Archaeology is a hard job, especially for students from history who are not majoring in this major. Although there is fresh water on the island, there is no food or residence. The living facilities on the supporting boats are also very poor. You can only eat canned food and fish and shrimp for three meals a day. There is no wifi signal. Only one satellite phone is so expensive that no one can bear to use it.

The living conditions were too bad, so everyone stepped back, but they didn't dare to talk to Mr. Shao directly, so they entrusted senior brother Lao Dong to ask, Lao Dong was foolish and really asked Mr. Shao, what day would he stay on this island?

Mr. Shao Xing replied that this island is very valuable and will not leave here next semester.

All the students cried.

Of course, Mr. Shao is not an unreasonable old-fashioned person. He asked the girl to leave now and only the boys were left to work. He first counted out the cultural relics in the house, and the skeleton in the coffin stopped moving, covering the lid of the coffin to wait for transportation, so that this compatriot who had been away from home for six hundred years would return to his roots.

It is extremely difficult to move the coffin just by the craftsman. This coffin was not made by a craftsman, but was cut out by a man without a carpenter with an axe. The technique was simple, but the materials were extravagant. It was actually a sandalwood coffin. This kind of wood was extremely heavy and sank when it entered the water. Eight strong men could not lift it, let alone carry it down the mountain to load it on the boat.

After the bat feces in the house were removed, many traces of life were found, including pots, pans, and other items. The iron pot had already rotted into pieces, and the porcelain was still well preserved, but there was a layer of thick dirt attached to it. The plates, bowls, pots, jars, and cups were found. Mr. Shao wiped a plate clean and looked at the bottom of the plate first. The four seal characters "Made in Yongle Nian" confirmed that this was the event during Zheng He's voyage to the West.

These porcelains are all blue and white porcelain, with blue and white colors and green, like sapphires. Mr. Shao admired them for a long time and said, "This should be made by the Sumali blue material brought back by Zheng He from Samara. It's rare."

There are dozens of these porcelains alone. Old Dong couldn't help but estimate the price he got at Sotheby's auction house. Anyway, buying a luxury house in Beijing and adding a top-notch luxury car is enough.

Except for the porcelain that can be preserved well, other cultural relics are turned into dust, especially iron weapons, which are all decayed into pieces, completely losing their original appearance and archaeological value.

The worker built a rain shelter outside the wooden house and first brought out the cultural relics to count and ship them. During the transportation process, a worker accidentally broke a plate, which made Lao Dong feel very distressed.

The rain in the tropical areas comes at any time, majestic and dense, as if the entire Tianhe River was pouring down. The awning was built very firmly, and drainage channels were dug around. Workers were making coffee. Mr. Shao sat on a folding chair and smoking a pipe, asking his students why Fu Qianhu was here.

The girls were all gone, leaving only Fu Ping'an, Old Dong and a few other boys. Old Dong said first: "I guess the island is rich in small-leaf red sandalwood. Fu Qianhu is the official who stayed on the island to supervise the natives to cut down trees. The fleet left and left him, and the assembly call was not blown until the end."

Mr. Shao said: "Something makes sense."

Fu Ping'an said: "I guess this is a Robinson. He is a thousand households. No matter how many soldiers there are, why is there only one body on the island? The biggest possibility is that the ship has sunk. He was wandering on the island. He lived alone here for many years, waiting for the royal army of the court to come back, but he never waited, so he made a coffin for himself. On the day when he felt that he had not had much time, he lay in and passed away on the Nanyang Island, which was thousands of miles away from home."

Mr. Shao said: "It is possible."

Fu Ping'an said: "No matter what reason he was stranded on this island, I think he would leave a written record, but not any written thing found in the house, which does not mean that he did not write it. It only means that the environment here is too harsh and the paper cannot be kept for so long."

Mr. Shao said: "This is the meaning of archaeology, let things speak."

Old Dong also said: "Little-leafed red sandalwood grows slowly and can only be made into a timber for eight hundred years. The thickest tree is only 40 to 50 centimeters in diameter. Zheng He's main economic activity in going to Southeast Asia was to collect red sandalwood. After opening up the trade in South China, the South China people cut off all red sandalwood under the temptation of economic interests and sold it to Ming Dynasty purchasing personnel. Even the Qing Dynasty, basically used red sandalwood left over from the Ming Dynasty. When the Qing people went to Southeast Asia to buy, they could only buy red sandalwood as thick as eggs, which was simply unbearable to use. It has been hundreds of years now. The saplings planted back then should have grown almost the same."

Fu Ping'an said: "You mean there are red sandalwood trees on the island?"

Old Dong said: "I won't have any idea about cultural relics. If there are red sandalwood trees on the island, is it considered the treasure we discovered?"

Fu Ping'an said: "This..."

Old Dong Xinchi was fascinated and said, "My girlfriend plans to stay in Beijing to work. I want to go to Beijing after graduation. If there is a red sandalwood tree that belongs to me, I cut it into a bracelet and the house will be settled."

Fu Ping'an smiled. This is unrealistic. Trees are not grown for bracelets. Southeast Asian countries protect rare tree species and strictly prohibit cutting. Although Xingmatai was slightly relaxed in the early stage, it was a special period when economic income was urgently needed. Now that the Belt and Road Initiative has come in, there is no need for money, so naturally, it will not be allowed to cut down trees indiscriminately.

Having said that, Lao Dong's words aroused everyone's enthusiasm. When the rain was getting lighter, he began to search for red sandalwood trees all over the mountains. The mountains were high and the roads were slippery and the jungle was dense. It was not so easy to find. I couldn't find the sandalwood, but I found a grave. The tomb six hundred years ago was already covered with grass, and the only stone tablet was weathered so that I couldn't see the inscription clearly. I could only vaguely see the words of the tomb of the Ming Dynasty's mouth.

Mr. Shao presided over a meeting to discuss whether to dig, whether to let the deceased stay on an isolated island overseas, or to return to his hometown that had been away for six hundred years. Everyone agreed that the people in the grave must want to go home, so let's dig.

After the weather was clear, the workers went into battle. Twenty shovels all went into battle and soon dug up the decaying coffin. However, with further excavation, they found that it did not look like a coffin. The round ones were wood, with a diameter of about 60 cm and an unknown length, and the quantity was not clear.

Everyone cheered and made a major discovery. This island is indeed an important place for red sandalwood.

Lao Dong said: "These rosewood was cut down by the Ming Dynasty but did not have time to transport it away. It should be the heritage of the Chinese nation. We can always take it away."

Fu Ping'an said: "I'm afraid these things won't be able to get the beads."

Although the red sandalwood has a hard texture, it has been fermented for hundreds of years and has almost become waste.

Archaeology is not to rob the tomb, it is a long and meticulous job. Mr. Shao did not monopolize this discovery, but notified old friends in the archaeological circle in China. When they came to explore it carefully, the time would be long, and the original funds would be insufficient, and they would have to ask their superiors for more grants.

...

The intense work came to an end, and Fu Ping'an finally had time to do his own thing. After returning to Xingmatai, he contacted Gu Tsinghua. Fortunately, the Harvard scientific research team will go to Indonesia the day after tomorrow, and there is still one day left for them.

The acquisition of the used destroyer was progressing rapidly. Sa Zhiyuan paid $500,000 in ship payment, transferred more than 50 repairmen and sailors from China, and gave Fletcher a major repair. If it was not repaired, the condition of this warship was so bad that it could not be sustained. The walls of the ship were rusted, the bottom of the ship was covered with barnacles, and the cabin was also rusted. Five five-inch main guns were scrapped. However, radar sonars and other original goods from World War II could still be turned on. The most troublesome thing was the steam turbine, like an octogenarian, unable to walk, and had to undergo major surgery.

This ship was given to Fu Ping'an by Matteo Ci, so the 500,000 US dollars was entered by Fu Ping'an's account. He could not ask for the money and immediately donated it to the University Preparatory Office of the Xingmatai Government to contribute to the education cause.

After dealing with these things in a mess, Fu Ping'an drove a car to Lloyds Hotel to pick up Gu Tsinghua, parked the car, and walked into the hotel lobby. He saw Gu Tsinghua chatting and laughing with foreigners. This foreigner was in his forties or fifties, strong and handsome, with a beautiful beard, and his arms and calf muscles were well developed. His bronze skin was obviously often performed outdoor exercises. There was also an anchor tattoo on his arm. He was very funny and made Gu Tsinghua giggle.

Fu Ping'an was a little unhappy at the time, but he remained polite and went up to say hello. Gu Tsinghua introduced that this was Bill Marcus, a famous British navigator.

"Hi, Bill." Fu Ping'an greeted him, Bill extended his hand enthusiastically, and the two shook hands, secretly competing, no decision on the outcome.

"Your friend is a little nervous." Bill said with a smile, but in Fu Ping'an's opinion, he was full of maliciousness.

"There is no one or anything in this world that can make him nervous. If there is, it will be me." Before Fu Ping'an could reply, Gu Qinghua picked up his bag, took his arm, and waved his hand out of the hotel.

Bill looked at their backs, rubbed his chin, and smiled playfully.

When Gu Qinghua saw the car driven by Fu Ping'an, he opened his mouth wide in surprise: "Wow, are all you who study history so creative?"

This is a very well-maintained m151 jeep from the Vietnam War. It is convertible and is much cooler than a BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Not to mention the ceiling, there is not even a door. The two of them got in the car and headed straight to the dock.

"I will give you a surprise." Fu Ping'an said.

"I'll wait." Gu Qinghua smiled.

Fu Ping'an drove to the dock, which was a civilian dock, mainly for yachts to be parked. When he saw a three-masted sailboat, his eyes were attracted by it.

"That was Mr. Marcus's ship, he was indeed a navigator," said Gu Tsinghua.

"The Navigator hit someone else's boat in the middle of the night but left, not even as good as a pirate." Fu Ping'an said that he suspected that Marcus was the murderer of the fishing boat, but there was no evidence to be suspected.

Gu Qinghua smiled and said nothing. Although she had never been in a relationship, she was clear about the mentality of men in love. Fu Ping'an would be jealous when seeing any threatening opposite sex that was close to her and looked for the other party. She didn't think there was anything wrong.

The surprise Fu Ping'an arranged was a seaplane. There were actually not many professional seaplanes. Most of them were ordinary small aircraft equipped with buoys for taking off and landing on water. This aircraft was made in China, equipped with buoys. Fu Ping'an had a flight license and could fly this type of aircraft.

Two people, a seaplane, swim between the blue sky and the blue sea. Is there anything more romantic than this?

Flying at sea is not as good as flying on land, there will be much less reference objects, so you can only fly by instruments. Fu Ping'an flew to the uninhabited island where Mr. Shao is located. The island now has its name.

"This beautiful island is called Fu Qianhu Island." Fu Ping'an said, pointing to the lush island below.

"Wow, so beautiful, Fu Qianhu, is it you?" The beautiful female doctor also lost her IQ in front of her sweetheart.

"It's not me, it's an ancient man from the Ming Dynasty. He followed the eunuch of the Sanbaobao to the West and stayed on this island forever."

"Are we going to go to the island to play?"

"Of course not." Fu Ping'an did not go to the island to be a coolie for Mr. Shao. He controlled the plane to fly east. Today, the wind was sunny and the sea was calm, and Maldives were everywhere.

Fu Ping'an was preparing to randomly find a landing on the sea surface and turned off the satellite phone. He brought enough equipment, fishing rods and harpoons, two sets of diving suits and gas cylinders, a drinking water and food sleeping bag, and a large box of Durex.

This time, even if the sky falls outside, he doesn't care.

The plane didn't fly far away. A sea mile south of Fuqianhu Island, the sun shone down and you could vaguely see a huge shadow under the water.

"Whale!" said Gu Tsinghua.

But the whale was still motionless and could not be seen if it was lowered. So I turned around and flew back and could still see a large area of ​​long shadows. After trying several times, Fu Ping'an found that this shadow could only be seen at a specific angle at a specific time and under a specific sunlight.

He marked the latitude and longitude, descending altitude, hovered and landed, and stopped on the sea.

"Can you dive?" Fu Ping'an asked.

"Professional level." Gu Tsinghua replied.

The two put on diving suits and flippers, compressed gas cylinders on their backs, flipped into the sea, and explored the underwater world hand in hand. The sea water was extremely visibility. After diving 30 meters deep, they saw an ancient Chinese sailboat sitting on the distant seabed, with a huge hull and nine masts.

This is the legendary treasure ship.
Chapter completed!