Protect Our Chief - Chapter 6

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

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“Um… Shouzhe, are you dissatisfied with our fishing fleet?” Wang Dinghai asked without much confidence.

Was he dissatisfied? This dissatisfaction was huge. Wang Shouzhe muttered to himself and said with a serious expression, “Sixth Uncle, how’s the annual output of our fishing fleet? What’s the expenditure and the profit?”

When he asked this question, Wang Dinghai looked at him, stunned. How could he answer such a question?

“Zhe’er, let me answer this.” Gongsun Hui interjected, “In recent years, I’ve been managing the family’s total accounts. The fishing fleet has a total of nine small fishing boats and one medium-sized fishing boat. Over the past five years, the average annual total amount of ordinary catches is about 6,700 quintals, with a profit of 486 gold. Over the past five years, the average amount of spirit fishes caught is 400 catties per year, with a profit of 120 gold. The average annual total profit is 606 gold.”

This time, it was Wang Shouzhe’s turn to look at Gongsun Hui in shock. Although he knew that his mother was managing the main account, he didn’t expect her to be so familiar with the data and be able to state it on demand.

However, the amount of catches was too small. For ten fishing boats, it added up to an average of twenty quintals a day, which was about 2,000 catties of catches!

“Zhe’er, why do you need to look at me like that?” Gongsun Hui said calmly. “Your mother doesn’t have great talent in cultivating the Arcane Martial Arts, but as the direct daughter of the Gongsun Clan of Shanyang, the nine chapters of The Book of Arithmetics are compulsory learning. Your father was the patriarch, and I naturally had to help him manage the accounts.”

At this point, Gongsun Hui’s gaze became somewhat despondent. All these years, she had managed the accounts with extreme clarity, memorizing every piece of data by heart. However, her husband, Wang Dingyue, had not taken it seriously.

Hearing her words, Wang Shouzhe recalled the general knowledge of this Arcane Martial World. Intermarriage between the Arcane Martial Clans were always between the direct bloodlines. As the direct daughter, Madam Gongsun Hui was bound to marry a certain family’s young patriarch.

In the same vein, if Wang Shouzhe were to marry in the future, he must marry the direct daughter of a certain clan.

That was a digression. Since Gongsun Hui had such a clear understanding of the accounts, Wang Shouzhe began paying attention. “The value of the catches Sixth Uncle had introduced to me were all quite high. Why is the total value of six or seven thousand quintals per year only worth 486 gold in total?”

“In order to please you, your Sixth Uncle pointed out that those are high-value catches that are loved and enjoyed by the nobles of the various clans. Most of the catches aren’t that valuable. In addition, our clan has a fish stall business. They will distribute the catches in different categories, and ice, marinate, smoke them and so on, before processing and selling them. This portion of the expenses has to be included in the fish stall. This is another matter.” Gongsun Hui explained clearly. “The internal expenditure of the Wang Clan will also be taken into account in the form of gold purchases.”

“Mother, please continue,” Wang Shouzhe said respectfully. “For example, the expenditure and net profit.”

This was the first time Gongsun Hui had someone who took the accounts so seriously. Her spirits lifted and she said, “In terms of expenditure, based on the current 46 fishermen, the annual expenditure and monthly allowances are 151 gold. The annual maintenance for the ten fishing boats, including repair and maintenance of various tools, costs 92 gold. In addition, the average tax is 72 gold per year, and the average annual compensation is 60 gold. After deducting all expenses, the combined annual average net income is 221 gold per year. This does not include the family offerings that your Sixth Uncle deserves. That is a separate account.”

When he heard this, Wang Dinghai’s face instantly turned slightly red. He said, embarrassed, “How can the net profit be so little? I thought I could bring a net profit of at least four to five hundred gold to the clan every year.”

“Brother-in-law, if you have any doubts about the accounts, you can come to reconcile accounts at any time,” said Gongsun Hui calmly.

“No, no, no. That’s not what I meant, Sister-in-law.” Wang Dinghai hurriedly waved his hand and said, “I’m just a boorish man who only knows how to fish. Shouzhe, what’s so interesting about these boring accounts? I will personally show you my ultimate feat…”

“Sixth Uncle, hold on.” After Wang Shouzhe consoled him, he frowned at Gongsun Hui and said, “Two questions. First, what is the basis of taxation? Second, what is the compensation for?”

“Shouzhe, the An River is very turbulent, and there are many undercurrents. Occasionally, there will be some aquatic dire beasts that are difficult to deal with.” Wang Dinghai hurriedly explained, “No matter how careful Sixth Uncle is, it’s inevitable that some boatmen and fishermen will die in the An River. Without a high monthly allowance and compensation, no one would be willing to join the fishing fleet.”

“The tax is calculated according to the size of the fishing boat. Small fishing boats pay six gold annually, while medium fishing boats pay 18 gold annually,” Gongsun Hui also explained.

So it’s fixed taxes.

However, Wang Shouzhe also understood that in a world with such a backward economic system, fixed taxes were the best solution.

After understanding all the information, Wang Shouzhe folded his hands in salute and said to Wang Dinghai, “Sixth Uncle, I didn’t expect the An River fishing industry to be so dangerous. It has been hard on Sixth Uncle to make such contributions to the clan for all these years.”

Wang Dinghai felt relieved and said with a dry chuckle, “Shouzhe, as long as you don’t blame the fishing fleet for making too little money… To be honest, when Fifth Brother was the patriarch, I also proposed to Fifth Brother to expand the fishing fleet. Managing ten boats or more than 20 boats is the same to me. I will also think of ways to recruit fishermen. This way, I can also earn a bit more gold for the clan. Anyway, the 30 miles of An River can accommodate more than 20 fishing boats without issues. By the way, the Liu Clan has over 20 boats…”

“About ten boats more?” Wang Shouzhe asked with interest. “Can you tell me more?” If the clan wanted to prosper, gold was the most important resource.

“Let me explain.” Gongsun Hui knew that Wang Dinghai was not good at accounting data, so she said, “I also know about Sixth Uncle’s idea. He wants to add two medium-sized fishing boats and ten small fishing boats. Among them, the cost of building a medium-sized fishing boat is 120 gold per boat, and the cost of building a small fishing boat is 45 gold per boat. In total, 690 gold needs to be invested. As long as he can recruit the corresponding fishermen, it will pay for itself in the accounts in three years.”

Wang Shouzhe nodded in agreement. “It can pay for itself in the accounts three years. That’s viable. Even if we don’t use them in the future, selling those fishing boats won’t be a loss.”

Wang Dinghai’s face lit up instantly. He looked as if he had met a close friend. He slapped his thigh and said, “Sister-in-law, I knew this could be done. I just don’t understand why Fifth Brother didn’t agree when I’m willing to contribute more to the family.”

Gongsun Hui’s expression turned a little embarrassed, “Sixth Uncle, you might not know this, but the Wang Clan has been lacking money in all aspects these years.” She sighed inwardly. In truth, she agreed with expanding the fleet, but Wang Dingyue refused. Moreover, her plan to return to her family to borrow money was firmly rejected by Wang Dingyue.

“Shouzhe, so you’ve agreed to expand the fleet?” Wang Dinghai probed.

“Zhe’er, if you need to expand the fleet…” Gongsun Hui hesitated for a moment before saying, “I can make a trip back to Shanyang to raise some gold.” It was embarrassing to return to her family to borrow money, but for the sake of the clan’s development, she couldn’t be too concerned about it now.

“No, I don’t agree,” Wang Shouzhe said after some thought.

“What?”

Wang Dinghai’s face darkened.

Even Gongsun Hui looked at Wang Shouzhe in confusion. Didn’t he just say that it was viable? Could it be that he, like his father, was too prideful to let her raise the money?

“Times have changed.” Wang Shouzhe frowned and pondered. “If the clan wants to develop, it cannot do without gold. If we want more gold, we must expand the profits of the clan’s productions.”

“That’s not right. If we don’t expand the fleet, how can we increase the profit?” Wang Dinghai stared at Wang Shouzhe with wide eyes.

Wang Shouzhe smiled mysteriously and said, “Sixth Uncle, you’re a fishing expert. I have a few ideas to discuss with you. Do you know of a method of fishing called trawling? In this method, two boats work together to fish.”

Then, Wang Shouzhe tugged Wang Dinghai to squat down and started sketching on the deck.

Trawling was a very conventional method of fishing on Earth, where Wang Shouzhe came from. This was a professional fishing method, and its efficiency was far beyond entertainment like net casting.

If not for An River’s rich ecology, with Wang Dinghai’s extremely unprofessional fishing method, he would have gone completely broke.

Of course, it was precisely because trawling was too powerful that it was harmful to the natural ecosystem. Wang Shouzhe was quite disapproving towards it. However, the current situation of the clan was that if it didn’t develop soon, it would be destroyed.

In any case, when the clan grew stronger, they could abandon the method of natural fishing.

“Shouzhe, this idea of yours is very intriguing.” Wang Dinghai was also a professional, so he quickly figured out the principle. However, he frowned and said, “But such a huge net is not only very difficult to make, but also impossible for our fishing boats to drag, right?”

They couldn’t drag it!

All right, Wang Shouzhe immediately understood what the problem was. A sailboat was not like a mechanical boat running on diesel fuel. How could it have the power to drag a huge net?

“Then let’s make a miniature one first, with the primary goal something that can be dragged,” Wang Shouzhe said. “First, we’ll make a funnel-shaped dragnet 30 to 40 feet wide, 60 to 70 feet long, like a large pocket, and we’ll have to add an inverted cap to prevent the fish from escaping…”

“We can actually try this.” Wang Dinghai’s eyes lit up as he said, “When I go back, I’ll find 20 web weavers to make it together. I estimate that it will be completed in two months.”

Twenty people, two months…

Wang Shouzhe felt rather helpless about this. The productivity of this Arcane Martial World was indeed very low. However, it was precisely because of this that the natural resources of this world were so well protected.

It was unlike Wang Shouzhe’s world. The nearby seas had almost been exhausted by trawling, and the state had no choice but to implement various arrest policies. The power of the trawling was no joke.

“Hold on, Sixth Uncle. Take a look at this other fishing method. Although it’s not as good as trawling… the advantage is that it’s easy to operate. If it’s done well, even ordinary people can operate it.”

Then, Wang Shouzhe drew another fishing tool for Wang Dinghai, ccalled lift nets. This method of fishing was somewhat similar to net casting, but net casting envelopes the fish from top to bottom, whereas lift nets catch the fish from bottom to top.

As a whole, lift net was much more complicated than net casting, but once it’s fixed and leveraged properly, it’s labor-saving and easier than net casting. Its advantage was that once it was done, it could be operated by any ordinary labor force, even a minor.

Additionally, there was an even more powerful evolutionary version to lift nets, called river barrier nets. If that kind of thing could be produced, its lethality would be no inferior to a small trawl net.

“Shouzhe, w-w-where did you get such wonderful ideas from?” Wang Dinghai was so excited that he was trembling. “If all these can be realized, we’ll be rich.”

“I read about it in an ancient book when idle.” Wang Shouzhe continued, “Sixth Uncle, let me tell you about fish cages and fish mazes…”

These two kinds of fishing tools were naturally very lethal. They were so powerful that as a testament to their power, the state had listed them as prohibited fishing tools. Moreover, both of them were passive and fixed fishing tools.

After installing the devices, they only needed to be checked regularly. It was similar to playing games away from keyboard… They did not have to worry about anything and just had to reap the rewards regularly.

Wang Dinghai was about to go crazy. He was a “professional fisherman” of an Arcane Martial Clan, and Wang Shouzhe seemed to have opened up a whole new world for him.

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