Starting My Treasure Hunting In England

Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, United Kingdom. Located on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth in the central lowlands of Scotland. The area is about 260 square kilometers. The city was established in 1329 and was the capital of the Kingdom of Scotland from 1437 to 1707.

Liang En has been to this ancient city several times before, but the first few times he came, he was either too young, had things to do, and didn't have much energy to visit the city.

So after arriving in Edinburgh this time, Liang Enxian and Joan of Arc found a highly rated restaurant to fill their stomachs, and then slowly took the bus to Hill Street in the New Town.

Hill Street is a hideaway in Edinburgh's busy New Town. The cobbled streets and Georgian architecture give the street a tranquility that contrasts with its surroundings.

It was for this reason that Liang En and the others did not choose to drive here. After all, the street was not wide and motor vehicles were not allowed to park for long periods of time. In addition, it was not suitable to drive into the city center with guns in the car.

Therefore, compared with the complicated method of parking the car far away and walking there, it is simpler to take the bus directly.

Liang En and the others had two destinations this time. One of them was the Mary Church at No. 19 Hill Street. In July 1599, the Mary Church branch began to save the meeting records of the Freemasons, and this can be regarded as a communism meeting. The beginning of Franciscan society.

Freemasonry was not suddenly established one day. Since the Middle Ages, there have been mason associations in England and Scotland, because building stone buildings is a job that requires the cooperation of many people and has a high technical content.

Therefore, it is very reasonable for those masons to become an organization to coordinate the relationship between all parties and pass on this knowledge from generation to generation.

At that time, almost all professions had their own organizations, which could teach their secrets while keeping outsiders out. The reason why the masonry organization was so mysterious was mainly related to their professional characteristics.

As time went on, medieval England began to build larger and more complex churches, so stonemasons would leave their hometowns to travel far away, and work there with a large number of colleagues. months, or even years.

With a large number of peers, masons need to make sure that these peers understand the industry and are trustworthy. The way to achieve this is to establish an organization and identify each other in some way that only members within the organization know.

For example, carrying some kind of inconspicuous trinket, or using a certain gesture when shaking hands. And with such a simple purpose, the secret organization of stonemasons is getting bigger and bigger.

By the late 16th century, there were 13 guilds across Scotland from Edinburgh to Perth, but it was not until the late 17th century that these guilds had an institutionalized organizational structure, and this is the modern Freemasonry. Birth.

The reason why Liang En wanted to go to Mary's Church was because this church witnessed the earliest history of the formalization of Freemasonry. Therefore, if the Templars really joined, they would definitely choose the era when this church was established to find an opportunity to join.

Because only in this way can they, as the founders, have a way to hide their identities for a long time to come and pass on their power with the help of Freemasonry.

Considering that this is a masonry organization, there is a high probability that the descendants of the Templars who may have sneaked into this organization will spread some information for future generations through stone carvings.

Of course, according to historical data, such a church has undergone many renovations, and leaving information is just speculation, and there is no fact to prove it, so Liang En and the others still focus on the church not far from Mary Church. 96 George Street.

This location has been the Scottish Masonic Association since the formal establishment of the Freemasons in 1736. Although it has now been turned into a museum, it still retains a large number of records and minutes from various branches throughout Scotland.

On the way here, Liang En once asked several historical scholars from Scotland that he had met before on the pretext of looking for connections between Freemasonry and ancient Egyptian scientific research. As a result, he learned that even if the museum was changed to a museum, the documents still remain in the General Assembly.

"The best way to hide a secret document is to hide it with a large number of similar documents." A scholar who is a member of the Freemason told Liang En. "At least it's much safer than taking it out separately to build a file library."

More importantly, Liang En also learned from this person how the secret documents of the Freemasons were classified, and then deduced that the documents he wanted were now most likely public documents and could be directly queried.

It was also because of obtaining this information that Liang En and Joan of Arc came to this place, hoping to find out the information they needed through the clues in the previously found photos and search for the whereabouts of the so-called Templar treasure.

"——In our time, most of the streets were made of dirt, with all kinds of garbage on them." When she got off the car and walked towards her destination in the rain, Joan looked at the antique streets and talked about how the roads were in those days. look.

Liang En listened quietly with a smile on his face, and got a lot of important examples about medieval urban life. If he was willing, he could write a paper on these things alone.

In fact, Liang En had basically recorded all the content of his chat with Joan of Arc, and now he has written a notebook and a half. He feels that if he keeps recording like this, he will one day be able to summarize a guide to life in the Middle Ages.

"——At that time, many people would empty their urinals from the windows. When I was in Orleans——" Just when Joan of Arc was eager to share what she had encountered that year, she suddenly saw something and Liang En jerked forward. wall direction.

"What happened?" Liang En cooperated with her and successfully leaned against the wall, hiding his body through the door opening of the building, and then asked nervously.

"I saw the man in the wallet photo before. He and five people parked here in two cars." Joan of Arc whispered to Liang En, as if she was afraid of being heard by the other party.

But in fact, the probability of being heard by the other party can be said to be very slim, because the two sides are at least 20 meters apart, so no one except Joan, who has not removed the cross and is in a strengthened state, can see this, let alone hear the sound.

"It seems that our previous guess was correct. Someone is indeed looking for the treasures of the Knights Templar, and it is also an organization of cultural relic thieves." Liang En leaned close to Jeanne's ear and whispered.

At this time, someone in the group glanced at where Liang En and the others were now, and thought they were a pair of young people making out, so they quickly looked away.

Obviously, this group of people came here with the same idea as Liang En, which was to determine the whereabouts of the Templars who were mixed among the Freemasons by analyzing the personnel transfers of the Scottish Freemasons, and then infer the whereabouts of the wealth.

"It seems that we have encountered a troublesome opponent this time -" Liang En muttered quietly as he looked at the two cars driving away and the three people entering the museum. "We have to find a way to eliminate these guys from the plan first."