We know that in the Ming Dynasty, the Grand Canal from south to north has been a very important water transport line, this Grand Canal excavated by the Sui Dynasty, witnessed the rise and fall of thousands of years of history, it from south to north, a direct line, in ancient times the status and significance is not insignificant.
Sui Dynasty Grand Canal
In that era, a large number of materials produced from the south, there will be a considerable amount of the Grand Canal north, in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, in order to maximize the protection of money and grain weapons in the Liaodong region, a large number of materials from the south are from the canal began to go north, and after the Yongle Emperor moved the capital to Beijing, for this south to north grand canal is more important, this more than two thousand kilometers of the Grand Canal, for the Ming Dynasty, is of vital significance.
The carrying capacity of the Grand Canal was very important in ancient times
And the boats in the canal, naturally is the most common means of transportation in the canal, whether it is money and food, or weapons, personnel, as long as it is a waterway, are indispensable to the boat, as far as the Ming Dynasty is concerned, the boats that travel through the canal all year round are called boats, and their carrying capacity is basically up to about four hundred materials (material for the load unit of the ship, a number of material ships are loaded with a number of stones)! Such a ship generally requires about ten people to maintain normal shipping.
However, in the historical data, the introduction of ships transported by water in the Ming Dynasty is very rare, and since the beginning of time, we have hardly seen the physical appearance of such ships!
Ming Dynasty boats
However, in 1956, a Ming Dynasty boat was unearthed in Liangshan County, Shandong, and the preservation is relatively complete, very rare, (now in the Shandong Provincial Museum Ming and Qing Exhibition Hall), and in this ship, people found a large number of weapons, and then considering that there is no sign of shed on this hull, so the comprehensive judgment should be a special weapon ship, and should also have a certain escort capacity, in the Ming Dynasty, such a ship in the canal, It should be a very common means of transportation.
Weapons found in Ming Dynasty boats
In addition to the large number of weapons found in the hull, people also had an unexpected discovery, that is, in addition to these weapons, there were also some daily necessities, porcelain and ornaments!
Shandong Provincial Museum
This is a bit strange, how can there be so many precious porcelain on a ship that specializes in carrying weapons? Isn't it a military vessel?
Porcelain found inside the boat
In fact, if we open the history of the Ming Dynasty's water transport, it is not difficult for us to find that this kind of discovery of porcelain and other items on the warship is not a rare thing, because this porcelain is basically smuggled on the ship by the warship, and in that era, because the navigation ability of the canal was very convenient, so such a smuggling incident is very common, as a ship driver, he secretly put some other goods in the ship, which can bring himself another income, which is very worthwhile.