Taiheiki

Chapter 149 Trawl
"Three years! I will release them in three years!" Wei Cong held up three fingers: "No wages in the first year, half salary in the second year, and full salary in the third year. After three years, those who want to stay can stay as workers, and those who want to go back can go back. It's all voluntary!"

"This—" Kong Gui wanted to say something, but heard Wei Cong shake his head: "These people are armed and defying me, they should be punished, right? Otherwise, what right do I have to govern this place?"

“Alright!” Kong Gui sighed, put the silk scroll aside, and asked, “So where do you plan to begin?”

“Fishing! In fact, places like the South China Sea (the name people used to refer to the sea area around the mouth of the Pearl River at that time), where fresh and salt water meet and ocean currents flow, are natural fishing grounds. As long as we use trawlers, the catch can easily support tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of people! If you have some free time one day, we can go to the dock and see the catch of my fishing boats!”

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Lingdingyang, the sea area near the Wanshan Islands.

Beneath the shimmering surface of the sea, schools of mackerel swim slowly in the depths. Their greenish-blue scales blend almost seamlessly with the water when viewed from the surface, making them easily distinguishable only to the most experienced fishermen.
On the sea, several boats were slowly moving. A fisherman with gray hair carefully watched the sea, occasionally sticking his hand into the water to feel the temperature and current. After a while, he said to Song Hu behind him, "My lord, it's about time. There's a school of fish down there!"

"Oh?" Song Hu excitedly poked his head out and looked down into the sea. He saw that the clear blue-green seawater was like a huge crystal. He could only see a few fish and shrimp, but there was no school of fish.
"Why can't I see it? Are you kidding me?" Song Hu frowned.

"How could I dare to deceive you, sir!" the old fisherman hurriedly said with a smile. "What's underwater is a mackerel. The scales on the back of this fish are bluish-green, similar to the color of the seawater. It stays in deep water during the day, so you can't see it clearly from here. You have to be careful to identify it. Look over there, over there!"

Following the old fisherman's directions, Song Hu finally caught a glimpse of a school of fish after quite some time. He couldn't help but give him a thumbs up in admiration: "Old man, you're really something! You can see even such a small fish!"

"Hehe, this is my skill in making a living. If I couldn't even do this, I would deserve to starve to death!" the old fisherman said with a forced smile.

"Yes! Don't worry, old man, you've met my general this time. As long as you do your job well, you won't have to worry about food, clothing, or daily necessities from now on!" Song Hu patted the old fisherman on the shoulder and laughed.

"Then I am truly fortunate to have your blessing!" the old fisherman quickly replied with a smile.

"Alright, blow the horn, get ready to cast the net!" Song Hu waved his hand and shouted loudly.

"Young master, young master!" the old fisherman hurriedly advised, "These mackerel are difficult to catch during the day; it's easier to catch them at night!"

"Why is it easier to catch them at night?" Song Hu asked. The old fisherman quickly explained that this type of sea fish, which is widely distributed in East Asia, prefers to swim in deeper waters during the day, but at night it is attracted to light. Local fishermen in Jiaozhou often use torches to lure it to the surface of the sea for large-scale fishing.

"We have to wait until tonight? That's so troublesome?" Song Hu frowned. "How deep are the fish now?"

"These mackerel prefer cold and dislike heat. During the day, they usually stay at least two or three zhang (approximately 6.6-6.6 meters) above the water! Ordinary fishing nets aren't that deep. Even if they were, by the time the nets sink, the fish would have already left, and you could only catch a few at most. It's better to wait until night, light torches, and lure the fish to the surface before catching them!"

"Two or three zhang deep, hmm, that should be enough with the general's new net!" Song Hu stroked his beard. "Alright, let's try casting the net first. Even if we miss, there's no loss. We can just treat it as practice!" Having made up his mind, he immediately ordered, "Pass down the order: cast the net!"

At Song Hu's command, the fishing boats lined up in a row. The fishermen lowered a strange fishing net from the stern. Unlike the usual casting nets used by fishermen at the time, this net, while still on the boat, acted like a giant tow rope. Once lowered into the sea, it rapidly opened under the drag of the boat, like a giant mouth swallowing everything it encountered. After about half a cup of tea's time, Song Hu, estimating that it was ready, shouted, "Hold in the net!"

The fishermen responded and began to turn the windlass and pull on the fishing net's ropes. But after only a few pulls, they realized something was wrong; the force on the ropes was terrifying, as if several raging bulls were pulling them from below. The old fisherman's spirits lifted, and he shouted, "May the Dragon King bless us! We've caught a big school of fish this time! Everyone, keep up the good work, and we'll have a good drink when we get back!"

The crowd responded in unison, chanting as they turned the windlass. As the rope shortened, the fishing net gradually emerged from the water. Several sharp-eyed individuals noticed that the net was full of blue-scaled, yellow-finned mackerel, all struggling inside. This single net must have weighed seven or eight hundred pounds. No wonder it had been so difficult for everyone to turn the windlass earlier.

"May the Dragon King protect us!" The old fisherman was already in tears. He rushed to the windlass and shouted, "Er Gouzi, hurry up and pull it! There are so many fish, be careful not to tear the net!"

"Hey!" a round-faced boy responded, running to the gunwale and carefully adjusting the ropes and fishing nets to prevent them from snapping under excessive strain. After a while, with everyone working together, they finally managed to pull the net of fish ashore. The live mackerel were dumped onto the deck, the muffled thuds of them hitting the deck sounding like a dense raindrop.

"May the Dragon King protect us!" The old fisherman knelt and prayed towards the mast, where there was a crude ceramic statue of a sea dragon. Every fishing boat like theirs had one, praying for safe passage and a bountiful catch. He didn't know how many times he had prayed, but this was the first time he had been so devout.

"It's clearly a fine fishing net brought by our lord, yet you go and worship the Dragon King!" Song Hu sneered and shook his head. It turned out that the net they had just tested on the ship was a trawl net. As the name suggests, a trawl net involves the boat moving ahead while the net trails behind, catching all the fish in its path. It sounds simple, but there's actually a lot of skill involved. To catch as much seafood as possible, the opening of the net naturally needs to be as large as possible. However, under the pull of the rope, the opening will inevitably narrow inward. To solve this problem, there are usually three different methods:

Using a rigid long pole to stretch the fishing net to a certain width often results in a long strip at the opening, which doesn't maximize the net's area. Furthermore, the length of the pole limits the size of the opening, and the net itself cannot be too large. It also makes the net easy to get tangled with ropes and other nets, causing many inconveniences.

So later, in the 1950s and 60s, people invented a new type of trawl net—the plate trawl net. The principle is to install a baffle plate on each side of the trawl net. When the fishing boat trawles the net, the difference in water flow speed on both sides of the baffle plate will create a pressure difference, causing the baffle plate to expand outward and tear open the trawl net.

The third, and most effective, and largest-scale method is two-boat trawls, where two fishing boats sail parallel to each other with a large trawl net stretched between them. This fishing method can catch fish stretching for hundreds of meters or even further in one go. However, this requires very high-quality fishing boats and nets, and with the limited equipment Wei Cong currently has, it's best not to consider it in the short term. Thanks to the annual fishing moratorium policy, almost everyone in later generations with little knowledge of fisheries and environmental protection has heard of trawlers. This fishing method catches all fish, regardless of size or species, in one net, causing immense damage to fishery resources. In 21st-century China, it has a notorious reputation, but in 2nd-century East Asia, it was a symbol of advanced productivity. The Pearl River estuary is a top-tier fishing ground, with the Kuroshio Current and the Pearl River bringing abundant fish resources. With the limited number of boats Wei Cong has, he could use any method he wanted without worrying about the depletion of fishery resources in his lifetime.

After thanking the Dragon King, the group cast their nets a few more times. Although the harvest was not as plentiful as the first time, they still caught several hundred catties of fish. In particular, the last net caught a school of tuna. The net held nearly a hundred robust creatures with cone-shaped bodies covered in silvery metallic luster. The fishermen on the boat cheered in unison when they saw this.

"Oh, what did you manage to catch this time? You're all so happy?" Song Hu asked with interest.

"Reporting to you, sir, this catch is no ordinary one! It's a giant tuna (an ancient Chinese name for a spotted tuna)! The finest seafood!" The old fisherman was beaming from ear to ear. "This giant tuna is a tyrant in the water, fast and powerful. Normally, catching one or two is considered a feat, but this time we caught over a hundred, all thanks to your good fortune. Please wait a moment, and I'll prepare one for you to enjoy!"

"Alright, I'd like to try it!" Song Hu laughed.

The old fisherman picked out a fish, drew his short knife from his waist, and skillfully gutted it, removing the skin to reveal the bright red flesh. He then selected the fattest part, cut off four or five slices of sashimi, placed them on a plate, and presented them to Song Hu: "Eating big black fish is the best way to nourish your spirit and increase your strength. Please, sir!"

Song Hu had also eaten raw fish before. Seeing how fresh and tender the fish was, he took a slice and put it in his mouth. It was indeed incredibly fresh and tender, without any fishy taste. It was a top-quality fish dish. He finished the fish on the plate in a few bites and said with a smile, "It really tastes good. It's a pity there's no chive sauce. Oh well, you guys should eat too. Don't just watch me eat alone!"

The fishermen were overjoyed to see that Song Hu didn't mind the raw fish, and they each cut up some to share. Although it was still early, the boat was already almost full. With their bountiful catch, the group turned the boat around and headed towards the dock in Panyu City.

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Panyu City, the wharf.

The hoe struck the stone, sparks flying, until finally, the stone cracked into pieces. Qin Ke swept the pieces away with his foot and silently began to work on the next stone, as if he himself were a stone.

The guard not far away yawned, leaned his spear against a tree, turned his back to Qin Ke who was hammering stones, and began chatting with his companion. "What a rookie! He's so easily let his guard down. Doesn't he know that thing he's holding can smash stones, and it can also smash his skull?" Qin Ke thought indignantly, but he didn't stop, continuing to hammer away at the stones.

He wasn't quite sure what Wei Taotie needed so many broken stones for. To build houses? To use as boulders for defending the city? They seemed rather small. He'd heard from a companion who'd once been called out to load and unload goods that the bandits needed the stones to repair the docks and roads. He'd personally witnessed the bandits mixing the stones with a kind of mud, fixing it with wooden planks, and after a couple of days it would turn into stone. The bandits repaired the docks and roads this way incredibly quickly, adding a large section in just a few days.

Qin Ke, like the others, scoffed at his companion's words. He admitted that the bandit leader was indeed very capable, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to defeat his side so badly. But fighting is fighting, and the bandit leader is also a person. He doesn't know any magic. It's too ignorant to talk about him in such a mysterious way.

"Qin Ke, Qin Ke!"

Upon hearing his name called, Qin Ke quickly responded, put down his hoe, and ran over. He saw the guard saying to a man in his early thirties, "Ambassador Wu, this is the lad. He's the most hardworking, never slacking off. Even if no one's watching, he'll finish his assigned tasks without a second thought!"

"Hmm!" The man looked Qin Ke up and down and asked, "Where are you from?"

"A native of Guangxin, Cangwu!"

"Servants, guests, or—"

"I am a law-abiding citizen!" Qin Ke emphasized, "and I hold the title of Duke!"

Qin Ke's explanation drew laughter from those around him. Qin Ke knew perfectly well what they were laughing at; in those days, titles were worthless. Even those who held high ranks, like the title of Gongshi (公士), were no different from ordinary people—they still performed their labor service and received their punishments just as often. But this was the only remaining memento his deceased father had left him, and Qin Ke was naturally unwilling to give it up.

Wu Ze looked at the young prisoner with great interest. He had a large frame, but a thin face, and his prominent cheekbones made him look even more stubborn. Hmm, a man with ambition! He thought to himself.

"Good, good citizen!" Wu Ze smiled. "Do you know how to kill fish?"

"Kill fish?" Qin Ke was stunned; he hadn't expected to encounter such a problem.

"Yes, it means cutting open the fish's belly, throwing away the internal organs, and scraping off the scales. It has to be done cleanly and neatly, without breaking the gallbladder, do you know how?"

The guard coughed and nodded repeatedly, standing behind Wu Ze. Qin Ke nodded subconsciously: "I've killed rabbits before, so fish and rabbits should be about the same!"

(End of this chapter)