The sunbeams fell upon the nine ridges, within the official residence of Xiapi City, with its towering double-eaved grandeur.
A group of merchants, bowing their bodies with smiles plastered on their faces, stood before Chen Deng.
However, Chen Deng held a scroll in his hand, engrossed in reading, completely ignoring them…
Cough, cough…
With a soft cough, one person emerged from the group of merchants. Who else could it be but Zhao, the wealthiest merchant in Xuzhou today?
“Haha!”
After an awkward smile, Manager Zhao softly uttered:
“Since the Zhuge family, Lu family, and Mi family successively moved out of Xuzhou, we merchants have united to support Governor Chen. The current prosperity of Xuzhou is naturally inseparable from Governor Chen’s governance, but we merchants have also contributed our humble efforts!
“Today, we come with an unsolicited request. We hope Governor Chen can introduce us to Minister Lu! Let us pay our respects and offer tribute to this great Buddha, shall we? Ah… haha…”
A face full of smiles…
This is the nature of merchants. No matter how wealthy or well-off, before officials, they remain the most humble.
Yet, under heaven… these most humble ones hold the most grain in the Han Dynasty!
Furthermore, wishing to climb onto Lu Yu’s grand tree, the merchants exerted themselves to the utmost in flattery.
“Are you finished?” Chen Deng asked casually, without closing his book.
This…
Manager Zhao and the other merchants exchanged glances, then tapped their foreheads. “If it is difficult, then… at least allow us to visit Commander Cheng? For the sake of… our friendship with Governor Chen!”
Then, with smiling faces, they continued to beg for introductions…
However, Chen Deng responded coldly to their fervent kowtowing, “This is an official residence. Do not come here with such unintentional actions.”
As soon words left his mouth…
“Governor Chen, Governor Chen…” the merchants cried out urgently.
Chen Deng, however, put down his scroll, walked to the door, waved his hand, and ordered the guards, “I am resigning. Idle people are not allowed here!”
With a flick of his sleeve, the guards, having received the order, stepped forward and directly led the group of merchants out.
“Please, Governor Chen, introduce us… please, Governor Chen, introduce us!”
The merchants’ pleas echoed through the corridors…
However, Chen Deng completely disregarded them.
He was the leader of the famous scholar faction in Xuzhou, while most of these merchants belonged to the commoner faction. As for the gentry, many were from the Danyang faction. Strictly speaking, the relationship between the famous scholar faction and the commoner faction, and the Danyang faction was not deep!
Furthermore…
The intentions of these merchants were known to all passersby, and how could Chen Deng not be aware of them?
The profits from the lottery had completely exceeded original expectations and imagination…
What’s more, Cheng Yu had successively introduced new gameplay – “Pick Three” and “Pick Five,” increasing the chances of winning and the number of participants!
Cheng Yu had even proposed widely promoting “Welfare Lottery” throughout Xuzhou!
It is worth noting…
Unlike later eras, in this period, the lottery drawing numbers for each region were independent, and there was no need for communication. It was only necessary to train a group of officials to follow the example of Xiapi City and promote it to other prefectures.
And the most crucial aspect in this process was… the support of the local government!
If Xiapi City was a pilot for Xuzhou, then… the entire Xuzhou was a pilot for the Central Plains!
Moreover, under Lu Yu’s instructions, Cheng Yu directly established a new administrative office in Xiapi City, named – Welfare Lottery Center!
Directly overseen by the Grand Minister of the Han Dynasty, with financial guarantees from the Han Ministry of Agriculture!
It was precisely due to the leaks of this news that all merchants and gentry in Xiapi City, and even in Xuzhou, became restless, wanting to visit Lu Yu and Cheng Yu…
Who couldn’t see that the “Han Dynasty Welfare Lottery” was poised for great expansion and strengthening…
At such a time, whoever could cooperate with it would make a fortune and attach themselves to a powerful patron!
However…
Things did not go as planned. Not only was visiting Minister Lu impossible, but even visiting Commander Cheng now seemed extremely difficult.
As evening approached, the setting sun cast its rays on the mottled walls of the official residence. After waiting the entire day, they had not seen Commander Cheng… The merchants shook their heads, feeling as if they had missed out on a fortune!
But… not a single person left. They all hoped for the day when Commander Cheng would emerge from this yamen. Without an introduction, then… they could only wait!
The sun had already set, and the twilight clouds glowed. These merchants still lingered at the gates of the government office, waiting. The guard who had gone in to report came out, their eyes lit up, and they crowded forward, only to hear the guard say with a dazed expression.
“Governor Chen is not seeing anyone, and Commander Cheng is also not seeing anyone. You should all go back…”
Manager Zhao was not resigned. “Please, brother, announce us again. Say that we have important matters to request an audience!”
As he spoke, Manager Zhao did not forget to hand a string of wuzhu coins to the guard. However, the guard quickly waved his hands. “It’s not that I don’t want your money, sirs, but… do you think this is a restaurant where you can come and go as you please?”
“Lately, because of this Han Dynasty Welfare Lottery, how many princes and nobles, and descendants of famous families want to get involved? Hurry, hurry, hurry and leave! Who comes to visit? Aren’t they more distinguished than you?”
This was truly disheartening!
Manager Zhao was helpless. He turned his head, his face dejected. The merchants who followed his lead immediately surrounded him.
“What… what should we do now?”
Yes!
What should they do? Could it be that this time, the “Welfare Lottery” would again benefit the famous scholar faction of Xuzhou! And the Danyang faction!
Their commoner faction, now… aside from money, has nothing else. Must they also be surpassed by the famous scholar faction of Xuzhou and the Danyang faction in terms of money?
“Brother Zhao, you… you think of a plan!”
“What plan can there be…” Manager Zhao shook his head helplessly. “The only way now is… to go… to Donghai. Several days ago, Minister Lu arrived in Donghai Prefecture. Since no one will introduce us, and we cannot see Commander Cheng, we can only… only resort to this desperate measure, treating a dying horse as if it were alive!”
As the saying goes, with fifty percent profit, capital dares to take risks!
With one hundred percent profit, capital tramples on all human laws…
Now, seeing that the welfare lottery promised several times the profit, for these merchants, a trip to Donghai, even if it were a hundred thousand li away, they would go to pay their respects to Minister Lu himself!
“I’ll go… to Donghai!”
“I’ll go too…”
“And me…”
In an instant, a deafening roar erupted outside the yamen. It seemed that these merchants were determined to see Lu Yu and participate in this great cause of the Han Dynasty Welfare Lottery!
However…
Were they the only ones in Xiapi City with such thoughts?
Without exaggeration, the great sale of the welfare lottery had greatly pleased all the merchants of Xuzhou. Currently, merchants from the six prefectures of Xuzhou were all rushing towards Donghai Prefecture…
Carrying hope, and carrying dreams!
Of course…
At this moment, Lu Yu was also pursuing his dreams, conquering the ocean!
…
…
Xuzhou, Donghai Prefecture, by the Seaport!
The emerald green sea surface was as soft as silk, rippling with waves. Seen from above, it was vast and boundless, stretching as far as the eye could see.
At this moment, Lu Yu was here…
Before him were several massive楼船 (lou chuan - tower ships). Speaking of tower ships, they originated from the Yue State during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, where the Yue State had a special楼船 (lou chuan) fleet!
However, they first appeared in actual large-scale battles in the Wu State. In the second year of King Liao of Wu, during the "Battle of Chang'an" between Wu and Chu, the Wu State first used the large tower ship "Yu Huang" as its command ship.
From then on, tower ships became the main warships in naval battles… especially in the Western Han Dynasty. During Emperor Wu of Han’s campaigns to conquer Nanyue and Wei Man’s “Chaoxian” (Korea), tower ships played an important role!
Donghai Prefecture in Xuzhou is adjacent to the sea.
Therefore, the former Han Dynasty navy still had a few of these massive tower ships stationed here. Lu Yu did not expect that… Marquis Cheng and others had specifically found these tower ships, showing great attentiveness!
Lu Yu gazed at the tower ships before him. Although they were also called tower ships, Lu Yu knew that they were fundamentally different from the tower ships of Eastern Wu!
These ships had at most three stories and could carry a maximum of over three hundred people…
But the famous tower ships of Eastern Wu, such as “Fei Yun” and “Gai Hai,” all had five stories, and each could carry over three thousand people.
It was said that Liu Biao’s 艨艟 (meng chong - ancient warship) were invincible in the world at that time, but only Lu Yu knew that these 艨艟 (meng chong) warships were no match for Eastern Wu’s naval battles…
Eastern Wu’s naval warfare was strongest in the coordinated efforts between large tower ships and smaller vessels.
This point… was not comparable to the 艨艟 (meng chong) warships of Cai Mao, Zhang Yun, Huang Zu, and others!
Getting back to the point…
Although the tower ships before him were not suitable for combat, they were still quite useful for… fishing!
At this moment…
A group of armored soldiers from the Dragon Exaltation Camp, fishermen, and naval personnel were boarding the ships.
In the past few days, Lu Yu had rehearsed and simulated various naval tower ship formations many times! All for this very moment!
Lu Yu and Marquis Cheng and others also personally boarded the tower ships…
The former wanted to witness this great moment firsthand, while the latter were curious…
What was the White Horse Marquis planning with his training of the navy and preparation of tower ships?
After sailing for half a day…
According to clues provided by fishermen, the fleet of large tower ships arrived at a near-shore sea area.
Immediately, small boats were lowered from these large tower ships. Naval personnel and fishermen, following the ropes, respectively boarded the small boats.
Lu Yu also personally disembarked.
He took a deep breath, feeling a little nervous.
This method…
He had seen it in a穿越 (chuan yue - time-travel) novel about the Ming Dynasty on “Qidian Chinese Network” in his previous life.
Simply put, it was to inquire from fishermen about the locations of schools of large yellow croakers, and then to rhythmically tap the sides of the boat with bamboo strips…
“Pa pa pa, pa pa pa…”
Yes, it was this soul-stirring rhythm!
Then, the large yellow croakers would all swim over… and foolishly wait for you to scoop them up!
Of course, at that time, Lu Yu found it quite absurd. After all, in that novel, the protagonist surnamed “Fang” was usually quite brainless. Therefore, Lu Yu specifically checked relevant materials!
He was astonished by what he found.
It was actually true!
The so-called “pa pa pa, pa pa pa…” that is, the method of tapping the boat sides with bamboo strips, had a resounding name – 敲罟捕鱼 (qiao gu bu yu - fishing by striking).
Because fishing boats were made of wood, when a wooden mallet was used to tap, the sound transmitted into the water was very loud, and large yellow croakers, belonging to the Sciaenidae family, had otoliths within their ear membranes. The function of the otoliths was to maintain balance!
By tapping the wooden boat with a wooden mallet, the sound produced resonated with the otoliths in the ear membranes of the large yellow croakers. After large schools of large yellow croakers were stunned or killed by the vibration, they were then harvested.
Simply put, in our view, it was merely using a wooden mallet to strike and produce sound, but to the large yellow croakers, it was like receiving ten thousand points of sonic damage!
Then… no matter how many large yellow croakers there were, they would all be stunned…
And then they would float on the water’s surface, waiting to be caught!
This method of fishing was extremely efficient, and it could not only catch large yellow croakers but also any fish belonging to the Sciaenidae family, such as small yellow croakers and croakers.
Of course…
The consequence of this was that from 1954 to 1974, in just twenty years, large yellow croakers almost became extinct… The resources of large yellow croakers in the East China Sea drastically declined, almost disappearing, with only sporadic catches.
The once cheap large yellow croakers, in just 20 years, were "hammered" into a sky-high price?
It could be said to be a tragedy…
This shows that the so-called “sustainable development” is still a long and arduous journey!
Of course…
Lu Yu had also considered this consequence. If the method of “qiao gu bu yu” was indeed effective, then Lu Yu would need to consider a series of policies to restrict offshore fishing! Even to nationalize the fishing industry!
Only in this way could there be a certain degree of “fishing moratorium” to protect the “Sciaenidae family fish”…
However, the immediate priority was not to consider so much.
Compared to the lives of the East China Sea large yellow croakers, the lives of the six hundred thousand Cao army soldiers were evidently more important. Lu Yu was clear about this!
“Proceed according to the practiced formation…”
Lu Yu stood at the bow of the wooden boat and gave the order. A messenger used flags to issue commands… In an instant, the armored soldiers of the Dragon Exaltation Camp and the naval personnel began their actions.
First, wooden boats were moved to fixed positions… encircling this sea area into a circle!
Immediately after…
“Pa pa, pa pa… pa pa pa!”
Many wooden mallets began to strike the wooden boats simultaneously.
These faint tapping sounds, under the howling tide and sea breeze, were almost quickly… drowned out!
Of course…
This action… Marquis Cheng, Wei Xu, Cheng Lian, Song Xian, and others on the large ships watched with bewildered expressions.
What was this? What were they doing?
They had never seen fishing done like this before, had they?
Did this White Horse Marquis have some misunderstanding about fishing or the fishing industry?
Of course…
These words, the four of them could only swallow them into their stomachs, not daring to speak, nor able to speak…
“Pa pa pa… pa pa pa!”
The familiar and pleasant sound echoed in the ears of every naval soldier, and even some naval soldiers recalled some happy and joyful scenes.
Of course, these happy thoughts flashed by.
More people felt foolish… stupid, like a cucumber!
But… since Young Master Lu had not called to stop, no one dared to stop.
With such tacit understanding, they tapped rhythmically.
At this moment… Lu Yu’s eyes narrowed.
He was still very nervous!
As the saying goes, reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. Indeed, this method was recorded in books, but no one knew how effective it would be in practice!
However… the sea surface was frighteningly calm, which also made Lu Yu’s heart pound!
From the perspective of the Nine Heavens…
At this moment, the fleet, with several tower ships as mother ships and dozens of fishing boats forming a circle, were all striking their boat planks.
This was a formation Lu Yu had specifically practiced in recent days!
This was… the most effective method recorded.
By doing so, the sounds from countless wooden boats would immediately resonate with the two otoliths in the skull of the large yellow croakers, causing the large yellow croakers to instantly faint, giving them no time to react.
“Is it… something wrong?” Lu Yu’s eyes slightly turned… He closed his eyes, as if recalling whether he had remembered something incorrectly or confused it.
Who would have thought…
Just then.
The seawater suddenly turned yellow…
“It’s yellow, it’s yellow!”
“What’s happening…” many people exclaimed.
Everyone discovered that near their wooden boats, the bottom of the boats… had begun to turn yellow.
The yellow tide grew more and more, and beneath the vessels, collisions began to be heard. Hearing this sound, Lu Yu’s heart pounded!
Qiao gu bu yu… it succeeded!
As expected, “Qidian Chinese Network” did not deceive me! Reading novels could indeed impart great knowledge!
If one didn’t read enough novels with logic and intelligence in the past, one might be completely bewildered and helpless if they accidentally time-traveled one day!
“Stop tapping, stop tapping!” Lu Yu immediately ordered.
At this moment, the naval soldiers had already stopped their wooden mallet tapping. Everyone was leaning on the boats, gripping the edges of the boat tightly. Beneath the seawater, beside the wooden boats… like a tidal wave, there were fish… all fish, countless fish!
Countless!
Too many to count… All the large yellow croakers gathered in this sea area, motionless, as if… waiting for someone to catch them…
This scene was precisely summarized in eight characters: Man is the knife, I am the fish!
Dense…
It was too damn dense!
Some naval soldiers suffering from trypophobia shivered and fell into the sea. However… they did not sink, as countless large yellow croakers had lifted them up again.
Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, tens of millions of large yellow croakers…
It was too exaggerated, too exaggerated.
Even the most experienced fishermen were shocked at this moment, so shocked that they couldn’t breathe.
Not to mention Marquis Cheng, Wei Xu, Song Xian, and Cheng Lian on the tower ships…
“You guys, look… look…”
“This is? This is a big fish…”
“Countless big fish!”
Marquis Cheng and the other three opened their mouths in unison. They were the Eight Valiant Generals, they were warriors, yet at this moment… looking at the dense large yellow croakers, they actually felt a little fear, or perhaps… a shudder from the depths of their hearts!
Everyone’s eyes were wide like copper bells…
Visibly, every fish was large, some a foot long, others three feet long.
In this life, no, even in their next lives, they might never see so many fish!
Taking a sharp breath…
Everyone took a sharp breath!
These were large yellow croakers!
Lu Yu, ah no, to be precise… this mysterious Hidden Dragon! He… he could “command” large yellow croakers? Make the large yellow croakers willingly be caught, make them actively become meat on the chopping board… it seemed as if every large yellow croaker had a happy expression!
“Why are you still standing there?” Lu Yu was the first to speak. “Quickly cast the nets and catch fish…”
This sound broke the silence of the moment!
Right…
They came to catch fish!
These fish voluntarily floated up, yet they became scared instead of daring!
“Quick… catch fish!”
Cao Xiu and Dian Wei shouted… In an instant, whether it were the nearby fishermen, or the naval personnel, or the cavalry of the Dragon Exaltation Camp, they all sprang into action.
Fish… are also a form of food!
Seeing that these large yellow croakers were about three or four catties each, no, it seemed… there were not a few that were five or six catties. Even more so, there were those weighing ten catties or more, visible at a glance.
Such weight…
On average, two fish would be a chicken, ten would be a dog, twenty would be a sheep, thirty would be a deer, and eighty would be an ox!
Damn it, they were rich… they were rich!
At this moment, everyone let out a roar from the depths of their souls, a roar filled with trembling and disbelief!
As if they had not yet awoken from their shock.
– Who am I?
– Where is this place?
– What am I doing?
…
…