Thinking that Guan Youde used to be a "house decorator", Chen Wuren asked about the fish flowers again: "Brother Guan, I heard that the fish flowers in Jiujiang are all harvested from the Xihai (Xijiang), why not sell them directly to the builders and into the ponds?" Raising? Why do you need to go through the hands of a decorator?"
Guan Youde said: "The old gentleman is indeed a thoughtful person. The fish and flowers caught by the households are not pure. There are all kinds of fish species in them. You must not mix them at will, otherwise there may be no fish left in the pond. Decorate your home. The merit is to put aside the classification of fish and flowers caught by Danhu, leaving only grass carp, silver carp, bighead carp and dace, which are called the four major fish species."
How to separate the fish and flowers is naturally a secret of the decoration family. It is passed down from generation to generation and is kept secret.
As a local, Chen Wuren still has some concepts about the four major fish species. Before the Tang Dynasty, the main species raised by fishermen were carp. Since the emperor of the Tang Dynasty had a surname of Li, which has the same pronunciation as Li and carp, and "carp" symbolized the royal family, they could not be caught or sold. Therefore, fishermen have to find new breeding species. Grass carp is grass carp; silver carp is silver carp, also called silver carp; silver carp is bullhead fish, also called silver carp; unlike the Yangtze River Basin, Jiujiang villagers do not raise herring, but Raise dace, commonly known as earth dace or dace, which is a unique species in South China. By the early Ming Dynasty, the cooperative breeding of the four major fish species was very mature.
"If my family raises fish, how many fish will be needed for one acre of pond?" Chen Wuren asked.
Zhong Ji, who was following him, listened to these mentally retarded questions and said with a smile: "One acre of Fanchi can support thirty carp, one hundred and twenty silver carp, fifty bighead carp, and more than a thousand earth carp."
"Why are there such huge disparities in the number of barbels?" The question came from Lin Chengwen, the Guangzhou regional promotion manager of Tiandihui. In his impression, Lingao was not raised in this way.
Zhong Jidao: "Brother, I don't know something. As the saying goes, 'You can't raise dace fish.' Dace fish likes heat and cannot survive the winter. In autumn and winter, there will be no one out of ten. If it doesn't survive the winter, it won't be fat. If it's not fat, it will be cheap." "
"Oh? The selling prices of the four major fish species are different?" Chen Wuren asked.
"It varies slightly every year, but in short, the price is higher than that of bighead carp and silver carp, because they grow easily without using grass. Dace is difficult to grow, and rarely weighs more than a pound, and it must go through the cold winter to become fat, while silver carp needs no grass. So the price is cheap." Zhong Ji replied.
"How much grass is spent?" Lin Chengwen asked.
"Every hundred tails of grass carp requires a hundred catties of grass a day. Grass carp eats grass, while bighead carp and silver carp eat grass glue, or grass carp's dung can also be fertilized." Zhong Ji said.
As a cadre of Tiandihui, Lin Chengwen had been exposed to freshwater fish farming in Lingao. He knew that silver carp and bighead carp are filter-feeding fish. They usually use their gills to filter plankton from the water. They also like to eat bean cakes, wheat bran and other feeds. Since fertile water bodies breed more plankton, these two fish like to chase fertile water bodies and often move in the upper layers of the water. Grass carp is a herbivorous fish. It mainly eats grass, but also some grains, bean cakes, silkworm pupae, earthworms, etc. It likes to wander in the middle and lower layers of the water for food. The earth dace is the smallest and is an omnivorous fish. It often eats detritus of higher plants and humus at the bottom, and often lives in the middle and lower layers of the water body.
The large amounts of food scraps and feces left by the grass carp in the upper layer of the water are excellent nutrients for plankton. The mass-producing plankton provides a large amount of food for silver carp. Do the final cleaning. The existence of the latter three prevents food residues and plankton from being enriched in large quantities, ensuring the freshness of the water in the fish pond. Fish in different water layers chase food, stirring the water body and increasing the dissolved oxygen in the water. Therefore, the cooperative breeding of the four major species of fish is a huge leap in the history of agricultural technology, making more complete use of limited water bodies.
Chen Wuren asked Zhong Ji: "I wonder how to transport the summer flowers back to Xiangshan?"
Zhong Ji said: "There are few farmers in Xiangshan and there are few fish markets. The old man should hire people to transport them back. Those sold nearby will have big fish flowers, and those sold far away will have small fish flowers. Land travelers can pick up two The basket is moved gracefully on the shoulders, and the force is used to make the basket go up or down, stirring up the water to make waves, so that the fish can walk another two or three miles as if it were in a pond, and sink the basket into the river to replace it with new water, and the fish will get its nature. If the water Travelers use a fish boat to carry the fish. The two waterwheels beside the boat turn the water day and night to allow new water to enter the boat without leaving any water. Then the fish will not get sick. Water transportation from Jiujiang to Xiangshan is convenient. Since the old man is a wealthy family, he should use it Water transportation is preferred. If you make a reservation with me, I can find a fish and flower boat to send to your hometown on your behalf."
"Oh? What's the current price of fish flowers?"
"Actually, the price of fish flowers is about the same as that of adult fish," Zhong Ji stretched out the four fingers of his right hand and said, "Every hundred catties of bighead carp and silver carp cost four taels of silver, grass carp two taels, and dace one tael."
It's not like the inspection team really wants to buy fish flowers. Chen Wuren burst out laughing after hearing this, "It will take some time for summer flowers to be on the market. Don't be in a hurry. When I return home, I will arrange for the selection of a good candidate. I will come to find Brother Zhong when the matter is completed."
"It doesn't matter, business cannot be done without righteousness."
Chen Wuren remembered something he had missed before and asked Guan Youde: "I dare to ask Brother Guan, how do you select the fish flakes from the four major fish species?"
When Guan Youde saw that he didn't order fish flowers, he asked again, feeling a little unhappy. Although he didn't show it on his face, his answer was somewhat straightforward: "The old gentleman has too many questions. The fish flowers are as fine as A spoonful of needles can cost tens of millions, but only the people of Jiujiang can distinguish them. The "flower" is my craft of dressing up the family and eating. It has always been a family tradition and has never been passed down to others."
Chen Wuren had stayed in Lingao for a long time and developed the habit of asking why when he didn't understand. Only when Guan Youde said this did he realize that something was wrong. In ancient times, any craft with some technical content was basically passed down from family to master, and it was passed down from male to female, for fear that the daughter would bring the skills to her husband's family when she got married. Apprentices have to work with their masters as free labor for several years before they can learn the craft from their masters. Masters often have to hold on to their skills, otherwise there is a saying that "teaches apprentices to starve the master to death."
But in Lingao, except for a few secrets, which elder is eager to pour all the knowledge into his naturalized people, for fear that they will not learn it. Whenever they meet naturalized people who like to ask why, the technical veterans are as happy as if they have won a big prize, holding it in their hands as a treasure. Comparing the two, Chen Wuren was very disappointed. Why is the gap so big?
After wandering around the fish and flower market for a long time, the sun had already risen to the top and the temperature was getting higher. Guan Youde was like a medicine jar and felt a little exhausted, so he said goodbye to the inspection team: "Master Mo, I am a little tired and dizzy. I won’t accompany you anymore, I hope you’ll forgive me.”
Mo Yu has been stationed in Jiujiang for two years. He knows that Guan Youde's words are true, so he will not keep him. After Guan Youde and Zhong Ji left, Lin Chengwen said to Chen Wuren: "Chief Chen, forget it if you didn't ask about the method of skimming flowers. From now on, we will rely on artificial breeding, and the eggs of different varieties will be separated from the beginning. There is no such thing as skimming the flowers. If they want to keep this secret, let them keep it. It is best to take it to the coffin. "
Chen Wuren nodded, "Indeed, but the chief told us to understand all aspects of fish flower production in Jiujiang Township. He must have a reason. It seems that this matter is not so easy to figure out."
When Mo Yu heard that it was the chief's order, he said: "It's simple. Next time if any unsighted decorator falls into my hands, I will make sure to tell him clearly, otherwise he won't be able to escape from my hands." .”
Chen Wuren said: "Brother Mo, the Senate has always governed the country according to the law, and torture to extract confessions will be punished."
"Thank you, Section Chief Chen, for reminding me that I can make them confess honestly without punishing me, hehe..." Mo Yu smiled gloomily.
"Actually, I heard the head of the Ministry of Agriculture mention the principle of flower skimming before. It is generally based on the habits of different fish species living in different water layers. The rest is a matter of proficiency." Lin Chengwen said: " Usually the one floating on the top is the bighead carp, the one in the middle is the silver carp, the one below is the catfish, and the one on the bottom is the dace. Put the fish flowers in the bamboo basket, let them swim for an hour or two, and then use wooden The white-painted fish dish gently agitates the water and skims out the fish from top to bottom according to their different levels in the water.”
Chen Wuren said: "There is a difference between principle and practice. Don't forget that in addition to the four major fish species, there are also other fish species mixed in. Some species live in the same water layer, and the fish flowers are as thin as needles. They must be distinguished. It’s not easy.”
Lin Chengwen said: "It doesn't matter, it's all craftsmanship that goes into the coffin anyway. Judging from the information we have visited so far, Jiujiang's freshwater fish farming technology is not better than ours, although it already represents the highest level of indigenous people."
"Xiao Linzi, are you telling the truth?" Mo Yu was a little surprised. Although he had followed the Senate very early and knew that the Senate could do better than the locals no matter what they did, he didn't expect that they could even raise fish. The Senate also has a technical advantage in this kind of thing.
Lin Chengwen said: "No! Take the stocking ratios of the four major domestic carps. Lingao stocks at least 100 grass carp per mu, and only 500 dace. They only stock 30 grass carp, which means they don't have enough. Of forage, one thousand dace have to be put in. This is because the overwintering technology of dace has not yet been explored. But the biggest problem still lies in the ratio of the base to the pond..."
When Mo Yu heard that Lin Chengwen actually questioned the ratio of foundation ponds in Jiujiang Township, he became curious and asked: "What is the correct ratio of foundation ponds?"
"There is no right or wrong, only appropriateness or inappropriateness." Lin Chengwen did not show off, saying: "The proportion of the base pond in Lingao is 'six water and four bases', but here it is the other way around, 'four water and six bases', fish The productivity of the pond has not been maximized. And according to my observation, the area of local single-mouth fish ponds is mostly less than five acres, while the fish ponds in Lingao are required to be between seven and ten acres. However, the 'four water and six bases' should It is compatible with the local people’s production model. Since it is called a mulberry fish pond, the sericulture industry also has an impact on the fishery.”
Mo Yu listened thoughtfully and said: "It makes sense. The benefits of Jiujiang are more fish fry, second sericulture, second rice, second round eyes, third taro. If the area of the fish pond is small, the foundation will be more and the pond will be less, the profit will be Naturally, there is still a lot of room for improvement.”
