Chapter 40 Whaling
Zhu Xiongying thought to himself: "I learned it."
He secretly compared He Xi with ancient famous generals to see how they differed in their methods of winning people's hearts. After carefully studying He Xi's expression, I felt that He Xi's acting skills were great. Not to mention these soldiers, even he felt a little moved.
But he didn't feel it. Unknowingly, he raised He Xi's status to that of a famous general and minister in ancient times. On the contrary, the contempt I had for He Xi when I first came to Liaodong has almost completely disappeared.
Here, he saw something that was not in the scriptures. A real, flowing, and lively world. Live a different life than what is written in the scriptures.
Zhu Xiongying mistakenly blamed He Xi.
It is undeniable that He Xi will inevitably be hypocritical in some matters. For example, that salted fish meal. Disgusted, He Xi had no appetite for several days. But in this matter, He Xi would not be allowed to cheat.
In the eyes of many Ming people, iron is very precious. Even so, iron prices have fallen a lot over the years. But this impression over the years is not easy to get rid of. In He Xi's eyes, iron is very, very cheap.
It only costs a few bucks to nail a few iron plates to the boat. Even if you have to change it every month or two, it's nothing. Not to mention, Shenyang Iron Works now has considerable productivity. Just the right mix.
Judging from the value alone, He Xi is telling the truth.
Iron was cheaper than people, which might not have been possible before He Xi came to the Ming Dynasty. But a few years after He Xi came to this era, it still became a fact.
This kind of cheapness does not talk about ethics, only economics.
When it comes to ethics, human life is priceless. But compensation for death comes with a price. At least in Liaodong, the price of a skilled worker or sailor's life has exceeded that of more than a thousand kilograms or more of steel.
He Xi continued to ask: "Is the bed crossbow easy to use?"
Shi Cheng said: "It's okay."
He Xi asked: "What else does it mean?"
Shi Cheng thought for a while and said: "Whales can be killed with a bed crossbow. But the power of the bed crossbow at sea is different from its power on land. I suspect that the bed crossbow will not work well at sea. Yes. It’s damp, but it’s not easy to verify right now. It will take some time to find out.”
He Xi frowned, sighed, and said, "I will find a way."
Crossbows are too limited.
A bed crossbow is used to fire a spear with a rope behind it, or a closed barrel. When the whale was first released, a lance and a wooden barrel were nailed to the whale. Because there was air in the barrel, it would be difficult for the whale to sink.
Of course, if the whale is too big, one or two barrels won't do.
Just get more.
Once the whale is unable to dive, the whaling ship follows the whale. This process is like fishing, but this whale is too big.
The whale keeps struggling. When it bleeds too much, is exhausted, or dies, it will float on the surface of the sea. At this time, a spear with a long rope will be fired, the rope will be nailed to the whale, and the whale will be pulled over. , fixed on the side of the vessel. Tow it back to the port.
This is the entire process of whaling. When using the two types of crossbows, it is possible to use them together. In short, the bed crossbow plays a central role in the whaling process.
It can be said that the power of the bed crossbow has a direct impact on the success or failure of the whaling activity.
But crossbow arrows, no matter what kind of crossbow arrows, have a fatal problem. This problem has been discussed at the beginning. That means it cannot adapt to humid climates. No matter how powerful the crossbow arrows are. Even for bed crossbows, they use beef tendon and cowhide.
Once it gets wet, its power is greatly reduced.
He Xi thought about it carefully, and he remembered that when Westerners hunted whales, they seemed to use a kind of cannon to hit the whales, which would have a similar effect. But how is this cannon designed? He Xi couldn't understand for a while. However, he is no longer worried about this matter now.
After all, he has been away from front-line scientific research for a long time.
He already has a scientific research team of several hundred people headed by Ge Tiangong. The ability of such a scientific research team will be funny in the eyes of future generations. But in this era, it is already a luxury group. He Xi decided to delegate this topic to them.
Look at the effect.
Except for these two problems.
The problem of whaling is almost solved. How to find whales, how to capture them, etc., have formed a set of feasible methods. Although there is no guarantee that every voyage in the future will be fully loaded, it is already on track.
He Xi doesn't have to worry too much.
After some condolences, He Xi left here. Zhu Xiongying couldn't help but ask a question that he had been thinking about for a long time. Said: "Sir, it has been said since ancient times that whales represent nobles among people. Aren't you worried that the killing of whales has spread to the capital like this?"
He Xi was stunned. He really hadn't thought about this problem.
Zhu Xiongying's question is not without reason. The most famous thing is that of Qin Shihuang. Qin Shihuang shot a big fish, and the big fish was probably a whale. But what happened to Qin Shihuang? There is no need to say more.
Even what Zhu Xiongying said was implicit enough.
Who is a noble person among people? It clearly refers to a prince.
He Xi is killing whales on a large scale. Once something happens to a certain noble person. Wouldn't it be true that He Xi was guilty? There will be unexpected opposition.
He Xi said: "The child is silent, and the strange power confuses the spirit." Then He Xi smiled and said: "Moreover, the world is huge, and the food is the biggest. Your Majesty knows this. Do you think His Majesty knows it? What will you think?"
When Zhu Xiongying was in Nanjing, he had a lot of contact with Zhu Yuanzhang, and even farmed with Zhu Yuanzhang. He also had his own judgment about what kind of person his grandpa Huang was. I also feel that whoever wants to prevent people from eating meat because of such weird things.
It is estimated that everyone in the world will watch him skinned and turned into grass.
When He Xi got off the boat, several whales had been dissected by many people. Large pieces of meat were marinated in various ways, and the excess was distributed to the people as a reward. There are many other products, such as whale skin, whale oil, whale bones, etc. All are useful.
It was like a whale fell, all things came to life, and many people were fed.
Although it is said that whaling will be sinful in future generations. That's because too many whales were killed in later generations. And whales were plentiful in this era. He Xi has no psychological burden at all. Any environmental protection concept must put human survival as the first priority.
Rather than the other way around.
It was just He Xi looking at the bloody scene. I always feel like I've forgotten something.
Suddenly there was a foul smell. But they are some white objects. He Xi saw it from a distance and asked, "What is this?"
Zhu Xiongying covered his nose and said, "What could it be? It should be the intestines of a whale."
After all, someone who has read a book talks about shit so elegantly.
He Xi's heart moved and she said to herself, "I thought of it."
He Xi was thinking of nothing else. But ambergris. This is the best of fragrances. Not only does it taste good, but it also has an unexplainable function, which is to entertain men and women. I didn't know this function originally. Because in later generations, He Xi had never heard of ambergris, seen pictures, and had never come into contact with the real thing, let alone used it.
I wonder why ambergris is so expensive? Of course, this is because in ancient times, ambergris could only be picked up from the coast and could not be obtained reliably. Perhaps the more important thing is this.
After all, men never hesitate to spend money on things that are helpful in these matters. It's like a woman pays for beauty and doesn't care about the bills.
And ambergris, what is it? It's just whale poop. And when I think of ambergris, the price is hard to come by. He Xi estimated that a pound or two of ambergris would be more expensive than an entire whale. Only then did He Xi realize the violence of the whaling industry.
Of course. Ambergris is not just ordinary whale poop. But this direction is enough.
You can always meet them.
Not to mention that this is simply a by-product of whaling.
Suddenly, He Xi paid off all his debts within this year and gained more confidence. In his opinion, as long as there is real ambergris, countless people will come over waving their banknotes. For this true luxury. The price is literally unlimited.
