The Street Cleansing Operation was aimed at maintaining internal stability, while the City Fortification Plan was an out-and-out defense against external harassment. However, Wu Lai knew very well that if the situation in Salt Marsh Town was to be completely reversed, both of these things had to be done well.

The street cleaning operation had initial results. Although some minor problems were exposed and had a significant impact on residents' lives, it was generally progressing smoothly.

It's time to start the fortification plan - Wu Lai is not in a hurry, but the situation forces him to do it. Think about it, there are bandits and other wolves around outside, and there are bandits' accomplices inside the town. How can we not be anxious?

"This is a big project." Wu Lai said to Guru who was helping to cut the paper while sketching the blueprint.

"I thought you didn't know." Guru said half-jokingly, but there was a hint of worry in his eyes.

Resisting bandits is a passive defensive job. If you want to keep the whole town safe, protective walls and elite soldiers are indispensable. But the current situation is that the protective walls are in tatters and the militia's combat effectiveness is low. Otherwise, how could the bandits repeatedly attack Yanmarsh Town and succeed.

Guru felt that it was almost impossible for Wu Lai to build a strong army and a fortified city to resist the bandits in a short period of time.

"Of course I know." Wu Lai didn't even raise his head. "I also know what you are thinking."

"Really? Tell me about it." Guru smiled slightly, but he already believed it 70% in his heart.

As Wulai continued to sketch, he replied, "You must be thinking that the walls of Saltmarsh Town are so shabby and the militias are so rubbish. No matter how capable Wulai Grindo is, he can't change all this in a short time. So, the Strong City Plan is a bit uncertain, Gulu, am I right?"

Guru shrugged. "Well, I have to admit that you guessed right."

"Guess? Do we really need to guess? There are thousands of people in Salt Marsh Town, and anyone who can still use their brains would probably have the same idea." Wu Lai smiled slightly, changed a piece of paper and continued sketching.

Gulu nodded slightly and asked, "On the way here, you said that if you want to prevent bandits, you need a strong city and elite soldiers, and if you want to take the initiative to attack, you need strong soldiers and horses. But we have seen these two days that the walls of Yanmarsh Town are dilapidated and in disrepair, with many gaps and gullies, and are almost useless. The decent stones within dozens of miles of Yanmarsh Town have long been mined out. Transporting stones from dozens of miles away is not only time-consuming and laborious, but also slows down the progress. In addition, those guys in the militia are probably better than even the ordinary guards, and most of them are afraid of death. With so many constraints, the plan to build a strong city is probably not easy, and..."

"And those guys in Lovington are waiting to laugh at me, and my nominal subordinates in Saltmarsh are waiting to throw cold water and knives at me, right?" Wu Lai took over the conversation with a smile.

Guru nodded seriously. What Wu Lai said was exactly what he was thinking.

"Just wait and see. They will be disappointed." Wu Lai picked up the finished drawing and handed it to Guru. "Here, take a look for me."

Guru took the blueprint and glanced at it, his brows suddenly relaxed...

The next morning, Lauren hurried out of the residence with a servant.

At the same time, Baker walked into Wu Lai's office with a smile on his face: "Master Wu Lai, you are looking for me?"

"Please sit down." Wu Lai smiled and pointed to the chair beside the table. "I have something to say."

"Just follow my orders, I will do my best for you, sir." Baker sat down with a smile. He was in a very good mood because in the past two days, he had found various ways to "squeeze" two hundred and forty gold coins out of the construction transfer of 8,500 gold coins and put them into his own pocket. In the past, he would have been worried for several days, but this time it was not the case, because the documents for "squeezing" the money had Wu Lai's signature and wax seal on them. Moreover, Baker also found that Wu Lai never paid attention to the details listed on the documents when signing, and he didn't even ask a symbolic question. He just picked up the quill pen and signed it quickly.

It seemed like this was a reminder to Baker - look, I'm taking care of you, you have to stand on my side.

Although there was still some hesitation, it had to be said that Baker's heart had slowly flown towards Wu Lai.

"I have a construction project here that requires about five thousand gold coins. The troublesome thing is that they cannot be taken out all at once, but have to be exchanged for silver coins, and a portion of them are spent every day. Moreover, you need to be on site during the construction period to distribute them, and you must never leave." Wu Lai said.

"All of these are fine." Baker nodded with a smile. "It sounds like your Excellency wants to hire workers, and a lot of them. If we distribute them on the spot, why not collect the taxes as well?"

Wu Lai hesitated for a moment and nodded: "Your idea is good, but the time is tight and the task is heavy. In order to encourage hiring workers, the tax rate may be lower."

"That's no problem." Baker was so happy. He could collect taxes on the spot and he could decide how much to collect. The salary of 5,000 gold coins could be increased at will, which would be a considerable income.

"Then hurry up and do it." Wu Lai nodded and waved his hand, "By the way, please call Henry over for me."

"Okay, then I'll take my leave." Baker nodded with a smile, then stood up and left.

A moment later, Henry hurried into Woolley's office.

After sitting down as instructed, Henry hesitated for a moment and asked Wu Lai, who seemed to be frowning in thought, "Master Wu Lai, may I ask what you want to talk to me about?"

"Of course there are." Wu Lai sighed heavily and asked, "Henry, you have been the tribune of Salt Marsh Town for some years. Tell me the truth, can the soldiers under your command resist even one attack by bandits?"

Henry hesitated, shook his head, and explained: "Lord Wu Lai, you know, I only have so many soldiers, and those bandits are not fools. If they don't have the advantage in numbers, they won't come."

"I want to repair the wall recently. I'm worried that the bandits will hear the news and destroy it, and your troops are not enough to resist." Wu Lai paused and continued, "So, I want you to go to Longvington City to get some reinforcements. As for the military expenses, in addition to the expenses of Salt Marsh Town, I will personally take out a sum as an additional reward. What do you think?"

"Lord Wu Lai, this..." Henry frowned and said, "I'm afraid it won't work. In the city-state of Lovington, the First Legion has never stationed troops in villages and towns. They have helped to suppress bandits, but the number of times was very limited. After all, no one knows where those bandits will hide. If you want to strengthen your defense, you might as well spend the money on repairing the walls, hiring civilians to serve as soldiers to protect the people, and purchasing weapons."

"What you said makes sense, but I still want to fight for it." Wu Lai said, "When I left Longvington, Governor George said that he would give me special care, and he also explained the matter of raising military funds and applying for reinforcements. At present, I must ensure the smooth completion of the defense project, so you have to take the trouble."

Seeing Wu Lai's firm attitude, Henry nodded readily and agreed. He patiently listened to Wu Lai's instructions, then took the travel fund withdrawal slip handed to him by Wu Lai and quickly left the office.

As he turned around and closed the door, a scornful smile appeared at the corner of Henry's mouth.

Humph, giving you special care? Of course it is special care, but it is not the kind you want. Henry said this to Wu Lai in his heart.

After withdrawing three gold coins as travel expenses from Baker, Henry walked straight out of the official residence. He was not in a hurry to leave, but went to Tours's mansion in the north of the town.

Normally, Tours, the salt official, should be staying in the salt field at this moment, but he didn't even go out today. He just drank and had fun with two beautiful maids. Anyway, no one would or dared to control him.

The first thing Henry said when he saw Tours was: "Tours, Woolleglindo wants to borrow troops from the city of Lovington."

"Oh?" Turles immediately became interested and quickly dismissed the two disheveled maids. "Tell me about it."

After Henry finished telling everything, Tours pondered for a moment, raised his eyebrows, and said with a smile: "I'll accompany you on this trip."

"You'll accompany me on this trip?" Henry was stunned. "Do you think the First Legion will be willing to station here?"

"Of course they won't be happy, but what if bandits suddenly attack when you, the tribune, leave Salt Marsh Town? Wouldn't it be dangerous for me to stay here?" Tours said with a smirk.

Henry was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter. If someone else had heard what Tours said, they might have been confused. But who was Henry? He had been the tribune of Salt Marsh Town for so many years, so how could he not hear the strangeness in his words? To put it bluntly, the two were birds of a feather, but they had never cooperated in this area before.

In the afternoon, Lauren hurried back to the official residence and knocked on the door of Woolley's office.

"Sir, Tribune Henry and the Salt Officer of Tours have left the town. They are probably five miles away by now." Lauren reported while wiping the sweat off his face.

"Did you see it clearly?" Wu Lai asked, his eyes lighting up.

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"I see it clearly." Lauren answered affirmatively.

"Okay." Wu Lai waved his hand, "Go find Master Guru for me, and then, beat the assembly drum."

"As you command, sir." Lauren bowed and quickly left the office...

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The drumbeats were neither fast nor slow, but the people who heard the drumbeats were somewhat anxious. They hurriedly closed their doors and rushed to the training ground of the militia in groups.

This kind of scene is quite common in the Assyrian territory. Whether there is an enemy attack or a gathering, using bells and drums to notify is always more time-saving and convenient than using manpower. The only difference is that villages and towns use drums, while cities use both drums and horns.

Drum rhythm is a compulsory course in the Assyrian territory, but it is not difficult to learn. A single, slow drum beat is a rally drum beat, and two rapid, consecutive drum beats are enemy attack drum beats.

There were more than 4,100 people in Salt Marsh Town. Except for those who stayed at the salt fields and guarded the homes of the nobles, the rest filled the entire training ground.

After the drumbeats ended, Wu Lai appeared with a smile on his face. This was the second time he appeared in front of so many people. The first time was naturally the time when he tortured the criminal to death.

Baker followed Wu Lai with a smile on his face, and Guru deliberately followed one step behind him.

When Wu Lai appeared, people started to make a commotion. Some cheered, some applauded. Most of those who applauded were those who had benefited from the street cleaning operation. Most of them just watched timidly. They were in awe of Wu Lai, and fear accounted for more than half of it, because the new young governor played a high-profile collective arrest as soon as he entered the town. In two days, he caught all the thieves and scoundrels that the militia had not been able to catch for decades. Then he whipped them all, making them cry for their parents. Then, he actually skinned the three murderers alive like fish fillets. How could anyone dare to act rashly in front of such a ferocious character? "Dear residents of Salt Marsh Town." Wu Lai waved his hand and raised his homemade loudspeaker, "I called everyone here today. I have three questions to ask!"

Three sentences to ask? What does it mean? Everyone is a little confused.

Baker was startled and couldn't help but glance at Guru. Seeing his calm face, his heart suddenly moved. Yes, with the friendship between this young master Guru of the Kochi family and Wuleglindo, he would naturally know in advance what Wuleglindo wanted to announce. It seems that he should get closer to Guru in the future both in public and in private.

"Sir, just ask whatever you want to ask! We're listening!" someone shouted.

Hearing the familiar voice, a smile appeared on Guru's lips. If he heard correctly, the person who called out should be Lauren.

"Okay!" Wu Lai raised his megaphone, "My first sentence is, do you want to make money?!"

"think!"

"Of course!"

“Who wouldn’t want to?”

There was a flurry of discussion, and no one wanted to make money. As they answered noisily, they secretly wondered if this Lord Wu Lai was going to arrest someone again.

"I can't hear you clearly! You should answer louder! Come, follow my gestures!" Wu Lai shouted, "After I shout out the question, raise my right arm, and you should shout out the answer loudly! Keep the answer simple, whether you want it or not, listen carefully! I will only repeat it once..."

"...Now, I'm going to start asking! You guys! Do you want to make money?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Lai raised his right arm high! "Think!" The three thousand people shouted in unison, shaking the sky like thunder.

"Second sentence! Do you want to defend your homeland?!" Wu Lai raised his right arm again.

"Think!" This time the thunder was even louder than before.

"Okay!" Wu Lai's emotions were also aroused. He shouted with almost all his strength, "Third sentence! Do you want Salt Marsh Town to return to prosperity?!"

"Think!!!" the people were almost roaring.

Guru, who was standing not far behind Wu Lai, suddenly felt his blood boiling. Not only him, but most of the people present had this feeling. It seemed that there was some kind of belief, following their loud answers...

Yes, who doesn’t want to make money? Who doesn’t want to protect their homeland? Who doesn’t want the place where they live to be prosperous…