211: Antiques on the Windward

"welcoming the wind? This ship has a good name, but it's a pity it only reappeared in the world five hundred years later, standing against the wind," Liu Xiaolin said with a smile.

"This is the arrangement of fate. If it hadn't sunk to the bottom of the sea, it might have long since vanished into the river of history. But precisely because it sank to the seabed 1500 meters deep, it could be preserved completely intact, allowing the world to see its splendor today!" Mo Qiangqiu exclaimed with emotion.

"This is the principle of 'a loss may turn out to be a gain,' haha." Director Mao was very happy and excited: with the salvage of this welcoming the wind and the antiques in the two cargo holds on board, he could probably be transferred to the Ministry of Culture as a leader before retirement. Heaven really opened its eyes.

At this moment, two people walked towards them. One was Deputy Minister Zhou Tao from the Ministry of Culture, and the other was Deputy Minister Liu Wenlong from the Ministry of Public Security. They were the persons in charge of the ancient ship's protection this time.

"Director Mao, you've worked hard, even personally supervising the salvage work at the bottom of the sea," Zhou Tao said, shaking Mao Qinghui's hand, and introduced them: "This is Deputy Minister Liu Wenlong from the Ministry of Public Security."

Liu Wenlong came over and shook hands with Director Mao, Expert Mo, and Liu Xiaolin one by one, greeting them.

"Currently, our Ministry of Public Security has dispatched fifty special police officers to patrol near this ancient ship to ensure no strangers get close. Please rest assured," Liu Wenlong said with a smile. "Protecting the nation's cultural relics is something we must cooperate with."

"Hard work, hard work. On behalf of the antique experts, I express our gratitude," Director Mao said, his pleasantries flowing smoothly.

"We are about to send people aboard to survey, but since our personnel are not very familiar with the ship's structure, we hope someone who has been inside can assist. General Manager Liu, who do you think would be convenient to send to assist?" Zhou Tao asked with a smile.

"Why send anyone else? I can assist you. I've been in and out several times already and am very familiar with this welcoming the wind," Liu Xiaolin said proudly.

"welcoming the wind?" Zhou Tao was a bit confused. "What welcoming the wind?"

"Haha, we just saw the words 'welcoming the wind' on the ship's bow, so of course, this ship is called the welcoming the wind," Director Mao explained with a smile.

"Oh, that's a good name. In the twenty-first century, it can finally break through the waves and stand against the wind," Zhou Tao also sighed with emotion after learning the reason.

"So, shall we enter the cabin now?" Liu Xiaolin asked.

"If you're not tired, we hope to go in now," Zhou Tao said, worried that Liu Xiaolin might be tired after a day's work and lack energy.

"Not tired, not tired. I also really want to see the craftsmanship of those ancient Dragon Country artisans under natural light. It wasn't very clear on the seabed," Liu Xiaolin hadn't come down from his excitement yet.

"Alright then, let's meet up with the antique experts now," Zhou Tao said.

"Um, can our Engineer Niu come along to take a look? He's also very interested in antiques, but even more so in ancient shipbuilding techniques," Liu Xiaolin said, unable to resist speaking up as he saw Niu De looking at him eagerly.

"Engineer Niu wants to take a look too? I need to ask my superior for instructions," Although Zhou Tao was the chief commander today, he still didn't dare to let unrelated personnel enter the welcoming the wind without authorization.

After the request was approved, Liu Xiaolin took Niu De to meet up with the seven or eight antique experts.

"This welcoming the wind is made of qiankun wood, and its exterior shows no trace of damage. I wonder why it sank back then?" Liu Xiaolin said as he walked.

"We'll understand once we go and see. Let's go, let's go, hurry and take a look." Director Mao had been waiting impatiently.

They quickly walked to the standby pier and boarded the deck of the welcoming the wind.

After more than three hours of underwater travel, this welcoming the wind had been washed quite clean by the seawater, so clean that the dense grain of the qiankun wood could be clearly seen.

"The first level is where the crew rests. Basically, only the wooden bunks are left here," Liu Xiaolin said, leading the experts into the first level.

Everyone who boarded the ship wore shoe covers to protect the floor, white gloves to protect the cultural relics, and even masks for fear that carbon dioxide might damage the relics.

After walking past rows of bunks, they saw a single room. After entering, an expert suddenly exclaimed, "There's a golden belt here!"

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound. Something glittering gold was tied to the headboard of a bunk in the single room. It was indeed a golden belt.

This golden belt was about two meters long, carved with dragon patterns, and looked exquisite at first glance. www.x33xs.com

"Is this single room the captain's cabin? Was the captain Zheng Han? Could this golden belt have been bestowed upon Zheng Han by the emperor at that time?" Director Mao reached out and untied the golden belt, observing it carefully. "A golden belt carved with dragons should only be worn by the royal family or bestowed upon someone by the emperor."

After he finished looking, he passed it to others, and everyone took turns examining it.

"Director Mao is right. I also believe this was bestowed upon Zheng Han by the emperor. Zheng Han was highly regarded when he sailed to the Southern Ocean at that time, so awarding a golden belt is quite normal," an expert said.

"Good heavens, this two-meter-long pure gold golden belt carved with dragons is probably worth fifty or sixty million," Liu Xiaolin clicked his tongue inwardly.

"Young man, you have a good eye. A value of sixty million should be no problem," an expert nearby heard Liu Xiaolin's muttering and said with a smile.

Next, they saw some wooden cabinets next to the bunks, which should have been the crew's storage lockers. Someone opened a cabinet and saw many small items inside, such as personal jade thumb rings, gold rings, etc., and even wooden rattles for children to play with.

The experts carefully collected these cultural relics into plastic bags of various sizes.

On the level that Liu Xiaolin thought was empty, forty or fifty antiques were actually discovered.

After finishing the first floor, they went to the second level.

The sight on the second level left these expert leaders stunned.

There were hundreds of wooden crates filling the shelves. If each crate contained a hundred antiques, then there would be over ten thousand antiques. This number was too astonishing.

The experts carefully opened a few wooden crates that were still wet. After opening them, they unwrapped the oil paper packaging and took out exquisite porcelain pieces one by one.

There were bowls with petal patterns characteristic of the period, white-glazed blue and white porcelain jars, small celadon plates with willow leaf patterns, and peony and prosperity porcelain vases. These porcelain pieces were not only exquisitely crafted and historically significant, but more importantly, they were all completely intact!

At previous antique auctions, one such rare porcelain piece would cause a sensation worldwide. Now, there were actually over ten thousand rare porcelain pieces. The experts were so excited they didn't know what to say! According to the experts' estimates, the value of this entire level filled with porcelain was more than ten billion dragon currency!

. You provided "The Rise of Heavy Industry: Forging the Light of National Goods" by God Wu Ji.