On the question of whether there are whales off the coast of China, Captain Jack Obery is right. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info Zheng Sen only thought about it a little and understood, because in various ancient books in China, all the way to the Spring and Autumn Period, there is no shortage of records of whales. At that time, the navigation technology of all mankind was limited to paddling along the coast, and if there were no whales off the coast of China, where did these records come from? In fact, there were once a lot of whales off the coast of China, and Wailuo Port on the Leizhou Peninsula in Guangdong Province, China, was historically known as the hometown of whaling, where the history of whaling can be traced back to at least the Hongwu period, when whale oil was an important tribute to Leizhou. Until the 50s of the twentieth century, the whaling sailing ships of Wailuo Harbor could catch several whales at once in the sea area only about a day's voyage from the port.

So how have whales declined or even disappeared off China's offshore waters? This is, of course, the result of the protection of traditional culture in a certain country. Although the history of whaling boasted by the Japanese is endless, the reliability of this history is probably comparable to that of the Japanese who have an orderly lineage that can be traced back to tens of thousands of years ago. Large-scale whaling in Japan was in the thirties of the twentieth century. In 1947, 47% of the total animal protein consumed by the Japanese people came from whale meat, and in 1964 it was still as high as 23%. The Japanese first swept away the whales in the relatively accessible seas, and then went on expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic waters, killing nearly 20,000 whales a year, as many as 400,000 tons. It was during that era that the whales off the coast of China were swept away by Japanese whaling ships. Whales all over the world have become endangered and protected under the influence of the Japanese. And in Zheng Sen's current era, whales or something are really a very widely distributed and common thing.

"I don't know if your country's sailors have experience in whale hunting." Captain Jack Obery spoke again, "Little General, I know some people who have worked on whaling ships. If the little general needs it, I can write to them and invite them to join us, so that our sailors will first receive their initial training on the Fubo, and then transfer to the whaling ship for a few months, and they will basically become qualified sailors. ”

Zheng Sen nodded and said to Captain Jack Obery, "Thank you very much, Captain Jack, I think my father will definitely support this project, and you can write to your friends now." ”

By this time the ship was already stable. Zheng Sen said goodbye to Captain Jack and went ashore with Zheng Zhifeng, where a carriage and a group of soldiers were already waiting for them. The two got into the car, and Zheng Sen relayed Captain Jack's proposal just now to Zheng Zhifeng, Zheng Zhifeng thought for a while and said: "Actually, whaling is not only these people, I heard that there are some fishermen in Leizhou, who have been whaling for a living for generations, and our Chinese ships can also hunt whales." However, when it comes to the experience of whaling, there are still more Yi people. It's not bad to learn from them. There is still money to be made in this transaction. Big nephew, you just have to watch it. By the way, although it's not a big deal, I still have to write a letter to talk to my eldest brother. ”

Zheng Sen nodded and said, "This is natural. But there's one more thing I'd like to discuss with my uncle. Now the shipyard is also expanding, but it will take some time to build warships. And the naval guns ordered from Tessie were not able to be delivered in a short time. I wondered if we could let our new shipyard build some whaling ships first, which could be regarded as a way for our workers to practice their skills. The whaling ship does not need to be as strong and fast as a warship, and naturally it can be a lot cheaper, and the materials used are relatively ordinary, even if they are broken, we will not be too distressed, and by the way, we can also see the depth of the two Tessie. ”

"So? We're going to get those two Yi people tomorrow and ask them if they can build a whaling ship now. Zheng Zhifeng also said the same.

"Why tomorrow?" Zheng Sen said, "I think they should be at the shipyard now, why don't we just go over?" ”

"How can you be in such a hurry." Zheng Zhifeng laughed, but he still opened the window and waved to an officer who was escorting him on horseback. The officer immediately approached. Zheng Zhifeng instructed him: Don't enter the stockade first, go directly to the shipyard first.

The officer agreed, and the soldiers swung around the carriage and drove in the other direction.

In a short time, the carriage arrived at the shipyard. When the two got out of the car, they saw that Fabio and Lawrence were already waiting for them at the gate of the shipyard.

"Hello General Zheng. Hello Major General. Both men came up to greet them. They all know that Zheng Zhifeng will be the top boss of the shipyard in the future, and Zheng Sen is the first successor of this large group. Their attitude towards themselves has a profound impact on their future. So although Zheng Zhifeng didn't have the title of general at all, they still called him a general.

"Can you tell us a little bit about the shipyard today?" Zheng Zhifeng asked.

"Okay, General." Fabio preemptively spoke, the smile on his face that made Lawrence despise him even more.

"General, originally there were only two docks in the shipyard, and they were all relatively small, so there was no way to build large warships, so the main thing in the shipyard now is to build two larger docks. The opening of the dockyard has been basically completed, and the lifting pulley sets used to lift various equipment have also begun to be installed. Everything is going according to my plan, in an orderly manner. Look at that high platform, and that big stout wooden shelf on top of it, which is the block of pulleys that lift heavy loads. With that, we can load thousands of pounds of cannon onto the ship. The group walked to the edge of a newly built dock, and Fabio pointed to a human-powered crane next to him, and said to Zheng Zhifeng and Zheng Sen.

Fabio's "according to my plan" seemed to irritate Lawrence again, and he also rushed up and said: "General, that pulley set is made in our Netherlands, and the quality is much better than that of Spain." In addition, under my guidance, a new wood drying kiln has been built. The use of state-of-the-art Dutch technology ensures that the timber used in our shipbuilding is optimally processed. Today I am preparing for a trial, do you want to go and see if the general and the major general want to take a look. ”

Zheng Zhifeng glanced at Zheng Sen, then nodded and said, "It's okay, let's go take a look." ”

Zheng Zhifeng and Zheng Sen both know that the wood should be dried before shipbuilding, and if the drying treatment is not good, the wood of the shipbuilding will easily deform when the ship is sailing, which will affect the performance and safety of the ship. In the process of natural drying, because the surface layer loses water quickly, it often happens that the surface layer of wood is already very dry, while the inner layer of wood is still wet. The surface wood shrinks rapidly after drying, which will cause great stress, so the wood is easy to burst, and eventually the quality of the wood will be reduced. The thicker the wood, the more prone it is to this problem, and the more troublesome it is to deal with. Therefore, it is very important to have a special drying kiln for wood drying.

Lawrence himself led the way in front, and several people followed, and soon they were in front of a large building.

"General, this is our drying kiln." Lawrence proudly explains, "The walls on all four sides are made of rammed earth, which is four centimeters thick (nearly two meters), and there is a mezzanine in the middle, which is enough to ensure that the temperature in the kiln is not affected by the temperature outside." Easy to maintain a constant temperature. The top is a composite structure of a layer of logs and a layer of logs, a layer of triad soil, and a layer of logs, a layer of triad soil, which also has three layers and a full thickness of 4 wrists. The entire drying kiln is fifty steps long. The inside is supported by stone pillars. It can dry oversized and extra-long wood. When the kiln was first designed, some people said that it didn't need to be that long, but the recent discovery of a giant tree dozens of steps long on the island shows that my insistence is completely correct. This practice of mine can greatly shorten the drying time of the wood, if some people build a shed, put up the wood to dry naturally, I am afraid that more than ten years will not be enough. ”

At this time, someone had already opened the door of the kiln, and Lawrence took Zheng Sen and they walked in, and there was already some wood in it.

"The timber is all quercus that has recently been brought in from other places. It's all very fresh. Ladies and gentlemen, I think you also know that this wood is prone to cracking and deformation during the drying process. It's a good way for our workers to practice their hands and learn how to handle wood. Lawrence said proudly, pointing to the wood.

Zheng Sen saw that several workers were smearing something on the broken part of the wood, and asked, "Mr. Lawrence, what are those people doing?" ”

"Ah, Major General, this is one of our technical secrets to ensure that the wood does not crack or deform." Lawrence replied proudly, "Major General, when the wood is drying, the most important thing is to let the whole wood dry from the inside to the outside at a speed, if a piece of wood, some parts dry quickly, some places dry slowly, the wood will crack, deformed. It's like an army lined up in a large phalanx, and if some of the soldiers in the phalanx go fast and some go slowly, then the phalanx will disperse on its own without the need for the enemy to attack. Wood breaks dry much faster than other places, so it's easy to start cracking and deforming from here. These workers are now sealing these fractures with beeswax, so that moisture does not quickly drain from the fractures, and the danger of cracking and deformation from here is avoided. Also, Major General, did you notice those stoves and buckets on the ground? ”

"What is that for?" Zheng Sen asked.

"The furnace is used to heat," Lawrence replied, "the higher the temperature, the faster the moisture of the wood evaporates, but any wood is that the moisture on the outside is dissipated faster than the inside, and in order to avoid the explosion caused by the rapid drying of the outside and the fact that the inside is not dry, we need to pour some water on the log every once in a while to maintain the overall moisture balance of the log." It's also our unique secret ingredient. ”