Becoming a God from a Water Monkey

Chapter 526: Hit the Nest
"So hot."

Liang Qu carried a longbow across his shoulder and a spear on his back. He was blinded by the scorching white light.

The plum blossom season has ended in Pingyang Prefecture. The gray sky has dissipated and no one dares to look up to see where the sun is. There is only white flashes everywhere.

The bluestone was graying due to the sun, the moss in the corners turned yellow, and a faint burnt smell evaporated from the cracks.

"Don't be in a daze, let's go!" Xiang Fangsu patted the scabbard and shouted, "Yinbin is waiting on the boat. We will lead the team in July. The sooner we go, the sooner we will come back."

"How long does it take for us to go out on the boat?"

Liang Qu followed the two men out. After his shoes stepped on the stone slabs for a few steps, the scorching fire burned through the soft soles to the soles of his feet.

"Half a month, twenty days, what? Do you have something to do?"

"I have to go to Huazhu County in late August. The newly appointed County Magistrate Liu Wennian invited me to be the chief priest. The invitation also included a silver note of three hundred taels, saying it was for travel expenses."

"Be the chief priest!? And there are travel expenses?" Xiang Fangsu was shocked.

"Why else would I bother making this trip?"

"..."

Liang Qu's self-righteousness made Xiang Fangsu fall silent.

Why does he have to pay for being a priest?

"It depends on the catch, the supplies, and the weather. We'll come back early if the catch is full, early if the supplies are insufficient, and early if the weather is bad. In any case, it won't take more than a month." Ke Wenbin opened his shirt, revealing his half-exposed chest. "What bad luck, we have to take the sunniest day of the year. If I had known earlier, I should have tried to grab the trip in April."

"Who would have thought that May and June would be so busy? If there were two suns in two days, life would be even more miserable."

"Hey! What are you three talking about? I want you to get on the bed, can you please hurry up?"

Bai Yinbin stood at the bow and shouted.

"I'm coming!"

"A Shui, have all your dragon subordinates arrived? Two signal guns, good divers, you need to bring them with you."

"I've called you, knock on the door and I'll give the order."

Liang Qu jumped onto the deck in a few leaps.

A cursory sweep.

There were a total of twenty-one large ships that were more than ten feet long, including ten silk-carrying ships, six wide-bellied square arks, and five warships.

The Ganzeng boat is a large Fujian ship, similar to Liangqu's vessel. It can be used as a warship, for fishing and transporting wood. It has flexible uses and is equipped with an average of more than 20 sailors and boatmen and 50 marines.

The Broadbelly Ark is the largest in size and is specifically used to transport and store precious fish, but the number of crew members is basically halved compared to the silk-carrying ship.

Needless to say, the warships were also operated by Liang Qu and others, and the number of sailors and marines increased to a hundred.

The Jianghuai Marsh is fraught with danger. Bundles of Xuanshui spears are sent to the warships, shining with cold light.

In addition to these twenty-one large ships, there were more than a hundred shuttle boats swarming around to fill the gaps between the ships, drifting with the waves, colliding with them, and after inspection, dragging them onto the deck one by one.

A fairly large fishing fleet.

Xiang Fangsu counted the supplies, Ke Wenbin inspected the ships, Bai Yinbin reviewed the weapons, and Liang Qu was responsible for roll call.

A quarter of an hour.

The total number of people in Longping River and Longping River.

After confirmation from multiple aspects, the soldier waved the command flag and the large ship slid out of the dock.

The fleet broke through the waves, sailed out of the dock in a mighty manner, and headed towards the vast lake.

Liang Qu stepped onto the deck. He was truly a countryman coming to the city. It was his first time seeing such a large-scale fishing for precious fish. Everything he saw was new to him, so he specially called the field clerk to explain the inside story to him.

What tricks can the government use to catch the precious fish?

The Hengshui envoy made a request, and the field chief clerk was very enthusiastic. He opened the wooden box and took out the small red pills inside like feed, which gave off a strong fishy smell.

"Look, sir. These are cold-blooded rooster balls, made from flying dragon blood that has been dried and ground three times, mixed with a variety of ingredients, specifically to attract carnivorous treasure fish.

"One as big as a human eyeball is worth dozens of copper coins! Once you find the traces of a school of fish, you have to dump hundreds of them down, and it costs more than ten taels of silver!"

"And this." The field clerk opened another box, which was full of yellow pills. "This is called..."

The entire cabin was filled with wooden boxes piled high, all filled with bait for nesting.

Worth a fortune.

Liang Qu wondered: "There are more than 1,400 people, most of whom are warriors. With all the food, drink, and defecation, plus so much feed, can they bring back a suitable harvest after being out for ten days or half a month?" The field chief was eager for Liang Qu to ask more questions.

Everyone in the Hebo Office knows now that if they can’t please Xu Yuelong, they have to please Liang Ashui!
The grandson is his disciple, and the governor is his uncle.

No matter how capable Duke Xu is, he is far away in the imperial capital and has nothing to do with the government. Can he be better than the current Shuihe Governor or the King of Yue next door?
After a moment's hesitation and making up his mind, the field clerk began to speak eloquently.

"Pingyang River Port was established only a little over a year ago. It is normal that you are not aware of it. There are three difficulties for ordinary people to catch precious fish: first, they don't have the means; second, they don't have good nets; and third, they don't have a large scale.

You can see the means, sir. One pill costs dozens of copper coins, at least a hundred pills. Ordinary people cannot afford this cost. There is no need to say more about the good network.

Many times, it’s not that we can’t catch them, but that the fish get into the net and then, relying on their great strength, get out.”

Liang Qu nodded silently.

Fishermen's fishing nets, made of coarse cloth and linen.

Hemp fiber swells easily when it absorbs water and rots easily when wet, so the fishing nets must be used for three days and dried in the sun for two days to extend their life.

"What about third?"

"As for the third scale, I personally think it is the most important point. It refers to both the fishermen and the caught precious fish. It is even closely related to the size of the prefecture."

"Why?"

“A truly high-value precious fish costs hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of taels. It’s a big profit, but it’s not easy to make.

After one trip, I can't expect to earn ten thousand taels, but I'd be lucky if I could catch two or three fish worth a few thousand taels.

So our target has never been them, but the schooling treasure fish! I wonder if you have heard of the South China Sea krill?"

"I heard."

"Collective fish can be found in the depths of the marshes, with hundreds and sometimes thousands of them. However, every inch has its own strengths and weaknesses.

They are numerous, reproduce quickly, and their quality is generally poor. They are even inferior to the red blood bass and grouper, which are the most common in shallow waters!

But it’s like the krill in the sea. A single one may not be worth mentioning, but when there are a large number of them, the whale salamander that makes waves like thunder and sprays foam like rain can also eat them to its full!

The disadvantage is that most martial artists who have reached the middle level of the Running Horse look down upon this type of precious fish because the returns are too low.

Moreover, ordinary precious fish have sufficient spiritual power and can survive for two or three months when trapped in one place, after which they will slowly lose their spiritual power.

The clustered treasure fish are inherently weak and will start to disappear in less than a month. They will turn into ordinary fish within ten days, and the effect of eating them is almost zero.

Fishing is time-consuming and laborious, taking half a month at most. Once the precious fish are pulled back to the shore, they have to be sold nearby. If the city is not big and there are not enough warriors, they naturally cannot be consumed.

Sir Liang, I wonder if I have made myself clear?"

The field clerk bowed slightly and observed carefully.

"Well said."

Liang Qu threw out a small ingot.

The field clerk happily accepted it and asked, "My Lord, is there anything else you want to ask me?"

"Gone."

The chief clerk paused and looked at the surrounding wooden boxes and the soldiers guarding the door.

"Master Liang, in the cabin..."

"I understand. There must be at least three people present. Otherwise, you are not allowed to stay alone."

Liang Qu stepped out of the door.

Two days passed.

The fleet had a smooth journey, and the skilled ducklings went into the water all the way to search for traces of fish, and they had a harvest in less than half a day.

The ten silk-carrying boats dispersed one after another, lowering more than a hundred net-shuttle boats to form a large circle.

The net shuttle boat is shaped like a shuttle, with a bamboo mast and a wooden sail. Three people stand side by side in it. The draft is only seven or eight inches deep. Two boats each pull one net.

Crash.

A large number of red pills were poured into the water, creating dense foam.

The fishy smell is diffuse.

Liang Qu reached his hand into the water and clearly felt many large fish turning into tornadoes and swimming towards him!

(End of this chapter)