On the vast blue sea, a fishing boat is braving the sharp cold wind in winter, casting the net with difficulty again and again, hoping to catch a few more fish, preferably in exchange for a day's ration for the family!
Although there has been talk of delicacies from the mountains and seas since ancient times, in fact, the seafood in the Tang Dynasty was not valuable!
Because most ordinary people at this time don’t even have enough to eat on weekdays! Even if they invite guests during the New Year or festival, they will only weigh some pork to take home, and just like that, they have to pick up the fat ones!
It's not that they don't know that lean meat is more delicious, it's just that compared to the delicious taste, the fat contained in fat meat is something they need more.
For example, in the original Xiaojiazhuangzi, the meat stall sold out first, and it was always the one-inch-thick fat meat! For example, the lean pork ribs in it, only people from Xiaohan’s family would buy it so that they could take it home and give it to them.
The picky Mr. Hou cooks.
It was not until the past two years that farmers had enough fat in their stomachs that they gradually began to dislike fat and greasy meat and began to rush to buy lean meat.
So much so that the butchers who sell meat have found a way to make money, which is to sell the fat meat to their colleagues in Chang'an City at a high price, and then buy the lean meat back from those people at a low price, and then resell it to people in Xiaojiazhuangzi.
Even the majestic capital of a country is like this! So in a world where people are extremely short of oil and water in their stomachs, there is really not much market for seafood that is light and not filling.
Moreover, in addition to the lack of oil and water, seafood has another biggest drawback, which is that it is extremely difficult to store!
"The color will change in one day, the aroma will change in the second day, the taste will change in the third day, and after four or five days, the color and fragrance will disappear."
Bai Juyi's poem about lychees is better used to describe these maritime products than lychees!
For example, the lychees written in the article can still be eaten after four or five days, but they are a little less flavorful! But eating seafood after four or five days will be fatal!
Therefore, compared with the prosperity of coastal areas in later generations, the people along the coast at this time lived an extremely miserable life! Even in the cold winter, they had to go out to sea to fish.
Just because the weather is cold at this time, the fish can be stored for two more days, and can be sold to distant places and make more money.
"Abba!"
He struggled to lift the fishing net again and looked at the empty big net inside. Before the old fisherman could sigh, the son behind him who was responsible for setting up the boat pointed in the distance in surprise and asked: "Look, what is that?"
"What is all this fuss about?" When the old fisherman heard his son's words, his already bad mood suddenly became darker. He frowned, put down his fishing net, and looked towards where his son was pointing.
They saw a dense mass of small black dots in the undulating waves in the distance, rushing toward them overwhelmingly.
"No! Run!"
He stared blankly at those little black dots for a while, until they grew bigger and bigger in his sight. Only then did the old fisherman realize, where were these little black dots? These were clearly big ships with sails on them!
And on such a winter day, apart from rampant pirates, what other fleet would appear on the sea?
"Run? Why are you running?" The son who was driving the boat scratched his head. He still didn't understand why his father felt like he had seen a ghost when he saw those boats!
Just when he was about to ask more carefully, he saw that his father, who usually regarded the fishing net as a treasure, directly threw the still dripping net into the sea this time, then rushed to his side and grabbed the wooden net.
Oar, grit your teeth and row with all your might.
The wind is very strong in winter!
The howling north wind made the sails of the big ships bulge, and the pointed heads pierced the waves. In just a moment, the big ship at the front was less than a hundred feet away from the fishing boat.
At this time, the fisherman's son finally understood why his father's expression changed drastically!
Looking at the shape of the ship and the numerous scars on its body, what kind of big ships are these? They are clearly countless pirate ships! And judging from the dense formation, there must be at least hundreds or thousands of ships!
"Daddy, daddy! How come there are so many pirates!" The fisherman's son was so frightened by the pirates who came over in the wind and waves that he turned pale. He instinctively grabbed a wooden oar and wanted to escape by boat, but because of his trembling hands,
It was so powerful that the wooden oar he grabbed fell into the sea and was pushed far away by the waves in the blink of an eye.
"It's over!" At this time, the old fisherman, who was still holding an oar in his hand, finally showed a look of despair. Then he looked at the approaching ship, and finally gritted his teeth, and unexpectedly pushed his son hard.
Pushed into the sea!
"Hold your breath! Don't come out! No matter what, don't come out! Whether you live or die today depends on whether the Sea Dragon King will show mercy or not!"
The fisherman's son was caught off guard and pushed into the sea. Even though he had grown up by the sea and was very good at underwater skills, he choked several times on his mouth. In addition, the sea water in winter was freezing cold. He was so excited that he quickly used his hands and feet to surface.
"Dad..." With half of his head exposed in the waves, the fisherman's son looked at the boat that was floating several feet away with fear and fear. Just when he was about to ask his father why he pushed him into the sea, a scene appeared in his sight.
A scene he will never forget!
On a large ship that came first, several people holding rockets fired fiercely at the small boat in the distance. Two or three of them broke through the sea wind and hit the small boat!
Immediately afterwards, I don’t know what was tied to the head of the rocket. It should be linen soaked in kerosene. As soon as it came into contact with the boat, the raging flames immediately started burning on the boat!
At this time, the old fisherman at the stern saw this and hurriedly rushed forward to put out the fire, but there was only a burst of laughter from the big boat, and then more rockets came, not only completely igniting the boat, but also taking the old man with him.
The fisherman was also shot with a few arrows. He waved his hands randomly a few times, and then he fell into the fire.
"Dad!" The fisherman's son witnessed this step with his own eyes. He was stunned for a while before he realized what was happening. Then he screamed miserably and was about to swim towards the small boat that had turned into a ball of fire.
"There is still one!"
Faintly, the people on the big ship also noticed him, so some scattered arrows were shot towards the sea.
But the accuracy of shooting a person with only his head exposed on a rocking ship is completely different from shooting a ship.
After some arrows fell next to the fisherman's son, the fisherman's son suddenly woke up, stopped advancing, glanced at the big ship with red eyes, and then plunged into the sea with a sudden force and disappeared again.
He understood his father's last few gestures, which were to let him go first! Find a way to survive!
As for why his father didn't jump into the sea with him, the fisherman's son roughly guessed: In this cold sea water, his body would definitely not last long.
In order not to drag himself down, and to attract those pirates, Dad used his own life to give his son a hope of survival, even if the hope was so slim.
