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  In the spring of 1960, a drought that had lasted for more than a year continued. In a small village in northwestern Zhejiang, there were over a hundred households. The fields had long since turned into a vast expanse of yellow earth, and the cracked ground looked like the bark of a pine tree that had been peeled off. The river had long since dried up, and the crops in the field had not been harvested for a year.

  The place name is Hongcun, which has existed for many years and months. Most of the people in the village are from the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China who fled to this place. Originally, there were not many people or things in the village, all buried under the yellow earth. There is only an old stone archway at the entrance of the village, with two stone pillars as thick as a water bucket standing on it, each pillar pressing down a stone tortoise.

  At that time, people didnt know the meaning of "赑屃", they all called it "old Wang Ba", on the back of this old Wang Ba stood a pillar, on top of the pillar was a stone plaque with a big "Hong" character written on it, so people started calling this place Hong Village.

  Foreigners, with strength, chose a few pieces of land, occupied a house, and settled down with the seeds and farming tools they brought. Some came from inland, some from coastal areas, there were Anhui people, Henan people, and Jiangxi people. In those years, wherever there was food, wherever there was no war, thats where they settled. My ancestors were originally from Anqing, Anhui Province, but my great-grandfathers generation escaped to this place and became a Hongcun person.

  No one knows what year Hong Village was built, no one knows what happened here, stone men and horses can be seen everywhere in the village, dilapidated temples and large houses, many of which were demolished by people in those years.

  The stone horse that was smashed was pulled away to build a dam, the green bricks of the temple and mansion were dismantled to cover the pigsty and bathhouse, leaving only one general temple and several stone carvings half-buried in the yellow soil for me when I arrived.

  Zhebei is located at the junction of two provinces and three counties, it was an important post station in ancient times. As early as the Qin Dynasty, Emperor Qin Shi Huang formally established a prefecture here. In the earlier era of the Qin Dynasty, there were also many signs of human activity here, but the Taiping Heavenly Kingdoms Long Hair Movement made the local aborigines completely destitute.

  The indigenous people provided ready-made houses and farmland for later arrivals. As more and more people came, it gradually became the norm.

  Hongcun is a remote mountain village in the northwest of Zhejiang, surrounded by mountains on all sides, with a river running through it. The residents live along both banks of the river and irrigate their farmland with its water. The descendants of this village have lived and multiplied here, avoiding the War of Resistance against Japan and the Civil War, until they welcomed the liberation of New China.

  As the saying goes, "the mountain is high and the emperor is far away", in 1960, it was the era when the Great Leap Forward and the peoples commune reached its peak. All over China, there were open furnaces everywhere for smelting steel, each commune had its own annual steel production target, which was implemented to the brigade and then to the team.

  Every village has a task, every person has an indicator, eating is big pot rice, drinking is big bucket water, in order to achieve "surpassing Britain and surpassing the United States", the common people have taken out the iron pots and copper kettles from their homes, the purpose is to add bricks and tiles to the construction of socialist new China.

  By 1960, the severe drought that had lasted for more than a year was still ongoing. In western Zhejiang, where forests were originally densely covered and mountains were filled with lush green bamboo, it was said that the hills were scorched yellow everywhere that year. Women began to search for wild vegetables in the fields on empty stomachs, while men went into the mountains with hoes to peel bark to fill their hunger. The elderly even ate Guanyin clay, but socialist construction could not be stopped.

  In those years of extreme grain shortage, Hongcuns "steel" production was among the top, often making headlines. This is different from the exaggerated propaganda of "mother pigs giving birth to giant elephants" and "yielding 100,000 kilograms per mu", it is a real output.

  Zhejiangs northwest region doesnt produce iron ore, so how can Hongcun have such a large steel output? Its because the area is full of iron nodules. As long as youre willing, just go to your own backyard and dig with a hoe, and all sorts of shapes of "iron nodules" will come out, small ones no bigger than a bowl, big ones that need ten or more men to lift with a pulley, its said that the largest one at the time weighed several thousand catties, was a triangular incense burner-shaped thing, and was hammered by this group of people for several days and nights before being broken into several large pieces and thrown into the earth kiln to be smelted into steel...

  Apart from these "iron scraps", there are other things, such as bottles and jars, that are often thrown out together. Those that can still be used after washing are taken away for household use. Some people with good luck even dig up some gold ornaments, while most of the jade ornaments are given to children as toys.

  In the 1970s, outsiders would often come to collect those bottles and jars, exchanging them for plastic basins, plastic flowers, scissors, knives, and other items. As for the jade stones that children played with, they could be exchanged for just a few pieces of candy.

  The story begins with the last stage of the Great Leap Forward in 1960, when someone went to dig up a "landmine" and unexpectedly dug up a child.

  In the autumn of 1960, several strong men from Hong Village went up to the mountain together to search for raw materials. They knew what those iron lumps were used for; in the words of the elderly, they were called "mingqi", which were burial objects for the dead.

  I dont know who came up with the idea of using those things to smelt steel, probably they were forced to do so, anyway its all for the dead people, lets just say that our ancestors made contributions to socialism.

  Finding this kind of iron lump is not something that ordinary people can do, it requires someone who understands the trade. In the early days, you could find those places with stone men and stone horses and just dig with a hoe. Later on, when almost everything that could be dug up had been dug up, you had to invite an expert to take a look.

  They were considered to be of high social status, but in those days they were still very cautious. In fact, they were just descendants of a rural scholar. In Hongcun Village, there was a family whose ancestral home was from Henan Province and their ancestors had settled in the suburbs of Luoyang.

  In ancient times, there was a saying that one should be born in Suzhou and Hangzhou, but die and be buried in Beimang. Historically, about one-third of emperors were buried in Luoyang. The Chinese have a saying "rely on the mountain to eat from the mountain, rely on water to eat from the water". There is also a group of people who rely on eating the food of the dead, these people are called "Tu Fu Zi", and in some places they are also known as "Mo Jin Xiao Wei".

  This Mr. Li, according to him, is a clansman of the famous Li Duck, belonging to the same big family, I dont know if what Mr. Li said is true or false, at least his ancestors brought the skills of Luoyang shovel when they arrived in Hong Village.

  Grave robbing is not a profession that can be done in the open, digging up peoples ancestral tombs is a business that will bring heavenly retribution. However, this line of work has its own rules: six months without opening, and when it opens, it eats for six months. As long as you have good luck and dig into a large tomb, the things inside are treasures. This Mr. Lis name is Li Qide, nicknamed "Erzi", some people also call him Er Ye.

  This Second Masters ancestor, that is, his grandfather, was once a famous "geomancer". He understood Feng Shui knowledge, had learned from a master, and it is said that Old Master Li only needed to stand on the mountain ridge and glance over, and he would know where all the old tombs were within five miles, no matter how deep they were buried.

  Li Lao Er was one of the earliest batches to flee to Hongcun in the early 20th century. He wasnt fleeing famine, but was wanted by the government at the time and had to escape here. In his hometown of Henan, Lis brothers were notorious for their ruthlessness, and most people in their line of work had blood on their hands. The person he killed was a minor leader among the local warlords, a classic case of a dispute over spoils, and he buried him alive in a grave pit.

  At that time, a slightly capable gang leader would lead a group of thugs and dare to establish their own mountain stronghold. With a few guns in hand, they could give themselves a number and claim to be commanders or marshals. As long as the troops were present today, they became the local emperor, but the commander also had to issue salaries and buy equipment.

  So these local warlords set their sights on the cultural relics underground, and Li Jia Er Ye was naturally the object of their wining and dining.

  When it comes to wealth, everyone loses their balance, and no one is an exception. When Li Er Ye really opened a large tomb, the agreed three-seven split was about to be swallowed by someone "in command". Rather than being sold out and counted, Li Er Ye and his brother took the initiative and deceived that "commander" into saying they had dug up Wu Zetians tomb, which was a major event, and only allowed him to go and negotiate alone.

  This man died for wealth, and the bird died for food. Although the Tusi commander had doubts, he was still unable to resist the temptation of wealth and treasure, so he only brought a few deputy officers to ambush nearby. As expected, Lao Er deceived him to the edge of the pit and ended his life with a single blow. When it was time to fill in the soil and bury the body, the guards on the other side had already discovered them, and they fled overnight, dodging bullets and starting their fugitive lives.

  This escape lasted for several days, and when he arrived in the northwest, his eyes were once shining brightly. Good fellow, I didnt expect that there would be old tombs all over this mountain valley, its as if heaven has its eyes on me to make a big fortune.

  The next night, before Li Lao Er had even settled down in Hong Village, he got restless and took his stuff to rush to a mountain slope. He had been eyeing that place since the first day he arrived, and his brother, who was also his older brother, went with him.

  One shovel followed another, and the two brothers, relying on the moonlight, became more energetic. They simply took off their clothes, exposing their skin to the air as they wielded their hoes and dug.

  "Damn, were in luck this time, didnt expect to escape and end up in a pile of treasure." The speaker was Li Lao Ers older brother, who shared the same parents as Li Lao Ye but looked nothing like him.

  The eldest was tall and sturdy, with incredible strength, while the second was thin and dark-skinned. These two caused a stir in Luoyang for a long time before they were finally reported to the authorities. At that time, being caught meant losing ones head, so the brothers packed up their belongings and fled overnight, running halfway across China until they finally settled down here.