As more and more locals came to work near the Tiandu Iron Mine, a small market gradually formed not far from the No. 2 base of the Crossing Mine. Every five days, the nearby mountain people bring all kinds of mountain goods, fruits, furs and other commodities here to trade with the traversers. According to word of mouth, people within a radius of dozens of miles know that the Haihan people here can provide a steady stream of various daily necessities, and the prices are quite cheap. The influence of this market is increasing rapidly, and a few days ago, there were even merchants from Phoenix Town who came here to set up stalls and sell their goods.

At present, among the trade materials provided by the people, the most sought after by the local people are salt and pig iron products. The executive committee specially recruited seven or eight local people with experience in ironmaking, and under the guidance of metallurgical experts, built a blacksmith shop, specializing in the production of shovels, hoes, rakes, plows and other agricultural tools sold to the locals. The reason why this kind of bilateral trade became very lively in a short period of time was that the trading conditions were very relaxed, and the locals could trade silver or all kinds of goods designated by the crossers, and those who were so poor that they could not get anything could also work on the construction site in exchange for what they needed.

The local Miao and Li people had not been able to import pig iron for a long time due to the intention of the imperial court, but now the situation has finally improved, and iron products can be used on a large scale. Although these iron products are still expensive, they are very happy to be able to exchange their agricultural products and livestock for iron tools compared to the previous situation of having nowhere to buy them at all.

Similar to the ironware situation is table salt, which has been produced at about 300 catties per day since the salt works commune was put into operation. Considering the existing manpower situation and backward production technology of the salt factory, this output is already considered to be at the upper middle level, and if you want to increase the output on a large scale, you must achieve it through the technical transformation in the later stage. Although this output is not enough to supply the raw materials of the chemical industry, it is more than enough to be used as a commodity. The salt factory even hoarded some salt, planning to sell it to Yazhou and other towns when the conditions were ripe on Luo Shengdong's side. The price of the salt that the Li and Miao people traded from the Crossing People was also half cheaper than the previous official price, and this benefit also allowed them to maintain enough goodwill towards the Crossing People.

Today is the day of the market again, and the people from the nearby area have arrived at the market early with various items, intending to seize a vantage point closest to the gate of Base No. 2. People who often come here to trade know that these short-haired Haihan people are very generous, and they buy everything directly in a basket and a basket, not at all like the merchants who used to go to the village and bargain for half a day before they were willing to trade.

However, the people who came here today found a table outside Base No. 2, and there were more than a dozen Haihan people sitting there, looking like they were going to buy something on a large scale. At that moment, some people who were more courageous went over to inquire, and only then did they know that the Haihan people did not want to buy goods, but to accept people to organize a militia group.

The militia is not a new thing, Fenghuang Town, Tianya Town, Nanshan Town and other places have militia groups organized by landlords and gentry, and Miao Village and Li Tong also have quasi-military organizations like militia groups. In places where there is no official security agency, vigilante groups have always been an important means of self-protection by civil associations. However, this kind of organization is not a permanent organization, and it usually gathers and acts when the world is not peaceful, and the militia group that the Haihan people will set up seems to be a little different, not only claiming to maintain the establishment for a long time, but also having a lot of welfare remuneration.

Soon, the loudspeakers at the entrance of the base began to take turns to preach the recruitment policy and treatment in several different languages, which immediately attracted a large number of locals to gather.

The simple people may not understand the meaning behind the militia groups, but they can tell whether the treatment they receive is good or bad. It soon became clear to the people that the benefits of joining the militia were even much higher than those of the commune that had been almost overwhelmed some time ago, so the choice was very simple. What's more, the Haihan people also said that if they signed up to join the militia and were finally brushed off because of incompatible conditions, they would have the opportunity to be selected for the next batch of commune members first.

The militia does not have too strict requirements for applicants, as long as men over the age of 16 and under the age of 45, who are in good health and have no disease or disability, can apply. Such conditions undoubtedly greatly lowered the entry barrier, and a large number of young people soon signed up. After the lessons of the previous conscription in the two communes, the military and police departments began to pay more attention to physical elements when facing conscripts, and the young men from the Li and Miao ethnic groups lived in the mountains for a long time, and most of them made a living by hunting in the wild, and their physical strength was significantly better than that of Han Chinese youths who farmed and fished in coastal areas, so they became the main targets of this conscription.

It took only a day and a half for the Military Police Department to collect enough of the missing numbers. The news that the Haihan people had recruited people to form a militia group with generous treatment quickly spread in the surrounding areas, and it was not until three or four days later that people rushed to sign up, and the executive committee did not waste these good young people, as long as they signed up, they were all accepted into the commune as an alternative to the next batch of recruitment. Anyway, now that the Commune has lost a lot of labor due to conscription, these people can also temporarily make up for the current manpower gap after they are accepted.

Three days later, 120 local youths were drafted to board a ship at Victory Harbor, cross the mouth of the Tiandu River, and then come to the sandbar where the Military Police Department used as a shooting range. The actual number of recruits was 20 more than the scheduled because the Military Police Department believed that some people might be eliminated for various reasons during the training process, so it prepared 20 more to make up for the quota. Anyway, the eliminated people will also enter the commune as laborers, and Ning Qi, who originally had some complaints, did not raise any objections in the end.

With an area of nearly one square kilometre and a major transportation route to Victory Harbor, the Military Police Department decided it would be a pity to use it only as a shooting range, so it simply set up a future soldier training camp here. This is done by isolating land communication from the base camp so that these recruits can be managed, and secondly, it is close to the shooting range, so that they can be accompanied by the sound of guns and cannons every day, so that they can be more courageous on the battlefield in the future.

The tattered clothes and shoes and hats that the recruits wore when they entered the camp were forcibly replaced, piled together, and burned clean, and then let them go into the newly built bathhouse, where they brushed each other up and down with brushes and soap. As for the hair, considering that the origin of these recruits is relatively complex, and the mandatory implementation of haircuts may cause them to be dissatisfied, so this article will be put on hold for the time being.

The new military uniforms have been prepared for a long time, including a full set of army green training uniforms, military caps, liberation rubber shoes, canvas belts, and a 35-liter rucksack for each person to hold personal luggage. Of course, the quality of these clothes provided to recruits is still very different from that of the equipment that crosses the crowd, and it is basically the level of military training clothing in later universities.

When the Executive Committee first ordered this batch of uniforms, there was still some internal opposition, believing that although the money was not very large, it seemed a bit of a waste to prepare military uniforms in advance for the naturalized civilian troops. The Military Police Department insisted on purchasing these materials, believing that a neat military appearance was one of the best means to give naturalized soldiers a sense of identity and collective honor, and that uniform clothing would also be more convenient for daily management and wartime command. In the end, it was the opinion of the Military Police Department that prevailed, and the Executive Committee spent nearly 100,000 yuan to purchase 1,000 sets of training uniforms, and it is expected to prepare 500 naturalized civilian troops.

Gu Wei stood on the side of the ship with his hands behind his back, watching the recruits descend from the boat to the beach, and then stood in a mess of east and west. Some people are dazed, some are depressed, and some are excited, as if they have arrived at some interesting place, they only know that they have come here to be trained, as for what the training content is, what will the future life of the militia be, no one has a clear concept in their hearts.

Gu Wei shook his head, picked up the iron horn beside him, raised it in front of him and said loudly: "Everyone listen, put down the backpack, half a pillar of incense time, and line up a column for Lao Tzu in a group of ten people." Those who don't finish it by the time will be punished, one person will not be lined, the whole team will be punished, one team will not be lined up, and all will be punished!

There was a special interpreter next to him who repeated it in Li and Miao, and the beach suddenly became chaotic. Although they don't quite understand what a column is and why they should be punished if they can't line up well, it is obvious that it is not a good thing to be punished, and they still have to work hard to line up anyway.

In the chaos, some people pushed and shoved, some shouted loudly, and some people silently counted their heads to see which group they should join. Gu Wei looked at this qiē coldly, and had no intention of commanding or interfering.

The time of the half-pillar incense passed quickly, and there was not even a single team lined up on the beach, and there were only four teams of people who could gather alone according to the number of people prescribed by Gu Wei, and everyone else was still spinning around like headless flies without finding a direction.

"It's time!" Gu Wei loudly announced the end of this farce, went down from the gangway to the beach, pulled out a group that had already divided the number of people, and lined up the ten people according to the column, and then picked up the iron horn again and said loudly: "This is the ten-person column, and then give you half a column of incense time, and arrange it like this, and if you can't do it, the punishment will be doubled!"

This time, the recruits did not disappoint Gu Wei anymore, and the speed of queuing after having the template also increased a lot, and soon the second and third teams were lined up next to the first column...... Without waiting for the timer to end, the arrangement of twelve columns was completed.