Chapter 1279 Nautical Charts (Part 1)
“Zhuang Rui, we must abide by the law. I don’t want to go back to my old profession as a lawyer…”
Seeing Zhuang Rui's fierce expression, Huangfu Yun couldn't help but shout from behind him. With Zhuang Rui's connections in the country, it wouldn't be difficult for him to make money through crooked means.
"Come on, just keep an eye on the construction site. I'll be back in a month at most..."
Zhuang Rui didn't turn around, but waved his hand behind him. He was feeling depressed at the moment. He knew he couldn't be so extravagant with money in the future, and he had to always have a backup plan.
He had originally invested all the money he won from horse racing in Macau into defensive weapons for "Xuanrui Island." Otherwise, even if he had kept half of it, it would have been enough for the construction of the Golden City.
Of course, gambling and jade gambling are not the only ways to make money in this world. In Zhuang Rui's eyes, the vast ocean also holds endless treasures for him to explore.
Moreover, these treasures found in the sea are usually gold and silver plundered from around the world by several major powers during the colonial period, and their artistic value is not particularly high. Zhuang Rui felt no psychological pressure about selling these items. ...
The "Xuanrui" set sail again after a short stay in Tianjin Port. However, compared to Captain Clyde's gloomy look when he returned from Africa, he was now full of energy, and even his beard was carefully styled with hair gel.
After the "Xuanrui" sailed out of international waters, Clyde came to the deck and said with a fawning smile to Zhuang Rui, who was sitting there sunbathing, "Boss, you really keep your word, haha. Which period of the shipwreck are we going to salvage this time?"
After receiving Zhuang Rui's call yesterday, Clyde excitedly rode on his young lover's body all night, not at all like a middle-aged man in his fifties. You know, before, he still needed to use the little blue pill to satisfy his desires. Clearly, he loves the ocean more than the woman in his arms.
"Captain Clyde, whose treasure do you hope we're searching for?"
Zhuang Rui picked up his beer, took a sip, and laughed. The weather was perfect for going out to sea in late autumn—not too cold, not too hot. With a gentle sea breeze blowing and the beautiful scenery on the sea, it would be even more pleasant to go fishing if the gunwale wasn't too high.
However, Zhuang Rui brought a golden eagle with him on this voyage. He and Peng Fei sat on the deck drinking beer and watching the golden eagle occasionally snatch a big fish from the sea. It was a very pleasant experience.
"Oh, boss, you've given me a tough problem..."
Clyde exclaimed dramatically, blinked, and said, "Are we going to Lord Howdre Island? The pirate treasure there has been around for centuries..."
"Haha, Captain Clyde, could the treasure there be something left by your ancestors? Otherwise, why are you so interested?"
Zhuang Rui burst into laughter upon hearing this. He knew about the Lohaud Island that Clyde had mentioned; it was a legend even more famous than the Klaus Treasure that he had once discovered.
Lohhow Island, located in Australia, is not a scenic paradise with idyllic scenery. However, it is said that "an island is famous not for its beauty, but for its treasures." Legend has it that the island is filled with countless treasures, and the seabed around it is covered with dazzling gems.
Between the 1550s and 1570s, the Spanish followed Columbus's voyages to the Americas, plundering countless gold and silver treasures from the Native Americans and then returning home with their ships full.
However, their actions were discovered by the pirates, who launched a frenzied attack on every passing merchant ship, massacring the crew and plundering a vast amount of treasure. The treasure was so heavy that the pirates could not carry it all away, so they buried the remainder on Lohaud Island and drew a treasure map. The pirates swore a blood oath to keep the secret, hoping to enjoy this ill-gotten wealth forever.
But pirates are pirates after all, and they have no integrity. Some conspirators tried to take the treasure for themselves, and in an instant, blood and flesh flew everywhere. A fierce battle left behind corpses. The victor carried the treasure map and roamed the world, living a life of debauchery and extravagance. The legend of the Treasure Island spread like wildfire and became popular all over the world.
In the 1670s, a man named William Phoebus stumbled upon a map of Loh Howe Island, which marked the location of a sunken Spanish merchant ship. Overjoyed, he sensed a chance to strike it rich. Carrying this treasure map, the authenticity of which was unknown, William Phoebus landed on the deserted island and explored the area, but to no avail.
One day, as William Phipps was strolling on the beach, his foot accidentally sank into the sand and touched a strange object. Upon digging, he discovered it was a magnificent coral, inside which was a delicate wooden box filled with gold coins, silver coins, and rare treasures.
Phippos was overjoyed. He stayed on the island for three months, searching frantically, and filled his stern with a full 30 tons of gold and silver jewels. He had realized his dream of getting rich.
In a short time, many genuine and fake "treasure maps" emerged and flooded Europe, selling for high prices. Many greedy people bought them at exorbitant prices, sparing no expense. As a result, many either perished at sea, died suddenly on deserted islands, or searched desperately for their whereabouts, which remained a long-lost mystery. The pirates' legacy became a tempting enigma.
However, Zhuang Rui wasn't particularly interested in these legends that had been passed down for centuries. Unless it was an uninhabited island, the treasures hidden on the island would have been emptied out long ago, so why would he be looking for treasure?
"Boss, I need to correct you. My ancestors were Robinson Crusoe-like figures, who robbed the rich to help the poor. Where would they have so much treasure?"
Captain Clyde was in high spirits, finally able to set sail in search of treasure. He didn't care about the disrespect Zhuang Rui had shown in his words to his ancestors, and even joked about his forefathers himself.
“Clyde, this is a salvage ship. Going to an island to search for treasure is like asking a blind man for directions. Let me tell you, I recently found a treasure map about a shipwreck…”
Zhuang Rui had already decided on the destination for this salvage operation, but he deliberately acted mysteriously and took out a yellowed parchment from his pocket.
"Nautical chart?"
The bearded captain snatched the parchment from Zhuang Rui's hand. After examining it closely, he immediately recognized it as a nautical chart from the 16th or 17th century.
As the name suggests, nautical charts are used for safe navigation and navigational positioning of ships.
The world’s earliest oceanographic charts are the Portland type charts from the 14th to 17th centuries, which were specifically designed for navigation. The charts are covered with radial bearing lines, which navigators used with a compass to determine the ship’s direction at sea at any time.
These nautical charts also depict in detail the coastline, bays, islands, capes, shoals, coastal mountains, and other features that aid navigation.
The chart Clyde was holding was a Portland-type nautical chart, but it was only half a chart, and the pictures on it had become somewhat blurry due to its age.
Seeing Clyde's delighted expression, Zhuang Rui chuckled to himself and said, "That's right, this is a nautical chart. Captain Clyde, can you tell which sea area this is from the chart?"
"This should be a nautical chart from the late 16th or early 17th century. Judging from the map, the sea area depicted should be the Atlantic Ocean. It's a pity it's only half a chart; I need to compare it with the nautical chart on the ship to know for sure... Boss, the center point of this chart has been artificially marked. I believe that must be the location of a shipwreck or treasure..."
Clyde looked somewhat excited. You see, things marked on nautical charts usually have extraordinary significance; they're either the location of a shipwreck or the hideout of pirates.
After saying this, Clyde took a deep breath, looked at Zhuang Rui with a pleading expression, and continued, "Boss, don't worry, I'll definitely be able to find the exact coordinates of this map in just half an hour..."
For thousands of years, the treasures of the ocean have attracted countless treasure hunters and explorers. Even in the last century, the discovery of these so-called treasure maps would cause a frenzy. In particular, Clyde considered this nautical chart to be a priceless treasure.
"Cough cough..."
Zhuang Rui coughed twice with a strange expression and said, "Captain Clyde, no problem, you can take this map, but please keep it safe and be careful not to damage it..."
"It definitely won't break, boss, don't worry..."
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Clyde jumped up excitedly like a young man, carefully folded the sheepskin in his hand, and put it into his inner pocket. When he turned to leave, his right hand was always guarding the pocket, as if he was afraid that someone would snatch it away.
"Brother Zhuang, is that really a nautical chart? When did you get it? I've never heard you mention it before."
After Clyde left, Peng Fei looked at Zhuang Rui with suspicion. He had spent more time with Zhuang Rui in the past few years than Qin Xuanbing had spent with him, but he had never seen Zhuang Rui show off this treasure map to him.
Zhuang Rui glanced at Peng Fei with displeasure and said, "Nonsense, of course it's real. Have you ever seen Brother Zhuang try to fool people with fake stuff? This thing was found in David's lair. You didn't notice it at the time..."
"That's hard to say, Brother Zhuang, you didn't sleep a wink all night yesterday..."
Peng Fei muttered something under his breath.
"Get lost! So you think I can't be intimate with your sister-in-law? Damn it, what were you doing eavesdropping all day yesterday?"
Zhuang Rui was furious upon hearing this. He stood up and kicked Peng Fei. In fact, he was just feeling guilty. Peng Fei was right. Zhuang Rui had spent the whole night making this nautical chart that could fool people.
Chapter 1280 Nautical Charts (Part 2)
This sheepskin is indeed genuine; it was obtained by Zhuang Rui from the pirate island, and its history is probably two centuries earlier than the nautical charts he drew.
However, the nautical chart drawn on the sheepskin was created by Zhuang Rui after a hard night's work, using many modern methods, including some chemical reagents from the Peking University Archaeological Institute.
Zhuang Rui created this nautical chart not for any other reason than to find a pretext for his ocean salvage operation.
Another reason is that the treasure he is trying to salvage has caused a great sensation in history. If the treasure surfaces, all eyes will be on the whole story.
It's a bit too fantastical that Zhuang Rui would casually point to a sea area and claim there's treasure beneath it. Given Zhuang Rui's previous behavior, he was bound to attract attention, which is why he spent a considerable amount of time and effort to create it overnight.
Some friends said, what if someone recognizes that the nautical chart is fake? Wouldn't that backfire?
However, this is practically impossible. You see, the most difficult thing to verify about antiques is that they are both genuine and fake. For example, some porcelain pieces have genuine marks on the bottom, but the surface is artificially aged, which can often fool even experts.
Zhuang Rui used this method to draw nautical charts on genuine parchment scrolls and then used chemical methods to age the strokes and patterns, making it impossible to identify as fake even with carbon-14 dating.
This is only the second time in his life that he has cheated, and he did it all himself. Before he could even fool the experts, Peng Fei saw through it. How could Zhuang Rui not be angry?
The first time he cheated? Of course, it was the time he fooled the Japanese. Speaking of which, let me mention the ceramic research institute that Zhuang Rui invested in in Hebei.
With Zhuang Rui's financial support, Xu Guoqing has successfully reproduced three types of porcelain from the five famous kilns of the Song Dynasty over the past two years. Although it cost a lot of money at the beginning, the firing cost was reduced once the firing techniques and formulas matured.
Because Xu Guoqing completely reproduced the firing techniques of Song Dynasty porcelain, the porcelain he produced had extremely high artistic value and collectible value, which made him famous in the ceramics world. Many national museums have collected his works.
As a result, the market price of any modern ceramic crafts produced by Xu Guoqing even exceeds that of some official kiln porcelains from the late Qing Dynasty. This has allowed Zhuang Rui to gradually recoup his investment, and now, while maintaining a balance between income and expenditure, he has begun to make a profit.
However, Xu Guoqing's imitation of ancient porcelain was to restore the lost Song Dynasty porcelain firing techniques, while Zhuang Rui's fake nautical chart was actually just to satisfy his own selfish desires and obtain that treasure.
Of course, no matter how much Peng Fei speculated, Zhuang Rui would never admit that he had made this thing; otherwise, he would have no way of explaining how he could accurately locate the shipwreck.
"Boss, Mr. Zhuang, oh my god, I think... I've found the sea area that corresponds to this nautical chart..."
Just as Zhuang Rui and Peng Fei were sitting on the deck drinking and chatting while enjoying the sea breeze, they suddenly heard Clyde shouting. Turning around, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but chuckle.
No one knows what Clyde did for the past half hour. When he appeared on the deck, his hat was askew, and even his neatly combed beard was sticking up on one side, making him look incredibly comical.
"Captain Clyde, I believe a proper captain should be a gentleman. What's wrong with you?"
Zhuang Rui laughed and joked with Clyde. He had known Clyde for several years, but this was the first time he had ever seen Clyde like this.
"Boss, I'll prove to you whether I'm a qualified captain. Putting that aside, you've already verified this place, haven't you?"
Clyde rushed up to Zhuang Rui, completely ignoring Zhuang Rui's jokes. He swept the beer from the coffee table in front of Zhuang Rui onto the deck and eagerly spread a nautical chart and a parchment scroll on top of it.
"Of course, of course I already know where this place is..."
Zhuang Rui nodded. What a joke! To get the map of this sea area, Zhuang Rui almost had to beg Ouyang Lei for help.
However, after much deliberation, Zhuang Rui still found a map online and made it vague, so that it would better reflect the characteristics of ancient nautical charts.
"Hey boss, the sea area on this map is near Vigo Bay in the Atlantic Ocean, right?"
As Clyde spoke, he placed the two nautical charts side by side, pointing to two places where the lines were almost identical, and said, "Boss, this is the treasure of the Golden Fleet! Haha, we're going to be rich..."
Clyde, who was always gentle and refined, was now wearing his hat askew, his face contorted with rage, veins bulging, and teeth clenched, looking exactly like a modern-day Caribbean pirate.
"Ahem, Captain Clyde, calm down, calm down..."
Seeing Clyde's excitement, Zhuang Rui had to calm him down. "Captain Clyde, this is just a nautical chart. Nobody knows what's inside. Besides, it's been centuries; the treasures inside might have been completely salvaged..."
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Clyde shook his head repeatedly, saying, "No, boss. Although people salvage there every year, they haven't managed to find anything valuable. And do you see? The coordinates on this map aren't in Vigo Bay, but nearly a hundred nautical miles off-center. It's even less likely that anyone would be paying attention there..."
Clyde's words really made Zhuang Rui look at him with new respect. That slight deviation was deliberately made by Zhuang Rui, and the actual location of the shipwreck was even higher.
Zhuang Rui had originally planned to find an opportunity to remind Clyde, but the old guy figured it out himself, which saved Zhuang Rui a lot of trouble.
"Hey, hey, hey, I say, Brother Zhuang, Captain Clyde, could you two please stop for a moment and tell me, what exactly is this 'Golden Fleet'? What's going on here?"
Clyde and Zhuang Rui were having a lively discussion, but Peng Fei, who was listening nearby, was completely bewildered. Peng Fei had never even passed his domestic history exam, let alone know about things that happened abroad hundreds of years ago.
"Uh, Captain Clyde, could you give Peng Fei a crash course in this area?"
Seeing Clyde's face flushed with excitement, Zhuang Rui knew that if he didn't give this guy a chance to speak, he'd probably have to kick him into the sea to bring him to his senses.
“Peng, let me tell you, the gold fleet is the world’s largest shipwreck treasure trove. It happened in…”
As expected of someone whose ancestors were pirates, Clyde was very thorough when it came to matters of maritime history, giving Peng Fei a complete account of the origins and development of the gold fleet.
To explain this matter, we need to first introduce the era and background at that time.
The incident occurred in 1702, when Spain, the maritime superpower, was vying for naval supremacy with the British and Dutch forces. However, due to various reasons, Spain's domestic finances were in dire straits.
In June 1702, a massive fleet of 17 galleons was ordered to swiftly transport gold and silver jewels plundered from South America back to Spain. This fleet was later known as the Gold Fleet.
Just as the "Golden Fleet" reached the waters off the Azores, a joint British and Dutch fleet suddenly blocked its path. This fleet of 150 warships forced the "Golden Fleet" to sail to Vigo Bay for refuge, and its sea route was subsequently blocked by the Anglo-French allied forces.
Faced with encirclement by a powerful enemy, the only and best solution, in theory, would be to unload the treasure from the ships and transport it overland to Madrid, the capital of Spain.