"So, does the archaeology community in Huaxia engage in any fraudulent practices?" asked President Moy Hua, shifting the topic to Chen Yiyang.
"Of course," Chen Yiyang replied without hesitation.
Among 1.4 billion people, having a few bad apples is quite normal.
So Chen Yiyang shared what he knew, "For instance, in our ancient capital city of West Capital, there was once a case where a Song Dynasty Buddhist holy site was altered to appear as a Tang Dynasty Nestorian relic.
This was primarily done to include the site in the Silk Road project."
Unlike Japan, where archaeological fraud is mainly to satisfy national pride, some fraudulent activities in Huaxia are due to local efforts to boost the economy by forcibly altering some details.
"However, in Huaxia, archaeological fraud is easily uncovered."
Chen Yiyang continued to Moy Hua, "Because Huaxia has an abundance of ancient records, sites, and artifacts left behind.
In Japan, you can fabricate a fake stone tool on your own. But in Huaxia, it's not that easy; counterfeiting a single artifact is very difficult.
All artifacts in Huaxia are systematic. If you produce an artifact that no archaeologist has seen, and it lacks associated items or historical records, it is easily deemed fake or questionable, and the academic world won't recognize it."
"For example," Chen Yiyang continued to Moy Hua, "let's say you produce a bamboo slip, claiming it contains an article from the Book of Songs that was previously undiscovered.
You might think the era of the Book of Songs is thousands of years ago, making it hard for archaeologists to disprove you.
But unexpectedly, a few years later, other archaeologists uncover a complete version from a grave. When it lacks the article you claimed,
then your version of the Book of Songs would be considered fake."
"I understand," President Moy Hua nodded, comprehending what Chen Yiyang was conveying.
This is also why many people regard Western archaeological findings with skepticism.
Because in ancient times, due to limited conditions, people lived collectively.
Any archaeological discovery can't just be a few baskets or bricks; a substantial amount of related artifacts should be found in the region.
However, many Western archaeological finds seem like Westerners lived in isolation.
On land just a few hundred square meters wide, one family survived with just a few baskets.
But Huaxia is different.
The Book of Songs and the Analects have been passed down for thousands of years without suspicion of modern forgery.
Though we might not find physical evidence today or tomorrow, who knows, maybe the day after, an original version will be unearthed from a grave.
Take the complete version of the Book of Songs, which was recently announced to have been found in the tomb of Marquis Haihun.
This Marquis Haihun is also a notable figure in history. After Emperor Zhao of Han passed away without an heir, Huo Guang, who held power at the time, invited Liu He to come and be Emperor.
However, after Liu He arrived in Beijing, he couldn't get along with Huo Guang and Empress Dowager, so he was deposed after just 27 days.
He was then given the title Marquis Haihun, exiled locally and imprisoned, and died at 33.
Since Liu He was a famous deposed emperor, many tomb robbers thought there was nothing valuable in his tomb.
Moreover, an earthquake later buried the tomb, making excavation difficult.
So it wasn't until 2011 that the tomb of Marquis Haihun was surveyed and formally excavated.
And this excavation turned out to be significant.
More than ten thousand artifacts were unearthed, along with over 5,000 bamboo and wooden tablets from the tomb of Marquis Haihun.
Among them were 1,200 pieces of the Book of Songs, and over 500 pieces of the Analects, including the once lost version, Qi Analects.
Apart from these, records of the Book of Rites, Spring and Autumn Annals, Filial Piety Classic, and I Ching were also found.
So you see, it's very difficult to falsify artifacts in Huaxia.
Because who knows when an original version might just be dug up from a grave.
If your artifact doesn't match theirs, then yours is fake.
If you ask why theirs isn't considered fake,
the experts would point to the more than ten thousand artifacts to show you.
Who could fabricate over ten thousand artifacts, each of which can be dated accurately?
And this is just a character briefly mentioned in history books.
In the future, even older, earlier documents might be discovered.
With so many artifacts corroborating each other, it's easy to tell what's real or fake at a glance.
After staying a few more days with Moy Hua in Tokyo,
the sale of the Nissan headquarters building was finally settled.
Toyota Osamu arranged for some friends from the Japanese business world to dine with Chen Yiyang, allowing people to get acquainted.
"This is Mr. Shimizu, the owner of a company manufacturing rare earth magnets," Toyota Osamu introduced Chen Yiyang to a company owner appearing to be in his sixties.
This age in Huaxia would be suitable for retirement, but in Japan, it's the prime time to strive.
Unfortunately, Mr. Shimizu seemed troubled today.
If it weren't for his politeness when speaking with Chen Yiyang, Chen might have thought Mr. Shimizu had an issue with him.
"Mr. Shimizu saw some unfavorable news about his company before coming here today, hence the expression," Toyota Osamu explained on the side.
"What news, if I may ask?" Chen Yiyang inquired out of curiosity.
"There's nothing inconvenient about it," Mr. Shimizu said, showing Chen Yiyang an old-style phone displaying a screenshot of a news article in English.
Chen Yiyang, disliking the small screen, memorized a line from the text and looked it up himself.
North America announced the manufacture of the first rare earth magnet in 25 years, with the finance minister happily declaring the end of relying on Huaxia's dominance.
?!
Chen Yiyang was bewildered after reading the news article's content.
The news didn't even mention Japan, so why was Mr. Shimizu so worried?
Logically, it should have been him, a Huaxia citizen, who should be worried.
Seeing Chen Yiyang's confusion, Mr. Shimizu patiently explained.
His company produced neodymium iron boron magnets,
a relatively basic rare earth material mainly used in electric vehicle motors, wind power, and North America's F35 fighter jets.
Previously, only Japan and Huaxia had the capability to produce this material.
Given that this material is used in the most critical parts of the F35, North America naturally wouldn't import this material from Huaxia, opting to import from Japan instead.
So the Japanese side took advantage and set a high price that North America struggled to accept.
As a result, North American manufacturers had to secretly purchase related materials from Huaxia to supply their F35.
