Zhao Rui pointed to a mast-like thing on the dock and said: "That's the cargo handling machinery at the wharf, one is that there is no need for this kind of cargo ship to use sails as power, and the other is that when loading and unloading at the wharf, the mast will limit the operation range of the loading and unloading machinery on the wharf, so the mast is canceled!" ”

The loading and unloading machinery on the wharf is actually a single-arm crane, which transmits the force through a group of pulleys, which can lift more than ten times the manpower of the goods, and then through the cantilever device, the goods are lifted out of the cargo ship and hoisted in, and one person is equivalent to the labor volume of ten people.

In fact, there is also a larger loading and unloading machinery in the Wufeng Islands, which can straddle both sides of the ship, which is actually the gantry crane of later generations. It's just that this simple gantry crane needs to have a special loading and unloading dock, so it can't be seen anywhere else except the shipyard.

Zhu Yan didn't know that a large number of papermaking raw materials of Zhao's paper mainly came from Xikaido, which was only a hundred miles away from the nearest part of the Wufeng Islands, and could be reached in seven or eight hours. More importantly, the shipyard really developed a new type of sailing ship, which could blow from all sides, and once such a ship was built, the cargo ship would not need a flywheel drive at all, as long as there was a new sailing ship in front of it.

Zhu Yan looked up at the loading and unloading machinery on the wharf, on the Datang Wharf, sometimes you can see some lifting and unloading rods made by lever principle, but there is always an end to manpower, but there is no manual use, so the loading and unloading rods are not common in Datang.

But there are two loading and unloading machinery erected on the dock in front of Zhu Yan, each loading and unloading machinery is more than three zhang high, one step in ancient times is about one meter four to one meter five in later generations, three steps are one zhang, three zhang is more than ten meters, equivalent to three stories high, more than double that of any loading and unloading machinery Zhu Yan has ever seen. Not only that, the loading and unloading arm is also three zhang, so that the appearance of the entire loading and unloading machinery is very similar to a "T" shape with a long left and a short right, and there is a counterweight on the cantilever, which is a mechanical device specially designed for cargo loading and unloading.

Zhao Rui took Zhu Yan to the aft attic and said: "This is the captain's room, and it is also the rudder control room", and pointed to a circular device and said: "This is the rudder, which can control the direction of the ship, and can also tell the people in the flywheel room below through the linkage device when they need to accelerate and when they need to slow down, and they can also cut off the connection between the flywheel room and the flywheel, so as to achieve the purpose ......of controlling the whole ship." ”

Ancient Chinese ships only had steering rods, and the round rudder was introduced from the West, which was more convenient to control, and there was no rudder in the Tang Dynasty.

However, after all, Zhu Yan had a wide range of knowledge, and after listening to Zhao Rui's explanation, he understood the usefulness of the rudder, looked at the rudder and asked, "Do all the ships in the Wufeng Islands use such rudder discs?" ”

"This is a technology that has just been developed, and it is said that it was designed by the owner himself, so it should be popularized soon!"

"How much does this kind of ship cost?"

Zhu Yan saw the advantages of this kind of cargo ship at a glance, as long as it is not long-distance transportation, or in the inland river, the advantages of this kind of ship are quite obvious, that is, the cargo capacity is large, no need to use the wind, can sail in complex waterways, if you can master the manufacturing technology and technology of this type of ship, Zhu's fleet can definitely dominate the entire Jiangnan route.

"This ship is an experimental model, and the cost may be a bit high, about 10,000 yuan, if you wait until the technology and process are mature, the price will drop by 30%!" Zhao Rui found that Zhu Yan was a little moved, so he continued to introduce: "When this kind of ship loads and unloads goods, it must be used with the loading and unloading machinery on the dock, otherwise the efficiency of loading will be very slow", and said to a strong man in the captain's room: "Drive the ship!" ”

Of course, the purpose of Zhao Rui to take Zhu Yan on the ship was not to see the scenery, drink and admire the moon, nor to introduce any cargo ship loading and unloading machinery, but to take Zhu Yan to the small island rented by the Zhao family to see the papermaking workshop.

In order to avoid the prying eyes of those who have a heart, Zhao Rui rented a small island next to the main island, papermaking in ancient times is similar to the high technology of later generations, ordinary people do not know how paper is made, especially different types of paper, the raw materials used in the manufacturing process are not the same, some of the additives are not the same mystery in the family, so they rented an island as Zhao's papermaking workshop.

The cargo ship was moving in the dark, and Zhu Yan knew that Zhao's paper workshop should not be far from the wharf, otherwise he would not dare to sail at night.

In about two quarters of an hour, the cargo ship slowly approached a wharf, which was also not large, and there were two loading and unloading machines on the wharf.

Zhu Yan followed Zhao Rui off the cargo ship, and found that it was pitch black all around, and the black mountain bags could be seen in the distance, and there was a "rustle" sound of the wind blowing the bamboo forest around, and a carriage was waiting on the wharf, which seemed to be a short distance from the paper workshop.

"Please get in the carriage!"

The two got into the carriage, Zhao Rui looked out the window and said: "This is the island of Zhao's papermaking workshop, and it is also the supply base of raw materials for the papermaking workshop in the future, but this bamboo forest has not been planted for a long time, and it will take a year or two to ......." ”

Although Wujun Zhu does not have a papermaking workshop, but also knows a little about the papermaking workshop, to make paper, first of all, there must be raw materials, since you want to make bamboo paper, it is naturally inseparable from bamboo, and the number of bamboo must be the scale of a bamboo sea, otherwise how can you make large-scale paper.

"The so-called Qingming is a foot, Gu Yu is a zhang, presumably Zhao's shopkeeper's bamboo forest was only planted this year!"

As long as the environment soil climate is suitable, the growth rate of bamboo is extremely fast, when the spring breeze has not melted the residual cold of winter, the new bamboo shoots will quietly germinate on the ground, after a spring rain, the bamboo shoots break out of the ground, pointing to the clouds, the so-called "Qingming one foot, valley rain one zhang", is the portrayal of the vitality and vitality of the bamboo.......

Of course, the bamboo forest needed for papermaking is very large, and only a large area of bamboo sea can be taken and demanded, and there is no need to control it at all. The natural growth of the bamboo sea alone can fully supplement the consumption caused by logging.

Compared to wood, bamboo is lighter, easier to process and use, resistant to water and insects, and faster to mature, although far inferior to wood in terms of sturdiness, but has so many advantages that it can be used as a substitute for wood in many ways.

Bamboo is extremely widely used, edible bamboo shoots, medicinal bamboo, bamboo juice, can also be used to make paper, build houses, boats, bridges, not only for people's livelihood, but also extremely important military materials, to build simple dock trestles, bamboo is an excellent material.

There is no bamboo on the Wufeng Islands, but there are bamboos in Saikaido, and Zhao Rui introduced a lot of bamboo from Saikaido on the island, but because the time is too short, it has not grown to the extent of large-scale felling.

Bamboo fibers are tough, and bamboo paper production began in the Jin Dynasty.

The paper made of tender bamboo as raw materials, was the favorite paper of Wang Xi's father and son, and most of the authentic handwritings handed down in history are written with this kind of bamboo paper, and it is recorded: "If the two kings are genuine, it is mostly the vertical bamboo paper of Huiji, and it is rare to get the north paper after crossing the east and the south of the Jin Dynasty, and the father and son of the right army are more in the Huiji. Its paper is about a foot high, and the length of the ruler is half, which is used by the Gaijin people, and it is generally so. ”

Before the Tang Dynasty, bamboo paper has been quite popular, but the process is complicated and the output is very small, almost a symbol of literati status, and later the popularity of rice paper, bamboo paper has gradually been gradually introduced from the stage of the main paper used by literati calligraphy and painting, but in the printing of books, bamboo paper has always occupied a dominant position.

(End of chapter)