Siheyuan: I am a trader in both worlds!

Because the coastal areas surrounding the Four Nine City World have not been extensively fished, they are completely undeveloped virgin lands.

Many fish in the sea, in their entire lives, have never seen such a grand scene, such a professional fishing boat.

So, this net caught an extraordinary amount of fish.

Not only are there many of them, but they're also incredibly big!

Therefore, Ximen Lang, who had never seen such a grand scene before, was deeply shocked by what he saw.

So shocked was Ximen Lang that he even forgot to participate in the usual routine of Wang Po selling melons.

She slapped Hao Pingchuan's arm several times.

The sudden slap from Hao Pingchuan almost made him lose his balance, and he was grimacing in pain.

Then, under Hao Pingchuan's resentful gaze and Bai Ling's secret relief, she pointed to the net full of fish that seemed about to burst open.

Ximen Lang exclaimed in shock.

"Ling'er, look! Fish! So many fish! I've never seen so many fish in my life! And they're huge!"

"Look at that bass, it's about 2 to 3 meters long! Goodness, it's bigger than me! With a size like that, do you think it might be a spirit?"

"Look at that physique, it's incredibly imposing! Wasn't it agreed that spirits wouldn't be allowed after the founding of the nation? What's going on with this?"

To be honest, the bass that Ximen Lang was pointing to really was that big.

It's at least 2 meters long, if not 3 meters long!
But you could say it's become sentient.
This is pure nonsense!

Because wild bass can naturally grow to this size!
Ximen Lang was so surprised because he was inexperienced.

Although it was also the first time Bai Ling had ever seen such a large creature, the shock she felt was no less than that of Ximen Lang.

I do agree with what he said.

But who told him to bring up the topic of not allowing beings to become spirits after the founding of the nation?

This is practically asking for trouble!
So, without holding back at all, Bai Ling immediately retorted as soon as she opened her mouth.

"If you're ignorant, just admit it. Why spout all that nonsense? It's perfectly normal for wild bass to grow to over 2 meters long, okay? Some exceptionally gifted ones can even grow to over 3 meters!"

"If you don't know, that's pure ignorance! You're even bringing up the idea of ​​them becoming spirits. Let me ask you this: just this one net caught several wild bass over 2 meters long. Did they all become spirits?"

"It's obvious that our land and water are good, and our produce is plentiful. Unlike you people, you practically squeeze the pee out of every frog you catch! You're all greedy for money, you've caught everything you can, leaving only a bunch of small fish fry. Of course you wouldn't see one this big!"

Don't say it, you really don't say it.

Although Bai Ling's words sounded a bit harsh at first glance, they were indeed quite harsh.

But she was absolutely right!
Later generations also had such abundant aquatic resources, but unfortunately, they were overfished back then, which damaged their vitality.

As a result, later generations could not compare to the world of Beijing in this respect, which is undeniable.

But Ximen Lang had his reasons.

"Back then, we were so poor that we could barely afford to eat, and meat was extremely scarce! It was impossible to get protein by eating meat! We were so poor that if we hadn't caught some fish to line our stomachs, would we have survived until today?"

"Besides, it's not like we haven't taken measures to manage things after we've become rich. In recent years, we've enacted laws, banned fishing, and released fish fry. Every year, we release no less than 300 billion aquatic seedlings of various species!"

"At least 300 billion fish are released every year! That's an incredible number! And the construction of marine protected areas and the restoration of marine ecosystems have never stopped!"

"So even though you seem to have a lot of fish, you should quickly come up with a set of practical rules and regulations, and strictly enforce them!"

"We must quickly develop a scientific fishing plan. I dare say that if we fish in a planned and sustainable manner, the marine ecosystem along the surrounding coast will be severely damaged in less than ten years!"

"Twenty years from now, you might have fished so much that the fish are almost extinct! Don't even think about seeing bass that are several meters long or small yellow croakers that are thirty or forty centimeters long! You'll never see them even in your wildest dreams!"

This is a direct jab at Bai Ling.

This was a clear message to Bai Ling, and a reminder to the authorities in Beijing.
"When wearing new clothes, we must never repeat the old mistakes."

The lessons learned in this regard by later generations are profound. The people of Beijing must take this seriously to avoid any irreparable and terrible consequences!
Seeing the sincerity, seriousness, and deep sorrow in Ximen Lang's words, Bai Ling immediately took this new situation seriously.

Of course, there are still a few minor doubts.

That is.
"There are so many fish here! You could just cast a net and catch this many! Is this really going to kill them all? You're not exaggerating, are you?"

"Alarmist?"

Seeing that Bai Ling still didn't believe him, Ximen Lang took out his phone and started fiddling with it without saying a word.

"Let's speak with facts," Ximen Lang continued.

"In 1950, the catch in the coastal and surrounding areas was 54 tons, right? But by 1952, that number had more than doubled, reaching 100 million tons!"

"And today, in 1955, just two or three years later, this number has increased by more than 70, reaching a terrifying 170 million tons!"

"Even with an annual catch of 170 million tons, it is still only a small fraction of the current abundant aquatic resources."

"But don't forget, this was all achieved because you didn't have advanced fishing equipment! Now, the most advanced fishing boat on the planet is right at your feet!"

"They've added over a hundred more ships at once! And this number will definitely continue to increase, maybe even several times over. It's not impossible that it will become a piece of cake!"

"With so much professional fishing equipment, if you really put in all your effort, do you know how much fish you can catch in a year? Let me tell you, you can catch tens of thousands of tons a year!"

"Even this is a conservative estimate! Otherwise, the number would definitely continue to rise! Don't doubt it, the professional equipment under our feet can indeed achieve this!"

Upon hearing this, Bai Ling quickly sought advice from the professional from the future who was piloting the fishing boat.

While Bai Ling was verifying with the staff, Ximen Lang also casually searched for the catch volume in the 60s.

Then, Ximen Lang was horrified to discover that even though he had tried to report an inflated figure, it was still considered conservative. Because just ten years later, without the involvement of any modern advanced fishing equipment, the catch in that era reached a staggering 9195 tons! (The total national catch in 1965 was 6437 tons, but by 1968 this figure had skyrocketed to 9195 tons—it was simply outrageous!)

In just one or two decades, the total catch has increased by more than 90 times, nearly 100 times! This is simply outrageous!
Back then, those small fishing boats in Beijing could catch so much fish.

If these specialized devices were added...
"Bai Ling, I take back what I just said. It won't take 20 years at all, 10 years, 10 years is about right! With the addition of these professional equipment, if you don't exercise restraint, it will only take 10 years at most for you to ruin the aquatic resources in the coastal areas."

After some investigation, Bai Ling also learned from the professionals sent by later generations about the true power of the fishing boat beneath her feet, and the true power of this batch of fishing boats.

It really is true.

If fishing continues unchecked and without restraint, they could really deplete coastal aquatic resources within 10 years, causing irreversible damage to the surrounding ecological environment.

Bai Ling was silent.

After a long silence, Bai Ling finally spoke with difficulty.

"So, how much do you currently invest annually in marine ecological protection?"

"How much is invested each year? Let's not say a lot, but it's definitely a few hundred million yuan a year. Just the year before last, our government allocated more than 40 billion yuan in one go. Various coastal areas also have fixed investments every year. It can be a few million or tens of millions less, or a hundred million or more, that's all from it."

"The total investment of so much real money, even tens of billions a year, is a conservative estimate! Because in addition to that, we also had to carry out remedial actions targeting coastal ecological restoration that lasted for several years, or even decades. Like coastal zone protection and restoration projects, mangrove protection and restoration, and so on."

"There are a total of 175 major national-level marine ecological protection and restoration projects alone! I don't even know how much each one would cost, and we've launched 175 of them all at once! 175 of them, I can't even imagine how much it will cost!"

"How much money did we make from this back then? But now, we have to invest so much money every year! You must learn from this profound lesson and always be vigilant so that you never repeat our mistakes!"

Back then, he didn't make much money from this at all, which was definitely the most upsetting thing for Simon Lang!
If you actually make a lot of money from it, and you really make a lot of money at the cost of destroying the environment, then we won't say anything.

Who made later generations, out of necessity, borrow money from the incredibly harsh nature?

If you take out a loan, you have to pay it back.

Because paying back debts is a matter of course!

We can't really say anything about this. You should pay back the money you owe and take care of things that need to be done. Anyone would say that there's nothing wrong with that.

The problem is that people in later generations didn't make any money from this at all!
These fish are indeed precious, but they only become truly valuable and fetch astronomical prices in later generations when these wild fish species are almost extinct.

But decades ago, this thing was readily available.

Let alone high-end items like wild bass that are over 2 meters long.

So what if it's just a wild yellow croaker weighing several tens of kilograms? This top-quality catch is so expensive that even Ximenlang can't find an accurate price for it.

This is because there are so many of these creatures, so many that they can even be found in places like Tianjin New Port, which isn't ideal for wild large yellow croaker. (A quick check confirms that it's not ideal, but that doesn't mean they don't exist, just that their numbers are smaller.)
They were sold at rock-bottom prices, even below rock-bottom prices, they were all sold off at a ridiculously low price!
How much money did they lose in that mess?!

Ximen Lang felt so heartbroken that he couldn't breathe whenever he thought about it!
Just in time, this net of fish has now been hauled in as well.

Picking up a wild yellow croaker that was almost 1 meter long, 60-70 centimeters long, and weighed 50-60 kilograms, Ximen Lang asked Bai Ling, who was standing next to him.

"Do you know how much this wild yellow croaker would sell for where I live?"

"how much is it?"

"If it's less than a million, you don't even deserve to look at it!"

"so much?!"

"This is the most conservative estimate! Considering we haven't seen such a large wild yellow croaker in many years, if someone truly loves and cherishes this kind of thing, it could be worth millions, even tens of millions!"

Bai Ling's breathing quickened upon hearing this, and she could hardly believe her ears.

I can't believe it, such a small fish can almost be worth the price of a used 59.

They were overjoyed beyond measure.

However, when she heard Ximen Lang's next sentence...
"But do you know how much we sold it for back then? You wouldn't believe it, we sold it for just a few cents a pound! And it was a clearance sale, a huge loss-making sale! We were afraid no one would buy it, so we cleared it out at rock-bottom prices! Seriously, every time I think about it, it feels like needles are pricking my heart, it hurts like hell!"

"Wow, such good stuff, and you only sold this little bit? Aren't you losing a lot of money?"

"It's not just a huge loss, it's an absolute financial disaster! We almost lost everything! I'm not exaggerating, it hurt so much I could hardly breathe!"

Upon hearing this, not only Ximen Lang, but even Bai Ling felt suffocated.

I feel that the losses in this wave of later generations were really too great, they were simply too much to bear!

Through this painful lesson learned in later generations, she gained a deeper understanding of what Ximen Lang had previously discussed with her.
"If you earn 10 yuan today by destroying the environment, nature will make you pay 100 yuan tomorrow, and by the time you want to clean up the mess, even 1000 yuan won't be enough!"

I can better understand the profound meaning of this sentence.

I also learned that it's really hard to owe nature money.

Because it's a lousy loan shark!

You might end up losing a lot of money without even realizing it!
Then came the problem.

"Based on the market principle that increased supply and unchanged demand lead to lower prices, we wouldn't do what you did and drive up the price of these rare catches to rock-bottom levels, would we?!"

I learned that even with a large supply here, the price won't drop too much.

By slightly controlling output and finding a balance, one can continuously make a fortune from future generations.

This idea aligns perfectly with Simon Lang's suggestion that Beijing must take the protection of the ecological environment seriously.

Bai Ling was finally relieved.

So, what else is there to say?

"Hurry up, hurry up and get the Marine Environmental Protection Law through! Then we can follow the prescription and clean this place up! After that, we can join hands and make a fortune, mining gold at sea!" (End of Chapter)