Yesterday, the big ship returned to the present, and Fang Zi'an has never had the opportunity to talk to Wan Dahai and the others in detail, because the time is too tight, and there is really no time. And during the day today, Wan Dahai and the others obviously needed a good rest, so Fang Zi'an didn't disturb them. Even Qian Kang, who came back with him in the morning, asked him to rest in the carriage on the way, so as not to disturb him.

But Fang Zi'an knew that something had obviously happened on the road this time. The eight masts on the Dream were broken, and one mainsail was left and tattered. Many of the devices on the deck of the big ship were damaged, and the ship's hall was crooked and about to collapse, which was obviously something terrible.

The joy and tears of joy after the people on the ship got off the ship should not only be the joy of the success of returning from the voyage, but also the joy of escaping death. This made Fang Zi'an feel deeply. So Fang Zi'an wanted to know what was going on.

"Nothing? The return journey was a bit difficult, but it was all over and we managed to make it. No big deal. When Fang Zi'an asked, Wan Dahai's answer seemed a little secretive and understated.

But Fang Zi'an knew from the fact that the others suddenly quieted down from the state of laughter and drinking, and the truth was obviously not as easy as Wan Dahai said. Some of the boatmen's eyes showed a look of fear, and their hands holding wine glasses and chopsticks began to tremble.

"Uncle Wan, say it, tell me about it. I'm curious to know how dangerous my adventurous move is for you. Because I have to weigh my future actions. Fang Zi'an insisted.

Liu Lao also said: "Brother Wan, you can't hide it." I repaired the boat and I know how strong it is. From the extent of the damage to the ship, I knew it must have been in a terrible storm. You can't hide it if you want to. ”

Wan Dahai Zi'er drank the wine in one gulp, and said with a smile: "Okay, in fact, I don't want to recall the experience at sea, but since Zi'an and Brother Fuye want to know, it doesn't hurt for me to talk about it." That one...... We did have storms, Brother Fuye, you know how terrible winter storms are, and we have encountered them three times, in just thirty days. ”

"Three times?" Liu Lao was so shocked that his chopsticks fell to the ground, he knew the danger of a storm at sea, and it was already difficult to deal with it once, let alone three times.

"Speaking of which, I have to thank Brother Fuye. This time the side fin plates on the ship really played a huge role, without it, we would have died in the sea this time. And the eight-masted sail, it really works. When we set sail, the winter monsoon had not yet picked up, but with the crosswinds, we were not slow at all. In less than fifteen days, we have arrived in the country of Jiaozhi, south of Qiongzhou. That's seven or eight days sooner than we expected. No matter how the wind turns, the boat can always borrow the wind to reach the mainsail, and the boat is light when it sets sail, so it is extremely fast. The monsoon wind rises halfway through, and it is even more swift. In fact, the time we spent from the Cochin country to the Boni country from the city of Zhancheng to the country of Boni was only nine days, except for the time when we relied on the port to buy and sell goods. It only took ten days to arrive at the Great Food Sea from the southwest of the country. It was only late November when the ship was full and all the deals were completed. Counting the days, there are nearly fifty days for us to come back. Although I know it's going to be hard, it's been five or six days longer than I expected. Wan Dahai said in a deep voice.

Fang Zi'an was surprised, this was ten days earlier than the time he and Liu Jiaotou had estimated. Before, I and Mr. Liu's estimate was that the return trip would take forty days, which was already very good. Because there is no need to dock at the port on the return trip, there is no need to delay for ten days, so although the time is more than half, it is actually half a month longer than when you go, so it should be enough. But according to Wan Dahai, the time for their return trip was nearly fifty days, that is, the voyage that took less than a month when they went there took nearly twice as long after they returned.

"The return voyage is headwind, but it's not too bad to come out of the big food country, after all, the crosswind is available. The monsoon is from north to south, and we are going from the Great Food Sea to the northeast, using the three side sails on the right, which is not too difficult. But after ten days of sailing, we reached the narrow strait between the countries of Boni and Srivijaya, and we encountered our first storm. Although you haven't been out yet, you should know the Dead Man's Beach to the west of the Boni Country, which is the most dangerous place. "Wan Hai Dao.

Liu Lao nodded his head and said: "Of course I know that the dead man's beach in the Bomud Country is all discolored by my Great Song Dynasty boatmen, which is the entrance to the Great Food Sea in the west, which is extremely narrow, and the sea tide is turbulent and the reefs are dense, and I don't know how many seagoing ships and boatmen hate it." Brother Wan, did you still encounter a storm in Dead Man's Beach? Wouldn't that be a disaster? Even if there is no storm, it is extremely dangerous to pass through that area. ”

Wan Dahai smiled bitterly: "Isn't it? When the storm hit head-on, we were crossing the strait from the Great Food Sea to the Bonihai Sea, ready to head north against the wind. The waves of the storm were at least a few feet high, and they were as high as hell. There's no way to hide from it, and there's really no shelter from the waves. We had no choice but to rush over it. The wind was very strong, the waves were very high, and the wind and rain were mixed with hailstones the size of eggs, which smashed down without a head. When the wave comes, we are thrown into the air, and it seems that we can all get the dark clouds in the sky. When it fell, it was surrounded by four walls of water, seven or eight feet high. It was as if we had been sucked into the abyss of hell. The ship was thrown up and down, and every plank seemed to be about to shatter into pieces, threatening to be shattered at any moment. For a moment, I even gave up hope. I thought we would never come back. Hey, I really don't want to remember that moment, it's horrible. Even I haven't experienced such danger in decades. ”

Wan Dahai said all this in a deep voice, his brows were tightly locked, his face showed a look of fear, and his fingers trembled slightly. Fang Zi'an's hands were also shaking, and he made up the picture at that time in his mind from Wan Dahai's description. Storms and hailstorms. The waves are raging all around, and a big ship is like a leaf drifting with the waves. That feeling of despair can not be described by the heart and gall.

The whole hall was silent, and the boatmen who had experienced it trembled slightly, and some of them almost cried. That nightmarish scene was one they never wanted to recall. It's a nightmare they'll never forget in their lives.

"Wan Da Faucet is really worthy of being the first dragon head of my Great Song Dynasty, when we all thought we were going to die there, Wan Da Faucet stood on the deck and firmly held the rudder. I vomited so much that I vomited all my bitter gall. I didn't have the strength to tie myself to the pillar of the ship hall with a rope to stand on my feet, but I saw that the head of the dragon was still engrossed in holding the rudder. There is also Brother Wan Tiezhu, who is also there, he stands behind the old man and lowers the waist of the old man, and he ties himself to the mast. I will never forget that moment. It will always remain in my memory. What is a true hero, Wanjia father and son are real heroes. At that time, if they didn't still control the ship like their mainstay, we would really be finished. In the silence, Qian Kang said in a deep voice.

Wan Dahai smiled when he heard this: "Brother Qian's words are serious, my old man eats this mouthful, Brother Zi'an invited me out of the mountain, because he values my skills in operating boats, I take people's money, how can I not do my best?" What is the head of the dragon in a boat, that is, the person who can stabilize the rudder at critical times, and what rudder to use when the wind is calm? What do you want me to do, old fellow? The more stormy the waves, the more you need to steer the rudder and steer the boat well, so that the boat can maintain the correct position. You are boatmen and boatmen, and you know how important it is to keep the rudder steady in the wind and waves to keep the ship in position. What I did was what I had to do. As for my son Tiezhu, I am his father, and of course he can't leave me alone. Nothing to say. ”

Old Liu shook his head and smiled: "Although Brother Wan said this humbly, I heard a trace of domineering. Needless to say, you finally got through it. ”

"Needless to say? Otherwise, can I sit here and drink with you? After about two hours, the storm became smaller, and we finally survived. Although everyone was exhausted, the boat hugged and injured a few people, but it was nothing, they were all injured by hailstones. I must say that the two side plates of Brother Fuye are really useful, usually in this kind of big waves, it is difficult for the boat to maintain stability after falling, but I ordered someone to open all the side plates, which really made the ship a lot more stable. Without those two side fins, I probably wouldn't be able to do anything. Wan Dahai laughed.

Liu Lao shook his head and laughed: "I don't dare to be greedy, I am very happy that you say it is useful, but in the wind and waves, I am afraid that it is useless to rely on the two side fin plates, the main thing is that your brother has experience and control." It's really a cold sweat. ”

Fang Zi'an stood up, raised his glass to Wan Dahai and Wan Dahai's eldest son Wan Tiezhu who was sitting beside him, and said, "Zi'an respects your father and son. Zi'an has nothing to say, only admiration and respect. ”

Wan Dahai and Wan Tiezhu hurriedly stood up, and the three of them drank it all.

"However, you have survived this storm, and there are two more to come, so I don't know how you survived. Ships are bound to be damaged in the storm, and I am afraid it will become more and more difficult. I take the liberty of asking if it would be better to throw away some of the cargo in the ship when the wind and waves hit. Isn't it more difficult to control a full warehouse of goods? Fang Zi'an said.

"Of course, it's better to do it empty, the boat is full, the draft is deep, and the handling is more cumbersome. But how could I leave these goods behind, that's our mission on this trip. Your brother Fang asked us to go to sea to buy Fanguo's goods, but we threw them into the sea halfway? That's what I can do. Wan Dahai said with a smile.

Qian Kang sighed beside him: "Zi'an, I also asked Wan Da Faucet to throw away some goods, but he insisted on refusing. I can't help it. ”

Fang Zi'an nodded slightly, sighed and said, "What's the situation in the future?" ”

Wan Dahai said: "Come over this hurdle, I have more confidence." The big ship has been put to the test, and I am more familiar with the nature of the ship. It's just that the ship has been damaged a bit, which worries me a little. After that, we can only do some simple repairs, hoping that we don't encounter a big storm. Thankfully, it was an eight-masted ship, and although we were heading north against the wind, we were still able to move forward in the crosswind. I took a zigzag route so I could avoid sailing head-on with the wind. Sail diagonally for one day, and sail back and forth in diagonal direction for one day, so that you can take advantage of crosswinds. Although it was only a one-day voyage on two days, it worked, at least we were sailing back. ”

Fang Zi'an clapped his hands and applauded, this is the wisdom of the old shipwright. In this age of sailing almost entirely on the power of the wind, it is difficult to sail against the wind unless it is done with human power. And Wan Dahai uses the means of lateral navigation to travel with the power of crosswinds, which can be described as a pioneering feat. The premise, of course, is that the ship is an eight-masted ship that can take advantage of some lateral winds.

"North of Champ, we had a second storm, but it wasn't too big, and we could still handle it. However, the one in the Ryukyu Strait was a bit thrilling. We broke through, but the mast broke, and the hall collapsed. The hull was also damaged. Everyone worked together, worked hard, and God forbid, we are back. Actually, there's not much to say. The boat is good, God gives face, plus we are lucky. In short, everything is quite satisfactory, just live up to the trust of Fang Gongzi, and there is no need to mention this matter again. ”

"Plus Brother Wan's means, hahaha." The old boss added with a smile, and everyone nodded in unison.

Fang Zi'an was silent, he knew that Wan Dahai actually didn't want to recall these details, and the next two storms must also be extremely dangerous, from the degree of damage to the ship. But at the moment, there is no need to know the details. At this moment, Fang Zi'an admired Wan Dahai and the others, and there was no adulteration.

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