Chapter Twelve: Business Dealings, Moon Harbor

After hiding for three or four days, the East Sea had once again become lively.

Just as Wang Cheng had predicted, a self-interested and scheming alliance could never fully seal off the mouth of the Nine Dragons River. Disguised and with every detail altered, their vessel, now renamed the Fortunate Zhang, silently blended into the flow of other returning fishing boats and smuggling ships. Like a drop of water merging into a vast river, they encountered no more sea ghosts along the way.

They did not hurry blindly towards their destination. On the return journey, they fished as usual, constantly experimenting with the lucrative venture Wang Cheng had taught them.

"Haul in gold, hey ho! Haul in silver, hey ho! Haul in jewels, bright and clear! The sea never fails the fisherfolk..." Under the lead of Zhang Wu, the deckhands chanted as they worked, hauling the great net back onto the deck in unison.

In the past, they had relied solely on ancestral experience—casting their nets regardless of whether fish were likely to be found, with luck proving far more important than skill. The imagined scenes of fishermen hauling in great catches of fish, shrimp, and crabs every day were nothing but fantasy to inland folk.

Yet, following Wang Cheng’s advice—casting nets at the times and places he indicated—they found themselves successful with every haul, the catches rich and plentiful! Occasionally, there were even unexpected surprises.

“Steady now, looks like we’ve got a big one again!” As the hemp-woven net was dragged onto the deck, Zhang Wen, ready and waiting, pounced immediately and seized a silver fish whose tail thrashed like a windmill.

Excited, he showed it off to everyone before quickly releasing it into a bucket of water. The moment the fish touched the water, it turned into a streak of silver light, darting so swiftly that the eye could barely follow.

[Strange Treasure: Ten-Thousand-Sea-Delicacies Swallowtail Amberjack, weight: one jin eight liang.
Similar foundational effect to the Parrot-Mouthed Greenfish. The flesh is delicious and greatly replenishes vitality and blood, a nourishing delicacy for any cultivator, especially helpful for strengthening the body.
Value: 230 incense-fire coins (subject to fluctuation; a suitable buyer could drive the price even higher).
Taboo: For one day after eating, everything is done quickly, especially matters of the bed—one minute thirty seconds for a bath is all you’ll manage; remedy: conserve your energy, try again tomorrow.
Consume ten swallowtail amberjack fins, and you’ll gain the permanent skill: Light as a Swallow.]

Though this ten-thousand-sea-delicacy was far smaller than the Parrot-Mouthed Greenfish, to those aboard the Fortunate Zhang, it was already a treasure beyond price.

Like a child presenting a prize, Zhang Wen brought the bucket before Wang Cheng, thumb raised high. “Brilliant, truly brilliant! Scholar, your art of divination is nothing short of miraculous. Even Sister Axiao, a Pearl Diver herself, has never seen such luck at sea; getting one or two from ten was already considered the Sea Goddess’s blessing. I’d wager even the famed Treasure Divers can’t match you. With this skill in our hands, a second, even a third fishing boat is within reach—soon, we’ll be the most renowned fishing guild on these waters!”

Wang Cheng slipped the three copper coins he used to feign the art of divination back into his sleeve. This was a basic skill for any scholar versed in the Book of Changes, and as a would-be official since childhood, he had certainly learned it. With the help of Wang Fugui’s memories, his performance was flawless. Whether it was accurate was another matter, but it was certainly enough to impress this newly gathered band of brothers.

Yet his true advantage was always the Four Seas Treasure.

His grand plan for wealth was to build a fishing guild and assemble hands, fully utilizing the power of rare catches. He had never intended to rely solely on himself to dive for treasures—for he had only one head and two hands, and what could he possibly gather alone before exhaustion claimed him?

The Wang family’s maxim was clear: “To profit, you must let others profit with you; to amass wealth, you must gather collective strength.” In short, anyone wishing to earn a fortune must enlist many others to earn alongside him.

True fortunes are always windfalls.

Why is honest wealth so hard to come by? Because it is the result of one’s own hard labor, an upright reward for sweat and toil, and the return is often less than the effort. To be truly rich, your fate must involve windfalls, resourcefulness, and audacity.

Always remember: wealth is a reward for one’s understanding, not for one’s diligence!

This family precept was fundamental to the Wang family’s rise as the storied Sea Kings of the East.

“But this business of telling fishermen when and where to cast their nets, always with a catch... why does it sound so familiar?” Wang Cheng glanced at the wide mouth of the Nine Dragons River coming into view and unconsciously touched his neck, a chill running down his spine.

“Ahem, this is the Nine Dragons River, beyond is the boundless East Sea and the Vast Ocean, not the Jing River. I’m not using deep-sea trawls to wipe out the stock—no matter how much this primitive industry expands, to the ocean it’s a mere trifle. Even if the Dragon King himself came seeking me, he’d find it was Wang Fugui’s doing, not mine.”

Just then, the lookout in the crow’s nest called down to the deck, “Scholar, we’re almost at Moon Harbor!”

The Fortunate Zhang and the surrounding vessels gradually converged at the mouth of the Nine Dragons River, then proceeded through the tangled waterways toward a single destination.

This Moon Harbor was obviously no deep-water port, nor a golden waterway. Large vessels could only set sail with the help of several smaller boats to tow them out. But once you remembered that this was a clandestine smuggler’s port, its location made perfect sense.

The first thing to catch Wang Cheng’s eye was a tall white tower—the Baoshan Signal Tower, famed throughout the surrounding seas. Its purpose was twofold: a warning beacon and a landmark for daytime navigation, and a lighthouse for the night.

Having navigated the twisting channels, suddenly the broad waters ahead opened up, revealing a bustling port city.

Yet the entire harbor seemed shrouded in a haze, like a mirage, fleeting and unreal.

Zhang Wen sidled up to Wang Cheng and pointed toward the distant harbor. “Scholar, you’ve been away studying these past years and may not know how much Moon Harbor has changed. The elders say that many coastal cities and garrisons have ancient origins. Back in the day, the First Emperor of Qin sent alchemists across the sea to Yingzhou in search of immortality. Most never returned, but a few survived to bring back word. Whatever they found in the ocean’s depths, the emperor soon ordered cities built along the East Sea, modeled after the Great Wall, and issued the earliest maritime prohibition edicts of the unified dynasty. These coastal bans were inherited by every dynasty since...”

Wang Cheng had heard many legends of the sea, but rarely experienced them himself. To hear these stories from the lips of a fisherman, with fresh details, was a real pleasure.

“Throughout history, many rulers sent expeditions to seek immortals across the ocean. Sometimes the maritime bans were relaxed, sometimes tightened, but the edict was never fully repealed. When the current dynasty was founded, the Taizu Emperor ordered the coastal defenses rebuilt, forming a tight line of fortresses. From Penglai in Qingzhou to Yahaigun in Qiongzhou, there are over sixty coastal cities and garrisons, with three great sea towers along the way. Combined with the 'Mountain and Sea Prohibition' deep in the Vast Ocean—one on land, one at sea—a broad buffer zone was created: the floating homeland of us fishermen.

"The court placed bans on mountains and seas, never allowing us to settle ashore—perhaps with the intention of treating us as canaries in the mine, or even as sacrifices to ward off evil. Should anything change in the sea, we and our clan's water guards are the human alarm bells..."

Alas, the fishermen had no choice at all.

Minzhou was so poor—eight parts mountain, one part water, and only a scrap of arable land—that it could never sustain so many people. For them, "farming the sea as one would the land" was the only way.

How poor, exactly? Let’s put it this way: in five thousand years of divine history, it was always known as a "land unworthy of a conqueror." There isn’t a single grand battle to be found.

At this point, Zhang Wen’s tone took on a hint of schadenfreude. “Hey, the Great Zhao has stood for two hundred years, and the gentry’s encroachment wasn’t limited to peasant fields—they seized military garrisons too. The guard system is on the verge of collapse. Maritime defenses are in shambles; three navies and six patrols exist only in name.

"Moon Harbor used to be a naval garrison, but when the authorities lost control, it gradually became a haven for maritime smugglers. After the Double-Islet Ship Kings’ brothers lost their 'Twin Islet Port' and the Prince of Jing’s 'Blazing Port' was destroyed by the court, Moon Harbor rose to become the largest smuggler’s port along the Great Zhao’s coast.

"In fact, you could say it’s now the center of world trade—connecting Champa, Siam, Danni, Pahang, Malacca, Luzon, Barata, Buyeo, Yingzhou, and even the Western nations!”