A nearby ship was smoking and catching fire, but it was quickly extinguished; Then Zhou Huai'an got a corresponding return, and the location of the fire was only part of the deck, burning some piled up sail cable debris.

However, when he walked into the place where the boat was parked on the beach and took a closer look, he couldn't help but sigh in admiration. Although he has seen many models of ancient ships and corresponding restoration pictures in modern times, he still feels a little amazed when he gets closer to see the real thing.

Because the ship was far larger than anything he had seen before, and its appearance was full of carved arches, dendrums, and multi-layered lacquer coatings, which seemed to have a sense of grandeur and pleasing beauty.

The few flags with golden dragon patterns on the bottom that were thrown on the ground and stepped on with many footprints and mud, but could not hide the exquisite texture, further proved their special identity; This is obviously a large tribute ship that escaped from Guangzhou but was damaged by wind and waves, and was stranded near the local port. So now it looks like it's stuck on the mudflats, and it's a bit of a bottoming out.

This distinctive sea-ship looks round with a square tail and a flat belly, with a head and tail length of about 20 zhang and a width of 78 zhang and a height of 2 or 3 zhang, with a large and two small sail masts in the front and rear, but two of them have been broken diagonally on the deck with the folded hard sails; It seems that the basic load of the whole is at least between 2,000 and 3,000 materials (Tang system: one material on the ship is heavier than the same stone, about 350 tons to 400 tons in modern times),

At the end of the trestle, which runs along the coastal mudflats directly to the side of the boat, you can also see some wooden scaffolding and mound platforms that rely on the hull of the boat, as well as a large number of large and small timber materials and sheds used as temporary cover. One of them, a shaved white log, was lying on the side of the boat and falling headlong in the mud.

Obviously, it is conceivable that under the strong demand from the people and others on this stranded tribute ship, these officers and soldiers stationed in the local area had to concentrate their manpower and material resources to build a temporary wharf here, in order to carry out limited repairs to this tribute ship; For example, try to replace the large logs needed for the mast so that it can float again at high tide and have enough wind power to sail into the open sea.

If it weren't for Zhou Huai'an suddenly leading the team to kill, maybe in two or three days, when the tide is suitable, they would pull out the anchor and set off.

But there were many more new discoveries near the ships, except for a group of craftsmen and men who were kneeling on the ground and kowtowing and begging for mercy, waiting for the victors to dispose of them; He also found many corpses that had been thrown on the shore and washed back by the back-up tide; Although the rebels on the corpse were soaked and swollen, and the objects on their bodies were all searched, judging from the remaining underwear, they also belonged to the identity of the officers and soldiers.

It looks like the result of infighting and self-slaughter. And among them, there were even several corpses of eunuchs suspected of being pampered, which is interesting. It seems that the Huainan army that was destroyed by himself not long ago is obviously not the same as these fugitives on the ship, but has different thoughts and motives.

However, the apprentice team, who had been on board the ship first and controlled the situation, did not encounter any real obstacles; For before they arrived, the man who set fire to the boat saw that the situation was not good, and the boat had been untied from the side, and rowed far away with only a back. At least for now, the rebels don't have the ability and motivation to continue chasing them.

After explaining the corresponding warning and blockade manpower, Zhou Huai'an had just boarded the side of the ship along the board with twists and turns, when he heard a series of shouts from the dull echo in the cabin, and finally poked his head out of an open hatch.

"Tube. Tube.. Pipe head. ”

It was the apprentice captain Mi Baoer, who entered the cabin first, as if he was shocked by something, and stammered with some excitement,

"There's a lot of stuff in there."

"Come and see."

Although it had been tilted and stranded, because the hull was made of strong and very solid materials, there were no obvious leaks or seepages, only some of the decks and railings that had been soaked in the wind and waves, and the dry salt frost in the crevices; After entering the inner cabin along the wooden steps, the inside is not as dark and damp as Zhou Huai'an imagined, but exudes a unique smell of high-quality wood soaked in seawater and dried.

He thought about it, and then he scratched the wall board with the short knife he carried with him, but it was very tough and could not leave any traces. Then, he shaved a trace of sawdust on the wall very hard, and suddenly revealed a rather rich and delicate texture inside, and this trace of sawdust actually made him smell a faint aroma, but it was not the insect-proof kind of camphor wood.

He suddenly remembered that he had smelled something similar at the antique market in his hometown. It was actually Nanmu, and the ship was actually made of Nanmu; Although in his discussion of the history of Chinese shipbuilding, he happened to know that there were people in the Tang Dynasty who used nanmu to build ships and other furniture, because nanmu is hard and extremely resistant to corrosion, and can be used for many years even if it is immersed in seawater.

At that time, I only felt that the Tang people were really tyrannical, but I didn't expect to witness it with my own eyes. The materials of this ship alone can be compared with the golden silk nanmu hall in the Forbidden City in later generations, it is really worthy of the prosperous Tang Dynasty in history, even if it has reached the late stage of decline and collapse, there is still such a legacy and survival.

However, if it is a tribute ship that runs long seas, it is natural to use the best materials. According to the booklet of "Nautical Charts and Roads", which seems to be rough to later generations on the ship, the end point of their voyage should be at Penglai Port in Dengzhou, which is thousands of miles away from the sea.

Although there is nothing special about the outside, once inside, it is easy to be attracted by the exquisite curtains, lacquered murals, and the structure and furnishings of the carved beams and paintings. There are both immortals and elegant bodhisattvas who ride the wind and clouds and hold the sun month by month; There are also cranes that offer Rui and dragons that prosper clouds and rain; There are also some Hajj clothes with a distinctly extraterritorial style.

However, most of these arrangements have been damaged by the marks of various knives and axes, and the further you go inside, the more obvious they become, and you can even see some air-dried blood stains splashed on the ground and walls. One can imagine what happened during this time, and it can also explain how the abandoned bodies on the beach came to be.

After searching several rooms of different styles and purposes, Zhou Huai'an finally found a stack of books wrapped in silver silk and corresponding notes in a particularly beautifully framed cabin in the ship, which was covered with dry and black blood, and in a locker hidden behind the "Mountains and Rivers Show" on the wall.

Then, according to the documents of the accounts and notes, he personally carried a special fireproof wind lamp to get up and down the ship and take a good look at it.

The whole ship is divided into four and a half layers, and most of the ballasts in the largest bilge are from the vassal states such as Zhenla and Champa on land and water, or all kinds of tribute rice from Jiaozhou, Leizhou, Huzhou and other places in Annam, such as rouge rice, bijiao rice and other names; Bags stacked on top of each other are stacked high and tall; Then there are heavier timber and materials such as hemata and sandalwood wrapped in fine linen;

The second layer is the second layer, which is packed in a thin wooden barrel sealed with special wax, with all kinds of pickled dried fruits and prepared dried and fresh food; There is also a half warehouse of all kinds of fur silk and silk goods, packed in bundles and horses in camphor wood boxes.

From the third layer onwards, it was divided into several smaller compartments with moisture-proof teak planks and tung oil sand, and various small containers wrapped in fine rattan linen paper, which contained some large and small pimples, or granules or powders, and ointment-like things, but precious incense and other substances from abroad. Zhou Huai'an only had the suspected musk and dragon feast incense.

The value and refinement of the goods in the fourth layer have been raised to a higher level or better; In the largest compartment, there are hundreds of pots of rare flowers and plants, blooming in the dark warehouse; In another compartment, laden with neat straw, there were chests of cups, plates, bowls, pots, and bottle-shaped porcelain;

The style is also extremely kitsch, there are double-headed crested pots, three-color dragon plates, broken blue beast title bottles, peacock chain swallowing bottles. In contrast, the ordinary daily porcelain found in the port market can only be described as the difference between pearl and clay.

And the top half of the deck building is also where the most valuable and precious things of the whole ship are; With the exception of the daily living compartment on the upper floor, there is a small storage room near the stern with iron-clad doors. The first thing that catches your eye is the rows of containers and cabinets.

The outermost are all kinds of gold ingots cast into round cakes, horseshoe-shaped and shapeless, which are called "mole top gold"; There are also large silver collars that are smelted called ship-shaped, flat and long pieces, commonly known as "pig kidney silver", and drawers are filled with seven or eight boxes of layers in cages. Other heavy ebony chests contain delicate curiosities wrapped in silk and velvet cushions and inlaid with jewels and jade; There are wine vessels, eating utensils and tea sets, as well as hook and belt boxes and smoker stoves.

The gold and silver products of this era, because of the differences and deficiencies of the smelting process, often contain different degrees of impurities, and show various textures and variegated colors in appearance; Then, according to the difference in the place of origin, there are various names, such as "pine gold", "snowflake silver", "water vortex silver" and so on.

Then there was a whole box of pearls and large polished clams, tortoiseshells, a whole snow-white coral like tree branches, and even a pair of translucent and cloudy smoke-colored lotus petal glass lamps, and a large jade inlaid whole screen fan; There are also smaller boxes with colorful topaz and agate rough stone blanks.

Finally, in another adjacent cabin with a strong smell, there are even more than a dozen silver wire cages containing fighting cocks and tumor-headed geese, which are fed with fine white rice mixed fish and shrimp; Obviously, in order to please a young man who is far away in the capital, he specially purchased things to play and enjoy.

the other room, which was full of all kinds of papers and books, which seemed to have been brought out of Canton in a hurry; Since these are all things that are deliberately brought out and do not want to fall into the hands of the rebels, they are undoubtedly valuable assets in another sense.

"It's a big deal."

After such a scrutiny, Rao is Zhou Huai'an can be said to be well-informed in later generations, and he can't help but be overwhelmed by the sudden overflow and overflowing happiness in his heart; This is the treasure of the Tang Dynasty, and a random piece in the future is enough to make ordinary people rich overnight, and become a rich class who only need to eat and wait for death in the second half of their lives.

Even in this era, it represents the huge wealth value recognized by the top of society, which is enough to keep a bunch of women of all kinds in captivity without worries after getting rid of the peasant army, and since then the poverty and luxury have been extravagant to death.

Just a tribute ship from Guangzhou alone has reached this level; After gathering the treasures and tributes from all over the world in Chang'an City, what should be such a situation and grand occasion? It really deserves to be at the top of the pyramid of the single husband and the exploiting class who are dedicated to the luxury of one person with billions of people in the world.

Then he felt a little distressed and sad, what kind of means and methods could be used to get rid of those who had taken all these things for themselves, and who had not only seen them and who might have known about them? After thinking of what might happen in reality, Zhou Huai'an's remnants of reason and the socialist three-view education he had received since childhood finally slowly re-emerged in a dizzy frenzy.

It took a while to adjust my mood and self-identification, and it was easy to calm down the mood of many gains and losses; After all, even if there are many things on this ship, can you still swallow them alone, and how much can you take with you by living alone? Even if they can be taken away, how can they be kept from being coveted and taken by others?

Back in reality, he found that he didn't have many options; After all, although these things are worth a lot of money, in the hands of the rebels, there is no way to realize them at all, except for the rice and grain that can be used directly; In other words, there is no external environment and conditions that can be transformed into ready-made resources in a timely manner.

Even those gold cakes and silver collars were not formal currencies that could be directly put into circulation, but were gathered to the public in the form of some kind of tribute, and then used as valuable objects for the court to reward and play with privately. The main currency in circulation in this world is still all kinds of copper coins, as well as silk silk as a relatively large amount of currency and equivalent circulation.

Therefore, in these years, if you really take gold and silver directly to buy things or pay the price, the greatest possibility is that you will be arrested by the police and suffer a lawsuit for the crime of stealing official property; In fact, holding a silk is much more reliable and recognizable than taking gold and silver directly.

"Get that fat hole, it's time for him to come in handy."

Zhou Huai'an couldn't help but command Xiao Qi who was guarding the deck.

"Let's identify and evaluate the value."

(End of chapter)