Golden Island, Sea Area
Pei Zi Yun had rushed all the way from the capital city to this place. At this point, the blue sky was dyed blue, the water was vast, the sky was wide, and the waves were endless. Flocks of seagulls soared into the sky, and as far as the eye could see, an island could be seen in the middle of the sea.
Pei Zi Yun couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief. The official beside him laughed, "Dao Master, we're about to reach the island. Look, there's already someone waiting for us."
This Baihu was the person who had followed him last time. His name was Qiao Du, and he had been appointed by the Crown Prince to follow him. If there was anything, he could directly go through him. Now that the Crown Prince's reputation had spread far and wide, the authority of a Baihu was different.
Pei Zi Yun boarded the boat and followed the flow of the river. He gazed out at the sea and drank under the moonlight, looking extremely carefree. Qiao Du noticed that Pei Zi Yun did not want to talk about politics or military matters, and did not ask any questions.
Pei Zi Yun turned around and smiled, "I saw it too …."
When they got closer, Qiao Du habitually glanced around and saw seagulls flying in the sky. Some women and children were picking up shells and crabs from the beach with a basket, and old men were sewing fishing nets under the shade of coconut trees.
A cow mooed. A farmer was driving a cow to plow the fields. A small plain had already been turned into a fertile field. Further away, there was a stronghold. A few villagers wearing mountain clothes were standing on the lookout tower, observing the sea from afar.
Pei Zi Yun welcomed the sea breeze and looked at the warm spring flowers blooming on the island. He then said, "A few days ago, it was still freezing cold. But in the blink of an eye, it's spring."
Hearing these words, one of the boatmen laughed, "Young Master, there is very little frost or snow on Goldwater Island. Along the coast, it takes three months for the weather to warm up. However, on Goldwater Island, it only takes a month before it's spring. It's just that in the past, the boss was only willing to plunder and didn't want to manage it. If he managed it well, we would have thousands of mu of fertile land."
"Haha, well said!" Pei Zi Yun pointed to the forest and said, "We can graze on the mountain, and raise some cows, sheep and pigs. We can also fish in the water."
"Let's dock." One of the boatmen shouted out as the boat started getting busy. They lowered the anchor and built the bridge. He Qing Qing led several Daoists to welcome him, "Dao Master!"
Pei Zi Yun waved a hand and said, "How have you been recently?"
He Qing Qing then said, "There are mountains and strongholds here. There are also fertile fields that can be cultivated. It's similar to living in the mountains. Life here is very comfortable. It's just that the little rascal used to live in the mountains and doesn't know how to swim. It's a headache."
"You should learn how to swim now. Living on an island, you can't swim well." Pei Zi Yun pointed at the people who were busy working in the river valley and asked, "What are they doing over there?"
He Qing Qing took a look, "Young Master, they're building a dam. We don't have many people, and thus we hired the craftsmen from the mainland to build it. They paid us 30% more than usual."
"There are two high valleys here, and there's a river in the middle. We can build a dam. We've done it before when we were in the mountains. We can turn the flat land into fertile fields, and the hillside can be turned into terraced fields. There's at least another 500 mu of land."
Hearing these words, Pei Zi Yun nodded his head.
"How's the construction of the house coming along?" Pei Zi Yun asked.
"I've also invited the craftsmen on land. They're all done. Please take a look."
The few of them stepped forward.
Along the way, the flowers bloomed and the sun shone down on them. Several fishermen were casting nets on the surface of the sea, catching fish.
In the distance, a few goats were scattered on the grass, with a few lambs in tow. A few roosters and a flock of hens were foraging for food. There weren't any wild beasts on the island, and they could rest assured.
From afar, they could see the stronghold. There was even a watchtower on top of the stronghold. This stronghold hadn't been demolished, and was instead fortified. If anything were to happen, they could retreat to this stronghold to defend it.
Below the stronghold, there was a small town. It was neatly laid out, and formed the shape of a well. From time to time, the villagers would step forward to pay their respects.
"Look, Dao Master. For the sake of safety, we've built it within the stronghold." He Qing Qing said.
Pei Zi Yun and He Qing Qing entered the stronghold, and saw a mansion being built within.
Inside, there were red walls. Although it wasn't luxurious, it still looked imposing. When they entered, they saw a meeting room, a living room, a backyard, a military room, and a pond. There were a few fish swimming in the pond.
When they walked out and returned to the town, they saw a Daoist monastery. The monastery wasn't big, and only had a main hall and a side hall. Several Daoists were supervising the construction of the monastery.
Not far from it was an ancestral hall. Pei Zi Yun looked down and stood at the top. He felt a sense of pride. He then turned around and asked the official, "What do you think of this?"
"It's alright. There's some farmland here, and some people can live here." Qiao Du didn't think much of it. Golden Island was just a village, and the island was barren. There wasn't much land that could be developed. Qiao Du could understand Pei Zi Yun's decision to expand the island, but he didn't think much of it.
"It's good that the official thinks this way." Flowing Sand Island couldn't be hidden, and didn't want to be hidden. If it were a big island, the government might want to gather people from overseas. However, this island was only a hundred and seventy square kilometers. Even if it was developed, it wouldn't be more than a village!
Pei Zi Yun was a transmigrator, and had a sense of urgency. Flowing Sand Island and Sentinel Island added up to a total of two hundred square kilometers, and were developed into tens of thousands of acres of farmland. It wasn't that he wanted to rebel, but rather, he wanted to leave some space for the Pei family.
"There's a human population here. We'll build a dam, open up farmland, fish, and raise livestock. All these things are done, and it's starting to look like a city!"
The wind blew past. The official, He Qing Qing and the Daoist saw Pei Zi Yun standing at the peak of the mountain, looking off into the distance. He didn't move an inch, and didn't dare to disturb him.
After some time, Pei Zi Yun turned around, "Your excellency Qiao, let's take a rest and have a meal before we return to Ying Prefecture."
Qiao Du wasn't interested in this island at all, and nodded his head, "The Daoist is right!"
Pei Zi Yun watched as Pei Zi Yun left before he entered the living room. He noticed that the decorations were simple, and that the tea on the table was just plain tea. He took a sip before calling He Qing Qing over. His expression turned serious, "You've done a good job. Let me give you another proposal."
He Qing Qing immediately knelt down and changed the way she addressed him, "Young chieftain, speak and I'll do it!"
"Although Flowing Sand Island and Sentry Island are small, they are divided into ten li, with twenty households in each li. There will be a Li Head and a scribe. The craftsmen and masons that we hired are not to be sent back, but to continue building the li. Once they're done, we will distribute the land and collect a fifth of the land tax."
"Build five pavilions along the main roads of the island, and act as relay stations. There will be five soldiers, and they will be known as the Five Pavilions. Every year, the young men of the village will be trained."
"Only after they've been trained can they become soldiers or sailors."
"If they don't go through this process, they can only farm or fish for the rest of their lives."
"My personal guards will consist of two groups of twelve people."
"Build a Mayor's Office in the town, and the first Mayor will be you. Below you will be the Registrar, Tax Collector, Prison Warden, Patrol Team, Harbor Warden, Warehouse Warden, and Medical Officer."
"The Registrar is very simple. He will be responsible for taking inventory of all the people and their land. Every new child and land sale must be registered."
"The Tax Collector will collect taxes from the island."
"The Prison Warden is the prison, that's not necessary."
"The patrol team will be split into two groups. Don't we still have two pirate ships that haven't been sold? We'll take the ships to patrol the harbor. "
"After the Li Pavilion is completed, we'll continue to build the harbor. We'll try to accommodate more ships."
"The Harbor Warden will collect taxes from foreign ships. It's not good to talk about taxes to outsiders, but it's more appropriate to talk about docking fees."
"The Warehouse Warden will be the warehouse manager."
"The Medical Officer will be the doctor."
"As for the ships, all of them will be owned by the public. They will be half-military and half-commercial. The captain, chief officer, second officer and third officer will be appointed. They must be from the Li Pavilion, and will be given a share of the profits. A portion of the profits will be given to the public, while the other portion will be given to the captain, chief officer, second officer and third officer."
"Young Chieftain, if we do this, we'll need more than a hundred people!" He Qing Qing was the leader of the village, and thus understood these things. She was a little suspicious, "We only have a few hundred people. Isn't this a little too much?"
"Just farming and tending to the cows and sheep would be too much."
"But we have two sources of income."
"Firstly, with the expansion of the sea trade, there will be more and more ships. Although our Golden Island isn't big, it's an important transit point. I was the one who suggested the establishment of the Ying Zhou City Shipping Department. The fees we collect here are just to maintain our expenses. Our main focus is on consumption and trade."
"Consumption and trade?" He Qing Qing didn't understand.
Pei Zi Yun pointed to the town below, "This town isn't far from the harbor. It's only a few hundred meters away. We can build inns, hotels, medicine shops, pawnshops, etc."
"When the ships arrive here, we'll need fresh water, food, wine and lodging."
"Although we're not pirates, we can still purchase some dirty goods at a low price and sell them to our fleet."
"In addition to our own trade, we should be able to support a hundred people. In fact, we can even support two to three hundred people. All of these can be included in the plan."
"These are the expenses for the early stages of development. You can use the gold that I've brought over."
He Qing Qing thought for some time before nodding her head, "I understand. I'll handle it in a while."
"There's no rush. Let's take it slow. One by one. It's just a small island after all. It won't take too much time. One to two years should be enough."
Pei Zi Yun stood up and took a few steps before turning around. He had a cold smile on his face as he spoke in a low voice, "We have no intentions of rebelling. However, if we don't set up rules, you'll realize that after a few decades, we'll be like scattered sand."
"You must remember, wealth doesn't last more than three generations, while rules can last for five to ten generations!"
Pei Zi Yun understood this all too well. If he didn't do this, and relied solely on his wealth, the Pei family would be able to maintain their position within the next one or two generations. However, after three generations, someone else would rise up and take over the Pei family's position.
Now that he had established rules and order, there would be people to protect them. Unless they were destroyed by external forces, or if they couldn't survive, they would be able to survive for a long time.
Thinking up to this point, his Yin Master looked down the mountain. Originally, there were traces of white mist around the mountain, and a faint red mist around the mansion. As he thought of this, the white mist around the mansion became denser.
Pei Zi Yun laughed out and thought to himself, 'I can't beat the High Scholar, but I have three hundred households that can beat the number of High Scholars. Things are different now. According to the rules of the dynasty, a hundred households will be given the title of Prince, three hundred households will be given the title of Son, six hundred households will be given the title of Earl, one thousand households will be given the title of Marquis, and two thousand households will be given the title of Duke. My Golden Island can be considered a Viscount's property.'
Just as he was thinking about this, his eyes lit up. A small white Plum Blossom appeared in front of him. It grew bigger and bigger until it became a translucent information interface. It floated in front of him, and a few words appeared.
"Yin Master: Third Level (101.5% Completed)"
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