"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Qin Mu was taken aback and hurriedly stepped forward to support Princess Changning and asked.
"I'm fine, I just suddenly feel a little nauseous," Princess Changning said, letting go of her hand and gently swaying it.
Qin Mu himself knew medicine, and he reached out to grab Princess Changning's wrist out of concern.
Qin Mu's face was initially serious, then his eyebrows twitched repeatedly, and finally, a look of wild joy appeared on his face. Princess Changning had never seen Qin Mu's face so expressive in such a short time, and couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong with me?"
With a look of ecstatic joy on his face, Qin Mu carefully supported Princess Changning, placing his right hand on her lower abdomen and saying, "Madam, you're pregnant! I'm going to be a father!"
Princess Changning was about to push his hand away when she froze, blinking her big eyes in disbelief, and asked, "What did you say, husband?"
"I'm telling you, Madam, you're pregnant. You're carrying a baby." Qin Mu's lips trembled slightly as he gently touched Princess Changning's flat stomach.
"Really?" Princess Changning asked, covering her mouth. Her eyes also revealed excitement.
"Yes, yes! It can't be wrong, it can't be wrong!" Qin Mu nodded repeatedly.
"Wow! Sister Ruoxi, you're going to have a baby!" Xiangli Yanran exclaimed, looking down at Princess Changning's lower abdomen.
"Be careful, be careful, don't bump into anything," Qin Mu said, pushing her head away.
"Mmm!" This time, Xiangli Yanran didn't mind Qin Mu pushing her head; instead, she obediently took a step back.
"Let's go back! Go back and rest! You can't keep wandering around like this. Yanran, you have to keep an eye on your sister Ruoxi for me; no, no, I'll only feel at ease if Baili Rou comes to help watch over me." Qin Mu said incessantly.
"Husband, you don't need to be so careful. I'm not a child. I can take care of myself. Aren't there maids at home?" Princess Changning said sweetly to herself.
"No, no, you know yourself. What if you fall down one day?" Qin Mu shook his head repeatedly. As soon as he finished speaking, he slapped his mouth and said, "Pah! Pah! Nonsense, the bad things won't come true, but the good things will!"
Under Qin Mu's careful care, the two returned to the city with their men. Still worried, Qin Mu summoned Han Chen and his wife. They confirmed that Princess Changning was indeed pregnant.
Upon learning that his hard work had paid off, Qin Mu was extremely excited. He requested that Baili Rou and Xiangli Yanran accompany her around the clock, and also found more than ten maids to ensure that Princess Changning would be cared for 24 hours a day. He also demanded that someone must support Princess Changning whenever she walked.
Knowing about Princess Changning's ailment, although it hadn't flared up in a long time, no one thought Qin Mu was making a fuss. Baili Rou said that she would bring the baby over to take care of her during the day and stay by her side every step of the way.
When the news of Princess Changning's pregnancy spread, a large amount of tonics, delicacies, and fruits were sent from all over the country, with fresh goods arriving every day. This made Xiangli Yanran the happiest, as the girl's mouth never stopped, and she often exclaimed that the trip was worthwhile.
After Qin Mu had spent ten days attentively with her, Princess Changning angrily sent him out to work. She was uncomfortable with someone constantly watching her. If it were a maid, it wouldn't be so bad; she wouldn't mind. But Qin Mu was different; he was someone she cared about. She only felt relieved after demanding that Qin Mu only return to the back courtyard for meals and sleep.
With ample manpower, once the salt fields are opened, tens of thousands of acres are involved, with more than 20,000 people working on it. The output is naturally huge, especially as the technology matures and the weather gets warmer, with thousands of kilograms of refined salt being harvested every day.
Dead Water Bay was a bay that used to be a dead land because there were few fish, the vegetation on the shore was poor, and crops yielded little harvest, so naturally there were few people living there. Strictly speaking, the nearest people to this place lived more than thirty miles away.
It's bustling here now, with fields stretching along the bay's shore. These fields aren't planted with crops, but filled with seawater that glistens under the blazing sun.
As the sun rose high in the sky, large numbers of people returned from the fields to their wooden houses on the hillside by the bay, drinking large gulps of warm water, looking down at the paddy fields, and talking happily.
The foot-operated waterwheel was still turning, and shirtless men took turns pumping seawater into the fields.
Seawater salt pans are different from salt lakes. In seawater salt pans, the water from one pan has to pass through several pans to settle before finally pooling together. Fortunately, in Lingnan, the temperature is high and the sun is scorching, so the seawater evaporates very quickly, and a salt pan dries up very fast.
Of course! This is intentionally controlled. There is only a shallow layer of seawater in the salt pans, allowing sunlight to penetrate and reach the bottom of the pans, thus causing the temperature to rise faster.
The process of turning seawater into salt is not so simple; the entire process takes half a month to harvest coarse salt. Therefore, salt pans need to be rotated. While the salt in the front is still drying, the salt in the back has already been harvested. Like piled snow, the salt is swept together, packed into bags, and carried into the village for the final stage of processing.
Looking down from the hillside, the salt fields are actually colorful and quite beautiful, and the scenes of people working there are also very spectacular.
"It's truly unbelievable that what was originally a dead end has become a treasure trove in Huai Dao's hands," Feng Ang exclaimed.
"You flatter me, Mr. Feng," Qin Mu said modestly.
“Huaidao, do you know? In just the last two months, more than two hundred mountain strongholds have agreed to send people to join the army. The manpower shortage on the border is finally not so bad,” Feng Ang said excitedly.
Qin Mu knew, of course, that the government had been buying up fruit from the people as soon as it ripened. Just imagine, in their spare time, they could pick fruit from the mountains and exchange it for refined salt, grain, and cloth. They wouldn't have to worry about where their next meal would come from, nor would they have to risk their lives hunting wild animals. How could those mountain strongholds not be happy with such a life?
With sufficient manpower, we can train enough soldiers, especially the villagers of the mountain stronghold, who are all excellent soldiers.
Large quantities of canned fruit were transported to Jiangnan and Guanzhong, in exchange for large quantities of tea, cloth, grain, and medicinal herbs, which greatly eased the burden on Lingnan. This was just the beginning; as trade volume increased, making Lingnan a wealthy region was not just a fantasy, Feng Ang had already begun to envision.
Everything was brought about by this young man in front of him, and it had only been half a year. This made Feng Ang sigh inwardly, and he became completely obedient to Qin Mu's support.
"Let's go, Master Feng. We should go see how the harvest is on the other side of the bay," Qin Mu said with a smile, watching the sun set.
Today is the day the shipyard's large ships set sail, on the other side of the bay, and in the future, this bay will also be a place where ships anchor.
The ship's sea trials have long since ended, and today's voyage is mainly for fishing! This is the first time we've used a trawler.
The enormous fishing nets, lowered into the sea and towed by boats, were what Qin Mu valued most. There were many fishermen before, but the difference between them and the nets Qin Mu had made was immense. No one had ever thought of using warships for fishing.
The Panyu warships weren't equipped with ballistae or catapults; they were simply large fishing boats. Qin Mu wasn't particularly excited to see them because he didn't want to go out to sea; he just wanted to wait and see the catch. Presumably, the day's harvest would be quite good.
The triangular cows showed no signs of discomfort upon arriving in Lingnan; on the contrary, they seemed to enjoy the humid and hot climate, which Qin Mu guessed was related to the abundant water and grass in the area.
Compared to the horses of Lingnan, the triangular cattle run faster, and their huge bodies can ignore many obstacles.
Amidst the rumbling sounds, Qin Mu and his group rounded the bay and ran for another half an hour before arriving at a vast seaside. By this time, all the fishing boats were moored on the shore; although there were only six, it still gave Qin Mu the feeling of returning to a harbor.
Shaking their heads to dispel the memories, the group walked towards the bustling seaside. Even from a distance, Feng Ang, Qin Mu, and the others became excited.
The beach was piled high with fish of all sizes, like a small mountain. Many people were gutting the fish, removing their innards, and scaling them. Then, some people excitedly carried the fish away into the distance.
"So many! So big!" Feng Ang exclaimed, taking a deep breath and widening his eyes. There was a large pit on the ground, piled high with fish. A shallow layer of water could be seen in the pit, but it wasn't enough for the fish; many were desperately opening their mouths. Long, long fish were still struggling in their death throes!
Feng Ang had seen large fish before, even larger ones many times, but dozens in one pit was something he had never seen before. He couldn't imagine how these ordinary people had managed to get these fish, which were as tall as people, out of the sea.
A commoner, holding a stick, excitedly struck a large fish several times before dragging it aside and handing it to another person to gut.
"Haha! Huai Dao, look! This big guy, I pulled it up myself, we'll eat it tonight!" Cheng Huai Liang walked over from a distance, shirtless, dragging a big guy that was more than two meters long, whose tail was still slapping the ground.
Cheng Huailiang punched down, and seeing that the big fish didn't react, he nodded in satisfaction, clapped his hands, and walked towards Qin Mu.
"Can you finish it?" Qin Mu raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile.
"It's okay, let's all eat together."
"Yes, as long as you like it."
"Of course I love it, haha! Going out to sea to fish is so exciting!" Cheng Huailiang laughed excitedly.
This guy knows how to swim, but he's definitely not as good as the fishermen on the coast. Qin Mu reminded him, "Be careful, the sea is not like a river. If there's a real problem, no one can save you. Don't go too far out to sea."
“Why go so far? We caught so many nets right here today! You're really good at this. This net is so useful. It fills the whole area in one go, and you can't even drag it. Luckily, you had someone make that winch.” Cheng Huailiang said enthusiastically.
In this world, there are natural fish in the fields, not to mention the sea. Ordinary fishermen can catch fish on the shore with just a small boat, not to mention their large nets.
The ocean in this world is unpolluted, and the wooden boats are quiet. So, the haul from this net was naturally quite good. However, Qin Mu did not expect there to be so many big fish here. It is clear that this is a good resource area.
"I see!"
Seeing that Cheng Huailiang seemed indifferent, Qin Mu glared at him, and Cheng Huailiang nodded seriously and said, "Okay, okay, I'll remember."
"We can collect the fish's innards and throw them back into the sea. Maybe we'll have an even bigger harvest tomorrow," Qin Mu said, his expression finally relaxing.
"Okay! I'll go tell them." Cheng Huailiang's eyes lit up, and he agreed, running towards where the fish was being gutted.
Feng Ang looked around excitedly, his steps quick, not caring at all about the fishy smell. Qin Mu, although not disgusted, did not like the fishy smell mixed with the sea smell, so he walked to the upwind side.
"Huai Dao! Huai Dao! Do you know? We harvested over 20,000 jin of fish today!" Feng Ang excitedly ran up to Qin Mu, abandoning his usual composure and exclaiming excitedly.
"It must be fresh fish! It won't be as heavy if it's dried into fish jerky," Qin Mu said with a smile.
“Today was just a test, and we weren’t prepared enough. It will be different when there are more boats! Huai Dao, you should know what tens of thousands of catties of fish means in a day. Even if we don’t eat grain, it’s enough to feed 10,000 people for a day, not to mention selling them!” Feng Ang said excitedly.
"Hehe, you can't eat sea fish as a meal! It's too salty," Qin Mu replied with a laugh.
"Yes! It's too salty. The common people can use it as salt. In a situation where refined salt is scarce, this is a good thing!" Feng Ang said thoughtfully. It seems he already had many ideas in mind.
"Good dried fish can be sold in Guanzhong along with canned goods. Sea fish can probably fetch a good price there. Regular dried fish can be used by the army; it can be used as cooking, salt, and meat," Qin Mu reminded them.
“Good, good. It’s good to have meat to eat. The soldiers will be very happy, and it will greatly boost morale. I’ll have all the boats brought over, and also send more fishermen,” Feng Ang nodded repeatedly.
"Don't rush, Master Feng. The boat is one thing, but what about the fishing net? No matter how many boats you bring, it's all for nothing without the fishing net. There's no need to rush," Qin Mu hurriedly said, pulling him aside.
“Yes, yes, let them make the fishing nets first,” Feng Ang said calmly.
To be honest, the harvest was indeed beyond expectations. Qin Mu had actually prepared for failure, after all, not every place in the ocean has a large number of fish, and exploration is required. Fortunately, he was lucky and got off to a great start, which made things much easier afterward. He could fish while searching for new resource points.
Walking along the beach, Qin Mu squinted at the rocks. Then he called over his guards and pointed into the distance.
Feng Ang looked at Qin Mu with puzzlement as he had people bring back some shellfish and seaweed from the reef, and asked curiously, "What are these things for?"
"These are good things! Master Feng, sea fish are good, but the real treasures in the ocean are these shelled creatures and seaweed," Qin Mu said with a smug smile.
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