Jiayi doesn’t like the chefs on the boat. His skills are very average. He just pours all the dishes together and cooks them in a big pot. Although they look like a stew style, the tastes are very different.

In the last life, Jia family fed pigs like this. They put the vegetables and leaves together and cooked them, then poured them into the food bowl containing rice bran, scalded the rice bran, and then cooked them. In this way, the pig's appetite will be better and it will be less likely to get sick.

The chef on the boat gave Jiayi the same feeling as when he fed pigs at home in his previous life.

Jiayi couldn't stand it after eating two meals, so he secretly gave a small meal, and then the captain found it. After Jiayi invited him to have a meal once, the captain rushed for free every day, and Jiayi couldn't stand his face anymore.

Before the boat arrived at its destination, Jiayi took out the fishing rod given by the manager. The flexibility of this fishing rod was very good, and there was no problem with lifting a big fish of about ten kilograms. Of course, Jiayi had never raised such a big fish, but he lifted nearly twenty kilograms of things during the test.

Jiayi took a small fish from the kitchen and hung it on the hook, went to the stern of the boat, threw it into the water and dragged it. This can attract some predatory fish. These fish are generally very ferocious and not small in size, but I don’t know if I can catch the fish the captain mentioned.

The fish in the kitchen are dead, but because the boat has been walking, it looks like the bait is alive. This method is actually very similar to lure fishing, but Jia Yi has heard of this kind of fishing, but he has never tried it. He is still in the theoretical stage of this kind of fishing. At this stage, Jia Yi is still in the stage of fishing, and has no intention of developing some advanced skills.

Unfortunately, when the boat stopped, no fish was hooked. Jia pulled up the fishing rod and saw that there was no bait. He was not Jiang Ziya, so of course he could not get the fish out of the empty hook.

He originally wanted to catch a dinner and relax, but he had something in his heart and didn't focus on fishing at all, so he didn't even pull the fishing rod. It was not until the end that he found that the bait was gone.

Jiayi put away the fishing rod and suddenly a simple dock appeared in front of him. He looked carefully and to be precise, this could not be called a dock, but seven or eight ships were stuck in this area sporadically, and the ship shape was very large.

"There are relatively few ships now, and it is not the busiest time of this waterway. When the water level rises a little in the summer, there will be more ships here. At most, nearly a hundred ships are waiting here to pass through the Longthroat Stream, and there will be larger than our ships. It is said that the Memphis Chamber of Commerce will have a length of more than 150 feet and is equipped with giant crossbows, which can launch rockets that can be bào zhà. This kind of giant ship, even the bandits here, have to circumvent."

At some point, the captain came to Jiayi and introduced the situation on the water to him.

Jiayi said: "Then why isn't our ship equipped with such giant crossbows? This kind of crossbow sounds very good."

The captain shook his head: "This kind of giant crossbow is not simple. The water surface is so wet. The maintenance of the giant crossbow is a big problem. If the crossbow string is accidentally damp, it will basically be useless. Moreover, the crossbow arrows used by this giant crossbow are also specially made, otherwise it would not have such great power. Except for the Memphis Chamber of Commerce, I have never heard of any chamber of commerce having such giant crossbows."

Finally, the captain's voice unconsciously lowered, approached Jiayi, and covered his mouth: "It is said that this giant crossbow was specially designed for the royal family by the court worship mage. Even if the other chambers of commerce imitated this giant crossbow, they would not dare to equip it on merchant ships. Ordinary crossbows would be very powerful. If the merchant ship was equipped with such giant crossbows, it would be enough to subvert some smaller territory. How could the nobles let this merchant ship approach their own territory?"

Jia nodded. Indeed, even himself would not let such an armed transport ship approach. According to the power of the captain's statement, his magic shield might not be able to withstand such a shot.

"Then the Memphis Chamber of Commerce has a deep relationship with the royal family?" Although Kaichi used a questioning tone, he was almost certain.

"Of course, this is basically a well-known secret, and the royal family did not hide it, except to stand up and admit it directly. Because sometimes, this chamber of commerce will do some shameful things, such as smuggling valuable materials from other great noble territories."

Although the entire country is nominally a royal family, the only one that the royal family can directly manage is only some of the royal territories, and the other nobles' territories are basically autonomous, and they only need to provide some material and money. As for the governance of the territory, as long as it does not cause grudges from the people or rebels against the empire, the royal family has no reason to intervene. Even if it makes grudges from the people, as long as it can hold on, the empire will have no choice. So if there is any precious production in the aristocratic territory, the emperor can only purchase it if he needs it. At this time, smuggling will come in handy.

Jiayi looked at the several ships on the water, which looked quite small, but they were divided into several pieces and were quite far apart.

"Why are these ships so far away? Isn't it easier to be alert to get together?"

"This is all about guarding against each other. At this time, those who dare to go out alone are usually ships from the Chamber of Commerce, or those who are bold and not afraid of death and are confident, and are not afraid of attacks by ordinary bandits. But sometimes, there is no strict distinction between merchant ships and water bandits. I believe everyone is willing to have extra income."

Although the captain didn't say it very clearly, Kaichi said that this was similar to the situation in the Age of Discovery. The navy and merchant ships sometimes played pirates, but they didn't expect that this situation would happen on this inland river, although the river was particularly wide.

"Only when the waterway is busy, some small chambers of commerce will unite and form a fleet and pass here together."

Jia nodded to show his understanding, and then saw the boat approaching the shore, but it was not too close. Then he threw down the anchor and stopped.

Due to the terrain, the river water spreads like a lake. Except in the middle, near the shore, there are silt mud on the mud flats, covered with water plants, reeds, trees and other plants. If large merchant ships like this are too close, they will easily be stranded on the mud. The water bandits have been operating here for a long time, and there are secret passages that can enter and exit from the mud flats. Behind the mud flats are mountains. Some powerful water bandits have built docks in the river berths in the mountains. After snatching the merchant ship, they will drag them to the docks to unload the goods.

Every waterway entering and exiting is a secret. The river berth in the mountains is the base and is even more secret. Every water bandit will make an oath to not expose its location. If it is exposed, it is likely to usher in a catastrophe. It is said that the most powerful water bandit here has a treasure that can sign a magic contract with the water bandits to ensure that the location of the base will not be exposed.

After talking about the water bandits here, Jia Yi said to the captain: "Give me a small boat, I'll take a look nearby, and arrange a few warning arrays."

The captain said, "That's really great, I'll prepare you right away. But don't tell the crew members, so that they won't be lazy during the night."

"Okay, it's safer for someone to watch."

Soon, a small raft was placed on the boat. At this time, there was no such thing as a lifeboat on the boat, at least there was no such thing on the inland river.

Jiayi drove this small raft and came out about a hundred meters outside the boat. He took out a wooden board with a drawn warning array on it. This warning array is not as sensitive as Jiayi's indoors. Only large objects pass by will trigger it, so as not to be triggered by big fish or something in the river.

He took out a roll of rope, measured the water depth here first, pulled out the corresponding rope, then tied a stone on one end and a wooden board on the other end, and sank into the water. The board was submerged into the water, about one meter away from the water surface, so that it would be impossible to find it on the water surface.
Chapter completed!