"In my opinion, although this ship is big, if you look at it from the Song Dynasty, it is just an average treasure transport ship. It's not surprising." After Sun Daqiao finished speaking, Xu Xiake walked to the stone platform and said, "Then why, in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, until In the previous dynasty, we couldn't see such big ships?" What Xu Xiake said is true. Let's not talk about the far ones, let's just say that in the previous dynasty that was closest to them, no matter how big the official ship was, it was only fifty or sixty meters away. Even, The imperial court couldn't even build a ship to go to sea, so it had to impose a maritime ban. If it hadn't been for being too ignorant and backward in seclusion for three hundred years, it wouldn't have been beaten by the Western powers.
Yue Qingshan looked at these buildings and said with serious eyes: "I remember I said a few times before that since the Tang and Song Dynasties, the thousand-year wood has been exhausted, and with the advent of foreign races, many ancient technologies have also been lost. Well, by the time of the previous dynasty, neither the people nor the government had any good technology. The most obvious decline in civilization was actually the previous dynasty." After saying that, Yue Guanchao took advantage of the treasure ship approaching the stone platform and directly turned the bow of the treasure ship. The wooden plank suspension road was untied, and with a bang, the suspension bridge was built on the stone platform, raising a layer of dust.
Yue Guanchao first tested the board with the back of his knife to make sure that the board was as strong as usual, and then led everyone onto the deck.
After boarding the ship, the clicking sound gradually disappeared. They stood on the huge ship. The ship's hull swayed slightly, shaking slightly from side to side. Fortunately, the amplitude was not too big, and they could stand firm.
On the bow of the ship, a stone tablet stands in front. This stone tablet is about one person tall and two meters wide. It is silver-gray in color and has a polished surface. Most of the text is carved into the stone tablet. It can be clearly seen after thousands of years, and a lot of dust has accumulated on the surface.
Yue Guanchao walked to the stele and shook it off with his bag. The content of the inscription was clear to his eyes. Song Siyuan carefully observed the content of the inscription. It was a memorial text on the stele, which probably meant to praise the anti-golden rebels for their bravery in serving the country and caring for the people. At the same time, Protecting treasures from imperial theft and so on. Later, there was a specific name for the anti-golden rebels. It was both a merit monument and an English tombstone.
"What is recorded in this inscription are the specific names of the anti-Jin rebels in these niches. This inscription is actually a tombstone. I am more curious about how many good things this treasure ship contains. Judging from the size of this fleet, they An entire fleet was robbed.
"Why don't we just go into the cabin and take a look." Yue Guanchao nodded to everyone and led them around the sails, walked across the deck and came to the middle cabin.
Just now, they had only taken a look at the appearance of the cabin from a distance. Now that they saw the treasure ship's cabin at close range, they noticed details that could not be noticed from a distance.
The building is about four stories high, and each floor is much smaller than the ground floor. The top is covered with green tile fans, and there are protruding towers on the left and right. The pillars hold the tower and the windows have brackets. It can be regarded as richly decorated and magnificent. , there will even be looming dragon and phoenix patterns appearing on various ornaments and utensils.
This kind of ship is obviously not a civilian ship. If it were a civilian ship, it would not use such transgressive patterns as dragon and phoenix patterns.
They walked up the steps, unlocked the hatch, pushed open the door and entered the cabin. The interior scene and structure of the cabin came into clear view with flashlights.
Among the four floors, the first floor is connected to the deck below. As long as they go up the stairs, they are on the second floor.
From the second floor to the third floor, it is a completely hollow structure, with towering jade steps and a high platform. A screen throne is placed due north, and there are carved door panels on the four sides to divide it into boxes. It seems that the throne is located in a treasure niche. Magnificent and extravagant.
On the left and right are mostly pillars that support the building. Looking up, you can also see the exquisite railings on the third floor. Hundreds of rooms are divided and almost go around the surroundings. The lintels, windows and coffins are decorated with colorful paintings. The beaded curtains and colorful silks are like clouds, which looks like a mandala mandala. They surround the top caisson and form an extremely gorgeous top space.
Those jewels were mostly placed in the open space in front of the throne of the throne. If we want to use an analogy, this location is the large open space in front of the throne when the ministers and officials have an audience with the emperor.
At this moment, these places are all occupied by boxes. Thousands of boxes are spread out in an array, like a checkerboard grid or a marching array, almost completely covering the open space, and all of them are sealed.
"Looking at these decorations, they are probably not civilian ships." Before Song Siyuan finished speaking, John Hua took out a book from his backpack: "I think these ships are probably the imperial treasure ships recorded by the generals of the Kingdom of Jin." John Hua turned over Opening the "Chronicle of the Southern Inspection" in his hand, he slowly said: "The name of the general of the Jin Kingdom is Wanyan Lie, and he is a military aristocrat of the Jin Kingdom. He mentioned in the book that Huizong of the Song Dynasty loved rare antiques..." Huizong of the Song Dynasty was Known for being fatuous, greedy, timid, and fond of extravagance. Since taking office, he has hardly done anything serious. Apart from painting and posting, he spends his days feasting and having fun, and has no regard for government affairs at all.
If there is a good thing above, there must be a bad one below, and there must be treacherous ministers even if there is a foolish emperor. In the end, Song Huizong was greedy for pleasure and stopped taking care of things, so he asked Cai Jing to control the government. For Cai Jing, he didn't care about the people's livelihood and hardship, nor did he care about official examinations or appointments. The only thing he cares about is how to keep your position.
If we understand it more clearly, it is how he can make money for Song Huizong and make the emperor happy, so that his position can be stable. Under his operation, treasure ships were set up in various places and began to continuously transport rare antiques to Bianjing.
For example, if Huizong wanted to build the Kenyue Garden, he would have to dig out strange stones from Jiangsu and Zhejiang and fill them all into the garden, using the strange stones to create a garden in Bianjing that is no less than that of Jiangnan. These transported stones are called Huashi Gang.
For another example, Huizong led his ministers to play polo every month, which required tribute horses from other places to be brought to Bianjing and kept in stables for retention. These transported horses were called good horses.
For another example, Huizong's birthday is approaching, and all places must pay tribute to Huizong's birthday gifts. Then, these gifts delivered are called birthday packages.
In short, everything Huizong needed could be collected to him through treasure ships. In the end, treasure ships arrived in Bianjing every day of the month, such as the Flower and Bird Guide, the Calligraphy and Painting Guide, the Treasure and Fruit Guide, the Fur Guide, and the Brocade Guide. Gangs and study gangs came one after another, and they had to turn Bianjing into a mountain of gold and a sea of gold.
All treasures need to be transported by a fleet of ships, about every ten ships. Therefore, these treasure transport ships are also called transport ships. Every time they transport the treasure, the dragon flag flutters, which is particularly majestic. Of course, it also attracts a lot of complaints and looks.
The Huanggang Treasure Ship is similar, but it’s just another way of playing it. Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty loved to play. During the hottest summer every year, he would often take his concubines, royal family, and favored ministers into dragon boats and cruise along the river. Along the way, there were many officials paying greetings, escorted by officers and soldiers, and even common people would drag the boats along the road to express their love for them. filial piety.
