"Come in." Wu Lai raised his voice and handed a draft to Guru. "Please tell the Construction Bureau to copy this poster as soon as possible."

As she was speaking, Nivea pushed the door open and walked in. She glanced at him with her beautiful eyes behind her veil, then stepped back to the door and waited.

Guru glanced at Nivea, took the draft and said goodbye. He knew that Wu Lai must have something important to discuss, and it was something that he should not interfere in. Otherwise, given the relationship between him and Wu Lai, he would definitely not signal him to leave.

After the door closed again, Nivea took off her veil. After not seeing her for some time, she looked much more haggard and tired.

After being stunned for a moment, Wu Lai smiled slightly and asked, "What's wrong? Have you been feeling unwell recently?"

Nivea shook her head and said, "Master Wu Lai, you don't know what has happened recently. Food is tight in the valley. Lunwenton has suddenly increased patrols on the horse trails. My people in Baiguo Town have not been able to get any work. I suspect that the news about Tulu has leaked out."

"You delivered the intelligence to Tulu in a timely manner. I am very satisfied." Wu Lai nodded. "The increase in patrols on the horse trail was decided by the city-state meeting. It was mainly because many merchants complained to the city-state meeting that you were too rampant. It was not aimed at you in Crow Valley. As for Baiguo Town, they must have received some news and restrained themselves."

"Accusation? Lord Wu Lai, did you mention clearing up these things in your meeting?" Nivea asked.

Woolley shook his head.

Nivea hesitated for a moment, then mustered up the courage to say, "I want to ask you a favor, sir."

"Borrow food?" Wu Lai raised his eyebrows.

"How do you know?" Nivea was so stunned that she even forgot to say the honorific title.

Wu Lai smiled bitterly and shook his head: "You have already laid the groundwork since you came here. I can figure it out with my toes. Let me tell you first, how much food do you plan to borrow?"

"Four hundred thousand shekels," Nivea blurted out.

Four hundred thousand shekels is equivalent to 25,000 kilograms, a number that was obviously beyond the range that Woolley could accept.

"Nivea, this of yours..." Wu Lai had just said halfway through his refusal when he smelled a familiar scent. Immediately, he frowned and stretched out his hand to Nivea, "Come here, come to me."

Nivea was stunned, and suddenly a thought flashed through her mind, Lord Wu Lai is not going to do anything to me? Although she thought so, Nivea walked to Wu Lai's side without hesitation. Not to mention that she came to borrow food, just for the fact that Bird was in Wu Lai's hands, she had to learn to obey Wu Lai's requirements. Of course, there was still a bottom line, that is, Wu Lai's requirements could not exceed her ability or make her extremely disgusted.

Now, Woolley seems to have made an ambiguous request.

Moreover, this request was within Nivea's capabilities. At the same time, Nivea was not averse to Wu Lai. Although Wu Lai had killed so many brothers in Crow Valley and imprisoned Bird to threaten him, overall, Wu Lai was still somewhat humane. Most importantly, whenever a smile appeared on Wu Lai's face, Nivea would always feel her heart softened instantly.

When Nivea stood beside him, Wu Lai squinted his eyes, sniffed lightly, stretched out his hand, and touched Nivea's belt...

"Lord Wu Lai..." Nivea's shyness just rose in her heart, and she was extremely surprised to see that Wu Lai's action was not to tease her, but to turn his wrist and gently take off the small waist bag on her belt.

Wu Lai opened the bag and sniffed it. He couldn't help sneezing and thought that the smell was really pungent. However, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Nivea, can you tell me what this is?"

"Lord Wu Lai, this is a wound medicine from Crow Valley." Nivea was surprised why she felt disappointed. Was it because Wu Lai didn't tease her? She really couldn't imagine it, so when she answered, there was a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"Medicine? Used for wounds?" Wu Lai frowned.

"Yes, after drying it, rub it into crumbs like this. It can stop bleeding directly, or you can chew it to relieve pain. The effect is quite good." Nivea replied.

"Did you grow this yourself or collect it?" Wu Lai asked again.

"We grew this ourselves, and we only started growing it seven years ago. As far as I know, it's only available in the Crow Valley and nowhere else." Nivea was very curious why Wu Lai was interested in this medicine. There was no shortage of good medicine in the Assyrian territory. The reason why this was grown in the Crow Valley was because it was quite effective, and secondly, it saved the money and trouble of buying medicine.

"How much did you plant?" Wu Lai's heartbeat quickened.

"It's not too much. We can collect enough to fill half of the warehouse in a year. We have a cave that is specially used to store medicine. I call it a warehouse. The warehouse can accommodate twenty or thirty people to sleep at the same time, but it is only two people high and it is quite dry. So, we use it to store medicine." Nivea answered while speaking and gesturing.

The yield is not low! Wu Lai was delighted again, but his face remained calm: "This medicine is good. I'll be frank with you. I'll get the food for you, but you have to give me the medicine."

"No problem, Lord Wu Lai, I can give you everything in the warehouse." Nivea smiled immediately.

"I don't just want what's in your warehouse." Wu Lai smiled. "As far as I know, there are quite a few old, weak, women and children in Crow Valley. In a few years, even if Lunvington still doesn't clear you out, your people may not be able to plunder anymore. So, I give you a suggestion. You should just quit and focus on growing this medicine for me in Crow Valley, and exchange it for food, cloth, wine and meat from me. If the cooperation goes smoothly, I can also give you some free people quotas so that you can live and work in Salt Marsh Town openly. How do you think?"

Nivea was stunned. If what Wu Lai said was true, the people of Crow Valley would not only be able to completely get rid of the life of living on the edge of a knife, but would also be able to obtain the status of free people. Wu Lai offered her such a huge benefit, but he only wanted her to lead everyone in growing medicine for wounds. This made Nivea suspect that she had heard it wrong.

"Lord Wu Lai, are you telling the truth?" Nivea couldn't help but ask.

"Of course it's true." Wu Lai replied, "But I have another condition. The planting technology and seeds of this wound medicine cannot be leaked. I want it to be mine alone. Is there a problem?"

"No problem!" Nivea nodded immediately, "But I want to talk to Bird about this and let him know about it."

"That's fine." Wu Lai nodded. "By the way, you came to me just for this matter?"

"Look at my memory. I was so happy that I almost forgot that the brother who came back from Baiguo Town got some news..." Nivea slapped her head and said.

After listening carefully, Wu Lai frowned...

After a while, Wu Lai called Lauren and asked him to take Nivea to see Bird. He hurriedly opened the drawer, took out a piece of thin paper and spread it on the table. Then, he took out a handful of medicine from the small waist bag left by Nivea and rubbed it carefully.

This kind of thing that can only be used as wound medicine at Nivea is the tobacco leaf that Wu Lai is very familiar with in his previous memory. In his previous memory, he had invested in two large tobacco leaf bases in Qiubei County and Yanshan County of Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province, and he was very familiar with the production and processing of tobacco leaves.

The most important thing is that in his previous memory, Wu Lai had a hobby of collecting and tasting cigars. Since coming to this world, he has been troubled more than once by the fact that there are no tobacco leaves here. This is why he is so impatient at this moment.

In the evening, when Guru followed El to the top floor of the Governor's Residence and found Wu Lai, he saw him smoking a cigarette with a comfortable look on his face, looking into the distance...

The next day, the representatives of the minor nobles came back to reply. Except for one family who chose to move to Lunvington, the rest accepted Wu Lai's compensation standard with only one condition, that is, after the shops in the town were built, each family would be given priority to buy at least two shops instead of renting them, so that they could become permanent assets of the family.

Wu Lai immediately nodded in agreement, because the conditions of the small nobles were not excessive at all, especially the purchase of shops. Wu Lai originally planned to sell them. The reason why he said it was a lease before was simply that the conditions were not yet mature.

The obstacles were gone, and Wu Lai immediately ordered people to post posters, which not only listed the compensation standards and conditions, but also stated the punishment measures - during the construction of the residential area in Yanhuan Town, no one may obstruct the demolition work in any form. Once violated, the town management will forcibly demolish the houses involved while recovering the compensation.

Everyone felt that the contents of the poster were justified, because all the conditions were announced in advance and accepted by everyone. If someone really dared to go back on their word, it would be only too normal to confiscate or forcibly demolish the property - if he dared to break his promise to the cruel and cold-blooded Lord Wu Lai, why would he need to discuss it with you before he destroys you?

Nivea only stayed in Salt Marsh Town for one night before rushing back to Crow Valley. Before leaving, Wu Lai had a detailed talk with her, dispelling some of her doubts. He also allowed her to take five carts of food with her - this was equivalent to Wu Lai's advance payment. Of course, this also strengthened Nivea's confidence in him.

It seemed that overnight, Yanhuan Town became bustling, because in addition to the Civil Protection Bureau and the Transportation and Health Bureau, the five bureaus of Environmental Resources, Construction, Commerce, and Culture were all recruiting people - not recruiting to work in the bureau, but setting up stalls and recruiting people for the various projects in Yanhuan Town, recruiting many, many people.

Woolley, Gulu, and Baker were also very busy. All the drawings, lists, and plans needed to be discussed and decided one by one. The details of each job had to be repeatedly scrutinized before they could be finalized. Meetings, especially consecutive meetings, had become the norm in the official residence of the Salt Marsh Town.

Four days later, Gulu left Saltmarsh Town for Lovington, taking the remaining Daishan boys with him. Woolley planned to let him stay in Lovington for a while - to attract business and recruit people to dig canals.

As soon as Guru left the town, the first batch of houses in Yanma Town began to be demolished. Wu Lai was personally in charge of the on-site command. He waved the red cloth flag in his hand, and hundreds of strong men rushed to the empty houses with battering rams and shouted in unison. With a series of rumbling sounds, smoke and dust rose into the sky and filled the air in an instant...

Seeing this situation, some of the onlookers shed tears. Although they had been looking forward to a better life in the future these days and knew that Wu Lai would not go back on his word, they could not help feeling reluctant when they saw with their own eyes the house where their family had lived for generations being demolished. However, this was just a small episode and did not cause any interference with the demolition.

It seems that it went relatively smoothly. Wu Lai thought to himself as he left the scene.

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

But Woolley soon realized he was wrong.

Just after noon the next day, Tours came back exhausted, accompanied by two others. One was named Ellett Benson, a minor nobleman from Lovington, about 40 years old, who came to replace the dismissed Sean as tribune. The other was named Bill Hill, formerly an ordinary officer of the Lovington garrison of the Second Legion, and now the tribune assigned by Lovington to Saltmarsh Town.

Although he was mentally prepared for the arrival of the new official, Wu Lai was still a little surprised because when Ilett walked into the office to report to him, the first thing he said was: "Master Wu Lai, I was arranged by Master Niels to come here to assist you."

Niels' arrangement has both advantages and disadvantages for Wu Lai. The advantage is that there is one less voice of opposition in the official residence. The disadvantage is that since the other party was arranged by Niels, it is inevitable that there are other intentions, such as supervision.

However, Wu Lai was relieved immediately. It didn't matter who came. It seemed that there were always enough people supervising him. Maybe there were even more hiding in the dark.

The meeting with Bill Hill was a little unpleasant. This guy in armor and with a serious face spoke a little aggressively: "Lord Wu Lei, when I entered the town, I heard that the militia was reorganized by you. I cannot accept your approach. I hope you can restore the militia in the shortest possible time, otherwise I can only use the power of the tribune and recruit on the spot."

Come prepared, Wu Lai frowned. According to Assyrian regulations, in wartime, the tribune has the right to recruit local men to serve as the militia, and considering the current situation of Salt Marsh Town, it is understandable if Bill insists that it is in a state of war, because everyone knows that there are bandits surrounding it.

"Okay, I approve your local conscription, but you cannot requisition construction population, and your conscription list must be decided by a meeting." Wu Lai agreed immediately.

"No problem. If Lord Wu Lai has no other instructions, I would like to go and rest first." After a pause, Bilton said, "I almost forgot that Lord Job asked me to tell you that he wishes you all the best."

So it was Job's man. Wu Lai thought to himself, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he nodded slightly and waved his hand, arrogantly indicating that Bill could leave.

Seeing Wu Lai's behavior, Bill frowned immediately, but after thinking about it, he didn't say anything else. Instead, he turned around and quickly left the office.

Arranged such a person to make me angry, Job, we will wait and see. Wu Lai glanced at the blue sky outside the window and said to himself.

There was more to be angry about - that night, Turles and Bill gathered those small noble families for a drink, and early the next morning, more than a dozen representatives of the small nobles ran to the governor's residence to find Wu Lai and said that they had decided not to move, and all the promises they had made to Wu Lai before would not count.

"Are you sure you have thought it through?" Wu Lai Ninja asked angrily. He has always been particularly disgusted with people who go back on their words, and the group of people in front of him are undoubtedly all of them.

"We've thought about it, Lord Wu Lai. There's so much space around Saltmarsh Town, you can just expand to the sides. Our houses won't be in the way anyway." A representative replied.

"Have you forgotten the content of the poster?" Wu Lai frowned.

The representatives were stunned. The man who had answered just now hesitated for a moment and replied: "Lord Wu Lai, the house is our private property. According to Assyrian law, no one can touch our house unless we agree or commit an unforgivable crime."

"Okay!" Wu Lai smiled coldly and said, "You can go now. Remember what you said today. Don't regret it in the future."

Seeing Wu Lai's frosty face, the representatives did not dare to stay any longer and immediately slipped away.

As soon as the representatives left, Bill pushed the door open and walked in, handing a few papers to Wu Lai: "Master Wu Lai, I need manpower and supplies, please take a look."

Wu Lai took it, looked at it carefully for a while, frowned, and asked, "Three hundred young men? Salt Marsh Town is undergoing a major construction, how can I possibly give you so many people? Also, Salt Marsh Town doesn't have the supplies you want in stock at all, and three hundred sets are too many. Even if I apply to Lunvington for you, it will never be approved."

"Lord Wu Lai, there are many bandits around Salt Marsh Town. If we don't make preparations early, what if the bandits attack us?" Bill also frowned and said.

"Then you can't be so excessive. Three hundred people? At the peak of its prosperity, Salt Marsh Town only had a militia of 220 people." Wu Lai put the papers on the table and said, "Take them back first. I'll consider it after reducing the number of people."

"The number of people cannot be reduced. If Lord Wu Lai has any opinion about me, he can directly apply to the Second Legion or Lord George to dismiss me." After Bill said this harshly, he ignored Wu Lai and slammed the door and left.

Wu Lai frowned, then slowly unfolded it.

So, this is what you were thinking... Wu Lai thought to himself.

After nightfall, Baker found Wu Lai with a worried look on his face and said, "Master Wu Lai, those citizens have threatened in the town that if anyone dares to touch their houses, they will fight him to the death. They have also organized their servants and slaves and armed them with weapons. Now that it is still dark, they have lit torches in every house and said that from now on, they will guard without rest for a moment and fight us."

"According to the plan, the first one of them will be demolished four days later, right?" asked Wu Lai.

Baker nodded quickly: "Master Wu Lai, you said that this matter has caused a lot of trouble. Now the town is talking about it. Many ignorant civilians are also following suit and saying that they will not demolish it unless you pay more money."

"You won't demolish it if you don't pay more?" Wu Lai smiled coldly and asked, "Baker, remember what I told you? The part about town management."

Baker recalled and nodded: "Master Wu Lai, I remember you said that if one hundred town guards are used well, they can be worth ten, which is equivalent to a force of ten thousand people."

"Now, it's time for your 10,000-man army to take action!"