Chapter 36 Family Cohesioni
Translator: 549690339 I
However, these are systemic major projects, which will definitely not be completed overnight. Even if one is anxious, it cannot be rushed. Wang Shouzhe simply boarded a relatively larger ship on Peace River, stepped on the tall rice bags, and went all the way through the waterway of Fenggu Farm back to the Wang family’s main residence.
The ships on Peace River are all very small. The largest ship is only about eighteen meters long, just carrying five hundred bundles of grain has reached its limit, its loading capacity is far less than the river ship. Moreover, it is not wind and sail powered, only relying on the boatman’s paddling and punting to move.
Luckily, the water flow of Peace River is stable. With the help of paddling and punting, the ships can just manage to move. It’s just that the winding and twisted riverway of twenty miles has taken more than an hour to travel. Converted to Earth’s speed, it’s just over two kilometers per hour.
The fleet passed through the river’s horn mouth and entered Zhuwei Lake.
On the not very wide Zhuwei Lake, the house complexes of the Wang’s main residence under the steep mountain wall can already be seen. But Wang Shouzhe wasn’t in a hurry to go back. Instead, he continued to observe the topography of Zhuwei Lake on the ship.
The lake is slightly elliptical, about six to seven miles long and four to five miles wide, totaling over 10,000 Mu in water area. The lake is clean and beautiful, surrounded by mudflats and reed ponds, making the scenery naturally beautiful.
Perhaps the “natives” would find it desolate, but Wang Shouzhe, who was used to big cities and traces of human everywhere, found this pristine scenery particularly pleasing, and as a result, his mood was much better.
If such a large water area is used to raise spirit fish, it would be excellent, Wang Shouzhe pondered silently.
However, Zhuwei Lake also has a major disadvantage, the lake is too shallow, generally less than three meters deep, and there is too much silt accumulated at the bottom. Not to mention raising spirit fish, even the farming of ordinary large fish deems the water level too low.
Also, in this mysterious magical world, the large-scale farming of fish is not mainstream. At most, it is to throw some small fish into the pond after catching them and let them grow freely.
The reason for this is firstly, there are a lot of fish in the wild, even with crude fishing techniques, there will always be a good catch as long as one goes fishing. Secondly, due to the limitations of fishing technology, it is difficult to invest funds and manpower for farming in the vast lake, it’s better to do wild fishing in the resource-rich Peace River.
Take Sixth Uncle Wang Dinghai for example. It took twenty weavers two months to hardly weave a small trawl net… you can imagine the difficulty of large-scale surround fishing in the lake.
The biggest difficulty of fish farming lies in the management of water quality, density, disease, scientific feeding, and other technologies. If not careful enough, fish can die in large numbers, leading to a total loss of capital.
However, there are countless Profound Martial families in this vast world, and naturally, some families have achieved some results in fish farming. Just like the Lu Clan of Yingxiu, they have mastered some fish farming techniques and have developed an industry.
The Profound Martial families, however, cherish their production techniques very deeply and make great efforts to keep them secret. In some core industries, even the women of the family are not allowed to participate, for fear that they will spread the technology when they get married.
Even with Wang Shouzhe’s relationship with the Lu family, it is impossible to get their fish farming technology.
The tight guard over each family’s technology also results in the overall backwardness of production technology in the entire Profound Martial world. Although the patent technology strategy on Earth has many complaints, it has indeed caused a technology storm, with various scientific inventions flourishing in a short time.
Having said that, Wang Shouzhe felt that it was better for the Profound Martial world not to flourish, as his biggest advantage now was that he was “experienced”, havinga “forward-looking” vision more than this world.
He has a vague understanding of many technologies, but he knows that there is such a thing and generally the direction. For example, the well-known Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), this wonderful product which changed the human taste system.
If you let Wang Shouzhe do it, he wouldn’t be able to do it in ten to eight years.
But if a group of clever people were asked to specifically study this area and carry out similar research, because the direction is relatively clear, they could probably do it in twenty to thirty years if they were lucky.
If the luck wasn’t so good, as long as the related technology continues to accumulate, surely it could be done in a hundred years, right?
There are also spinning and weaving equipment, such as the famous must- have for transmigrators – the “Jenny Loom”. Even if Wang Shouzhe is beaten to death, he couldn’t draw the blueprint. But he also knows that there is such a thing and roughly some vague directions of the principle. If a group of craftsmen were asked to slowly work on it, one day it could be figured out.
If this thing comes out, it will absolutely be more powerful than Wang Luo Jing, the “Insect Master”.
Of course, all these are just speculations. Without the strength to sustain the family, promoting these things would be a clear invitation to the path of selfdestruction. Take for instance the Changning’s Xu Family, whose main business is the textile industry. They will certainly turn against the Wang Family the minute the “Jenny Loom” comes into play, since it certainly destabilizes the fundamental survival of the Xu Family.
Leaving that aside for now.
The fleet where Wang Shouzhe is situated in, gradually picks speed across Zhuwei Lake. Within an hour, they reached the backyard dock of the Wang Family’s main residence.
Although this dock and the waterway are not frequently used, most of the food and crop supplies from the farms pass through this route. Though slower, shipping by water carries more loads. Additionally, it means fewer carriages and horses which are way more expensive to maintain compared to humans.
The usually deserted dock at the backyard of the Wang Family’s main residence was filled with bustling crowd. Leading the pack are two women, one of which happens to be Wang Shouzhe’s wife, Gongsun Hui. Standing at a distance behind her is a young girl, Wang Luotong.
Following them are four heads of household, of whom, three are female. It’s worth noting that out of the nine heads of household in Wang family, three are females.
When the ship was about to dock, with the distance of about twenty odd feet, Wang Shouzhe leaped into the air, flew over the crowd like a big bird and landed on the dock merely within two breath spans.
This is Wang Shouzhe’s current ability to fly. While completely superior to any long jump or high jump champion on Earth, it’s nothing compared to the mythical martial arts practitioners who can fly in the sky and shatter mountains with a single punch.
“Madam, why did you come back? Don’t you want to spend more time with your maternal grandfather at your mother’s place?” Wang Shouzhe saluted the Gongsun hui.
“Earlier, you had asked my brother, Gongsun Qiang, to help you with some tasks in your letter and I asked Wang Zhong for details. I found out that someone is needed to assist you in managing the main family residence,” Gongsun Hui responded. “Although I don’t know the exact details, I thought that I should return to the family and help out as soon as possible. As per your letter, only part of the backyard warehouse has been emptied out so far.”
“Thank you for your hard work, madam. For now, part of it is sufficient,” Wang Shouzhe saluted again, feeling a warmth and gratitude in his heart. Madame Gongsun Hui had always been on the side of the Wang Family, helping him manage it to the best of her abilities.
“Fourth Brother.” Wang Luotong saluted Wang Shouzhe. Her eyes were filled with excitement. After all, her fourth elder brother had entrusted her with some tasks in his letter.
What did that represent? It indicated that her fourth elder brother held her in high regard. She, too, wanted to, like her younger sister Wang Luo Jing, devote her heart and mind to the family and her fourth brother.
“Luotong, you’ve worked hard. Huh, you’ve broken through to the third level of the Vital Energy Refining Realm?” Wang Shouzhe squinted, and through the Observation Technique, he noticed that Wang Luotong’s aura was much more powerful than before, and she was having difficulty controlling the overflow of her aura. “Congratulations!”
“Thanks to you, Fourth Brother,” Wang Luotong replied, her cheeks lightly flushed with joy. “If it was not because of you who had the family treasury send me a Cultivation Pill, I couldn’t have made the breakthrough so quickly.”
“That’s because you’ve been working hard; you’ve been honingyour skills at the peak of the second level of the Vital Energy Refining Realm for a while,” Wang Shouzhe said appreciatively. “Keep it up and set an example for your younger siblings and juniors.”
Having known her situation, of course, he wouldn’t sit by and watch her slowly grinding at the peak of the second level of the Vital Energy Refining Realm. Hence, before he left, he had a Cultivation Pill sent to Wang Luotong from the family treasury.
She did manage to put in effort and make an immediate breakthrough. At least it’s much better than that little rabbit Wang Zongwei, who is still struggling at the high segment of level two Vital Energy Refining Realm even at the age of twenty.
“Yes, Fourth Brother, I will definitely do my best,” replied Wang Luotong, her smile radiant and nodding vigorously. To her, gaining her fourth elder brother’s recognition was a joyful event.
While the crowd was conversing, the grain ships docked one after another.
Madam Gongsun Hui directed the heads of household, servants, and slaves in transporting the grain to the empty rooms. Wang Luotong joined in as well, teaming up with the other female heads of household in doing the majority of the grain transportation.
Having broken through to the third level of the Qi Refinement Realm, her strength and stamina were far superior to those of ordinary servants and slaves. She was able to carry four to five bags of rice at a time, and still maintain a brisk pace. Although Madam Gongsun Hui initially wanted to stop her, she was deterred by Wang Shouzhe’s signal. If Luotong wanted to contribute to the family in this way, then she should be allowed to do it.
Since even the fourth young mistress of the family had participated in the transportation of the grain, sweat dripping from her, the other heads of household, servants, and slaves put in more effort. They worked diligently without any sign of fatigue, demonstrating morale and teamwork.
The unity and loyalty of a family is built up bit by bit like this.