I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 176 Chen's Siblings
Zhou Abao kept passing baskets full of fish down the boat. The news that he would eat fish today made him extremely excited. He hadn't tasted meat, even fish, for a long time.

After the workers carried hundreds of kilograms of fish to the shore, there was already a horse-drawn carriage waiting there. The carriage could carry 1,500 kilograms of fish at once and would deliver the fish to the logistics department.

8 kilograms of fish may sound like a lot, but for four or five hundred strong laborers, each person only carried 200 kilograms of fish, so these 8 kilograms of fresh fish were quickly transported ashore.

The four fishing boats that had been emptied also hoisted their sails and left their berths, taking advantage of the breeze to head towards the depths of the Bohai Sea. When they reached deeper waters, they would drop their trawl nets and continue fishing.
As soon as so many fish arrived at the camp, they caused a sensation. Everyone was excitedly discussing how to eat the fish and sharing their own very poor ways of eating fish.

In the afternoon, Zhou Abao went to move the fish again, because the fishing boat that went out at noon had returned halfway, bringing back another 8 kilograms of fish.
Four fishing boats went out twice a day and caught 16 kilograms of fish.

More than 6 kilograms of fish were made into dinner, and another 6 kilograms of fish were processed with internal organs, smeared with fine salt and hung up to dry. The salted fish or dried fish made from these kilograms of fresh fish will be transported to Kaiping Zhongtunwei, where laborers gathered and they also need to supplement protein.

After simple processing, these 100,000 kilograms of sea fish were finally put into a large pot for steaming, mainly because this batch of sea fish was fresh enough.

Everyone present was given about one pound of fish of varying sizes.

After receiving the order, everyone started moving quickly.

As soon as Zhou Laosan took a bite, he felt the sweetness in his mouth. Although the cooking method was simple, the sweetness of the seafood left him wanting more. He sucked every fish bone in his hand clean.
In fact, fish and shrimp had a very low status among the meats in the Ming Dynasty, and only the lower class people would eat them. Due to the backwardness of oil, salt and cooking methods, fish and shrimp were very unpalatable and had a strong fishy smell. Many people were unwilling to eat them, and they were called lowly food.

However, the fish and shrimp here refer to freshwater fish and shrimp, as marine fish do not have such a strong fishy smell.

Although Leting County is close to the sea, Zhoujia Village is still quite a distance away from the sea, so Zhou Laosan had never eaten marine fish before, and he felt like tears were about to flow after eating this one.
The sweet taste and fat aroma are just wonderful.
He suddenly felt very satisfied at this moment. This kind of life was something he had never dared to imagine before. Eating dry rice every day and having delicious fish to eat? This kind of thing could only be dreamed of in dreams.
He just wanted time to stay at this moment forever.
There were many workers like him, and many of them started crying while eating.
Here they deeply feel that they are truly regarded as human beings, not just talking tools.
The supply of fish boosted the workers' morale. The only way they could repay the kindness was to work harder and execute the orders of the project headquarters better.

From then on, all kinds of seafood caught from the sea became regular guests on the construction site canteen table. Because fishing boats also needed regular maintenance, it was impossible to supply fresh fish every day, but it was still possible to supply it 20 days a month.

Just as the workers were going crazy for the fish, a shout came from the tent on the shore.
"Jiang Jiancheng, why is the batch of salted fish to be shipped to Kaiping not ready yet?" Chen Hong stared at the young man in front of him.

"Reporting to Commander Chen, the crude salt that should have been shipped from Tanggu has not arrived yet, causing the crude salt refining department to shut down and unable to provide enough refined salt. The prince specified that refined salt must be used for the production of salted fish, so no salted fish has been made recently. All the fresh fish have been given to the workers as a snack," Jiang Jiancheng replied hurriedly.

"Then how did you do it?" Chen Hong pressed on.

"I want to solve the problem, so I urge Tanggu to continue sending us crude salt," said Jiang Jiangong.

"This kind of thing is not something you can handle on your own. You must remember to report it to me, okay? I will coordinate and resolve it. You don't have a lot of information, and others may not listen to you," Chen Hong said helplessly, rubbing his brows.

The members of Zhu Houxun's attendant room began to rotate. More than 20 people had been assigned to various industries to take up actual positions. Chen Hong was not on the rotation list because he was a relative of the emperor.

A new batch of attendants had just entered the attendant room, and Jiang Jianye was one of them. His lack of experience led to the current situation. "Yes! Chief Chen! Now."

"I remember that there are 10,000 kilograms of refined salt in Warehouse No. 8. Although the quantity is not much, it can last for a few days," Chen Hong said after thinking for a while.

"Okay! Commander Chen, I'll do it right away."

"and many more!"

"What's wrong? Commander Chen?" Jiang Jianye asked nervously.

"Come on!" Chen Hong looked at Jiang Jianye sincerely. He knew the meaning of this word, although it was strange because Zhu Houxuan often said it.

Jiang Jianye smiled widely, nodded heavily, and then strode away.
After Jiang Jianye left, Chen Hong leaned back in his chair with some relaxation, a trace of fatigue on his face, and kept pressing his temple with his fingers.
Managing the logistics of 150,000 people is not an easy task. Although this is only a small part of the work, there are many unexpected events, which make him feel exhausted.
At this moment, Chen Hong suddenly noticed that there seemed to be another person at the door of the tent. He quickly sat up straight and regained his smart and capable appearance.
"Sister?" Chen Hong murmured. He stood up blankly, with a hint of surprise in his eyes. "Sister, why are you here? When did you come?"

The person who came was Mrs. Chen. She was looking at Chen Hong with a smile on her face. "Is it okay for me not to come? After someone left Quanzhou, he sent two letters, and then there was no news. Is it okay for me not to come and see? As a result, I heard you scolding people as soon as I arrived, so I just listened there for a while."

Chen Hong's face turned red, and he scratched his head in embarrassment. "The prince has added a lot of burdens to us since he went north. Now we can't finish the work every day, so we forgot to contact our family."

"I don't mean to blame you." Mrs. Chen looked at the stronger Chen Hong, feeling familiar yet unfamiliar. "Father would definitely be very happy if he could see you like this."

"It seems that our decision to send you here was correct. It is very challenging to be with His Royal Highness Prince Jing," Mrs. Chen sighed.

Chen Hong was stunned when he heard this, then smiled and said, "I like it here."

"As long as you like it." Mrs. Chen said with relief.

"Sister, you didn't come here just to see me, did you?" Chen Hong quickly poured a glass of boiled water and handed it to Mrs. Chen.

Madam Chen showed a hint of admiration in her eyes. She took a sip of water and then said, "I was ordered by His Highness to investigate some things before. Now I have the results and I am going to report to His Highness."

Two more chapters

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(End of this chapter)