Jin Feng did not directly answer Zuo Feifei's question, but asked instead: "Have you noticed that when drying kelp, a lot of kelp becomes very sticky?"
"Indeed," Zuo Feifei pointed to the corner of the drying yard: "There are kelp there that has become smelly and can no longer be eaten. I asked the workers to pick it out and throw it away."
"That's the problem," Jin Feng said: "The time between salvage and transportation of kelp is too long. If General Zheng hadn't discovered this problem and asked the fishermen to soak the kelp in the seawater on Maolang Island, it would have been waiting until it was needed.
On the return trip, we will load it all back on the ship together, and I guess most of the kelp is now inedible."
"This is indeed a serious problem. The weather is not hot yet. If we wait until summer, the kelp will rot faster!"
Zuo Feifei asked: "Should we build a drying site on Maolang Island to dry the kelp there and then transport it back?"
"This is also a way," Jin Feng said: "But Maolang Island is full of uneven stone mountains, and the outer circle near the sea is basically full of steep cliffs. How to plant poles to pull ropes, how to deliver kelp to
There are all problems on the mountain that cannot be solved overnight, so we will have to bring them back to dry out in the near future."
"Sir, do you have any countermeasures?" Zuo Feifei asked.
Based on her understanding of Jin Feng, since Jin Feng mentioned this problem, there is a high probability that he has already thought of a countermeasure.
"I just discussed with General Zheng and decided to change the methods of picking and transportation."
Jin Feng said: "In the past, fishermen on fishing boats picked the kelp and put it on their own fishing boats. The number of fishermen on a fishing boat was limited, and it would take several days to pile up the kelp on the fishing boat.
This method is slow, and the kelp picked at the beginning is always pressed down, and it is easy to deteriorate and rot. Soaking it in sea water wastes a lot of labor.
So General Zheng and I decided to arrange speedboats to patrol the waterway between Maolang Island and the pier, and then divided the fishermen and fishing boats into two parts. The boats stayed at Maolang Island and were responsible for picking. Each boat picked
The kelp is then loaded onto large fishing boats and transported back by large ships.
Moreover, the big ships no longer form teams. Once the ship is full, it will be pulled back one by one, so that they will not come back together. The drying yard will receive new kelp every day, and there will be work to do every day."
"This is a great idea!"
Zuo Feifei's eyes suddenly lit up.
Kelp can usually be put away after drying for about a day.
According to the previous method, the drying ground will probably be idle for many days before it will be busy for one day.
How to support workers in this way?
The method proposed by Jin Feng later is much more scientific.
There is work done every day in the drying yard, so it is not so busy every day. Moreover, centralized picking and unified shipment can ensure the freshness of the kelp to the greatest extent, which is indeed a good thing.
There is a weighing area in the middle of the trestle. When the carriage passes by, it will be weighed, and then the clerk will write a note to the fishermen. The fishermen can take the note and exchange their wages on the spot at the Jinchuan Bank station next to it, or go to Jinchuan
Exchange supplies at the Chamber of Commerce's station.
Jin Feng has always been generous to the people and pays very high wages to fishermen.
Many fishermen earned more money from this trip than they had earned in half a month before, which was more than enough to support their families.
Before, they were so hungry that few fishermen chose to go to the bank to exchange money. The vast majority of fishermen chose to go to the chamber of commerce to exchange for daily necessities such as grain or cloth.
Tang Xiaobei had already guessed this result, so he rushed several shipments of grain, cloth and other supplies from the warehouse in Jiangnan a few days ago to ensure that the fishermen would have enough supplies when they came to exchange.
No matter how good Jin Feng's promises are, the fishermen will not really feel relieved until they actually receive food and supplies.
The enthusiasm for work has also increased.
Early the next morning, all the fishing boats set off again, escorted by speedboats and warships, and returned to Maolang Island.
After this adjustment, the kelp production line has basically stabilized.
Jin Feng's attention also returned to the dock.
Fishing boats don’t have power engines. Larger fishing boats are basically driven by sails. It’s fine when encountering an easterly wind. However, if it encounters a westerly wind, it may take several days or even ten days to get to the dock from Maolang Island. By then, the kelp will still be there.
To be bad.
The best way is to mass-produce building boats as soon as possible, and then let all fishing boats be responsible for picking, and all transportation tasks are handed over to building boats.
The flat ship has a steam engine, which can ensure that the kelp is returned within one day regardless of whether there is favorable or adverse wind.
Therefore, after leaving the drying yard, Jin Feng went straight to the dock.
As a result, before reaching the place, I met Tang Xiaobei halfway.
"Ms. sir, I'm about to go find you."
Tang Xiaobei stopped Jin Feng and said, "The first batch of kelp has been dried. Should it be stacked in the warehouse first or transported back to Sichuan?"
Jin Feng thought for a moment and said, "Let's transport it back first and let the Chamber of Commerce find a county to distribute it and see how the people accept it."
"That's okay," Tang Xiaobei asked again: "How to price kelp?"
"Just like salt, let's temporarily set it at ten cents per pound. We will make adjustments later based on market response and supply and demand."
"Then selling it to Jiangnan and the Central Plains will cost ten cents per catty?" Tang Xiaobei continued to ask.
"Jiangnan and the Central Plains refer to Sichuan and Shu in the previous two years, and mainly work for relief. They can lend kelp and grain to the people in advance, but they cannot give it to them completely for free," Jin Feng reminded.
This is not because Jin Feng is greedy for money, but because things given away for free are often not cherished.
If Jin Feng asked people to give porridge every day, and the people could eat without paying anything, I am afraid that many people would live on soup porridge and lose the motivation to work hard.
Relief for work can not only set goals for people's lives, but also improve infrastructure facilities such as roads and water conservancy in Jiangnan, paving the way for future development.
"I will arrange for Zhenyuan No. 2 and No. 3 to be ready for shipment."
Tang Xiaobei sighed: "I don't know if I can pretend."
"We can load as much as we can. If we can't load it, we'll ship it back when the ship comes out."
Jin Feng said: "But this also reminds us that we should speed up the construction of warehouses."
"I've been urging him," Tang Xiaobei waved his hand towards Jin Feng, turned around and left.
She not only has to prepare various supplies, but also has to worry about the stationing of Jinchuan Bank and Chamber of Commerce, as well as building warehouses.
Tang Xiaobei was so busy that he hadn't gone fishing for several days.
After saying goodbye to Jin Feng, he immediately went to the drying yard warehouse to arrange matters related to the shipment of kelp.
Jin Feng glanced at Tang Xiaobei's back, jumped on his horse again, and rushed to the dock.
When we arrived at the dock, before we even entered the door, we heard cheers coming from inside.
Jin Feng handed over the reins of his war horse to a guard, strode into the dock, and at first sight he saw a tall ship standing in the center of the dock.