On the vast blue sea, a fishing boat is braving the harsh winter wind and casting the net with difficulty again and again, hoping to catch a few more fish, preferably in exchange for a day's worth of food for the family!
Although there has been talk of delicacies from the mountains and seas since ancient times, in fact, the seafood in the Tang Dynasty was not valuable!
Because most ordinary people at this time don’t even have enough to eat! Even if you invite guests during the New Year or festival, you will only weigh some pork to take home, and just like that, you have to pick up the fat ones!
It's not that they don't know that lean meat is more delicious, it's just that compared to the delicious taste, the fat contained in fat meat is something they need more.
For example, in the original Xiaojia Zhuangzi, the meat stalls sold out first at the beginning, and they were always the one-inch-thick fat meat! For example, only people from Xiao Han's family would buy the lean pork ribs so they could take them back home and cook them for the picky Mr. Hou.
It was not until the past two years that farmers had enough fat in their stomachs that they gradually began to dislike fat and greasy meat and began to rush to buy lean meat.
So much so that the butchers who sell meat have found a way to make money, which is to sell the fat meat to their colleagues in Chang'an City at a high price, and then buy the lean meat back from those people at a low price, and then resell it to people in Xiaojiazhuangzi.
Even the majestic capital of a country is like this! Therefore, in a world where people are extremely short of fat and water in their stomachs, there is really not much market for seafood that is light and not filling.
Moreover, in addition to the lack of oil and water, seafood has another biggest drawback, which is that it is extremely difficult to store!
"The color changes in one day, the aroma changes in the second day, the taste changes in the third day, and after four or five days, the color and fragrance are gone."
Bai Juyi's poem about lychees is better used to describe these maritime products than lychees!
For example, the lychees mentioned in the article can still be eaten after four or five days, but they just lack a bit of flavor! But if you eat this seafood four or five days later, it will be fatal!
Therefore, compared with the prosperity of coastal areas in later generations, the people living along the coast at this time were not living an ordinary life of poverty! Even in the cold winter, I have to go out to sea to fish.
Just because the weather is cold at this time, the fish can be stored for two more days, and can be sold to distant places to earn a little more money.
"Abba!"
He struggled to lift the fishing net again and looked at the empty big net inside. Before the old fisherman could sigh, the son behind him who was responsible for setting up the boat pointed in the distance in surprise and asked, "Look, what is that?"
"What is all this fuss about?" When the old fisherman heard his son's words, his already bad mood suddenly became darker. He frowned, put down the fishing net, and looked towards where his son was pointing.
In the undulating waves in the distance, they saw a dense mass of small black spots, rushing toward them overwhelmingly.
"No! Run!"
The old fisherman stared blankly at those little black dots for a while, until they grew bigger and bigger in his sight. Only then did the old fisherman realize, where are these little black dots? This is obviously a big ship with sails on it!
And on such a winter day, apart from rampant pirates, what other fleet would appear on the sea?
"Run? Why are you running?" The son who was driving the boat scratched his head. He still didn't understand why his father felt like he had seen a ghost when he saw those boats!
Just when he was about to ask more carefully, he saw that his father, who usually regarded the fishing net as a treasure, directly threw the dripping net into the sea this time, then rushed to his side and grabbed the wooden net. Oar, grit your teeth and row with all your might.
The wind is very strong in winter!
The howling north wind made the sails of the big ship bulge, and the pointed head pierced the waves. In just a moment, the big ship at the front was less than a hundred feet away from the fishing boat.
At this time, the fisherman's son finally understood why his father's expression changed drastically!
Looking at the shape of the ship and the numerous scars on its body, what kind of big ship are these? They are clearly countless pirate ships! And judging from the dense formation, there must be at least hundreds or even thousands of ships!
"Daddy, daddy! Why are there so many pirates!" The fisherman's son turned pale with fright at the pirates who were riding the wind and waves. He instinctively grabbed a wooden oar and wanted to escape by boat, but because of his trembling hands, It was so powerful that the wooden oar he grabbed fell into the sea and was pushed far away by the waves in the blink of an eye.
"It's over!" At this time, the old fisherman, who was still holding an oar in his hand, finally showed a look of despair. Then he looked at the big boat getting closer and closer, and finally gritted his teeth, and unexpectedly pushed his son hard. Pushed into the sea!
"Hold your breath! Don't come out! No matter what, don't come out! Whether you live or die today depends on whether the Sea Dragon King will show mercy or not!"
The fisherman's son was caught off guard and pushed into the sea. Even though he had grown up by the sea and was very good at underwater skills, he choked several times on his mouth. In addition, the sea water in winter was freezing cold. He was so excited that he quickly used his hands and feet to surface.
"Dad..." With half of his head exposed in the waves, the fisherman's son looked at the boat that was floating several feet away with fear and fear. Just when he was about to ask his father why he pushed him into the sea, a scene appeared in his sight. A scene he will never forget!
On a large ship that came first, several people holding rockets fired fiercely at the small boat in the distance. Two or three of them broke through the sea wind and hit the small boat!
Immediately afterwards, I don’t know what was tied to the head of the rocket. It should be linen soaked in kerosene. As soon as it came into contact with the boat, the raging flames immediately started burning on the boat!
At this time, the old fisherman at the stern saw this and hurriedly rushed forward to put out the fire, but there was only a burst of laughter from the big boat, and then more rockets came, not only completely igniting the boat, but also taking the old man with him. The fisherman was also shot with a few arrows. He waved his hands randomly a few times, and then fell into the fire.
"Dad!" The fisherman's son witnessed this step with his own eyes. He was stunned for a while before he realized what was happening. Then he screamed miserably and was about to swim towards the small boat that had turned into a ball of fire.
"There is still one!"
Faintly, the people on the big ship also noticed him, so some scattered arrows were shot towards the sea.
But the accuracy of shooting a person with only his head exposed on a rocking ship is completely different from shooting a ship.
After some arrows fell next to the fisherman's son, the fisherman's son suddenly woke up, stopped advancing, glanced at the big ship with red eyes, and then plunged into the sea with a sudden force and disappeared again.
He understood his father's last few gestures, which were to let him go first! Find a way to survive!
As for why his father didn't jump into the sea with him, the fisherman's son roughly guessed: In this cold sea water, his body would definitely not last long.
In order not to drag himself down, and to attract those pirates, Dad used his own life to give his son a hope of survival, even if the hope was so slim.
