Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 249, Sea Fish Line
Liu Jin walked with Zhu Houzhao, and came to Tianjin Port naturally.

Tianjin Port is becoming more and more prosperous now, and from time to time, you can see fishing boats returning from fishing, bringing back boatloads of sea fish, and the whole port is filled with the smell of sea fish.

"It's so lively~"

Seeing the lively scene, Zhu Houzhao became energetic, and also walked quickly to the port wharf, looking at a fishing boat that was unloading.

I saw baskets of sea fish continuously picked from the fishing boat, and then at the pier, there were special people to classify these fish, put different fish into different baskets, and then put them in the baskets. Overweight.

"One load of big yellow croaker weighs one hundred and twenty catties~"

"A load of small yellow croakers weighs a hundred catties~"

"One load of hairtail fish weighs one hundred and ten catties~"

The overweight person would call out loudly every time he weighed a load of fish, and at the same time, someone next to him would write it all down, and immediately a group of businessmen would surround him, and each of them would follow suit.

"Xingguo Company will pay [-] yuan to buy a load of large yellow croakers~"

"Ocean-ocean companies pay [-] Wen for a load of small yellow croakers~"

"Dragon King Tower in Beijing offered five taels of silver to buy this tuna~"

Sometimes when encountering some rare and good products, these merchants will continue to bid and compete, such as tuna and grouper are relatively sought-after products, and the prices are now getting higher and higher.

"Old Liu, who are these people?"

Zhu Hou took care of these people who kept bidding, thought for a while and asked Liu Jin beside him.

"These are merchants who come to buy fish. It can be regarded as a new industry emerging here in Tianjin. Well, it's called Sea Fish Shop."

"We have a lot of fishing boats here in Tianjin, and the sea fish caught in the sea is very large. Tianjin alone is far from being able to digest it, so most of the sea fish are exported, and the biggest market is the capital city."

"Now that the famine is over, we no longer transport these fish to the capital to buy. Instead, we sell these fish to these merchants and let them transport them to the capital for sale."

"That's why this sea fish shop has slowly been born. These people are all merchants who sell sea fish, some specialize in selling sea fish to various places, and some are bought directly from seafood restaurants in Beijing and Tianjin. Some fish."

Liu Jin looked at the fiercely competing businessmen in front of him, and explained it to Zhu Houzhao in great detail.

"Oh, that's it. It seems that the price of this fish has also increased a lot."

Zhu Houzhao immediately understood.

"Of course. It used to be a special period when it was sold for a penny a catty. Now that the famine is over, it is naturally back to normal. This sea fish is meat after all, and it is rich in nutrition. Naturally, it is impossible to sell it for a penny a catty again."

"However, because of the large output of marine fish, its price is still very low, much lower than other meats. Generally, at the port of Tianjin, they get about two or three yuan a catty. After being transported to the capital, they can sell for four or so." The price is still very cheap, and the profit is quite considerable."

"As for some expensive seafood, the price is even higher, and they are usually bought by restaurants in Beijing and Tianjin."

Liu Jin nodded and said, the appearance of this sea fish shop is also an inevitable phenomenon.

Because of the previous famine, people in the Beijing-Tianjin area rely on this sea fish to survive, so people in the Beijing-Tianjin area have already liked eating sea fish, and the market demand for sea fish is very huge.

Sea fish is delicious and nutritious. The key is that the price is very close to the people. Naturally, ordinary people like it the most, especially in Tianjin. Because it is close to the sea, the price of sea fish is very cheap. Everyone eats sea fish for three meals a day.

While Liu Jin and Zhu Houzhao were chatting, the baskets of sea fish that had just disembarked were quickly snapped up by these merchants, and each merchant had baskets of sea fish piled up like mountains behind them.

Then soon one after another carriages came to the pier, and all of these carriages were four-wheeled carriages.

Because the construction of the Beijing-Tianjin cement road has greatly facilitated the transportation in the Beijing-Tianjin area, this four-wheeled carriage has also become very popular in the Beijing-Tianjin area. favorite means of transport.

The carriages were soon filled with loads of sea fish, and they rushed towards the capital without stopping. Now that the weather is hot, the sea fish must be transported to the capital as soon as possible. The fresher it is, the easier it is to sell. , the price can also be higher.

For these marine fish businessmen, time is money.

"Old Liu, I remember that you were still drying dried fish last time I came here. Now it seems that you can't do business with dried fish."

Looking at the empty pier, Zhu Houzhao seemed to think of something, and said to Liu Jin with a smile.

"I've been doing the dried fish business for a long time. Don't think these sea fish are selling well now. After a while, when there are more fishing boats, the sea fish will not be easy to sell."

"At that time, I will continue to dry fish. This fresh fish is easy to spoil, and it can be preserved for a long time. After drying, the dried fish can be sold to the inland areas, so that the inland People in the region have also tasted our sea fish in Tianjin."

Upon hearing this, Liu Jin replied with a smile.

"Well, remember to dry it more, especially the dried shrimp, which is very delicious when used in porridge. My grandmother tasted it last time and said it was good."

Zhu Houzhao remembered some of the fish that he brought back last time, including many sun-dried fish. The Empress Dowager liked it very much after tasting it, and praised Zhu Houzhao for his filial piety, which made him remember it firmly. Thinking about taking a little more home this time.

"Don't worry, Your Highness, I will continue to order you to dry some more, and bring them back when Your Highness returns to Beijing."

As soon as Liu Jin heard what Zhu Houzhao said, he immediately wrote it down.

"Yes, get more sun."

Zhu Houzhao nodded again and again, he is also a foodie, and there is no shortage of delicious food.

"Speaking of dried fish, there is something I want to discuss with you, Your Highness."

Liu Jin seemed to think of something, and after thinking about it, he talked to Zhu Houzhao.

"What's the matter, tell me?"

Zhu Hou looked at Liu Jin's appearance, and knew that he must have something to help him, otherwise, with Liu Jin's current energy, ordinary things would have been settled long ago.

"Your Highness, drying dried fish is a way to preserve sea fish. In fact, salting dried fish means using a lot of salt to preserve fish. So I wondered if we could build a salt farm here in Tianjin and make salt ourselves. , and then use this salt to make dried salted fish."

Liu Jin wanted to get this sun-dried salt out for a long time, but the salt was of great importance, and the imperial court was a monopoly on salt and iron, so private persons were not allowed to engage in salt and iron-related business at all.

In addition, this salt is also related to the interests of all aspects. Salt merchants, ministers of the court, etc. will not allow Liu Jin to dry salt, because once this method of drying salt is released, the production of salt will increase greatly. The impact of interests will be very huge, and it will inevitably meet with strong opposition.

So this matter should be done by Zhu Houzhao's side. If he, the prince, came forward, it would definitely be no problem to ask Emperor Hongzhi for a license to set up a saltworks.

Moreover, the major case not long ago has not been resolved until now. With the passage of time, more and more ministers have been found out, and these ministers are all from the Jiangnan area.

This was tantamount to a heavy blow to Jiangnan Shilin, so that the right to speak above the court was greatly weakened, and Emperor Hongzhi did not intend to let go, but wanted to pursue it to the end.

At this time, the salt field and sun-dried salt method are brought out at the right time. The opposition must be very small, and there is a great hope that it can be passed.

"Build a salt field by yourself?"

When Zhu Houzhao heard this, he immediately became pensive. Of course he knew that the salt and iron were exclusively owned by the imperial court. Now that Liu Jin asked him to build a salt field, there was no way that Emperor Hongzhi could agree.

"Yes, salted fish needs a lot of salt. It is obviously unrealistic for us to buy salt. The salt from this salt field is very cheap, but after the price increase of these salt merchants, the price of this salt is very expensive. .”

"We have to build our own salt farms and produce our own salt in order to reduce costs. Otherwise, no one will want the salted fish."

Liu Jin nodded solemnly and said, and then said in a very low voice: "This salt is very profitable. The richest people in the world are those salt merchants. They can earn this money, and so can Your Highness."

Hearing Liu Jin talking about silver, Zhu Houzhao's small eyes couldn't help turning, and after thinking about it, he nodded and said: "Leave this matter to me. I have long thought that those salt merchants are not pleasing to the eye. The people who targeted us last time were actually Many are salt merchants."

　The sun salt is about to come out~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)