Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 283 Ocean Treasure Trove
"Rich but not greasy~"

"Tender and delicious, with a subtle fragrance."

Lin Dao put down his chopsticks and nodded in satisfaction. "The deliciousness of the knife fish is well-deserved."

Sitting in a shed on the banks of the Nantong River, gazing at the mighty river, enjoying delicious food and drinks, is a truly pleasant experience.

"Try them all."

Lin Dao gestured to everyone, "The river delicacies are delicious, don't be shy."

Shi Nai'an and the others picked up their chopsticks and praised the fish after eating it.

Actually, they eat fresh fish all the time, and after eating it so much, it just doesn't feel that special anymore.

The delicious food that the Ming emperor praised so highly was actually just the ordinary catch of fishermen on the local riverbanks.

After eating a few more bites, Lin Dao sighed, "What a pity...what a pity..."

Everyone present was puzzled, wondering what the King of Light meant.

"These fish."

Lin Dao indicated, "Originally, this could have been exchanged for hundreds or thousands of bushels of grain, but unfortunately..."

He had also considered getting some wild fish to sell.

However, they cannot bring live fish, and the price difference between dead fish and fresh fish is huge.

Secondly, most of the valuable items are prohibited from being eaten.

Because it was so delicious, it was all eaten up, so we can only refrain from eating it and hope that the quantity will recover.

Lin Dao then gave up on this business.

However, when I have the chance to eat, I won't be polite.

After all, there are no laws against eating in this alternate dimension.

"Is Liujiagang already abandoned?"

Eating fish was just a side thing; discussing the matter at hand was the main point.

Shi Nai'an was most familiar with this, and immediately put down his chopsticks, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Your Majesty, since the decline of maritime transport, Liujiagang has indeed lost its former prosperity."

During the Yuan Dynasty, the main mode of grain transport was by sea, with Liujiagang being the departure point from Jiangnan.

When maritime trade flourishes, the area naturally becomes prosperous and bustling.

When maritime transport was abolished, it declined along with it.

Lin Dao nodded. "After you've eaten, go take a look."

The group rode their horses to Liujiagang by the sea, only to find it desolate.

The former dock is now overgrown with weeds, and the boardwalk that extends into the sea has eroded and collapsed.

A large number of ships were turned into scrap timber, and those soaked in the seawater turned a deep green.

Li Shanchang carefully pondered Lin Dao's purpose in coming here.

"Sea freight is impossible. We haven't even secured Shandong, let alone Dadu. Where would we ship it to?"

"Using ships for warfare, directly transporting troops to Dadu? Impossible. The Ming Emperor's next step is to head towards Jiangnan."

'If that weren't the case, why would we be here?'

He is adept at understanding people's hearts and making predictions in advance, thus enabling him to make the most appropriate choices.

However, Lin Dao's actions were often difficult for him to understand, and therefore he had no way of figuring them out.

Just like now, what the Red Turban Army should be doing is recruiting soldiers, stockpiling food and fodder, rigorously training soldiers to improve their combat effectiveness, and preparing for the expedition to Jiangnan.

Why come to the seaside port during such a busy time?
"Distribute grain and recruit workers."

Lin Dao instructed Lu Yuan, who had recently come to join him, to "rebuild the seaport."

“The dike was repaired, and the dock was built directly with stones.”

"The boardwalk leading to the sea also needs to be rebuilt, and changed from wood to stone."

"Dredge the waterways and salvage as many sunken ships as possible from the ports and shipping lanes."

Lin Daolin listed many points, but Lu Yuan's expression became more and more troubled as he listened.

After speaking, Lu Yuan bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this matter is not easy."

It's not just difficult, it's downright challenging.

According to the requirements of the forest road, at least tens of thousands of laborers will be needed.

Long-term, continuous investment.

For a small power with only two prefectures, investing its limited resources here is simply insane.

Lu Yuan even began to doubt whether he had chosen the wrong person to come and seek refuge with.

"Just tell me what's difficult about it."

Lin Dao took on all the responsibility, saying, "I'll solve anything I can for you."

Lu Yuan, who was new to the place, clearly did not believe it.

He'd seen plenty of people like that.

They're all willing to take on anything when they're talking, but when it comes to actually getting things done, they all start pretending to be senile and forgetful.

"Brother Lu."

At this moment, Shi Nai'an stepped forward to comfort him, saying, "Don't worry, just speak your mind."

“Since Your Majesty has agreed, you will surely be able to do it!”

He's been following Lin Dao ever since he buried the one-eyed stone man.

I witnessed firsthand the various miracles performed by this wise king along the way.

This wise king had no shortage of any kind of resources.

Half-believing, half-doubting, Lu Yuan hesitated before speaking, "At least ten thousand laborers would be needed to work, and work would have to stop during busy farming seasons or when the sea comes."

Lin Dao immediately agreed, "Give me five catties of grain per day, one catty of meat every ten days, one catty of salt per month, and one string of cash per month."

He never treated his employees harshly; the wages were not just for the laborers themselves, but included money to support their families.

After all, recruiting a laborer means taking away an important laborer from a family.

With such high wages, it's likely that they can continue working even during busy farming seasons.

"I will never delay paying your wages or rations." Lin Dao looked at Lu Yuan. "If I do delay, you can grab a handful of sand and come find me, then throw it right in my face."

“But if anyone embezzles the laborers’ food rations and wages, I will chop you up if you embezzle even a pound.”

Throughout history, Dagong has always been a hotbed of corruption.

Whenever a major project is undertaken, countless people from top to bottom lend a hand.

Those who do the physical labor always suffer the most. Not only are they exhausted, but often their meals are also taken away from them.

Lin Dao witnessed this firsthand when Jia Lu was managing the river.

He does indeed have an almost inexhaustible supply of resources.

Even so, I absolutely cannot tolerate someone embezzling my things.

Whenever he went to different places to handle official business, a very important part of it was to make decisions.

Eighty percent of those on the execution list were embezzlers.

Lu Yuan, with a solemn expression, bowed and said, "This humble official is willing to accept the military order! Please transfer me to the guard post." If anyone actually reached out, he would cut them down first to avoid being implicated.

"can."

Lin Dao agreed, "I'll give you five hundred soldiers."

"In addition, I will do my best to provide the necessary materials for port repair."

In addition to a large number of tools, Lin Dao also plans to transport steel bars and cement over.

These things are produced in excess in the modern world, and their prices are very cheap.

Lin Dao spent money to buy time and space in various places, which can be considered as reducing the burden on the factory.

As for why such a large investment was made to build this port, it was naturally for the sake of the ocean.

Lin Daoke has never forgotten his countless riches overseas.

Furthermore, compared to the Grand Canal's water transport, Lindao placed greater emphasis on sea transport.

The various shady dealings in the canal transport system, especially that one sentence.

The phrase "millions of canal workers depend on the canal for their livelihood" is widely known.

Lin Dao refused to be extorted. His plan was simple: in the future, the Grand Canal would be used for commercial purposes, and all large-scale transportation at the government level would be by sea.

For maritime transport, ports and shipyards are essential foundations.

Liujiagang is just the beginning, not the end.

After this project is completed, we will continue to build ports and shipyards in other places.

Besides these, Lin Daoxiu also had a small, incidental purpose in Liujiagang.

"The Red Turban Army launched a northern expedition and conquered Liaodong."

"The Goryeo people, who are as insignificant as boogers, dared to attack the Red Turban Army! They even dared to slaughter prisoners and build mounds of skulls."

"If I don't crush your entire country into dust, I'll change my name to Goryeo Province!"

Historically, the Red Turban Army launched three northern expeditions, with the furthest route even reaching Liaodong.

Ultimately, however, it was destroyed by the combined forces of the Yuan Dynasty and Goryeo.

Lin Dao had nothing to say about the Yuan Dynasty; they were mortal enemies.

But Goryeo was nothing more than a dog kept by the Mongol Yuan Dynasty!

Adults are fighting, and the dog actually runs out barking and biting them—how can we tolerate that!

"Once the harbor is repaired and the ships are ready, Koreans, your good days will begin."

We arrived at a small hill near the harbor and gazed out at the sea.

A group of whales swam past on the distant sea, spouting water columns, which was quite interesting to watch.

Several scholars were about to compose poems to suit the occasion when they heard Lin Dao speak up: "A whale has hundreds of thousands of pounds of meat. When people are starving, no one thinks about fishing?"

Everyone looked at each other.

Shi Nai'an stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, the well fish is as large as a mountain and strong enough to drag a boat; it is not easy to catch."

Well fish is whale.

People of that era believed that whales had a well on their heads that spouted water, hence the name "well fish."

Furthermore, it is believed that it drinks seawater and can spout fresh water from the wellhead on its head, just like a well in the sea.

"As big as a mountain?"

"The bigger the better."

"The larger the size, the more meat it contains, and the more nutritious it is."

"Powered enough to tug a boat?"

"The Inuit can hunt whales in canoes, but we can't?"

Lin Dao pondered for a moment, "We need to increase the fishing efforts. There's so much meat in the sea; rather than watching it rot, we might as well catch it and eat it."

Before industrialized fishing, the ocean had extremely abundant fish resources.

When natural disasters strike and people starve to death on land, vast amounts of food lie in the ocean, yet cannot be retrieved.

Others might not be able to do it, or even know it, but Lin Dao could see it clearly and had a solution.

"Port construction needs to be accelerated."

"I'll go and get a batch of fishing boats."

"And equipment and supplies for the fish processing plant."

"Send an order to Zhang Shicheng, instructing his brothers to take charge of the fishing and train the sailors."

"Once the fleet is built, there will be enough manpower to use it immediately."

"As for the fleet's soldiers, they will be recruited from the fishermen along the coast. In the future, they will be recruited from all parts of the coast. They cannot be recruited from just one place."

"Let them fish first, then transfer them to the fleet and the navy later."

Lin Dao is very proactive.

After returning to the modern world, they began researching and ordering supplies.

In the field of marine fish fishing, modern fishing boats are not suitable; nobody knows how to use them.

However, you can buy fishing tools.

The best one is a trawl net.

Given the fish density in ancient fishing grounds, a single trawl could easily catch hundreds or even thousands of kilograms of fish.

Of course, you'll also need to buy the corresponding drag-and-drop components.

Without motors and cranes, if it's all done manually, then pulley systems are necessary.

Moreover, the speed of the boat is also a problem.

In addition to storage on board, it's impossible to simply replicate the modern world.

The solution suggested by resourceful netizens is near-shore fishing.

That is, you go in the morning and come back in the evening.

Ice can be made using saltpeter to provide some refrigeration.

To increase speed, an external diesel propeller can also be attached for propulsion.

Once ashore, they were immediately sorted and processed.

As for whaling, that's much simpler.

Buy whaling guns directly and mount them on the bow of a medium-sized fishing boat.

After shooting the whale and exhausting it to death, they tied it securely and dragged it back to the harbor.

A pulley system was set up on the shore to drag the whale ashore, where it was immediately cut up and processed.

Small fish and miscellaneous fish can be used to make fish sauce.

Medium to large fish, processed and made into salted fish.

As for whales, they are pickled, air-dried, and boiled into an oil.

Don't worry too much about the taste; in times of famine, having meat to eat is the ultimate delicacy.

(End of this chapter)