After working in the fields all night, Lü Tu slept in late the next day and didn't get up until he naturally woke up, only to find that Song Yuxi and Nangong Huiyu were not at home.

As he stepped outside, he saw Ban Yingying and Jiang Wanyu chatting and laughing as they chopped firewood in the courtyard. Upon seeing Lu Tu, they quickly smiled and said, "Lord Lu, the porridge and pickled vegetables are keeping warm on the stove. I'll go get them for you right away!"

"This is troublesome."

Upon hearing Lu Tu's polite words, the two women were taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter, as if they found Lu Tu's polite words quite amusing.

After breakfast, Lü Tu went to the storeroom and found Song Yuxi writing something down. He came up behind her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. Song Yuxi turned around in surprise: "Who's there?"

After recognizing Lü Tu, she was relieved: "Husband, have you had breakfast?"

"I've already eaten. You should rest more now that you're pregnant. Why are you working again?"

Song Yuxi was overjoyed as Lü Tu massaged her shoulders and neck. In her mind, this was something that only women did for men, and she was deeply moved that Lü Tu would actually put aside his pride to help her.

"My husband brought back a lot of spoils yesterday, and I need to quickly put them into storage and record them, otherwise things might go wrong."

Lu Tu also knew that the number of people under his jurisdiction was increasing and the amount of supplies was also increasing, so keeping accounts was particularly important.

"Why don't you go and see if Ban Yingying and Jiang Wanyu have any talent for bookkeeping, and teach them?"

“Yingying is not good at it, but Jiang Wanyu is good at keeping accounts. I only told Jiang Wanyu how to write numbers that you taught me once, and she remembered it.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Tu raised an eyebrow: "It seems that this Miss Jiang has studied the management of the inner courtyard and has a foundation in this area."

"Yes, my lord. In that case, I will begin teaching her how to manage the accounts starting tomorrow."

"That's for the best. You can teach her gradually from now on, so you don't have to work so hard."

Song Yuxi gazed at Lü Tu with tender affection: "Thank you for your kindness, my lord. By the way, my lord, all the gold, silver and grain we brought back yesterday have been put into storage. What should we do with this flour?"

Lu Tu originally intended to reward the meritorious soldiers, but now that spring is approaching, the Wuhuan people will also begin to move around and settle down, making this the safest time.

With spring plowing just around the corner, it's the season for agricultural supplies. Lu Tu suggested, "Didn't Xiao Zhong come up with a daily model worker activity? Every day, select 10 role models from among the working people, and from now on, increase their reward to one jin of white flour every day!"

Song Yuxi's eyes lit up after hearing this: "This is a good idea! Everyone eats millet for a long time, so it would be most appropriate to use refined grains as rewards."

"Okay, then I'll have Xiao Zhong take care of it later."

After bidding farewell to Song Yuxi, Lü Tu rode his horse to the training ground. The thousands of refugees who had come to seek refuge a few days ago had already adapted to the way of working here after a few days of rest and were working in an orderly manner under Xiao Zhong's command.

Most of them were still cutting down trees in the distant forest, following an order from Lü Tu to ensure that all the refugees had houses to live in.

The makeshift wooden huts, though drafty from all sides, enhanced the refugees' sense of belonging. After all, while humans are social animals, they still need some privacy.

The previous migrants are a good example. After they had their own small wooden houses to live in, their sense of happiness increased rapidly and visibly. Many people began to regard this place as their second hometown.

A sense of belonging is what motivates them to build this place. Furthermore, even though they cut down timber to build their own huts, Lü Tu still provided them with food, which made them work even harder.

From afar, Lü Tu heard someone among the newly arrived refugees shouting, "Fellow villagers, let's roll up our sleeves and work harder! We can't let down the grain Lord Lü gave us!"

"That's right! We've passed through so many places before, who treated us like human beings? Only Lord Lü not only gave us a place to stand, but also paid us wages. We can't just sit here and do nothing!"

Lu Tu found it amusing; there were even people from Yizhou in the crowd. The accent was indeed familiar. In his previous life, he had a comrade-in-arms who was a minority from Yizhou, whose stamina was stronger than a mule.

Upon seeing Lü Tu arrive, the refugees immediately put down their work and knelt down before him, saying, "Greetings, Lord Lü."

Lu Tu raised his hand to signal them to stand up: "Everyone, stand up. I, Lu Tu, have the utmost respect for working people. As long as you work hard, I guarantee that I will treat everyone equally and will never discriminate against you!"

"Thank you, Lord Lü!" He then got up and continued working.

At this moment, Xiao Zhong came to Lü Tu's side and asked in a low voice, "Sir, what are your orders?"

After Lü Tu told him about the white powder, Xiao Zhong nodded: "Good idea, I will announce it to the public tomorrow."

How many cattle and sheep do we have now?

Xiao Zhong took out a booklet from his pocket, looked it over, and said, "Reporting to you, sir, there are a total of 35 cows, 420 sheep, and 52 warhorses."

If this were placed in the Wuhuan tribe, it wouldn't even be considered a drop in the ocean, but in a village in Wuchuan, it would be truly rare.

Cattle and horses have always been important sources of labor, both in the past and in the present.

Lu Tu nodded: "I brought back 100,000 catties of bran yesterday. We'll feed the cattle and horses better during this period. As for the sheep, we won't feed them bran."

"Is my lord about to begin cultivating the rice paddies?"

Lu Tu shook his head: "Our weather is cold here, and the time is different from that in the south. Let's cultivate more land and plant wheat first. We can plant rice seedlings when the weather gets warmer in a while."

"Yes, sir!"

Lu Tu didn't tell Xiao Zhong about the sweet potatoes, mainly because he was too lazy to explain them to him. After all, the matter was kept secret, and he didn't want to tell anyone except his two wives.

Looking at the bustling scene before him, Lü Tu was in high spirits, having now begun to establish a foothold in Wuchuan.

Next, we need to strengthen the border defenses. The damage caused by the Wuhuan night raid is still bleeding in Lu Tu's heart. That night, dozens of elite soldiers were killed or wounded, and those were all brothers who had always followed Lu Tu.

He found Hu Delu and was about to ask him about the caltrops when Hu Delu mysteriously pulled him into the house.

"Sir, come here, I'll show you a treasure!"

"Old Hu, don't be like that. Why are two grown men acting so mysteriously during the day?"

Upon entering the house, Hu Delu took out a long strip wrapped in burlap from the corner and slowly unwrapped it, revealing a long spear that shimmered with pale gold. This immediately illuminated the dimly lit room.

Hu Delu respectfully held it in his hands: "Sir, please accept this gun!"

Lu Tu took it; it was quite heavy. Moreover, Hu Delu had thoughtfully sprinkled many iron beads on the gun shaft to increase friction.

Holding the gun, Lü Tu walked to the open space outside the house, casually brandished it a couple of times, and then, with a clang, stuck it into the ground, standing proudly in place.

Hu Delu exclaimed loudly, "My lord, what a magnificent spear that never falls!"