Divine Doctor Mommy Is A True Big Shot
Chapter 243 - 245: Large-scale Marine Aquaculture

Chapter 243: Chapter 245: Large-scale Marine Aquaculture

The person was hanging his head low, his clothes tattered, clutching a broken fishing basket.

"Uncle Zhou?"

Feng Bailing recognized the visitor as Uncle Zhou, a villager from the fishing village who delivered oysters to her.

"Princess Feng, the shells have been stolen."

The other party was ashamed and dared not look at Feng Bailing.

"What happened to you? How did you get beaten up like this? Who hit you?"

Feng Bailing examined him, noticing his bruised and swollen face, clearly having been beaten.

"Some people came to our village to buy shells, offering a price 50% higher than Zuixian Inn. All the villagers sold the shells they had saved to them. I thought of your great kindness to our family and couldn’t betray my conscience for money, so I refused to sell. Those people beat me up and almost completely robbed me of the shells. I was delayed for hours, and I just managed to get here."

Uncle Zhou said, tears streaming down his face.

"Uncle Zhou, you’ve been wronged."

Feng Bailing understood; without a doubt, this must have been the doing of Chuyue Tower.

Although Chef Liu didn’t know the raw materials for making oyster sauce, Uncle Zhou had delivered goods to Zuixian Inn, and the oysters were not used for cooking but sent to the Princess’ Mansion. It wasn’t hard to deduce that the raw materials for making oyster sauce were indeed oysters.

"It’s my fault, I promised to handle things for the Princess but messed up. I tried reasoning with the villagers as well, but they wouldn’t listen and even ostracized my family."

Uncle Zhou only sighed.

Feng Bailing knew that in terms of wealth, the modest Zuixian Inn was truly no match for Chuyue Tower.

The supply of oysters in Great Chu was very limited; with this batch being stolen, it would be almost impossible to find others to collect them from the seashore.

She cleaned and bandaged Uncle Zhou’s wounds and picked up the broken fishing basket he had brought.

Inside the basket, there were some small oysters left behind that the others didn’t want.

"With a rise in rice, grudges arise. Uncle Zhou, you might as well not return to the fishing village."

Feng Bailing advised.

"Not go back? How would my family survive? I barely know a few characters, and without the sea, I can’t provide for my family."

Uncle Zhou fretted.

"Uncle Zhou, you don’t have to leave the sea; just move a bit inland. You don’t have to go out to sea to fish every day. How about you take charge of breeding shells instead?"

Feng Bailing’s words left both Uncle Zhou and Manager Wang stunned.

They had heard of pig farming and duck farming but never shell farming.

After all, in current Great Chu, although the aquaculture industry was developing well, aquaculture for marine products was virtually non-existent.

Only some fishermen relied on sea fishing for a living; almost no one paid attention to marine aquaculture.

Although Uncle Zhou didn’t understand very well, the words were from Feng Bailing, and he trusted her deeply.

He thought it over and made up his mind.

"Princess, I, old Zhou, may be crude, but if you trust me, I can devote my life to you, just so my family can have food to eat."

"Don’t worry, you won’t just have enough to eat, but you will also make a fortune."

Feng Bailing finished speaking, let Manager Wang call for a horse carriage, and after the carriage arrived, she sent Manager Wang to deliver a message to the Princess’ Mansion, stating that she was going to visit Qi Village.

Just around dusk, a horse carriage sped on the official road, heading towards Xinqi Village.

Around the time when lamps were lit, Feng Bailing, accompanied by Lao Zhou, arrived at Xinqi Village.

Seeing that it was getting late, the village chief arranged for Feng Bailing and Lao Zhou to rest first.

The next day, just as the rooster crowed, Feng Bailing got up.

The villagers had moved to Xinqi Village almost a month ago.

The soil here is fertile, with numerous waterways, and the crops in the fields are growing well.

Feng Bailing walked along the river for about one tael of distance, where the river flowed into the sea.

The sea breeze came, bringing with it a salty moistness.

The air was very humid and moist, and due to its proximity to the sea, the climate here was milder than in Chu City.

Feng Bailing took out a thermometer from the first aid box and measured the water temperature; she had once interacted with a marine expert during her time as a medic.

The expert mentioned that the suitable temperature for aquaculture of marine products was around 15-25℃, and in late spring and early summer, the temperature in the Xinqi Village area was around 20 degrees, which is very suitable for cultivation.

Oysters have relatively low requirements for salinity in seawater, and the mixture of nearby seawater and river water also meets the conditions for cultivation.

The water area ahead was even broader; it was just dawn, and a faint golden light coated the water surface.

This area, where seawater and river water mixed, was also rich in spiritual water, perfect for nurturing the Water Holy Seal. The Dragon Queen had said the Water Holy Seal needed to constantly absorb spiritual water to grow stronger.

Now, the Water Holy Seal was like a child who just learned to crawl; it wanted to grow quickly and needed to absorb a substantial amount.

Feng Bailing summoned the Water Holy Seal and released it from inside her body.

A flash of light passed, and in the water, the Water Holy Seal was like a fish; it had never seen such a spacious body of water and swam around joyfully.

The Water Holy Seal was purifying the water quality while Feng Bailing inspected the surroundings; after reviewing, she confirmed that they could directly dig fish ponds here and build aquaculture farms combining river and sea.

"Uncle Zhou, we need to dig a few large ponds here by the sea, and on the north and south sides of the ponds, dig some outlets to bring in seawater. Oysters are cultivated using rafts, it would be best if we could find some bamboo to make the rafts."

Feng Bailing selected a few areas to dig ponds, and the village chief brought villagers who were not working in the fields to start digging.

Lady Lai, along with some wives from the village, went to the mountain to cut bamboo.

By the end of the day, the busy villagers and Lao Zhou were bustlingly active; the ponds were beginning to take shape, and the bamboo rafts were also ready.

Since Great Chu had no plastic products, Feng Bailing had the villagers hang large baskets made of coarse cloth and hemp under the bamboo rafts, and then had Lao Zhou put his few remaining small oysters into them.

Being close to the sea outlet made it convenient for water intake and drainage; furthermore, the area where the Water Holy Seal had moved was practically a Spiritual Spring. The seawater here would definitely make the oyster larvae grow faster and better.

After a day’s hard work, Lao Zhou and the villagers had their faces tanned even darker, yet these simple villagers didn’t complain of exhaustion; instead, they were full of confidence.

"Old Zhou, rest assured, Princess Consort Wu is a capable person. The method she provided will surely make your shellfish thrive."

The village chief took Uncle Zhou out for a drink, while Lady Lai held Feng Bailing’s hand, insisting on having her stay for dinner.

"No, I left in a hurry, only mentioned it to the mansion, and the children are still waiting for me there. Especially Xiao Li, she loves clinging to me."

Feng Bailing estimated that under such conditions, the oyster larvae should successfully be cultivated within three days.

Once that happens, they could start cultivating oysters on a large scale using the river-sea fields, and once the oysters are well-raised, she could deal with Nalan Yan’er.