Chapter 111: Protective Talisman
At noon the next day, in the sea area of Sanmu Mountain, east of Taizhou Prefecture.
The Santa Ana was anchored here, with seven bird ships docked around it.
“A fishing boat is approaching!” shouted the lookout.
Lin Qian walked onto the stern deck, took out his telescope, and saw the fishing boat slowly raising a black flag.
This was the signal agreed upon by Lin Qian and Bai Qing.
The fishing boat drew closer, and through the telescope, they could see the Bai siblings standing at the bow waving.
Lin Qian relaxed and ordered his subordinates, “Lower the rope ladder.”
After a while, the fishing boat pulled up close, and Bai Qing signaled the galleon to extend its crane arm, lifting two wooden boxes.
Bai Qing and her brother climbed up the ship via the rope ladder.
“Helmsman!” they said, cupping their fists in salute to Lin Qian.
“How was it? Did you face any trouble passing through Haimen Guard?” Lin Qian asked with a smile.
Bai Qing teased, “A boat full of small fry, the stinking officials didn’t even want to get close.”
Lin Qian: “Don’t talk on the deck, come to the restaurant.”
Bai Qing and Bai Langzai, each carrying a wooden box, followed Lin Qian into the officer’s restaurant.
“How is it?” Lin Qian asked as soon as he sat down.
Bai Qing put down the box and rubbed her shoulder, “Just as the helmsman guessed, the Lin father and son didn’t last long before they sneakily went up the mountain. We followed them and got this without much effort.”
With that said, Bai Langzai had already taken out two pottery jars from the boxes and placed them on the table.
Lin Qian looked closely. The two jars were of the same make, made of coarse pottery, knee-high, with thick material, and covered in dust and dirt.
Bai Langzai removed the seals of the jars, and a faint golden light could be seen reflecting from within.
Lin Qian glanced into the jar and casually took out a gold bar to play with.
He saw that the gold bar was not a standard rectangular prism, but rather had a curved head and a narrowed waist, indicating the style of a gold ingot.
Upon examination, there were no inscriptions on the gold ingot, but one side had cutting marks, suggesting that the inscriptions had been scraped off.
The ancestors of the Lin family must have anticipated that by the time their descendants used these, the family would have fallen on hard times, lacking trustworthy servants. Burying silver would be too heavy and difficult to transport, so they buried gold instead.
This type of gold ingot was generally used by the national treasury and would typically be marked with the year and month of casting, and the place of origin.
The ancestors of the Lin family had deliberately scraped off the inscriptions so that their descendants could avoid investigation and trouble when using the gold ingots.
Lin Qian sighed inwardly. The Lin family ancestors must have been remarkable individuals to have been able to hide this jar of gold and plan so meticulously.
It is a pity that the blessings of a gentleman are extinguished within five generations.
Ultimately, the path must be walked by the descendants themselves. If the Lin clan made wrong choices, the ancestors’ blessings could only serve as a stepping stone for others.
Lin Qian ordered his men to summon the brothers and bring a scale to count and record the gold in front of everyone.
While waiting for the men to be called, Bai Qing hesitated for a moment before revealing that she had secretly rescued Concubine Li.
Finally, Bai Qing said, “I took the liberty of making this decision on my own. I request the helmsman’s punishment.”
Lin Qian frowned and pondered for a moment, “Is that Concubine Li truly insane?”
Bai Langzai: “She’s truly insane. She was crying and laughing when they pushed her into the river.”
“Did she see your faces?”
“No, we were wearing masks.”
In this world, neither good people nor madmen can survive.
Concubine Li’s final fate would either be to live a few happy days before mysteriously disappearing and being murdered.
Or, the money of the fishing couple would be discovered, and their entire family would be killed.
The lives of the common folk are as insignificant as grass; this is the reality.
Lin Qian carefully considered that regardless of whether Concubine Li’s madness was real or feigned, as long as she wore a mask, there would be no flaws.
Let alone the Great Ming, there were no officials who would conduct such thorough investigations.
Even if there were, if they followed the trail to Concubine Li, they would at most discover the method the Bai siblings used with the fishing boat, but they would never be able to investigate further.
Even if there were someone like Bao Zheng, what could they do if they traced it to the sea bandits?
Lin Qian had already chosen a scapegoat.
Upon returning to Nan’ao this time, once the scapegoat’s body was handed over, the case would be ironclad, and even if Bao Zheng were reincarnated, he would be helpless.
“Brother Bai, I heard you brought back something good?”
Lei Sanxiang’s voice came from outside the cabin.
Zheng Zhilong, Chen Jiao, and Zhou Xiucai followed him in. Zhou Xiucai was holding a scale.
Lin Qian recounted Bai Qing’s feat of seizing the gold, and everyone expressed their amazement.
A crew member served tea.
Everyone drank tea while watching Zhou Xiucai weigh the gold.
Gold has high density, so although it looked small in volume, it was very heavy.
Zhou Xiucai placed the weighed gold aside, and soon a stack appeared on the table, making the entire cabin gleam with golden light.
Lin Qian now understood why people in the world loved gold; its golden hue and heavy weight were truly alluring.
The visual impact of two jars of gold on the table was far beyond that of silver of equivalent value.
Zhou Xiucai weighed the gold slowly, and the other brothers watched with interest, not rushing him.
Soon, a cup of tea was finished.
The gold in the two jars was also depleted.
“Huh?” Zhou Xiucai leaned in and looked into the jar, exclaiming, “There’s something at the bottom.”
Lei Sanxiang curiously leaned over, “Indeed, it looks like a letter.”
“Take it out and let’s see, be careful,” said Lin Qian.
The letter had probably been in the jar for a long time. Zhou Xiucai feared it would crumble at the slightest touch, so he turned the jar upside down and patted it, letting the letter fall out on its own.
After moving the pottery jar, a blackish-yellow envelope lay on the table.
Zhou Xiucai carefully picked it up. The letter had been in the jar for so long that it had become severely moldy and stuck together, like mud, making it impossible to unfold.
After much effort, he managed to peel off the envelope and unfold the letter. Most of the words were illegible, leaving only fragments that allowed for a rough guess of the meaning.
“Second Brother, what does it say? Read it quickly!” Lei Sanxiang was so anxious he was scratching his ears.
Zhou Xiucai remained silent, bent over and read for a long time before straightening up and sighing, “This is a letter from the Lin ancestors to their descendants. It generally advises them to be kind and to hold onto good intentions, so that the family can endure for generations.”
Lin Qian was slightly surprised, “A letter from over four hundred years ago?”
Zhou Xiucai shook his head, “The letter avoids the taboo of Emperor Chengzu, so it was likely left during the Yongle era.”
Lei Sanxiang pouted, his face full of disappointment, “Oh, I thought there was treasure buried elsewhere too.”
Zheng Zhilong scoffed, “Knowing his descendants were in trouble, he’s still being hypocritical. He didn’t say anything important.”
Chen Jiao mused, “This jar was in the ground for nearly two hundred years, and the gold is still bright, while the letter full of false kindness has rotted. It’s quite interesting.”
Lin Qian took a sip of tea, “Brother’s words have a deep meaning.”
Chen Jiao was taken aback, “I just said it casually.”
Zhou Xiucai lamented, “If the Lin clan had remembered their ancestor’s teaching to be kind to others, they would not have met with such disaster today.”
Zheng Zhilong retorted, “In this world, kind-hearted fools die the fastest. If you want to achieve great things, you must be hard-hearted.”
The brothers drank tea and sighed with emotion.
“By the way, we haven’t asked how much gold was seized yet,” Zheng Zhilong suddenly said.
“That’s right! We were so busy cursing this damn government that we forgot the most important thing,” Lei Sanxiang slapped his forehead and looked at Zhou Xiucai.
Zhou Xiucai picked up the account book and read, “Total weight of gold, three thousand two hundred and eighty-six taels and seven qian.”
“Uh. Is that a lot?” Lei Sanxiang asked.
In the Great Ming, gold was rarely used by commoners, except for large-scale official transactions. Therefore, Lei Sanxiang and others were not familiar with the exchange rate.
Zhou Xiucai explained, “It’s equivalent to about thirty-two thousand taels of silver.”
Only then did everyone break into smiles of joy.
After celebrating for a while, they all looked at Lin Qian. Now that this job was done and the money was in hand, it was time for profit sharing.
Lin Qian said calmly, “No hurry, there’s still a protective charm that needs to be retrieved first.”
…
Two days later, on the sea surface east of Fuzhou Prefecture.
Guantang Mountain.
The galleon broke through the morning mist and sailed silently on the sea surface.
This area was occupied by a group of sea bandits led by Li Zhong, the very protective charm Lin Qian had chosen.
According to Zhou Xiucai’s intelligence, this group of pirates had about two hundred men and thirty ships.
They were brutal and arrogant, not only plundering extensively in the surrounding waters but also frequently raiding the shore.
The bandit leader Li Zhong was lax in his discipline, and his subordinates often became carried away during plunders, leading to their capture by the authorities.
If it weren’t for the corruption in the southeastern maritime defense, this group of sea bandits, with their behavior, would have been wiped out by the government long ago.
Li Zhong’s pirates not only plundered merchant ships but also fishing boats, earning them a terrible reputation among the common people.
They were infamous, to say the least.
Perhaps because of their frequent offenses in recent years, Li Zhong’s men had been hiding in Guantang Mountain for the past few months, avoiding trouble and not committing major crimes.
This meant there would be no temporal conflict with the plundering of the Lin Mansion, nor any alibi.
They were the perfect scapegoat.
According to Zhou Xiucai, Li Zhong had offered a reward for a portrait, depicting the person as ferocious as a demon. The face was no longer reliable, but the description of the physique was similar to Lin Qian’s.
Moreover, Li Zhong’s original hometown was in Zhejiang, and his accent was similar to Lin Qian’s.
This coincidence further solidified the plan, making Zhou Xiucai feel that letting this person be the scapegoat was simply fate.
As the galleon sailed slowly, the sun rose in the east, and the mist on the sea gradually dispersed.
In the morning sun, a mountain range could be faintly seen on the sea surface.
After sailing for a long time, the mountain range gradually turned into an island, and scattered small boats could be seen around the island.
“Three thousand paces in the bow direction, enemy ships sighted!”
The lookout’s voice came from the mainmast.
Lin Qian did not speak; the galleon continued on its planned course.
They sailed within five hundred paces of Guantang Mountain, and between two ridges, a harbor appeared.
Over thirty ships of various sizes were docked within, and dozens of simple tents were on the beach, clearly indicating Li Zhong’s camp.
Lin Qian took out his telescope and saw that the pirates in the camp had just woken up. Some were stretching on the beach, while several others were shading their eyes and looking in the direction of the galleon, seemingly having spotted the approaching ship.
Surprisingly, the pirates’ reaction was extremely slow. They boarded their ships, hoisted sails, and weighed anchor without haste, as if they were going out to fish rather than responding to an attack.
Their level of vigilance was far inferior to Li Kuiqi’s men, comparable only to the reaction of Great Ming garrison soldiers.
Lin Qian put down his telescope. He felt that annihilating this group of pirates would not be difficult; the Santa Ana alone would be sufficient.
The challenge was to capture all the pirates in one fell swoop, preventing anyone from escaping and thus leaking information.
To this end, Lin Qian had already arranged for seven bird ships to lie in ambush on the east and west sides of Guantang Mountain. Any pirates attempting to flee in scattered directions would be pursued by the bird ships.
What Lin Qian intended to do was to kill as many as possible before the pirates could scatter.
“Three hundred paces from the enemy port in the bow direction!”
The lookout updated the distance.
Lin Qian commanded, “Turn to starboard, lower sails, port side to the enemy!”
Chen Jiao shouted the order, “Turn to starboard, lower sails, port side to the enemy!”
The galleon gradually turned sideways, positioning itself directly in front of the harbor. The starboard gunports opened, revealing dark muzzles.
In the Guantang Mountain harbor, the pirates looked at the turning galleon with confusion.
The sea bandits had never witnessed firearms being fired from two to three hundred paces away.
“Big Brother, what does the official army intend?”
“I don’t know…”
Before the words were finished, they were drowned out by the thunderous roar of cannon fire.
The port side of the galleon erupted in white smoke, and columns of water shot up around the harbor.
As the water columns fell, it was like a heavy rain.
Soon, another volley of cannon fire struck.
In the harbor, a Haicang ship was hit by a cannonball. Its hull was immediately blown to smithereens. The solid iron shot continued its trajectory, tearing apart the two ships docked behind it.
Splinters of wood and chunks of flesh flew everywhere, like rain, pattering into the sea.
The pirates, as if waking from a dream, quickly boarded their ships, preparing to meet the enemy.
The bandit leader Li Zhong drew his saber and strode to the bow of his ship, pointing at the galleon.
The surrounding sea bandits drew their swords, their morale high, shouting and charging towards the Santa Ana.
In Li Zhong’s view, the official army had only one gunboat, and their aim was inaccurate. As long as they could get close enough for boarding, they would surely win.
On the stern deck, Lin Qian was slightly surprised by the ferocity of these pirates. At this moment, the soldiers of the Great Ming garrison would most likely have fled.
However, with the pirates charging, it suited his purpose perfectly.
Since they were to be scapegoats, Lin Qian had no intention of leaving any survivors. He calmly ordered, “Hoist sails, heading due west.”
Chen Jiao: “Hoist sails, heading due west.”
At this time, a strong northwesterly wind was blowing on the sea. As the Santa Ana sailed due west, the pirates would have to chase them to the northwest.
Li Kuiqi had suffered from being downwind; now it was Li Zhong’s turn.
The Santa Ana’s speed was very fast. Li Zhong’s fleet sailed in a zigzag pattern, their course almost entirely within the galleon’s firing range, making them virtually moving targets on the sea.
The Santa Ana’s cannonballs were fired endlessly, as if they were free.
Even the rope men on the mast were covered in the smell of sulfur.
After five rounds of bombardment, the pirate fleet finally devised a plan, scattering their remaining twenty-odd ships on the sea.
Lin Qian, having just completed a major operation and being flush with cash, did not care about ammunition consumption. Even though the enemy ships were scattered, he continued to bombard them.
After another ten rounds of bombardment, three enemy ships were reduced to splinters.
The remaining pirate ships scattered and fled, only to find themselves entangled by several bird ships.
The bird ships did not approach, maintaining a distance of over ten paces, and fired muskets and crossbows.
The bird ships were fast, and the pirates could not escape for a while. Over a thousand paces of sea surface were chased, resulting in heavy casualties. They could only surrender one ship after another.
Not a single sea vessel on the entire island escaped.
Lin Qian ordered all captives to be taken to the island, and the bodies to be salvaged.
This whole ordeal took longer than the actual battle. Finally, before dinner, the captives were all bound together and made to kneel on the beach.
“There are twenty-three captives in total!” Lu Zhou reported loudly to Lin Qian after counting.
In front of the captives lay over thirty wet corpses, which were the floating bodies that had been salvaged with great difficulty.
The other corpses had been shattered into pieces by cannons and could not be salvaged.
Lin Qian ordered the captives to identify Li Zhong among the bodies.
The captives all looked towards a corpse lying on the ground.
The corpse was indeed of a tall, medium-built man. His appearance was ordinary and unremarkable, bearing no resemblance to the portrait on the wanted poster.
Lin Qian leaned closer to look. The man had been shot in the back with an arrow and in the chest with a musket ball, and was undeniably dead.
The corpse wore a jade Buddha pendant on its chest, which was quite precious, suggesting a high status.
According to Li Zhong’s subordinates, Li Zhong’s weapon was inlaid with emeralds, but they had fallen into the sea and could not be used to prove his identity.
It did not matter. Lin Qian had people retrieve some valuable jewelry and ornaments from the cabin and placed them into Li Zhong’s embrace.
These ornaments had been looted from the Lin Mansion, serving as “caught red-handed” evidence to solidify the case against Li Zhong.
“Helmsman, what about the captives?” Lu Zhou asked.
The island lacked manpower, and these captives would have been excellent laborers. Unfortunately, with only thirty-odd bodies, the numbers were far from sufficient. Their heads would have to suffice.
“Decapitate them.”
…
While Lin Qian was eradicating Li Zhong.
Another group of pirates on Shuangyu Island in Zhejiang also met their doom.
Amidst raging flames, Zhao Ba twisted the arms of the Shuangyu ship master and brought him forward.
The Commander of Haimen Guard looked up and assessed the man before him. He was short, thin, with unsharp eyes and no sign of ferocity. His appearance was far from that of the bandit leader described by the Lin Mansion.
However, in his hands, even the fiercest bandit would become putty; if he said it was him, it was him, even if it wasn’t.
“Are you the Shuangyu ship master?” the Commander asked coldly, speaking in the Official Language.
The Shuangyu ship master cracked a bloody smile, “Your Lordship may call me Sun Er. Sun Er did not recognize your eminence and has offended you. If Your Lordship could spare my life, I…” Ah—.”
Zhao Ba twisted his arm upwards. Sun Er’s shoulders cracked, and his face pressed into the ground. He cried out in pain, tears and snot streaming down his face.
“Answer what the General asks,” Zhao Ba said sternly.
“Yes, yes!” Sun Er quickly agreed.
“Lift your head,” the Commander said.
Zhao Ba relaxed his grip, and Sun Er looked up, meeting the Commander’s fiendish gaze.
“Did you break the River Blocking Rope of the Haimen Guard?”
“Ah?” Sun Er was utterly astonished.
Before he could answer, the Commander asked again, “Did you raid the Lin Mansion in Huangyan?”
“General, what are you talking about?” Sun Er trembled, feeling a profound injustice.
“Lin Jiren and Lin Zhili are missing. Did you kill them?” The Commander’s voice grew colder.
Sun Er’s face turned red with agitation, “General, I don’t even know these two people!”
The Commander smiled, “You’re from Jiangxi and Zhejiang, aren’t you?”
Sun Er was terrified, wishing he could tear out his own heart and lungs to prove his innocence. He dared not lie, “My ancestral home is Ningbo.”
The Commander: “You speak the Official Language well, but your accent cannot be hidden. Take him away.”
Sun Er repeatedly cried out his innocence.
The Commander knew there were differences between Ningbo and Taizhou accents, but he didn’t care.
The man was caught. As long as a confession could be extracted, the case would be ironclad!
…
After several more days of sailing, Nan’ao Island came into view, and the crew members were excited.
Lin Qian ordered the fleet to pass Shen’ao Port and dock at Houjiang Bay pier.
Only one bird ship sailed towards Shen’ao Port.
After the bird ship docked, the crew carried a fishing net from the cabin. The net contained dozens of salt-preserved human heads. They walked towards the General’s manor.
Huang Hetai heard the news and immediately came out of his manor to welcome them. Seeing the heads, his heart sank, and he quickly asked, “Navigator Bai, what is the meaning of this?”
Bai Langzai had his crew place the heads down and said, “This is a gift from the Helmsman for you.”
He then picked up a wooden stick, searched among the heads, and revealed a complete corpse.
“This is Li Zhong, a sea bandit from the Fujian sea. He just committed a crime in Zhejiang and was intercepted by Garrison Commander Huang on his way south. Congratulations.”
Huang Hetai hesitated, “I just submitted my Report of Merit for killing Li Kuiqi not long ago. Now I’ve killed another pirate leader. With my thousand or so old and weak soldiers…”
Bai Langzai interrupted him, “The Helmsman said that you are an old hand and will find a way to explain it.”
Huang Hetai could only smile bitterly.
The crew members from the bird ship made another trip, bringing a box. When opened, it contained jewelry, ornaments, and scattered silver.
These were all items that were not very valuable or difficult to convert to cash.
Bai Langzai explained, “These are the evidence of Li Zhong’s crimes. They can be presented together. Later, the Helmsman will also send some broken ships, which will also count as your spoils of war.”
Huang Hetai smiled bitterly and cupped his hands, “The Helmsman thinks of everything.”
“Mm,” Bai Langzai said, turned, and took two steps before adding, “By the way, the Helmsman invites you to a banquet on the Santa Ana in three days.”
A Hongmen Banquet? Huang Hetai felt a chill in his heart and pondered how to refuse.
Bai Langzai added, “The Helmsman also said to not worry, it is not a Hongmen Banquet.”
Huang Hetai’s face stiffened, then he forced a laugh, “Hahaha, the Helmsman is joking. Even if it were a Hongmen Banquet, I would willingly go.”
…
Three days later, dusk.
At Houjiang Bay harbor, several fishing boats could be seen returning from afar.
After docking, fishermen emerged from the cabins, calling for help to unload the cargo.
Soon, boxes of fish catch were being carried out of the fishing boats. The fish were very lively, constantly jumping in the boxes.
Occasionally, a strong one would jump out of the box, slap a stevedore, and then fall into the sea beside the pier, regaining its freedom.
Five large oil pots had been set up on the beach. The lard in them was already boiling hot, constantly emitting sizzling smoke.
Lei Sanxiang had been waiting impatiently.
A stevedore carried over a box of fish catch. Lei Sanxiang eagerly grabbed one, lifted it by its gills. The fish struggled, its tail wagging, splashing water onto Lei Sanxiang’s arms and face.
The fish had a silvery-white back and a golden belly, shaped like a water droplet, with plump flesh. It was a wild Yellow Croaker from the Fujian-Guangdong sea.
“Good, this one is large and lively. Let’s fry it first!” Lei Sanxiang said, throwing the fish onto the cutting board and stunning it with a blow from his club.
“Old Chen, I don’t know how to clean fish. You handle the rest.”
Chen Bo replied, “Alright.”
As soon as he spoke, Chen Bo took out a sharp knife, wiped it with seawater, and then scraped the fish’s body. In an instant, scales flew off. In two or three strokes, one side was cleaned, and then he flipped it over to clean the other side.
After cleaning the scales, Chen Bo held the fish with one hand, scraped off the scales on the cutting board with the knife, and rinsed the knife with seawater.
He then placed the fish back on the cutting board, removed the gills, split the fish in half with a knife, flicked off the entrails with the blade, and removed the roe.
He rinsed the fish meat with seawater, placed it back on the cutting board, scored both sides, and marinated it in a basin.
Chen Bo’s fish-cleaning movements were as fluid as flowing water, extremely captivating to watch, earning continuous praise from Lei Sanxiang.
Chen Bo modestly replied with a face full of pride.
Half an incense stick later, the Yellow Croaker was marinated. Chen Bo scooped out most of the oil from the iron pot and placed it in a basin beside him, leaving only a thin layer of oil clinging to the pot’s surface.
Lei Sanxiang urged, “Old Chen, don’t be stingy with the oil. The Helmsman said we can use as much oil and fish as we want today!”
Chen Bo smiled mysteriously and said, “The oil-fried small Yellow Croaker that the Navigator mentioned is simple to make. This is a large Yellow Croaker, not suitable for frying. I’m making pan-seared.”
Lei Sanxiang stared at Chen Bo suspiciously.
When the oil temperature was just right, Chen Bo grabbed the tail of the Yellow Croaker and slid it into the pot.
“Sizzle!”
A puff of white smoke rose.
Chen Bo wet a towel, placed it under his hand to grip the pot handle, and with a slight exertion of force, the Yellow Croaker rotated back and forth in the pot. With a flip of the spatula, the entire Yellow Croaker turned over in the pot.
Another sizzling sound erupted. The aroma of the fish and oil mingled, making one’s mouth water.
Lei Sanxiang stared intently at the pot, his nose twitching, wishing he could shove his entire face into it.
“It’s that smell! Exactly! That’s the smell from that night! Old Chen, you scoundrel, you’re actually such a good cook!”
Chen Bo beamed with praise, “Usually on the ship, sometimes we have to fight, sometimes we lack oil and food, and we can’t use strong fire, so my skills as Old Chen can’t be shown!
Today, the Helmsman is hosting this Yellow Croaker feast, and I must let you sailors get a good look!”
Lei Sanxiang nodded repeatedly, “We’ve seen it! Truly, one cannot judge a book by its cover. Old Chen, your fish is better than what they serve in the restaurants back home!”
The aroma of the fish attracted many crew members to gather around, greedily inhaling the fragrance.
They drew all the oil smoke into their lungs, none escaping.
Someone said, “Chen Bo, make them all like this, pan-sear all these fish!”
“Sizzle!”
Chen Bo flipped the pot again and said with a smile, “That won’t do. Different ingredients require different methods. For example, Yellow Croakers are divided into large and small ones. Large ones can be pan-seared like this, while small ones are better for deep-frying.
Moreover, since the Helmsman is hosting a banquet today, and it’s called the Yellow Croaker Feast, there shouldn’t only be frying and searing. Braising and steaming are also necessary. The roe can even be used to make soup. I guarantee everyone will have a different dish!”
“Sizzle!”
As Chen Bo finished speaking, he flipped the pot again.
The surrounding crew members cheered.
Someone said, “Chen Bo, when I ate your insect cakes on the Guangdong sea, I thought you could only start a fire. I didn’t expect you to have such skills.”
Chen Bo said with a touch of sadness, “Nonsense! Before I came aboard, I was a head chef in a restaurant! If it weren’t for the Donation Money… Forget it, today is a happy occasion, let’s not mention it!”
“Sizzle!”
Everyone sniffed the air intensely.
Chen Bo cursed with a smile, “If you’re so impatient, go help clean the fish over there!”
At this time, fishing boats were still unloading fish. Fresh small Yellow Croakers were jumping continuously.
“Alright!” The crowd responded and rushed to clean the fish.
Lin Qian stood on the pier’s pier, looking at the boxes of Yellow Croakers being unloaded, feeling slightly surprised.
In this era, fishing by casting nets depended entirely on luck. Catching a whole boatload of Yellow Croakers was rare, far beyond mere good fortune.
“Da Bing!” Lin Qian called the boatman over.
“Helmsman, you called for me?” Da Bing wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel and ran over.
Lin Qian asked with concern, “Are you getting used to the fishing boats?”
Da Bing gave a thumbs up, “The boats rewarded by the Helmsman are naturally top-notch. These boats, out at sea, wherever we cast our nets, we get…”
It was evident that Da Bing genuinely loved fishing. As soon as Lin Qian started the conversation, he could talk endlessly.
Lin Qian looked towards the fishing boat’s cabin. It was still piled high with Yellow Croakers. A stevedore stood inside the cabin, loading fish into boxes, one box after another.
Among them were large Yellow Croakers, two to three feet long and weighing about ten pounds.
To know that large Yellow Croakers of this weight and quality are extremely rare in later generations, one could sell for a hundred thousand.
In this era, they were piled into the cabin as if they were free, and no one cared if a few accidentally fell into the sea.
Lin Qian couldn’t help but sigh at the sheer abundance of Great Ming’s resources.
“They were caught using the Knocking Net Method, right?”
Da Bing paused slightly, then replied with surprise, “Helmsman, you know about the Knocking Net Method?”
Da Bing was momentarily stunned, then said with surprise: “Helmsman, you know the Knocking Net Method?”
