Chapter 211: Freeloader
No matter what, let’s give it a try!
What's more, she has Lingquan, a super thick golden finger. Lingquan should be helpful in growing kelp!
Jiang Tangtang calmed down and looked at the kelp that the fishermen picked from the sea.
The roots of the kelp were well preserved, and the entire plant was submerged in the sea, indicating excellent quality. Jiang Tangtang had someone bring the hemp rope she had prepared earlier, and she clamped the roots to the rope, letting the kelp leaves float in the sea.
"Is that all?" The fishermen couldn't help but ask as they watched Jiang Tangtang's actions.
"Let's try it first!" Jiang Tangtang looked at the surrounding environment again.
There were plenty of seaweed reefs where the kelp grew, so if kelp seedlings grew, they would have places to take root. She didn't have to do anything else.
It’s just that she initially wanted to use the spiritual spring as a golden finger, but such a vast sea area seemed not suitable for using the spiritual spring.
She thought about it, took some kelp, put it in a wooden barrel, and asked someone to send it to her residence.
After returning home, Jiang Tangtang locked herself in the space and started working.
She found a vacant lot, dug a pond, put reefs and other things in it, and then poured half sea water and half spiritual spring water into it. She then put the picked kelp into the water.
Thus, a rough kelp breeding ground was built.
After finishing it, Jiang Tangtang didn't bother to worry about it anymore and turned to do other things. The island was like a newly established small country, with too many things to do.
The issue of strengthening the military fortress here has not been decided yet, and new things have come up.
Jiang Tangtang is so busy that she has no time to rest.
However, this kind of busyness makes Jiang Tangtang feel fulfilled, especially when she sees the island changing day by day according to her plan, she feels a special sense of accomplishment.
In the end, Jiang Tangtang did not use the captives who were good at construction, but went back to Yazhou to find people who were good at construction.
One of them originally worked in the Ministry of Works. Later, because he was inflexible and unwilling to go along with his colleagues, he was framed by his colleagues and exiled to Lingnan.
After Jiang Tangtang looked at the drawings he drew and the suggestions he annotated on strengthening the fortress, he felt that this person was very talented and could be given an important position.
Therefore, the task of strengthening the fortress was handed over to him, and he was given full responsibility.
Fu Jingchu was a bit dull, but he had a genuine passion for construction. Seeing Jiang Tangtang's trust in him and giving him full responsibility for the fortress's reinforcement, he felt deeply valued and grateful.
He was not good at speaking and could not say anything nice. He just knelt on the ground, kowtowed heavily to Jiang Tangtang several times, and then went out with the blueprint to arrange the matters of reinforcing the fortress.
At this point, Jiang Tangtang could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
And this year is drawing to a close.
With the Lunar New Year just around the corner, Su couldn't help but gaze into the distance. Jiang Tangtang knew she was waiting to see if her two sons would return for the New Year.
However, this year, I’m afraid it will be difficult for the family to reunite.
Some time ago, Wei Haohan used some means to damage the reputation of the Lu family. After being caught by Lu Shiyan, Wei Haohan's reputation among the people plummeted.
Although he later followed the advice of his staff and tried to make amends, his reputation was ruined and could not be repaired by just one or two actions.
Wei Haohan was extremely angry.
The failure of this plan made several of his subsequent plans useless.
Because if anything happens that is unfavorable to Lu Shiyan again, the first thing people will think of is whether it is like last time, that someone has plotted to harm Lu Shiyan on purpose.
Seeing that Lu Shiyan's reputation among the people was growing, the power of Yazhou was also taken into his hands, and there was a trend of further expansion.
He was extremely anxious.
At this time, even if he didn't want to admit it, he had to admit that the expeditionary force he sent out was probably gone.
Otherwise, there wouldn't have been no news for so long.
After Wei Haohan pondered over it, he simply contacted the Xiao family and several other families who held military power, and decided to confront Lu Shiyan head-on while the military strength he had was not as strong as theirs.
The secret contact between Wei Haohan and several other families had already been reported to Lu Shiyan by spies.
Knowing that the other party would take action soon, Lu Shiyan also strengthened his deployment.
The situation in Lingnan was tense and a war was imminent, and the situation elsewhere in the Great Zhou was not much better.
The Western Rong people have always been eyeing the Great Zhou covetously. In the past, with the Lu family stationed at the border, they were able to suppress them.
The Lu family was exiled, a new general came to power, and the ambitions of the Western Rong people were no longer suppressed.
As a nomadic people, the Xirong people were already short of food and water in winter, and they could not endure the extremely cold weather this year. In addition, they had already prepared to attack the Great Zhou, so on a night when their breath turned into ice, they suddenly attacked the surrounding defenses of the Great Zhou.
The newly appointed general was the brother of the imperial concubine. He had never expected that the Western Rong people, who had been obedient for many years, would attack the Great Zhou on such a cold night. He was in a panic to deal with it and lost the city in the first battle.
Besides the Western Rong, there were many small states on the border that also envied the vast land of the Great Zhou. However, these small states were not as powerful as the Western Rong, so they all hid in the background and watched.
After seeing the victory of the Western Rong, they felt that there was an opportunity and sent troops as well, hoping to get a share of the spoils.
For a time, the border defense of the Great Zhou became like a big sieve, with air leaking everywhere.
This winter is already extremely cold, and there are wars everywhere. In the end, the people at the bottom are the ones who suffer.
The Great Zhou court has never cared about the lives of ordinary people, and has not provided any assistance to those who have suffered from war.
The common people were really desperate, but later they somehow heard the rumor that the Lu family was kind and helped refugees, and finally they flocked to Lingnan.
Lu Shiyan was busy organizing his troops to deal with the attack from the Wei family, but he suddenly heard from his subordinates that a large number of refugees came to seek asylum.
"Sir, the origin of these refugees is probably not simple." Zhou Lei said, "Why did they come at this time instead of earlier? It seems to me that someone deliberately lured them here."
It's obvious who this person is.
Who else could it be except Wei Haohan, who has been making small moves recently and trying to deal with them.
Deliberately bringing in refugees is nothing more than making him lose his composure.
If he didn't accept so many refugees, his newly established good reputation would be ruined immediately.
If we accept them, it will inevitably take a lot of manpower and military resources to settle these refugees.
This naturally consumed Lu Shiyan's financial resources and energy.
Even without his subordinates telling him, Lu Shiyan could figure out the calculations. But instead of feeling worried, he actually smiled.
Zhou Lei was confused, "Sir, is this good news?" How could he still laugh at this time?
"It depends on how you think about it." Lu Shiyan stopped laughing and said, "Let everyone in and have them set up a porridge stall to distribute porridge. Also, set up a separate shed nearby for recruiting soldiers. Clearly explain the recruitment requirements, the salary for those selected, and the pension for those who die. Send the recruited soldiers to the new recruit camp for training."
Lu Shiyan was very generous to his soldiers.
The monthly salary of a private first class was 1,300 wen, that of a middle class private first class was 800 wen, and that of a private first class was 400 wen.
In addition to receiving monthly salaries, the soldiers' food and clothing are all provided by the barracks.
Moreover, when a soldier first joins the army, his family will be given an extra coin as a subsidy for the soldier's enlistment.
Soldiers will receive additional rewards after winning a battle. If they are unlucky and die during the battle, they will also receive a considerable amount of pension.
And unlike other military camps, they never delay paying the soldiers' wages.
This was also one of the reasons why he was able to quickly subdue the remaining soldiers after General Song's death.
Wei Haohan only saw the troubles that the refugees brought him, but failed to see the opportunities therein.
Of course, he dared to do this because Jiang Tangtang gave him the confidence.
If Jiang Tangtang had not obtained so much food and gold and silver, he would not have dared to give the soldiers such a generous monthly salary, let alone guarantee that he would never delay the payment of military pay.
They didn't dare take in so many refugees.
After all, in addition to some strong men who could be selected to serve as soldiers, there were also many old, weak, women and children.
The food and drink expenses for these people are not a small amount.
The more Lu Shiyan thought about it, the more guilty he felt. He felt like the shameless gigolo in the opera.
Zhou Lei didn't know what he was really thinking at the moment, he just felt very impressed. What a brilliant mind he had!
It was clearly a big trouble, but after he did it, it immediately became an opportunity to expand the military force.
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