Protect Our Chief

Chapter 36 The Cohesion of a Clan

However, these were all large, systematic projects, and could not be completed in a day or two. Even if he was anxious, he could not rush things. Wang Shouzhe simply boarded the slightly larger boat in the inland river, stepped on the tall pile of rice bags, and headed back to the Wang Clan’s main residence through the waterway of Bountiful Farm. The boats in the inland river were all very small. This largest boat was only about 60 feet in length, and had reached its limit after carrying only 400 to 500 quintals of grain. Their load capacity was far inferior to that of the riverboats. Furthermore, they were not powered by sails, and relied only on the boatmen to row the oars and propel them forward.

Fortunately, the water flow in the inland rive was stable. With the oars and punting poles, they were at least able to travel with difficulty. However, they took more than two hours to cross the winding riverway that was only 20 miles in distance. Converted to speed in Earth’s metrics, this was only equal to about two kilometers per hour.

The fleet passed through the narrowing mouth of the river and entered Lake Zhuwei.

On the relatively narrow Lake Zhuwei, one could already see the buildings of the Wang Clan’s main residence below the steep mountain face. However, Wang Shouzhe was in no hurry to return. Instead, he continued to observe the terrain of Lake Zhuwei on the boat.

“She” was slightly oval in shape, about six or seven miles long and about four or five miles wide. The total area of the water body had already exceeded ten thousand acres. The surface of the lake was clean and magnificent, and its surroundings were filled with mudflats and reedbeds, giving the scenery a primitive beauty.

Perhaps the “natives” might find it desolate, but for Wang Shouzhe, who was used to seeing big cities and traces of humanity everywhere, this primitive scenery made him particularly comfortable. Even his mood was much improved.

If such a large area of water could be used to rear spirit fishes, it would be great, Wang Shouzhe thought to himself.

However, there was also a huge disadvantage to Lake Zhuwei. Her water was too shallow, generally less than ten feet deep, and there was too much mud at the bottom. Forget about spirit fishes, even ordinary large fishes would find the water too shallow.

Moreover, in this fantasy world, large-scale farming of fishes was not mainstream. At most, they would catch some small fishes and throw them into the pond, allowing them to grow freely.

The reason for this was that firstly, there were many types of fishes in the wilderness. Even though the fishing techniques were crude, as long as one went out to catch fish, there would be a good catch. Secondly, due to the restriction of fishing techniques, even if funds and manpower were invested into rearing fishes in the vast lake, fishing from it would still very difficult. It was better to carry out fishing in the bountiful An River instead.

For example, for Sixth Uncle Wang Dinghai, it would take him two months to weave a small dragnet with 20 weavers… The difficulty of fencing a large area in the lake with nets could be well imagined.

The greatest difficulty in rearing fishes lay in technologies such as water quality management, density management, disease management and scientific feeding. If one was not careful, many reared fishes would die, resulting in a loss of all investments.

However, this world was big, and there were countless Arcane Martial Clans. Naturally, there were already clans that had some success in the fish rearing industry. For example, the Lu Clan of Yingxiu had already mastered some fish rearing techniques and developed industries. It was just that the Arcane Martial Clans had always valued their production technologies very much, and were very good at keeping them confidential. In some core industries, even the women of the family were not allowed to participate, for fear that they would spread the technology after they married out.

Even with Wang Shouzhe’s relationship with the Lu Clan, it was impossible for him to obtain their fish rearing techniques.

The lockdown of various clan technologies also caused the overall production technology of the entire Arcane Martial World to fall behind. Although there were many criticisms regarding the strategy of patented technology on Earth, it did indeed cause a technological storm. In a short period of time, all kinds of technological inventions flourished.

Even so, Wang Shouzhe preferred not having all kinds of flourishing technologies in the Arcane Martial World. His greatest advantage now was that he was “knowledgeable” and had a “forward-thinking” vision that exceeded this world.

He was only vaguely aware of many technologies, but he knew about one thing and the general direction. For example, there was the famous MSG, sodium glutamate, a wonderful product that changed the human taste system.

If you asked Wang Shouzhe to make it, he wouldn’t be able to do it, even after some eight to ten years.

However, if he found a group of smart people to specialize in this area and engage in similar research, as the direction was relatively clear, with luck, it could be done in 20 to 30 years.

No matter how unlucky they were, as long as the related technologies were constantly accumulated, they should be able to produce them in a hundred years, right?

There was also equipment for shawling or weaving, such as the famous “spinning jenny”, a must-have item for transmigrators. Wang Shouzhe wouldn’t be able to draw the blueprint even with his life on the line. However, he knew about the existence of this item, and knew a little about the vague direction of the principles. If a group of craftsmen was hired to slowly work on it, sooner or later, they would be able to figure it out.

UULI

If such a thing was created, it would definitely be more powerful than that of a “Spirit Insect Master” like Wang Luojing.

Of course, these were all just speculations. Before the clan had the power to bear it, establishing these things was purely suicide. Forget about everything else, just the Xu Clan of Changning, whose main business was the textile industry, would fall out with the Wang Clan in a matter of minutes, as the “spinning jenny” would definitively threaten the foundation of the Xu Clan’s survival.

Digressions aside for now.

Wang Shouzhe’s fleet gradually sped up in Lake Zhuwei. In less than an hour, they arrived at the pier in the backyard of the Wang Clan’s main residence.

Although this pier and this waterway were not commonly used, most of the farms that used this waterway for transporting food and supplies to the clan. Although the waterway was relatively slow, the amount of transport was relatively large. Moreover, it could allow them to maintain fewer carriages. Feeding horses was much more expensive than feeding people. On the dock in the backyard of the usually uninhabited Wang Clan’s main residence. There was a crowd at this moment. Leading the crowd were two women. One of them was Wang Shouzhe’s mother, Gongsun Hui. Not far behind her was a young lady, Wang Luotong.

After that were the four clan guards, three of whom were women. Something worth mentioning was that three out of the Wang Clan’s current nine clan guards were female clan guards.

Just as the boats were about to dock, about 80 feet away, Wang Shouzhe tapped his foot and leaped into the air. He swept towards the dock like a huge bird. In just two breaths, he landed steadily on the pier.

This was Wang Shouzhe’s current leaping ability. It completely crushed any long-jump and high-jump champions on Earth. However, it was also not some being that could soar in the sky and shatter mountains with a single punch in some high-level martial fantasies.

“Mother, why are you back? Aren’t you going to spend more time with Grandfather and Grandmother at the maternal family?” Wang Shouzhe clasped his hands at Gongsun Hui. “Previously, you wrote to my brother, Gongsun Qiang, to do something for you. I asked Wang Zhong about it and learned that someone needs to assist you at the main residence,” said Gongsun Hui. “Although I don’t know the exact details, I think it’s best to rush back to the clan as soon as possible to help. Previously, in your letter, you said that you wanted to free up the warehouse in the backyard. Currently, only a portion has been freed up.”

“Then I’ll have to trouble you, Mother. A portion of it is enough for the time being.” Wang Shouzhe cupped his hands repetitively. He also felt a little warm and touched. Madam Gongsun Hui was really dedicated to considering the problems from the Wang Clan’s perspective. She also did her best to assist Wang Shouzhe in ruling the clan.

“Fourth Brother.” Wang Luotong bowed to Wang Shouzhe. There was a slight stir in her eyes. Previously, Fourth Brother had entrusted her with some tasks in the letter.

What did this mean? It meant that Fourth Brother thought highly of her. She also wanted to do her best for the clan and for Fourth Brother like her sister, Wang Luojing.

“Luotong, thank you for your hard work. Eh, you’ve broken through to the third level of the Qi Refining Realm?” Wang Shouzhe’s eyes narrowed slightly. Under the Art of Qi Observation, Wang Luotong’s aura was much stronger than before. Moreover, she was somewhat unable to control the phenomenon of her aura leaking. “Congratulations.”

“I have to thank Fourth Brother.” Wang Luotong’s cheeks were slightly flushed as she said happily, “If not for you ordering the clan treasury to send me a ‘Small Essence Enhancing Pill’, I wouldn’t have been able to break through so quickly.”

“That’s also because you worked hard enough. You’ve already been training yourself at the peak of the second level of the Qi Refining Realm for a while,” Wang Shouzhe said with appreciation. “Continue to work hard in the future and set an example for the clan’s younger siblings and juniors.”

After understanding her situation previously, he naturally wouldn’t sit back and watch her slowly train herself at the peak of the second level of the Qi Refining Realm. Therefore, before he left, he transferred a Small Essence Enhancing Pill from the clan treasury to Wang Luotong

She was rather hardworking and broke through immediately. At least, she was much stronger than that little bastard, Wang Zongwei, who was already 20 years old, yet still dawdling in the advanced state of the second level of the Qi Refining Realm. “Mm-hmm. Fourth Brother, Luotong will definitely work hard.” Wang Luotong’s face lit up as she nodded repeatedly. To her, being able to obtain Fourth Brother’s approval made her very happyq. As everyone spoke, the grain transport boats had already stopped at the pier one after another.

Madam Gongsun Hui instructed the clan servants to transport the food to the empty room. Even Wang Luotong participated and became the main transport force of the food with a few female clan guards.

She was already at the third level of the Qi Refining Realm. In terms of physical strength and strength, she far exceeded ordinary clan servants. She could carry four or five bags of rice at a time while walking at a fast pace. Madam Gongsun Hui initially wanted to stop her, but she was stopped by Wang Shouzhe. Since Luotong wanted to contribute to the clan this way, she could do as she pleased.

Moreover, even the Fourth Young Mistress of the Luo generation of the clan was involved in transporting food, and she was even sweating profusely. The clan servants and clan guards worked even harder, not daring to slack off in the slightest. They looked as if their morale was at an all-time high.

This was how the cohesion of a clan was built, little by little.