In front of him were a gold collar, a silver collar, and some scattered jewelry.
There are some gray-white stains on the gold collar, which looks a little dull in luster, but it still exudes an attractive golden color.
The silver collar is a bit uglier, the entire surface is dark, and even the engravings on it are a bit blurry.
Out of curiosity, Zhao Mengqi held his sleeve and wiped it vigorously for a while before he recognized it.
"In the west of Zhejiang Province, every coin of Changping Si Tianning Festival silver is five taels..." There is also the name of the official in charge behind it.
Tianning Festival is the birthday of Emperor Daojun Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty. This silver collar should have been used for offering sacrifices. Maybe it was not shipped in time during the Jingkang Incident. It was left in the Changping Treasury of Pingjiang Prefecture and was later used by Jin Wushu. A pot was served...
The Changping Division promoted by the Song Dynasty had taxation functions. It collected commercial taxes, river crossing duties, buying money from wineries and other shops, and exemption money. In addition to being used as the capital to buy Changping grain, the remaining money was It must be turned over to the court or the inner treasury regularly.
Geng Zhi said excitedly, "Your Highness, we have only identified one sunken ship for the time being. It is estimated to be a ship worth 500 materials. It is full of gold, silver and jewelry. In addition, the soldiers who entered the water said that there seem to be other sunken ships nearby. This is really true." It’s a windfall from heaven.”
However, Zhao Mengqi didn't seem too happy, and shook his head lightly, "Where is the windfall, it is actually the wealth accumulated by the entire Pingjiang officials and people for hundreds of years..."
During the alien invasion, so many people were turned into withered bones, and so many cities were razed to the ground. This money was just a drop in the ocean that was plundered.
"Now that you have found it, there is no need to rush. Just fish it out slowly. Let everyone pay more attention to safety."
After Zhao Mengqi finished his explanation, he turned his eyes to the lake to the west. Rather than how much gold and silver he could catch, he was more concerned about how many fish the new fishing method he was testing could catch.
Between the east and west islands of Dongting, two twenty-wheeled vehicles and boats, more than ten feet apart, were moving fast together.
Both ships have been modified. There are some facilities such as winches and wooden frames at the stern of the ship, and several thick drag lines are pulled out. Behind the drag lines is a huge fishing net.
A float is tied to one side of the fishing net and a sinker is tied to the other side, so that the fishing net can maintain an upright and open posture in the water.
Chen Xiaokun stood on one of the boats, staring at the location of the fishing net with anxiety and expectation in his eyes. Although the fishing net was sunk in the water, he could not see the specific situation at all.
Tian Chengguang got out of the bottom cabin, "The tramp feels more and more strenuous. Calculating the time is almost an hour. It should be enough. Let's close the net and have a look. I think it should be done. His Highness, King Yan, this method is really good." It’s amazing…”
"It's too early to say this now. His Highness himself said he's not sure whether it will work."
Judging from various signs, the harvest in the fishing net should be quite large, but Chen Xiaokun is still relatively conservative.
"We'll know if it works or not, just set up the net and take a look." Xia Houji rubbed his hands, eager to try.
Chen Xiaokun nodded, "Send the order, set up the net!"
Immediately after a burst of flags, the two ships gradually began to get closer and headed towards the shallow water.
After the two ships were basically together, dozens of soldiers began to get busy, using the winch to retract the winch and close the net mouth.
At the same time, another large ship approached. This ship was equipped with three high lifting facilities in the middle of the ship. It looked a bit like a trebuchet, but the tip pole was much thicker and there were many pulleys on it.
Connect the drag line to the hook on the tip pole, and then the big boat begins to operate, slowly lifting the fishing net out of the water and dragging it onto the big boat.
Seeing the large net full of catch, everyone was shocked, "My dear, this must weigh four to five thousand kilograms."
At this time, it was still common to use cast nets for fishing. Each net had a hundred or so kilograms, which was considered good, but a net of several thousand kilograms was unthinkable.
Chen Xiaokun was overjoyed and said, "Immediately send someone to report to Your Highness that the trawl method has been completed!"
After receiving the notification, Zhao Mengqi finally felt relieved. Wild aquatic products in this era were still very abundant. The key was how to catch them.
The trawl method is very efficient and does not look difficult, but it is difficult.
Ships must have a certain strength and stable power, which is better at sea. Sailboats can barely carry out trawling operations, but the wind in rivers and lakes is relatively unstable, so without mechanical power, Zhao Mengqi thought of using wheel boats. Try it.
However, for now, this method is not yet popular among the people. After all, the three ships require nearly 400 people and require a high degree of coordination, which can only be accomplished by a military organization.
In the days that followed, the transformation of military ships into fishing boats was accelerated. The soldiers of the Fenghua Army became more and more proficient in the new fishing methods. The harvest of aquatic products increased day by day, and they could produce nearly 100,000 kilograms a day.
Although so much aquatic products are harvested, most of them are not put into the market. Instead, they are processed into salted fish and smoked fish in the closed Dongting Dongshan Mountain, or they are stocked in artificial ponds.
Therefore, Xie Tang and others in Gusu City knew nothing about this, but were surprised that 100,000 shi of food still entered the city every day.
Lu Wencai wrinkled his face, with confusion in his eyes, "It's been more than half a month, and the food we bought has been more than two million stones. Why does King Yan still have food?"
Xu Xueqian also had a puzzled look on his face, "Now the late rice has begun to be sown. Two days ago, those people who worked for relief have dispersed and returned home. It is said that King Yan not only lent them a month's rations, but also lent them grain. This The total cost is at least two million dan, how can he have so much food!?"
"This is really strange. Our food purchase in Changzhou and Anji Prefecture went very smoothly. We bought nearly 4 million shi of food in the two places. Logically speaking, he should have no place to buy food."
Lu Wencai thought about it, but couldn't find the answer.
In order to buy grain, they have spent nearly 30 million yuan, and basically the money they can use is almost at the bottom.
Although the powerful people are indeed extremely rich, cash is always limited. Copper coins are okay, but Jiaozi does not maintain its value, and normal people will not keep too much in their hands.
In recent days, in order to continue to purchase food, they have had to use unconventional currencies such as gold and silver.
The current situation was beyond expectations, which made Xie Tang's face look a little ugly. He listed all the possibilities in his mind, and then eliminated them one by one. Finally, with a twitch of his eyelids, he slowly spoke out a guess.
"Did that kid misappropriate the military rations and Changping rations from Jiankang Mansion!?"
"How dare he?" Xu Xueqian exclaimed, "There are hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in Jiankang. Without food, why don't we poke a hole in the sky?"
Xie Tang said with a dark face, "He is so brave! Apart from Jiankang, I can't think of anywhere else that could provide him with so much food in a short period of time. No, there should be Caoliang! Damn it, this kid is so bold!"
"This, this, Jiankang's army rations alone have more than one million dan. If we add the official warehouse and Chang Pingcang, it is really not difficult to collect two to three hundred dan. But, how could Qiu Yue agree?" Lu Wencai still didn't dare believe.
Xie Tang seemed to have figured it out, and gritted his teeth and said, "Before, that kid mobilized Ma Xingsi's troops without authorization, and Qiu Yue didn't stop him. Maybe Mr. Qiu had already wanted to lick King Yan's anus. "
Xu Xueqian was shaking all over. He didn't know whether he was angry or frightened. "So, our plan failed?"
"No! How could we lose? It's just a little more difficult. Even if he demolishes the east wall to repair the west wall, he still can't solve the actual problem. He is just trying to scare us now, so let's see who can Hold on until the end, haha, King Yan, King Yan, now you have pushed yourself into a doomed state with your own hands. At this time, even if you want to bow your head, you can't save yourself..."
Xie Tang is still confident at this time. Although most of the money is tied up in food, as long as the food shortage still exists, he can eventually make double the money back. Even if the food shortage expands to surrounding areas, the money will be even more. many.
But there was basically no solution to the flaw that King Yan had poked. At least, Xie Tang couldn't figure it out.
At this moment, a scribe came panting and said, "Cangshi, the price of food has gone up, eight guan. The food sold by the Department of Appeasement has increased to 8 guan. Moreover, a total of 300,000 dan entered the city today! "
"hiss…
..." Xu Xueqian took a breath, "Three hundred thousand stones!?"
"Doesn't it cost 2.4 million guan to buy it? Cangshi, we only have less than 2 million guan. Do you still want to buy it?" Lu Wencai said with a bitter smile.
"Hahahahaha!"
But Xie Tang looked up to the sky and laughed, "The Guizhou donkey is so useless! That boy can't hold on any longer! Buy, in order not to buy. If you don't buy, you will have fallen into the trick of that cunning woman. As long as the food brought in is not sold out, it will be piled up somewhere." , let the people see that there is food, they will probably stop panicking. As long as their emotions calm down, the food in their homes will actually be enough for two or three months. Such a long time is enough for King Yan to use the Jingjie We are being attacked, so we must persevere, even if we sell everything we can, we still have to raise the money to buy it!"
"Cangshi, do you mean that King Yan is almost out of food? Is he desperate now?" Lu Wencai stared in surprise.
Xie Tang said with a proud smile, "That's definitely the case. Maybe it won't take three days...five days at most, and he won't be able to get even half a grain of food. At that time, it will all be up to us!"
Although Lu Wencai and Xu Xueqian still had some doubts in their hearts, they still followed Xie Tang's decision.
The powerful men in their camp not only took out all the gold and silver, but even used the land deeds and shops as collateral to borrow money from big households in places like Changzhou, Anji, and Lin'an.
In the following days, things seemed to develop exactly as Xie Tang expected.
On the second day, there were still 300,000 dan entering the city, but the price of food increased to ten guan. On the third and fourth days, it dropped to 200,000 dan and rose to 12 guan. On the fifth day, it was only 160,000 dan. , but fell back to Wuguan.
Including other cities, the total in five days was more than two million dan. Xie Tang and others spent another 20 million dan, but their mood became better and better, more and more relaxed, and they could see that victory was in sight.
Sure enough, on the sixth day, no more grain ships entered the city.
The grain shops in the city are still open, but the price of grain is as high as 30 guan per dan!
The ministers were overjoyed, and the common people were completely panicked...
