Lin Feng's declaration of "Kaiyuan County" was like a divine decree, setting the final tone for this massive resource conquest war.
This is no longer a simple resource gathering operation, but a veritable territorial expansion.
The first thing put on the agenda was to gain full control of Lake of Hope.
Pang Dahai almost couldn't wait and handed over his "Preliminary Plan for the Development of Fisheries in Lake of Hope" to Lin Feng.
Although the plan uses crude and blunt language, it is full of shrewdness and boundless passion for food.
His core idea can be summed up in four words: exhaust the resources to catch all the fish.
"Boss, look!"
Pang Dahai pointed at the lake, spitting as he spoke to Lin Feng, "The fish in this lake are so numerous and fat, they're practically free! We don't need to do anything complicated. We'll just organize a few thousand people, use huge nets, and haul them from this side of the lake to the other side, back and forth several times! I guarantee that within a week, our warehouse will be filled with millions of kilograms of dried fish!"
Lin Feng looked at his expression, which seemed to want to swallow the entire lake whole, and just smiled faintly before turning to Wang Jianguo beside him.
"Teacher Wang, what's your opinion?"
Being singled out by Lin Feng, Wang Jianguo was flattered. He quickly adjusted his glasses and said, "Leader, I understand Minister Pang's enthusiasm, but personally, I believe that draining the pond to catch all the fish is not advisable. The history of Blue Star has proven countless times that destructive and predatory development of natural resources will only lead to resource depletion and ecological collapse."
He paused, then pulled out several sheets of paper with charcoal sketches from his pocket. "These past few days, I've led some students from the Ministry of Education to conduct preliminary observations and dissections of several major fish species in the lake."
“We found that the jadefin fish has tender flesh and almost no bones, but its breeding cycle is very long and the number of eggs in its belly is very small. On the other hand, the rainbow bream, although it reproduces quickly, its growth is heavily dependent on a kind of emerald green aquatic plant that grows on the bottom of the lake.”
“If we use large nets for indiscriminate fishing, we are likely to damage the aquatic plant bed at the bottom of the lake, thereby destroying the food chain of the rainbow bream. If this continues, the lake will probably become a stagnant pool in less than two years.”
Pang Dahai listened, stunned, and muttered unconvinced, "Is it really that mysterious? This lake is so big..."
"This isn't some kind of mystery; it's science."
Wang Jianguo said seriously, "What we need to do is control and sustainable development. My suggestion is to establish a systematic fishing system that is divided by region, time period, and species."
“We need to know where the jadefin fish are most concentrated and where the rainbow bream are spawning. We need to know what size fish to catch and how small fish to release to ensure the healthy reproduction of the fish population. We need to turn this lake into a huge, self-sustaining, natural aquaculture farm that can produce a stable output, rather than a disposable canned food that can only be eaten once.”
Lin Feng nodded in satisfaction.
“Teacher Wang is right.” He looked at Pang Dahai: “Dahai, your task is to manage the warehouse and distribution. You are our empire’s ‘grain official.’ But you should listen to the opinions of professionals on how to produce grain.”
"Greed is a driving force, but greed without wisdom is destructive. What I need is a treasure trove that can continuously provide me with wealth, not something that kills the goose that lays the golden eggs."
"Yes, yes! The leader is right!" Pang Dahai immediately wiped the sweat from his forehead. Although he was still somewhat unwilling, he dared not disobey Lin Feng's orders in the slightest.
"Li Xiangbin." Lin Feng turned to the Minister of Construction.
"Yes, brother!"
"The specific implementation of fishery development will be led by your Ministry of Construction. I'm giving you one month; I want to see a well-established, scientific, and efficient fishery base."
Lin Feng said, "Whatever you need—people, supplies—just ask Pang Dahai and Tang Bao. I only want results."
"I guarantee I'll complete the mission!" Li Xiangbin's eyes gleamed with excitement.
Li Xiangbin's construction department once again demonstrated its amazing creativity and execution capabilities.
After all, this department is full of college graduates who graduated with degrees in civil engineering.
They were inexplicably sent to an alien planet, yet they were given job opportunities—it's ironic, to say the least.
A huge wooden pier soon rose up on the lake shore.
The timber used for the dock was all selected from sturdy and rot-resistant ironwood.
Hundreds of laborers, chanting in unison, drove sharpened iron stakes into the silt at the bottom of the lake.
Next to the dock, large buildings sprang up like mushrooms after rain.
Pangdahai's "Aquatic Product Processing Center" is the largest and busiest building complex among them.
This place is divided into dozens of functional areas: live fish holding tanks, slaughtering area, cleaning area, marinating area, air-drying area, smoking area, etc.
Pang Dahai used all his shrewdness and intelligence here.
He designed an assembly line-style processing flow, so that a fish can be taken out of the lake and turned into dried fish or smoked fish that can be stored for a long time in less than a day.
He also ordered that all the fish heads, bones, and entrails left after slaughter should not be discarded, but should be collected and boiled into fish soup to serve as a late-night snack for the laborers, or made into fertilizer to supply the farmland of the shelter.
In his words, "Not a single bit of the leader's wealth can be wasted!"
Meanwhile, Li Xiangbin's "shipyard" was also working day and night to meet demand.
The people in the Ministry of Construction designed and manufactured three different models of fishing boats based on different fishing needs.
The "shallow-water seine net boat" used for catching rainbow bream has a wide, flat hull and a shallow draft, allowing it to move flexibly in areas with aquatic plants. It is equipped with a circular, hand-thrown net that can be quickly deployed and retrieved, specifically designed to catch schools of fish that congregate together.
The "deep-water longline fishing boat" used for catching jadefin fish has a long and narrow hull and is equipped with sails, allowing it to sail to deeper waters.
Instead of fishing nets, the boat carried a huge scroll with thousands of meters of longlines covered with tens of thousands of fishhooks.
While this fishing method is less efficient than net fishing, it minimizes damage to the ecosystem in deep waters and can precisely capture adult jadefin fish of a specific size.
There is also a small "patrol and surveillance boat" specifically used by members of the Discipline Department and Wang Jianguo's students to supervise whether the boats are fishing in accordance with regulations, in designated areas and in designated ways, and to prevent any smuggling or theft.
A month later, when the docks, factories, and fleets were all ready, Lin Feng personally came to Lake of Hope.
The "first launching ceremony" was quickly arranged.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, dozens of brand-new fishing boats, flying the black dragon flag and its subsidiary flags, sounded their horns and slowly sailed away from the dock, heading to their respective designated fishing areas.
Pang Dahai stood nervously on the dock, clutching a pair of binoculars in his hand, his palms sweaty.
The amount of manpower and resources invested over the past month has been astronomical. Today is the day to see the results.
Two hours later, the first shallow-water seismic net boat returned fully loaded.
When the hatch was opened, the entire dock erupted in excitement as the hold full of lively, shimmering rainbow bream, like a flowing waterfall of jewels, cascaded down the slide into the holding tank!
"Fish caught! Fish caught!"
"My God! There's so much! One boat carried tens of thousands of kilograms!"
Pang Dahai was so excited that he jumped off the command platform. He ran to the pool, picked up a plump rainbow bream, kissed it hard on the cheek, and laughed loudly: "We're rich! We're rich! We're rich!"
Immediately afterwards, one fishing boat after another returned to port.
Rainbow sea bream, silver thread shrimp, and a type of crab with firm flesh and delicious flavor called "green rock crab"...
All kinds of aquatic products are continuously sent to the aquatic product processing center.
The entire factory instantly transformed into a high-speed machine. Although the workers were exhausted, their faces were filled with happy and satisfied smiles.
That evening, when the first batch of deep-water longline fishing boats returned, it caused a huge sensation.
What they brought back were adult jadefin fish that were over a meter long and as white as jade.
This fish has extremely delicious flesh that melts in your mouth, and it contains a unique energy that can invigorate the spirit and eliminate fatigue after consumption.
According to Wang Jianguo's research, this energy is an excellent supplement for ordinary people.
For telekinetic users like Lin Feng, it can even have a slight effect of replenishing their mental energy.
After personally tasting a piece of the jadefin fish cooked using the simplest steaming method, Lin Feng immediately announced that the jadefin fish was to be classified as a "strategic resource".
Ordinary citizens need an extremely high number of contribution points to redeem it. However, soldiers of the Ironblood Army, core members of each department, and himself will enjoy priority and rationed supplies.
This decision instantly propelled the value of the jadefin fish to its peak.
It is no longer just a type of food, but a symbol of identity, status, and honor.
Being able to eat a piece of jadefin fish has become the dream goal of all ordinary citizens.
On the first day of fishing, more than 100,000 catties of various aquatic products were harvested.
When the first transport convoy, consisting of ten giant wagons, fully loaded with processed dried fish, salted fish, and chilled jadefin fish, returned to the shelter along the purification corridor, the entire shelter erupted in celebration.
The unprecedented abundance of food brought a sense of security and happiness, which brought all the survivors' admiration for Lin Feng to a new peak.
Lin Feng stood at the highest point of the dock, calmly watching everything unfold.
Fishing boats come and go, people chatter, and the factory is filled with heat. A vast and sophisticated fishing empire is being built, laying its first cornerstone beneath his feet.
He knew this was just the beginning. Having controlled the lake, the next step was the self-illuminating forest and the boundless plains teeming with wealth.
His gaze passed over the cheering crowd and looked into the distance.
The gears of the empire need more fuel to power its conquest of the planet.
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