The victim didn't understand the word "high-grade", but when Su Nuannuan said so confidently that this thing was edible, the victim was happy. He said repeatedly: "In this case, I will ask the boys who are familiar with the water to go down and cut some and take it back. There are ready-made knives and guns in the cabin. Since it doesn't eat people, we don't have to be afraid."
Duan Tingxuan looked at Zhang Tianming and asked, "How much more can our ship carry? Don't be too greedy and end up sinking due to overloading." The young marquis had heard Duan Tingye talk about this tragedy more than once, and he was almost traumatized.
Without waiting for Zhang Tianming to reply, the man said, "Don't worry, sir. These are all navy ships. They are of the best quality. Each ship can carry at least seven or eight tons of cargo. Apart from us, it can also carry a lot of other things. You see, these ships don't even take up much water."
Duan Tingxuan followed the direction of his finger and saw the situation of other boats. Sure enough, the side of the boat was still high above the water. He nodded and said, "In that case, let's get some kelp and catch a few more fish. Let's go back to Jinzhouwei tomorrow. If the food still doesn't arrive, we'll come back and continue to fish for kelp."
Zhang Tianming hurriedly ordered the soldiers to pass on the message, and then said to Duan Tingxuan: "My Lord, although you say that, you shouldn't have too much cargo on the ship. The waterways in Jinzhouwei are only connected because of the heavy rain. If you really load too much cargo, the ship won't be able to pass when it reaches the shallow and narrow waterway."
Duan Tingxuan smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. Anyway, the victims have been rescued. If there are places where boats can't pass on the way back, we can send people back to requisition small boats from the people. Anyway, food is the most important thing now."
With the help of these disaster victims, they collected several thousand kilograms of kelp in one afternoon, and also caught several hundred kilograms of fish. These were all trivial matters for the navy ships, so everyone happily turned the bow and headed for Jinzhouwei.
As the sun was setting, Su Nuannuan and Duan Tingxuan sat on the deck and chatted with the man. The man lowered his head, not daring to look at Su Nuannuan. He answered every question she asked. After a while, he felt less nervous. Su Nuannuan asked again, "This sturgeon lives in fresh water. How could it run into the sea? Do you know what happened?"
The man raised his head and glanced at the big fish that was no longer moving in the distance, scratching his head and saying, "I was also confused before. But now I think about it, it has been raining heavily these days, and the sea water and some river and lake water on the shore have all flowed back, and I am afraid they have mixed together. Although our place is small, there are several big rivers that are connected to the rivers in the north. This big sturgeon probably went downstream. But it encountered a rainstorm and was washed into the sea. Fortunately, it grew big, so it was able to survive here, but it couldn't do it after all. That's why it was entangled by seaweed. The prince had driven away those big sharks before, and we were afraid that those guys would sneak back to take revenge and overturn the boat, so we asked a few people who were good at swimming to get off the boat to check. As a result, we found this big guy. It must be that the prince and his wife are very lucky, otherwise it would be difficult to see such a big sturgeon on weekdays."
Su Nuannuan nodded, thinking that this was probably the case. No matter what, she finally had a reasonable explanation. Looking at the kelp piled up on the deck, she smiled and asked, "Yes, have there been many ships from North Korea and Japan coming here in recent years?"
Before he could finish his words, the man's face suddenly changed and he stood up. He put one hand to his waist and stared at Su Nuannuan in shock, muttering, "You...how did you know? You...what did you know?"
"So what if you know? Do you still want to kill people to silence them?"
Duan Tingxuan narrowed his eyes slightly, and a murderous aura emanated from him. The man in his thirties trembled for a long time before kneeling down and kowtowed repeatedly on the deck, saying in a hoarse voice: "My Lord, Madam, I did all these things by myself. If you want to arrest or kill me, just come after me. Don't harm my family. My old mother is over sixty years old, and my wife is also weak. They don't know anything."
Su Nuannuan was confused, thinking, what did I ask? How did it get to the point of wanting to capture and kill? What does the North Korean and Japanese ships have to do with his mother and his wife? She looked at her husband blankly, only to see Duan Tingxuan sneer, "Nuannuan, don't you know that a thief is guilty? Haha! Your question was just an unintentional one, but it happened to be related to the big secret in this person's heart, so he confessed his guilt."
The man suddenly raised his head and said, "Madam... Madam, didn't you see through the business I was doing and deliberately pointed it out?"
Duan Tingxuan sneered, "Are we full and have nothing better to do? Investigating the smuggling situation in Jinzhouwei during this flood period will make people feel uneasy? It's obviously because you are guilty. Forget it, stop worrying about it. Just answer the lady's questions properly. She won't bother to care about your bullshit."
The big man's expression changed, his eyes were full of annoyance, he lowered his head and said: "I thought this matter was solved, but I didn't expect that the lady was actually deceiving me."
"Who cheated you?" Su Nuannuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "It's because of these kelps. There are a lot of these things along the coasts of Japan and Korea, but not in our Great India. You just said that they have only appeared in recent years, so I guessed that there were ships from there in recent years, so they accidentally brought these things from their sea to breed. Who knew you had something to hide, and you got anxious when you heard this."
The big man was stunned. After a long while, he slapped his head twice and shouted in annoyance: "Is it so? No wonder the prince said that I was guilty. I thought grandma knew about my affairs. Alas!" After saying this, he was so frustrated that he couldn't help but stretch out his palm and slap himself in the face a few times.
"Okay, don't be upset. Although I haven't seen your hardships in person, I understand them. It's just to make more money to support your family and keep them well fed and clothed. This is understandable." Duan Tingxuan said calmly, and then said in a deep voice: "But don't do this in the future. Listen to me, Jinzhou will also build a maritime customs office in the next two years. When the time comes, you can save the little money you have worked hard to save, and then trade with those foreign people after the maritime customs office is built. Then the court officials will help you estimate the price and negotiate, so that those cunning people will not take your things away at a low price."
"Is what the prince said true?"
The annoyance and fear on the man's face disappeared completely, and he asked in surprise with the slap mark on his face. When he saw Duan Tingxuan nodded, he patted his chest excitedly and cried out, "That's great, that's great. This is really great. We work hard, go through life and death, hunt and fish, and have to be nervous when trading with those foreigners, but we can only make a living. If Jinzhou can really build a Maritime Customs, then wouldn't our area outside the Great Wall be as prosperous as Suzhou and Hangzhou?" Although they were uneducated, these Jurchens had spoken Chinese since they were young, so they knew about the paradise on earth.
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