The weather conditions at this time were very good, and there was hardly a trace of clouds in the sky. The blazing sun shines unreservedly on the surface of the sea. This vast expanse of deep blue sea is sparkling, as if there are countless treasures hidden at the bottom of the sea, which can be picked up at your disposal. Unfortunately, no matter what direction you look at, it's exactly the same scenery. At first glance, it is exciting and exciting, but over time, it can cause visual fatigue, as if the world will always be like this, and nothing will change.

Yao Fei leaned on the railing on the side of the boat with a pale face, and his body swayed gently with the hull of the ship. I walked up behind him, handed him a bottle of water and a seasickness pill, and patted him on the shoulder. The medicine is not taken without saying a word and swallowed with water. The boat shook so badly last night that he was the one who threw up the worst.

"If you can't hold it, let's go back to the cabin first, you can feel better lying down." I say. Yao didn't look at me, a little unwilling: "Why don't you get seasick?" Have you been to sea before? ”

I smiled and patted my head and said I was gifted. I'm not bragging, I've been not afraid of swaying and spinning since I was a child, I can turn twenty or thirty times on the spot by myself, and then walk in a straight line. If it weren't for the accident at home, I would have been physically fit to be a pilot.

Hearing this, Yao Fei snorted, tried to purse his lips, and estimated that his stomach began to churn again.

"Have you ever been to sea before?" I asked.

"Nope. I've always tried to avoid boats, especially seafaring. I always feel that as soon as I get out at sea, I lose control of what is around me, and whether it is good or bad is left to fate. I don't like that feeling. "Medicine is not an attempt to explain one's own embarrassment.

In the final analysis, this guy is too controlling, no wonder Happy can't stand him. I asked rhetorically, "Then why did you reluctantly follow this time?" Isn't this self-inflicted? ”

"I always have an intuition that the Fu Gong is not only related to your Xu family, but also to our medicine family. That shipwreck is not just history, I have to be there. ”

"Yes, now that the power of the old court is in turmoil, the Fu Gong is probably his last straw. Get the ten pieces of firewood porcelain, the old court still has a chance to command the heroes, if he misses again, he will have no chance to turn over. Get the Fu Gong number, and after you go back, you can directly pull out the old court! ”

I said confidently. As soon as he finished speaking, a fishy sea breeze blew lightly, blowing white folds on the surface of the sea, like the mane of a wild horse galloping across the field. Only then does the sea come alive. I put my arms on the railing and bent forward, standing side by side with him. We both squinted and looked at the horizon in the distance. The blue sky and the deep blue sea meet there, and our destination should be at some point on that line.

Our boat went to sea two days ago. This is an old ship that is more than 25 years old and belongs to the Shanghai Salvage Bureau of the Ministry of Transport. Originally, Liu Ju and Huang Kewu wanted to deploy a 5,000-ton tugboat, but the relevant departments thought that there was too little information at this stage, the hydrology was unclear, and it was a bit wasteful to send a large ship, so in the end only such an old and small ship was approved.

The ship was numbered Salvage 08, with a tonnage of only 1,000 tons, a cruising speed of 20 knots, and a maximum speed of 25 knots. It is classified as a maritime salvage vessel, but it does not have a salvage function, because there is no large lifting equipment, and only a grab is set up at the stern. There are several sets of diving equipment on board, but they cannot carry out underwater welding and underwater cutting operations. One of the most valuable pieces of equipment on board is the Swedish-made active sonar detector for the wreckage.

In other words, this time we went to sea, we could only locate the wreck and salvage the ship, and it was absolutely impossible to fish up the Fugong as a whole. I'm helpless about this, but it's the best I can get in a hurry. Because at about the same time, the Japanese research ship had already gone to sea, and if it was delayed, they would have been the first to board.

Salvage No. 08 departed from Shanghai, in addition to the crew, there were me, Yao Fei, Fang Zhen, Shen Yunchen and Dai Haiyan, and then a professor of underwater archaeology, named Lin Chuan, and a professional diver.

Fang Zhen can go together, which makes me feel a lot more at ease. I don't know what this guy's specific position is, but he can always play the role of various coordinators, down to the Shaoxing Public Security Bureau, up to the Ministry of Communications and the Navy, there is no department that he can't coordinate. The fact that he was able to come with him on this trip to sea represents a certain will of the relevant departments, and I really don't know what department and what kind of will it is related to.

Dai Haiyan was promised by me at the beginning, but Shen Yunchen actually came along, which was really unexpected by me. The sea conditions were difficult, and I didn't agree with the old lady personally traveling and driving, but Shen Yunchen opened a rosewood suitcase with a smile and took out a stack of wooden planks from it. The stacks were made of ebony, in a set of twelve.

Before I could say anything, Dai Haiyan next to me suddenly let out an exclamation: "Ah, the star board!" "Only then did I know that this is the star-pulling board that the ancients used to locate the stars.

The condition of this set of boards she picked up is very well preserved, the alignment, indexing, and lettering on it are very clear, and there is a slight concave trace left on the top and bottom of the board, which is the indentation left by the wire during measurement. On the back are written the words "Yongzheng Year System of the Qing Dynasty" and "Quanzhou", which are the utensils of Fujian merchants during the Yongzheng period.

In the Qing Dynasty, the sea ban was strict, and the Shunzhi and Kangxi dynasties both implemented the Nanyang sea ban, and the sails were not allowed to enter the sea. In the Yongzheng Dynasty, this decree was abolished, four treaty ports were opened, and there was a small rebound in ocean trade, but when Qianlong ascended the throne, he was completely closed, and it was closed to the Opium War. This set of star-pulling plates should be made by Fujian merchants for going to sea after Yongzheng abolished the ban on the sea in the South Seas, which is very meaningful, and it symbolizes the last time ancient China embraced the sea.

The value of this set of boards is not simple. It is made entirely of ebony, polished smooth as a mirror, with a yellowish-brown skin that is heavy to hold in the hand. Ebony is also called gloomy wood, but in fact, the wood is carbonized like stone in a specific environment. The material of ebony is firm and hard, not afraid of the erosion of the sea breeze, and is the best material for nautical instruments. There is a saying in the antique dealership: "A home with half a square of ebony is better than a box of treasure", which shows its preciousness. This set of ebony star plates is twelve pieces in size, which is a real expense - but then again, the ocean is full of risks, and no one will save money on navigation equipment.

The decline of navigation technology in the Qing Dynasty was very severe, and in modern times, Western instruments entered China one after another. The star-pulling technology is gradually lost, and there are very few star-pulling boards that have been handed down, which is very rare in the market. Only a big man like Shen Yunchen, who is proficient in woodware, has the way to get such a set of things.

Salvage 08 has modern navigation equipment, which is much more accurate than the star-pulling board. But after all, the coordinates are written in the ancient method, and it will be more accurate if it can be verified by the old-fashioned version. That's a great gift.

I thanked Shen Yunchen, and she smiled: "The Buddha head case, "Qingming Riverside Map", I didn't help you with the two major things, if you don't say anything this time, you really won't have the face to see Old Man Liu in the future." Speaking of this, her eyes rolled, and her interest increased, "Besides, what a good topic this shipwreck treasure is." Nie Weiping won seven consecutive games in the Sino-Japanese Go Tournament, and the people of the whole country began to learn to play Go. If we return with a full load this time, maybe the whole country will start playing with antiques. When the time comes, we will also make a thrilling movie, learn "Shaolin Temple", and publicize the Chinese Ancient Society, which will greatly promote the development. ”

I smiled wryly, and in a few words, the old lady turned to business operations again, no wonder she had to come along, it turned out that the real intention was here.

I haven't warmed up this set of boards, and I was immediately taken away by Dai Haiyan, she said that it is rare to have a physical object, and she can take the opportunity to study the usage. The girl had not interacted with much of the people since she got on the boat, and spent most of her time in her cabin, or standing alone in the bow of the boat, holding the board high and not knowing what she was doing. Everyone started to feel strange, and over time they got used to it.

"If I were a man, you wouldn't be surprised, would you?" Dai Haiyan asked me once. I hurriedly said, "How come?" Dai Haiyan shrugged: "Your eyes have betrayed you." It's as if scientific research has to be done by men to be normal. ”

She was referring to Professor Lin Chuan. Professor Lin Chuan specializes in underwater archaeology, and according to the regulations, he is the only one who is qualified to lead the expedition to the sea. Although there are many people on this ship, when it comes to underwater archaeology, they are experts.

Professor Lin Chuan is very familiar with Huang Kewu, and he was also entrusted by him this time, and of course he himself is very interested. You know, the shipwreck is hidden in the firewood kiln porcelain, and there are ten pieces! The word "firewood kiln", whoever plays antiques will go crazy for it.

Professor Lin Chuan is a native of Suzhou, looks a bit like an old lady, kind eyebrows and kind eyes, and speaks softly, which is not easy to hear if he does not get close. But his qualifications are not shallow, he has been studying underwater archaeology since the sixties, and he is one of the few knowledgeable people in China, and has explored and salvaged more than a dozen ancient shipwrecks, and has rich experience.

"Xiao Xu, do you know? According to UNESCO statistics, there are at least three million ancient shipwrecks in the world that have not yet been discovered. What is this concept? There are only 5,000 years of clear historical records of mankind, which is equivalent to sinking 600 ships every year, an average of two ships a day, which is almost the same as dumplings. In our coastal areas and Southeast Asia alone, there are more than 3,000 shipwrecks in China. What a treasure trove it is. If you don't do it well, you can let foreigners take advantage of it. ”

As soon as Professor Lin Chuan met, he took my hand and babbled a series of numbers, which was very serious. China's underwater archaeology has not been taken seriously for a long time, and he must have been lonely for too long. I like him a lot, I feel like he is the kind of simple scholar who has no scheming.

Also on board was a diver, Professor Lam's old partner, who was responsible for conducting a seabed survey of the wreck. His name is Zhong Shan, he is silent, and he has nothing to talk about with me, but according to Professor Lin, he has no skills and rich experience, and it is an extremely dangerous job to investigate shipwrecks.

This is the whole team of our expedition, and to be honest, it is a little weak. However, this is already the maximum amount of resources that can be obtained in a limited time.

Our boat departed from Shanghai and headed southeast. Our goal is in the vast East China Sea, more than 200 nautical miles away. In order to prevent problems with the old engine, the speed of salvage 08 was not fast. The captain told us that it would take about two days to reach the predetermined sea.

The coordinates provided by the five blue and white jars of Wanli characters are as follows: "The chicken coop opens the ocean with six watches of the nail and mao needles, the north star eleven fingers and a half flat water, the canopy star refers to the flat water, and the west side looks at the lion star one and a half fingers." "Dai Haiyan explained to me that the chicken coop is Keelung, and Jiamao refers to the northeast, and six is twelve hours. When the angle between Beichen, Huacani, and Lion Samsung and the sea level is eleven fingers, one finger and one and a half fingers respectively, the place where it is located is the place of the shipwreck. The rest is the conversion of trigonometric functions and modern latitude and longitude.

Although one coordinate was missing, Dai Haiyan still calculated an approximate range. The approximate location of the shipwreck site of the Fugong is at 25 degrees 44 minutes north latitude and 123 degrees 28 minutes east longitude, so I can't go into more detail. Dai Haiyan told me that the sea area where the shipwreck may have been wrecked is very wide, with a rough estimate of 70,000 square kilometers. Such a small boat drove by, and it could only be searched little by little.

To make matters worse, the area is close to sensitive areas, so we were hesitant to approve it when the authorities first approved it, and there were many restrictions on our movements. For example, this voyage was nominally paid by the Chinese Society for the Appreciation of Antiquities, and a salvage ship was hired to conduct investigation operations, which was a private commercial activity, not an official act. And we are not allowed to approach any of the islands in the adjacent seas, so as not to provoke unnecessary conflicts.

This season, the East China Sea is relatively calm, and there is no risk along the way, but the sun is a little sunny. During the day, most of us hid in our cabins, and only went up to take a few pictures when the sun was about to set. The starry sky at night is very beautiful, but unfortunately the captain is forbidden to run around, the tonnage of this ship is small, and the wind and waves are a little stronger, and it is very difficult to shake into the sea at once. Only a bold guy like Dai Haiyan would sneak out, because she said that if she wanted to use the star-pulling board to measure, it had to be a starry night. As a result, she was careless, tripped over the cable and almost fell off the boat, but fortunately she was saved by the medicine passing by.

At that time, the medicine was still seasick, and he couldn't breathe in the cramped cabin, so he ran to the deck to breathe. Seeing Dai Haiyan falling, he quickly reached out and grabbed it, which avoided the tragedy of our army breaking a general first. Then the two of them took the star-pulling board and studied it for most of the night, until the sky showed the white of the fish's belly before they went back to rest.

Yao didn't appreciate Dai Haiyan very much, and told me that this was a reasonable girl. In other words, what he encountered before was unreasonable. I looked at his serious appearance and quipped, "You have a crush on someone?" The medicine is not a moment of contemplation, tilting his head: "It is indeed very suitable." And then, there was no more to it.

Salvage 08 traveled for a day and a half in Shunshundang, East China Sea, and was about to arrive at the predetermined sea area, Dai Haiyan and Professor Lin gathered everyone and held a meeting to draw up a search plan.

Professor Lin presided over the meeting, and at the beginning he took the vaccination: "Locking the location of the wreck is a very complicated matter. The slope of the seabed, ocean currents, climate, and geological changes can all change the location of the wreck. Sometimes, it is possible for a wreck to move more than a dozen nautical miles. The coordinates of the astral technique only indicate the sinking position of the Fugong at that time, from the Ming Dynasty to the present, there are hundreds of years, where the ship is currently going, but it is difficult to say, the 70,000 square meters of sea area demarcated by Miss Dai can only be said to be more likely. ”

When he said this, we looked at each other and realized that we had thought about the whole thing simply. I thought it would be like on land, and I would always find it with a treasure map. "Even in some extreme cases, the preservation conditions of the whole ship are not good, and the wooden parts are corroded and decayed by the seawater, and then drift away, and finally the whole ship disappears completely. You have to be mentally prepared for this. ”

"Do you think you have a good chance of success this time?" I asked a somewhat silly question.

Professor Lin glanced at me: "The seabed hydrological data in this area is very lacking in China, and we only know that it belongs to the extension of the continental shelf, the water depth does not exceed 100 meters, the seabed is relatively gentle, and the probability of finding a shipwreck is not low." However, there is the Okinawa Trough nearby, and if the wreck moves to that side or even falls to the bottom of the trough, it will be completely hopeless. ”

He glanced at us, noticed that we were not satisfied with this ambiguous answer, and couldn't help but sigh: "You are all talents of the Five Veins, but you are not familiar with underwater archaeology. I have fished up more than a dozen boats, but most of them are shipwrecks in rivers and shallow sea docks, and there are very few ocean-going shipwrecks. I have to make it clear that this is a very frustrating industry, the success rate is very low, and most of the time, it is spent in disappointment and loss. If you have too much to expect, I'm afraid the outcome will not be satisfactory. ”

Shen Yunchen looked at us young people and cleared his throat: "Professor Lin, you are right. Let's do our best, and if we can't make it, leave it to God. She was so old and spicy that she caught the dull scene in two sentences: "Tell me what you want to do next." ”

Professor Lin said: "This boat carries a seabed side towed sonar, which can scan the topographic features of the seabed. Let's start with the area of sea that Xiao Dai demarcated, divide it into grids, mark numbers, and scan them frame by frame. The machine's side-sweep covers a width of 200 meters and can detect variations of one meter and five degrees, so if there is a sudden undulation in the terrain, it could be wreckage – of course, it could be hills or trenches. ”

"Sounds pretty simple." I commented.

"It's not that complicated technically, it's just monotonous and boring." Professor Lin glanced at me, "When scanning, the boat must move in a straight line along the grid at a speed of three knots. Every five hours of operation, the sonar should be turned off and charged for three hours. You do the math how much time it will take to sweep the 70,000 square kilometers. ”

I did the math and was speechless. This time to go to sea, the five veins cannot be funded indefinitely, and the budget is limited. The current investment is just enough to maintain the time to sweep the 70,000 square meters. In other words, there must be no change in the middle, the machine must not break, the storm must not come, and the slightest delay will not sweep the entire sea area.

The Japanese are definitely richer and hold out longer than we do. When I think about it, I'm a little worried.

When the sonar is working, it feeds back the real-time signal to the monitor, which requires someone to watch at all times. However, this process is too long for one person to bear, so you have to take turns on duty. Next, Professor Lin arranged a shift to monitor the sonar screen, except for the crew, and then he talked about some principles of submarine terrain exploration and terrain recognition, and demonstrated it several times, and we took turns to operate.

"The Fugong has been soaked in water for hundreds of years, and we don't know what the posture and the degree of disintegration are; Whether it is in complex terrain or whether the surrounding environment is disturbing or not, we also do not know. Even if the machine scans the Fugong number, the signal returned may only be a little bit. So you must not be careless, if you are distracted for a second or two in front of the screen, you may miss the opportunity and never recover. ”

After listening to Professor Lin's words, we all restrained our contempt and took out the seriousness of appraising antiques to study.

To be honest, I originally thought that this search for a shipwreck was the same as in the movie, as long as the protagonist got the treasure map, he could go directly to it and pick it up, which was really simple. After listening to Professor Lin's explanation, I realized how boring and arduous the actual operation is.

The training lasted half a day, and everyone was on the machine several times. Professor Lin also put the sonar into the sea and did a real battle, explaining the undulating signals and telling us what terrain they might represent. In the subsequent assessment, the best performer was actually Dai Haiyan, probably the girl was more careful. I, Fang Zhen and Shen Yunchen have average grades, and the one who accompanies the last seat is actually medicine. Professor Lin said with a smile that it is a bit imaginative to see this, the situation on the seabed is ever-changing, and it is not possible to rely on the waveform comparison in the manual alone.

I glanced to the side, and the medicine was not the expression of this honor student, which was really happy.

When the sun was about to set, the captain called, and Professor Lin made a few words on the phone, and his eyebrows suddenly raised, slightly surprised. He put down the phone and said to everyone in the cabin, "We will be in the search area in twenty minutes." However, a few nautical miles away, radar detected another boat. ”

Everyone stopped what they were doing, and their faces were grim. It's a long way from the normal route, and it can't be an unrelated ship. We rushed to the deck to see for ourselves.

At this time, the sun is half-setting, and a gloomy red layer floats on the surface of the sea. We didn't care about enjoying the view, we all looked at a small black dot in the distance. As time goes on, the little black dot gets bigger and bigger, turning into a big boat. Experienced crew members told us that the ship weighed more than 1,500 tons, and judging by its shape, it was also a salvage ship, with a wide deck, and was probably equipped with booms, winches, and large lifting equipment—in a word, much more effective than our small wrecked ship.

The boat was also heading for this side, and it was still very fast. Before the sun sinks completely over the horizon, we can already make out its streamlined milky silhouette and a Japanese flag fluttering on the ship.

There is no doubt that this must be a salvage ship from the Institute of Northeast Asian History and Geography, and they have the same purpose as us, so we didn't expect to arrive at the same time. I looked at the huge bow of the ship, and thought to myself, if the medicine is not, Liu Chengxuan and they may be on top, and the old courtier may also be there. Everyone is coming to Fugong, and no one will stop.

When it was completely dark, the signal lights of the opposite ship flashed a few times. The crew said that on the route, the two ships would simply communicate when they met to avoid accidents. However, in this sea area, I am afraid that it is a little more of a warning and provocation. Those few traffic lights meant that it was close to Japan's exclusive economic zone and asked us to leave as soon as possible.

I was very angry and slapped the railing hard: "Why are they asking us to leave?" Shen Yunchen persuaded me: "You are angry here, and you can't see the other side." They're just begging for verbal bargains, can they really do anything to us? ”

Isn't Yao a little worried: "What if they summon the Japanese guard patrol boat?" ”

Fang Zhen spoke—he rarely spoke since he got on the boat—and said, "Don't worry, they are just bluffing, and they will never dare to summon a Japanese guard patrol ship." If there is a dispute in this area, all the ships involved must leave. I'm sure they won't give themselves trouble. ”

"But it's always uncomfortable to have such a product next to me!"

Fang Zhen said slowly: "There are other ways. At night, we took a lifeboat and took all the people on board. His tone was murderous. Rao was hostile and frightened by the suggestion. We're archaeological ships, not pirates, so we don't need to do that.

I quickly waved my hand, and the people around me laughed. I realized that Fang Zhen was not serious. This guy is joking, and he is serious.

This little episode made the atmosphere a little more lively, but everyone's mood was still heavy. In any case, if we have two ships in this sea area at the same time, the competition will become fierce, and the Japanese will not let us find the Fukugong comfortably. Their ships are probably above us in terms of tonnage and search technology.

This battle is not easy to fight.

Professor Lin was the only one standing on the deck, with his hands behind his back, squinting into the distance, and his expression did not show much panic. Salvage No. 08 is responding with lights, which probably means that this is China's exclusive economic zone, please leave Yunyun as soon as possible. After the signal was sent, there was no response from the opposing vessel.

No one scared anyone away, and the next thing is to see the truth at the bottom of the sea.

Seeing that it was completely dark, Professor Lin beckoned us back to the cabin, and then encouraged everyone: "The search plan remains the same, and everyone should not be disturbed by external factors." In the field of exploring ancient shipwrecks, the factors of technology and luck are half and half - our technology is backward, and luck may not be. ”

It wasn't scientific at all, but everyone let out a soft laugh. I suddenly remembered a question and asked curiously, "I must have had something similar before, right?" Several people work together to find the same boat. In this case, how should ownership be divided? Does whoever catches it count whom? ”

"That's a good question." Professor Lin said, "The issue of ownership of shipwreck artifacts is quite complicated. The original owner of the wreck, the salvage company or individual, the place of origin of the cultural relics, the country where the ship is registered, and the country closest to the water area are all entitled to claim ownership. However, the current general practice is the same as what Xiao Xu said, whoever catches it counts. ”

Professor Lin gave an example. In 1912, the famous "Titanic" sank in the international waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Then, in 1985, the American Robert Ballard finally succeeded in discovering the sinking of the ship. At that time, there was a lot of controversy, and the British believed that the Titanic belonged to the White Star Company, so the wreck should belong to the British; The United States insisted that the discoverer was an American, and that the ownership should be the United States; Canada believes that the sunken waters are adjacent to the Canadian Marine Economic Zone, and they are the real masters. Even France and Ireland, which passed before the sinking of the Titanic, have claims. As a result, in the chaotic dispute over ownership, the salvage companies went their own way, rushed to salvage one after another, and even clashed repeatedly, and finally the countries had to sit down and negotiate......

Compared with the Titanic, the competition between us and the Japanese over the Fugong is nothing at all. Didn't Yao suddenly ask: "What tricks did these salvage companies use in the conflict?" ”

Professor Lin said: "Salvage ships are non-military means of transportation, and armed conflict will not be, at most they will mislead the other party's communications, use ocean currents to cause damage, and in serious cases, they will use the hull to ram - but then it is suspected of a criminal offense, and it will be required by the Shanghai court." Yao Fei nodded, seemed to be thinking silently, and said: "In fact, a year before the discovery of the Titanic, there was another thing that touched us China a lot. ”

In 1984, an Englishman named Michael Hatcher spent three months exploring an East India Company merchant ship in the waters southwest of Hong Kong. The ship sank in 1752, and Michael Hatcher found its record in an old logbook and secretly came to explore it. He did not salvage the whole thing, but dived several times, and got 150,000 pieces of porcelain and more than 100 gold ingots from it. Later, all of these things were put up for auction at Christsted, and they sold for more than $20 million, all of which went into Michael Hatcher's pocket.

Professor Lin patted his thigh and sighed: "If we can pay attention to it earlier, these will not be lost abroad." Only then did the state begin to pay attention to underwater archaeology and salvage. It's a pity that there are too many lessons that need to be made up, and you have to take it step by step. ”

Speaking of this, he glanced at us: "You are all antique people and have your own rules. But let me warn you first. This time, I led the team, and it was a regular archaeological operation. What is fished out must be nationalized. ”

I nodded, my purpose is not to do this, I have no coveting of chai porcelain, and the museum is their best home. The people who boarded the ship this time had their own motives and reasons, but none of them wanted to make a fortune.

Now that the Japanese ship had also arrived, we decided to hurry. The weather has been very good lately, and this sonar detection has nothing to do with light, so the search started overnight, and we took turns to monitor it.

Monitoring signals is indeed an extremely boring thing, the screen is a small bright spot and line segments, the same, and you dare not relax your spirit. An hour, as long as a day. However, Professor Lin worked harder than us, we are all beginners, and we often find some strange signals, for fear of missing them, we always call him up to confirm. At the end of the night, he barely slept much.

I still have a little bit of luck, maybe we can find the Fu Gong number as soon as we step on it. It turns out that this kind of behavior of buying lottery tickets to pay off debts,The probability of success is too low,I had to patiently sweep away。

The Japanese research ship used the same method as ours. In the first two days, our two boats swept from the east and the other from the west, and the two sides were not far apart, but they would not take the initiative to approach each other and would not disturb each other. But during the day, I saw a glitter on the boat opposite. There is no doubt that they are looking this way with binoculars - they have not relaxed their surveillance of us.

I reported this to Professor Lin, and he smiled. On the third day, the rhythm of salvage 08's marching and scanning suddenly changed, slowing down the speed of the ship from time to time, turning around in circles, and sometimes even stopping the ship completely and arranging a grab to dig up sea mud.

I'm a little confused, where the boat is parked, there is nothing abnormal on the bottom of the sea, why do you do this?

Professor Lin said, "Let me ask you, if you are the commander of a search vessel, what do you care about most when there are competitors in the same sea area? ”

I thought about it for a moment and replied, "The other party found the wreck site before we did." ”

"What else?"

"We found the wreck site, but we were found by the other side." I kind of understand his train of thought. The sea is flat and there is no cover, and the positioning of the wreck requires a long time to anchor and moor, and the action is obvious. As soon as one party discovers the location of the wreck, the other party immediately knows that they are transparent to each other.

"It's the same as fighting. I had to see through the enemy's intentions in time, and I had to hide my intentions. What if you found a wreck site? "Professor Lin is kind and persuasive.

"Pretend you didn't find out, write down the location, and come back to work in the evening."

"Think further."

A flash of inspiration came to my mind: "I will stop the boat every now and then so that the other party does not know which mooring is really a discovery." Hide the leaves in the woods. ”

Professor Lin smiled and nodded: "That's right, I can't hide it anyway, so I just tell you a little more and add interference." ”

How else to say that everything in the world makes sense. In the antique business, there is a similar practice. In the Guanzhong area, there are many large tombs, and they can't be stolen in a day or two. Tomb robbers are afraid of attracting the covetousness of their peers, and often make three or four robbery holes at the same time, only one of which is real and can lead to the underground palace. This so-called "three holes of cunning rabbits, one of a kind".

"For us, stop and go, do whatever you want, and the cost is not high. But for the Japanese, every time we stop and slow down, we may find signs of a shipwreck. They have to take notes and then look for opportunities to verify them at night. Even if you know that we are putting ***, you don't dare to take it lightly - what if one of them is true? Such a toss will cost them more fuel and supplies, and shorten the battery life. ”

It turns out that there is such a intention behind it, and I secretly admire that there are so many ways to fight in the air between these two ships.

"But...... The Japanese will adopt the same strategy, so how do we deal with it? ”

Professor Lin waved his hand: "Don't worry about them, let's follow the established plan and find them in a down-to-earth manner." Speaking of this, he patted his thigh and sighed, "Our ship is small, the endurance is poor, and we can't afford to play head-to-head duels, so we don't dare to be led by others." ”

To put it bluntly, we are poor and the other side is rich. The rich accompany the poor for a few days, which does not affect the family situation, and the poor accompany the rich for a day, but they are afraid that they will go bankrupt. So this strategy seems to be clever, but it is actually a helpless move.

So in the days that followed, the two boats fought in the air, like two tractors plowing the field, shuttling back and forth in this sea area, leaving a long wake trail. This battle lasted for five, ten, and fifteen days, and the search area gradually expanded, and we found several suspicious bulges on the seabed, but unfortunately it soon turned out to be either reefs or small hills. The Japanese didn't gain much either—at least not in our opinion, because they didn't start a single lift.

When I was a child, I read fairy tales and novels, and imagined how colorful the sea was, with mermaids and pirates, octopus sea monsters and underwater palaces, but the reality of life on the sea was easy to get bored. The scenery outside is always the same, and even the Japanese boat has become part of the background, and it is not as exciting as it was before. Sometimes, I even think it's better to have a storm and change the taste.

What's worse than boredom is the living environment. There was no air conditioning on this boat, and the cabin was as hot as a steamer during the day, and it was almost impossible to accommodate people. Fresh water is limited, only enough for daily drinking, and it is impossible to take a bath or anything, at most you can wipe your body with a towel. The men are fine, but the two women are suffering, especially Dai Haiyan, she loves cleanliness very much, and she can't take a bath at sea, which is more uncomfortable than killing her.

Dai Haiyan is a doctor of biology, and she made a simple seawater purifier, the structure is very simple: it is an aluminum pot, covered with a layer of plastic sheeting, the middle of the plastic sheet is propped up with a small stick like a tent, and a small opening is opened next to it, and a groove is used to lead it into the cup. The pot is filled with seawater and placed on the deck to expose to the sun. Seawater evaporates and condenses into fresh water when it encounters a plastic film, which is left along the membrane wall to the groove collector below.

This kind of fresh water is not produced very well, and it cannot be drunk directly, but it is no problem to wipe the body, and it is better than nothing.

Shen Yunchen and Mrs. Shen were very calm, and she was always meticulous in her dress. According to her own words, the heart is calm and naturally cool, and you young people can't stand it because your heart is too busy. Despite what she said, I secretly greeted the captain and Professor Lin, and returned to the ship as soon as the old man showed any bad signs.

As for the medicine, when he is not on duty every day, he holds a book of navigation records to study, and he also writes and paints by himself, and he doesn't know what he is doing. But I didn't ask, and if I did, he wouldn't say it at all. Fang Zhen spent most of the time in the captain's room when he was not on duty sonar, and he didn't know what he was doing.

I didn't have anyone to talk to, so I got acquainted with the diver named Zhongshan. He is a retired member of the Navy, has been a frogman, and his style is as rigorous as in the army, and he will overhaul the diving equipment every day. I took the initiative to talk to him, and although he was silent, he was very enthusiastic about his profession and talked endlessly about diving. Come and go, and we'll get acquainted.

I was bored and asked him if he could teach me how to dive. Zhong Shan agreed happily and explained to me some basic knowledge of diving. When the boat was parked for routine maintenance, he would also take me into the water for a short time. The shallow waters here are extremely clear, and the blazing sunlight shines through, and I can freely swing my limbs in the water, floating up and down, as if I were flying in the sky. I quickly fell in love with the sport.

In addition, I also learned a secret from Zhong Shan: Fang Zhen, a seemingly omnipotent person, can't swim and is a complete landlubber, no wonder he doesn't like to come to the deck to wander.

That's the only bit of fun on the boring sea......

By the twenty-fifth day, the dull search had taken a turn for the better.

It was one o'clock in the afternoon of that day, the sun was shining, and we were all drowsy from the sun. Fang Zhen monitored a bump on the screen. This bulge was only fifty centimeters high, which was not a significant feature, but Fang Zhen looked back and found that there had been exactly the same bulge before, a total of four times, and the interval was the same. He hurriedly called Professor Lin, who judged that the interval between the protrusions was so regular, that it was likely that it was a man-made object.

As soon as they heard the news, the morale of the ships was greatly boosted and they gathered one after another. Professor Lin immediately ordered the salvage No. 08 to reverse, return to the position just now, and probe again. You must know that the seabed ravines are vertical and horizontal, and the terrain is not much simpler than that on land, and a flat sweep may not be able to figure out all the details.

The results of the second monitoring were exactly the same as the first. Professor Lin pondered for a moment, and asked Zhong Shan to prepare to dive down for further exploration.

Zhong Shan was in a working state at any time, and after he put on his equipment, he "plopped" and disappeared into the water. We waited anxiously on the boat, and after about 30 minutes, Zhongshan returned to the surface and reported that he had seen a narrow black object on the bottom of the sea, visually a fragment of the ship's wooden side, about three to four meters long, which he could not carry up alone. The good news is that the surrounding area is flat, there is no difficult terrain, and it is easy to carry out fishing.