On the 23rd of April, the army returned to Shanhai Town with nearly five thousand captives.
When they evacuated from the valley of the Swift Wind Tribe, there was a small incident. When the Great Shaman of the Swift Wind Tribe learned that their tribe had been conquered, he did not want to be captured and committed suicide by poison in the ancestral temple.
Hearing the news of the Great Shaman's suicide, the Swift Wind Tribe was in an uproar again. It looked like the Mountain Barbarians were going to rise up again. In order to appease these mountain barbarians, and at the same time considering the impact on the surrounding mountain barbarian tribes, Ouyang Shuo specially stayed in the valley for another day to hold the great shaman's funeral. This action, to a large extent, removed the hatred that the ordinary mountain barbarians of the Swift Wind Tribe had for Shanhai Town.
Just as Ge Hongliang had expected, after learning that the Swift Wind Tribe had been conquered by the army from Shanhai Town within a day, the surrounding two medium-sized tribes and six small tribes immediately sent people to contact the Great Sorcerer of the Mystic Bird Tribe, hoping that he would mediate and express their goodwill.
Imperceptibly, the Mystic Bird Tribe replaced the Swift Wind Tribe and became the decision-maker in this area. This made the tribe leader Shi Xiong extremely pleased, he admired the Great Shaman's decision at that time. Seeing that Shi Xiong was getting carried away, the Grand Wizard had no choice but to come forward and remind him that the Mystic Bird Tribe's current status was all because of the Shanhai Town's support. He must not get carried away and neglect the other tribes, which would affect the Shanhai Town's plans.
With the Grand Warlock's reminder, Shi Xiong came to his senses. In order to express their gratitude to Shanhai Town, they sent two pairs of hummingbirds to show their respect. Ouyang Shuo was extremely satisfied with Shi Xiong's tactfulness. These hummingbirds were all given to the Military Intelligence Department by Ouyang Shuo. He also told Song San that if possible, it would be best to learn the secret method of breeding hummingbirds from the Mystic Bird Tribe and further expand the number of hummingbirds. These little things were secret weapons for collecting and transmitting intelligence. If used properly, they could rival a battalion.
After returning to Shanhai Town, the surviving six hundred members of the hunting squad were all disarmed and sent to serve in the iron mine for two years. After the end of his service, he would regain his status as a free citizen of Shanhai Town. In this way, the number of miners in the iron mine reached a thousand, and it was upgraded to a high-level iron mine. As the Armor Workshop and Bow and Crossbow Division gradually got on the right track, the demand for iron ore increased. This batch of captives could be put to good use.
These members of the hunting squad had their hands stained with the blood of the Mountain Sea Town's soldiers. Naturally, Ouyang Shuo wouldn't let them off so easily. Sending them to the iron mine was precisely to wear down their hostility and physical strength. He had specifically told the head of the iron mine that the conscripts only needed to have three meals a day to ensure that they had enough to eat. Of course, the most basic human rights were still required. They could not beat or scold them at will, otherwise, they would not be forgiven.
Previously, Ge Hongliang had even suggested to select a portion of these 600 people to replenish the infantry and city defense battalions, but it was rejected by Ouyang Shuo. In any case, with those new tribes expressing their goodwill, there was no need to worry about not having good quality infantry soldiers. There was no need to use these unstable elements.
The remaining four thousand people were arranged by Ouyang Shuo to go to the Northern Twilight Saltworks to begin the final phase of construction. After the completion, the Northern Twilight Salt Field will reach a saturated area of 10,000 mu. The sudden influx of 4,000 people directly pushed North Sea Town to the scale of a Level 3 Town. After the basic construction was completed, it could immediately be promoted.
Ouyang Shuo had also considered whether he should leave these 4,000 people in the Shanhai Town's base camp and use this to achieve the full population of 10,000 people. However, it was not a simple matter to promote to a Level 1 County. Firstly, the political, economic, cultural, and military index had to reach at least 45 points, and Shanhai Town already met the requirements.
More importantly, the feudal lord needed to apply to the system in advance to promote to a Level 1 County. After the basic conditions were met, the system would arrange for a large scale of bandits or bandits to attack the player's territory three days later. Only by successfully defending the territory would they be able to successfully promote.
This kind of application was not unlimited. If they failed, they could only apply again after half a month. If they failed three times in a row, then the territory would permanently lose the right to be promoted. Thus, Ouyang Shuo would not act rashly before making sufficient preparations.
After returning to the territory, Ouyang Shuo immediately summoned the Construction Division and the Carriage Office to make arrangements for the construction of the military horse farm in the valley. In addition to being responsible for repairing the road from the Black Bird Tribe to Gale Valley, the Construction Division also had to modify the existing buildings in the valley according to the Carriage Office's requirements. Some buildings that could not be used were resolutely demolished. In addition, the checkpoint also had to be redesigned with a suspension bridge to increase its defensive capabilities.
Ouyang Shuo told Zhao Dewang to use as much of the Mountain Barbarians' labor force as possible. The Mountain Barbarians were absolutely willing as long as they were paid with food. Ouyang Shuo believed that after tasting the sweetness, the tribes would gradually eliminate their resistance towards Shanhai Town and work with the town wholeheartedly.
After resting for three days, Ouyang Shuo began to make adjustments to the camps. The City Defense Division occupied the high class camp in the city and officially took over the responsibility of defending the city. The Construction Division built another high class camp twenty miles west of the city and handed it over to the infantry camp. It was called the West Camp. The West Camp was located between the border of the territory and the headquarters, in charge of the security of the territory in the west. The west was where the main industries outside of the city were concentrated. Most of the mines, factories, and settlements were concentrated there.
As for the cavalry camp, they were officially transferred to Friendship Town. Friendship Town built a high class camp ten miles north of the city for the cavalry camp. It was called the North Camp. The North Camp was like a nail pierced deep into the grasslands at the center of the valley, in charge of monitoring the nomadic tribes' every move.
The day before the cavalry camp left, Ouyang Shuo called Lin Yi to his office and the two talked the whole afternoon. Other than Ge Hongliang, who was present at the time, no one else knew the specifics of the conversation.
On the eve of Labor Day, several happy events happened in Shanhai Town.
Through the recruitment center, Ouyang Shuo recruited a high class Daoist. His name was Ge Yan, forty-two years old, and he looked like a sage. It was said that he was the descendant of Ge Hong from Eastern Jin. Not only was the man proficient in Daoist scriptures, but he was also a refiner and a master of medicine. He did have some of the elegance of Celestial Master Ge Hong.
Ge Daozhang didn't choose to build a temple in the city. Instead, he used three to four days to walk around the territory. In the end, he chose a small hill ten miles west of the city. The scenery there was beautiful, and it was a rare place. Feng Shui was mysterious, and Ge Daozhang was a master himself. There was a reason why he chose a place like this, and Ouyang Shuo didn't mind.
The temple was a cultural building, and it helped raise the territory's culture index. As a result, Ouyang Shuo didn't take a single cent from the construction division and told them to build it according to Ge Daozhang's requirements. After the temple was built, with Ge Daozhang's help, the territory's culture index was directly raised by five points.
After the temple was built, Ge Daozhang named it Qingyang Temple. He recruited two servants in the city, selected four orphans, and took them in as Daoist children. Then, he left leisurely.
The other two buildings in the third-grade town, the pawnshop and the inn, had been built long ago. With the current situation in Shanhai Town, with the low-interest loans provided by the Bank of the Four Seas, the pawnshop was basically a decoration. Moreover, the residents of Shanhai Town were basically refugees. They didn't have anything valuable that could be pawned in the pawnshop. Helplessly, the finance department arranged for a shopkeeper to temporarily take over the pawnshop.
It was the same for the inn. Shanhai Town was still a closed territory. No outsiders came to the town, and naturally, there were no guests staying in the inn. It was an overestimation to say that it was deserted. Therefore, no one was willing to take over the inn. Helplessly, the finance department could only temporarily manage it.
To Ouyang Shuo's surprise, the jewelry shop didn't open after it was built. After learning about the situation, Ouyang Shuo specially went to find out the reason. When the truth was revealed, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
It turned out that the territory didn't lack goldsmiths and silversmiths. The problem was that these craftsmen had skills, but they didn't have such a strong capital. In ancient times, metal jewelry was generally divided into three materials: gold, silver, and copper. All of these required high purity gold, silver, and copper. Shanhai Town had just solved the problem of food and clothing, so no one had the ability to do so.
After learning about the situation, Ouyang Shuo immediately decided that the Lord's Mansion would take over the jewelry shop, and the profits would be used for the Lord's Mansion's daily expenses. Ouyang Shuo immediately put in 100 gold coins. Through the magical function of the storage bag, they turned into pieces of high purity gold, silver, and copper ingots.
Because the jewelry shop belonged to the Lord's Mansion, Ouyang Shuo specially selected a shopkeeper to be in charge of the jewelry shop. With Ying You's recommendation, he chose Ying You's maid, Si Qin, to be in charge of this matter. Si Qin had been by Ying You's side for a period of time. Under her influence, she also learned a lot about business. Ouyang Shuo was relieved to let her take care of the jewelry shop.
Another good news was about the colorful silkworms. After nearly two months of cultivation, the colorful silkworm breeding was finally on the right track. As Ouyang Shuo expected, the first piece of silk made from the colorful silk was certified as the territory's specialty by the System, and could be sold through the general store. In this way, Shanhai Town suddenly had three territorial specialties: Three Flower Wine, White Ginseng Tea, and the colorful silk.
As the saying goes, the rarer something is, the greater its value. A piece of colorful silk was sold for an astonishing 10 gold coins. It became the third golden chicken in Shanhai Town that could lay eggs. After Ouyang Shuo received the news, he immediately decided to expand the scale of the colorful silkworm breeding. The finance department directly provided a low-interest loan of 200 gold coins to upgrade the entire textile industry chain. In this process, the Textile Association gradually began to play its role.
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