The day after the annual meeting, Woolley brought a carriage full of gifts into Chief Connor's mansion. What surprised him was that Connor's mansion was very ordinary and simply decorated, which was quite out of tune with the usual practices of the Assyrian territory.

After the polite greetings, Connor led Woolley into a study room with a smile. In fact, the study room was officially established thanks to Woolley. If he hadn't invented paper and printing, there would be no books in the Assyrian territory.

After the two of them sat down, Connor smiled and said, "Wu Lai, in five days, you will go to the town of Lunvington Salt Marsh to take up your post. The day after tomorrow, I will go to various city-states for inspection, so I think the next time we meet will have to wait until you come back to report on your work at the end of the year."

Wu Lai smiled and nodded. His purpose today was to listen, so there was no need for him to say much.

"Do you know why your proposal to take over Saltmarsh Town passed so smoothly?" Connor asked.

Wu Lai smiled slightly: "Because it was your suggestion, Chief Connor."

"Oh, Woolley, you sound like a flatterer." Connor laughed and said, "The Supreme Council is not easy to talk to. The reason you were able to successfully become the governor of this town is that Saltmarsh Town is indeed not a good place to go. If you listened carefully to the performance report of George Joyce, the governor of the city-state of Lovington, you should remember it."

"Last fall, Salt Marsh Town just experienced a plague, and the population was reduced by nearly half. In addition, over the past year or so, there have been no less than ten attacks by bandits. Most importantly, the production of the salt field has been severely damaged by these damn guys and is on the verge of stagnation."

"Secondly, the situation in Salt Marsh Town is complicated, and collusion between civilians and bandits has occurred frequently. The last town governor, Qu Lie, was assassinated. Lunvington City is 300 miles away from Salt Marsh Town. Lunvington is out of reach of the banditry in Salt Marsh Town. It is not realistic to station troops there. If we have too few, it will be useless. If we have too many, the citizens will bear too much of the burden and will complain."

Wu Lai nodded slightly. Lini had mentioned all these situations, but Lini also said that if a cowardly and mediocre person faced these difficulties, he would naturally be at a loss, but for Wu Lai, it was a good opportunity to show his talents.

"Although there are many difficulties, I believe that you will be able to turn the situation around if you go." Connor continued, "The reason why I asked you to find a way to make Wei Huo lose face is because I don't want to create any complications during the vote. You may not know that Wei Huo has been getting more and more arrogant in recent times."

"Oh? There is such a thing?" Wu Lai asked in surprise.

Connor nodded: "Chief Qiyuan of the Senate has been very busy recently. He has already extended his hand into the Supreme Council. Wei Huo is now almost happy to oppose the resolutions of the Supreme Council."

Although Connor downplayed the situation, Woolley could guess the difficulty involved.

"So, whether from the perspective of city-state management or other considerations, I must propose that you serve as the governor of Salt Marsh Town, and I must allow it to pass without hindrance." Connor said, "Wu Lai, you did a great job. Your actions prevented Wei Huo from objecting, because if he objected, he would be labeled as petty, sinister, and vengeful. Moreover, I reminded him that if you stayed in Assyria, it might cause trouble for him. So, he agreed very straightforwardly, because he knew that if I said you could do it, you could do it."

"Chief Connor, you are too kind. If it weren't for your support, I would not dare to offend the Duncan family." Wu Lai smiled and said.

"We've been talking for so long, but I haven't asked you yet, are you willing to go?" Connor laughed and changed the subject.

"Of course I'm willing to go, because I believe that if Salt Marsh Town is really useless, Chief Connor will not be willing to throw me there." Wu Lai replied with a smile.

"Of course there are benefits," Connor said, "but I won't tell you how to get them. I can only tell you that Saltmarsh Town has salt and vast territories. I can also give you many rights that governors of other towns don't have."

"For example?" Wu Lai became interested when he heard the word privilege.

"For example, you are allowed to establish a small-scale army, and you also have the right to use 30% of the salt industry revenue of Salt Marsh Town to equip this army." Connor said.

"That's great." Wu Lei nodded. "Chief Connor, I also heard that the town governor can choose one or two deputies to serve as tribunes, right?"

Connor glanced at Wu Lai with a smile and said, "Wu Lai, this rumor might be true. How about this? Tell me what kind of help you want. I'll see if I can give it to you."

"Ah, if that's the case, that's great." Wu Lai said with a smile.

…

That night, a conversation with Woolley as the main content took place in the Duncan family mansion. There were three people involved, Wei Huo, Lev, and George, the current governor of the city-state of Lovington, George Joyce.

"Connor must have a deep meaning in asking Woleglindo to go to Saltmarsh Town." Wei Huo said, "Although Woleglindo is young, he has many tricks and is cunning. Moreover, his heart is not on our side. Don't let him cause trouble for us."

"I don't think so. Saltmarsh Town is a mess right now." George said, "If Wooleglindre goes there, he may not be able to please people."

"Who knows? Connor has always been keeping an eye on the salt production in Saltmarsh Town. Maybe this Woolleglindo went there just to sort it out," Lev said.

"Smooth it out? He can smooth it out. So many consuls were helpless. Humph, didn't he smooth out Qu Lie's stubborn temper? What was the result?" George raised a cruel look at the corner of his mouth. "At worst, we can just do the same to this Wulaglindo."

"I'm afraid it won't be that easy. Wulagrin has many men with strong fighting power. It's hard for ordinary people to match them. Besides, he invented the crossbow, so there's no reason for him not to equip himself with one." Lev said, "What's more, Connor is still investigating Qu Lie's case. If we act rashly, it's easy to make mistakes."

Wei Huo glanced at George and said, "You are Wu Lelindo's immediate superior. Have you ever thought about how to discipline this subordinate?"

"With General Wei Huo and Master Lev here, how can I make the decision on my own?" George smiled and said, "Just tell me what to do."

Wei Huo nodded. Although the Joyce family, to which George belonged, was a vassal of the Duncan family, its business had been thriving in the past decade or so, and its influence was increasing. George had been the governor of Lovington for more than six years, and he still had such a humble attitude. Naturally, he was very satisfied.

"We only have a general idea of ​​the situation in Salt Marsh Town, and it's so far away from Assyria. Some things change rapidly, so you really have to make your own decisions on these matters." Wei Huo said, "George, I don't want to see Wuleglindo die in Salt Marsh Town. I would rather he be helpless and come back in disgrace. Only in this way will he be honest and work for Lev. So, you have to find a way to let him know that if you want everything to go smoothly, you have to choose the right side."

George nodded and looked at Lev.

Lev was thinking, but when he saw George's eyes, he knew what he meant, so he waved his hand and said, "I don't have much to say. I can only remind you that Wulaglin is not easy to deal with. If you want to do something to him, you must do it in a legitimate way and don't let him get hold of the handle."

George nodded.

Compared to the gloomy conversation in Duncan's mansion, the Green Building was full of laughter and joy.

"Gulu, there's nothing to say now. We've agreed before that I'll be the consul and you'll be my deputy." Wu Lai happily put his arm around Guru's shoulders.

"I want to go too." Loli put her arm around Wu Lai.

"You want to go? There are many female business people in the Assyrian territory, but there is only one female general and no female officials." Wu Lai struggled but failed to break free, and the loli hugged him even tighter.

"I'm going anyway." Loli pouted.

"If you go, who will take care of this mess?" Wu Lai asked.

"I don't care. You have so many people under your command, and there are also people from your Seneca Kiwanis Alliance. How can you be short of people?" Loli hugged him tighter. "I have to keep an eye on you. If I can get you to marry me one day, isn't that better than watching these deals?"

Wu Lai was stunned and asked Guru, "What do you think of what your sister said?"

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

"That's your business. I won't get involved." Gulu chuckled. "You can ask me to go, but there are two things. First, what should I do here at the Citizens Academy? Second, if I go, you have to tell me what I want to do first."

"We need to sit down and talk about these things." Wu Lai pushed Guru onto the chair, with the intention of getting rid of Loli's entanglement. Unfortunately, Loli still didn't let go, which made Hippo and the maids who were waiting on the side laugh.

"Let's talk about business, let go." Wu Lai pretended to give Loli a stern face, and managed to scare her.

"Hmph." Loli pouted after letting go of her hand.

Wu Lai smiled and looked at Guru. "Gulu, my good brother, the Citizens' College does have a student status, but this is not a special case. Just treat it as a leave of absence. If you do well, it doesn't matter whether you have a student status or not. If we mess up, we can just come back. The result will be clear in a year at most. You are still so young, it's only a year, you can afford to waste it."

Guru nodded and thought to himself that it was true. He came to the Assyrian Citizens College just to make friends and seek a future. Now that he was tied to Wu Lai, and the momentum was so good, it would not be a waste to take a year off.

"What position do you want me to take?" asked the guru.

"Given your calculating nature and the actual situation of Salt Marsh Town, I think you are the most suitable person to be the financial officer." Wu Lai laughed and said, "Besides, as the town governor, I don't feel comfortable handing over the financial power of a town to others. That is the foundation for the revitalization of Salt Marsh Town."

"Take care of the accounts? Wu Lai, you really take care of me. I thought you would let me do the sinecure of a tribune, or maybe it would be nice to be a tribune." Gulu smiled bitterly and shook his head. "In Salt Marsh Town, the treasurer is an offensive and unpleasant position."

Having said that, Guru actually knew that Wu Lai had his reasons for making such an arrangement. Although Salt Marsh Town could not be said to be a crocodile pond or wolf den, it was not far off.

"You can rest assured that I'm here." Wu Lai patted Guru's shoulder with a smile, "The situation is complicated. Only you can make me feel completely at ease. Only you can withstand the pressure."

“Now that you mention it, I have no choice but to do it.” Guru said with a smile.

"You can't just go with the two of you," Lori asked, pouting.

"Of course it won't be just the two of us, but the commission will come the day after tomorrow. Five days later, George, the governor of Lovington, will return to the city-state of Lovington. According to the rules, I am his subordinate and must set off with him." Woolley said, "Seneca's people will not have time to set off with us. In addition, I have a lot of things for them to deliver, so they will probably arrive about fifteen days later than us."

"I heard that the area of ​​Lovington is not peaceful. It's vast and forested, and there are many bandits running rampant." After Gulu said this, Loli frowned immediately.

"You should bring more people with you, it will be safer. Otherwise, go and buy a few dozen ordinary gladiators?" asked Loli.

"No need. With George here, our safety is not a problem from Assyria to Lunvington. I heard the horse trail from Lunvington to Saltmarsh Town is pretty good. Gulu and I ride fast horses, so it's basically impossible for ordinary bandits to catch up with us. If they are outnumbered, I can stretch my muscles." Wu Lai said with a smile.

"Then we should be careful." Loli walked to her brother's side and pinched his arm quietly, "Gulu, Wu Lai won't take me, can you take me?"

Guru was startled and quickly shook his head: "If I take you to that wild place, my father will break my legs."

It was not an exaggeration for Guru to describe Salt Marsh Town as a "wild land", because Salt Marsh Town was built on a vast salt marsh. Within the scope of Salt Marsh Town, there are more than 40 natural brine wells of various sizes. In the area where the brine wells are most concentrated, white crystals will appear as soon as the shovel is dug. Every year, Salt Marsh Town produces nearly 40 million shekels of salt, which are then transported to various parts of Assyria.

More than 40 million shekels, converted into the weight unit that Woole was familiar with, was about 2.5 million kilograms. However, this was obviously not enough to meet the needs of everyone in the Assyrian territory, because most of the salt flowed into the warehouses of the citizen class, who either hoarded it or used it to exchange for what they wanted from someone in the Hurriyet territory.

…

Before going to bed, Wu Lai took a hot bath as usual, and Hippo and El helped him bathe and massaged him as usual.

Suddenly, Xibo gently hugged Wu Lai's arm, put his face on his shoulder, and said in a trembling voice: "Master, take me with you."

"Take me with you." El trembled and pressed against Wu Lai's back...