When it comes to ancient tombs, everyone must have infinite curiosity and a little fear. "Who is the owner of the tomb?" "Are there many treasures in the ancient tomb?" and other answers to questions. Everyone wants to know. Today, we are going to talk about a very unusual ancient tomb. Why is this ancient tomb extraordinary? Because Cixi didn't dare to mess with it, and Guangxu didn't dare to touch it. Even if the court wanted to build a railway, it would avoid this ancient tomb. You may think that it is so powerful that it should be an imperial mausoleum, but you would be wrong.
This cemetery is called "Cao Tomb". It is located between two small villages in Dongmaquan Town, Wuqing District, Tianjin. It covers an area of ??more than 1,000 acres and was built in the Ming Dynasty. At that time, the Cao family in Wuqing decided to move the ancestral grave because there was no room available. Cao Han, who was going south all the way, invited the Kanyu family to search for geomantic treasures along the way until they arrived at a tomb site in the north of Luoda, between the East and West Horse Circles, and in the south of Anjia Biaodan Village. "East Horse Circle, West Horse Circle, A Hanlin Academy is built in the middle, with a standard building in the front and a lower building in the back, so that future generations can enjoy prosperity." Such a piece of land of a thousand acres was favored by the Kan Yu family. After choosing the site, the Cao family began to build their own mausoleum. It took a year to finally complete the construction.
Let’s talk about the Cao family, the owner of this cemetery. They were quite famous during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The Cao family had been officials in the court since the Ming Dynasty. Their ancestors had served as Ronglu doctors, The Governor Zuo of the Later Army Governor's Mansion, the Confucian scholar of the Qing Dynasty, and the Hanlin Academy reviewed it. But this is not a high official. Why didn't Guangxu dare to mess with the Cao family? One person has to be mentioned here, and that is Cao Chuan, the sixth generation ancestor of the Cao family. Cao Chuan had a very good relationship with Kangxi in private. Every time Kangxi went to Wuqing for inspection, he stayed at Cao Chuan's house. Cao Chuan's son Cao Han also received a gift and was arranged to study in the Prince's Prison. Moreover, Kangxi personally wrote a plaque for the Cao family and hung it in the Cao tomb guarding courtyard.
Later, during the Guangxu period, the imperial court began to build the Beijing-Shandong Railway, from Beijing to Shanhaiguan via Tianjin. However, it was such a 415-kilometer railway, and the route happened to pass through Cao's tomb. If it were an ordinary family, this ancestral grave would have to be moved. After all, the construction of the railway was a matter decided by the court and could not be changed or provoked. However, the Cao family was not happy. It was unlucky to move the ancestral grave. How could it be done? They had lost the territory of their ancestors, so they simply refused to move. After preparing a generous gift, he found the person in charge of the project, but how dare he change the project decided by the court at will. Failure to do so would be a loss of head, so the person in charge of the project still told the Cao family that if the railway was not to be To visit the Cao family's ancestral tomb, you still have to get Empress Cixi's consent.
After that, the Cao family sent someone to the palace to give gifts to the Empress Dowager Cixi, and told Cixi that the plaque given by Emperor Kangxi was hung in Cao's tomb guarding the courtyard. Upon hearing this, Cixi immediately told Guangxu that the railway still had to be rerouted, and that Cao's tomb, which had been given a plaque by Emperor Kangxi, could not be moved.