Wu Lai woke up quickly - he woke up just as Sareth finished cleaning his wounds.

Seeing that he had opened his eyes, Sareth smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying: "Lord Wulai, your will is so strong that it shocks me. Otherwise, how could you have held on for so long with such a serious injury?"

"Am I seriously injured?" A smile appeared on Wu Lai's face, which had turned pale due to fatigue and pain.

"Of course, you were shot in the chest. Although the wound is shallow, the tip of the arrow should have cracked your sternum, otherwise it wouldn't have caused you so much trouble." Sareth said as he prepared bandages. "El said that the arrow that shot you was originally aimed at her. I don't quite understand. Do you... like her very much?"

It was normal for Sares to find it difficult to understand. The difference in status between Wu Lai and El was a huge chasm - if Wu Lai favored El, it would definitely be considered condescension.

But despite such a huge gap, Wu Lai actually risked his own life to protect her. There seems to be a lot to appreciate here.

"It was just a subconscious action. If it was you instead of El, I would have done the same." Wu Lai replied. His affection and liking for El did not go beyond the scope of master and servant. In other words, since he came to this world, he had only been interested in Tina and Helen. But now Tina has become a thing of the past. Ever since he learned that Tina was instigated by Lady Leah to socialize with the deputy general of the Seneca garrison, Wu Lai chose to distance himself from Tina.

For some reason, when Sarres heard Wu Lai's answer, he was stunned, and a blush appeared on his cheeks. "Well, what you do is always unexpected. I will bandage you first. The wound does not bleed too much, but the fracture is not so easy to heal, so you should stay in bed and rest for a while."

"That won't do." Wu Lai shook his head slightly. "At most I can just exercise less. There are so many things going on in this town. I can't afford to be so squeamish."

"Raise your arm." Sareth said as he bandaged Wu Lei. "You can let others take care of the affairs of Salt Marsh Town. As the governor, you don't have to do everything yourself. You just need to keep abreast of the progress."

Wu Lai nodded: "I will seriously consider your opinion."

"I hope so." Sales said with a smile. Although he had only known Wu Lai for two days, he had a certain degree of understanding of Wu Lai's character. He knew that it would be abnormal for this guy to stay in bed obediently.

Sure enough, after the bandage was completed, Wu Lai took a short nap and then got up. After trying to stretch, he found that the injury did not have much impact on his body, so he went out for a walk regardless of El's dissuasion. El was so anxious that he hurriedly asked Marlon to accompany Wu Lai, and he went to find Pompey and Sales.

Because El knew that the only people in Salt Marsh Town who could stop Wu Lai from being "so stupid" were probably these two.

Wu Lai walked slowly, and Ma Long, wearing armor and holding a sword, followed him two steps to his right. There were not many people passing by on this road outside the official residence. The vacant land in the east of the town that had just been demolished was busy with slaughtering horses and dividing the meat. Most of the townspeople went there to join in the fun, so the street became empty.

"Marlon, have the three brothers who died been settled?" Wu Lai asked.

Ma Long's heart was shocked, because Wu Lai's name was "brother". This name made him dazed for a moment, and he quickly replied: "They have been arranged. The other brothers in the guard buried them in the public donation area outside the town that you designated, and even put up a sign."

Wu Lai nodded: "That puts my mind at ease, Malone. I will give them the glory they deserve."

"Master..." Ma Long suddenly choked up.

Wu Lai sighed silently. He certainly knew how deep the relationship between Malone and the members of the guard was, but there would be casualties in a war.

"Let's go and take a look at the east end of the town." Wu Lai gently pressed the bandage on the wound, smiled slightly, and said.

"Yes, Master." Malone quickly wiped his tears and nodded. In fact, he no longer needed to call Wu Lai Master, because Wu Lai had given him freedom when he was in Seneca. He also tried to call Wu Lai "Master" like everyone else, but at this moment Malone felt that no other title could better show his respect for Wu Lai than "Master".

The open space in the east of the town was already crowded with people, but with Baker and his 100 town guards there, everything was in good order.

Baker, with his head still wrapped in thick bandages, sat on a high platform, guarded by four of the town's trusted associates. His eyes were half-closed and half-open, as if he was smiling, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking about.

Twelve large pots had been set up in front of the platform. The firewood under the pots was crackling, and flames kept rising up to lick the black bottom of the pots. The soup in each pot was boiling, and fist-sized pieces of horse meat were rolling in the soup, making the whole open space filled with a faint meaty aroma...

At the right end of the open space is the place where horses are slaughtered. At this moment, there are fifty or sixty young men busy there. After they lead the horses to be slaughtered to the temporary wooden stakes and tie them up, they will cover the horses' eyes with a very dirty cloth, and then, a machete will directly cut off the horses' necks...

Skinning, cutting the meat, and then throwing the bloody meat into the basket, and then using a cart to transport the full basket to the big pot - their task is to repeat this over and over again. Of course, not all horses need to be slaughtered. After all, the meat of dead horses also needs to be cooked and distributed in one go.

There was a long queue in front of each big pot. The townspeople, young and old, were all holding bowls or baskets, waiting happily - this was the first time in the history of Salt Marsh Town that meat was distributed.

Due to the long period of decline after its prosperity, and the fact that the land in this area is barren and vegetation is rare, meat has always been in short supply in Saltmarsh Town, and it basically relies on supplies from other towns. The small nobles are not so lucky, because the better land around them is theirs, so they can still raise a small amount of meat. In addition, they can get some income from the salt fields every year, so they send people and cars to other villages and towns or even the city of Lunvington to purchase a batch every once in a while, so there is naturally no shortage of meat.

But ordinary townspeople do not have these conditions, so meat is rarely seen on the table. Even if there is meat, it is very little, purely to satisfy cravings, and it is difficult to have a full meal.

But today was different. With a wave of his hand, Wu Lai turned a total of 156 injured and dead horses into meals for the townspeople. After skinning and deboning, each horse still had an average of about 400 kilograms of meat. Fifty to sixty thousand kilograms of meat would be distributed per person. Just thinking about it was exciting.

Even though Baker was sitting on the podium with an arrogant look on his face, he was keeping an eye on all directions and keeping an eye on all sides. As soon as Wu Lai and Malone turned the corner and reached the end of the open space, Baker stood up and went to greet them.

"Lord Wu Lai, why are you here? You have been injured and tired for the safety of Salt Marsh Town. You should at least take a rest now. Otherwise, the townspeople and I will be worried." Baker bent his waist, not caring that he was over fifty years old and there was a thirty-year age gap between him and Wu Lai. He stretched out his hand and actually supported Wu Lai's arm.

Wu Lai smiled slightly and let him hold his arm. Although Baker's flattery was a bit excessive, Wu Lai was very satisfied with his performance in recent times, so he did not mind Baker's flattery. At the same time, he also knew that Baker was pretending to be in front of the townspeople to consolidate his prestige as the civilian tribune - look, I am so close to Lord Wu Lai...

"Lord Wu Lai, I have taken the initiative to select twenty horses to be slaughtered and have not moved them. I plan to use six of them as rewards for the militia, four as rewards for the town management, and the remaining ten are for you to reward these brothers. Oh, and El, she is also participating in the defense." Baker lowered his voice and pointed at Malone, giving him a smiling face. Baker, who is good at socializing, certainly knows that making friends with Wu Lai is not as simple as just getting close to Wu Lai alone.

"You've been very thoughtful. I agree with your approach." Wu Lai nodded. "Also, we must reorganize the household registration when the meat is distributed. Do you understand?"

"Don't worry, Lord Wu Lai. I have arranged everything according to your instructions. There are two servants waiting next to each big pot. They will register each person. The gender, age, name and each family are all remembered. After the meat is divided, I will ask the servants to work late into the night and try to make a new household registration book for you tomorrow." Baker said.

Wu Lai smiled and nodded again. Although Baker had many problems, his execution ability was really good.

After chatting for a few more words, Wu Lai gave up the idea of ​​going to the meat pot to take a look, because it would be suspected of disturbing others. Before leaving, Wu Lai threw a word to Baker: "Ask the idle duty staff to inform everyone that there will be a meeting tonight."

Another meeting? Baker was startled, thinking to himself, Master Wu Lai, you are addicted to meetings.

After dinner, the courtyard of the governor's residence was filled with people again - in addition to officials and servants, there were also minor nobles and six town representatives attending the meeting.

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This was the first meeting attended by town representatives. These six representatives were civilians appointed by Wu Lai and invited by Lauren. They were all respected elders with a good reputation in Salt Marsh Town. However, at this moment they were as restrained and uneasy as children meeting strangers, because these six people were almost at the end of their lives, and this was the first time they sat together with so many officials and nobles.

The layout of the venue was the same as usual. There was a set of desks and chairs in the front serving as a podium. Facing the podium were several rows of chairs. Officials sat in the first row, petty nobles sat in the second row, and servants and town representatives sat in the third, fourth, and fifth rows. Together with the guards and gatekeepers around, the yard was basically full.

To Baker's surprise, Tours also came to participate.

Sarres's healing medicine was very effective. When Wu Lai walked to the podium and sat down, his complexion was much better than in the afternoon.

After glancing at everyone, Wu Lai spoke up: "Today's impromptu meeting is mainly to arrange some things that need to be done next. In addition, there is one thing I want to discuss with everyone."

Discuss? Baker's mind became active, thinking that it was not to discuss Bill's position as tribune, so why not just adjust it to me, Lord Woolley? Discuss? Woolley Grindo, what are you trying to do? Tulsi frowned. If he hadn't known that Bill was captured and was worried about what might happen, he wouldn't have come here to join in the fun.

"First, let me talk about the disposal of the bandit corpses. Given the current weather, these 300-plus corpses will soon rot, so between tonight and tomorrow morning, we must cremate all of them and bury the bones at a chosen location. Otherwise, it's hard to say that we won't cause an epidemic." Wu Lai knocked on the table as a reminder. "We have learned from past experience. This matter is the collective responsibility of all the service personnel in the bureaus, and it must be completed before tomorrow morning."

"The second thing is, judging from the defensive situation this time, our defense reserves are still somewhat insufficient, especially the lack of protection for the quarrying team and the water transport team. Therefore, we must hurry up to select and train new personnel. We can't let the town managers do these things, right? Baker, you are responsible for this matter."

"Third, there are still five months from now until the end of the year. During these five months, I plan to organize all the townspeople to participate in military training in batches. Elite, you are responsible for this."

"The fourth thing is the construction of the temple. In a few days, the construction workers recruited by Guru from Lunwenton should arrive. All the drawings are ready. So, Priest Pompeii, I will trouble you with this matter. Is that okay?"

"No problem. It's my honor to share Lord Wu Lai's worries." Pompey nodded with a smile.

"I hope everyone will do their job well. If you have any difficulties, please tell me in time and I will definitely find a way to solve them." After Wu Lai finished speaking, he glanced at Turles and said with a smile, "Although the production of the salt field is not under the jurisdiction of the town, I still hope that the Turles salt production officer can overcome the existing difficulties and try not to let the production decline. You should know that I have a copy in your hands now."

"I'll try my best." After Tours forced out a slightly awkward smile, he immediately felt annoyed and thought to himself, how could I agree with Wuleglin to talk more? Yes, that's right, now you have a share in the output of the salt field, but can you decide how much?

"Okay, now let's talk about what we are discussing. In today's defensive battle, Tribune Bill..." After Wu Lai briefly talked about Bill's collusion with the bandits, he continued, "This matter is of great importance. I have thought about it and I think it is not appropriate for Bill to be tried in Salt Marsh Town, so I plan to hand him over, but I can't make up my mind. Should I hand him over to Lunvington or escort him directly to Assyria? In theory, handing him over to Lunvington is the first choice, but I am worried that someone will protect Bill and help him get away with it. If I send him to Assyria, the journey is too long. What if something goes wrong along the way..."

"Lord Wu Lai, why don't we just interrogate him in Salt Marsh Town first." Baker had no good impression of Bill at all. When he heard that Bill was a traitor and let the wolf into the house, how could he be polite?

"No, let me be frank. Bill is a nobody, and I don't want to get involved in this." Wu Lai spread his hands, "So, I want to hear everyone's opinions."

"Lord Wu Lai, I suggest that he be escorted to the city of Assyria. This Bill was originally appointed by Lunvington. If he is sent back to Lunvington, I'm afraid he will end up in trouble." Pompey said.

"Lord Wu Lai, my idea is the same as that of the Pompeii priest." Sares said with a smile.

Tours' heart suddenly sank...