Protect Our Patriarch

"This... Wang Dinghai, is there something dissatisfying about our fishing team?" Wang Dinghai asked with some hesitation.

What's dissatisfying? This dissatisfaction is huge, Wang Shoujie thought to himself, his face turning serious. "Sixth Uncle, how's the output of our fishing team every year? What's the expenditure, and what's the profit?"

As soon as he asked this, Wang Dinghai's face turned pale, unsure of how to answer.

"Let me answer, son," Gong Sunhui intervened, "I've been managing the family's finances, and our fishing team has a total of nine small fishing boats and one medium-sized fishing boat. Over the past five years, our average annual catch has been around 6,700 kilograms, with a revenue of 486 gold coins. We've also caught an average of 400 kilograms of Spirit Fish per year, with a revenue of 120 gold coins, making our total annual revenue around 606 gold coins."

Wang Shoujie was shocked by this, although he knew that his aunt was in charge of the finances, he didn't expect her to be so familiar with the data.

However, the catch was too small, with an average of only 20 kilograms per day, which was around 2,000 kilograms per year.

"Why are you looking at me like that, son?" Gong Sunhui asked calmly, "As the daughter of the Shanyang Gongsun Clan, I have a natural talent for martial arts, but I'm not strong in it. As the wife of the clan leader, I should help him manage the finances."

As she said this, Gong Sunhui's eyes seemed to lose some sparkle, as she had been managing the finances meticulously over the years, but her husband, Wang Dingyue, didn't appreciate her efforts.

Wang Shoujie suddenly remembered the customs of the martial arts world. In the martial arts world, marriages were usually between direct descendants of clans, and Gong Sunhui, as a direct descendant, would eventually marry a young clan leader.

The conversation had digressed, but since Gong Sunhui was so clear about the finances, Wang Shoujie's spirits lifted. "Earlier, Sixth Uncle told me that the value of those catches was not low, but why is our annual revenue only around 486 gold coins with a catch of 6,700 kilograms?"

"Your Sixth Uncle was trying to please you, son," Gong Sunhui explained, "The catches he mentioned were of high value and favored by the nobles, but most of our catches don't have such high values. Additionally, we have a fish market business that processes and sells the catches, which is a separate matter. The revenue from that needs to be calculated separately."

"Please continue, mother," Wang Shoujie asked respectfully, "For example, what about the expenditures and profits?"

Gong Sunhui, who was being taken seriously for the first time, explained enthusiastically, "Our expenditures include the annual salary of 46 fishermen, which is 151 gold coins, and the maintenance of the 10 fishing boats, including tool repairs, which is 92 gold coins. We also pay an average of 72 gold coins in taxes and 60 gold coins in welfare funds every year. After deducting all the expenditures, our average annual profit is 221 gold coins, which doesn't include the family's offerings that your Sixth Uncle should make."

When Wang Dinghai heard this, his face turned red, and he stammered, "How can the profit be so low? I thought we could at least bring in 400-500 gold coins in profit every year."

"If you have any doubts about the finances, you can check the accounts anytime," Gong Sunhui said calmly.

"No, no, no, Fifth Aunt, I didn't mean that," Wang Dinghai hurriedly waved his hand, "I'm just a rough old man who only knows how to fish. Wang Shoujie, these dry financial reports are boring, let Sixth Uncle show you his skills instead."

"Don't be impatient, Sixth Uncle," Wang Shoujie comforted him, then turned to Gong Sunhui with a frown, "I have two questions. First, what's the basis for the taxes? Second, what's the welfare fund for?"

"Ah, the An River is treacherous, with hidden dangers," Wang Dinghai explained hastily, "Sometimes, there are even ferocious aquatic beasts that appear. Even with Sixth Uncle's care, it's hard to avoid some fishermen getting killed in the An River. Without high monthly salaries and welfare funds, no one would be willing to join the fishing team."

"As for the taxes, it's calculated based on the size of the fishing boats," Gong Sunhui explained, "Small fishing boats need to pay 6 gold coins in taxes every year, while medium-sized fishing boats need to pay 18 gold coins."

Fixed taxation, Wang Shoujie thought, understanding that in this economically backward world, fixed taxation was the best method.

After understanding all the information, Wang Shoujie bowed to Wang Dinghai, "Sixth Uncle, I didn't expect the fishing industry on the An River to be so dangerous. You've made great contributions to the family over the years."

Wang Dinghai's heart relaxed, and he laughed dryly, "Don't mind that the fishing team doesn't make much money, son. To be honest, when Fifth Uncle was the clan leader, I also suggested expanding the fishing fleet to him. I can manage 10 boats, and I can also manage 20 or more boats. I'll think of ways to recruit more fishermen, and that way, we can earn more gold coins for the family. The An River can accommodate 20 or more fishing boats, and the Liu Clan's fleet has around 20 boats too."

"Adding 10 or more boats?" Wang Shoujie asked with interest, "Can you tell me more?" A family's growth depends on its financial resources.

"Let me explain," Gong Sunhui said, knowing that Wang Dinghai wasn't good with financial data, "Sixth Uncle's plan is to add two medium-sized fishing boats and 10 small fishing boats. The medium-sized boats cost 120 gold coins each, and the small boats cost 45 gold coins each, totaling 690 gold coins. As long as we can recruit the corresponding number of fishermen, we can break even in three years."

"Breaking even in three years, that's doable," Wang Shoujie nodded in agreement, "Even if we don't do it in the future, we can sell the boats and not lose money."

Wang Dinghai's face lit up, looking like he had found a kindred spirit, and he patted his thigh, saying, "Fifth Aunt, I told you it could be done. I just don't understand why Fifth Uncle didn't agree to it."

Gong Sunhui's face turned slightly awkward: "Sixth Uncle, you don't know, but the Wang Clan has been lacking money in all aspects these years." She let out a soft sigh, actually agreeing to expand the fleet, but Wang Dingyue refused. Moreover, her plan to borrow money from her parents' home was also firmly opposed by Wang Dingyue.

"Shoujie, so you agree to expand the fleet?" Wang Dinghai asked tentatively.

"Shoujie, if you need to expand the fleet," Gong Sunhui said after a brief hesitation, "I can go back to my parents' home in Shanyang to raise some capital." Borrowing money from her parents was a humiliating thing, but for the sake of the family's development, she couldn't care less.

"No, I don't agree," Wang Shoujie said after some thought.

What?

Wang Dinghai's face turned dark.

Even Gong Sunhui was looking at Wang Shoujie in confusion, wasn't he just saying it was okay? Was he, like his father, too proud to let her raise money?

"Times have changed," Wang Shoujie said with a furrowed brow. "The family needs to develop, and to do so, we need more capital. To get more capital, we must increase the family's production efficiency."

"This doesn't make sense, how can we increase efficiency without expanding the fleet?" Wang Dinghai asked, looking at Wang Shoujie with wide eyes.

Wang Shoujie smiled mysteriously: "Sixth Uncle, as a fishing expert, I have some ideas to share with you. Have you ever thought of a fishing method called trawling? It's a way for two ships to work together to catch fish."

Then, Wang Shoujie pulled Wang Dinghai down to the deck and started drawing a rough diagram.

Trawling was a very common fishing method on Earth, a professional and efficient way to catch fish, far surpassing the recreational fishing nets.

If not for the excellent natural ecology of the An River, Wang Dinghai's extremely unprofessional fishing methods would have long gone bankrupt.

Of course, trawling was so powerful that it caused significant harm to the natural environment, which Wang Shoujie strongly opposed. But now, the family was facing a crisis, and if they didn't develop, they would be eliminated.

No big deal, once the family developed and grew strong, they could abandon this destructive fishing method.

"Shoujie, your idea is amazing," Wang Dinghai, also a professional, quickly understood the principle, but frowned and said, "However, making such a large net is extremely difficult, and our fishing boats can't even tow it."

Can't tow it!

Wang Shoujie suddenly realized the problem, wind-powered sailboats were no match for oil-powered mechanical boats, which had the strength to tow large nets.

"Then let's start with a smaller version, focusing on what we can tow," Wang Shoujie said. "Let's make a three or four-meter wide, six or seven-meter long conical small trawl net, like a big bag, with a mesh to prevent fish from escaping..."

"This is worth a try," Wang Dinghai's eyes lit up. "I'll go back and gather twenty net-weaving workers to make it, and it should be done in two months."

Twenty people, two months...

Wang Shoujie was quite helpless, the productivity of this martial arts world was indeed very low. But it was precisely because of this that the natural resources of this world were so well-preserved.

Unlike Wang Shoujie's world, where the nearby seas were almost depleted by trawling, forcing the government to implement various fishing bans, the power of trawling was no joke.

"Sixth Uncle, don't rush, let's take a look at this fishing tool, although it's not as good as trawling... but it's simple to operate, and ordinary people can use it once it's made."

Then, Wang Shoujie drew another fishing tool for Wang Dinghai, called a dredge net. This fishing method was similar to casting nets, but instead of casting from top to bottom, it scooped up from the bottom.

The dredge net was much more complex than casting nets, but once it was made and fixed with a lever, it was more labor-saving and simpler than casting nets. Its advantage was that once it was made, any ordinary laborer, even a minor, could operate it.

Moreover, the dredge net had an even more powerful evolved form, the River Blocking Net, which, if made, would be as powerful as a small trawl net.

"Shoujie, where did you come up with these amazing ideas?" Wang Dinghai was excited, almost trembling. "If we can make them, we'll get rich."

"I saw them in an old book," Wang Shoujie said. "Sixth Uncle, you should also take a look at trap nets and..."

These two fishing tools were extremely powerful and had already been banned by the government, their strength was evident, and they were both passive, fixed fishing gear.

Once installed and deployed, they only needed to be checked regularly, like playing a game on autopilot... no need to worry, just collect the harvest on time.

Wang Dinghai was about to go crazy, as a "professional 'martial' fisherman," Wang Shoujie had opened up a new world for him.

[Heartfelt thankyou for the support! SlaySaga]