Chapter 274 The Navy Fishing

In November of the sixth year of the new era name, the biggest event in the Nanyue Kingdom, and the one Gao Yuan cared about the most, was the launching of the treasure ships.

After more than a year of construction, fifteen giant galleons—each sixteen zhang long, over two zhang wide, and with a displacement of over a thousand tons—were completed and officially launched.

It was on this very day that Gao Yuan announced the establishment of the Nanyue Navy, with Cao Xing serving as its commander.

Each ship carried one hundred naval soldiers and was equipped with two catapults, with five ballistae mounted on each broadside.

However, these weapons and equipment had not yet been installed on the ships, so to outsiders, these strangely shaped vessels looked no different from merchant ships.

There was no grand ceremony; they were launched quietly just like that.

"Cao Xing, I am entrusting the navy to you. You must make them familiar with the warships as quickly as possible, and you must ensure they can operate them as seamlessly as moving one's own arm. Do you understand?"

Cao Xing never expected that he would one day become a military commander. He was exceptionally excited and bowed to Gao Yuan with clasped hands in agitation.

"Rest assured, my lord. Within three months at most, This humble general will certainly be able to train a qualified naval force."

Gao Yuan patted him on the shoulder and began to dangle the carrot.

"Good, I will need you to put in the effort. The scale of our navy will continue to grow; the soldiers under your command will be our backbone and are all destined to become officers in the future."

"This humble general will certainly inform all the soldiers of this."

"Good, proceed with the training according to the previously agreed-upon plan."

"Understood!"

With the order given, the fifteen treasure ships hoisted their sails and set off toward the sea.

Their first task was simple: to go fishing, specifically to fish in waters a bit further out.

These naval soldiers were not yet familiar with the ships, and rashly sending them on long-distance voyages would be tantamount to sending them to their deaths.

Therefore, the first step of training was to become familiar with the ships, and fishing became the top choice for this.

Not only could it help the soldiers get used to the vessels, but it could also test the ships' performance.

Most importantly, the sea fish they caught could be sold to subsidize expenses.

The cost of establishing the navy was high, and many more ships were scheduled to be built in the future.

With the government treasury currently strained, Gao Yuan had no choice but to find ways to increase revenue and reduce expenditures.

The first voyage lasted about half a month, and the first thing Cao Xing and the naval soldiers did upon disembarking was to find a place to eat meat.

Having spent these days at sea eating nothing but fish, shrimp, and crab every day, they were almost sick of it.

If not for the prepared dried vegetables, preserved fruits, and candied treats, they would have already broken down.

However, the harvest was decent; they brought back over a thousand catties of various dried fish, which were all purchased by people sent by Gao Yuan after they docked.

At twenty wen per catty, the thousand-plus catties of dried fish sold for about twenty-five guan of coins.

These dried fish were worth little in South of the Ranges, but they were quite popular in the Diannan Circuit and Jiannan Circuit, which were far from the sea.

With one transaction of the dried fish, Gao Yuan easily made a two-fold profit.

As for the proceeds from selling the dried fish, half went to the naval soldiers, and half went into the government treasury.

Although it wasn't much—each person only received a wen or two—everyone was still very excited.

To them, they were regular troops with generous military pay, so this money was purely an unexpected bonus.

Furthermore, this was their first voyage and they were not yet skilled; they would earn more in the future.

On their second voyage, they naturally had a greater harvest.

With the experience from the first time, they were better prepared for the second and traveled even further.

They didn't return to the port until the day before the New Year, and this time they brought back not only thousands of catties of dried fish but also many good things.

Over a thousand catties of fresh iced sea fish, and even a few huge yellowfin tuna and some shark fins.

The delicious tuna sashimi quickly conquered the taste buds of many wealthy people.

Shark fin was a rare and expensive ingredient, although people in this era had not yet tasted this delicacy.

But that didn't stop the two transmigrators, Gao Yuan and Yang Xin, from popularizing it to everyone.

Sure enough, after Gao Yuan hosted a shark fin banquet, this delicacy, which only became popular in the Ming Dynasty in his original timeline, immediately conquered everyone.

As for shark skin, it was a high-quality material for leather armor. In his original timeline, shark skin was known as "dragon leather" and was considered a top-tier material.

There were records from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods of shark skin being used to make armor.

Gao Yuan accepted all these shark skins, planning to find someone to make a few sets of armor to reward his subordinate generals.

On this voyage, every naval soldier received several hundred wen in income.

This made these guys' enthusiasm soar to unprecedented heights; they almost didn't want to celebrate the New Year, wanting to go out to sea to fish instead.

This year's New Year's Eve dinner was exceptionally sumptuous; in addition to various delicious meat dishes, there were two new dishes.

One was braised pork belly, and the other was pig stomach chicken soup. These were from the first batch of Landrace pigs raised at the pig farm.

In the feudal era, it was generally believed that pork was "cheap meat." Coupled with the lack of a custom to castrate pigs, the meat had a very strong, pungent odor.

Therefore, generally, only people at the bottom of society would occasionally buy some pork to satisfy their cravings.

But this time it was different. With the Nanyue Royal Palace setting an example, plus the pork recipes published by Gao Yuan...

Of course, it was also very likely that, in order to curry favor, the high-ranking officials and nobles all jumped in and swept up all the pork.

However, after they tasted it, they couldn't help but give a thumbs up.

"My lord does not deceive me! This pork is truly fragrant."

Especially those two guys, Xia Luqi and Zhao Meng, who were particularly fond of braised pork intestines and stir-fried pork kidneys.

This actually sparked a trend of eating pork intestines and kidneys in South of the Ranges.

The family was getting bigger and bigger, so they had to set up three tables for the New Year's Eve dinner.

Gao Yuan sat at one table with his women; Mu Sheng, Chu Weiguo, Zheng Ji, and Song Jinglian sat at another; and Nie Yunxia sat with Chu Yue, as well as Gao Nan, Gao Yu, and General Yang Zhan at the third.

Everyone took their seats, and the wine and dishes were served. Gao Yuan stood up and raised his glass.

"This year, we have expanded our territory, the people are living in peace and contentment, and our tax revenue is abundant. These achievements could not have been possible without your full support. I would like to propose a toast to everyone here. Cheers!"

After saying this, Gao Yuan tilted his head back and drank the glass of wine in one gulp. Only then did everyone stand up, raise their glasses, and say to Gao Yuan:

"Cheers."

With the wine downed, the New Year's Eve dinner officially began, and everyone ate very happily.

Only one person was not happy, and that was Gao Yuan, because he discovered that the little brat General Yang Zhan was actually flirting with his daughter.

"That little brat doesn't learn anything good; at such a young age, he's already learning to act like a homewrecker..."

Gao Yuan gritted his teeth as he glared at that little boy who was acting like a total homewrecker, almost biting his chopsticks in half.

General Yang Zhan was chatting enthusiastically with the two young beauties when he suddenly felt a chill down his back.

He turned his head and saw Gao Yuan with eyes blazing with fire. Confused, he showed a puzzled expression, as if asking:

"Brother-in-law, are you looking for me for something?"

The women naturally noticed Gao Yuan's abnormality and covered their mouths, laughing until they shook.

"Husband is jealous."

"Actually, I think Zhan'er is a good match for Yu'er and Nan'er. Come to think of it, they can be considered childhood sweethearts."

Gao Yuan rolled his eyes at Zheng Wan and said irritably:

"Good match my foot. There is a generation gap between them."

Unexpectedly, Yang Xin came with a god-tier assist:

"It doesn't matter. I can leave the Yang Family. That way, you won't be his brother-in-law, and he won't be your brother-in-law anymore."

Gao Yuan almost vomited blood. He looked at Yang Xin, his eyes seeming to ask:

"Girl, whose side are you on anyway?"

In short, the women seemed very satisfied with this marriage, and Gao Yuan's opposition couldn't stir up any waves at all.

However, it wasn't as if Gao Yuan had no way to deal with it; right after the New Year, he threw General Yang Zhan into the military camp.

Regarding this, his explanation to Yang Xin was:

"Yue Yun joined the army at twelve and could single-handedly fight Jin Wushu at sixteen. He is twelve now too, so it's just right."