After resting at Zeng Guosun's house for one night, Zeng Guosun gathered more than a dozen leaders of Fengjingdu to have a sumptuous breakfast with Su Ming in the early morning of the next day, and Su Ming rowed his own boat down the Huangpu River.

His bow hung the flag of the wind chime crossing, and was not stopped when he passed the next water village, and the water became turbulent after entering the Shachuan River, and at noon he came to the mouth of the Shachuan River, and returned to Bihai Bay a few miles to the south.

The coastal countercurrent to the south is very slow, Su Ming saw that the boat was put into his coast guard ship warehouse, and walked in the bamboo forest on foot, only an hour and a half passed the area of Qiyanbao, and there were still 10 miles away from the Erweibao salt factory, Su Ming released a small boat to go south along the coast.

After rowing for an hour, it was already late in the afternoon. The soldiers patrolling the salt factory saw him, and Su Ming handed over the boat to the soldiers and went ashore to the salt factory on foot.

Because the salt fort has been basically completed, the salt water of the new salt field can flow into the salt fort along the canal, and there are more than 40 cauldrons for boiling salt in the salt fort, the brine of the No. 1 new salt field has been boiled this morning, and now the gate of the No. 2 new salt field has been opened, and the workers have begun to boil the salt water of the No. 2 new salt field.

"Eighth Master, you're back. The brine of the No. 1 new salt field has been boiled, and we boiled 4 and a half stones of snowflake salt and 4 stones of green salt in one day. This No. 2 new salt field is much larger than the No. 1 new salt field, and we now have more than 30 people in the two salt boiling sheds to collect salt. Tie Zhu said to him happily when he saw Su Ming coming back.

The last step in boiling salt is salt collection, which is to crush and filter the salt crystals into fine salt particles. In the past, the workers who picked the most salt water in the salt field no longer need to pick salt water, and the number of salt collectors has increased several times, which makes everyone unhappy.

"The No. 2 new salt field should be able to cook for several days, and when the salt water of the No. 2 new salt field is boiled, everyone will build the No. 4 new salt field as soon as possible, and the salt fort must be built in a month, and we can take in some displaced people to work in the salt fort in the future.

If you boil enough green salt for 30 stones, you don't need to cook it anymore, and all of it is filtered into snowflake salt. Many patrols were sent to patrol the coast, and when they encountered pirates, they immediately notified me and asked everyone to retreat to Erweibao. Su Ming said to Tie Zhu.

With the last drill, Su Ming was already more assured about the safety of the Salt Fort, and if the Waiko occupied the Salt Fort, he would definitely want to break through the Second Castle and grab more salt. Su Ming now has a 95 rifle, and if the Japanese dare to rob him of his salt, he will definitely make the other party pay a heavy price.

Afraid that the eldest brother would be worried, Su Ming did not stay in the salt castle for too long, but when he returned to the second Weibao, the eldest brother was not there.

Today is the day to hand over salt to Jinshanwei Town, and the eldest brother led the soldiers to Jinshanwei to deliver salt to Yao Qianhu.

A number of houses are under construction in the second Castle, which seems to be much more lively than before. The three shops were in the most central location in Erweibao, and the shops sold all kinds of grain, cloth, and groceries, and Su Ming saw that there were people selling eggs next to them.

A new market has been formed in Erweibao, as long as Su Ming spills the 1,200 taels of silver on his body, the prosperity of Erweibao will inevitably improve a lot, and the quality of life of the people will also improve.

After turning around in the fort, Su Ming went out of the city to check the large earthen furnace where the cement was burned, and several people here took turns on duty to ensure that the temperature in the furnace reached the requirements.

The person in charge of the two furnaces was to record the changes in the furnace fire during each time period according to Su Ming's requirements, and they were already very proficient in this. Su Ming also has nothing to point out about.

Coming to a newly built village, there are only more than 50 people here building some earthen houses, because it is very close to Erweibao, these houses are built very simply, more than 50 people and about 20 households work together, the houses here do not use cement, the purpose of the eldest brother is just to let these people burn cement outside the city to work, and the treatment is incomparable with the military households of Weizhuang.

After a circle outside the fort, a month and a half after returning home, Castle has undergone earth-shaking changes, and the biggest change is still the people.

A month and a half ago, the people were yellow and thin, the men went to work in the salt works, and the women could only dig some weeds to satisfy their hunger, and everyone was worried about when the pirates would land, and the days were going to be day by day.

And now the faces of the people of Weizhuang are already red, there is food to eat, everyone does not look so thin, and they have the energy to work, and there are people working everywhere around Weibao, and many children are playing next to the construction site.

In the afternoon, Su Ming went home for dinner and took out the box containing silver and put it in his room, and he didn't wait long in the room before he heard the sound of a carriage outside the courtyard gate, and the eldest brother took Wei Hong back home.

"Eighth child, you're back!" Su Ren was very happy to see Su Ming.

"Did the eldest brother deliver the salt smoothly?" Su Ming looked at his eldest brother and asked.

"Wait a minute, let's go to the living room, I thought you wouldn't be back until tomorrow." Su Ren asked Wei Hong to take off his wallet, took some water from the water tank in the courtyard, washed his face and walked to the living room.

Su Ming entered the living room, and when he saw that his eldest brother's face was not good, he thought it was the Li family's business. The Li family's power in Jinshanwei is not small, and its foundation is in Songjiang City, and its relationship network is very large, if the other party knows that it was Erwei Castle who attacked him, he would be in great trouble.

"Eighth brother, how about you go to Fengchidu this time? Has salt ever been shot? Su Ren asked.

"I sold 1,200 taels of silver, and I have made an appointment with the head of Fengchidu, and I will trade in Bihai Bay on the 30th of next month, and the other party will send food and weapons over at that time." Su Ming said.

"Okay, so my Erweibao is not afraid of the blockade of Jinshanwei, with food, everything is easy to say, you still have the silver money you get this time, you still have more than a hundred taels of silver here, which is enough." Su Ren said.

"Big brother, I plan to make up all the military salaries owed by all the soldiers at one time, and at the same time pay all the workers in Weizhuang." Su Ming said.

"Make up all the military pay? I don't think so! Our Erweibao has been distributing food for half a year last month, which is rare in the entire Jinshanwei Town, and the military salary of the guard has not been in arrears for so many years.

Big brother knows that you have a good heart, but you must know that it is not a good thing to be excessively kind to the soldiers and people, and it is already benevolent and righteous for us to take in those homeless people so that they will not starve to death, why do you want to send them money again. Although Su Ren somewhat disagreed with his younger brother's idea, he still asked.

"Big brother, now we have close to a thousand people in Erweibao, there will definitely be more and more in the future, and the more people there will become, the management will become more difficult, we have a poor foundation compared with those officials in the town, and if we can't fit in, we can only find other ways to enrich ourselves.

Yao Qianhu will definitely not let us go, coupled with the Shen family's reasons, the way up has basically been blocked, unless we find a relationship above the third grade, otherwise we can only be targeted all the time. Su Ming said.

Su Ren listened and nodded. Don't look at Erweibao now looks much better than before, but the general situation is still like that, and it is basically impossible to rise under such a general trend.

"We pay our soldiers not to make them loyal to us.

In this way, at least there is an advantage, it will become difficult for the people of Erweibao to be bought again, and they can get a full salary every month here, and it is difficult for him to have such an income when he joins other forces.

By paying the soldiers their salaries, everyone's enthusiasm for training will inevitably increase, and only then can our equipment play a greater role. Now we have three stores in the fort, and I believe that there will be more and more in the future, because everyone has money and their purchasing power has increased.

If he wants to use the money in his hands to improve the quality of life, he must buy things from those shops, and most of the money we will distribute will be returned to his hands.

Then we use the money to buy more materials and consolidate the relationship with forces such as Fengjingdu and Jinshanweizhen, and our external pressure will inevitably decrease. Big brother, do you think that's reasonable? Su Ming carefully analyzed with his eldest brother.

"So... This is really a good thing, but the guards pay all the salaries, why pay those ordinary people, they will never remember us, with money they will definitely buy more food, I am afraid that the food in the warehouse will be consumed soon. Su Ren voiced his concerns.

"If we pay ordinary people, food consumption will definitely increase, but as long as we are not short of food, the benefits are very great.

First of all, the workers will work harder in order to make money, and the displaced people don't have to worry about us when they come to Erweibao, and those rich people will take them in as domestic slaves.

Secondly, we will inevitably have a lot of silver in our hands when we sell snowflake salt in the future, and if we don't spend this money, then there is no point at all. After a while, there will definitely be some merchants who will discuss with you and want to open a shop in our Erweibao, and when the time comes, they will make some of our money and help us send more supplies.

We can tax those stores, and we can get into relationships with some merchants and get what we need. At that time, more talents will come to Erweibao, the quality of our soldiers will be improved, and the power of the battle array will also be enhanced, and when the time comes, Jin Shanwei will be more cautious if he wants to deal with us. Su Ming said.

Su Ren listened to the eldest with wide eyes, and listened to his younger brother's analysis, and he finally understood that the role of money would be so huge. If he built Erweibao into a giant town like Jinshanwei Town, wouldn't the imperial court hurry up to win him over?

"Every year in early May, merchant ships heading north from Fujian will stop at Bishui Bay, and many forces and even ordinary people will bring things to trade with them.

In the past, we didn't have much green salt left, and we could only exchange some grain each time, but this time we have to seize the opportunity to buy more food and weapons, so that we can pay the workers and our food pressure will be much less. Su Ren thought for a moment and said.

"Yes, this transaction with the fleet is an opportunity, these days, big brother, you collect more carriages, when the time comes, we will send more people over, it is best to buy more than 3,000 stone of grain at a time, so that we are not afraid of not enough food to eat."

By the way, big brother, when I came back this time, I bought 50 stone of grain and hid it in the woods outside the fort, and I waited for it to be transported back after dark, and you sent a few people to follow me later, and we transported it back by carriage. Su Ming thought about it and transferred the grain from the warehouse of the coast guard ship, although the grain would not be bad in the warehouse, it also occupied a lot of space.

I don't know when the caravan from the south will arrive at Bishui Bay, Su Ming will empty the warehouse, and it may be of great use at that time.