In December of the eighth year of orthodoxy, Yushan gathered south.

"To the north! Drive! ”

A loud shout sounded, and I saw Liu Juntao taking the lead, along the official road all the way to the north and leaving the dust.

"Drive! Drive! ”

Zhou Zongsheng led twenty-one guards to follow, and everyone raised puffs of smoke and dust on the official road, and the pedestrians who came and went north along the way all flashed to the side when they saw this, for fear of provoking these heroes.

It didn't take long for Liu Juntao and his entourage to return to Yushanji.

This time, Liu Juntao and others went to Yushan Salt Pond to inspect the production of private salt, and then continued south to Anshan Town to inspect the operation of the shops there.

Zhou Zongsheng helped Liu Juntao off the war horse, and then said: "Mr. Lian, when we came back just now, those people along the way saw that we were all retreating, are we too ostentatious?" ”

Liu Juntao said with a smile: "What evil things have we done in Yushanji?" ”

Zhou Zongsheng shook his head and said, "No! ”

"That's it!"

Liu Juntao patted Zhou Zongsheng on the shoulder and said: "People avoid harm and seek profit, and when they see someone stronger than themselves, they will be afraid from the bottom of their hearts, no matter whether that strong person is really a wicked person or not!" So, let's just do our own thing! ”

Zhou Zongsheng nodded and sighed: "Mr. Lian, I am a few years older than you, but in this state of mind that sees through the world, I am far inferior to Mr. Lian!" ”

Liu Juntao smiled when he heard this, and at this moment, Guo Yongzhong and Zhang Baigui walked over together, both of them were red-faced, obviously having something happy.

"Guo Yuanwai and Master Zhang, is there any happy event?"

Guo Yongzhong said with a smile: "Jun Tao, now that the New Year is approaching, the annual reports of the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of the Military and the Ministry of Civil Affairs have all been reported, and Liu Zi'an has also rushed back, and the intelligence matter can also be reported to you together." Our Yushan set is prosperous this year! ”

"Haha, that's good!"

Although Liu Juntao had long known in his heart that there would be a bumper harvest in Yushanji this year, he was also very happy to hear the news from Guo Yongzhong's mouth.

Zhang Baigui also smiled happily and said: "Jun Tao, now that Tang Yu and Guo Yuanwai are here, let's go into the house first, and I can report to you about the situation of the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Civil Affairs." As for the military department, I guess Jun Tao knows best in your heart! ”

Liu Juntao naturally had no opinion, smiled and talked with everyone while walking, and came to Guo's house together.

After everyone sat down, Tang Yu first reported the situation of the Ministry of Commerce this year.

"Mr. Qi Lian, this year, my Yushanji not only won Ansan Town and Zhang Qiu Town, but also reached a settlement with the Chen family. Although we have to pay some silver to the Chen family every month, compared to our income everywhere, the silver handed over can be said to be insignificant! ”

"This year, all the shops in Huakou Town and Ansan Town have begun to make a profit, and basically there are no more than 20,000 taels of silver; The store in Zhang Qiuzhen is short, but it can basically maintain the balance of income and expenditure, and it is estimated that it will be profitable after the New Year! ”

"The private salt produced by Yushan Salt Pond has spread throughout Yanzhou Prefecture, and the monthly income is at least more than 50,000 taels! The Ministry of Commerce is in contact with Haoqiang in other states and counties in Shandong, and is ready to sprinkle the private salt of our Yushan Salt Pond to the whole of Shandong next year! ”

After finishing speaking, Guo Muying, who was pouring tea for everyone, also said with a smile: "Don't forget that there is also our quilt factory!" ”

Hearing this, Liu Juntao hurriedly said: "Yes! Right! Mu Ying said let's talk about it! ”

Everyone laughed when they saw this, Guo Muying glared at Liu Juntao with a smile, and then said: "The number one clothing sewn by our clothing factory is enough for the escort team, and more than 3,000 pieces of inventory have been stored. Next year I'm going to produce some coarse cloth and see if I can sell it for a good price! ”

Liu Juntao laughed when he heard this, and praised Guo Muying harshly, which immediately made Guo Muying's face red and stop talking.

At this time, Tang Yu took over and continued: "There are two more things to practice! One is that the two workshops in Yushan have been basically completed, and the manpower on Ma Ye's side is almost recruited, and you can try to start work after the New Year. ”

Liu Juntao nodded and said, "That's good, let's go for the New Year!" The craftsmen who built the workshop are really reliable, remember! Their wages must be sufficient! ”

Tang Yu said: "Okay, don't worry!" There is another thing, Cui Ye's caravan has been almost built, and he is going to purchase some goods after the New Year, so he will go north to test the water first. ”

"Good! Tell Cui Ye that it doesn't matter if you make money or not, you must pay attention to safety, as long as you come back safely, it will be a great achievement! ”

After everyone finished talking about the affairs of the Ministry of Commerce, Guo Yongzhong began to summarize the affairs of the Ministry of Commerce in the past year.

"Jun Tao, this year, our Ministry of Civil Affairs has gained a lot of money, and many villagers in the villages hundreds of miles around our Yushanji have rushed over, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs has all collected all of them, and changed the yellow books of these villagers through Hu Baihu."

"In addition, the farmland reclaimed by the Ministry of Civil Affairs has also increased a lot, almost tripled, and after rough statistics, it has reached more than 60,000 mu, and this year the Ministry of Civil Affairs has received more than 1,300 stones, and the grain received by the escort should be about the same."

"Now, there are more than 2,000 young people registered in our Ministry of Civil Affairs, as long as Jun Tao gives your order, the escort team can carry out a new round of expansion at any time, and the affairs of the Ministry of Civil Affairs will not be greatly affected!"

Then, Zhang Baigui continued: "Jun Tao, all the departments on the military department are training intensively and guarding everywhere, you know these best. I'll just talk about the blacksmith's shop. ”

"Okay, Master Zhang, let's talk about it, let's all listen to it."

"Now the guards need a full number of blades, and the affairs of the blacksmith shop basically revolve around the drawings that Jun Tao gave me, but now the progress is slow!"

"Oh?"

Liu Juntao hurriedly asked, "How do you say this?" What is the difficulty of Master Zhang? ”

Zhang Baigui nodded and said, "The firearm drawings that Juntao gave me are very detailed, but now there are no people in the blacksmith shop who know how to make firearms, so I can only lead my craftsmen to explore little by little, so the progress is very slow." ”

After listening, Liu Juntao pondered for a moment, and then said: "Master Zhang, after the New Year, I plan to recruit craftsmen from all over the country to expand the blacksmith shop into a military bureau, and specially build all kinds of equipment needed by the escort team!" ”

Zhang Baigui was taken aback when he heard this, and then he was overjoyed.

In fact, Zhang Baigui's heart has some opinions on Guo Yongzhong presiding over the Ministry of Civil Affairs and becoming one of the three major leaders, after all, he and Guo Yongzhong were both the heads of Yushanji before, and now according to the power structure of Yushanji, he is one level lower than Guo Yongzhong!

But now, Liu Juntao wants to fully support the blacksmith shop and directly expand it into a military battle, even if he is one level lower than Guo Yongzhong, it doesn't matter! After all, being in the War Bureau is the most suitable place for yourself!

Looking at Zhang Baigui's happy appearance, Liu Juntao also laughed, and put forward some suggestions for Guo Yongzhong, Zhang Baigui, Tang Yu, and Guo Muying on various matters in the coming year, and everyone also wrote them down one by one.

After finishing speaking, Liu Juntao looked at Liu Zi'an and asked, "Manager Liu, how is the progress on the intelligence side?" ”

Liu Zi'an hugged his fists and said: "Mr. Qi Lian, there are a lot of those heroes and gentry who were originally connected with the Liu family, at least hundreds, I have contacted more than half of them, and it is estimated that they can be contacted at the beginning of next year." ”

"Among these people, about one-third of them are willing to inquire and pass on all kinds of news for our Yushan Gathering, and they are basically the heroes and gentry of our Yanzhou Mansion."

"Moreover, I have also invested heavily in some manpower, and they are planted in various places, and I have fully begun to deploy our Yushanji's intelligence network!"

Liu Juntao was very satisfied after listening to it and said, "Very good! Now I will announce one more thing, we have set up an exploration department in Yushanji, and Liu Zi'an is the manager of the exploration department, and he is directly responsible for me! ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone was taken aback.

Liu Zi'an was also stunned on the spot, and then excitedly hugged his fists and said: "Please rest assured, I will do my best to handle this matter!" ”

Guo Yongzhong and Zhang Baigui glanced at each other, neither of them said anything, but their faces were not very good.

To be honest, both of them had some objections to Liu Juntao's arrangement, after all, Liu Zi'an's original head of the Liu family came over halfway! Is it really appropriate to reuse it like this?

However, seeing Liu Juntao's confident appearance, Guo Yongzhong and Zhang Baigui did not express their worries, but just waited and watched the changes.

At this time, Liu Zi'an continued: "Mr. Lian, there is one more thing, I think it is necessary to talk to Mr. Lian. ”

"But it doesn't hurt to say it!"

"Mr. Lian, now our Yushanji is already one of the top two forces in Yanzhou Mansion, even compared with the Kong family in the south, our Yushanji is not inferior, but it doesn't have the power of the Kong family!"

Liu Zi'an looked at everyone's reactions, and saw that except for Liu Juntao, the faces of the rest of the people were a little smug, only Liu Juntao always looked unchanged, and couldn't help but praise secretly.

"Mr. Lian, especially after our Yushanji and the Chen family made peace, the big and small heroes and officials from all over Yanzhou Mansion have heard the name of our Yushanji, I think we should take the opportunity of this year's New Year to walk around with the officials of Dong'e County, Dongping Prefecture and other counties near the left?"

Liu Juntao smiled when he heard this, "Is this necessary?" ”

"Yes!"

Liu Zi'an said: "Mr. Lian, our Yushanji will definitely grow stronger and stronger over time, and in the future, we will not only completely turn the face with the Chen family, but also meet the Kong family and other heroes, so I think we must take precautions and build a good relationship with the officials of the surrounding states and counties, we can't just rely on Hu Baizong, we must build a solid barrier for our Yushanji as soon as possible!" ”