I'm reporting to the general that Yang Fan, a thief, has captured several giant sea crabs, and I'm here to offer them to you! "
"Oh? Let him in!"
Zheng Zhiwan was chatting with Chong Wang Zhu Youfan in the big tent. When he heard that his men had caught seafood, he became interested. At this moment, his stomach was empty. If it was edible, he could have a full meal.
"General Yang Fan pays homage to the prince and general!"
Yang Fan is Zheng Zhiwan's subordinate, but the cage for catching sea crabs was brought from the capital by Chong Wang Zhu Youfan. It is said that it was built by the prince and specially used for catching sea crabs.
The prince said that the sea crabs here are huge in size and have plump meat. They are rare and delicacies. One of them can feed an adult man.
Although the climate of the Kamchatka Peninsula is no better than that of the Ming Dynasty, it is very cold, the land is relatively barren, and there are many volcanoes, but it is a place rich in seafood.
Chong Wang Zhu Youfan was not optimistic about this place at first, thinking that he was lucky enough to win such a fiefdom. However, after some advice from the prince, he felt relieved.
Kamchatka Peninsula has "three treasures", one of which is sulfur. Since there are countless active volcanoes on the peninsula, sulfur is inexhaustible, and there are more sulfur than wild mushrooms in the forest.
The second is animal skins. Whether they are white bears, brown bears, black bears, sea lions, seals, or walruses, their skins can be sold to the fleet to cash in silver or supplies.
Finally, there is seafood. Since the land is barren, if the feudal lord Zimin wants to eat and drink enough, seafood is the only thing to satisfy his hunger, especially cod, salmon, and sea crabs.
"Did you catch a sea crab?"
I saw Yang Fan entering the tent by himself. Zheng Zhiwan didn't see what he had paid, so he asked about it.
"General, that's right! I was worried about the ferocious appearance of the sea crab, for fear of scaring the prince, so..."
Yang Fan also had good intentions. If he surprised King Chong, it would be a serious crime of disrespect.
"It's okay! I'm here for the first time, and I want to take a look at the sea crabs mentioned by His Royal Highness. There is also a huge sea crab called the 'Emperor Crab', which can be called the emperor of sea crabs. I, the King, are here for the first time. I still want to see what happens!”
Zhu Youfan also felt a little hungry now. He wanted to ask the cook to make some meals, but after eating all the way, he was already tired of it. He was about to send someone to see if he could catch some game for a change. Just in time.
Yang Fan then turned around and left the tent, waving his hand for his men to send the extra-large sea crab into the tent. A sailor could only take one, so you can imagine how big the crab was.
"this……"
When Zhu Youfan saw these sea crabs, he was already a little sluggish. When he was in the capital, the prince said that the king crab was as big as a washbasin, or even bigger than a washbasin, which made him laugh.
Now that I had actually seen it with my own eyes, I was so shocked that I didn't even dare to get up from my chair. It's so huge, it's not a sea crab, it's clearly a sea monster!
"It's really huge!"
Zheng Zhiwan was a pirate and had seen strong winds and waves, so he was naturally not intimidated. However, he was also surprised by the appearance of such sea crabs, which were indeed rare to see.
"General, have you ever seen such a huge sea crab in the South China Sea?"
Zhu Youfan didn't know if this thing was edible, and he was embarrassed to say it clearly, so he could only ask tactfully.
"My lord, I have seen something similar, but sea crabs of such a large size are rare, so their meat must be extremely plump!"
The South China Sea does produce extra large sea crabs, but the number is so small that even the Zheng family, who are not short of money, cannot eat one in half a year.
"Oh~! That's it!"
After hearing this explanation, Zhu Youfan was half relieved, but he was still a little scared and did not dare to show it. He hurriedly looked through the manual drawn by the prince.
As expected, the king crab painted inside is very similar in appearance to the sea crab held by the soldiers. If I read it correctly, it is indeed a rare local king crab.
The prince gave himself so many cages and gave him the method of catching this kind of crabs, which means that he knew in the fairy world that the waters of Kamchatka Peninsula are rich in such crabs.
From this point of view, the prince must have studied in the fairy world. Recalling what he saw and heard in the capital, Zhu Youfan was convinced of his idea.
"Yeah! Not bad, not bad!"
Zheng Zhiwan stretched his neck and looked at the pictures in the manual, then he said yes again and again. It seemed that he was in for a treat today.
Since the appearance was at a loss, Zhu Youfan asked the chef to cook all the crabs. The method was also very simple, that is, steam them and then dip them in the sauce to eat.
"oops!"
"Grab it quickly!"
At this moment, a sea crab suddenly broke away from the chef's control, fell to the ground, and ran away without intending to accept his fate.
Chefs, sailors, and soldiers formed a circle and began to capture this stubborn guy.
Since the appearance could not be damaged with instruments, it could only be caught with hands, and chaos suddenly arose in the big tent.
The four subordinates were busy for a while before they regained control of the crab, tied it up and took it to the pot.
For safety reasons, Zhu Youfan rewarded Yang Fan with a sea crab and let him eat it first.
After observing for a while and seeing that there was no serious problem, he and Zheng Zhiwan started eating again.
Yang Fan was so happy. He had never eaten such a big sea crab in his whole life.
Compared to the crabs produced locally in Fujian, the crabs from Chongwang are way better.
He also knew what King Chong was up to, but since the uncle was serving as an errand, how could he be afraid of death?
If you were frightened by a mere sea crab, your companions would laugh you to death if you tell me?
"Eat! No need to be polite!"
"I'm sorry!"
After Zheng Zhiwan's instructions, Yang Fan became rude. Ever since this big crab was served on the table, his eyes had never left the red crab.
After simply wiping his hands with a rag, he used his hands to pull off a crab leg with his hands, and planned to feast on it.
The moment the crab legs were torn off, the white tender meat inside was exposed, making Zhu Youfan and Zheng Zhiwan almost salivate.
Yang Fan didn't dip it in the prepared dipping sauce, but stuffed the exposed crab meat directly into his mouth. He immediately felt the transcendent and delicious taste of this kind of sea crab in the cavity.
The most important thing is that the crabs are big and have a lot of meat. Otherwise, the crab meat is not as thick as a tree branch and it will not satisfy your appetite at all. It would be better to eat fish directly.
However, the sea crabs here do not have this shortcoming. They are not only big, but also plump. The crab legs are full of crab meat, which is simply a heaven-sent delicacy.
Yang Fan groaned as he ate, making crab noises as he ate them. This was a rare and unique scenery...
After finishing a pile of crab legs and two crab claws, as well as a bowl of rice, Yang Fan felt that he was half full.
After I finished attacking the crab shell, drank twice as much liquor, and burped, I suddenly felt an ecstasy of happiness.
If he could eat such delicacies every day, and then he could lie down and raise meat after eating, Yang Fan would not consider taking it even if he was offered the position of local general.
The cruelest thing to a hungry person is to watch others eat and drink without being able to eat with them. The more you watch, the hungrier you become.
This is the case for Zhu Youfan and Zheng Zhiwan. For them, watching Yang Fan eat sea crabs is simply a torture.
After waiting for a quarter of an hour, Zhu Youfan couldn't bear it anymore, so he ordered the chef to put the remaining crabs into the pot. If he could bear it any longer, he would faint from hunger.
After their own big crabs were served, the two of them did not care about their own status. Like Yang Fan, they also used their hands directly. This was much more convenient than chopsticks, and it was also more enjoyable to eat.
In his own fiefdom, no one dares to laugh at him. Zhu Youzhen naturally does not need to worry about this. There is not even a censor in the entire Kamchatka Peninsula, so what a waste of time.
"fragrant!"
"Uh-huh!"
Zhu Youfan said one word and started eating. Zheng Zhiwan just ate and just agreed twice.
What the prince said is true. This sea crab is big and meaty. It can really be regarded as the best delicacy in the world.
After killing half of the crabs, the two of them more or less regained some physical strength and energy.
Only then did I remember that I could dip it in some sauce, which would make the taste more mellow.
If an adult man eats a big crab, he will be almost 70-80% full.
People with small appetites almost don’t need to eat. Just eating crabs can fill their stomachs.
Neither Zhu Youfan nor Zheng Zhiwan knew how many such large crabs there were in the sea.
But judging from the development level of the indigenous savages here, the possibility of them catching sea crabs on a large scale should be zero.
This means that there are countless crabs in the sea, enough for thousands of Chongguo people to eat all year round.
The prince said that the land in Chongguo was in short supply, but it could be compensated from the sea.
Calculated in this way, plus the income from sulfur and fur, Chongguo is actually richer than other vassal states.
Other vassals can also catch seafood, farm, and earn income from furs, but Chongguo's sulfur is a major specialty.
Only Zhou State, which is also located in the north, can share part of the active volcano with Chong State, but other vassal states do not have this condition and qualification.
Sulfur is silver, and active volcanoes are silver mines. They are inexhaustible and more precious than ordinary silver mines.
As for farming, Zhu Youfan was not so interested after enjoying sea crabs.
Because how can farming be done as quickly as fishing at sea?
After sowing, you have to wait at least four to five months before harvesting.
You can get a harvest every day from sea fishing. Excluding bad weather in a month, you can at least go to sea for more than ten days, right?
And there is no need to worry about reduced production or even no harvest when fishing at sea. This sea area is simply a fishing ground that has never been fished on a large scale.
The prince said that most of Chongguo's specialties are not available in the Ming Dynasty. As long as Chongguo is willing to collect them, the court will naturally be happy to purchase them.
For example, fur, sulfur, and even animal fat are not worth much in Chongguo.
But selling it to the court can also greatly increase Chongguo's income and allow the people of Chongguo to live and work in peace and contentment.
The imperial court had previously approved that among all overseas vassal states, only Chongguo and Zhouguo, which had the worst local climate, allowed long-term exchange of grain.
Starting from the second year, all other vassal states need to rely on their own efforts and plant extensive land.
There is a severe drought in the north, and the imperial court is eager to allocate food from the countries south of the Yangtze River and the South China Sea, but it is currently unable to support all the vassal states.
From this point of view, it is really appropriate to exchange Chongguo's specialties for food, silver and supplies.
This place is just a little colder, a little barren, and a little desolate.
But the benefits are obvious. Not only are there abundant resources, but there are also no bandits or Tatars!
If there weren't many worries similar to those on the mainland and we just had to deal with the indigenous savages, there wouldn't be much difficulty.
After thinking about it based on what he saw and heard, Zhu Youfan even began to feel that his fiefdom was not bad.
Although the central and northern parts of the Kamchatka Peninsula belong to the Zhou Kingdom, the central and southern parts with a better climate belong to themselves.
Especially the climate in the southern part of the peninsula is almost the same as that in the northern part of Kuwu Island, which is already very good.
Thinking that his fiefdom was about the same size as Jiangnan and that the court had no control over it, Zhu Youfan felt extremely comfortable.
Apart from rebellion, you can do whatever you want here.
It's not too bad to exchange most of the family property for a piece of fiefdom.
Zhu Youfan was of the same generation as the current emperor. He was not very old, and was much younger than the vassal kings who were the emperor's uncles.
It was actually very cost-effective for Zhu Youfan to move overseas when he was still young and strong.
The same was true for Zhu Youza, Prince of Huai'an County, and Zhu Youcai, Prince of Heyang County, who came together to join the feudal vassal.
Chongguo only had one vassal king and two county princes, which was much simpler than the huge Zhou Dynasty.
Such a large fiefdom was divided among the three brothers. Everyone got a big piece of land, so naturally they were very happy.
After Zhu Youza and Zhu Youcai used the sea crab, they also gained a new understanding of this place.
Being able to eat such big sea crabs every day was something I couldn’t even imagine when I was in my hometown.
Even if you can actually eat it locally, I'm afraid a single sea crab will be sold at a sky-high price.
For one hundred taels of silver each, not even the king of the county or even the vassal king would dare to eat it every day.
But here, I decided not to worry about it.
Not only can you eat it every day, but the women at home can also eat it.
The prince said that crabs are cold in nature and eating them every day will damage the spleen and stomach, so they should be eaten every two days.
Although the seafood here is not as diverse as in the southern waters, it is more abundant and abundant, which is the most important thing.
Just catch a net of fish from the sea, and the smallest one weighs only one or two kilograms, which is sure to satisfy the people.
Aren’t the common people short of oil and water in their stomachs?
Then go capture seals, walruses, sea lions and other animals. Most of their bodies are oil, which can nourish the body and can also be used for lighting.
For such a large peninsula, even if tens of thousands of people came to settle here, not to mention thousands of people, it would be enough to support them.
Due to the harsh climate in Kamchatka Peninsula, without further delay, Zhu Youfan ordered to start felling trees to build wooden houses that day.
If there were no wooden houses here, they would definitely freeze to death in winter. The people of the Ming Dynasty were no match for the local indigenous savages.
There are forests on the shore and seafood in the water. There is no shortage of both.
After you have eaten and drank enough, you can start building construction.
Zhu Youfan believed that he could never be counted as a faint king, and at least he wanted all the people to live in wooden houses.
Every family has a house to live in, everyone has meat to eat, and they can collect as many special products as possible to exchange, which will make Chongguo prosperous.
From the current point of view, considering the basic conditions here, it is not difficult to achieve this goal as long as we follow the steps.
The first step is to establish a foothold in the new fiefdom, build wooden houses on a large scale, and build a settlement this year.
Wait until next spring to implement the second step, gradually develop inland and begin to expand the scope of control.
After completing these two steps, apply to the court for more transfers, so that the people of Chongguo can prosper.
The last thing the court wanted right now was tens of millions of disasters, and Zhu Youfan felt that he might be able to help.
Chongguo's geographical location is not ideal, but it can accommodate hundreds of thousands of disaster victims.
The prince is right, if there are not enough people to work for him, what is the use of abundant resources?
