Chapter 37 Fisheries
This time, He Xi didn't lie to him.
He Xi came to Lushun for a reason.
It's waiting for someone.
However, since he miscalculated the time, He Xi had no time to spare. Such as shipyards. He had been thinking about it before, but he had never been free. Throughout Liaodong, He Xi had many things to pay attention to. But overall, the most important places are Yingkou and Shenyang. Lushun waited and went off.
It’s not that Port Arthur is bad. But Port Arthur does not have much economic hinterland. But Lushun Shipyard has been around for a long time. Even He Xi has the idea of moving the shipbuilding center to Yingkou. But we won't give up here either.
After all, in the future of great navigation. Even though there are some fluctuations in the shipbuilding industry, the trend of scale expansion will not change for a long time.
This long time should be measured in centuries.
Therefore, Lushun Shipyard cannot be neglected.
So, early the next morning, He Xi came to Lushun Shipyard.
At this moment, Lushun Shipyard is undertaking an important task, which is to build fishing boats.
At this moment, fishing boat hulls that are more than ten meters long and several meters wide are covered in large areas on the coast. A number of craftsmen are filling the seams with various things, that is, adhesives made of various materials, filling in the wood. Keep it watertight in the gaps.
This is not the first batch.
The real first batch has been sent out.
In order to alleviate the food crisis, He Xi thought about it and could only increase investment in fishery. However, He Xi faced many difficulties.
The first difficulty is the problem of manpower.
In many things, what needs to be solved at the beginning is human problems. It is not that there are no fishermen in the north. Generally speaking, there are not many fishermen. To expand so many people at once, where would He Xi get the skilled sailors? Fortunately, there are many fishermen among the Korean immigrants. I also found some from the Shandong coast. In front of these people, the fishermen structure is formed in front of them.
The second difficulty is the difficulty of fishing gear, boats and fishing gear. I can't take out that much at once.
However, this is not important.
These people have built a group of technicians long time ago. Easily adapted, a series of production machines. Such as hemp rope. In the past, weaving was done by hand, but now we can use mechanical assistance. Of course, this kind of mechanical assistance will not be the automation that future generations will think of. Instead, the technical problem of weaving hemp rope has directly turned into physical work. Using an iron frame with wheels, you only need to braid a beginning and then rotate the wheels at a constant speed for the rest.
In this way, the number of things that can be done suddenly increases.
All these production centers are located in the Lushun Shipyard. It can even be said that the Lushun Shipyard is now a fishing gear factory.
This is actually not a problem.
The biggest problem He Xi faced was the third difficulty. Fishing itself was uneconomical and difficult to carry out on a large scale.
Many people think that in the ancient ocean, there were fish everywhere, and it was easy to catch them. How could it be uneconomical to put tens of millions of pounds into the sea?
In fact, just think about it.
If fishing was really so profitable. So convenient, why in ancient China, the only people who really specialized in fishing were the discriminated Dan people. The economic base determines the superstructure, and there may be other reasons why people are discriminated against. But fishing is not profitable, which is also one of the reasons.
First, climate impacts. Until the maritime climate can be accurately predicted, every time you go to sea is a gamble. This is true for overseas trade and fishing.
Secondly, there are technical issues.
There are too many technical problems. It's just a series of questions.
Let’s talk about preservation first. If the fish is not frozen, it will turn into a pile of smelly fish in just a few days. Can't eat it at all. Not to mention making money. This requires that the fish catch must be sold in a timely manner. This also prevents fishermen from going offshore.
As a result, the fishing range is actually not large.
Besides, there are technical issues with fishing nets.
Many people have seen that a net worth several thousand kilograms is a modern thing. This effect can only be achieved by making fishing nets from chemical fibers. In ancient times, what was the best material for fishing nets? It is a net made of hemp rope and cotton rope.
Not to mention the load-bearing capacity of this fishing net. One item alone is corrosion resistance. These fishing nets were important production tools, and cotton and linen were scarce in ancient times. After being soaked in sea water, it doesn't take long for it to turn into a pile of rotten rope ends.
This is a loss that many fishermen cannot afford.
Ever since, there is a saying that there are three days to fish and two days to dry the nets. This is not an attitude, or whether you are lazy or not. It is a very real cost issue.
Because of this situation, the so-called distant water fisheries do not exist at all.
Under such circumstances, it is impossible for He Xi to use fisheries to increase food supply.
Of course, it's not without its use.
He Xi still made some adjustments between the limited technical conditions and reality.
First of all, I want to thank you for the troubled times at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. The human population has decreased over an area, but it has become a flourishing time for wild animals. This also includes fish in the sea. And let alone the offshore fishing industry, there are not many people fishing in offshore areas. Bohai Sea fishery resources are still very rich. Because there are many rivers flowing into the Bohai Sea, there are many kinds of plankton, so it is known as the land of hundreds of fish.
Of course, those caught in later generations are almost extinct, but that is another matter.
Even fishing offshore is still rewarding.
The second is the issue of preservation.
That is related to another issue, that is, the issue of Liaodong Salt Industry.
In short, there are quite a few areas in Liaodong that are suitable for salting, including most of the west coast of the Liaoning Peninsula and part of the east coast. However, because most of the population gathering places in the Ming Dynasty are in the area west of Qianshan. Therefore, what He Xi is vigorously developing is the coastline on the west side of the Liaoning Peninsula.
Salt production has already begun.
Of course the number is not large. This aspect is certainly a problem in the salt field. There are new technologies, new people, and all kinds of unskilled ones. It's more because the natural conditions are different. The efficiency of drying salt depends on the intensity of the sun. The sun is pretty good now. But it's still not midsummer yet. So production has not yet reached its peak.
However, the fishing industry has just begun. The two complement each other.
Not bad either.
Of course, He Xi also has some attempts at offshore fishing, that is, whaling ships. Whales are not uncommon in this era. Even when He Xi took a boat out to sea, he saw whales floating on the surface several times.
Whaling can perfectly avoid some of the pain points of fishing.
First, there is the issue of preservation.
Whales are large and have tenacious vitality. Even if they are captured, they will not die for a while. Even if they die, they will last longer than ordinary fish. Enough people brought the whale back. Give people enough processing time.
Secondly, catching whales avoids the problem of rope net material. A whale can compare to it, and several boatloads of fish have been caught.
Although, it still can't be too far from the coast. However, the conceptual scope of the ancient people's oceans is completely different from that of later generations.
In the former case, if you leave the coast and cannot see land on all sides, it is probably considered to be an open ocean. And in later generations, it means running around the world without seeing land for several months. But the scope of the fishery has been expanded.
What He Xi is worried about is not the offshore fishing of these small boats. Because they are all mature technologies, the only problem is probably that the sailors are all novices, but after a long time of running in, there will be no problem. It can also provide enough manpower for the future era of navigation.
What He Xi is worried about is actually whaling.
After all, a whale weighs less than a few tons or more than dozens of tons. Only a certain number can be caught. It is enough to make up for the food gap. Let the economic system in Liaodong operate stably.
But whaling is still a new thing in Ming Dynasty. Many technical problems here can be solved naturally. And the whaling ship was also newly built. For behemoths like whales, does it have any effect?
He Xi still has some worries.
This was the reason why he came all the way here to inspect.
Although, it is within He Xi's plan. There is more than one solution to the food crisis. If there is plan A, then there is plan B, but every plan is not perfect. He Xi hopes that all plans will succeed.
