Chapter 55

"Listen, I will write down the method of building new ships in a book. In the future, anyone who wants to learn can do so, including your grandson. Whether they can support their family with this skill depends on how well they learn and master it." When speaking to honest people, Hong Tao didn't like to deceive them. It's a sin to take advantage of honest people.

"That won't work, the Dan people can't read!" Wen Laoer was not very pleased.

"I can teach the Dan people to read and do arithmetic. In the future, I can also teach them navigation knowledge, making them even better than the star trackers on the local boats. They can navigate the seas smoothly with or without stars, no longer having to follow the yellow waters, and can directly sail into the black waters." Hong Tao knew Wen Laoer would ask this. He was a bit like Bo Fu, whose sole purpose in life and struggle was the future of his family. He had no other desires, neither greedy nor overly ambitious, so practical that it sometimes made people laugh and cry.

"If you want to build large ocean-going ships, my family alone isn't enough. My brother's family in Wanan also has the skills of the Wen family in shipbuilding." Hearing that his children could go to school and learn to read, Wen Laoer not only joined himself but also wanted to bring his brother's family into the partnership. It seems that from ancient times to the present, everything has changed, but the hearts of people of all ethnic groups who want their children to study and succeed have never changed.

Hong Tao didn't know whether the shipbuilding skills of the Wen family were good or bad. He had never seen other shipwrights' levels of craftsmanship, and he didn't need those top-notch masters. Not to mention whether they would listen to his persuasion, even if they were willing, they couldn't come. These masters usually worked in the shipyards operated by the imperial court. Even if they wanted to come, they didn't have the conditions. The state-owned enterprises of the Song Dynasty were much more powerful than those of later generations. Apart from the military, other technical personnel and laborers were semi-forced to be employed. They would be paid the exact amount they were due, but whether they worked or not was not up to them.

The skills of the Wen family were sufficient for now. The main thing was that they were more trustworthy. The Song people wouldn't overly concern themselves with what the Dan people were doing. They never considered the Dan people as part of the Song people. Tolerating these sea people living in the Song Dynasty's waters was already considered very benevolent. These Dan people, because they were not accepted by the outside society, were particularly close-knit, operating in a family and clan model, rarely interacting with other ethnic groups. Such customs made it easier for him to control them, at least in the early stages of his venture, there wouldn't be any trouble.

With the Wen family's involvement, Hong Tao finally felt he had a solid foundation. The Dan people were his own ethnic group and his roots. Wherever there were Dan people, it was like having his own intelligence station, human resource network, and supply station. With practical and effective fishing methods and these fast boats, the cooperative could officially start. Relying on large-scale collective operations and more advanced fishing tools, the catch would definitely increase significantly. With a suitable sales channel, the income would also increase considerably.

As long as he earned more, other Dan people would see it and be attracted to join, catching more fish, making more money, building more and larger ships, and going to farther places to catch even fresher and larger fish. This would be a beneficial cycle, and the cooperative would grow larger. When the number of people, the catch, and the sales channels reached a certain level, it would be time for the cooperative to transform and upgrade for the first time.

At that point, the cooperative would no longer be a single production department. It would become a fishing association, using its massive production capacity to dominate the market, using various means to strike against competitors, and infiltrating the relatively relaxed social system of the Song Dynasty to shed the reputation of the Dan people as vagrants and uncontrollable pirates. Since paying enough taxes, even Arab merchants could become Song citizens and even hold office, the native-born Dan people should also be able to. This was the path Hong Tao designed for himself, using the Dan people to help him enter Song society, not just infiltrate, but openly step in, starting from a high point, at least as a local magnate.

This method was somewhat like the black社会组织 of later generations, controlling a certain industry through force, then beginning to "whitewash" themselves, or operating in a gray area, continuously developing and expanding, even infiltrating the political sphere. This method wouldn't work in other dynasties, whether Tang, Yuan, Ming, or Qing, none of them could tolerate such organizations. No wonder someone in later generations said that black社会组织 can only truly survive in a relatively tolerant social environment, which makes a lot of sense.

The Italian Mafia was powerful, right? Why did they land in America? Because from before World War II, Italian dictator Mussolini began to sweep away the black社会组织 in Italy. Compared to a national machine, any black社会组织 is powerless. They didn't just land in America; they fled to America and ended up taking root in the more tolerant American society.

According to Hong Tao's plan, once the cooperative was officially integrated into Song society and had a foothold on land, he could start long-distance trade. At that time, no one could stop him. On the high seas, he would be the king of the oceans. With fast enough ships, enough sailors, a complete industrial chain, and advanced navigation technology, he could go wherever he wanted, and no country could do anything about it. Because he would bring enough benefits to local merchants, any malicious actions against him would face strong opposition from their own people.

Even if these opposition voices were ultimately suppressed, he could rely on his powerful naval forces to blockade any country's ports, or even attack important cities from the sea, striking when he wanted and leaving when he wanted, with no one able to stop him. Just like how the British used their large ships and cannons to torment the world, he could repeat the same process.

Of course, this was just a long-term plan. It might take decades, even a century, to complete. Hong Tao could wait. If calculated by his age before he time-traveled, he was only 29 years old, with at least 30 to 40 years to spare. Whether he could complete it wasn't important; what mattered was that the process was fun and exciting.

As for the Mongols, no rush! The fall of the Southern Song wasn't imminent. By the time he controlled the seas, the Mongols would likely be too busy to deal with the Southern Song, which had no desire to reclaim lost territories to the north and posed no major threat to the Mongols. At that time, the one who could truly hurt the Mongols would be him, the sea king. Hong Tao had a devious plan to deal with those Mongols.

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