Ancient ports were relatively backward. All goods needed to be transported by manpower. Whether it was loading or unloading goods from ships, it was inseparable from a large number of coolies. The number and strength of the coolies directly determined the efficiency of the port's operation.
The prosperity of a port could be judged from the number of coolies. The number of coolies was a hard indicator of the port's prosperity. It was much more reliable than the size of the port. A large port did not necessarily mean prosperity, but if there were a lot of coolies, it must be a prosperous seaport. This was because coolies needed to eat. If a port could gather a large number of coolies, it was enough to show that the port was loaded and unloaded frequently. There was enough work for coolies to do.
However, a large number of coolies, moving goods back and forth, also made the port chaotic. There were people working everywhere, and the goods were piled up in a mess. How could it not be chaotic?
The larger the port, the more serious the chaos. Sometimes, it would even lead to conflicts, erupting into armed conflicts, causing further chaos.
The transportation conditions in ancient times were very limited. The transportation cost of carriages and horses was relatively high. Using ships to transport large volumes could save costs. Therefore, water transportation had always been a very effective transportation method and was valued by all merchants.
Whether it was the starting point or the ending point of water transportation, it was at the port. Therefore, the port was very important. Whoever could control the port could control a steady stream of wealth.
In many eras, in order to compete for the port that could produce wealth, many evil forces would fight to the death, and people would die one after another.
In the later years, there was a small fishing village called Shanghai. Because the geographical location was very suitable for a port, it was built into a large-scale port by the western powers. The scale of the city continued to expand, and the number of ports also increased. Among them, many of the ports were controlled by different evil forces, thus making the port a tool for them to amass wealth.
Tanar was also a relatively important trade transit station, especially in the Tang dynasty, when the shipbuilding industry was not very developed. The self-control of seagoing ships was very limited, and they had to dock at a port like Tanar. Therefore, it was quite important.
Since it was an important port, Ang Lee naturally had to go all out to build it. Right now, improving the efficiency of loading and unloading goods at the port was Ang Lee's latest goal.
Different merchant ships were suitable for docking at the port. The height of the deck from the shore was different. Almost all of them were much higher than the port.
During the unloading and loading of goods, a slanted plank was placed on the deck of the ship. This way, the coolies could walk along the deck onto the merchant ship and carry the goods on the merchant ship. They would then walk down the sloped plank and pile the goods on the dock. After that, they would continue to carry the goods. These goods piled up on the dock would be taken away by people with carriages.
This primitive method of unloading lasted for almost a thousand years. It was not until the rise of large-scale ocean trade that it gradually changed to container unloading, which greatly improved the efficiency of unloading.
It would be difficult to transport huge containers in this era because the containers in the future were too big. They would need a huge crane to lift them up. Moreover, ordinary carriages would not be able to transport such huge containers. In short, it was all kinds of unrealistic.
However, using a crane to directly lift the goods from the merchant ship was a good way to achieve it. However, mechanical cranes were only available in the Tang dynasty. Moreover, the number was relatively small, so it could not be used in Tanar for the time being.
The method of using moving pulleys to reduce the pulling force was feasible. As long as a few more moving pulleys were used, the weight of the goods could be reduced several times, so that a coolie could easily unload them.
The manufacturing of moving pulleys was not difficult. With the current conditions of Tanar Port, it could be built.
Ang Lee brought a lot of pulleys, which were enough. In addition, he needed to build a strong crane column on the dock with a horizontal wooden bar to install the pulleys.
The whole mechanism required a strong rope. One end of the rope was in the coolie's hand, and the other end was hung with an iron hook. The iron hook was used to hook the goods, and the coolie was responsible for controlling the rope and direction so that the goods could be dropped steadily.
Some of the goods were relatively small and could be easily carried by a single person. If such a large equipment was used to transport these small sacks one by one, it would not be worth it and would not be economical.
Therefore, it was also necessary to equip a square box with a suitable head. The top of the box was open, and one of the four sides could be flat to facilitate loading and unloading.
When in use, the empty box could be lifted to the merchant ship. Then, the coolie would pile a large number of goods in this square box. After the preparation was completed, the square box and the goods could be carefully transferred to the dock. A panel on the side could be opened, and the goods could be easily unloaded.
If there was a transport truck next to it, it would be more convenient. The goods could be directly loaded into the transport truck.
In this way, the number of times of transport would be more frequent, but there would be less coolie carrying the goods and walking on the dangerous planks. Not only was it labor-saving and safe, but the efficiency was definitely faster than direct transport.
Especially when it came to large goods, many templates were often needed to be laid down. More than a dozen people would be needed to transport the goods together. If the crane system was used, it could be easily moved down. The efficiency would be increased by more than a little.
Ang Lee had already thought about this problem yesterday, so he had already drawn the blueprint and immediately handed it to the subordinate behind him. He said, "This is a crane. It can make the unloading of the merchant ship easier. Let the local craftsmen build it immediately. I want to see the results as soon as possible."
"Yes, Assistant Minister Li, I understand."
The subordinate quickly took the blueprint and carefully handed it to the person behind him.
The commercial dock could barely be maintained at the moment. The urgent improvement that Ang Lee could think of was to improve the transport method. As for the expansion of the scale, it would need to be slowly changed after the funds were in place.
Moreover, the commercial dock in front of him was not too big. The potential for change was very limited. The shipyards and fisherman's huts on both sides also meant that this dock was not destined to be the main port in the future.
The shipyard was a small facility that could only build very simple small boats and medium-sized ships. The shipbuilding technology was very limited, and there was nothing praiseworthy about it. Ang Lee did not intend to change it. It was good to keep it for the time being. After all, the shipyard had the function of repairing ships. With so many ships in the port, it was inevitable that some ships would need to be repaired. This shipyard was up to the task.
The fisherman's huts were a major feature of the civilian port. It was also quite lively here. When the men went out to fish, the women would make salted fish at home. The children would play happily nearby, but these children were relatively dirty. It was obvious that they were children from poor families.
The existence of the fisherman's huts made the entire port feel quite warm. It also increased the port's popularity and made the port look more prosperous. Therefore, these uninhabited huts could not be moved. It was good to just leave them here. After all, the main port would need to be relocated in the future.
At this time, most of the fishermen had gone out to sea to fish. There were very few fishing boats left in the port. At a glance, there were less than ten.
Because the fishing technology in this era was still very backward, it could not pose a substantial threat to the natural fishery resources at all. Therefore, the fishery resources were always abundant. This also ensured that the fishermen could catch enough fish every time to feed themselves and their families to a certain extent.
The fishing boats had not returned at the moment. As long as the fishing boats returned, the number of people at the fishing dock would quickly increase. The hawkers who bought a large number of marine fish would quickly buy up all the marine fish they needed.
Even at this moment, there were already a few hawkers waiting at the fishing dock. As long as the fishing boats docked, they would run over to buy them.
The fishy smell near the fisherman's huts was too strong. Ang Lee couldn't stand it after staying for a while. He quickly left with his subordinates and went to the barren beach next to them.
The barren beach here was close to the commercial port, and the area was very large. Moreover, there was a small road further away that extended into the sea, so the sea in front of the beach had two land-based topography. With just a little modification, it could become an extremely large seaport.
In Ang Lee's eyes, this place could become the main port for commercial trade in the future. It was also the main location for commercial ships to replenish. When the main port was built, the original commercial port could be gradually dismantled and the place could be given to the shipyard and fishermen.
After all, there would be more and more ships coming and going in the future, and there would be more users who needed to repair ships. With the existing shipyard, it would definitely be too busy. Therefore, sooner or later, it would need to be expanded, and occupying the commercial site was the most suitable.
"This place can be enclosed to form a new port. The small road extending into the sea also needs to be raised and widened, so it can become a dock that can store goods."
Ang Lee pointed at the nearby terrain and began to deploy the construction plan.
Ang Lee's idea of building a new port was to make use of part of the natural conditions, in addition to the efforts of manpower, to build the new port. In order to increase the efficiency of unloading and replenishing, it was necessary to build docks in all three directions of the new port. Only the side closest to the sea would be built with a short enclosed wall to block the impact of the waves and protect the ships in the port.
"There are also a few places where large water towers must be built. The merchant ships that come and go all need fresh water. In the future, there will be more and more merchant ships, and the amount of fresh water they need to replenish will also increase. This facility must be built well. We can't let the merchant ships delay their journey because they can't replenish their fresh water in time."
Ang Lee continued to arrange.
"Yes, Assistant Minister Li, this subordinate understands."
Replenishing fresh water was very important to the merchant ships. All the merchant ships that passed by the ports along the way didn't need to replenish fresh water. Therefore, the efficiency of replenishment was very important.
In many backward ports, the method of replenishing fresh water was very troublesome. It required the sailors of the merchant ships to first carry the empty buckets off the merchant ships, then fill them with fresh water at the port, and then laboriously carry the wooden buckets filled with fresh water to the merchant ships.
Using wooden buckets to carry the water back and forth was really too time-consuming and tiring. It would seriously affect the speed of replenishing fresh water.
After the water towers were built, the efficiency of replenishment could be greatly increased. The water storage tank of the water tower was built at the highest point of the water tower, and the bottom of the tank was even higher than the deck of the merchant ships. In this case, only a thin and soft pipe was needed to guide the fresh water from the water tower to the merchant ships. The speed was much faster than the transportation of manpower, and the efficiency would be greatly improved.
After so many years of development, the Tang Empire could already manufacture soft pipes. Especially after the development of the rubber industry, soft pipes such as rubber pipes had been manufactured. Ang Lee carried a lot of them on his ship, which could completely meet the requirements of the port.
As for the source of fresh water for the water towers, it was the water from the nearby wells. Using cranes, large buckets of fresh water were transported into the tank of the water tower to meet the replenishment needs of the merchant ships.
Therefore, in order to maximize the efficiency of replenishment, there must be more than one crane mechanism in front of each water tower to quickly inject fresh water into the water tower to ensure the replenishment needs of the merchant ships.
In addition, if a few more fresh water wells were built near the port, the effect would be even better.
There was also the collection of rainwater, which would also be a very good method. In the tropical seaside, there were more chances of rain, and rainwater was fresh water. As long as there was a cement underground reservoir at the lowest point, the rainwater would not be wasted. Directly transferring water from the underground reservoir would be more effective than using the well water.
Of course, if the water pumps of the Tang Empire were popularized here, the effect would be even better. At that time, even the water towers would be redundant, because the water pumps could directly pump the well water to the reservoir of the merchant ships. In their spare time, they could also pump water to the water towers. In this way, during the busiest time, they could work in two places. The water pumps and the water towers would be supplied together, and the efficiency would be directly doubled. At that time, the cranes would become a backup tool in case the water pumps were damaged and could not be replenished.
At the position of the port near the sea, more cranes would be built to meet the needs of transporting various materials. The open space of the port behind the cranes would also have to be large enough, so that it would not be easy to create a sense of chaos.
Of course, it was imperative to set up a transport team. In this way, the materials unloaded by the merchant ships could be transported away faster, so as to avoid occupying the precious open space of the port and obstructing the normal operation of the port.
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