Su Hao obediently paid 80 taels of silver. Tian Daohan accepted it unceremoniously without even writing a receipt. Then he called the old servant in the backyard and asked him to take Su Hao and Li Zhi to find the craftsman.
While walking on the road, Su Hao tried hard to find a topic to chat with his old servant, trying to get him to talk about Tian Daohan. He found out that this old servant was truly a loyal servant. Everything Su Hao asked him, he shook his head and said he didn't know anything.
No leaks.
The place where the craftsmen lived was also within the scope of the shipyard. According to the occupation of the craftsmen, they were divided into four compartments, with ten houses in each compartment and ten households in each. This reflects the rulers' pursuit of uniformity in the early Ming Dynasty. However, as Cai Guozhu introduced
Just like that, the original craftsman family has become several families due to the separation of their children. Those separated families have no houses and can only build some temporary buildings in the empty spaces of the original residential areas. Over time, the original residential areas have become
The pattern of the city had been completely broken, and what appeared in front of Su Hao and Li Zhi was just a messy shanty town.
"Uncle Tian is here!"
"Uncle Tian, would you like to come to my house for dinner at noon?"
"Brother Tian, what kind of work do you have this time? Can you take care of my family?"
As soon as Su Hao and his entourage entered the craftsmen's residential area, there were two or three craftsmen greeting Tian Daohan's old servant. The old servant smiled slightly and kept returning the greetings to everyone, then turned to Su Hao and said: "Shopkeeper Su,
The craftsmen from our shipyard live in this area. You can see what kind of craftsman you want, and I will help you find it."
"No hurry, Uncle Tian, let's talk to the masters first, okay?" Su Hao asked.
Uncle Tian hesitated for a moment and said: "If you want to hire someone, just hire someone. It's useless to say more here. My master still has things for me to do. I can't stay with you for too long."
Su Hao said: "Uncle Tian, if we want to hire people, we have to find out who has good craftsmanship and who has poor craftsmanship, right? We paid money, and Mr. Tian didn't say that we can't test the skills of each master."
"This..." Uncle Tian was obviously not very good at debating. When Su Hao said this, he was speechless. After a pause, he said: "Since Shopkeeper Su wants to ask about the skill of the craftsmen, then
Just ask, I will just stay here with you."
Su Hao knew that Uncle Tian was worried that he would find out the secrets of the shipyard among the craftsmen, so he wanted to stay and supervise. He actually had no such idea, so it didn't matter whether Uncle Tian stayed or not.
After getting Uncle Tian's permission, Su Hao walked to the door of a craftsman's house, sat down on a stone bench, and said to the craftsmen watching: "Masters, I am here to hire craftsmen to build a ship.
Who among you knows how to build ships best?"
Everyone looked at each other, and an old craftsman came up and said, "Shopkeeper Su's question is strange. We are a shipyard. Naturally, everyone knows how to build ships."
"That's right, we have all been building ships for generations!" everyone responded in unison.
"Uh... I mean, does anyone here understand the overall structure of a sea-going ship? For example, can anyone explain how to build a sea-going ship made of two thousand materials?" Su Hao said.
The old craftsman nodded and said, "You're talking about the head craftsman, right? I'm a head craftsman. I know a little bit about cutting materials for shipbuilding."
"Then tell me, what is the structure of a ship made of two thousand materials?" Su Hao asked tentatively.
The old craftsman said: "This old man asked strangely. Sea-going ships are different from sea-going ships. There are shelter ships, sailboats, building ships and wave ships. Different ships have different systems. This
It all depends on what the master wants to do with the ship."
"Then tell me about this ocean-covering ship." Su Hao said with a smile.
"The two-thousand-material Zheyang captain is six feet eight feet long, the head is one foot long, the tip is one foot long, the width is one foot one foot five inches, the base is seven feet wide, the base is six feet wide, and the beam head is ten feet.
Six, the dragon's mouth beam is one foot two feet wide and five feet deep..." The old craftsman talked eloquently, as if strings of data were placed in front of him, he reported them casually, accurate to the inch.
Su Hao turned to look at the others and saw that everyone was nodding frequently with smiles on their faces, obviously agreeing with what the old craftsman said. Su Hao waited for the old craftsman to finish what he said, and then asked: "What the old craftsman said is so good.
Okay, so does the master understand the things used on the ship?"
The old craftsman pointed to the craftsman next to him and said: "Master, you have to ask them about the things on the ship. There are specialties in the craft, but I don't dare to explain them all."
Seeing the old craftsman start to raise his head, everyone around him also talked about his profession:
"The boat canopy is made of folded strips, sandwiched with bamboo strips, and folded piece by piece for hanging..."
"The rudder poles of seagoing ships must be made of iron wood. Ordinary wood is perishable and cannot be used..."
"Ship ashes should be prepared with fish oil and tung oil..."
Everyone was talking very lively, and some of them wanted to show off their knowledge in order to be favored by Su Hao and hire him to work. Su Hao was inexplicably moved in his heart. What Cai Guozhu told him about the inheritance of technology, among the craftsmen
They have been verified here. He knows that until this time, China's shipbuilding technology is still the best in the world. If it had not been closed to the outside world for hundreds of years, those who would traverse the oceans in future generations would not be those foreigners, but the industrious and intelligent Chinese.
People.
"What I asked you just now is a ship made of 2,000 materials. I would like to ask you, if it is a ship made of 6,000 materials, would you dare to build it?" Su Hao continued to ask.
"Six thousand materials!" The old craftsman was startled, and there was clearly some mist in his eyes. "Master, are you talking about the kind of big treasure ship that Master Sanbao sailed on when he went to the West?"
"Exactly." Su Hao said.
"Sir, where did you come from? The construction of these 6,000-material ships is prohibited by the imperial court. Anyone who dares to disobey will be beheaded," the old craftsman said calmly.
Su Hao was about to say something, when he suddenly saw a young man running from a distance. He came panting in front of everyone, and did not look at Su Hao. He only shouted to a few craftsmen among them: "Chen Lao San, Li Er
, Wang Wu, Master Tiji asked me to call you to go to Qizuotang and brush the two hundred aniseeds all over with tung oil."
"Brushing with tung oil? Why, Master Tiju got money again?" asked the craftsman named Chen Laosan.
"I got the money, I got the money." The young man said, "Master Tiji said that this time there is enough money to pay for all the two hundred pieces of material that were owed last time."
"Silver?" Su Hao's heart trembled, and he vaguely guessed something. He pulled the young man and asked, "Excuse me, what did you mean by brushing with tung oil just now?"
The young man glanced at Su Hao. Not knowing his origin, he naturally refused to say anything. Uncle Tian hesitated for a moment. He wanted to stop Su Hao from inquiring about things, but he did not speak.
However, the old craftsman sighed and said: "This matter has nothing to do with Mr. Guest Officer. It is the large timber brought back from Nanyang in our shipyard in the early years. It needs to be coated with tung oil every once in a while, otherwise it will rot. Listen.
It is said that the imperial court does not care about these things and has not allocated any money. After successive officials in our shipyard took office, they have to find ways to obtain money and maintain these timbers."
"So that's it..." Su Hao felt something was blocked in his throat, leaving him speechless. He stood up and said, "Everyone, can you take me down to see the wood?"
The wood in the shipyard is not a secret, and the craftsmen will naturally not stop Su Hao from visiting. Uncle Tian subconsciously felt that something was wrong, but he was a domestic servant and never dared to make the decision when things happened, so he hesitated a few times.
But he couldn't stop Su Hao.
The old craftsman led the way, and Su Hao and Li Zhi followed. Together with the craftsmen, they came to the Qizuotang that the young man had mentioned earlier, which is equivalent to the No. 7 dock of the shipyard. Next to the dock, there were indeed piles of such things as
A pile of wood that looks like a hill, the longest of which is over a hundred meters long. This shows the lofty ambitions of people back then to conquer the ocean.
When Su Hao and the others arrived, a group of craftsmen were already busy working. They used various simple machines to hoist the wood one by one and put it on the shelf. Then they carried the oil drums and carefully worked on the wood.
It was brushed with tung oil. From a distance, you can see that the wood is as smooth as ever, and it has obviously been well maintained. Tian Daohan was wearing casual clothes and patrolling back and forth among the craftsmen with his hands behind his back. He had previously treated Su Hao and the others.
There was actually a faint smile on that rigid face.
Hearing the sound of someone coming, Tian Daohan turned around and saw Su Hao and Li Zhi walking with the craftsmen. His face suddenly sank. He turned back and said to a soldier beside him: "Go,
Stop those two businessmen and prevent them from approaching Zuotang."
The Tiju Division was considered a first-level yamen. Although it was down and out, it still had a few soldiers serving as servants. After hearing the order, the soldier picked up his spear and ran all the way to Su Hao and others. He blocked the road with a tigerish face and shouted: "
Stop and lift me up so that you don't get close to the pond."
Su Hao and Li Zhi stood down. Uncle Tian who was following them realized that he had neglected his duty and hurriedly ran towards Tian Daohan. Su Hao saw that when Uncle Tian ran up to Tian Daohan, Tian Daohan stared at him and said something to Uncle Tian,
He must have been scolding him, and then Uncle Tian turned around and stumbled back.
"Two distinguished guests, my master has said that if you find a craftsman, please come back and build an important land. No idlers are allowed to enter." Uncle Tian said to Su Hao and Li Zhi angrily.
Su Hao said: "Uncle Tian, please tell Mr. Tian that I have something to say to him, and he will know as soon as he hears it."
Tian Bo said: "Sir, please come back. My master said that these timbers are the property of the imperial court, so don't make any decisions. If you keep pestering us, everyone will lose face."
Su Hao smiled slightly, took out an object wrapped in red cloth from his arms, handed it to Uncle Tian, and said: "Uncle Tian, show this to your master. If he still doesn't see it after looking at it,
We, we’ll leave right away.”
Uncle Tian didn't know what was going on and couldn't defeat Su Hao, so he took the object and ran back to Tian Daohan. Seeing Uncle Tian come back, Tian Daohan was a little annoyed, but when he took the red cloth bag and opened it, his expression suddenly changed. He
He straightened his clothes, walked quickly to Su Hao, bowed deeply, and said: "Xiaguantian Daohan comes to see Mr. Qiandu. I didn't know the identity of Mr. Qiandu before. It's disrespectful. Please forgive me."
It turned out that what Su Hao asked Uncle Tian to bring over was his official seal of the imperial censor of Qiandu. Although this kind of thing has no anti-counterfeiting mark, forging the official seal is a serious crime of beheading. No one would make fun of this kind of thing. Tian Daohan is also a smart man.
, seeing Su Hao's official seal, and thinking of Su Hao's words and deeds, he immediately realized that this was an official from the Metropolitan Procuratorate conducting a private visit incognito, and he was asking for bribes in front of the censor of Qiandu, stealing stolen goods.
Juzai, his official hat is probably worn all the way to his head.
Su Hao returned the salute and said: "Master Tian, there is no need to be too polite. I am Su Hao, who has been favored by the Holy One and has been appointed as the censor of the capital. This is Master Li Zhi, the deputy censor of the capital."
"Master Fudu... Master Qiandu just said that Master Fudu's name is..." Tian Daohan's mind was drowsy, and he suddenly felt that the name Li Zhi was so familiar that he couldn't help but ask.
Li Zhi knew that he was very famous among scholars. As Tian Daohan, it was impossible that he had not heard of his name. He smiled slightly and said, "What I just changed to introduce is correct. The old man is Li Hongfu of Quanzhou."