297: There is always a trade-off

"Ah? Didn't the bow just get a hole? Couldn't they just find a piece of wood and fix it?" Liu Xiaolin's thought was very simple.

"It's not as simple as you say!" Deputy Minister Mao shook his head and went on to talk about a large number of repair and protection plans for antique shipwrecks.

The 'Yingfeng' shipwreck, which sank to a depth of 1500 meters, was not only eroded by seawater but also damaged by quicksand and marine life.

Although the 'Yingfeng' shipwreck was made of qiankun wood and had excellent external anti-corrosion work, the damaged area at the break lacked this protection. Marine life attachment would breed acidic substances, and marine plant attachment would also be destructive to the interior of the qiankun wood.

"Don't think that when the 'Yingfeng' shipwreck just came ashore, everything looked normal. However, from the seabed to the surface, the shipwreck's preservation environment underwent huge changes, and being exposed to the air is also a great harm to it," Deputy Minister Mao said with a sigh. "You see, to protect it, we built a huge protective shed for it. The purpose is to let it slowly adapt to the environment exposed to the air and prevent it from fading and decaying quickly."

"I thought the shed was to prevent others from seeing this antique shipwreck," Liu Xiaolin said.

"It's for both reasons. We are very grateful for the temporary dock you provided, because it's by the sea, we will spray the hull with seawater from time to time to maintain its previous state on the seabed," Deputy Minister Mao said.

"So, how was the final repair plan decided?" Liu Xiaolin was still very curious.

"Some of our experts believe it shouldn't be repaired, fearing secondary damage to the 'Yingfeng' shipwreck during the repair process," Deputy Minister Mao said with a sigh. "Another group of experts believes it must be repaired because only a successful repair will allow research into its architectural design, making it a meaningful study of historical shipbuilding techniques."

"Hearing you say that, I feel very conflicted," Liu Xiaolin listened to both sides' opinions, which both made sense, and felt his head spinning.

"Our experts have conducted analysis and research on basic data such as wood age and salt content of the 'Yingfeng' shipwreck and have made some plans for its transportation," Deputy Minister Mao said. "These are auxiliary projects done for deciding whether to proceed with repairs."

"So, the analysis of wood age was for the selection of repair materials, right?" Liu Xiaolin asked.

"Yes, that's right. After all, we need to find qiankun wood that matches the wood age of the Yingfeng shipwreck, but if it's difficult to find, we can only try to choose the material closest in wood age," Deputy Minister Mao said with difficulty. "Even qiankun wood is hard to find, let alone selecting by wood age."

"I have an idea, I don't know if it's feasible, but I'll say it and you listen. If it doesn't work, just pretend I didn't say it," Liu Xiaolin said after thinking for a while.

"Okay, go ahead and speak your mind. We've been stuck in this deadlock for too long. You should be clearer-headed than us now, and your thinking is more open. As the saying goes, 'the bystanders see more clearly than the players'," Deputy Minister Mao said.

"Hmm, I know quite a bit about the 'Yingfeng' shipwreck, especially what's on the ship, I know even better," Liu Xiaolin said, frowning. "Are there many shelves made from leftover qiankun wood from shipbuilding on the second and third decks of the cabin?"

"Yes, those qiankun wood shelves are also valuable cultural relics," Deputy Minister Mao said.

"Now there's a choice to be made: are you willing to use valuable qiankun wood shelves to repair the damaged bow of the Yingfeng shipwreck?" Liu Xiaolin said, pointing towards the bow direction at his feet. "The area where the bow was damaged is not very large. If we repair it using qiankun wood from the same era and environment, it shouldn't cause secondary damage to the shipwreck. We just need to be extra careful when dismantling the rotten wood near the hole in the bow, do support work in advance, and reinforce and seal both the inside and outside of the bow to prevent large-scale collapse around the hole. It should be possible to achieve a perfect repair." Liu Xiaolin said the idea that had quickly formed in his mind all in one breath.

"You mean to use the qiankun wood shelves in the cabin as the main repair material?" Deputy Minister Mao said in surprise. "But these shelves are also antiques!"

"That's why I said I'm posing a multiple-choice question, to see if you can give up the qiankun wood shelves, which have less value and research significance, to repair the Yingfeng shipwreck, which has immense value and research significance!" Liu Xiaolin said meaningfully. "You gain some, you lose some; you give up some, you get some. Do you understand this principle?"

Deputy Minister Mao looked at Liu Xiaolin, his eyes full of astonishment and hesitation: "This trade-off is too difficult!"

"As long as you can distinguish between primary and secondary, it's not difficult," Liu Xiaolin's resolute gaze had already given his own answer.

"Distinguish between primary and secondary?" Deputy Minister Mao murmured to himself. "The primary is, of course, the Yingfeng shipwreck. Although the qiankun wood shelves are also antiques, compared to the shipwreck, they are secondary."

"It seems Deputy Minister Mao can distinguish between primary and secondary," Liu Xiaolin smiled and nodded. 33 Novel Network

"Alright, I'll go talk to the experts about this plan. You can look around by yourself." Deputy Minister Mao was greatly inspired, he left Liu Xiaolin and turned around and walked away.

Liu Xiaolin watched Deputy Minister Mao's hurried departure, dumbfounded, not knowing what to say.

"Forget it, I'll go find Tongtong instead." Liu Xiaolin shrugged and decided to go find Tongtong first.

He skillfully found the entrance to the first level and saw the Yingfeng shipwreck's living quarters again. This was where the crew rested, with only wooden bunks remaining. Liu Xiaolin saw that these bunks had been numbered and protected with special materials, and there were staff wearing white gloves doing some protection work.

After looking around and not finding Tongtong, he went directly to the second level. The second level was originally filled with wooden crates on shelves, each crate filled with antiques. The workload here was huge, and numbering and registering them was cumbersome. Also, to avoid damaging the Yingfeng shipwreck, the number of people allowed on board was limited; no more than twenty people could be on the second level at any time, so the inventory process was slow.

Liu Xiaolin didn't pay attention to others' work, only focusing on finding Tongtong. He walked through rows of shelves, past busy staff, and finally saw Hong Tongtong at the furthest shelf on the second level.

"Tongtong, what are you looking at?" Liu Xiaolin called out.

"Xiaolin, you're here. I'm looking at the vases here, they're so beautiful," Hong Tongtong said in surprise, pointing to a peony vase with a rich bloom design that the staff were numbering.

"The antiques here are all very beautiful and exquisite," Liu Xiaolin said indifferently.

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