Chapter 20 Chapter 20: Four-masted ocean-going ships and Beiyang water transport in the Yuan Dynasty

The Yuan Dynasty was a vast empire.The unification of the Yuan Dynasty promoted the development of maritime transportation. For military activities at sea and large-scale sea transportation of grain, the Yuan Dynasty built a large number of ships, the number and quality of which far exceeded those of the previous generation.In the Yuan Dynasty, the Arabs' ocean-going voyages gradually declined, and almost all Chinese four-masted ocean-going ships sailed in the Indian Ocean. In 1234, Mongolia destroyed Jin and confronted the Southern Song Dynasty.The Southern Song Dynasty was forced to rely on the navy to defend Mongolia and go south.Wen Tianxiang also wrote a letter saying that the best way to protect Xinjiang is to build boats and develop naval forces.The Yuan army also had to build a large number of boats and strengthen the navy.Liu Zheng, Marshal of the Yuan and Han Army, who was surrendered in the Southern Song Dynasty, discussed with Ashu [zhuzhu], the Marshal of the Mongolian Capital of the Yuan Dynasty, and said: "I have a good army, and those who should be defeated, but the water battle is not as good as the Song Army. If you take his strength and build a warship If you learn the sailors, it will help you." So Ashu and Liu Zheng said in the seventh year of Yuan Shizu Zhiyuan (AD 1270): "To encircle Xiangyang, the priority must be to teach the navy to build warships." The imperial edict promised to build 5,000 warships and train 70,000 sailors every day.Then in 1273, the Yuan army won the battle by water and captured Xiangfan, which had been besieged for four years.Yuan then knew the importance of the navy better.He ordered an additional 50,000 to 60,000 sailors, and rebuilt 3,000 warships, making a total of 8,000 ships twice.In September of the eleventh year of the Yuan Dynasty, the navy of the Yuan army attacked from Xiangfan.In December, Yuan Boyan led thousands of warships to occupy Hankou, sailed eastward along the river, and approached Jiankang (now Nanjing, Jiangsu).In July of the twelfth year of the Yuan Dynasty, Yuan Ashu led thousands of warships to cover the river. During the battle of Jiaoshan (in the middle of the North River in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province), Song Zhang Shijie, Sun Huchen and other Chen Zhou divisions were in the north and south of Jiaoshan.Ashu climbed the mountain and looked at it and said: "It can be burned and gone." Then he shot with fire and arrows. The battle lasted from Chen to noon. The Song army was defeated. This cannot return to the army.The Yuanshui division took advantage of the victory to leave the mouth of the Yangtze River and head south along the coast.In the thirteenth year of Zhiyuan (AD 1276), Lin'an (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang), the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, was captured and the Southern Song Dynasty was destroyed.The Yuan army can build thousands of warships in one fell swoop for a single battle.At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, there were 17,900 naval warships alone.There are also countless civilian ships scattered all over the country.In the 22nd year of Zhiyuan (AD 1285), 3,000 grain ships were built at a time to transport grain for the Jeju River.In the Yuan Dynasty, 424 water post stations were set up in the important places of rivers, seas and land, and there were 5,921 special postal ships in total.All these fully demonstrate the strong shipbuilding capabilities of the Yuan Dynasty.

Kublai Khan, Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty, made two expeditions to Japan with his powerful fleet.In March of the eleventh year of Yuan Shizu to Yuan Dynasty (1274 AD), he ordered Fengzhou Jinglue Shi Xindu, Koryo Military and Civilian Chief Hong Chaqiu and others to combine the Tuntian Army with the Jurchen Army and the Navy Army, and use thousands of material boats, light boats, There are 300 water-drawing boats, a total of 900 warships, and 15,000 soldiers. They are preparing to conquer Japan in July and enter Japan in winter and October.Although Japan was defeated, the Yuan army was also "disorganized and exhausted", so it had to plunder the four territories and return.

In the eighteenth year of Yuan Shizu's reign (AD 1281), the second expedition to Japan was made.To this end, a "Japanese Province" was specially set up, comprehensively planned, and tried to understand Japan's terrain and other conditions. "A Japanese ship drifted there for Feng Shui, and asked the water engineer to draw a map." But the understanding of the sea situation is still not enough.40,000 Mongolian, Han, and Koryo troops in the North Road, with 900 warships, set off from Hepu, North Korea.The south route consisted of 100,000 Jiangnan Barbarian Army (formerly Song Jiangbing) and 3,500 warships from the Suxi Navy Division. They set off from Qingyuan Port (now Ningbo, Zhejiang Province). overwhelmed.The ship was destroyed by the wind and waves.All the generals chose their own strong boats to go away.More than 100,000 soldiers were abandoned at the foot of Wuhu Mountain.After the Japanese army received this information, they killed all Mongolians, Koreans, and Han people.The remaining troops fled back to Koryo, and only one or two of the ten remained.

Despite the failure of the two Eastern Expeditions to Japan, Yuan Shizu still sent troops to occupy the city with his powerful land and water division in the 19th year of Zhiyuan (AD 1282). In 1287 A.D., Burma was conquered twice, in the 22nd year of Yuan Dynasty (1285 A.D.) and Annan was conquered twice in the 25th year of Yuan Dynasty (1288 A.D.), and in Java in the 29th year of Yuan Dynasty (1292 A.D.) .During the Yuan Dynasty, Koryo, Annan, Champa, and Burma all became vassals of the Mongolian rulers. During the Yuan Dynasty, China was the most prosperous country in the world at that time.Tribute envoys, missionaries, businessmen, and travelers from various Western countries came to China continuously. The great Italian traveler Marco Polo (1254-1324 A.D.) came to China with his uncle in business in about 1271, and won the honor of Yuan Shizu. Thanks to Kublai Khan's trust and reuse, he stayed in China for 17 years.In the twenty-eighth year of Zhiyuan (AD 1291), Kublai Khan "ordered thirteen ships, each with four masts and twelve sails," and sent Marco Polo to escort Princess Kuokuzhen from Quanzhou. To Persia to marry. "Marco Polo's Travels" describes the situation of Chinese and foreign ships he saw.Arabian ships are small, with only one mast and one rudder, and no anchors.The wood used in shipbuilding is brittle, and iron nails cannot be nailed in, and it is easy to crack. The planks of the ship are connected by coir cord stitching. The bottom of the ship is not coated with asphalt, only fish fat oil is used, and then caulking is added.The ship is not strong, and it is easy to sink when sailing in the Indian Ocean.The Chinese ships are far superior to the Arab ships. The ships are very large, with four masts and four sails, and some have two masts, which can be erected or lowered at will.There were 200 sailors on board and five or six thousand stones of pepper.When there is no wind, sculls are used for sailing. The sculls are very large, and each scull must be operated by four oarsmen.The ship is made of fir wood, has a strong main deck, and has 60 small cabins below the deck, which are very comfortable for people to live in.The rudder is also very strong.The ship is stitched with good iron nails. There are two layers of boards superimposed on it, and the wall is caulked with hemp and tree oil, so it will never leak.Each big boat is followed by two small boats, and each small boat has forty or fifty boatmen, who are sailing to help the big boat.There are also more than 10 small boats to assist the big boats, such as anchoring and fishing.

Marco Polo once saw that outside the mouth of the Yellow River (referring to before the diversion, which is 70 kilometers south of Suqian County, Jiangsu Province today), "there are more than 15,000 ships belonging to the Great Khan, and they are used to transport troops to India when necessary." The islands are also because it is only one day away from the sea.” The four-masted ocean-going ships of the Yuan Dynasty ranked first among the navigating ships in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, with a deadweight of about 300 tons, and made some progress on the basis of inheriting the shipbuilding technology of the Song Dynasty.It created very favorable conditions for the Ming Dynasty to build five-masted warships, six-masted ships, seven-masted grain ships, eight-masted horse ships, and nine-masted treasure ships.

Dadu (today's Beijing), the capital of Yuan Dynasty, had its political and military center in the north, where there had been years of wars and economic depression.The Southern Song Dynasty was partial to the south of the Yangtze River, and the economy in the south developed rapidly.In order to consolidate the rule, the inland river water transport could not meet the needs, and the sea water transport of grain from the south to the north was imperative, and the water transport to the north became a major government affairs in the Yuan Dynasty. Beiyang refers to the waters of the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea north of the Yangtze Estuary.At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Qing from Chongming and Zhang Xuan from Jiading [xuanxuan] ruled the seas with large (zhouzong) [zongzong, meaning a large number of large groups] sand ships.When the Prime Minister of the Yuan Dynasty, Boyan Pingjiang, ordered Zhu Qing and Zhang Xuan to transport the library books of the Song Dynasty from Chongming Prefecture to Beijing by sea.Later, because water transport across the river into the Huai River was very costly, Boyan thought that sea transport was feasible according to the old shipping books.In the 19th year of Zhiyuan (AD 1282), Luo Bi, Zhu Qing and Zhang Xuan, the general managers of Shanghai, were ordered to build 60 flat-bottomed boats (that is, sand boats) to transport more than 46,000 stones (an average of 766 stones per ship), and transport them by sea to capital.In the Yuan Dynasty, Haicao gradually replaced Hecao. From this point on, "maritime transportation will not be abandoned in the end of Yuan Dynasty".The government inside and outside the capital, the big and small officials, and the people of Li all depended on Beiyang Cao to use grain.

After exploration and improvement (the waterway has been changed three times), maritime water transportation has gradually formed a mature waterway.From Liujiagang (Liuhe Town, Taicang, Jiangsu) - Chongming - Heishuiyang (near Lianyungang, Jiangsu) - Chengshan - turn west to Liugong Island - Zhigu.If the journey goes smoothly, it will take 10 days to arrive. "When the boat is windy, it takes only ten days from the west of Zhejiang to the capital." ("Yuan Shi Shihuo Zhi") The boatmen set up flags and tassels during the day and hang big lights at night on the dangerous beaches and cliffs that are prone to accidents.This is the early practice of the application of maritime buoy signals in my country.It used to be once a year, but later it was increased to twice a year, which has far-reaching influence to this day.When the volume of transportation was the highest, more than 3.52 million shi of rice and grain were transported by water in one year, and the transportation was carried out twice in spring and autumn, with an average total transportation volume of 1.76 million shi.If 1000 materials (Dhu, a Dendrobium is equivalent to a stone, that is, 120 catties) are used for shipment by sea ships, more than 1760 ships are required to participate in the transportation at the same time.This requires ship type improvement.When Zhu Qing and Zhang Xuan first traveled by sea, the big ship was no more than a thousand shi, and the small boat was no more than 300 shi, that is, 40-130 tons. Since Yuan Renzong Yanyou (AD 1314-1320), the big ship was eight or nine thousand shi, and the small boat was more than 2,000 shi. In the past 30 years, it has gradually developed into a giant sand ship of 300-1200 tons for transportation.

Dadu, known as "Khan Bali", is also one of the world's famous economic centers.Missions and caravans came to Dadu from the east coast of Africa, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia.Coastal ports include Zhigu Port, Mizhou Banqiao Town Port (north shore of Jiaozhou Bay), Liujia Port, Qingyuan Port (Mingzhou), Wenzhou Port, Quanzhou Port (Ratong Port), Guangzhou Port, etc.After several mergers, only the three ports of Qingyuan, Quanzhou, and Guangzhou were finally established.Quanzhou is the largest port for foreign trade.Export commodities include porcelain, silk, etc., and import commodities include cloves, cardamom, pepper, diamonds, jewelry, etc. The great Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta wrote in his travel notes written in 1355: "Quanzhou is the largest port in the world. One of them is the only largest port in the world, and I see that there are hundreds of large ships in the port, and countless small ones." Wang Dayuan, a traveler from Nanchang People's Congress in Jiangxi Province in the Yuan Dynasty, talked about the relationship with Quanzhou in his book "A Tale of Islanders" There are nearly a hundred countries and regions in China.At that time, Quanzhou Port had a lighthouse called Liusheng Tower to guide navigation, and it still stands on the seashore today, which is a historical witness of the prosperity of navigation and foreign trade in the Yuan Dynasty.