"Ah, Brother Wei, you're finally back."

"yes, yes, thank goodness it's good that people can come back!"

"Brother Wei, you can count it back! Those damn pirates didn't bother you, did they? ”

Looking at the enthusiastic villagers, Wei Shuo's heart was warm, and somehow he suddenly remembered his relatives in another time and space, and he didn't know how sad they would be when they learned the news of his disappearance.

"Alright, alright, let's stop gathering around here, let's get busy. The president has just come back, so I need to take a good rest, and I'll talk about it tomorrow when the president is rested. Uncle Zhang waved his hand and drove away unrelated people and others, leaving only a few shareholders of the trading company.

"Brother Wei, why did the pirates put you all back?"

Wei Shuo joked: "Hehe, other pirates don't care about food, what can we do if we don't come back?" ”

"No, no, no, I didn't mean that, I mean, how can pirates let us go so easily? Are they putting forward some harsh conditions? ”

"Hahaha, Brother Zhang, don't worry, there's no such thing. Everyone put their hearts in their stomachs, although the pirates are murderous, but behind my Wei Shuo there are thousands of people up and down Laoshan to support them. Even if the pirates want to force their way, they have to weigh the consequences carefully. In fact, this trip to the island, in general, is not dangerous, let Ziwen tell you the specific situation. ”

Zhu Wen struggled to explain it to everyone, and when everyone learned that Wei Shuo was bargaining without changing his face in the face of the pirates who were eyeing him, they couldn't help but applaud his extraordinary courage.

"Our president is really amazing, the demeanor of Zhuge Kongming, the prime minister of Shu Han, who went to Jiangdong to fight the Confucianism, is nothing more than that, Zhu is really admired, admired!" After sharing joys and sorrows at sea, Zhu Wen admired Wei Shuo's five-body throw.

Although he was forced to sign the 'alliance under the city' with the pirates, he did not lose much of Laoshan's actual interests. The others even cheered for it, and it was worth it in the eyes of everyone to exchange refined salt for ships in exchange for peace with pirates.

"Hey, guys, guys, please be quiet." Wei Shuo pressed his hands down to signal everyone to be quiet, "Although we have temporarily dispelled the pirates' malice towards us, we can't let our guard down because of this. Pirates are outlaws, and they don't have much credibility to speak of. ”

"Maybe at some point in the future, the pirates will suddenly tear up the treaty. And then force us to make even greater concessions, and what are we going to do then? Do you want to back down? ”

Yes, if the pirates are insatiable in the future, will Laoshan still have to back down? For a moment, everyone fell into deep thought......

After a while, Zhu Wen received Wei Shuo's signal and stepped forward: "Of course we will not back down, we have an escort team, and we will have a naval army in the future, and any enemy who dares to invade us will be subject to our tough counterattack." This time, the president reached an agreement with the pirates to exchange salt for ships, although it was considered to be a tiger skin, but it also bought time for the development of our navy. ”

"Mr. Zhu said it very well, and after the warship is in place, I hope that everyone will seize the time to train and strive to form combat effectiveness in the shortest possible time, so that even if the pirates want to turn their faces in the future, we will not be afraid. In addition, Erlang, they should not relax the training tasks of the escort team, only if your combat effectiveness is improved, Laoshan will have a sense of security. ”

"Don't worry, Brother Wei, I promise you, in another month, the escort team will be able to take on the defense of Laoshan Mountain." Zhang Erlang swore with a curse, it seems that this incident has stimulated him a lot.

"Hehe, I don't have to worry about Erlang's work, but you should pay attention to proportions when training, and don't rush it. It is necessary to do a good job in basic work in a down-to-earth manner, and only when we lay a good foundation will we be able to make great progress in the future. Wei Shuo was worried that Zhang Erlang was in a hurry, so he specially instructed a few words.

"By the way, Brother Zhang, in the few days I'm away, there's nothing going on on the mountain, right?"

"Everything is very good, but there are more and more displaced people who have arrived in our Laoshan recently, and the total number is almost 4,000. Fortunately, the government sent a batch of grain and grass, and we mobilized manpower to hunt and fish, so we didn't make everyone hungry. ”

"How much stock do we have now?"

"Now we have a total of 500 people engaged in salt boiling work, and we can produce 1,000 catties of sea salt every day, and the sea salt produced in the last few days has not been sold, about 3,000 catties. Coupled with the previous storage, the total amount is about 8,000 catties. Because we are afraid of attracting the attention of Qingzhou salt merchants, we have been controlling the sales of refined salt. ”

After listening to Zhang Dalang's introduction, Wei Shuo couldn't help frowning, he always felt that the output of salt could not meet daily needs, but now that the output has risen, he can't sell it on a large scale.

"It's not okay to go on like this, it's not a way to get salt out and can't sell it, it seems that we need to open up new markets. Qingzhou can't be sold, can't other states and counties either? Looks like I'm going to have to plan it out. Wei Shuo muttered to himself.

After dinner, Wei Shuo held his first meeting after returning to the mountain, at which he proposed to expand the refined salt business to other states and counties.

"The president's proposal is necessary, and as more and more displaced people gather in Laoshan, the pressure on us is increasing. Especially in terms of food, if we can't raise enough food, the displaced people who gather in Laoshan will become a huge burden for us, enough to crush the future development of Laoshan. ”

As a scholar, Zhu Wen has indeed seen farther than ordinary people, and he has long been aware of what kind of hidden dangers exist in the developing Laoshan Mountain.

"But we have an agreement with the salt merchants, and the market in Qingzhou has been taken over by the local salt merchants, and we can only go to other states and counties if we want to sell. Nowadays, there is chaos in the four prefectures of Yan, Hebei, Henan, and Si, and we cannot guarantee our own interests even if we transport the salt there. Except for a few states in the Central Plains, the only thing to consider is nearby Xuzhou, which I think should be the president's next goal. ”

"That's right, Ziwen is right, the next thing we want to do is to make every effort to open the Xuzhou market and strive to open the Xuzhou market in the shortest possible time. You must know that Xuzhou is a major grain producing area, and we can completely exchange salt for grain. With Xuzhou's grain, our pressure will be much less. ”

"But before opening the Xuzhou market, we have to understand the situation in Xuzhou, and who is the history of Xuzhou? What are your hobbies? Are you all clear? ”

Zhang Dalang and the others looked at each other, for the people at the bottom, it was not easy to see the county order on weekdays, let alone the first-level big people in history, and they had never even heard of it in the first half of their lives. Now that Wei Shuo has asked everyone to talk about the history of Xuzhou's assassination, everyone is still dumbfounded.

Wei Shuo sighed slightly, sure enough, there was still a lack of readers, like this kind of information about court officials, only readers would pay attention to. The ordinary people don't care who is the official above their heads, as long as they don't hinder their wives and children from heating the kang.

Zhu Wen coughed lightly and said: "President, I know a thing or two about the situation in Xuzhou, Xuzhou Thorn Shi Pei Dun was born in the Pei clan in Hedong, and Sima Yue, the king of the East China Sea, is his brother-in-law. This person is the nephew of the famous Pei Kai, but compared with Pei Kai, Pei Dun has no strengths, but he is more greedy. After three years in charge of Xuzhou, he was in cahoots with Changshi Sima Ao, bringing great disasters to the people of Xuzhou. ”

"And I heard that because he followed the advice of Changshi Sima Ao, when he was in power in Xuzhou, he often used harsh laws to intimidate his subordinates, which made Xuzhou officials at all levels resentful of him. It can be said that Xuzhou is calm on the surface, but its internal tide has surged, as long as there is a slight wind and grass, I am afraid that Pei Dun's position in the history of the assassin will not sit steadily. ”

"If we want to sell illicit salt, it's best not to get too involved with Pei Dun, and don't sign a long-term agreement, it's better to collect it on delivery. Because I am very worried that with the great changes in the situation in the Central Plains, the situation in Xuzhou will be turbulent. ”

Wei Shuo nodded thoughtfully, although he didn't know what role Xuzhou played in the Yongjia Rebellion in history, but after listening to Zhu Wen's words, he could imagine that when the Yongjia Rebellion occurred, Xuzhou would not be spared. Fortunately, Qingzhou has Cao Wei in front for the time being, and it will not be invaded by the Hu people for a while.

"Then it's decided, wait a few days, I'll go to Xuzhou in person!"