The Fisherman Who Never Catches Fish-Chapter 404 - 238: The Value of the Great Ming Treasure Ship! (Please Subscribe)_2
The person who came to the scene was also an acquaintance of Fang Hao, Captain Han.
The Coast Guard Ship, being a ten-thousand-ton vessel, was the closest to Fang Hao and thus could arrive at the fastest speed in the shortest amount of time.
Upon seeing Fang Hao, Captain Han was also a bit puzzled.
"Are you alright?"
"I’m fine?" Fang Hao was also surprised. What could possibly be wrong with him?
"I received an emergency call earlier saying you jumped into the sea, so we rushed here immediately to help with the rescue," Captain Han said earnestly.
"..."
Damn it, he had jumped into the sea, but it wasn’t a suicide attempt.
These people had misunderstood.
So they caused a mix-up.
Fang Hao felt somewhat helpless, but he couldn’t blame others. They were just concerned about him and called the authorities for his wellbeing.
"It’s good you’re fine." Seeing Fang Hao’s expression, Captain Han approximately understood the situation and didn’t fuss too much.
As long as Fang Hao was fine, that was what mattered most, given his high importance.
He absolutely must not get into any trouble.
He was also a person of great interest to the higher-ups.
"By the way, did you just say that you’ve discovered another sunken ship at the bottom of the sea?"
Captain Han then moved on to another topic, which was about the discovery of the sunken ship.
"Yes, when I was diving earlier, I discovered this sunken ship. Judging by its style, it must have been there for several hundred years," said Fang Hao.
He had discovered the sunken ship, so naturally, he knew more about the situation.
A shipwreck from the Great Ming Dynasty was extraordinary.
There would likely be many valuable items inside.
"If I’m not mistaken, it could possibly be a treasure ship built during the era of Zheng He’s voyages to the Western Seas during the Great Ming Dynasty."
Fang Hao had gotten related information using the Mechanical Eye, so he could give a fairly accurate hint immediately.
A treasure ship from the Great Ming period?
Captain Han also realized the value of this sunken ship.
Captain Han immediately sent people to investigate it, along with the deep-diving equipment.
Soon, they reported back that they indeed discovered a wooden sunken ship, and by the look of the ship, it could be several hundred years old.
After confirming the sunken ship and its identity, Captain Han immediately reported the situation up the chain.
They shifted from rescuing a person to salvaging a sunken ship.
The change in Captain Han’s mission took only a few minutes.
Experts from the archeology and cultural relic fields also received this news.
Such a shipwreck certainly required these experts’ cooperative guidance.
Upon learning about the discovery of a treasure ship from the Great Ming period, the experts were visibly excited.
"Is it really true?"
"This is something of significant scholarly value."
Previous research on Zheng He’s Western Ocean Fleet had been contentious, especially regarding the size of the ships in the fleet.
Particularly the lead Great Ming Treasure Ship, the largest vessel, whose displacement had been under question.
Some believed it was only a few thousand tons, others thought it was ten thousand…
Discovering the Great Ming Treasure Ship, one of the treasure ships in Zheng He’s fleet, carried a different significance.
Perhaps by studying this treasure ship, they could make educated guesses.
The shipbuilding technology of the Great Ming Dynasty was world-leading, truly second to none.
But how the craftsmen during the Great Ming Dynasty built ships is not detailed in historical records. The discovery of this sunken ship provided invaluable physical evidence for studying our Ming Dynasty shipbuilding techniques and craftsmanship, with essential significance for investigating the structure, materials, and tools of Ming Dynasty ships.
If there were still items inside the sunken ship, their value would be immeasurable.
A group of experts from the cultural relic and archeology fields immediately became excited.
They rushed to the site where the sunken ship was discovered.
Together with the salvage team, they departed.
They formed a salvage team.
At sea, the activity heated up once again.
In this period, the ships being salvaged were really one after another.
The salvage team barely had time to rest.
Just after finishing one project, another came along.
With the arrival of the salvage team and a group of experts, they finally confirmed that this shipwreck was indeed the Great Ming Treasure Ship, one of the ships from Zheng He’s Western Ocean Fleet.
Although the reason for its sinking was unknown, the discovery of the shipwreck here was certainly lucky for us.
"It really is the Great Ming Treasure Ship."
"This time, we’re really lucky."
"I’ve been studying the Great Ming Treasure Ship, and now I can have a complete set of reference materials."
One expert was extremely excited.
As the discoverer of the shipwreck and also a special consultant for the National Cultural Relics Bureau, Fang Hao quickly became the director of the scene.
Everyone agreed on this point.
Under Fang Hao’s direction, the salvage operation proceeded smoothly.
The salvage team also dived to the seabed.
The water was about forty meters deep, less than fifty meters, which made the salvage work less difficult than before.
Even so, they couldn’t afford to be careless.
Soon, they discovered many items inside the shipwreck.
There were many porcelains, all exquisitely made and manufactured by official kilns.
These were all antiques.
Antiques that had survived for hundreds of years and were of immense value.
Moreover, even after being underwater for such a long period, these porcelains were still well-preserved.
There were thousands of various porcelains here, a very large quantity.
Besides porcelains, there were also silks...
However, unlike the porcelains, the silks were not as well-preserved.
Some silks were damaged due to improper preservation.
Having soaked in the sea for so long, some had already decayed, degraded by marine microorganisms.
Only those stored in well-preserved boxes, where waterproof measures were adequate, had survived.
These were also rare cultural relics.
Besides these, there was also the shipwreck itself.
The shipwreck was quite large, with an estimated displacement of about one to two thousand tons.
And this wasn’t even the main ship; one can only imagine how large Zheng He’s flagship must have been.
A displacement of ten thousand tons might indeed be true!
Next, they looked to see if there were any records of the fleet’s activities on the ship.
"This rope..."
As they salvaged the ship’s ropes again, everyone was shocked.
After several hundred years, these ropes were still intact and strong.
The effect was too astounding.
The surfaces of the ship’s planks, wooden oars, and components clearly bore the names of the makers and their positions on the ship, reminiscent of the grand shipbuilding industry of the Great Ming Dynasty at its peak.
These records and names seemed to verify something as well.
Aside from these, the wooden components of the ship were still very well-preserved.
Although the hull was damaged...
Inside, many components had not decayed.
Some had survived for hundreds of years, still perfectly intact.
This was truly astonishing.
Like the ironclad ships salvaged before, which were a century old and had already rotten away, their metal rusted and corroded by the sea.
Such thick steel plates couldn’t withstand the corrosion of seawater.
But this wooden structure was different; long-term in seawater, these wooden planks were even better preserved and stronger.
It’s like some types of wood—why they’re preserved longer when stored in water.
The most direct example is the Dragon Boat!
Dragon boats, used during the Dragon Boat Festival, are kept submerged in water when not in use, thus preserving them better.
If left on the shore, because the wood is consistently exposed to the sun, it might crack.
Or perhaps it gets suddenly soaked by rain and then dried by the sun.
Such conditions would not allow for long-term preservation.
But remaining in water allows them to be preserved for a much longer time— not just for hundreds of years, but even thousands.
