The Longyou County Annals also record the water transportation commercial union, and a lot of boat factories still exist in Longyou. The poles on the riverbank, which were once used to tie the boats, now only and still stand erect, showing just a slice of the once-prosperous scene.

To further prove the theory of a military cellar, Zhu decided to scrutinize the grottoes' inside environment and concluded that the grottoes have proper temperature for storing goods.

"All the grottoes are very spacious and about 30 meters deep. Each of the grottoes is independent with a small square-shaped mouth. These features provide a relatively stable environment with proper temperature and humidity, forming an ideal place for storing grains or other goods," said Zhu.

The meteorological experts did consecutive researches on the temperature and humidity of the grottoes for more than one year, and found the temperature of the grottoes was always around 15 degrees Celsius in summer and above six degrees Celsius in winter. 

However, experiments show that the humidity in the grottoes is very high and exceeds 90% from time to time, a character that poses great difficulty for storing goods. Did the ancient people really have a special way to reduce the humidity?

Experts at the time found Cuiguang Grotto in Longyou County, which has proved to be a storehouse with written records, but it has two substantial differences with Longyou Grottoes: First, the Cuiguang Grotto is a horizontal cave. Second, it is located next to the river, and its mouth points to the water. These features are definitely for the convenience of transportation.

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