Water is the top priority of people's livelihood, it is even more important than food. If Yanhuan Town is short of food, they can exchange salt for money to buy more, but water cannot be bought just because they want to.

For a long time, water for the salt fields and the townspeople had to be transported from mountain streams and rivers dozens of miles away. A round trip often took a whole day, leaving people tired and horses exhausted, but the water had to be used sparingly and given priority to the salt fields.

The town had dug wells, but they produced brine instead of clean water, so the townspeople filled them up again. Some wells were not filled up, but they were all in the mansions of minor nobles, so their usefulness was self-evident.

Overall, water shortages have plagued the town of Salt Marsh for too long.

Fortunately, this problem will soon become history that will not be repeated——

If dry canal defense is a feature of Salt Marsh Town, then the pipeline system can also be considered one. However, this pipeline system was not invented by Wu Lai. For example, when Assyria was first built, a complex but functional pipeline system was pre-set to divert water, drain sewage, and connect fountains. That is why Assyria has so many beautiful fountains and the sound of pure water flowing throughout the city.

But to be more precise, the pipeline system of Assyria is very different from that of Wulai, because Assyria's water diversion and sewage system mostly uses open and hidden canals, while Wulai uses almost all pipes.

These pipes are made of copper, stone, and even wood, such as the main pipe that delivers water to Salt Marsh Town...

Before the water flowed into the Aowa natural reservoir, a large diversion pool had been built on the side facing Yanmarsh Town. It was slightly lower than the reservoir and connected to the reservoir by four small ditches. Each small ditch had an adjusting screen to control the water level in the diversion pool.

The vertical height difference between the diversion pool and Salt Marsh Town is nearly one hundred cubits, which is enough to generate the water pressure required by Woolley and realize his vision.

Two days later, Pompeii saw the first flow of water into the canal as he wished, but it was very different from what he had imagined. First of all, the sound was a little weaker, and the height of the water flow was less than 20% of that of the ditch. Secondly, the water was quite turbid, obviously mixed with mud and sand, and fallen leaves and dead grass could be seen rolling in it.

"Lord Wu Lai, how could this happen?" Pompey couldn't help but ask.

"It's always like this at the beginning. Wait a little longer. Come, have a drink." Wu Lai took out a small silver wine jug and handed it to Pompey. This wine vessel and the wine inside were both sent by Wright. They were both fine wine and beautiful utensils.

Pompey took it with a smile and took a sip...

Twelve days later, the reservoir was full, the diversion tank was full, and most importantly, the pipes in the town were all ready. Of course, the water in the canal and the reservoir were clear at this time, which was definitely not what Pompeii saw at the beginning.

Wu Lai held a simple water diversion ceremony with great interest. During the ceremony, all the people in the town stopped what they were doing and stood by various water outlets, waiting with great excitement.

Wu Lai led a group of officials to the fountain of the temple. Following them were the 120 people from the Civilian Assembly, more than 70 foreign merchants who were invited to watch the ceremony, and more than a dozen teachers from the Salt Marsh Town School.

A podium had already been set up in front of the fountain. After exchanging a few polite words with everyone with a smile, Wu Lai stood behind the podium.

"It's an honor to witness this historic moment with you all." Wu Lei said with a smile, "For a long time, water use has been a problem for Salt Marsh Town, but from today on, it will only be a memory."

"The completion of the Yanma Town water diversion project is the result of the great help of knowledgeable people and the concerted efforts of all the residents of the town. Throughout the construction process, the glory of the god Amon was shining, which made the project so smooth..."

"...Saltmarsh Town, with sufficient water, is a new Saltmarsh Town. It is a Saltmarsh Town that will be forever bathed in the grace of the god Amon. It is a Saltmarsh Town that will achieve high prosperity and wealth for everyone at the fastest speed..."

"Now, I declare! There is water in Salt Marsh Town!" Wu Lai waved his hand down fiercely. At the same time, two signalmen dozens of steps ahead of him raised a large red flag together...

"Hurry! Lord Wu Lai has given the signal! Open the sluice gate! Open the sluice gate!" Next to the diversion pool, the new reservoir manager put down the telescope in his hand, turned around and shouted loudly to his six men.

"Ga ga ga ga" - two steering wheels as high as a person were slowly turned, and the sluice gates were slowly opened. The water that had been accumulating for a long time suddenly found an outlet and gushed out immediately...

The clear water ran happily in the pipes, and each time it ran a distance, it would inevitably split, from four streams to eight streams, eight streams to sixteen streams, sixteen streams to thirty-two streams...

When the water flow increased from 64 to 128, the whole Salt Marsh Town seemed to hear the song of the water flow...

"Oh my god! The water is coming!" Clear water gushed out from the stone trough at the public water intake...

"There's water! There's water! We have water!" People around the flower bed jumped and cheered...

When the dense water flow of the fountain rose up, Pompey, who was so excited that he could not control himself, hugged Wu Lei and said, "Water is coming out, water is coming out!"

Wu Lai couldn't help but roll his eyes at him: "Oh my god, you are so dirty."

With water, the water transport team is no longer needed. A small number of them went to the reservoir area to build simple dormitories, because the reservoir management team had no place to live. The rest got a new job - patrolling the ditches on horseback every day and taking on the task of ditch maintenance. This is undoubtedly a very pleasant job.

With water, the salt field naturally needs to be taken care of, but the pipeline leading to the salt field is still being laid. According to the current speed, in another ten to twenty days, the newly built reservoir in the salt field will be filled with water. However, this does not mean that the pipeline laying team will have no work to do. They have to continue moving forward and lay the pipeline to the location of Wu Lai Salt Factory.

With water, the trees and grass in the town will be greener, and the flowers will bloom more brightly, until everyone's face is filled with smiles.

With water, there are public bathrooms, public toilets, fresh air and a pleasant mood...

Guru was very busy. Every day, local residents and foreign merchants would come to inquire about or handle matters related to renting shops. He needed to negotiate with them until the terms were agreed upon and both parties were satisfied...

Baker was also busy. Municipal work was complicated and trivial. Streets, water supply, drainage, garbage, sanitation, transportation, public buildings, markets, and entertainment were all under his jurisdiction. Fortunately, he had a civilian alderman, Erescott, to help him. The two of them divided the work and cooperated with each other, and they were busy and efficient.

Elite was also busy. Although the public security in Salt Marsh Town was well maintained by the town management and there were no difficult disputes or lawsuits for the time being, he needed to compile a special law applicable to Salt Marsh Town based on the information provided by Woolley. Therefore, apart from meetings, few people saw him show up.

The school has not started yet, but it will soon. Before the formal opening of the school, the teachers in the school need to compile the textbooks according to Wu Lai's intention. Wu Lai said, "The textbooks should reflect the diversity of the course content, and the project content should be built into three learning levels - understanding, knowing, and being able to learn."

Wu Lai also explained what it means to understand, know how, and be able to: "To understand is to know how to play, to know is to master the knowledge, skills, and rules, and to be able to is to exercise and improve one's athletic ability."

In view of this, the school teachers decided to start with four subjects, the first was writing, the second was arithmetic, the third was physical education, and the fourth was painting.

Woolley was pleased with this.

Everyone was busy, even El rarely stayed with Woolley. The dance hall had already opened, and it was more appropriate for her, the proprietress, to stay there and look after it.

While everyone was busy, Wu Lai became idle instead. This was inevitable. Everything in Salt Marsh Town was in good order, officials and staff were doing their duties conscientiously, and he had no other plans for the time being, so he simply prepared to take a vacation.

The vacation will naturally not be in Saltmarsh Town, and certainly not in Lovington, but in Assyria. If there is enough time, it is not impossible to return to Seneca.

After careful consideration, Wu Lai decided to give himself a one-month vacation. Of course, no one would object to this. He was the number one person in Salt Marsh Town and he could decide how long and when to take the vacation.

The afternoon before leaving, Wu Lai held another meeting.

"Everyone, I will start my vacation tomorrow, which is tentatively set at one month. According to the rhythm, when I come back, you will all be working in the new official residence building, and I will be allocated my first house in Salt Marsh Town." Wu Lai said with a smile. It is definitely an unconventional move for the consul not to live in the official residence, but this is also something Wu Lai did deliberately. Since he is going to promote public ownership in Salt Marsh Town, then he, as the first person, naturally has to lead by example.

Guru had some thoughts about Wu Lai's behavior. He once said to Wu Lai: "It's okay for you to live in a private house instead of an official residence, but why do you have to accept housing allocation like ordinary people? Besides, isn't that kind of house a little too small for you?"

Guru was right. The houses distributed uniformly in Salt Marsh Town were not very spacious, but this was relative to the nobles. In fact, there were two types of houses in each block. One was a large suite that could accommodate a family of eight, and the other was a single apartment that was half the size, but was more than enough for three or four people.

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Wu Lai signed up for this kind of single apartment, so how could Guru accept it? In the end, Wu Lai did not listen to Guru.

"During the time I'm away from town, I hope you can all work together to carry out the various plans smoothly. Of course, I will also bring you gifts." Wu Lai said with a smile, and the audience immediately burst into cheerful laughter.

"Okay, my business is not the main topic. Now, let's listen to the quarterly reports from Mayor Baker and Treasurer Gulu." After saying this, Woolley left the podium and walked back to his seat.

After some refusing, Baker "reluctantly" spoke before Guru. Working harder and harder under Woolley, he showed off his eloquence and turned a municipal report that should have been rigorous and rigid into an ode to Woolley, which made Woolley smile bitterly. If this guy had not forgotten to speak with facts when flattering him, he might have been really angry.

Guru's report was undoubtedly much simpler and more direct, which was very much to everyone's liking. It made things clear without wasting time.

"This quarter, the public warehouse's income and expenditure were handed over by the wood collection team..."

"This quarter, the military expenditure part, armor manufacturing..."

"This quarter, in the public utility expenditure section, pipeline manufacturing costs..."

"This quarter, tax revenues..."

After listening, Wu Lai frowned slightly. Although Salt Marsh Town has an encouraging upward momentum, it has always been in a state of deficit. Firstly, the business activity has not reached the expected level, and secondly, the infrastructure of Salt Marsh Town has not been fully built, so it is not advisable to do things like promoting its influence.

"Now, please welcome our Lord Archon Wu Lai." Guru clapped his hands with a smile. It was natural for Wu Lai to summarize and comment on this matter...

The next day, Wu Lai left without even a guard. He rode out of the east gate alone on two horses.

Two nights later, Wu Lai appeared on the main street of Longvington. After walking around for a while and looking at the Pure Salt Shop, he pulled his horse and walked slowly towards Huitong Money House.

Seven days later, Wu Lai returned to the Green Tower in Assyrian City.

Klee welcomed Wu Lai into the living room with a big smile, and hurriedly ordered people to bring Wu Lai water and soup, and ordered two maids to massage Wu Lai's legs and feet. Then he called all the slaves he had bought in recent days in to pay their respects to Wu Lai, and reported the income and expenditure. Only then did the situation calm down.

Wu Lai had been galloping along and felt a little tired. In addition, Klee's manners were impeccable, so he smiled and rested while waiting for him to work. When Klee finished, he asked, "Miss Helen, hasn't come to the Green House recently?"

"It's been a long time since I came here." After answering, Klee slapped his head and said, "Master, look at my memory. When Miss Helen came here for the last time, she left a letter for you and asked me to give it to you when you come back."

"Letter?" Wu Lai frowned suddenly, because given his relationship with Helen, it was quite unusual for Helen to leave him a letter.

Could it be that the academy has some activities that will require Helen and the others to leave Assyria for a long time? Wu Laigang thought about this and then rejected his idea because the probability was too low. As far as he knew, the Citizens Academy had organized students to go to the war zone to watch the battle many years ago, but tragically they were surrounded by the Hulits, and naturally there were many casualties. Since then, there has been no such outing organized, and at best they went to the suburbs for a picnic.

"Master, please wait a moment. I'll get it for you right away." After saying this, Keli turned around and ran to get the letter.

Since he had no clue, Wu Lai was too lazy to think about it. He waved his hand to send away the massage maid, stretched lazily, closed his eyes and rested.

The letter arrived quickly, in a thick paper envelope with pink prints and Helen's personal seal on the wax seal. When it was opened, it was indeed Helen's handwriting and hidden patterns.

The content of the letter made Wu Lai's heart suddenly become heavy, and even a little panicked - "Wu Lai Grindo, I'm leaving. I don't want to see you again in my life. I hate you."

"What's going on?" Wu Lai couldn't help but talk to himself after reading the letter several times.

"Master, Master?" Seeing that Wu Lai was a little dazed, Klee on the side called out hurriedly.

Wu Lai came back to his senses: "Okay, it's okay, you arrange someone to find Miss Loli Kochi, I have something to ask her."

"Okay, I'll arrange it right away." Klee nodded and said.