Seawater is very corrosive, so after the wood is cut down, it needs to be soaked in a pond for a month or two, and then dried before it can be used.

The tree species on the island are very simple, and only a few palm groves that shade the sky and the sun grow around the island.

The trunks of these ancient trees are so slender that several people can't hold them together.

Tree trunks were cut down, sawn into planks, and pools were dug next to the docks, bringing water from the springs in the former mountains for soaking wood.

In this way, back and forth, sunrise and sunset, more than ten of our strong men spent more than a month.

The logs of the planks and keels were all prepared, and the iron nails on the original ship could still be used, and the materials needed for shipbuilding were almost ready.

But a small incident stumped everyone, and it had to be related to the overall situation.

We searched the entire island, but we didn't find the sumac trees and tung trees that Brother Lin said.

No matter how skilled the shipbuilders are, the slightest gap between the wood and the keel cannot be avoided.

If you go to sea without treatment, the sea water seeps and drips through the stones, and the death of the merchant ship is not far off.

Therefore, the Romans used olive oil mixed with viscous gum to fill the gaps in the hull.

Brother Lin and them, the sea people of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the materials used to repair the seams are different, and they vary from place to place.

Tung oil, lacquer oil, peach oil, glutinous rice boiled soup, etc., but everything that adheres to heat-resistant things can be used.

Among them, the best effect is the oil of the lacquer tree, which is boiled into a liquid form and mixed with cloth ash, which is filled between the gaps of the board, and when it is cooled by water, it will be as hard as iron and stone.

In addition to lacquer oil, tung oil is also a must-have for the maintenance and repair of seagoing vessels.

Every time they return from a voyage, people will tow the merchant ship ashore and brush it with a layer of tung oil.

After drying, it can prevent both leaks and insects.

After years of wind and sun, the sails are dark and the hull is dark and shiny.

The merchant ships sailing the sea look from afar, like whale sharks cleaving the wind and waves in the sea.

Compared with the merchant ships of Persia and the rest of the countries, there is also a clear difference in appearance.

Now that shipbuilding is imminent, these oilfruit gums have not yet landed, which is really sad!

For this reason, Brother Lin specially gathered everyone together and asked everyone to work together to come up with a perfect method.

"Everybody think about it, how this should be! The sea is no more perfunctory than the inland river, the gap between the bottom plate and the side plate is not filled, and our merchant ship is a living coffin floating on the sea! ”

"Master, we might as well dig deeper when we chisel the falcon, maybe it will work!" A fellow said.

"You think you're Master Lu Banzu! No matter how smooth the planing between the plates is, they can't withstand the bumps of the sea! As soon as the bump closes loose, it's over! The other guy immediately retorted.

"Wear a few more wooden pegs into it and it might work!"

"All the crevices, inside and out, are nailed with wooden wedges!"

"Add a few more keel ribs to the side panels! The plate is a little wider! All the interfaces between the plates are nailed to the keel! ”

The colloquial language of the three cobblers Sai Zhuge , these guys' ideas hit the nail on the head, but the outstanding problems remain unsolved.

Without tung oil and lacquer oil, what should be used to fill the seams of the ship?

Brother Lin looked around the audience with his stunned short beard, hoping that someone would be able to come up with a better strategy.

"Big brother! If there is no tung oil or lacquer oil, can it be replaced by other oils? For example, the fish oil in the deep sea, and the sea beasts on the edge of the stone cliff, all of them

A belly full of fat can also be caught and used! ”

I don't have the slightest experience in shipbuilding, but when I saw that Brother Lin was pressing, I also put forward some ideas of my own.

"Brother Xian doesn't know that the fish oil is not sticky, and it can't be combined with the plate at all. The fat of beasts can be made up after a little treatment, but it melts like lard when heated, and cannot be used as adhesive. ”

Brother Lin was polite to me, and did not take my suggestion, but also explained the reason.

"Master, Yi Zi's words reminded Lao Su of one thing. When we were repairing the boat in our hometown, we would boil the lacquered gum in a clay pot over an open flame, then stir it with cloth ash and grass ash, and then pour it into the cracks of the hull while it was hot. The paint residue left behind by the dismantling of the ship may be usable after being boiled in the furnace. ”

Tian Bo added from the side, Now I, Qin Chong, and Guo Helmet have a pleasant nickname on this boat.

Everyone called me Yi Zi to show respect, Qin Chong as Chong Zi, and Liu Zhen'er as the pot boy, following the general name for adult men in Brother Lin's hometown Nan'an County, Fujian.

"Hahaha! That's a great idea! Tian Bo! Jiang is still old and spicy, Jinxiang is taught! ”

After listening to Tian Bo's suggestion, the haze that shrouded everyone's heads was swept away, and Brother Lin stood up and bowed deeply to his family elder.

"The master has killed me! Oh, it's a matter of duty! It's a matter of duty! ”

Tian Bo humbled and hurriedly supported his master with both hands.

"Without further ado! Hurry up and clean up the copper kettle clay pot and set up an open fire to cook the paint slag! If Tian Bo's method works, I will only owe the west wind when I return! ”

Brother Lin gave the order, and everyone went their separate ways.

When the merchant ship was dismantled a month ago, the paint patches attached to the hull were torn off one by one along the seams, piling up like pitch-black bark on the beach.

Now these original abandoned things are all related to the success or failure of shipbuilding, and they are really making people!

After a cup of tea, the paint residue boiled in boiling water has softened, and after several melts and filters, a ball of vermilion black lacquer glue finally appeared in everyone's sight.

The paint slag is returned to the furnace and the materials required for shipbuilding are finally fully prepared.

During this time, Brother Lin specially assigned me another errand, which was to pick berries and brew wine with Qin Chong and Guo Helmet.

boasted about Haikou in front of him before, and this benevolent brother took it seriously.

It is not difficult to make local wine, but there are no grains and sheep on the island, and there are no berries to use except the stiff and greasy palm fruit.

It is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, so she can't use fish and the fur of sea beasts to make sake!

In the midst of our struggle, we stumbled upon an edible tree stem.

It grows under the soil, and the flesh is mellow and slightly sweet, similar to the red potatoes on the Persian plateau.

The discovery was so great that we call the root cassava.

With cassava as a staple, we'll have a much better time on the island in the future, and I won't have to worry about sake anymore.

Sake brewing is a manual task from selecting ingredients to brewing, and it is difficult for the three of us to succeed with the help of just three of us.

Therefore, all of us stopped our shipbuilding work for the time being, and came to obey the dispatch of my winemaker.

In one day's work, we dug more than 1,000 catties of cassava.

Wash and slice, dry on the beach, steam in a pot, mix in koji, seal in wooden barrels, distill and extract liquor.

In the autumn of this year, when the keels of our merchant ships began to be put on the shelves, they were in this southern wilderness

At the end of the world, cassava wine brewed out of the woodpipe.

The aroma of wine was intoxicating, and I was thrilled to hear a joke from two months ago come true.

In this world, as long as you are willing to try, anything is possible.

Whether it is a merchant or a winemaker, whether it is commanding thousands of troops and horses, or walking the world alone.

I don't know how difficult I have been, I don't know how big my ability is if I haven't done it.

"Good wine! Wine! Hahaha! Mellow and heavy, long aftertaste! It can be compared with the old wine of Guishan in Tianzhu Buddha Kingdom! ”

Brother Lin couldn't wait to stand in front of the steamer, took a bowl of turbid wine, and then drank it all and praised it repeatedly.

"Old wine can be made, and the eldest brother's wine koji is a great achievement, hahaha!"

I took the pottery bowl and tasted it, but I felt a spicy and mellow heat rushing to my lungs, and the hot and heavy aftertaste was endless, and it was indeed a rare spirit in the world.

I suddenly felt relieved and laughed, the wine has been completed, and I finally lived up to Brother Lin's trust.

Speaking of this koji, it took a lot of twists and turns at first.

Without koji as bait, the old sake will be like swill, and the taste and koji will be the difference between heaven and earth.

But it wasn't until the dried potato chips were steamed, that I realized that the koji yeast that was used as a sake source had not yet arrived.

In the midst of the scramble, we found a dozen oak barrels on board.

It was all empty, and it took a few drips to barely take a bowl of sake, which was not enough as koji.

Now that the dead horse can only be used as a live horse doctor, Qin Chong took clean water and poured it into these wine barrels.

The turbid water that cleans the barrel, along with this last bowl of sake as koji, is up to God.

If there is no wine cellar, it is replaced by stone pond barrels, and there are no winemakers who can only follow the ancient method.

Unintentionally can make such a beautiful wine, the heavenly god of wine knows, and I don't know how to feel.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Xia Yuan Festival followed, and in a blink of an eye, we have been tossing and turning on this sea for half a year.

And when will he be able to return to the west, it seems that it is still far away.

The heavenly officials bless, the earth officials forgive their sins, and the water officials relieve misfortunes.

The Xia Yuan Festival on October 15, also known as the "Xia Yuan Shuiguan Festival", is the last full moon night in the summer calendar year.

For Brother Lin and other maritime merchants who live by water, the Xia Yuan Festival is also the most important festival of the year.

On this day, the people of the sea will pay tribute to their ancestors, pay homage to the water officials, and pray for smooth sailing on the way to the sea.

Now that we are trapped by the water, the keel of the newly built sea ship has just been put on the shelf, so this Xia Yuan Festival is particularly sacred in the eyes of Brother Lin.

On the high slope on the north bank, they built a stone platform for sacrifice.

Plump salmon, boiled cassava, and our freshly brewed potato wine are served as sacrificial offerings.

We knelt on the ground facing the direction of the northwest homeland, Brother Lin held the wine cup in both hands, and sincerely respected heaven and earth, water officials, and ancestors.

The first time I saw this eight-foot-tall man, I burst into tears, and my homesickness was spontaneous, and I felt a heartache.

The countryside is far away, and it can't be chased!

Night has fallen, and a bright moon hangs between the sea and the sky.

So close, it seems like it's within reach.

As soon as the boat rides the wind, it can sail into the Moon Palace.

(End of chapter)

Shang and Buddha