Wen Desi followed Zhang Ji to see the ship. [Full text reading] i. I have made many models of Western ships, and I have also dabbled in Chinese ships out of interest. What makes Wen Desi dissatisfied is that domestic research in this field is far less extensive and less professional than abroad. Even models of ancient Chinese ships are mostly collected abroad. There is very little information available.
There is no dry dock at the shipyard, it is placed directly on the ship frame. Wen Desi knew that the history of dry docks can be traced back to the Northern Song Dynasty. This method was used to repair dragon boats during the Xining period, but it seems that not many people used it later, and it was basically an isolated case. If it weren't for Shen Kuo's records, I'm afraid most people wouldn't know that this happened. "
"How to launch this boat?" Wen Desi was very interested in how to launch the boat in ancient times when there were no slipways and docks.
"Just cover the beach with mud and pull it with a rope."
It's so simple. Wen Desi nodded. The saying that the wisdom of the people is infinite is not an empty statement.
The ship is almost 70% complete. The hull has been formed, but the deck has not been installed. With his limited knowledge of ancient ships, Mr. Wen could tell that this was a so-called "Guangzhou ship". It is a large ship among ancient Chinese sea-going ships. The hull is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. The stern has a false stern. The biggest feature is that there is an insert plate on the center line that is deeper than the keel. This insert plate plays a role in slowing down the sway. The function of floating horizontally and horizontally is a major feature of Guangzhou Shipbuilding. The size is about 400 tons, which is the largest ship allowed by the Ming government to be built by the private sector. Although there is no doubt that Chinese shipbuilders are capable of building large ships of 1,000 tons. , but if the ship is too large, it will be difficult to operate, and it has no practical significance.
Wen Desi visually measured the length. The length was about 27 meters long and more than 5 meters wide. He roughly estimated the displacement to be 70 tons. This is almost the same as other 4oo material ships in their hands. It can be seen that 4oo material ships already have certain standards. Wen Desi asked Zhang Ji whether he used ship books for shipbuilding. Zhang Ji looked embarrassed and said with a red face: "There is no ship book."
Wen Desi knew that he had to keep his technical secrets secret, and he thought that he would not impress you because he was afraid that there would be a lot of verbosity in hiding in the future. He cleared his throat and reported a series of numbers in Cantonese:
"The battleship is made of 400 materials, 8 feet, 6 feet, 9 inches long, 1 feet 7 feet wide, and requires 2,487 workers..."
(Note: The ruler here is the Ministry of Industry ruler, which equals o.311 meters. There is also a municipal ruler, which equals o.283 meters.
Before he finished speaking, Zhang Jiji knelt down on the ground with an ordinary sound, his face full of fear: "Big... big... man..."
Wen Desi said: "Get up, what are you afraid of?!"
"It turns out that adults all know——"
"When you arrive at Bopu and see our large and small iron ships, you will realize the depth of ingenuity in the world. What does a ship book mean?" Wen Desi thought to himself that this is just the most basic information for ancient ship enthusiasts. Something from "The Story of the Southern Ship".
"Yes, yes." Zhang Jiji knew that this gentleman was an expert, and he also heard that there were completely different iron ships to see. He couldn't help himself for a long time, and it became much more enjoyable to introduce the ships.
The ship that was about to be completed was a two-masted ship, and the hull was made of fir. This was different from the information in Wen Desi's memory. He remembered that the book said that the characteristic of the Guangzhou ship was "iron wood". The Fubo they captured The ship was also a Guangzhou ship. Although it did not use ironwood, it also used lychee wood, which is also a hardwood.
Faced with Wen Desi's inquiry, Zhang Ji said that this was entirely a matter of cost. The price of ironwood was high, while fir was plentiful and cheap, and its strength was acceptable. According to him, this was ordered by a maritime merchant in Guangdong. Every time he goes to Nanyang for trade, he buys a new ship. He doesn’t ask for a good ship, as long as it can arrive safely. When he gets there, he sells the ship and all the goods. Take another boat back. Therefore, boats are almost disposable, and materials can be saved as long as they are cheap.
"How much silver does such a ship cost?"
"The going price is eight hundred taels. If you use good wood, you can add another two hundred taels."
So the price of a boat is one thousand taels. It seems that the Navy has indeed been a big money burner since ancient times. For shipbuilding, it is better to introduce private capital.
From the structural point of view of this ship, the whole ship is divided into 13 cabins by 12 bulkheads. The bulkhead boards are made of large camphor boards with a thickness of more than 1o cm. This is the most advanced structure of ancient Chinese sailing ships in the world: the watertight cabin. There are beam-supporting ribs at the junction of the watertight bulkhead and the hull plate and are fixed with iron nails. There were two weeping holes in the bulkhead and beam frame near the bottom of the ship. This surprised Wen Desi - with the weeping holes, how could this watertight cabin be waterproof?
Zhang Jiji explained that these water holes are to facilitate the drainage of accumulated water in the cabin, and they can be blocked with special wooden plugs during navigation.
The planks of the ship are all made of fir. The thickness of the bottom plank is more than 20 cm, the side planks are 15 cm, and the width of the planks is 8 to 20 cm. The middle part of the ship is the widest and the tail gradually becomes narrower. The horizontal connections of ship plates are flat joints, the longitudinal connections are flat joints, and the gaps between the plates are filled with twisting material. This is made of hemp silk, tung oil and oyster shell ash. The component of tung oil is tung oil glyceryl ester, which is prone to oxidation and polymerization. The formed paint film is tough and water-resistant. The calcium carbonate content of oyster shell ash is more than 9o%. Lime burned at high temperature is most suitable for blending tung oil. Lime itself has strong adhesiveness. Mixing lime and tung oil can promote the polymerization and drying of tung oil to form calcium tung oil, which is extremely waterproof. Iron nails were used to connect these ship planks, and the nail holes were covered with putty twisting material.
There are masts and mainmast seats in front of the third and seventh bulkheads. The mast base is a large piece of camphor wood fixed on the bulkhead and hull. There are two square holes on it. Mast clamping posts are inserted into the square holes, and the mast can be fixed through the mast clamping posts. One feature of the Chinese-style sailing ship is that the mast can be folded down and disassembled. A rotating shaft is set on the mast base and a square hole is left on the bulkhead for the mast to rest.
The ballast is pebbles that can be found everywhere on the beach. Zhang Ji said that they are mainly placed under the third and fourth cabins. There are beams on both sides to lay the bottom deck, where cargo and personnel live.
The rudder is made of hardwood, and even though it's a one-off vessel, the key parts are unambiguous. The rudder is a primitive balanced rudder that can be lifted and lowered, and there are many holes on the rudder plate. According to Zhang Jiji, this can make the rudder more labor-saving to operate. It is also a unique design on Guangzhou ships.
What interested Wen Desi the most was the many shipbuilding raw materials piled up in the work shed. Especially iron parts. Chinese ships have been using iron nails to connect ship planks since the Warring States Period, and it was fully mature by the Tang and Song Dynasties. Wouldn't it make him excited to see these things with his own eyes now? There are six or seven types of iron nails here: shovel nails, square nails, date-core nails, climbing-head nails, and flat-head nails, all in different forms and with different uses. There is also a peculiar ruler-shaped iron component, about 50 centimeters long, 5 centimeters wide, and 0.6 centimeters thick. One section is folded into a right angle, and there are four small holes on the ruler. Zhang Jiji introduced that these are curium nails used to connect ship plates, and their function is to connect the outer plates to the bulkheads. The method is to pre-cut a curly groove on the bulkhead, open a hole in the outer plate, drive the curly nails from the outside inward and seat them in the curly groove on the bulkhead. Then use nails to fix the rivets to the bulkhead.
Wen Desi walked around the ship, looking at the real open ship, and wondering if he could turn this ship into a sailing cruiser. But when I think about it carefully, I feel that this ship is still too small. The deadweight tonnage of a 400 material ship is only 30 to 40 tons. A warship can only have 6 to 8 cannons at most. Its transportation volume is too pitiful for the massive amounts of raw materials required for industrialization. . It was too slow to build an expedition ship, so it seemed that he would still build the ketch he was most familiar with and loved the most.
"Lao Zhang," Wen Desi said, "what do you think of the red-haired boat?"
"The ships are tall, have big guns, and are not afraid of wind and waves and pirates."
"anything else?"
"The sails and cables are exquisite," Zhang Ji said honestly, "The speed is fast. I have watched it for a long time on a red-haired ship. It is probably because the mast is high, the canvas is much, and the wind is strong. But the real mystery is still not visible. "
"Well, I know all this."
Zhang Jiji looked at Wen Desi, his eyes shining brightly. But he knew that craftsmanship was the cost of eating. How could this master tell him so easily? He couldn't help but feel gloomy again.
Wen Desi smiled: "Let me tell you, in Australia where we came, shipbuilding is taught in exclusive schools. The shipbuilding skills you and I know are just superficial. If you are interested, someone will teach you in the future. you."
Zhang Jiji hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed a few times: "If Master Meng taught me the secret technique, Zhang Jiji would be extremely grateful and will be driven by this master all his life."
"Well, get up." Wen Desi found a big rock to sit down on, and opened the book in his hand. Inside was a line drawing of a sailboat.
"Can you build this boat?"
Zhang Jiji studied it for a long time. This picture was completely different from the pictures he saw in the ship's book: the proportions were strict, and the lines were clear and accurate. It was not just a simple outline. The special three-dimensional view made it more intuitive. He secretly smacked his tongue - just learn the art of cartography and you will have a lifetime of food and drink. These people are indeed not ordinary people.
He asked a few questions about proportions and roughly estimated that the ship would cost around a thousand materials. Such a large ship-building machine has never been built before.
"I've never made one this big before." Zhang Jiji said carefully, "I'm willing to give it a try."
The ship Wen Desi chose was a two-masted schooner. This type of fast schooner is flexible and fast. It can operate with less than 10 people without considering the armament. In addition to carrying cargo, it can also carry 30 official passengers. . Very suitable for ocean adventures and maritime patrol operations. The famous America is a two-masted schooner that won the regatta in 1851 with only nine sailors and captains. Later, it served as a smuggling ship for the Confederate Army during the Civil War. It has a displacement of 170 tons, a total length of 30 meters and a width of 7 meters. Draft 3 meters. Equipped with two 24-pound short guns (broadside guns and a 12-pound long gun (central rotary gun), if equipped with a lighter 6-pound gun, 6 to 8 guns can be installed.
Note: Regarding Guangzhou Shipyard, the information on 4oo materials comes from the history of Chinese shipbuilding. There are currently many opinions on the concept of materials. Here, one material from the history of Chinese shipbuilding is equal to a load of 6okg.
