"The mutual aid program allows refugees to have enough food in their hometowns, which fundamentally solves the problem of refugees. But what about the refugees who have already arrived in the East China Sea and are about to arrive?"
Zuo Feifei said: "Now the drying field, packing field and picking field are all full, so if they are allowed to plant kelp, they would need fishing boats, which they definitely don't have.
What should we do with these people? Are we going to feed them all the time?"
Zuo Feifei's words brought the topic back to the beginning again.
Yes, no matter how smoothly the mutual aid program is implemented, it will take a long time to see results.
But the refugees gathering in the East China Sea are a problem that must be solved immediately.
"I have an idea about this."
Jin Feng said: "I plan to build a larger shipyard in the East China Sea and hire these refugees to work at the shipyard!"
"The refugees have already gathered. Isn't it too late to build a shipyard now?" Ninth Princess said with a frown.
"It's definitely too late to build a dock that can produce large-scale warships, but it shouldn't be a big problem to build a dock that can produce small fishing boats." Jin Feng replied.
Making small fishing boats does not require any skills. Many fishermen build their own boats by themselves. Refugees can learn how to make small fishing boats as long as people at the shipyard teach them casually.
"Sir, with so many refugees working together to build fishing boats, the speed should be very fast. Can we use up all these fishing boats?" Zuo Feifei asked again.
Jin Feng did not answer Zuo Feifei's question, but asked: "Feifei, do you know what is the biggest problem for Dakang now?"
"What is it?" Zuo Feifei asked.
The Ninth Princess and others next to her also turned their heads and looked over.
"The biggest problem in Dakang right now is the frequent unrest, which has seriously affected people's farming and resulted in insufficient food."
Jin Feng said: "Food is the most important thing for the people. If you don't let the people have a full stomach, everything else is in vain."
It’s not that Dakang has no land, it’s not that the population is too large, and the food grown is not enough to eat, it’s not that the people are unwilling to farm, but that the people in Jiangnan and the Central Plains are now not only facing exploitation by local wealthy bandits, as well as exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes;
The struggle between wealthy families and bandits.
In order to compete for territory and weaken the strength of rival bandits, bandits often went to the enemy's territory to grab grain. If they were too late to harvest, they would burn it.
As a result, the bandits would not be able to collect the new year's grain.
This situation is now very common in Jiangnan and the Central Plains.
Zhang Liang has now begun the work of suppressing bandits in Jiangnan, but many bandits will burn the granaries before escaping, and are not willing to give cheap money to the bodyguards.
This resulted in less and less food throughout Dakang.
If the industry and economy are backward, they can develop slowly. Enemy countries are surrounding them, and bodyguards can defend them. However, if there is not enough food, the people will starve to death, so they will naturally rebel.
Therefore, the food problem is a big problem that Dakang must solve as soon as possible.
To solve this problem, mutual aid solutions are not enough.
Let’s not talk about whether the mutual aid plan can be implemented smoothly. Even if everything goes well, it will take a long time to promote it to the entire Central Plains and Jiangnan.
Moreover, crops also take time to grow. Even if the mutual aid program is now promoted and the people immediately get the seeds and replant the fields, and the bandits no longer come to harass them, the harvest will still have to wait several months.
So what do people eat in these few months?
Zuo Feifei thought of what Jin Feng had said to her before and asked tentatively: "Sir, are you going to build fishing boats to let the refugees go fishing?"
"Yes," Jin Feng said: "The sea is a huge treasure with inexhaustible resources. There is no reason for us to guard the treasure house and not take it."
Some time ago, he specifically talked to Zheng Chiyuan and learned that not only Dakang's shipbuilding and fishing industries were lagging behind, but so were other countries.
When the fishing season comes every year, schools of fish migrate with the ocean currents as far as the eye can see and can last for many days.
Even if fishermen in the East China Sea try their best to catch fish, they will only be a drop in the bucket for the fish stocks.
When Jin Feng heard the news at that time, he started fishing, so he established the Marine Management Department and asked Zheng Chiyuan to start setting up a fishing team.
But according to Jin Feng's plan, he had to wait until the fishermen finished picking the kelp, otherwise there would be insufficient manpower.
Now it seems that the fishing team needs to be established in advance.
"Husband, can you really catch so many fish in the sea?"
Although the Ninth Princess believed in Jin Feng, she had never lived by the sea and knew almost nothing about the ocean, so she could not believe that relying on fishing at sea could solve the food crisis in Dakang.
In fact, Jin Feng himself was not completely sure, so he was not so confident in what he said: "Let's give it a try first. The best solution can be solved. If it can't be solved, it can be regarded as an attempt. At least I can guarantee that these fishermen will do it by themselves every day."
The fish we got were enough for us to eat.”
"That's right," Ninth Princess nodded slightly.
Anyway, this is a way.
Even if it cannot completely solve the food crisis in Dakang, it has also solved the refugee crisis in the East China Sea.
It would be even better if it was as successful as Jin Feng imagined.
Seeing the lively discussion between Princess Jin Fengjiu and Zuo Feifei, Tang Xiaobei also joined in: "Ms. sir, your idea is good, but shipbuilding requires wood, and the wood stored in the dock may not last long before it will be used up."
After hearing this, Princess Ninth and Zuo Feifei also turned to look at Jin Feng.
If you want to manufacture fishing boats in large quantities, wood is an essential raw material, but wood is not produced here in the East China Sea.
We don’t even have raw materials, how can we build ships?
"The East China Sea does not produce wood, but there is a lot of wood in the Jiangnan, Sichuan, and Yunnan-Guizhou regions."
Jin Feng looked at the Ninth Princess: "I plan to hire local people to cut down the wood in the south of the Yangtze River, and then send the wood to the East China Sea through the waterway in the form of a discharge. After you return to Wuyang, ask Master Tie to organize the Privy Council to discuss this plan as soon as possible.
Is it feasible? If so, implement it as soon as possible!”
The so-called discharge means cutting the wood on the mountain, throwing it into the water, and then letting the wood float down the water.
When they arrived at a suitable place, they tied the wood with ropes and floated it down the Yangtze River.
This is a very ancient and backward method of water transportation, but it is extremely useful.
When the Ninth Princess heard this, her eyes couldn't help but light up.
This method can solve the work problem of some Jiangnan refugees, and it can be regarded as a kind of work-for-relief.
And according to Jin Feng, logging, emissions, shipbuilding, and fishing will form a virtuous cycle of industrial chains.
Regardless of whether the food crisis can be solved in the end, this industrial chain can at least solve the work and livelihood problems of participants.
So Ninth Princess immediately expressed her position: "You don't have to wait for me to go back. I will write a letter later and have someone send it back to Master Tie overnight so that they can discuss it and formulate a specific plan as quickly as possible."