Ship Model
Da Shun's maritime trade was very developed.
So much so that the Emperor of Da Shun was very fond of using spices to pay his salary.
Before, when he wasn't an official and didn't Imperial Grain, he didn't feel anything. But now, Liang Qu thinks this thing is really damn immoral.
It's like you're at work, and suddenly your boss tells you, "Starting today, we won't be paying salaries anymore. Everyone, take some inventory from the warehouse and go home."
The person who did this was the emperor; you had no choice but to agree, it was a classic case of forced buying and selling.
For example, if pepper weighs 100 catties and 20 taels, and your monthly salary is 20 taels, you will receive 10 taels of silver plus 50 catties of pepper.
If that's the case, then so be it. At worst, it'll just take a little more effort and then convert it back into money.
The worst part is that when the pepper is distributed, it is indeed calculated according to the market price, but when you take the pepper with the reduced salary to sell, you will find that the price of spices is no longer that price!
The cost of spices was one ounce for every hundred catties, and they were resold to officials, who made a profit of twenty times the price.
The existence of maritime trade further increased the supply of spices in the market, causing prices to plummet.
Maritime trade should be a good thing that benefits the country and its people and promotes development.
However, the costs of maritime trade are shared by everyone, and the money ends up in the royal family's pockets. Although it is said that this emperor is quite good and uses the money for important matters, it is still very difficult to maintain order.
It is said that there are strong protests against maritime trade from both the government and the public.
Liang Qu only hoped that when he received his salary, he wouldn't receive a large bag of cheap spices.
A ten-year-old girl who knows nothing costs four or five ounces.
Those with technical skills and fair complexions could fetch anywhere from a few dozen to over a hundred taels of silver, which was far beyond what he could currently consider.
We still have to hire a maid. If she provides meals, you get a few copper coins a day; if she doesn't provide meals, you can get ten copper coins.
Cheap and easy to use.
Liang Qu sketched and drew on the paper, calculating expenses and income. After calculating, he folded and put it away, took the Dragon Tendon and the Sturgeon King meat, and headed to the Jianghuai Marshlands to find the three beasts.
The weather wasn't hot, around ten degrees Celsius, and since Demon Beast meat spoils much more slowly, it was still very fresh after a night.
When the boat reached the lotus root area, Liang Qu tapped the oar, and the Fist that Cannot Move floated to the surface. Heavenly Water Centipede Awei crawled off the wrist and floated freely on the water.
I don't know if it's because of puberty, but my Fist have grown to a height of 1.45 meters. They are very powerful, and my carapace is harder than steel. I can definitely join the battle against Spirit Monster.
The downside is that the Fist can no longer get on the boat and stand on the bow; it's too wide and heavy, and it might push the bow down.
Liang Qu divided the Sturgeon Meat into four portions: one small, one medium, and one large. He then distributed them to Awei, Fist, and the Cannot Move according to their size.
When he took out the last piece of fish, he looked around but did not find the Fat Catfish.
"Strange, where is A Fei?"
Liang Qu scratched his head and tried to sense the location of the Fat Catfish in his mind. He was then dumbfounded to find that the Fat Catfish was extremely far away from him.
Is this the center of the Deep Water Area? How did A Fei get there? How did he cross the territories of numerous Spirit Monster, Great Monster Spirit, and demons to reach the Deep Water Core Area?
Most importantly, his vital signs are excellent!
Liang Qu was completely baffled. Just as he was about to contact the Fat Catfish, he noticed that the Fat Catfish was rapidly moving away from the Deep Water Area and heading towards the Shallow Water Area at an alarming speed! Liang Qu: "???"
Fly?
A little over fifteen minutes later, the Fat Catfish, having received Liang Qu's summons and bid farewell to Toad Big Brother, once again traversed the Dark Current Passage, only to tumble dizzily into the silt.
Pulling its head out of the water, the Fat Catfish swayed and was dizzy for a while. After regaining its senses and recognizing the direction, it quickly approached Liang Qu.
By the time the Fat Catfish approached the boat, almost half an hour had passed.
An arc surged on the water's surface, and a massive flow of water slid down the Fat Catfish's black back, turning into white foam.
As soon as it emerged, before Liang Qu could ask any questions, it poked its head onto the boat, dropped a fiery red feather, and then frantically shook its catfish whiskers, rattling off a string of words through the Mental Link.
"Undercurrent."
"Toad Big Brother"
"Trade."
The title "Toad Big Brother" was too abstract, Liang Qu didn't react for a moment, especially when he looked at that familiar fire feather.
Isn't this Crimson Fire Mourning Feather?
Why another one? Liang Qu frowned, his brain working frantically, trying to deduce the whole story from the Fat Catfish's limited vocabulary.
"You've discovered an undercurrent, a passage that will teleport you to a giant Toad?"
The Fat Catfish nodded.
"If you acknowledge the Toad as your elder brother and promise to bring it a complete ship, will it give you something in exchange?"
The Fat Catfish nodded vigorously.
Liang Qu stood alone at the bow of the boat, circling around, and then picked up the Crimson Fire Mourning Feather to examine it.
The heat was nowhere near as intense as the one I saw last time, and the aroma was weak.
It's clear that this isn't Crimson Fire Mourning Feather infused with the essence of the Crimson Fire Bird; it's just an ordinary Crimson Fire Bird feather. The material is decent enough to be used for weaving clothing and sold to wealthy ladies, but it can't be used to forge Spirit Artifact.
Unbelievable, truly unbelievable.
Liang Qu vividly remembered the spherical black shadow that swooped down on the Crimson Fire Bird; he was almost knocked down by the aftershock, which was truly Celestial Person.
He guessed it was a Toad, and it turned out to be one.
Having witnessed the strength of the Sturgeon King, he was certain that the Toad's strength was not that of an ordinary demon, but Great Demon, or even one of the stronger powerful Great Demon! From A Fei's few words, it could be seen that the Toad was extremely intelligent, and even had its own hobbies and aesthetics, liking to collect beautiful ships.
In just one night, how did a Great Demon and a Little Spirit Monster become sworn brothers? And even exchange a feather from a Crimson Fire Bird as a gift? As if sensing Liang Qu's doubts.
The Fat Catfish patted its belly, indicating that its newly recognized elder brother was far less revered than the gods in its heart.
Liang Qu: "."
He took out the Sturgeon Meat and let the Fat Catfish eat it first, while he sat by the side of the boat thinking.
In his view, the so-called exchange is simply giving the Toad ship model in exchange for something the toad doesn't want.
That's a real, Great Demon!
Even things that Great Demon doesn't want are still treasures! This time, the Fat Catfish couldn't distinguish between ordinary feathers and Crimson Fire Mourning Feather, which is why it took the wrong feather. If it had recognized it, wouldn't it have brought back a feather worth hundreds of gold coins? A ship in exchange for a few feathers is worth thousands of gold coins or tens of thousands of taels of silver!
However, where could they find intact ships? Liang Qu roughly guessed where the Toad's current ships came from, most likely from the ancient battlefield.
This indicates that the ancient battlefield was actually located in Deep Water Area, making it impractical to excavate shipwrecks.
Building a large ship isn't cheap either. If you were to build a two-masted ship, it would cost several thousand taels of silver. It's a break-even deal. Could you make it smaller and build a Ship Model instead?
A two-masted ship is several tens of meters long. It wouldn't be a problem for him to make a six- or seven-meter replica at the same scale, spending a hundred taels of silver.
Anyway, Toad aren't meant to be ridden, they're meant to be looked at. Making them miniature allows for more exquisite craftsmanship, like carving flowers on the mast.
And besides boats, are Toad interested in anything else?
For example, Luban Lock or something.