Chapter 1010 Beijing Man's skull

After Ouyang Lei left, Vice Minister Yu couldn't sit still. After saying hello to Zhuang Rui and Professor Meng, he left in a hurry. He must have returned to the department to discuss how to solve the salvage incident.

"Teacher, what do you think of this incident? Do students participate or not?

To be honest, Zhuang Rui is not very interested in the cooperation with the relevant departments of the country. With this effort, he might as well go to the Atlantic Ocean for a few laps. The objects salvaged there are all owned by Zhuang Rui.

And if he participates in this domestic salvage, the matter is obvious. If the gold and platinum and the 150,000-carat unprocessed diamonds are salvaged and designated as owned by the country, he will be commended at most.

However, Professor Meng was a witness who participated in the salvage of the Awa Maru. Zhuang Rui wanted to listen to the old man's opinion, and he had a question in his heart and wanted to consult the teacher.

"The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility, Xiaozhuang. Although many departments in China have many problems, you just need to do it according to your own heart and be worthy of these more than one billion people..."

Professor Meng is a pure scholar, and he is not very used to those bureaucratic styles. Today's events especially make him uncomfortable, because when he didn't know about this matter before he came, Dean Liu told him that the scientific research fund of two million yuan he applied for in the past few months had been approved.

When Professor Meng heard the news, he was originally very happy, but only when he came here did he know that the leader approved the fund because he was afraid that he had been in prison for the "Abo Maru" salvage incident more than 30 years ago, and he was unwilling to participate in the compensation made by the salvage.

Art, science and history can't be made up with money. Dean Liu's behavior made the old professor feel as disgusting as if he had eaten a fly. Among the people who fell into the well in those years, there was this guy.

"But how to cooperate, you can have a good discussion, Xiaozhuang, you don't lack those gold, silver, diamonds and other objects, just give them to them, but it seems that there are still not many things in your museum, right?"

Professor Meng winked at Zhuang Rui when he spoke, and his face was full of smiles.

"Ha ha, teacher, can they agree?"

Zhuang Rui understood Professor Meng's meaning. Since it is a cooperative salvage, it will naturally be beneficial for his own side. If the money is given to the country, then he can use his brains in the lost cultural relics on the ship.

However, according to the previous records and some objects salvaged last time, those lost cultural relics are likely to be the cultural relics lost from Manchuria at that time, that is, Puyi took them out of the Forbidden City in those years. These are all national-class precious cultural relics, and the state may not be able to agree to their own requirements.

"Did you disagree? Do you want to leave it for those bureaucrats? Do you want to keep it in the Forbidden City?

Hearing Zhuang Rui raise this question, Professor Meng's voice suddenly raised a few degrees, with a look of indignation on his face.

"Teacher? What's the matter? Zhuang Rui was a little puzzled. I don't know which of his words caused the teacher's displeasure?

"This matter has nothing to do with you. Some time ago, out of research needs, I wanted to transfer a clay pot unearthed from Liu Xiu's tomb some time ago from the Forbidden City, but... I didn't expect that things were destroyed..."

The more Professor Meng said, the more angry he became. The clay pot could be regarded as a national second-class protected cultural relic, but after it was damaged, it was not reported and repaired, but was hidden inside the Forbidden City.

If it hadn't been for Professor Meng's research needs and accidental discovery of the damage of the clay pot, I'm afraid this matter would never have been known by the world, and even people in the industry would not know it.

Professor Meng can't stand such a bureaucracy, so he doesn't want to see that if the "Awa Maru" really appears any precious cultural relics, it will be ruined by the bureaucrats in the Forbidden City.

"Okay, teacher, I will definitely insist on this point about cultural relics..."

After hearing this, Zhuang Rui was also very angry. As a cultural relics supervision department, he could not properly preserve the precious historical cultural relics left by his ancestors, and he also shirked each other's responsibility after being damaged. Such a department really can't reassure Zhuang Rui.

"Damn it, I will never exchange exhibits with the Forbidden City again. It's too unreliable..."

After listening to Professor Meng's story, Zhuang Rui was still a little afraid. Last time he promised Jin Pangzi to exchange exhibits with the Forbidden City Museum. Fortunately, there was no accident. Otherwise, if his treasures were damaged or lost, wouldn't he be distressed to death?

Professor Meng's face eased, pointed to Zhuang Rui, and said, "Well, some people want political achievements. They don't pay too much attention to these things that can't eat and drink. They should be able to talk about it, but it's cheaper for you..."

"Teacher, you participated in the first salvage. What cultural relics are there on the Awa Maru? Tell the students? I heard that the "Beijing skull" in those years was on the Awa Maru. Is this true or false?

Since the deputy minister heard the name of "Abo Maru" just now, Zhuang Rui has always had this question in his heart, and he has been holding it for most of the day.

"You boy, I knew you would ask this question..."

Professor Meng laughed when he heard the words. After meditating for a while, he said, "Xiaozhuang, how much do you know about the skulls of Beijing people?"

Professor Meng didn't want to test Zhuang Rui, but the skull of Beijing people involved a very complicated history. If he didn't understand the situation at that time, he couldn't make an inference at all.

"Teacher, everything I know is seen from the textbook, and there are some gossips that can't be done accurately..."

Zhuang Rui scratched his head with embarrassment. "Beijing skull" is of greater significance to anthropologists and historians than archaeologists, so when he saw the relevant report at that time, he only saw it as a story.

However, out of professionalism, Zhuang Rui still remembered the ins and outs of this matter. As early as the 1920s, Chinese scientists found two teeth belonging to early humans in Zhoukoudian. In October of the same year, when the Beijing scientific community reported this important discovery, it immediately caused a sensation at home and abroad.

After that, the China Geological Survey and the Union Medical College joined together to carry out a large-scale excavation of the Beijing people's site in Zhoukoudian. One day in the early winter, during the excavation process of Pei Wenzhong, a young paleontologist, he suddenly saw a small hole. The crack in the hole was so narrow that only one person

In order to find out the reality, Feiwen entered the cave alone and accidentally found many animal fossils in the cave. After a day of excavation, the archaeological discovery that shocked the world finally appeared.

At that time, it was already dark, but in Feiwen, who insisted on digging, an ape man's skull was found. At that time, half of the skull was still in the earth. After careful excavation, the first Beijinger's skull was finally completely unearthed.

At that time, Pei Wenzhong sat in the car in person and used his own two quilts, mattresses and felts to escort them to the city in this rare treasure.

In 1936, Jia Lanpo found three "Beijing ape man" skull fossils in the ape cave. A total of 6 skulls, 12 skull fragments, 15 lower jaw bones, 157 teeth, broken femurs, fishy bones, etc. were unearthed, belonging to more than 40 men, women and children.

The discovery of Beijing ruins and fossils is a major event in the history of world palaeont anthropology research. So far, no ancient human site has such a large number of ancient humans, ancient cultures, ancient animal fossils and other data like the Beijing People's Ruins in Zhoukoudian.

Beijing fossils have become a rare treasure that has attracted the attention of the world's scientific community. Although it is not the earliest human, as a representative of the intermediate link from apes to humans, it is known as "the most meaningful and touching discovery in the history of ancient human beings". Therefore, the preciousness of "Beijing people's skull" can be imagined

However, because of this, it has also become the target of some speculators and imperialists. The five Beijing skulls and a batch of fossils excavated by Pei Wenzhong were strangely "disappeared" during the Anti-Japanese War.

In 1941, relations between Japan and the United States became increasingly tense. In Peiping, which was occupied by the Japanese army at that time, the Japanese army began to occupy some of the neutral U.S. institutions in Peiping.

Although the Beiping Union Hospital, which stores and keeps the skull fossils of Beijing people, is the property of the United States, it was not spared at that time. In this case, the Cenozoic Research Office decided to find a safer storage place for Beijing fossils.

Due to the contract signed by China and the United States during the cooperative excavation of fossils, all fossils excavated in Zhoukoudian are Chinese property and transportation abroad is prohibited. So the people of the U.S. Embassy refused to accept it at that time.

After the coordination of the National Government, the U.S. Ambassador to China in Chongqing agreed and authorized the U.S. Embassy in Beiping to receive these precious ancient human fossils and prepare to transport them safely to the United States for preservation.

In the early morning of December 5, 1941, a special train of the U.S. Marines left Peiping. After the train arrived at Qinhuangdao as planned, the fossils were transported to the ship "President Harrison" and then to the United States.

Unfortunately, just as the Marines were preparing to leave for the United States, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and the Pacific War broke out. The Japanese army quickly occupied the U.S. institutions in China, and the U.S. Marines' barracks in Qinhuangdao were also occupied by the Japanese, and the skulls of the Beijingers disappeared.

This incident has become a theft that shocked the world. For more than half a century, people have been looking for it.

In 1998, Jia Lanpo, the father of Beijing people, once launched a "big search at the end of the century" with more than a dozen other academicians, but in the end, no valuable clues were found, and there is still no result.