Xianyu Infrastructure, I have a lot of troops in my hands

Pingcheng Wharf is located in a fjord and is a large natural harbor where the Huai and Ying rivers meet.

As the morning light breaks, the dock is bustling with people, large and small fishing boats are scattered around, interweaving with the cargo ships to create a busy scene.

The loading and unloading goods piled up like mountains, and the porters were sweating profusely, carrying heavy objects on their shoulders and in their hands, and moving around.

The figure of the local tyrant Zhang Chong was particularly conspicuous. He was wearing an emerald green shirt, sitting on a stool, waving a palm-leaf fan in his hand, with an irritated look on his face. He was out of tune with the ragged fishermen around him.

The scale in front of Zhang Chong went up and down, weighing baskets of fish. These were the catches that fishermen from various places had caught this morning using net boats, sampans, and other boats.

It is autumn now, and the river fish are fat and delicious. There are some gentlemen in the city who like to eat them. His family has some connections, so he gathered a few thugs nearby and started a business of collecting and selling fish.

In the past, the price given was quite low, but the fishermen worked hard. If they wanted to buy fish into the city, they could either sell them to Zhang Chong or pay the entrance fee to set up a stall themselves. Unless they met wealthy people or restaurant owners in the city who would come to the dock to buy fresh fish, most fishermen could only put up with Zhang Chong, the fishing tyrant, and let him exploit them.

But in the past half month, the price of fish has doubled, and almost all the catches from the surrounding area pass through his hands.

It was all because the county magistrate ordered to collect more fish to fill the food gap in the city, but there were only so many fishermen begging for food on the river, and the daily catch was limited. Where could he find extra fish to fill the gap?

Haven't you seen several restaurant owners in the city fighting over each other these days just to get more goods from him? The usually arrogant owners and stewards have lowered themselves to make friends with a little boy like him.

He was anxious, and since the county magistrate was watching the matter, he did not dare to neglect it.

While everyone was busy, three huge ships slowly came into view, and their appearance caused quite a stir. The sails on the ships were bulging, there were shadowy figures on the decks, and the objects towed at the stern made the people on the shore even more curious.

"What's that? What's that being towed behind the big ship?" someone in the crowd asked puzzledly.

"Oh, I see clearly, it's a net, so many fish!" Another sharp-eyed person exclaimed, and the dock came to a brief pause because of these three ships.

The ship was too big and the net was deep in the water, making it difficult to enter the harbor, so it stopped far away.

Zhang Chong narrowed his eyes when he heard the voice, and quickly calculated in his mind: "If I can get a catch of this size, I will make a fortune in no time."

He quickly stood up and walked quickly towards the dock, wanting to take a closer look.

Amidst the shouting and cursing, he finally squeezed to the front under the leadership of his younger brother.

When we got closer, we found that the three large ships, with five or six ropes, were pulling a huge fishing net towards us with great effort.

"Make way, make way. This catch is reserved for our Master Zhang. Get out of the way." The younger brothers around him knew that he had been worried about the past few days, so seeing such a big catch, they naturally gave Zhang Chong enough face.

Zhang Chong looked at the trawl with pride, the greed in his eyes undisguised.

Everyone on the shore fell silent, as no one spoke due to his past tyranny.

Just as Zhang Chong was making his wishful thinking, Si Ji's voice rang out from the boat, loud and powerful: "Everyone, we have a lot of fish on this boat that needs to be processed urgently. We are willing to pay a high price to hire someone, thirty dollars a day!"

As soon as these words were spoken, it was like throwing a huge rock into the calm water, causing a thousand waves.

In the past, even if you worked hard all night, you might not be able to sell the fish for this much money. Fishermen and porters began to push forward, and the crowd was excited. For such a good thing, no one was willing to give up.

"Thirty dollars a day? This is a rare opportunity, I'll go!" a fisherman shouted excitedly, then squeezed into the crowd and ran towards the big ship.

"How can we miss such a good thing?" Another laborer followed closely behind, afraid of being left behind. He didn't have to work hard to move the goods, he just had to cast the net to catch the fish. He had been moving fish at the dock for many years, and he was very skilled in sorting the catch. Everyone rushed forward, and no one cared about Zhang Chong at this time.

Zhang Chong saw this and shouted: "That's mine, hey - don't push, don't..."

With a splash, several people fell into the water. Those who could swim swam towards the big boat, fearing that they would miss out on getting a spot if they were a step slower.

Niu Er poked his head out of the boat and asked in confusion, "Huh? Did you hear that? Someone just said they were going to collect the fish. Where are the people?"

Zhang Chong: ...Gurgle

When we got closer, we found that the net was really big. The fishermen and porters pulled the ropes and struggled forward in the shallows. They found a suitable shallow pit on the shore and used the winch to pull the trawl net closer.

Everyone worked together to pull the huge trawl net, just like a sleeping dragon being slowly awakened. As the net rope was dragged ashore bit by bit, the fish in the net also emerged, first a few silver-scaled fish were entangled in the net rope, the small one was two feet long, and the big one was ten feet long.

"Wow, look, that's the Huai King, the long-tailed catfish. This one costs one tael of silver per catty." It was estimated that this Huai King fish, which was more than two feet long, might weigh about four or five catties.

"And more, look, there are knifefish and horse mackerel, they are so big! The net is deep, it must be almost to the bottom of the river." Everyone's faces were excited, more excited than if they had caught the fish themselves.

After all, it was rare to see so many fish at once. When the net was opened, they began to scoop up the fish with bamboo baskets. Without Siji saying anything, everyone started sorting the fish on the shore. The old man selling bamboo baskets nearby was laughing happily.

All kinds of fish jumped in the net, their silver scales sparkling. There were so many of them that they almost overflowed from the net bag. They were crowded together, causing the crowd watching to exclaim in surprise.

"My goodness, the fish in this net are probably enough to feed Pingcheng for a month!" exclaimed an old fisherman nearby.

"That's a lot! I'm afraid I can't catch so many fish in a year!" another young man echoed, his eyes full of envy.

Just as everyone was immersed in shock, Zhang Chong, who had been so arrogant before, wiped the water off his face, twisted his silk clothes, put on a flattering smile, squeezed in front of Si Ji and others, and said in a flattering tone: "My fellow soldiers, this catch is really rare. I, Zhang Chong, am willing to pay a high price. What do you think?"

Si Ji looked him up and down and said slowly, "My brother, my master has his own plans for this catch."

Seeing the disappointment on his face, she added: "With such a large catch, of course we have to sell a portion of it." According to the lady, it depends on who can afford the price.

The lady said that food is a scarce commodity now and this is a big order.

In modern times, the more you buy, the cheaper it is, and sometimes you get gifts. But in ancient times it was just the opposite: the more you buy, the more expensive it is, and production and transportation are quite limited.

Most people were tied to the land, and the small peasant economy greatly restricted the development of commerce.

Only a gradual transition to a more centralized and efficient form of agricultural production can bring about change.

Xie Xian looked at the bustling crowd and curled her lips.