nashuaworldcup Chapter 599 Whaling
Chapter 599 Whaling
Chapter 599 Whaling
Zou Weilian and Zhang Jingxin were drinking tea in the study when a guard came to report that Wang Wenzhou had gone out to sea to fish again.
Zou Weilian shook his head with a wry smile. It had been half a month. Mad Dog Wang Wenzhou had only shown his face once a few days ago when he received prisoners, and had not been seen since.
However, Wang Wenzhou ordered the capture of "giant pandas" throughout Fujian province—a name Wang Wenzhou, of course. Zou Weilian and other Fujian officials were baffled as to why Wang Wenzhou wanted to capture giant pandas. Wang Wenzhou's explanation was that he wanted to train them as war pets to fight on the battlefield.
Zou Weilian was both amused and exasperated. Legend had it that tigers and leopards were trained for battle, but those were things from ancient times, and the truth of ancient history was hard to discern. Besides, while giant pandas were indeed fierce, they were far inferior to tigers and leopards. What was wrong with Mad Dog Wang Wenzhou that he insisted on training giant pandas?
Although Zou Weilian couldn't understand it, he truly dared not disobey Wang Wenzhou's orders. He had come to realize that the mad dog Wang Wenzhou was capable of anything when he went mad. Especially on the day Wang Wenzhou arrived in Fujian, he had intimidated all the Fujian officials. Even though Zou Weilian outwardly obeyed, the officials below dared not.
Zou Weilian hurriedly instructed, "Go to the port and wait. As soon as the fleet docks, immediately board the ship and inform Lord Wang that the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Zhang Jingxin, is with me. Please ask him to come immediately to discuss the strategy for suppressing the bandits."
"Yes!" The guard took the order and left.
Zou Weilian cupped his hands in greeting to Zhang Jingxin and said with a wry smile, "Please forgive me, Lord Zhang. Lord Wang is young and impetuous, and has a rather playful nature."
Zhang Jingxin said helplessly, "Brother Zou, if it weren't for your sake, I would never have come to Fujian to see Wang Wenzhou. Although I have never met this mad dog, I have heard a little about him."
Zou Weilian quickly and sincerely said, "Thank you, Brother Zhang. To be honest, I have no choice but to send him here. The Emperor sent him because there was no other way. The Ming Dynasty is currently beset by internal and external troubles, and the army is all on the front lines. There are simply no soldiers available."
Zhang Jingxin nodded and said, "I understand, but has Mad Dog Wang Wenzhou been scared out of his wits by the pirates? Why is he going out to sea every day these days? It doesn't feel like he's here to fight the pirates, but rather like he's here to enjoy the scenery!"
Zou Weilian smiled wryly and said, "Let's wait until he gets here and hear what he has to say. Brother Zhang, let me remind you, Wang Wenzhou is a mad dog, he's unreasonable. Don't take what he says to heart."
……
On the deck of the Little Lanlan, Wang Wenzhou was directing the fleet in whaling.
In this era, whaling was still quite difficult for humans, so there were many whales in the sea. Of course, it wasn't too difficult for Wang Wenzhou.
Their fleet consisted of 13 warships, each equipped with several large crossbows for whaling. Each warship was essentially a whaling vessel. Once a whale was hit by a crossbow bolt, smaller warships following nearby would rush forward to assist in the capture. Every day they returned fully loaded, catching at least a hundred whales.
A large whale was ahead, and the Little Lanlan had been following it for quite some time. Wang Wenzhou calculated the time and realized that it should surface to breathe. He quickly ran to the large crossbow, ready to operate it himself and capture the whale.
Whaling is such an awesome thing, so Wang Wenzhou naturally had to do it himself. He could brag to his grandchildren later that their grandfather had personally caught whales.
"Father! The whale is out!" Zheng Chenggong shouted, pointing to the sea.
The enormous whale surfaced and began to urinate skyward, completely unaware of the danger.
After taking aim, Wang Wenzhou swung his knife and cut the cable, sending the crossbow bolt flying with the cable attached.
"Bang!" The crossbow bolt struck the whale, which thrashed wildly in pain, and the surrounding sea was quickly stained red with blood.
But the whale's struggles were completely futile. The crossbow bolts were barbed, and once they were inside the body, they couldn't be pulled out. The thick rope attached to the back of the crossbow bolt was tightly tied to the Little Lanlan, and even for a whale, breaking such a thick rope was an impossible task.
Chen Yuanyuan shook her head repeatedly as she read it; it was too cruel.
Wang Wenzhou said with a smile, "Alright, I've had enough fun today. Let's go inside and have a drink. You can take charge of Fu Xingping here."
"Yes!" Fu Xingping nodded, took over the command, and as usual, he would wait until the whale was tired from thrashing around before sending small warships forward to assist in dragging the whale onto the ship.
Wang Wenzhou, carrying his two babies, prepared to return to his room, while Zheng Chenggong hopped along behind him.
Wang Wenzhou glanced back at Zheng Chenggong and said irritably, "You little brat, what are you doing following me? I'm going to have a heart-to-heart talk with your godmother. You can't listen to these private words. Go go whaling with your father."
"Your son obeys." Zheng Chenggong pursed his lips, thinking that his godfather was definitely up to no good again.
Li Meibao asked curiously, "Husband, why are you catching so many whales? They don't taste good."
"Yes!" Chen Yuanyuan also couldn't quite understand.
Wang Wenzhou said with a smile, "It's not very tasty! But kids, have you ever heard the saying, 'Why not eat meat porridge?'"
Chen Yuanyuan nodded and said, "Does my husband mean that whale meat is a delicacy for ordinary people?"
Wang Wenzhou hugged Chen Yuanyuan and kissed her, saying with a smile, "My Yuanyuan is truly learned and talented. Sister-in-law, you must study hard. You can't just know how to practice martial arts. Only fools use their fists; smart people use their brains!"
Li Mei pouted, looking unhappy. She had always wanted to join the army and had worked hard towards it, often learning martial arts from the guards of the sedan chair carriers in her spare time. But Wang Wenzhou wouldn't let her join, saying that ordinary soldiers were cannon fodder, all meant to be sent to their deaths.
Wang Wenzhou continued, "Behind the red gates, meat and wine go to waste, while on the streets, the poor freeze to death. No matter the era, there are always poor people who can't afford to eat. We don't like the meat from the whales we've caught, but we can send it to these poor people. For them, just being able to eat a bite of meat would make them very happy. Why would they complain about whether the meat is good or not?"
Chen Yuanyuan retorted sarcastically, "I don't believe you'd be so kind! You're definitely up to no good!"
"Smack!" Wang Wenzhou slapped Chen Yuanyuan's bottom and laughed as he scolded, "Yuanyuan, you've gone too far! Don't I look like a good person? In the hearts of the people, I am Wang Qingtian, who is wholeheartedly devoted to serving the people!"
Chen Yuanyuan rolled her eyes at Wang Wenzhou. "My nemesis, don't I know you well enough?"
Wang Wenzhou laughed and said, "Of course, I don't have that much free time to help poor people get meat to eat. The key is that I need whale oil. Damn it, in this era, without petrochemicals, getting oil is really too difficult. Although I have money, the vegetable oil needed for a battle is too expensive and too wasteful!"
The two babies didn't quite understand the words Wang Wenzhou used, but they were already used to their nemesis spouting these inexplicable words.
Chen Yuanyuan asked, "Husband, do you intend to use fire to attack? To burn the warships?"
"Haha!" Wang Wenzhou laughed and said, "Yuanyuan is so smart, she understands everything so quickly. Sister-in-law, you should learn from Yuanyuan, you can't let it go on for so long and still have a toothache!"