It can be seen from the underwater camera footage that after the platform lifting device began to operate, the tied-down wreckage slowly began to shake, and the footage disappeared.
The depth was more than 40 meters, and the wreckage was salvaged again, but after two or three minutes, a huge mud-covered object surfaced from the sea.
The lifting device on the platform directly placed the shapeless wreckage on the deck. After the wreckage was stabilized, it was vaguely seen that this should be a cabin, but the hatch and windows were covered by mud, and there was only an outline.
Outline.
"Quickly, use high-pressure water hoses to clean up, and the rest of the team will be ready to rescue the objects in the wreckage..."
As the head of the Maritime Safety Bureau of the Ministry of Transport, Director Wu is not without merit. He has quite a lot of experience in salvaging sunken ships. While directing people to clean up the surface of the wreckage, he also made preparations and made arrangements in an orderly manner.
The wreckage of this shipwreck does not have much research value. What is important is what is inside, so Director Wu issued such an order, and seven or eight high-pressure faucets washed away the surface of the wreckage at the same time.
After the black mud was washed down by the water column, the mottled hull was exposed. Although there were rust everywhere, some patterns could still be seen faintly.
"It's a cabin, no... I don't know what's in it?"
After the mud on the windows and doors of the wreckage was cleared, the outline of the entire cabin became clear. Professor Meng took two steps forward, looking a little excited.
Of course, the Awa Maru is more than 150 meters long, with dozens of rooms and cabins on it. However, during the salvage in the late 1970s, only more than 20 cabins were discovered at most.
In other words, the hull salvaged that time was less than half of the Awa Maru, which was the main reason why no gold or valuables were found.
After decades of research and analysis by Professor Meng, those important objects should have been placed in the captain's cabin. Now that such a seemingly complete cabin has been salvaged, Professor Meng can't help but feel excited.
"A group of people went in and cleaned out the contents..."
After the technicians came forward to ensure that the uncovered cabin would not disintegrate, Director Wu issued the order, and four people filed into the cabin and began to clean up the mud inside.
Although the situation inside could be seen from the outside, Professor Meng was still a little anxious and walked back and forth on the deck.
You must know that the skull fossils of Peking Man bear the hard work and efforts of several generations, including Professor Meng’s teachers, which really makes the old man unable to calm down.
"There is a discovery, there is a discovery..."
A voice came from the mouth of the person squatting in the cabin. Professor Meng suddenly became energetic. Regardless of the mud inside, he rushed in with a single lunge. His movements were more agile than those of young people.
"This...this...is gold..."
Arriving in front of the staff member, Professor Meng took the object from the man's hand and wiped it with his sleeve. A look of disappointment suddenly appeared on his face.
No matter how valuable gold is, compared with the skull fossil of Peking Man that Professor Meng wants to find, it is still far behind.
However, since gold was found in this cabin, it means that this is a place where important cargo is placed. Thinking of this, Professor Meng felt hot in his heart.
Ignoring the stench that the cabin had given off due to the sun, Professor Meng squatted down and started cleaning up with the staff.
"Zhuang Rui, the teacher is busy inside, and you, the disciple, don't even bother to help..."
After Qin Xuanbing put Fang Fangyuan to sleep just now, she also rushed to the deck to watch the excitement. She couldn't help but feel a little strange when she saw the old man Zhuang Rui standing outside.
"Well, there's nothing here that the teacher wants. At most, it's just some yellow and white stuff..."
Zhuang Rui shook his head. To be honest, Zhuang Rui had no interest in the wreckage at all. Even if all the gold he surveyed was salvaged, it would have nothing to do with him. He would only be able to earn political achievements for these officials in vain.
.
As for those Qing Dynasty ceramics, gold and silverware that can be called antiques, Zhuang Rui really doesn't like them very much. The reason why he agreed to participate in this salvage was just for the legendary "Peking Man Skull Fossil"
.
After reading the documents compiled by Professor Meng, Zhuang Rui had a deeper understanding of the "Peking Man skull fossils". The dozen boxes that disappeared back then were extremely important to the history of human evolution and archeology.
scientific research value.
Therefore, after Zhuang Rui failed to detect the "Peking Man Skull Fossil" before, he was not so concerned about the salvage. If it weren't for the fact that the gold would never sink to the bottom of the sea, Zhuang Rui wouldn't even bother to help them with the survey.
.
However, if the teacher has something to do, the disciples should do their best. After Qin Xuanbing said this, Zhuang Rui also held his nose and walked into the wreckage of the cabin to help Professor Meng and the others clean up.
Zhuang Rui didn't want to stay in this smelly cabin for a long time, so he immediately used his spiritual energy to find pieces of gold scattered in the mud. With his participation, about an hour later, the objects in the wreckage of the cabin were discovered
, everything has been cleared out.
Gold, slightly black in color, was piled in a pile on the deck, and there were also some uncorrupted iron tools and remains of boxes, but the rest had disappeared with the passage of time.
Several technicians took weighing instruments and weighed the gold bricks piece by piece. After more than half an hour, the results came out. A total of 4.8 tons of gold was found in the wreckage of the ship.
"Big discovery, big discovery, contact Vice Prime Minister
Unlike Professor Meng's disappointment and Zhuang Rui's lack of interest, Director Wu's hands were trembling with excitement at this time, and with his heart racing, he almost made a principled mistake.
Before the "Xuan Rui" went out to sea for the salvage operation, Vice Prime Minister X, who is in charge of national UNESCO work, personally gave instructions to the staff involved in the salvage and delivered a speech.
So Director Wu was so excited just now that he wanted to report his work directly to the Deputy Prime Minister. Fortunately, Director Wu corrected his mistake in time. This kind of cross-level reporting is taboo in official circles.
The good news reached Vice Minister Yu, who immediately reported it to him, and the news that excited the people of the country was broadcast on the news broadcast that night.
Of course, the news footage is filled with scenes that the leaders are chatting about. The real shots of the sunken shipwrecks and gold are only glanced at. As for Director Wu, he only said a few words before being moved from the scene.
.
However, this also made Director Wu very happy. He drank two bottles of Maotai alone in the evening. I don’t know if Jiu Jin got it, but he generously gave Zhuang Rui a note. All the fuel expenses for this salvage operation will be borne by
The Maritime Safety Administration reimbursed it.
Zhuang Rui did not refuse. The amount of oil spent on this day at sea was not a small amount. He immediately collected the note, and after the salvage operation was completed, he took a lot of money from the Maritime Safety Administration.
Talked.
It was a happy start, as major discoveries were made on the first day of the salvage operation. Vice Minister Yu also personally came to the "Xuan Rui" to cheer for the personnel involved in the salvage.
Of course, the last announced bonus of RMB 10,000 per person was everyone’s favorite.
The several divers who received a heavy reward of 50,000 yuan each were even more motivated. They actually surveyed the remaining wreckage of the shipwreck during the subsequent survey without Zhuang Rui's command.
More than 20 days have passed by in a flash, and the salvage of the wreckage of the Awa Maru has also come to an end.
This salvage can be said to be a great success. In addition to a total of 38 tons of gold recovered, there are also many extremely valuable ancient Chinese cultural relics.
In addition, more than two hundred bones were sorted out from the broken wreckage of the shipwreck. These should be the victims of the "Awa Maru". These bones have been gathered together and are to be recovered after the salvage is complete.
It was returned to Japan.
Relevant departments have broadcast the video of the salvage operation, which has caused a huge response among the people. The appearance of the bones has also attracted the attention of Japan. The words "Awa Maru" have also become the most popular search on the Internet.
word.
The relevant departments have also prepared a grand celebration meeting, which will be held after Zhuang Rui and others return to Beijing. However, the skull fossil that worries Zhuang Rui and Professor Meng has never been found. This makes Meng on the ship
The professor and several paleoanthropologists were very disappointed.
…
Since another typhoon was about to hit the sea area where Zhuang Rui was located, on the night when the salvage was completed, the "Xuan Rui" sailed 20 nautical miles north, preparing to return to Beijing early the next morning.
In the evening, Zhuang Rui asked the restaurant to prepare some side dishes, and then invited the teacher over. He could see that Professor Meng had lost a lot of weight in the past twenty days, and wanted to give the teacher some explanation.
"Teacher, it seems that the skull fossil of Peking Man is not on the Awa Maru..."
Zhuang Rui sat opposite Professor Meng. Looking at the teacher's somewhat old face, he couldn't bear it. His hopes had turned into disappointment again and again in the past few days, which was a huge blow to the old man's heart.
"Xiaozhuang, stop talking. The teacher is fine. The skull fossil is not as heavy as gold. Maybe it was washed away by the sea when the Awa Maru disintegrated..."
Professor Meng shook his head. He came with hope this time, but left with disappointment. Professor Meng didn't know if he would ever see those skull fossils again in this life.
"Okay, let's go and rest, we will return to Beijing tomorrow..."
Professor Meng waved his hand and went back to his room alone. Looking at the old man's slightly forlorn back, Zhuang Rui felt a little confused for some reason.
