At this moment, Wang Yue thought of a question.
"My lord, what if these people discover the tax exemption trap and then stop doing it?" He was somewhat worried. If things went on and no one paid attention to his lord's plan, wouldn't that be a huge loss?
Hahaha!
Before Lin Yi could answer, Mi Zhu laughed and said meaningfully, "Once someone has tasted the sweetness of success, let alone a little bit of tax revenue, even if the lord's warships were to block the river, do you believe that someone would still secretly cross over from within the territory of Great Ning?"
As a businessman, he understands the trade-offs of business; as long as there's profit to be made, what's wrong with taking a small loss?
He Jin said, this is a risk-free business. All you need to do is get a ship and you can go to the ocean to fleece people every day. As for the labor issue, who doesn't have some servants or slaves these days? It can be completely ignored.
If you don't even make money when it's already in your hands, you can only be called a fool.
"The lord has truly mastered human nature. Those who have benefited from this will not easily give it up. The so-called taxes and protection fees are just a drop in the ocean. Who would care about them?" Xun Yu sighed and said with a bitter smile.
He now somewhat understood why merchants risked traveling through the Western Regions. It was likely that goods from the East could fetch an astronomical price in the West, which was why some people were unafraid of death.
It's true what they say, money talks!
Lin Yi nodded and smiled, "It's alright. Actually, we're the big players in the fishing industry. How much can those small boats of merchants carry? Ours are multi-story ships. Compared to them, theirs is just a drop in the ocean."
Forehead!
Everyone's gaze fell upon the several enormous multi-story ships, each one indeed resembling a towering building. The fishermen's boats looked as insignificant as adopted sons and grandsons in comparison.
Chen Qun's lips twitched, and he chuckled dryly, "Indeed, it's just a drop in the ocean!"
After all that talk, it turns out that the one who profited the most was actually our lord himself. We were too hasty earlier.
The others were also left speechless, realizing that their lord was indeed not one to suffer losses.
At this moment, the lead warship had already docked. Gan Ning saw his lord and his party from afar, put down his things, and ran straight over.
" Gan Xingba, commander of the Brocade Sail Navy, pays his respects to my lord!" He knelt on one knee and said respectfully.
Lin Yi helped him up and said with a smile, "You've had a hard time. I hope you didn't encounter any obstacles on these sea voyages."
There are many passes along the Great Ning River. Although there are no checkpoints set up now, there are still some ports. On the way to the sea, you will have to pass through three or four counties, and you will inevitably encounter obstacles.
After all, money is a powerful motivator, and anyone would be tempted to return with such a bountiful catch of fish.
"Haha, my lord, rest assured, those few small boats of Great Ning are utterly useless. They don't even dare to enter the ocean. They're gone in a single wave. They did try to provoke us at first, but after seeing our big ships and flags, they slunk away!" Gan Ning laughed heartily, looking smug.
They naturally encountered obstacles, but those people also needed to be able to defeat him.
Moreover, to put it bluntly, Xiliang also belongs to Great Ning. Those people didn't dare to stop them, nor could they stop them at all. The warships and tower ships of Eastern Wu were all armed. Unless Great Ning also boarded the warships, they would just be sending themselves to their deaths.
Wang Yue explained, " Great Ning has not been established for long. They attach great importance to the Western Regions, but they have made no progress in the maritime field, and even fear it like a tiger. They don't have many warships, and they are even less than Xiliang."
"Yes, I can understand. You can't blame Li Anlan for this!" Lin Yi said with a smile, unusually refraining from making fun of Li Anlan.
With the development of the present day, the Western Regions route has only been open for less than two hundred years, which is enough for Great Ning, so there is naturally no need to risk going to sea.
To put it bluntly, there's a lack of exploratory spirit these days. The greatest desire of ordinary people isn't to explore new frontiers, but simply to live and work in peace and contentment.
This is quite normal; generally, countries with a pioneering spirit fall into two categories.
One reason is that people are bored and have nothing better to do than wander around aimlessly. Another reason is that their country is too small and lacks resources, so they have to expand outwards, which is why they go out to explore.
Great Ning currently has no shortage of territory, so the second point is invalid; however, it is not very rich in food, so the first point is also not met, putting it in an awkward situation.
Therefore, this problem cannot be blamed on Li Anlan; it was the limitations of his era.
Why did Lin Yi open the ocean? To put it bluntly, he had something to do with both the first and second ones, so naturally he had to step up.
He looked at Gan Ning and smiled, " Gan Ning, how's your catch?" Several large boatloads of fish looked intimidating; he wanted to know the specific figures so Cai Yan could brag about it in the newspaper.
"Hehe, my lord, we've struck it rich this time! I brought a total of ten warships and twenty battleships, and we've brought back at least 100,000 catties of fish. It's just a pity our fishing nets aren't up to par, otherwise we would have gotten even more!" Gan Ning said with a beaming smile and a smug look on his face.
Grunt!
Everyone couldn't help but swallow hard. These days, fish are being measured in units of ten thousand jin? This is simply defying the heavens!
The estimated haul from this trip is enough to feed all the people of Xiliang; it's terrifying.
Xun Yu chuckled dryly, "I think even if we conquer the Northern Barbarians, it would be better to eliminate Ning Kun, the little butcher of Great Ning. Then we can get closer to the ocean, and if we focus on developing the fishing industry, my lord will probably accumulate astronomical wealth in just one month!"
One trip yields 100,000 catties of fish; multiple trips would make you rich overnight.
The Prince of Xiliang became a fishing tycoon and became incredibly wealthy.
Forehead!
The group exchanged bewildered glances; upon closer examination, it actually made perfect sense.
It's not easy to go out to sea from this distance now. It takes about four or five days, or even six days, to make a round trip, which is a waste of time.
We can just set up camp by the sea and then all we have to do is fish.
That's a huge profit!
Lin Yi rolled his eyes at him and said irritably, " Lord Xun, you're dreaming! You keep arguing with me like this every day. Even fish need time to grow, right? If you keep feeding them 100,000 catties a day, they'll probably all migrate to the deep sea!"
"Hahaha!"
Everyone burst into laughter. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed true. Although this fish business was risk-free, it couldn't withstand rampant overfishing.
Chen Qun frowned and said, "My lord, it seems we need to legislate on marine fisheries. We can't just keep exploiting one place. At least let them catch their breath. We can't catch small fish, but we also need to give them the opportunity to reproduce. Only in this way can we have a continuous supply of fish, otherwise they will become extinct."
Forehead!
Upon hearing this, Lin Yi couldn't help but laugh and cry. As expected of a legal expert, he had even come up with a fishing law. How humane!
He smiled and said, "Well, I'll leave this to you, Chen Qun!"