After more than a week of sailing, the fleet covered a distance of more than 2,000 nautical miles and finally arrived at the waters above the site of the Arabian shipwreck from the Northern Song Dynasty.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, commerce was developed and trade with the Arab region was relatively frequent.
There are official records of as many as 50 envoy exchanges between the two sides, which shows the closeness of the friendly relations and trade exchanges between the two sides.
Arab merchant ships usually carried precious commodities such as spices, medicinal materials, jewelry, and ivory. They also bought silk, porcelain, tea, paper and other commodities from the Northern Song Dynasty.
This merchant ship that sank in the eastern waters of Indonesia was trafficking silk and porcelain.
But I don’t know why it veered off course and finally sank in this sea area. It has been more than 900 years ago.
The hull of the ship has been completely corroded by the sea water, and only the bottom of the ship remains.
Other cargo carried on the ship, such as silk and paper, were completely eroded by the sea water and merged into the sea.
Only about 7,000 pieces of porcelain are left, including bowls, plates, pots, jars, bottles and other types of vessels, scattered on the seabed within a radius of 500 meters.
After hundreds of years of geological evolution on the seabed and the action of water and sediment, some porcelains were covered with sediment, while others became homes for undersea creatures.
Some deep-sea shellfish attach themselves to it and build nests, thriving on it for generations.
There are also octopuses living in some bottles. It is estimated that they have never lived in such an antique house in their lives.
For more than a week, Tang, Song and Yuan had not been idle either. They had been manipulating fish schools to search the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
The fish schools have changed, but they still haven't found a single undiscovered sunken shipwreck on the seabed.
Mainly because the high seas area is not on the main route of the ancient Maritime Silk Road.
Most of these sunken ships in the high seas deviated due to various reasons and finally sank in this area.
There are not many such small-probability events, and it is even rarer if it is necessary to ensure that valuable treasures are retained on the sunken ship.
However, Tang, Song and Yuan were not in a hurry. They replaced a group of fish and continued to search southward towards the waters of Oceania.
Three salvage ships, Suiye, Qiuci and Khotan, were in the shape of a Zigzag and docked directly above the sunken Arabian ship.
Han Yangzhou checked the weather and ordered to Leng Zhiwen and other divers:
"Captain Leng, it's still the old rule. You take two team members into the water first and explore the underwater situation in detail. We will then formulate a salvage plan based on the situation."
Leng Zhiwen responded in a deep voice: "I understand, Captain, let's set off now!"
Leng Zhiwen was wearing special diving equipment that could withstand the influence of high pressure in the deep sea. He dived into the water in a standard posture, and the other two team members followed closely behind and dived towards the deepest point of the seabed.
As the depth continues to increase, the surrounding light gradually becomes dim, and finally plunges into complete darkness.
Leng Zhiwen turned on the lighting equipment, and a strong beam of light penetrated through the darkness, illuminating the surrounding sea.
They continued to dive, and the sound of the changing pressure of the sea water kept coming to their ears, like the breathing of the sea.
Finally, when the depth reached 200 meters, they arrived at the site of the Arabian shipwreck from the Northern Song Dynasty.
Through the diving goggles, Leng Zhiwen saw a stunning scene.
Porcelain everywhere is scattered like flowers from a goddess on the sea bed paved with soft sand.
These porcelains come in many styles and styles, including exquisite plates and bowls, uniquely shaped pots and jars, and delicate bottles.
Some porcelains are painted with exquisite patterns, landscapes, flowers and birds, or character stories, with bright colors and smooth lines, which can be called treasures of art.
Some porcelains are completely green, like the clouds breaking through to reveal a clear sky after a heavy rain.
“It’s spectacular!”
Leng Zhiwen approached the wreckage carefully, picked up a porcelain bowl and looked at it carefully.
The porcelain bowl has a unique shape. The whole bowl is made of white sauce flowers, also known as sauce-glazed porcelain. The pattern lines are smooth and unrestrained. The bottom of the bowl has the stamp of "Made by Zhang Family in the Second Year of Qingli".
"nice one!"
This porcelain bowl is relatively well preserved. The only shortcoming is that there are a few shellfish shells attached to it.
Leng Zhiwen tried to pick it, but he couldn't.
Two other divers also arrived in the area and began to collect information about the wreckage and treasures.
After spending half an hour, Leng Zhiwen used a light to signal the team members and led the team to start floating towards the water.
Twenty minutes later, Leng Zhiwen returned to the Broken Leaf.
Holding the sauce-glazed porcelain bowl in his hand, he handed it to Han Yangzhou and said, "Captain, they are all made of porcelain. Some are exposed on the sea bed, and some are covered with sand."
"Most of them are Cizhou kilns, and there are also a few Longquan kilns. It seems that the harvest this time is not small~!"
Han Yangzhou took the sauce-glazed porcelain bowl from Leng Zhiwen's hand and looked at it carefully, with a satisfied smile on his face.
"Well done Captain Leng!"
He praised: "This is really a rare treasure! I also learned a lot about porcelain during this time,"
"Porcelain from folk kilns in the Northern Song Dynasty, led by Cizhou Kiln, Yaozhou Kiln and Longquan Kiln. The fine products from Cizhou Kiln are very valuable..."
After speaking, he reported the basic situation to Tang Songyuan through the Broken Leaf's ship-borne radio.
Tang Songyuan replied: "Very good, start working as soon as possible."
After the first salvage mission, the crew and workers in the salvage team also developed a basic tacit understanding.
The diving team was also assembled by Leng Zhiwen and was ready, fully armed and on standby.
Before entering the water, Leng Zhiwen emphasized again: "This batch of porcelain is more valuable than the previous batch, so I hope everyone will be careful and careful when working."
"I would rather delay some more time, but also ensure the integrity of this batch of porcelain to the greatest extent."
"These porcelains have experienced hundreds of years of sea erosion and immersion. Most of them are very fragile and require us to handle them with care."
"Even if only one corner is missing, the value is as high as heaven or earth compared to the complete porcelain."
"Did you hear that clearly?"
"Listen clearly!" the seven team members responded in unison.
The morale was good. Leng Zhiwen nodded with satisfaction, waved his hand and said: "Let's go!"
Plop, plop...
The sound of the divers entering the water one after another came, and then several people swam towards the depths of the seabed like agile fish, each carrying a float.
They know that the next work will be very hard,
But they also understand that these porcelains are priceless and worth all their efforts.
However, at this moment, Tang Songyuan on board the Pipi Shrimp, his eyes suddenly lit up and he jumped up from his seat excitedly.
...
