Chapter 119: Fish Oil and Salt Fields
There are many more benefits to keeping Li Heng in Yanzhou! He knows too many secrets of the Yandi gentry families. If we hold his leverage, we don’t have to worry about him betraying us.
If he betrays us, we can just kill him directly, without any psychological burden. The money he embezzled from the gentry can also be used for border city construction. He is now equivalent to the Li King’s mouthpiece and money bag.
In short, keeping Li Heng is much better than the Imperial Court sending a new prefect! Jinsui said solemnly to Gu Changxiao:
“Not only can we not replace Prefect Li, but we also cannot accept his resignation letter. Let him sit firmly in the position of Prefect of Yanzhou.”
Thinking of something, Jinsui couldn’t help but chuckle again. Glancing at Gu Changxiao, she didn’t dare to say it out loud.
Gu Changxiao said it for her:
“Daoist Ji is thinking that the best way for Li Heng to break through this situation is to form a marriage alliance with the Li King, sending a beautiful daughter to the Li King’s inner chambers, which will allow him to preserve his life and his wealth and status. Am I right?”
Jinsui said with a serious face: “You said it yourself, I didn’t think that.”
Gu Changxiao glanced at her and then also chuckled: “In that case, the Li King being impotent really saves me a lot of trouble.”
Jinsui quickly turned her head away and didn’t respond. This person could be so indifferent to his reputation in that regard; his mindset was very strong.
When they could smell the salty sea breeze, Jinsui became excited again:
“Let me tell you, when it comes to doing business, what happens in the city is just small-scale stuff. If we can open up to sea merchants and do business overseas, then it will truly be a source of endless wealth. We can afford not just one border city, but even a hundred thousand soldiers!”
Gu Changxiao said in a deep voice: “The Imperial Court has banned maritime trade for many years. If the maritime ban can be lifted, trade in coastal prefectures will surely flourish.”
Jinsui winked at him: “Do you still have to stick to the rules even now? This sea area is the Li King’s fiefdom.”
She didn’t say it more directly, but she planted a seed of ‘sea merchant’ in Gu Changxiao’s mind. When he needed a large amount of gold and silver, he would naturally take this path.
At this moment, a wisp of thick black smoke drifted from not far away, and the fishy smell in the air became even stronger.
Captain Liu exclaimed: “Your Highness, has the camp ahead caught fire?”
All the soldiers who had personally witnessed the scene of the border city being burned by fire, upon seeing such thick smoke, were all worried.
Jinsui quickly said: “Everyone, don’t worry, it’s not a fire, they are just boiling something.”
Captain Liu didn’t ask further and first sent two men to the East Sea camp to report.
Gu Changxiao asked her in a low voice: “Do you know what they are boiling?”
Jinsui had no intention of hiding this from him. Cheng Yu and Han Xing knew about it, and fish oil firearms could not be used for business; they could only be used as weapons for the border city.
She nodded: “It’s the wildfire used on the night we fought the Tartars. You saw its power. They are boiling that thing.”
Gu Changxiao was shocked: “How can such a powerful weapon be boiled on the coast of the East Sea? There are few people here, and the defenses are weak. What if someone steals it and learns how to make it?”
In his opinion, military industry products must be strictly guarded. How could Daoist Ji not value secrecy so much?
Jinsui quickly said: “This is a semi-finished product and needs to be completed in the border city. Don’t worry, even if someone sees it, they will only think it’s an ingredient and won’t associate it with weapons.”
This made Gu Changxiao even more curious. The explosion that night sounded like the Thunder God descending, and the flames burning the sky were like the God of Fire descending.
Such a miraculous weapon could be made by dozens of people on the coast of the East Sea?
He had not pressed Daoist Ji about the weapon because he was worried that Daoist Ji would fear he would try to seize it. He was patiently waiting for Daoist Ji to tell him honestly.
Before Jinsui could say it herself, Gu Changxiao said first: “This weapon’s secret formula is also a family heirloom of the Ji family, right?”
Jinsui turned her head away, feeling a little embarrassed: “That’s right, it is indeed a family heirloom!”
Gu Changxiao suppressed a smile: “When Daoist Ji arrives, you two will discuss it. As long as it’s something I can provide, no matter what you want, I will grant it.”
Jinsui chuckled twice. This big boss was very generous. She hated bosses who only made empty promises. In a way, working for Gu Changxiao wouldn’t be bad.
Soon they arrived at this crude camp. A dozen soldiers were fishing in the shallow water area, and a few were gutting them.
Whole fish were being salted, and the internal organs from the fish bellies were placed in buckets. Once a bucket was full, it was poured into a large pot to boil out the oil.
To prevent discovery, Jinsui had specifically instructed that the extracted fish oil be mixed with fish soup and sent to the border city in buckets, where it would be refined again and bottled.
Seeing the Prince arrive, the soldiers were very excited and quickly washed their hands and faces to salute.
They had already learned from the soldiers delivering supplies about the battle at the border city and felt guilty that they hadn’t helped.
At that time, their brothers were fighting the Tartars with their lives, while they were here in the East Sea catching fish and drying salt.
Hearing that familiar people had died, the soldiers knelt and wept, cursing the Tartars and the Yan Prefecture Army.
Jinsui said sincerely: “The reason we won this battle was thanks to the courage of the soldiers, and also to the fish oil you boiled.”
“Without those firearms, we couldn’t have defended the border city, and the entire borderlands would have been ravaged by the Tartars.”
“Although you didn’t directly participate in this battle, you still made a great contribution. Only by fulfilling your respective duties can the border city grow stronger.”
Gu Changxiao looked at the bubbling cauldron, completely unfazed by the fishy smell, and thought of the traces of fire stoves he had seen by the river embankment.
He quickly asked: “Does it matter what kind of fish? Can river fish and sea fish both be used?”
Jinsui nodded: “We used river fish before, but the quantity was too small. That’s why I used the excuse of drying sea salt to keep the soldiers in the East Sea. Ostensibly, we were drying salt, but secretly, we were boiling fish oil.”
When he first arrived, Gu Changxiao was most curious about the salt fields. He had seen sea salt and knew how important it would be if the border city could have a large supply of sea salt.
But now he was more concerned about this fish oil. The Tartars probably never imagined that the thing that killed them was just oil extracted from fish innards.
It was too miraculous! Daoist Ji’s talent was unparalleled in history!
Gu Changxiao’s gaze towards Jinsui became so intense that she dared not meet his eyes.
Don’t look at me like that! If Yan Shiyi sees it, she’ll start spreading rumors about us having a homosexual preference again.
She quickly said to him in a low voice: “Don’t worry, I’ve already taught the firearm manufacturing method to Cheng Yu and Han Xing. Even if I leave the border city, you won’t be short of firearms.”
Gu Changxiao suddenly said: “Little Ji… Ji Sui, would you be willing to become sworn siblings with me? We can call each other brothers from now on.”
Jinsui was so startled that she waved her hands repeatedly: “There’s really no need for that! I’ve taught everything I know to the Black Feather Camp, I really haven’t held anything back.”
Gu Changxiao said quickly:
“I truly admire your talent and want you to stay in the border city to assist me. But I also sincerely want to become sworn siblings with you. Daoist Ji’s character and talent are admirable.”
Jinsui quickly brushed it off: “We can talk about this later. After you’ve seen the fish oil, I’ll take you to see the salt fields. That’s the main point.”
You admire Daoist Ji’s character and talent now and want to become sworn brothers with him.
But if you knew Daoist Ji was a woman, would you be so ashamed that you’d kill me to vent your anger?
A big boss in the startup phase would really do anything to retain talent!
