Chapter 164 Pearl fishing
Xu Qiuyue could sense that Lu Yuan was intentionally building up his own power.

Lu Yuan started collecting pearls, but the price he offered was very high, ten taels of silver for one pearl. This was obviously a losing business.

But no matter how many pearls there were, Lu Yuan did not lose a single penny.

All are given at the price.

The Pearl Pavilion, which purchases pearls, is located behind the shops.

Every time I come here, I have to pass by a series of shops, including restaurants, silk shops, and various grain and oil shops.

As soon as the shop assistants saw that someone came out of the Pearl Pavilion, they came forward to sell their goods.

Generally speaking, these people will consume at least one-tenth.

Lu Yuan also set a rule that there must be more than three people each time to sell pearls, because he was worried about encountering pirates on the road and stealing the money.

When there are so many people, how can they not be tempted when they see their relatives and friends making so much money?

Naturally, they will go to dig for pearls.

And you invited people to go with you. You have earned so much money, how could you not treat them to a meal? You have to have a big meal in the restaurant.

As a result, all the shops on this street became popular.

Everyone knows that Lu Yuan is doing a losing business, but they don’t know how long Lu Yuan will continue to do this losing business. They just want to seize this opportunity and make more money.

Not to mention the ordinary people, even the soldiers in the barracks were tempted, and many of them who were good at swimming went on a boat to collect pearls together.

Liu Qun knew that Lu Yuan would definitely go pearl diving, and he had already thought about how to mobilize the people and get them to protest against pearl diving.

After all, the tragedy of a few years ago is still fresh in our memory.

What Liu Qun didn't expect was that most of the people who dived for pearls back then had died, and those who were still alive had basically become pirates.

Many people in the North City don’t know what happened back then.

Although some people know about it, the price of this pearl is too high.

They couldn't believe that this pearl could be sold for so much silver.

North City has been poor for too long, and these people have suffered for too long. They couldn’t afford to buy new clothes before, but they can buy them now.

I used to be reluctant to eat meat, but now I buy it.

I used to be reluctant to use oil when cooking, but I still use oil now.

As long as the pearls were collected, the family would basically have fish and meat for every meal.

When pearl hunting, we also encountered a lot of seafood. They were cooked with oil and spices, and the taste was so delicious.

For the first time, Heng Niang brought back two large pieces of sea fish from her mother's home.

It was also the first time for her to have a delicious meal at her mother's house.

Everyone was having a great time. Her brother was lucky enough to have dug up two pearls from the deep sea, which was worth twenty taels of silver!
The family is planning to rebuild the house, and her nephews have nowhere to live. They must each have a room, otherwise they will have no place to live when they get married in the future.

But Heng Niang heard that there was a sea monster in the North Sea, so she wanted her brother to be more careful. It would be a good idea for him to just work on the construction site, as it would be safer.

However, when Heng Niang said this, the whole family became unhappy, and Heng Niang dared not say anything more.

Working on a construction site is very hard. The sun is strong, the work is heavy, and there is no rest all day.

Working from day to night is so tiring, and apart from better food, there are no other benefits, and the wages are pitifully low.

Heng Niangniang's family has land where they can grow some food.

The county government also distributed sweet potato seeds, which were sweet and delicious once boiled in water. They were even more fragrant and delicious when roasted over fire.

So everyone is willing to grow sweet potatoes.

Moreover, if you go to the sea to collect pearls, once you get one, you will get ten taels of silver, which is enough for you to stay at home for a year.

There is food to eat all day without having to work.

Pearl diving is not just about pearl diving, you can also catch fish. The price of sea fish is not expensive, but you can still earn more than doing hard labor in road construction.

And the soy sauce is very fragrant. The sea fish dipped in soy sauce tastes no worse than the food on the construction site.

Unless one is so poor that he has no other choice but to work on a construction site, people are generally unwilling to do the job.

Once everyone knew about this pearl-diving job, few people rushed to work on the construction site.

Who could have imagined that a month ago, North City was still so lifeless.

But now, it has become full of vitality and the streets are bustling.

Moreover, people from many nearby places moved to the North City.

········
Liu Qun struggled for a long time.

Liu Qun finally joined the pearl hunt with his soldiers.

If others can make this money, why can't he? Besides, the soldiers under his command also need to make money to support their families.

Ten taels of silver for a pearl were enough for him to take the risk.

He could collect pearls until Lu Yuan went bankrupt. If Lu Yuan was unwilling to spend ten taels of silver later, he would never let Lu Yuan go.

This time, there are much more people going to the North Sea to hunt for pearls than before. There has been no pearl hunting in the North Sea for several years, so now you can easily find a large number of opened clam shells on the beach of the North Sea, as well as many beautiful shells and coral reefs.

What made everyone so excited that they could hardly control themselves were the pearls in the shells that were washed ashore by the waves. They were like piles of sparkling treasures that made everyone crazy.

Ten taels of silver are worth a pearl, twenty taels of silver are enough to build a mud brick house, with a little more, you can even marry a wife and live a good life. What's more, if you go to the deep sea, you can also go fishing and make money!

There are almost no pearls left on the North Sea coast.

Liu Qun chose to go out to sea, and all the people under his command were excellent swimmers.

Everyone looked at the calm sea with excitement, and everyone was looking forward to the good days in the future after having money.

Liu Qun had collected pearls before and was very experienced. Soon, he ordered the large ship to stop here. One by one, they got on the small boats and jumped into the sea, searching for pearls in the deep sea like fish.

Suddenly a scream broke through the sky - "Help..."

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a huge fish rushing towards them from a distance.

The big fish opened its bloody mouth and pounced towards Liu Qun. Just as it was about to bite Liu Qun, Liu Qun suddenly kicked the side of the boat and jumped up, and the big fish crashed into the boat.

"Bang——" The ship shook, and Liu Qun stood firm, but the other people in the cabin fell to the ground due to inertia, letting out a wail.

"what……"

Liu Qun's face turned pale, and he asked his confidant: "How could there be a sea monster? Didn't I tell you to talk to them? Why did the sea monster appear?"

Liu Qun's confidant was so frightened that he trembled: "I, I don't know either..."

Hearing this, Liu Qun snorted coldly: "Humph! I won't forgive you when we get back!"

Then he turned and looked at the sea.