In the military camp in Yangcheng County, Xiao Jiu inspected the soldiers of Xiao Ziying's camp with a serious face.

Although they were defeated when they went out to Yangjun before, these soldiers were still vigorous and energetic at this time, and they were not affected in the slightest.

Now Xiao Jiu came to the barracks to inspect it for the action of sending troops to Wanpingkou in Yujun County, which had been decided before.

For taking this seaport, Xiao Jiu has the determination to win, and it also determines the future development direction of Yangcheng County.

With Xiao Jiu's impassioned speech in the middle of the school, the emotions of these Xiao Zi Battalion soldiers in the barracks were completely mobilized, and the atmosphere reached a fiery peak.

The current Xiao Zi Battalion was established by Xiao Jiu hand in hand, including the new army that was newly expanded later, and their loyalty to Xiao Jiu was very high.

These soldiers from ordinary people knew in their hearts who had fed them, and they also understood that only a group of poor people from the grassroots who followed Xiao Jiu could make a difference.

Seeing the sparkle in the eyes of these soldiers, Xiao Jiu couldn't help but nod slightly in approval, and his heart was a lot more steady.

Along the way, Xiao Jiu was able to obtain his current status from a small mountain bandit, in addition to a little luck, but also because there was a group of people behind him who firmly supported him.

Princes and generals, would you rather have a kind?

Xiao Jiu perfectly interpreted this sentence, and the people who watched him rise all the way began to understand that no one was born destined to be humble.

Therefore, the reason why Xiao Jiu was able to quickly take Yangcheng County was not only because Xiao Jiu had a large amount of grain in his hands, but also because of the people's will.

In particular, the poor who were about to starve to death learned that they did not have to rely on the landlords to survive after joining the proletarian guilds.

Today's Xiao Jiu is considered a virtuous name among the people, and even in Yuzhou, many people from areas controlled by the rebel army defected to Yangcheng County.

For a time, the population in Xiao Jiu's territory has achieved a wave of great growth, and according to rough statistics, the number has exceeded more than 500,000.

And these people will be Xiao Jiu's best source of soldiers and the strongest backing.

The soldiers of the Xiaozi Battalion, who were about to go to Yujun, all set out after they were ready, and the newly promoted Heizi was the main general of the expedition, and the whole 3,000 people set off to the east.

……

Yujun, Wanpingkou County.

As a coastal seaport city, Wanpingkou is nominally a county, but in fact it is just a gathering place formed by several fishing villages.

Although Yujun is now occupied by the rebel army in Yuzhou, small coastal towns such as Wanpingkou are not taken into their eyes.

Whether it was ruled by the imperial court or ruled by the rebel army, the residents of this place had not paid taxes to the imperial court for a long time, and there was no landlord wealth in the local area.

The reason is because the place is so poor, if you tax these fishermen, you can't collect anything, kelp or crabs?

On this day, several fishermen went out to sea to fish and came back, but the faces of this group were not good-looking.

"Village chief, this year's fishing harvest is good, why can't I change food, my child is only two years old, and eating fish every day is not the same thing."

A dark-skinned honest man asked an old man in a cloak beside him, and everyone else next to him nodded as soon as these words came out.

In the past, although these fishermen relied on fishing for a living, they would sell some seafood to the inland to exchange for some food.

But since the drought broke out in the north, the price of grain from the sea has increased several times when they exchange the harvest from the sea, and now the rebels have not been able to exchange any grain for the fishing county.

Although these poor fishermen can eat all kinds of fish every day, they can produce various diseases such as gout if they eat them for a long time.

The old village chief looked at the group of hard-working fishing men around him, and his face was also full of helplessness, and he wanted to persuade him but couldn't say anything.

Now that there is a shortage of war and famine in the inland areas, where can we get some food to cook porridge for the children?

The last group of people could only gather together and sigh, unable to speak.

"If only we had land to plant."

A man lowered his head and muttered quietly, and as his words fell, everyone in the room fell silent.

At this time, not far from the fishing village, the rapid march from Yangcheng County had entered the fishing county and was about to arrive at Wanpingkou.

After a rapid march all the way, there was no encounter with the rebel army along the way, and the 3,000 soldiers led by Kuroko did not stop at all and rushed here.

When they were about to reach Wanpingkou, Kuroko ordered the three armies to stop advancing and sent several ten-man scouts to investigate.

Half a day passed, and the scout teams that had gone to inquire about the news returned one after another, but did not find the garrison of the rebel army.

After receiving the news, Heizi immediately led the Xiao Ziying camp to rush to several fishing villages in Wanpingkou.

When Xiao Jiu's army marched into the coastal villages and towns of Wanpingkou, Heizi was slightly surprised.

Because now since Yuzhou was taken by the rebel army, each county basically has garrisons of different sizes.

Now this Wanpingkou is like a forgotten paradise, and it has not been washed away by the war.

After the army marched into these fishing villages of various sizes, they gathered some local village chiefs and some respected clan elders to explain the purpose of the trip.

When they learned that Xiao Jiu was going to build a large port in Wanpingkou and recruit a group of skilled craftsmen to build ships, some young men had excited expressions on their faces.

They are isolated from the rest of the world, and they have few resources to rely on fishing for their livelihood.

Now that I have the opportunity to eat the food of the official family, it is false to say that I am not excited.

However, after some of the respected old people in those villages learned the news, many of them showed a thoughtful look.

They thought more far-reaching, once the other side built a military port at Wanpingkou, they were afraid that the flames of war would sweep the land.

In addition, what worries them the most is whether they will be abandoned by those high-ranking bigwigs after they are squeezed out of their value?

Ren Heizi spit lotus flowers and told the quiet and peaceful in Yangcheng and Lingshui County, and they still couldn't put their minds at ease.

In their minds, none of the officials cared about the lives of the common people, let alone the land that was considered their lives to be given to others.

The non-cooperation of the villagers of Wanpingkou made Kuroko fall into embarrassment, and no matter how he promised Zaisan, these people still had a trace of skepticism.

Now Kuroko finally knows that the job that Xiao Jiu has given him is not a good errand.

It would be difficult to move these fishermen to serve themselves, or to leave their homes and head inland.

"What to do?"

After camping in the fishing village at night, Kuroko frowned and pondered in the makeshift tent.

Now there is no need to worry that the rebels in Yujun will send troops to attack, and the most important thing is how to gain the trust of the local fishermen.

It would not be easy to build a shipyard on this coastal area without the support of these local people.

If it provokes public anger again, it will undoubtedly add a big obstacle to yourself who has not yet set foot here.

After thinking about it for a long time, Kuroko still didn't have much of a clue, and just as he wanted to sleep, his stomach was grunting with hunger.

Suizhou Heizi called a guard next to him and asked him to go to the kitchen to find something to eat for himself.

When the guards brought the food and were about to leave, Kuroko asked him for no reason: "Da Zhuang, what do you say these fishermen lack?" ”

The guard said almost without thinking: "What else can I lack, food!" ”

"This place is the sea in addition to stones, and I don't know what Lord Xiao likes here."

Kuroko was slightly stunned when he heard this, and after a while, a different look flashed in his eyes.

"That's right, food."

Seeing Kuroko talking to himself with a dry noodle cake, the guard was a little stunned.

Then Kuroko didn't eat anything, and directly asked the guards to go out and summon the leaders of the army to the military tent for a meeting.

After listening to the guard's words, Kuroko now has a little clue and has an idea in his heart.

According to what I have learned today, poverty is widespread in the fishing villages along the coast.

And because the local food cannot be grown and can only rely on fishing for a living, although these seafood will taste delicious once in a while, it will definitely get tired of eating it in the long run.

If a trading house can be established here to sell local seafood to the mainland, and then transport grain from the mainland to this place, it will form a perfect closed loop.

Moreover, in the chaotic world, the Lingshui caravan has been silent for a long time, if a commercial and military seaport can be established here.

By that time, caravans would not even have to go overland, relying directly on sea to transport goods to the southern states.

Thinking like this, Kuroko has already sorted out a complete context in his heart.

In fact, Xiao Jiu also thought about developing maritime transportation at the beginning, but now it is urgent how to quickly train a navy, and commercial matters have been shelved.

But now that Kuroko has come here, after learning about some of the current situation in the local area, he immediately decided to develop together according to local conditions.

Moreover, Kuroko believes that if this is the case, it will definitely be able to mobilize the local people to participate in the construction of the port.

After consulting with his generals, some people supported and some opposed, and the results were finally selected by voting.

Most people agreed with Kuroko's idea not because they thought Kuroko's method was feasible, after all, Xiao Jiu only planned to set up a navy here before leaving.

What they valued more was that Heizi was appointed by Xiao Jiu as the identity of this levy team, and their blind obedience to Xiao Jiu made them not want to refute.

The matter was finalized, and early the next morning, the elders and village chiefs in each village began to be convened for discussion.

Listening to Kuroko tell them that the port they were going to build at Wanpingkou could be used for trade, the old men fell into greater thought.

According to Kuroko, if a port is built, then grain from the south or inland can come by sea.

And these villagers who were born in a fishing village can also take the opportunity to get out of this poor rural area and see the outside world.

But at the same time, there are always opportunities and dangers, which is what they have learned over the decades of their lives.

How to choose has become a difficult problem.