What a stele is, is difficult to explain in a few words.

But one thing is certain: carving words onto stone makes it a stele.

Perhaps in the minds of the ancients, since stone endures for millennia, engraving text upon it could allow those words to be praised for a hundred generations.

Of course, in the beginning, the inscriptions on steles were generally quite casual; anything could be carved onto them.

But as the era progressed and developed, the significance of the stele increased, and thus the texts inscribed upon them began to demand more care.

Putting aside ordinary inscriptions, the most solemn and serious stele carving must be that commemorating the achievements of ancient emperors.

As an emperor, one likely cares most about posthumous evaluation; even a tyrant would refuse to admit their own incompetence.

After all, not everyone possesses the fatalistic attitude of Louis XV, daring to blare out, "After I am gone, let the flood come." One still requires a fig leaf for propriety.

Thus, sometimes, inscriptions meant to record achievements slowly become tainted, turning into mere vehicles for emperors and generals to paint a rosy picture and sing praises of themselves.

Whether achievements existed or not, they could always be conjured out of thin air.

In comparison, Empress Wu Zetian was far smarter and exceedingly wise.

Knowing that achievements are not something one can simply claim to possess, she opted for the creation of a nameless stele.

Indeed, while later generations criticized her, they could not entirely erase her accomplishments, even granting them considerable acknowledgment.

As for this golden stele before them, a closer look reveals it too is an inscription proclaiming imperial achievements.

Moreover, the entire thing is cast from pure gold; this fact alone lends it immense weight.

"Who on earth was so extravagant as to cast a stele from gold?

That's unbelievably audacious." At the same time, Yu Feibai exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, wait a minute.

The achievements listed on the inscription look somewhat familiar..." "Rising from humble origins.

Led a rebellion against the Yuan, pacified the realm, era name Hongwu...

Damn, it's Zhu Yuanzhang." In an instant, Yu Feibai reacted, astonished: "This is actually Zhu Yuanzhang's Monument of Divine Merit and Sacred Virtue.

That can't be right.

I visited the Ming Xiaoling Tomb in Nanjing, and there is a Monument of Divine Merit and Sacred Virtue in the pavilion within the Square City.

The guide said Zhu Di personally composed the inscription and had it exquisitely carved.

That stone stele should still be there; it wouldn't have wandered over here." Of course, everyone understood that this golden stele and the stone one at the Ming Xiaoling Tomb were certainly not the same thing.

After all, not only did their sizes differ, but more importantly, their materials were vastly unequal in value.

Yet, everyone felt a touch of puzzlement: since a stone stele already existed, why go to the trouble of creating a golden one?

However, this was a minor detail; the most important thing was the golden stele itself.

At this moment, the surrounding crowd couldn't help but gather close.

Some inspected the inscription, others touched the golden stele, expressions of awe on their faces.

At the right moment, someone inquired, "Wang Guan, how did you notice something was wrong with the stele?" "The fissures were wrong." Wang Guan explained, "Normal cracks penetrate deep, often right through to the back of the stele.

But these cracks look like a spiderweb, only fracturing the surface layer.

They peel off in flakes—too superficial.

Seeing this, I knew something was fishy..." As he spoke, Wang Guan switched to a smaller hammer and smiled, "Everyone stand back; it’s not finished yet." "Oh." Immediately, Yu Feibai gasped, "Could it be that the Great Turtle is also cast from gold?" "I don't know, so I need to confirm," Wang Guan smiled, then squatted down to gently tap the Bixi, but he didn't strike the shell; instead, he carefully hammered beneath the turtle's belly.

Since striking the main body of the stele had caused sympathetic vibrations below, the cracks in the stone flakes had already spread.

Now, with just a light tap, they slowly began to fall away.

A moment later, more than half of the stone covering the Bixi was cleared, gradually revealing its true form.

Without a doubt, Yu Feibai’s guess was correct.

After brushing away the stone dust, everyone could see clearly: the Bixi was indeed cast from gold.

However, some noticed that the Bixi was not cast entirely from pure gold.

As for the scutes on the Bixi's back, they were not stamped or cast; they were actual turtle scutes.

Piece by piece, the scutes were fitted seamlessly onto the Bixi's back.

If the creature’s head and limbs hadn't been gleaming yellow, people might have truly believed it was a living thousand-year-old turtle.

But then again, even though the Bixi was a sculpted image, the scutes must have come from a real tortoise—likely the shells of genuine thousand-year-old turtles, transplanted and inlaid onto the back of the sculpture.

"It really is cast in gold," Yu Feibai clicked his tongue.

"Now I finally understand why the imperial treasuries of ancient dynasties were always so empty; it seems the emperors embezzled all the gold and silver." Although this statement was somewhat biased, it held a kernel of truth.

Throughout history, whether brilliant or incompetent, emperors spent money like water, often without restraint.

Perhaps some find it strange—the extravagance of a tyrant is understandable, but why were wise emperors also such heavy spenders?

In Wang Guan's view, sometimes the wise emperors caused greater harm.

That's because they loved to stir things up; frankly, they suffered from megalomania.

The most famous examples were emperors like Qin Shi Huang, Han Wudi, Sui Yangdi, Tang Xuanzong, and Kangxi and Qianlong.

Objectively speaking, none of these emperors were fools; they could all be called brilliant and mighty, but they agitated the state too much, ultimately ruining it or directly causing the shift from prosperity to decline.

In contrast, the foolish emperors were perhaps slightly better off; at least they knew they lacked the ability to stir things up, weren't keen on doing so, and were content to enjoy themselves.

Perhaps the populace fared better under them.

"I wonder what the origin of this object is?" Yu Feibai pondered carefully, curious.

"Based on the inscription, it matches the stone stele at the Xiaoling Tomb perfectly," Elder Qian mused.

"According to historical records, after usurping the throne, Zhu Di issued an edict to quarry massive stele material from Yangshan in the eastern suburbs of Nanjing.

At the time, Zhu Di was ambitious and intended to quarry a stone stele of unprecedented size to display Zhu Yuanzhang's achievements." "Of course, this endeavor also carried a certain political weight—mainly to soothe the hearts of the people throughout the realm.

But because the planned stele was too enormous, it simply could not be transported out, and the matter was dropped.

Later, after Zhu Di secured his throne, he settled for a substitute, which is the stone stele currently in the Ming Xiaoling Tomb." Elder Qian explained, then speculated, "But not long after, Zhu Di began moving the capital, abandoning Nanjing and establishing the seat of government in the current Beijing.

Perhaps after moving the capital, he began to miss Zhu Yuanzhang, which is why he ordered this object to be cast from gold.

After being passed down for one or two centuries, it was concealed using camouflage tactics during the chaos of the late Ming Dynasty..." "That sounds very plausible," the others nodded gently, ready to continue the narrative: the true nature of the golden turtle and stele was hidden, and then during the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China era, it was stolen and sold overseas.

Regardless of whether this was the actual truth, everyone felt it was sufficient for their current understanding.

Furthermore, tracing the entire history held little significant purpose; gazing upon the gold was far more satisfying.

"Don't just stare at the gold!" Elder Zhou signaled, "Look closely, everyone.

You can see that one scute is missing from the Bixi's back." At Elder Zhou’s reminder, everyone quickly looked over and indeed discovered the situation.

A turtle scute was missing from the Bixi's back.

However, because everyone's attention was fixed on the gold, they had initially overlooked it.

Now that it was pointed out, any discerning eye quickly realized the situation and immediately turned back to the solitary turtle scute lying on a nearby table.

There was no need for doubt; judging by the shape and markings, this scute belonged to the one missing from the Bixi's back.

It was simply unknown why it had been stripped off and scattered to different places.

Now, one could say, the broken pieces were finally reunited.

"How strange," Yu Feibai, being impatient, quickly picked up the scute from the table and placed it into the gap on the Bixi's back.

With a slight push, the entire scute settled perfectly into place, making the shell whole again.

The onlookers examined it.

On the complete set of scutes, the lines and dots clearly formed a celestial map.

At a glance, it resembled an eternal, incorruptible stele erected amidst the vast, boundless starry sky.

Clearly, erecting the stele on the turtle’s back and inscribing the celestial map on the scutes symbolized this very concept.

"Wang Guan, how did you know this scute was the missing piece from the Bixi?" Yu Feibai asked curiously.

"Also, with so many scutes on this Bixi, why did only one fall off?

And it doesn't look like it fell off naturally; it seems to have been peeled off deliberately." "I first saw the scute and was deeply impressed by it.

Then, when I went to the United States and saw this Bixi in the estate warehouse, I suddenly felt that something was wrong with the Bixi.

After examination, I discovered the issue with the cracks," Wang Guan explained.

"Actually, what I meant to say was that I found the scute first, which is why I intended to retrieve the Bixi as well.

I didn't expect they were actually connected..." "Right," Wang Guan said, eager to divert attention from this line of questioning.

"Have you noticed something odd about the Bixi's head?" "What's wrong with it?" The others followed his gaze.

After looking closely, some realized, while others remained confused.

"A Bixi's head is usually stretched out and held high.

Because it has to bear weight, its posture when crawling should display tension to be truly lifelike.

However, this one is half-retracted, as if hiding within its shell; it lacks imposing grandeur." As he spoke, Elder Zhou frowned, "Looking at it this way, there really seems to be an issue; it looks unbalanced." "Could there be another trick?" Yu Feibai reacted quickly, reaching out to touch the Bixi's head, a thoughtful expression dawning on his face.

With a quick gleam in his eye, as if a flash of inspiration had struck, he pressed down directly on the scute that had just been reattached.

"Crack!" In that instant, Yu Feibai seemed to press down with force, and everyone heard a faint sound.

Then, they watched as the Bixi's retracted head suddenly sprang out, stretching high and forward...

"I knew there had to be a mechanism!" Yu Feibai became instantly elated, his expression brimming with smug satisfaction.

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