Science Foundation.

Historian Cheng Fu and Lu Guansheng sat opposite each other.

"The famous President Lu is in the technology industry, right? Why did you think of coming to a leisurely person like me to listen to his stories today?" Cheng Fu asked lazily while enjoying the food slowly.

"My personal hobby is gold panning and curiosity. I recently want to salvage the treasure in the Dongfu. Does Dr. Cheng know anything about it?" Lu Guansheng had read this man's information before coming here. He knew his rebellious temper and did not mind his tone and attitude.

Cheng Fu, a doctor of history, specializes in Ming Dynasty history. He has many opinions that contradict official history, and he has also found a lot of evidence to support his opinions.

However, as a professor at an orthodox and old-fashioned university, such unorthodox theories were not appreciated by the university.

After being repeatedly ordered not to "take advantage of the topic, talk nonsense, and distort the facts" in class, he resigned in anger and left!

The girlfriend his family had finally found for him broke up with him after he lost his job!

The reason is not only his financial situation, but also his temper. They say he is pretending to be noble and not concerned about food and clothing, so he has to be a "brainwashed" person. Let him live with his "brainwashed" person!

Soon after, Cheng Fu, unable to bear the nagging of his family, went to the quiet place of the Science Foundation.

"Dongfu?" Cheng Fu narrowed his eyes at Lu Guansheng. "I didn't expect Mr. Lu to be a fan of unofficial history! Didn't you read the book carefully? Don't you know that Dongfu doesn't exist?"

"Dr. Cheng, do you really think the Dongfu doesn't exist? Then why did you mention this ship in your paper? Just to lose your job?" Lu Guansheng was also a sharp-tongued person and didn't buy it at all.

"Oh? Mr. Lu is reading Mr. Cheng's paper?" Cheng Fu was surprised by this. He self-righteously believed that businessmen tend to burn books by nature.

"I just read it briefly!" Lu Guansheng was of course fully prepared.

"What does Mr. Lu want to know?" Cheng Fu has begun to put aside his prejudice and take it seriously.

"No matter how big or small, Dr. Cheng, please share with me everything that happened to the Dongfu from its departure to its sinking. I have plenty of time." After saying this, Lu Guansheng poured himself a pot of tea and said, "I'll do whatever you want."

"Speaking of the Dongfu, we have to start from Zheng He's first voyage to the West..." Cheng Fu said slowly.

In 1407, the early summer of the third year of the Yongle reign, Zheng He's fleet was burning incense and waiting at the port of Fuzhou. With the expectation of Emperor Yongle, they boarded the ship and set sail.

Shipbuilders know that for a load-carrying vessel to be stable, its center of gravity must be underwater. The larger the vessel, the greater its underwater volume, and the deeper the water required.

Zheng He's flagship, the Treasure Boat, didn't carry much cargo, but rather passengers. Its twelve sails and 89-degree stabilization line allowed it to sail smoothly even in shallow waters.

But on that first voyage, the fleet's other forty or fifty heavy cargo ships were not built with this in mind. So, while Zheng He's flagship and escort ships passed through the strait, adorned with spectators, the cargo ships had to sail through the East China Sea and rendezvous with the flagship at the summit of the South China Sea.

The Dongfu is one of those small cargo ships.

The term "small" refers to comparisons with other ships. Compared to the twelve-sailed Treasure Boat, the seven-sailed Dongfu was indeed considerably smaller. However, the Dongfu also carried over a hundred tons of cargo.

The so-called "Ten Thousand Stone Ship" refers to a large cargo ship with a tonnage of hundreds. Considering the technological level at that time, it was already amazing!

In summer, typhoons are rampant in the East China Sea.

The wider the ocean, the stronger the wind and waves. Less than a week after setting out, the cargo fleet encountered its first typhoon.

The fleet, gathering southwestward on the sunny side of the East China Sea, was met by a broadside wind from the southeast. The strong winds drove up waves thirty to forty meters high, and the torrential rain caused the massive ships to tilt at angles of fifty to sixty degrees.

The Dongfu was small and fully loaded, making it even more difficult to withstand such a drastic change.

Because it was heavily loaded with cargo, the center of the hull was high and it was nearly capsized by the waves several times. This was compounded by the fact that the deck was flooded and it was impossible to drain the water in time by manpower.

In desperation, the sailors began to throw the cargo in the upper cabin into the sea, trying to reduce the weight of the upper cabin and lower the center of gravity of the ship.

At that time, the speed of these huge ships had reached more than 40 knots, and during the three or four hours of cargo unloading, they threw more than 100 kilometers along the way.

Unfortunately, life is not always easy! After dumping most of its cargo, the Dongfu was still overturned by the rising tide and sank to the bottom of the sea as it approached the surface of the South China Sea.

At that time, dozens of other giant ships were cargo ships with a carrying capacity of hundreds of tons. Under the influence of the superstitious idea of ​​"good luck on the first voyage", the history of the sinking of the Dongfu was buried.

After all, the loss was far less than 10%, not worth mentioning. Fame and glory overshadowed the sorrow of the tragedy!

This is why there are not many records of the Dongfu in history, and the cargo ships became larger and larger with each subsequent voyage.

After saying this, Cheng Fu's tone was slightly sarcastic: "Since ancient times, fame and fortune have been more important than human life. Even people like Zheng He could not escape the ways of the world! Hundreds of lives and hundreds of tons of national treasury treasures were covered up just like that!"

"Gains and losses are calculated on their own. If it is not covered up, how could there be six subsequent voyages?" Lu Guansheng was calm.

"Well! Didn't Mr. Lu want to salvage the Dongfu for millions of gold?" Otherwise, he wouldn't be interested in his thesis, right?

"I, Lu, am seeking wealth, but what about Dr. Cheng? What is he looking for?"

"Me? I don't want anything. I just want history to be set right!"

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