Chapter 7

Sailing is very important, and although there are no modern large sailing ships or modern navigation equipment today, navigation classes are mandatory when taking the A-level sailing captain's license. How to use simple tools to determine the correct course and the ship's geographical location by observing the positions of the constellations, moon, and sun is also a required part of the exam. If you fail, you are considered unqualified. This is to prevent the captain from being at a loss if the equipment on board fails, so at least they can know the correct direction and location, and wait for rescue instead of drifting further away.

What could this be used for in the Song Dynasty? For long-distance navigation! As long as you can sail long distances, you are a talent! Long-distance trade in this era was extremely profitable, but it also had significant limitations. Only a small part of these limitations came from pirates and weather, while most were due to power and route issues. Many long-distance fleets could only make one trip per year using the monsoon winds, and they had to follow fixed routes. They wouldn't dare to go to a different place because they didn't know how to navigate there, and each route's secrets were kept by the large families controlling the fleets.

If you can open new routes and build large ships that can sail against the wind and travel faster, long-distance trade will no longer be a dream. As long as you can make more trips and travel faster than others, becoming a major merchant will also no longer be a dream. Then you can live a life of luxury, and the sea will be your domain. However, this idea is still a bit far-fetched for now. First, you need to have a ship, and you need to figure out how to build it, whether anyone can build it, and how to build it, which requires careful planning.

The only way to ensure a good life right now is fishing! What do the Tanka people rely on for their livelihood? Fishing! Their small boats can only drift along the coast in shallow waters; they can't go far, and their fishing gear is very rudimentary, so their daily catch is very small. The rice they ate yesterday was exchanged for fish with the local people on the shore. This was a special reserve prepared to entertain Hong Tao as a guest. Normally, they could only eat yams to stave off hunger, and even yams had to be exchanged for fish and shrimp with the local people on the shore. Eating only fish and shrimp wouldn't be enough to fill their stomachs.

Before dinner, Hong Tao had seen the fishing net at Bo Fu's house. It was a large casting net with a diameter of over four meters. This type of net is only suitable for shallow waters. When cast, it forms a large circular sheet, and the iron weights tied around the edges make it sink like a large cover on the seabed. Fish that happen to be in the middle of this cover will panic and move around, getting their fins caught in the net, and thus be pulled up with the net.

This method of fishing is very primitive and inefficient. It relies on luck, and you have to cast and retrieve the net continuously. The chances of success are not high, and if the net gets caught on underwater rocks, you have to dive to free it, which is both labor-intensive and inefficient. Hong Tao's improvement methods are threefold, all tailored to the current era and economic conditions.

The first method is the use of a fish trap. This method is already widely used in the modern era and is particularly suitable for lazy people. What is a fish trap? It is a cylindrical net, usually about ten meters long, supported by materials like wire to keep its shape. The ends of the cylinder are not sealed but have funnel-shaped nets attached, with the large end facing out and the small end facing inside the cylinder. You can also add a few of these funnels along the cylinder. This is the entry point for the fish. The cylinder is weighted and sunk to the seabed, with a sturdy rope tied to a float as a marker.

How does this trap work? You don't need to actively catch fish; you just need to throw the long cylindrical net into the sea. You can throw as many as you want, the more the better. Fish have a habit of seeking shelter, and they will swim around the net, and when they see an opening, they will enter. Fish have a very short memory, so once they enter, they forget the exit and just swim around inside the net. The funnel-shaped entrances are easy to enter but hard to exit because the fish's fins are aligned in one direction, making it difficult to escape through the small opening. Some smaller fish might manage to escape, but most will be trapped. Depending on the number of fish in the area, you can retrieve the traps after a few hours, half a day, a day, or even a few days. The float on the surface marks the location of the trap for the fishermen.

Will it work? Hong Tao can guarantee that it will work 100%. This is not his invention but a technique refined by Chinese laborers over generations. It works in both freshwater and saltwater. To catch larger fish, you can use a larger mesh, and to catch smaller fish, you can use a smaller mesh. The main advantage is that this method doesn't require much effort or time. You can throw the traps and go about your business, and come back to collect the catch when it's time.

If the productivity level is high enough and there is mechanical assistance, you can improve this fish trap into a large-scale version called a "maze trap." This is a very powerful tool for catching mid-to-upper layer fish. Once they enter, they can't escape, and a single maze trap can catch thousands of pounds of fish. In modern times, many areas prohibit the use of this method because it is too destructive.

The second method is the crab trap. Hong Tao asked Bo Fu and the others how they catch crabs, and their answer was that they dive and catch them by hand! This is very labor-intensive, and even if they see a crab, it can easily hide in the crevices of rocks and be impossible to catch. Hong Tao's method is simple: it's similar to making a fish trap, but instead of using a net, you use bamboo to make a cage about the size of a fruit basket, with a round opening at one end. Attach a funnel-shaped net and some weights, and you're done. To use it, hang a small pile of fish or other meat inside the bamboo cage, tie the cages to a rope, and throw them into the sea as you row the boat. You can throw as many as you want, and after a day or two, row back to retrieve them.

If there are many crabs in the area, each cage will likely have one or two crabs. Not only crabs, but also octopuses, lobsters, shrimp, eels, and even some bottom-dwelling fish may enter to eat the meat and become trapped because they can't find the exit.

The third method is specifically for catching large fish, called a "rolling hook." What is a rolling hook? It's a thick rope with a thin rope tied every meter or two, and at the end of each thin rope is a palm-sized iron hook with a small fish attached. Every few meters along the thick rope, a float is tied. You row the boat to an area where large fish are often found, and as you row, you release the rope, attaching as many hooks as the rope allows. After releasing the rope, move the boat a hundred meters away and wait.

Once you see a float being pulled, quickly follow it. If the fish is very large, let it drag the floats for a while until it tires, then use a gaff or a harpoon to bring it on board. If the fish is not very large, you can bring it on board directly.