After Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, established the Ming Dynasty regime in Yingtian (present-day Nanjing) and unified the whole country, he paid attention to adopting a foreign policy of peace and friendship and developing friendly exchanges and economic and cultural exchanges with overseas countries. He once said: "I am afraid that future generations will rely on China's prosperity and strength, be greedy for a moment of military achievements, and raise troops for no reason, causing injuries to people's lives. In order to develop foreign exchanges, Zhu Yuanzhang and his son Zhu Di attached great importance to the development of shipbuilding and shipping, among which the Longjiang Shipyard in Nanjing, Beijing, was the most prominent.

According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty", in the first year of Hongwu (1368), Zhu Yuanzhang "ordered soup and built sea ships". The most famous shipyard at that time was the Longjiang Shipyard in Nanjing, also known as the Du Shipyard. According to the Qing Tongzhi's "Shangjiang Two Counties Chronicles", it is recorded: "The shipyard is in Yifengmen, that is, the treasure shipyard". The factory was built in the first year of Hongwu, subordinate to the Ministry of Industry and Water Division, located in Xiaguan and Sanchao River area, covering a total area of 3,942 acres, is the largest shipyard in the country in the early Ming Dynasty. According to the "Longjiang Shipyard Chronicle. "Construction Chronicles" contains "Hongwu Chu, that is, the northwest corner of the capital open space to open a shipbuilding. Its land reaches the moat in the east, the military and civilian pond in the west of Qinhuai Street (Zhi), the northwest reaches the Yifengmen First Chambers Minzhu Guankuo Base (138 zhang wide), the south reaches the base of the right guard barracks, and the north reaches the first residence of the Nanjing Military Department and Pengcheng Bozhang Xiongtian (354 zhang deep). "In the west of the line from Dinghuaimen to Xingzhongmen, and to the east of the Huimin River (formerly Qinhuai River).

In the second year of Yongle (1404), Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, "will send envoys to Western countries". In order to meet the large number of ships needed to "go to the Western Ocean", the Longjiang Shipyard carried out a large-scale expansion, and the expansion area crossed the Qinhuai River to the south and extended to the Sanchao River area. Here, the east lingers in Qinhuai, the west is bordered by the Jiajiang River, and the rivers, canals, ports and ponds are staggered, which is an excellent place to make large sea ships. According to the record of "Jingding Jiankang Zhi", the shipbuilding was opened here during the Southern Tang Dynasty of the Five Dynasties, and it was the most prestigious shipbuilding office at that time. This is also the location of the "Treasure Shipyard" marked on the "Zheng He's Navigation Chart". Because "Zheng He went to the West", "Treasure Ship" became famous for a while, so Bao Shipyard has also become the place name of this area, "Bao Shipyard", "Xia Bao Ship" (Xia Bao), "Zhong Bao Ship" (Zhong Bao), "Shang Bao Ship" (Shang Bao), "Bao Ship Beach" and so on have been called down. Today, the name of places such as Zhongbao Village in the west of Nanjing City comes from this.

At that time, the expanded Longjiang Shipyard took the Tianfei Palace of Zhongbao Village as the central axis, and was "Touzuotang", "Erzuotang" and "Sanzuotang" to the north, and "Sizuotang", "Wuzuotang" and "Liuzuotang" to the south. There is also "Qizuotang" to the north of the original "Sanzuotang". Each pond is 300-450 meters long and 35-60 meters wide, with a distance of 30-50 meters between ponds. These orderly remains of the pond reflect the huge scale of the Longjiang Shipyard at that time.

In addition to the pond, there are seven workshops in the expanded Longjiang Shipyard: Joinery Workshop, Gong Workshop, Iron Workshop, Peng Workshop, Painting Workshop, Rope Workshop, and Cable Workshop. These workshops are supporting projects for the shipbuilding industry, and the scale of each workshop is also considerable, among which there are 60 workshops specializing in the manufacture of ship tents. There are about 400 craftsmen who have been shipbuilding for generations and work in the Longjiang Shipyard, plus miscellaneous laborers, temporary hired small workers and military men who regularly participate in production and labor, and the number of people who work in the factory all year round is more than 1,000.

The seagoing vessels manufactured by the Longjiang Shipyard have played a great role in the development of foreign relations. During Zheng He's voyage to the West, Longjiang Shipyard undertook the construction of a large number of giant sea vessels. According to the records of volumes 27, 71 and 75 of the "Records of Taizong of the Ming Dynasty", in the second year of Yongle (1404), Zhu Di "ordered Jingwei to build 50 ships"; In September of the fifth year of Yongle, he ordered Wang Hao to renovate 249 shipping ships and prepare for the Western countries; In the first month of the sixth year of Yongle, the Ministry of Industry was ordered to build 48 treasure ships. In the four years from the second year to the sixth year of Yongle, a total of 98 seagoing ships were built by the Ministry of Industry and Jingwei, and 249 seagoing ships were renovated. Longjiang Shipyard has made great contributions in "Zheng He's Voyage to the West".

In addition to this, Longjiang Shipyard also built many other ships. For example, in the seventh year of orthodoxy (1442), he participated in the construction of 350 ocean-shading ships, all of which were more than 1,000 yuan (material), and they were all huge sea ships. Later, warships, yellow boats, patrol boats, lake boats, and fishing boats of less than 400 hu were also manufactured one after another. However, since the end of the "voyage to the West", the scale of the shipyard has gradually decreased, and after 15 years of Jiajing, it mainly manufactures 29 types of inland river vessels of 29 specifications and models in five categories, such as warships, yellow boats, patrol boats, lake boats, and fishing boats.

It's a pity that such a majestic shipyard suddenly fell.

The subsequent policy of banning the sea in the Ming Dynasty completely abandoned the Longjiang Shipyard.

If the Longjiang Shipyard had not been abandoned, how could there be no shadow of the Chinese in the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries? How can the fleets of the Western powers be qualified to hang out in the South Seas? Perhaps, the fleet of the Ming Dynasty can take control of the Mediterranean Sea first.

Under the guidance of Zhang Haibin, Fuhai and Ninghai slowly entered the Longjiang Shipyard.

Zhang Zhun looked around, and sure enough, it was a barren place. All the ponds (i.e., docks) have been turned into muddy ponds. Because it has not been cleaned up for many years, the original pond has been blocked with silt, and the water surface is full of weeds, water floating lotuses and the like. From time to time, unknown waterfowl fly. In the cold winter, the plants on the water surface are exceptionally vigorous. The surface of the water is dark green, and from time to time you can see large and small whirlpools, and you don't know what is hidden underneath.

The water level is very shallow, and Fuhai, who has a deep draft, obviously can't drive in, so he can only park outside. Fortunately, Ninghai, which has a relatively shallow draft, can still drive in. Zhang Zhun and the others then turned to the top of Ninghai and continued to march towards the depths of the muddy pond. Because it has been abandoned for too long along the way, there are often all kinds of sundries, so even the Ninghai Fu ship has to be carefully indulged in before it can come in slowly.

Zhou Zhengyu woke up twelve points of spirit, and concentrated on the boat, for fear that he would be stuck in the mud and not be able to get out. Seriously, if you really get stuck in the mud, it's quite troublesome, even if you use Fuhai to pull it, it won't help. Fortunately, Zhang Zhun basically emptied the supplies on the ship when he left the Gu family, otherwise, Fuhai and Ninghai would not have sailed in at all.

Ning Hai walked forward slowly, Zhang Zhun raised the clairvoyant mirror and slowly observed the surroundings. At this time, it was already the sunset, and the sky and the earth were dark. At the site of Longjiang Shipyard, watching the sunset is doubly emotional. How glorious it used to be here. Brand new ships are launched here, and then they enter the sea along the Yangtze River and fly on the oceans of the world. What a magnificent view!

Now, it's become like this. Faintly, you can also see that on both sides of the mud pond, there are huge things that look like sliding rails in later generations, which should be used when the ship is launched. However, that was only for small boats. The largest treasure ships are built directly in the dry dock, and then slowly let the water in to float the boats.

"Huh? There's someone over there! ”

Suddenly, Zhang Zhun found that there were still many people in the basil on both sides of the strait.

These houses are very dilapidated, all thatched huts, and the outside is pitch black. Some of them can be seen from a distance. Faintly, you can still see some skinny old people, walking around numbly there. Young people and children are rarely seen. Occasionally, I saw a few, and the expressions and movements seemed to be a little weird, as if they were not quite the same as normal people. Even a few of them, in such a cold winter weather, actually did not wear clothes.

Zhang Zhun asked slowly, "Zhang Haibin, who are they?" Why are you still here? Why don't you even wear clothes in such cold weather? ”

Zhang Haibin said gloomily: "They are all descendants of the shipwrights of the past, but because they have no work to do, they can't leave, so they can only nest here." This muddy pond is where they live. Some lotus roots are produced in the muddy pond, and they rely on planting lotus roots for a living. Sometimes, they will burrow into the mud to touch for loaches or pond lice. If you touch a loach or pond lice, it's fine, but if you touch a water snake or something, it's bad. ”

He said with a gloomy expression that because the boatmen's lives were so poor, more and more girls were willing to marry them. In their generation, there are very few people who can marry a daughter-in-law. Out of ten people, only two or three may be able to marry a daughter-in-law. Without a daughter-in-law, there will naturally be no offspring. As the saying goes, filial piety is three, and no queen is great, and there is no way, so the shipwrights have to go outside to find some unsound women to come back and reproduce.

Of course, the shipwrights want to change their lives, but how many women are willing to marry them in the face of such a bad environment? Even if there are a few who marry occasionally, they are not sound themselves, either because of unsound hands and feet, or because of mental problems. It's okay if the hands and feet are not sound, and the child born is at least sound, but a woman with mental problems has a considerable chance of giving birth to a child, and the child will also have problems.

Those who Zhang Zhun saw without clothes and walking around were mentally ill. They were fools from the time they were born. As time went on, there were more and more fools around the muddy pond. Perhaps, in a few years, this will become a madman's village. Because of the existence of these fools, people from the outside are even less coming. Over time, it became a bit of a segregation. If Zhang Haibin hadn't had relatives here, he wouldn't have come to this madman's village. It was so tragic that he didn't want to see such a scene.

"It's really tragic."

Zhang Zhun nodded speechlessly.

Sad.

It's so sad.

If you just see the prosperity of Nanjing, who can see that behind the gorgeous prosperity, there is such a tragic village. They are a microcosm of the Ming Dynasty. Science and technology are the primary productive forces. When a country's craftsmen and technicians have been reduced to such a state, how can this country have a future? Can these pieces of garbage save the country? The atmosphere of the whole country only thinks about being an official and only thinking about making money, and it is impossible for such a country not to perish. God doesn't allow it!

The more Ning Hai walked inside, the slower his speed became, and from time to time, he could feel something at the bottom of the boat hindering his progress. Apparently, the bottom of the ship had touched the mud. However, the silt here is quite soft, and Ninghai is also a brand-new big ship, which can knock the silt away and move on. However, there is no doubt that Ninghai has not been able to move on far. Fortunately, it wasn't long before the mud pond was almost over.

Zhang Haibin pointed ahead and said, "My lord, the drawings mentioned by my subordinates are in that pagoda village. ”

Zhang Zhun said suspiciously: "Pagoda Village? ”

He looked in the direction pointed by Zhang Haibin and sure enough, he saw a dilapidated pagoda, about ten zhang high and three or four zhang wide, and it was a pointed circular pagoda structure. The surface of the stupa has been dimmed, and there are still a lot of dead branches and leaves hanging on it. Such stupas can be seen in many temples. However, it is a bit abrupt to appear here.

Then I understood. Because the ancients did not have modern knowledge of navigation, they attributed many of nature's relatively rare phenomena to the influence of the gods. Such as the movement of the moon and stars, typhoons, hurricanes, trade winds, monsoons, waves, tides, etc. Before doing great things, you must first pray to God and Buddha and pray for success. Before the construction of each ship, it is necessary to worship the gods and Buddhas. With the working conditions at the time, it was very normal for people to have casualties. To pray for the blessing of the gods and Buddhas is to pray for a smooth start and no casualties. The psychology of this prayer is actually the same as that of sailors who ask for the protection of the sea god before going out to sea.

In fact, Xue Zhidie's shipyard has only been established for less than half a year, and there are already two workers who accidentally fell from a height while working and were seriously injured. Minor injuries caused by other conditions are more numerous. Basically, there are one or two casualties every month. It is understandable that the craftsmen of the Longjiang Shipyard built a pagoda here, hoping to eliminate all negative influences.

Near the stupa, there is an old pier. Probably when the pagoda was built, the stone used was the best, and this pier has gone through the distant years of wind and frost, and it has not yet collapsed. It's just that there is a lot of moss on the top of the stone, and it seems that over the years, I have rarely come to visit the pagoda. At the same time, the trestle looks intact. Ninghai slowly docked on the edge of the trestle.

Zhang Haibin reminded: "Everyone be careful......"

Before he could speak, there was already a click over there, followed by someone who unfortunately fell into the water.

Zhang Zhun turned his head and found that it was Zhu Chengtai, who was in a hurry. It turned out that when the ship docked, Zhu Chengtai, who was in a hurry, couldn't help but be the first to go ashore. As a result, these trestles have long since fallen into disrepair and have long since decayed. For the safety of pedestrians, a few newer planks were laid in the middle of the trestle. However, Zhu Chengtai did not step on these planks, but stepped on the rotten planks next to him. So, the unlucky Zhu Chengtai unfortunately fell directly into the mud pond from the trestle.

Everyone was secretly vigilant.

This pagoda village is so dilapidated everywhere that there are more natural traps. No wonder there is isolation here, there are madmen, there are traps, who would dare to come in? Isn't this self-inflicted?

"Damn, it's Lao Tzu again!"

"Dizzy! How can there be a loach! ”

Zhu Chengtai was finally pulled up, his whole body was already dirty, and if he hadn't stood up, he wouldn't have seen the human form at all. What's even more unbearable is that after Zhu Chengtai was pulled up, a loach was actually fished out of the pocket of his military uniform. I don't know how this loach got into his pocket, it's too fast. The barrel of his Tiger Gun was all black sludge, and it was unusable for the time being.

Fortunately, Zhang Zhun brought a hundred tiger guns for backup. Fortunately, although Zhu Chengtai was very embarrassed, he was fine. It's just that after drinking two mouthfuls of dirty sewage, I feel like I want to sick my stomach. Fortunately, there was no such thing as glass in this era, and no one casually dumped glass lamp garbage into the muddy pond, otherwise, he would be crippled if he didn't die.

Of course, in such weather, it is inevitable to suddenly fall into the water and shiver from the cold. Fortunately, the soldiers of the Tiger Ben Army were in good physical condition, and after getting on the boat, they hurriedly washed and changed into dry cotton clothes, which was fine. The pagoda village has not yet entered, and it has given everyone such a dismount, and everyone's impression of this pagoda village can be imagined.

With Zhu Chengtai's lesson, everyone was very careful when they went ashore. For the sake of safety, Liu Dong and others also placed the wooden ladder on the top of the trestle, and everyone walked over from the top of the wooden ladder. Only one person at a time, evenly exert force, and ensure that there is no risk. As a result, including Zhang Zhun, all of them seemed to be walking on stilts, and their postures were extremely strange.

When I finally came ashore, I smelled a foul smell. That feeling is like the original Yangjiatun, and it is even more unpleasant than Yangjiatun. On the Yangjiatun side, after all, there is a sea breeze blowing from time to time, which can blow away part of the smell. But in this pagoda village, there is no wind, and the smell of gathering is enough to make the strongest nerves collapse. Even Zhang Zhun had to try to cover his mouth and nose. After trying to adapt for a while, I can barely breathe.

There were a few ragged and dirty people next to him, looking at Zhang Zhun numbly, their eyes were dull, and they had no expression at all. Someone smirked at Zhang Zhun again, and he didn't know what he was laughing at. There were also women who showed two drooping rooms, smirking at everyone, and the soldiers of the Tiger Ben Army who could get it had strange faces, so they had to look away. You don't have to ask, you know that the nerves of these people are not normal, and if you talk to them, or expel them, you will become a fool.

Fortunately, Zhang Zhun still had a good way to order a large bag of pancakes to be carried from the boat and distributed to them. Even fools have a natural appetite for food, and this is especially true of pancakes with a strong aroma. So, after the pancakes were distributed, they all obediently gnawed on the pancakes and never watched anymore. The crowd was able to get out without a hitch.

(To be continued)