddenly disappeared.
…
A man and a woman, each with their own thoughts in mind and no intention of fighting each other, immediately rode back to the city.
Mochou went to the Xiuwen Museum to discuss the matter of selling Huang Ceku to raise money with Grand Master Dong and others.
Zhao Duan argued that it was almost noon and he had to go to dinner and parted ways with her.
When there was only one person left, Zhao Duan first came to the section of the river where the "Eleven" Island was located six hundred years ago in the name of eating.
We found a famous restaurant and had a hearty meal.
After confirming that no one was following him, Zhao Duan quietly came to a secluded place by the river and hid under a bridge.
First take off your clothes, shoes and socks, and stuff them all into the space magic weapon.
Then, Zhao Duan bit the storage scroll in his mouth, quietly dived into the lake, and moved towards the old site of "Eleven" Island.
In midsummer, the sun is fierce.
This allowed him to see the scenery under the lake with the help of sunlight.
After swimming for a while, I finally found the traces left by the excavation of the island.
After hundreds of years of erosion, it has become almost flat ground.
The further we dive, the dimmer the light becomes.
Fortunately, the Hun River was not too deep, and with his enhanced eyesight after being promoted to a high-level mortal, and his powerful ability to hold his breath underwater, he could conduct a long search.
However, Zhao Duan walked around the bottom of the lake twice and found nothing.
"No, the area is too big..."
Zhao Duan thought for a moment and suddenly had an idea.
Silently running the martial arts skills of the Dayu royal family, the body surface is covered with glow.
Then his palm, which was faintly glowing with gold, suddenly pushed toward the bottom of the river.
The galaxy is upside down!
The mud at the bottom of the lake was pushed away by a powerful force containing energy, and circles of water waves slowly spread at the bottom of the lake.
Zhao Duan concentrated his attention.
Just when he was about to give up, he suddenly felt the qi coming out, which seemed to be slightly disturbed when passing somewhere.
He was refreshed and kept narrowing the scope, finally determining that there was a faint fluctuation next to a certain stone at the bottom of the lake.
"Gululu."
Zhao Duan spit out a string of bubbles and swam over happily, pushing away the mud at the bottom of the lake with his hands.
Gradually, a strange "formation" pattern that was inlaid on the stone with a radius of about ten feet was revealed in front of him after hundreds of years.
"There is indeed something!"
Zhao Duan was overjoyed and quickly tried various methods, but to no avail.
Only when he pressed his hand on the formation and poured in the Qi from his body, he could vaguely feel that the circular formation at the bottom of the lake shimmered a little, and then dimmed quickly.
And while Zhao Duan tried to "knock on the door" again and again.
royal palace.
Deep inside Ouchi's arsenal.
The fifth floor of the abandoned old building was decorated with the stone wall of Emperor Taizu.
In the room, Xu Zhenguan, the Empress of Dayu, was sitting cross-legged on a futon, practicing in seclusion.
Suddenly, the empress, who was immersed in her thoughts, suddenly opened her beautiful eyes, and her stunning face changed slightly:
"Dragon soul?"
Once again, she felt the breath of dragon soul.
Extremely intense.
Thanks to Leng vsluo for the 100-point reward
The Yuhuang Records Library and the Ming Dynasty Archives were used as a reference and were sold. It is said that there were stalls selling household registrations in the capital at that time, which was very surprising. sigh. .
(End of this chapter)