"The blessing of the Lord God! One, two, three, four! The blessing of the Lord God! One, two, three, four!... Huh! Ha!... This busy work is finally done..."
Snow was falling, and a thick layer of snow accumulated on the frozen Fawn Moss River, which was almost indistinguishable from the snow-covered river bank next to it. However, on the frozen glacier at this moment, a deep boat-shaped pit that was six to seven feet long and more than one foot wide was revealed. The five-masted ocean boat that was originally parked on the glacier has been pulled to the snow-covered river bank by dozens of people.
"Lord God! This five-masted ship looks about the same size as an ordinary longship in the kingdom. But it has three decks, a very high hull, and no oars on either side... Could it be that it relies entirely on wind power to move forward? ?...Hiss! The structure inside this ship looks really complicated!..."
Exploration captain Zuvalo boarded the Zheyang ship with a curious look on his face, observing the Zheyang ship that he had never seen before. Next to him was the shipwright Jin Shanshu, who was leaning against his waist and wearing a gold charm around his neck.
It's a pity that the two of them don't understand each other. Zuwaro watched casually, while Jin Shanshu made gestures to explain a few words. At least he couldn't let the adults think that he was useless...
"Guide from the Lord God! There are five masts, some are long and some are short. What's the reason?..."
The most eye-catching symbol of this ocean-covering ship, which represents the navigation technology of the Song Dynasty, is the five upright masts. The three in the middle are very tall, while the two at the ends are very short. And looking at the hook of the mast, it turns out to be a gaff sail that needs to be hung. However, the sails on the ship have been furled and saved, and it is not known how to hang it or how to use the wind.
"Sir! These masts, with the main mast high and the fore and aft masts low, can not only hang straight sails and gaff sails, but also large and small square sails between the masts... To put it simply, the wind is always changing. Go, the sails have to be changed. Only by hanging all kinds of sails can we take advantage of the wind in all directions! ... As for the specific sail shape, square, skip, or triangle, sailmaker Pu Shunfan is the expert It’s at home, adults can ask him..."
"Lord God! The rudder at the stern of the ship seems to be better than the one in the kingdom...much!..."
Zuvalo nodded as if he understood, and walked along the row of masts towards the stern of the ship. At the stern of the ship, there is a complex-looking rudder, which is obviously larger and more complex than the simple rudder of the kingdom's longship. Under the rudder, a wooden pole several meters long is connected to an exquisite wooden fan to facilitate the adjustment of the course.
"Sir! This is a plank rudder! It's wooden, plank, straight, rudder!... Look, sir, just turn it like this, and the board below will also turn. It's easy to maneuver! But you have to use good wood, and it's strong. wood!"
Seeing the gold shipwright's signal, Zuvalo curiously turned the rudder at the stern of the ship. The rudder is indeed very flexible and seems to be borrowing leverage without any effort at all. Then he walked to the bow of the ship and looked at the two heavy trumpet-shaped anchors. These two anchors are actually wooden anchors embedded with stones, and there is an anchor well next to them specially for storing anchor ropes. There is more than one anchor position on the ship, and there are probably three at the front and rear.
"Interesting! It's actually a wooden anchor embedded with stone! I thought it was a bronze anchor like the Kingdom!..."
Zuvalo muttered something softly. Fortunately, the shipwright Jin Shanshu who followed him couldn't understand, otherwise he would have scolded the kingdom for its "inhumanity."
In this era, Li's North Korea naturally used copper coins from the Ming Dynasty, and the price of rice was similar to that in the north of the Ming Dynasty. However, the Ming Dynasty was short of copper for a long time and had high grain output, so the price of rice was very low compared to that of the Han Dynasty.
Copper coins, which are always of good quality, are usually not a problem to buy for two or three shi meters in the north of the Ming Dynasty or North Korea. And if you throw a bronze anchor of one or two hundred pounds into the water, you can buy dozens or hundreds of wooden anchors inlaid with stones for a dozen copper coins!
"Hey! How come the main keel of this ship is made up of several sections? Huh? The supports on the side are section by section, like the legs of a centipede. What are they?..."
Zuvalo slowly descended to the bottom of the cabin. He knocked around and looked around. Soon, his eyes opened wider and wider, the expression on his face was full of disbelief, and finally he couldn't help but exclaimed!
"Lord God! The keel structure at the bottom of this ship is like a precise spider web, so complicated! Compared with it, the Kingdom's longship is like a branch next to a spider web..."
This ocean-covering ship, which is similar in size to the kingdom's longship, has an extremely complex keel structure. Its central axis is a spliced central keel, which is actually made of three short keels, closely connected diagonally!
Around the central keel, there are sections of side keels and ribs supported by short circuits. Among them, the side keels are longitudinal and the ribs are transverse, with one every other step. All the skeletons are densely packed and connected with precise wooden tenons and iron nails. If you look carefully, these dense keel structures support each other and seem to comply with some kind of divine law, like a complex and regular spider web!
"Guide from the Lord God! Such a complicated structure!...Why don't you use a whole big wood to make a central keel? Then use a few big woods to replace the small keels on the side?...Use one to replace all of these. ...Use big wood! ...It would be much easier to build a ship that way, right?!"
Seeing Zuvalo's gestures, shipwright Jin Shanshu opened his eyes wide and thought for a long time before he couldn't help shaking his head and laughing.
"Sir! You have never built a ship, so you don't know. These central keels and side keels are the bones of the ship! And the bones of the ship are just like human bones. They have to withstand wind and waves, and they have to be able to withstand pressure. To be able to carry and pull...that's not something ordinary wood can do, you have to use good hardwood, such as teak and elm that are hundreds of years old!..."
"Like this ship, with three keel sections, each section only needs hardwoods that are one hundred and eighty years old! And the dozen or so side keels next to it only need hardwoods that are several decades old. If it goes as you said, use A whole piece of good wood that is seven to eight feet long must be at least hundreds of years old! But such old good wood is so expensive, and how can it be so easy to find? No one would be willing to find it. Used to make this kind of sea-going ship with two to three hundred ingredients!..."
"Haha! The keel of your ship is too complicated... Witness the Lord God! Our long ship only has three keels! One in the center and two on both sides. Each one was cut down to be enough. The ship is made of a spruce tree twice as long as a whole tree!...Praise to Your Majesty! This is Your Majesty's divine inspiration, allowing us to build a giant ship that has never been seen before!..."
Zuvalo showed a confident smile, made gestures again, and proudly told shipwright Jin Shanshu.
"As long as three keels are used as the base! So long! So thick! ... Then use large plates to surround the keels and drive them full of copper nails. They can withstand the big waves in the extreme North Sea! The keels are strong Yes, even if such big and high winds and waves hit you, there won’t be any cracks!…”
"Blessed by Bodhisattva! Sir, what did you say?! Two? Two lengths of this length? From here to this width?...Ah! A giant tree thirteen feet long and one foot wide? How many did you use? One? Three?!...Three giant logs to build this kind of ship? To build this kind of sea-going ship that costs two to three hundred materials?!"
After finally understanding Zuwaro's meaning, shipwright Jin Shanshu's eyes instantly turned red. The corners of his eyes trembled violently, his stooped waist straightened up suddenly, and he almost jumped up on the spot!
"Thirteen feet long giant tree that is hundreds of years old! To build this kind of ship?! Three more branches were used!!"
Shipwright Jin Shanshu shouted and stared at Zuvalo. At this moment, the instinct of a senior shipwright suppressed all his awe and fear. His face first showed disbelieving astonishment, then blank confusion, then anger from the heart, and finally turned into deep-rooted regret. He couldn't help shouting and scolding loudly, and even his eyes were wet and he couldn't help crying!
"Ah, Guanyin Bodhisattva! These prodigal beasts! ...That is, that is a big wood that can be used to build a ship with thousands of materials, and can be used as the keel of a treasure ship! ...Beasts! Such a big wood of this grade can be used to build such a ship. , use three at a time?!...I have never seen one in my life!...Uuuuuuuuah! What a beast, a beast!!..."
