Panjin.
The young men, under the command of Li Shun and Ma Baoguo, set up one barbecue grill after another.
The height of the grills was one meter from the ground, slightly lower than the dirt wall by the fire trench.
Just as these preparations were completed, a whistle sounded from the sea, it was Tuo 05.
The fishing boat approached the dock, Lu Fei jumped off, his face beaming, and found Fang Er on the shore.
"My Lord! My Lord! A great harvest, a great harvest!"
"A full two million catties! The cold storage is overflowing!"
His voice was so loud that even the young men in the distance could hear it. They all opened their mouths in disbelief and looked towards the fishing boat.
When they saw the situation on the fishing boat, they couldn't help but discuss it.
"My goodness! Two million catties!"
"So many fish, how many people can this feed!"
"So many fish! Look quickly, the deck is almost piled up like a mountain!"
"Oh my heavens, I've lived half my life and never seen so many fish!"
Fang Er also saw the fish catch piled up like a small mountain on the deck. He patted Lu Fei's shoulder: "Hahaha, well done!"
Then he waved to the young men: "Come on! Unload the fish!"
"Let's go, unload the fish!"
Li Shun took the lead, and the hundreds of young men closest to the dock surged forward.
Baskets of fish were carried out from the stern. The young men working here were all from nearby fishing families, and they knew exactly how to handle each type of fish.
Heads were removed where necessary, skins were peeled where necessary, and inedible parts, along with the internal organs, were reloaded onto the boat to be used as bait on the next voyage.
The remaining parts were sent to the fire trench and hung on iron racks.
The one-meter-high iron racks were densely packed. Once full, they were covered with wooden boards to prevent particulates generated by burning oil from falling down and contaminating the dried fish.
The drying area covered a full hundred mu, and even half of the two million catties could not be hung. More than half remained in the cold storage on the boat.
The iron racks were covered with wooden boards, then oil was poured into the fire trench, followed by ignition.
Fierce flames erupted, and the heat, transmitted through the dirt walls on both sides of the fire trench, baked the sea fish on the racks.
The fire brought by petroleum was exceptionally fierce. In less than ten minutes, the entire coast was filled with the aroma of fish.
Before this batch of sea fish was even roasted, the other eleven fishing boats had already returned, fully loaded.
The captains of each boat came to report their catches. Even though they had prior knowledge of Tuo 05's harvest and were mentally prepared, Fang Er was still deeply impressed.
A full twenty million catties!
Twenty thousand tons!
In just four days, the grain shortage reported by Fang Xuanling was resolved by one-twentieth!
Looking at the six newly acquired ships in the system warehouse, Fang Er grinned from ear to ear.
Calculated this way, three hundred and sixty million catties, eighteen thousand tons, would be easily obtained.
"Brother, with so many fish, how much do you plan to charge Fang Laokou?"
Chai Lingwu, holding a lobster as long as an arm, stood beside Fang Er, gnawing on it and saying.
"Don't say sashimi is exclusive to those 'Japanese people who live quite well'. This thing originated from China. 'Kuai' in 'kuaizhi renxin' means raw meat, finely sliced raw meat."
Fang Er reached out and broke off a crab claw, cracked it open, and scooped out the tender white meat, popping it into his mouth. "It's really, truly fresh~"
"With the natural disaster descending, we're not going to profit from misfortune. We'll save who we can."
"So, these fish are one cent per catty."
Chai Lingwu's eyes widened as he looked at him: "Brother, is your brain damaged!"
"This is a boatload of goods. Don't you factor in four days of oil expenses? And the sailors' wages?"
Fang Er smiled slightly and shook his head.
"Second Brother, with great ability comes great responsibility."
"The people of this land of China have endured too much suffering that they shouldn't have. They are the most beloved people."
"They toil in the soil with their hands to support dynasty after dynasty, yet they themselves are poorly clothed and fed."
"In our glorious China, our long history, in the Hundred Family Surnames, which one is not full of loyal martyrs?"
"Now that a natural disaster has struck, it is time for the imperial court to step forward and give back to them."
"Therefore, no matter when, please remember one thing, Second Brother: a gentleman loves wealth, but obtains it in a proper way."
He had another sentence he didn't say: if it weren't to silence the court officials, he wouldn't charge even one cent.
"The hearts of the people, heh heh~"
Chai Lingwu suddenly felt touched. He changed his usual flippant demeanor and looked at Fang Er seriously.
"Second Brother, what can I do?"
"I also want to do my part!"
Fang Er threw away the empty shrimp shell and took the remaining half of the lobster in his hand.
"If you want to do your part, don't ask me. Find work yourself."
"Do anything. As long as you're not idle, you can save people from suffering."
"Go, Second Master Chai!"
Chai Lingwu was stunned: "No, I have to at least finish eating this shrimp first!"
"Eat what? Save people from suffering, you have an unshirkable duty. Cultivate virtue and do good, starting from this very moment!"
After speaking, Fang Er turned and left, leaving Chai Lingwu looking at his empty hands, his mind in disarray in the sea breeze.
"This lobster, it tastes so good! It's a shame this half that I snatched from Chai Lingwu is just shells, a bit unsatisfying."
"Old Lu, Old Lu!"
"My Lord, you called me?" Lu Fei, hearing his voice, hurried over.
"Are there any more of these lobsters?"
"Yes! Yes! I'll go get them."
"Pass down the order, don't roast these things, it's a waste!" Fang Er reminded him.
An hour later, news came from the drying ground that the first batch of dried fish had all been roasted.
The wooden boards on the iron racks were lifted, the dried fish were taken out, and when folded by hand, they were as hard as firewood.
They were all gathered up, packed into wooden boxes, and then stacked layer by layer in the warehouse, awaiting delivery to the Ministry of Revenue to be distributed to various prefectures and counties.
Then, the second batch of sea fish was unloaded from Tuo 05, processed, put on the racks, and roasted.
Fang Er also found an excuse, took a yacht, and sailed out to sea. He took out the newly exchanged six fishing boats and dropped anchor in place.
Then he returned alone and pointed a direction to Li Shun, telling him to lead people to retrieve them.
Li Shun was almost driven to despair by the frequent appearance of new ships.
"Since when did I, Old Li, the dockyard foreman, become a mere decoration?"
What Li Shun thought was not important. What was important was that the fishing fleet had expanded.
It took three days to completely bake the harvest from twelve ships. Just as they were about to catch their breath, Tuo 05, which had started its second voyage the earliest, returned once again.
This was truly a mix of pain and pleasure; the scent of fish had never dissipated from the entire coast.
Three days later, a hundred tractors, which had been seconded, were parked in front of the warehouse, and began loading boxes of dried fish onto trucks.
This batch of twenty million catties of sea fish, after being roasted, was directly reduced by half, leaving only ten million catties.