"About the treasure ship..." The old man fell into reminiscence. "My family knows more about that incident. Because, at that time, my uncle worked on the treasure ship."
"Uncle?" The young man looked at the old man in confusion. "Grandpa, didn't my great-grandfather only have you and my great-grandfather as his two sons?"
The old man didn't say anything, but just gave him a complicated look. With this look, the young man seemed to understand something and stopped asking.
The old man continued to narrate the story of a century ago: "At that time, my uncle was only eighteen or nineteen years old, a young man working in a shipyard..."
It was from the old man's mouth that Lu Chuanbei and the tourists around him learned that the old man's uncle had once come into contact with a treasure ship.
The old man's uncle, Dong Chenghua, was still a young man in his prime. He had studied in a private school for several years and had been going out to sea to fish and repair fishing boats with his elders since he was a child. Over time, he learned some boat repair skills.
Because of this, after the private school was closed, he found a job to make a living in a shipyard in Haikou. Although it was just a job as a carpentry apprentice, it was better than relying on the weather to make a living at sea.
But just as he was slowly honing his skills in the shipyard and was waiting to be hired as a full-time factory worker in a few years, several major allied forces invaded, plunging the entire China into turmoil. Although Hainan was far away, every time they heard those rumors, they felt uneasy, fearing that one day it would fall.
Fortunately, the small island of Hainan has always been calm. Apart from hearing some news from time to time, everything here seems to be the same as usual.
But the good times did not last long. Just when everyone thought that the Allied invasion would not affect life here, several strange ships appeared at the dock in Haikou.
At first, no one paid attention, but the people who got off the ship carried a large number of wooden warehouses, weapons, bows and ammunition, and they took control of the port in a few seconds.
Then, Dong Chenghua and other shipyard employees were forced to go to the dock to build ships that could sail long distances for them.
During this process, ships often dock at the dock, unload cargo, and then leave, repeating this process over and over again. Boxes of cargo sealed in wooden boxes are piled up everywhere on the Haikou dock.
Even the most careful plan can lead to mistakes, not to mention that with so much cargo being transported on and off the ship for so long, there are bound to be a few items that are not sealed properly, exposing the cargo inside.
"...Countless large yellow croakers, silver coins, jewelry, and every kind of gold, silver, and treasure you can imagine were all contained within the wooden boxes. There were also many antiques and curios, all sealed within those boxes."
"But even though they knew these treasures had been plundered by them, my uncle and his men were helpless. After all, they even needed to apply for tools to build ships, not to mention that they were always under the surveillance of Mucang Zhigong Shanyao."
When the old man said this, he sighed deeply.
Then, he changed the subject: "Even so, someone among my uncle and his men secretly passed the news to the organization. But before the organization arrived, the coalition forces suddenly got the news and not only did they rush to build the ship overnight, but they also directly seized all the long-distance ships of several major merchants in Haikou..."
Not only that, they also moved the goods piled up in the dock warehouse onto the newly built ship overnight, and then selected some fishermen who could drive a boat and sail well to drive the boat for them and transport the goods out.
Dong Chenghua is one of them. In order to prevent the national treasure from being taken away by the invaders, a group of crew members selected by the coalition forces planned a plan of dying in glory rather than surrendering in disgrace.
There was an old man who could observe the celestial phenomena. He was noticed by the coalition forces because of his ability. The coalition forces asked them to choose the time to go out to sea. After several attempts, the weather chosen by the old man was very appropriate for them.
After a few attempts, the coalition forces came to believe that he truly wanted to join them, so they asked him to continue choosing the most suitable time for them to go out to sea. However, this time, the time chosen by the old man caused almost all of the transport ships to be lost in the waves...
"...The old man chose a beautiful day for the coalition forces: a sunny, cloudless sky. No matter who saw it, there would be no problem."
"But even with such weather, less than a day after setting out to sea, the weather suddenly changed. Strong winds and thunder roared, and dark clouds suddenly descended, covering the entire sky. In the distance, a hurricane was approaching, suddenly rolling up countless huge waves."
"The coalition forces saw something was wrong and immediately ordered the crew to turn back and rush to Haikou. But it was too late. They were the only ones left on the sea, the last dozen or so ships laden with cargo. They instantly disappeared into the sea in the hurricane and rainstorm. My uncle, too, never returned."
Upon hearing this, Lu Chuanbei and others felt very heavy-hearted, but they also felt sad and regretful for those unknown heroes who would rather die than let the coalition forces take away the entire ship's treasure, but they also paid tribute to their courage.
[Tears flowed uncontrollably. The price these people paid to prevent the Allied Forces from taking the treasure was truly horrific.]
Our ancestors sacrificed so much to protect our country and our wealth.
Every time I hear this, I ask my children to listen to it too, so that they will not forget the national humiliation, remember the numerous crimes committed by the invaders in our country, and the efforts made by our ancestors and martyrs for us.
[Yes, today's children should remember history and use it as a mirror to understand how hard it is to have the life we have now.]
I plan to take my child to the Martyrs Memorial Park this summer to visit the martyrs’ graves and help him remember the contributions they made to us.
Although I know that Uncle Dong and his team made the right choice, it’s still a pity that so many treasures were sunk to the bottom of the sea.
[It's a shame, but at least it's better than being taken away by the coalition forces! ]
"Yes, at least they remain in our country's waters forever. As long as technology is advanced enough, sooner or later these treasures will be brought to light again. But if they are taken away, the gold and silver will be used against us! And our treasures will also appear in other people's museums!"
[What the above person said is true. Every time I go abroad and see those museum exhibitions, I hate it so much that my gums itch.]
[I really hope that one day our country can bring back all those lost treasures]
The heavy story brought tears to Song Tiantian's eyes. Xu Anjia couldn't stop sobbing. Even Xiang Nan, who didn't like to show his emotions, couldn't help but have tears in his eyes. He Xuebin couldn't help but clench his fists: "Those coalition forces are really too evil."
This sentence broke the silence at the scene and woke the old man up from his memories.
He glanced at the tears in the eyes of the little ones, and a trace of relief flashed across his eyes. Then he heard him say, "Although my uncle and his men failed to keep the treasure, they forever prevented the coalition forces from taking this treasure away from our country."
"And after that, the old man who could read the celestial phenomena left a map for the organization before being executed."
At this point, the old man glanced at the giant clam and said, "That's a sea route map. Some people speculate that this map shows the routes that ships laden with treasure took. As long as we follow this map, we can find the treasure that was sunk into the sea."
Hearing this, the young man immediately reacted: "Yes, that route map you mentioned, could it be the sea route of the treasure route?"
"Yes." The old man nodded directly: "That's it."
Upon hearing this, Lu Chuanbei couldn't help but feel delighted: "Since there is news about this route, does it mean that the treasure that sank into the sea has been found?"
"That's right." He Xuebin's eyes lit up. "With the route map, as long as we find the sunken ship, we can recover all the treasures."
"It's not as simple as you say," said Dong Jiacheng, the old man's grandson. "The wind and waves at sea and the changes in the tides will cause the shipwreck to move over time."
"What's more, my little grandfather and his crew were sunk in a hurricane, and the location of the shipwreck was uncontrollable."
"So even if we had a nautical chart, we wouldn't be able to find the shipwreck directly from it. Furthermore, the route is so vast and the sea is so deep that it's impossible to detect it with human power, let alone find the treasure."
"According to you, these treasures are still sinking in the sea?" He Xuebin looked at him in shock.
"Yes." Dong Jiacheng nodded, then thought of something and looked at the giant clam beside him: "However, if this giant clam and the ruby in Brother Fang's hand both flowed out of the treasure ship, then perhaps we are not very far away from these ships."
"Another possibility is that those ships have been eroded by years of exposure to seawater, which is why the treasure was washed here by the waves."
The old man said seriously, "So, we have to find these ships as soon as possible. Otherwise, after a while, these treasures will most likely be swept away by the sea and scattered, and then it will be even more difficult to find them."
"Then quickly contact the Cultural Relics Bureau and ask the Ocean Exploration Team to come and salvage the treasure ship." Xu Qi said, looking towards the drone: "Director Liu, did you hear that? Hurry and don't delay."
Director Liu replied: "Don't worry, the program team has contacted the Cultural Relics Bureau, and cultural relics experts and ocean exploration experts are on their way."
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