Chapter 1067: The Canceled Second Place

Being able to play like this was not only because the Yangshan Islands' resource endowment was outstanding, but also showed that He He Lingchuan's efforts were beginning to see results. Most importantly, he gained things more important than money: population, labor, and an army.

There was also a system that was running more and more smoothly and efficiently.

During the palm harvesting season, the number of people on the Yangshan Islands exceeded ten thousand. They saw with their own eyes and experienced for themselves the life on the island, and were convinced that this place was no longer troubled by evil spirits.

The Yangshan Islands offered them favorable conditions; as long as they rented land on the island, there were tax and housing discounts.

At this time, the war between Does Bailie and Ya Country hadn't ended, and the turbulent situation and severe taxes made many commoners/refugees yearn for a quiet and secluded life.

Therefore, after the palm season ended, nearly five thousand foreign laborers chose to stay on the island, most of whom brought their families.

This number far exceeded He He Lingchuan's estimate.

After all, the Yangshan Islands were working hard to develop and build big, and everyone could find work.

In this world, if you have work to do and can make money, and your wife and children can be full, most people are satisfied.

As for the army, with pirates and Bailong people as the foundation, He He Lingchuan tightened the recruitment conditions, selecting the strong to record, but the number soon exceeded 2,300.

The Other Rongshan people led by Qiu Hu stepped up the training

He He Lingchuan, following the precedents of Panlong City and Yuheng City, introduced a reward system to the Yangshan Guard. Contestants who win or take the lead in drills, confrontations, competitions, and partial actual combat will receive generous rewards.

He He Lingchuan himself came from the Panlong Patrol and rose through the ranks by relying on military merit; he was well-versed in the design of this system and could implement it without much effort.

As for the rewards, it was even easier; besides cultivation techniques, gold and silver, grain, elixirs, and materials, they could also exchange for blind boxes.

Recently, the salvage team has been finding all kinds of trinkets from shipwrecks and pirate treasures in the sea area. He He Lingchuan found auctioning these scraps too troublesome, so he simply threw them into the military merit system to enrich the prize pool. When everyone exchanged for blind boxes, they were guaranteed to get at least a little gold and silver, and sometimes they could even open up magic tools and jewelry; the main draw was the dazzling variety.

He He Lingchuan's original intention was to save himself some money, but who knew that as soon as this thing was launched, everyone went crazy for it. Some people wouldn't exchange for anything else, saving their military merits day after day just to wait to exchange for blind boxes.

Gambling nature; there is a gambling nature buried in human nature.

Qiu Hu was helpless and could only stipulate that each person could only exchange for one box every half month, so as not to put the cart before the horse.

He He Lingchuan, Qiu Hu, and the others all knew clearly that training the team and improving combat power were the top priorities.

The wealthier the Yangshan Archipelago becomes, the more people will be jealous. Only by possessing the ability to defend and counterattack sooner will they be safer.

When He He Lingchuan traveled across the ocean to get here, he only had a mere dozen people with him; a few months later, the permanent residents of the Yangshan Archipelago, plus the army, have already reached nearly eight thousand people.

Starting from nothing has always been the hardest part.

The life and production of these thousands of people, the development of the Yangshan Archipelago's products, and foreign economic and trade exchanges all require specialized personnel to manage.

The makeshift team he assembled is also rapidly grinding, growing, and strengthening.

These are not things that can be exchanged for mere gold and silver, but they are important links in his future vision.

Therefore, not losing money this autumn and winter is a huge profit.

Now, besides money, he is most urgently lacking only one thing:

Talent.

His business will definitely spread wider and wider, and the affairs that need to be managed will become more and more numerous; the few people under his command are simply not enough. Therefore, He He Lingchuan needs talent from all walks of life; not only must they be experienced and capable of getting things done, but they must also be young! The Yangshan Archipelago is in a period of rising development; what it needs is not stability and comfort, but vigor, sharpness, and drive.

In He He Lingchuan's words, it means being able to work overtime until late at night and still come to work full of energy when the rooster crows the next day.

Where can one find such talent?

Ding Ding Zuodong went to ask the proprietor this question, but He He Lingchuan waved his hand: "I have already widely distributed invitations to heroes, looking for some old acquaintances to come and help."

After thinking it over, it had to be the many Imperial Academy students he befriended when he traveled through Between Beijia! The Lingxu City Imperial Academy and other institutions attract students from all over the world. Among them, students from the Mou Kingdom and other small and medium-sized countries account for more than half.

He He Lingchuan was careful to select them at the time, and now this favor is finally going to come in handy.

I hope his drunken dreams and lavish spending at the time were worth it.

……

On the same day, Fang Fang Canran entrusted someone to send a piece of intelligence to He He Lingchuan—now, he is an important source of information for the Yangshan Archipelago.

He He Lingchuan scanned the intelligence with his eyes and quickly relayed it to the spider demon sisters: "Good news, good news, super good news! Big Sister, Second Sister, your Heavenly Ranking wanted posters have been canceled!"

Before the spider demon sisters could react, Dong Rui's voice rang out first: "Huh? When did this happen?"

"The first-hand news just came from the west..." He He Lingchuan frowned, "You have a perfectly good Alfalfa Island to stay on, why did you run to Pan Si Island?"

This guy occupies a huge island all by himself, and He He Lingchuan even sent a few attendants to be his apprentices and help him out.

"I came here to drink tea and visit, is that not allowed?"

"..." There is tea to drink in Zhu Yao Erniang's cave? Who makes it? "I'm looking for Yao Erniang for some materials for research." Dong Rui quickly cut back to the topic, "You said the Heavenly Ranking wanted list removed Yao Erniang's name?"

"Yes, it was canceled about a month ago."

Dong Rui laughed out loud immediately, but Zhu Daniang was a little depressed: "Just like that, removed from the list?"

It was originally second on the Heavenly Ranking, which was quite glorious to talk about; now the title is gone just like that.

Dong Rui laughed until he couldn't close his mouth.

He had been on Between Beijia's wanted list before, but later State Preceptor Frost Leaf helped him clear his name, and he became a commoner.

The two guys beside him are first and second on the Heavenly Ranking, and he is very unhappy about it.

Now it's fine, Zhu Yao Erniang has also been removed from the list, just like him.

He He Lingchuan said leisurely: "Only the first on the list is here, standing tall and unfallen."

Zhu Yao Erniang couldn't hide its contempt: "What's there to be proud of! Between Beijia revoked the pursuit, isn't that great news?"

It really doesn't understand the thought process of these three guys.

And it also has doubts: "Could there be a trick? Is Between Beijia trying to make us lower our guard?"

He He Lingchuan smiled: "The possibility is very small."

Zhu Daniang interjected: "You beat up Yu Yu Zecheng's subordinates, why did Between Beijia cancel our wanted list instead?"

It can't figure out the logic behind this no matter what.

If it had known Between Beijia liked being abused so much, it would have taken action sooner.

"It probably doesn't intend to pursue it anymore." He He Lingchuan analyzed, "Anyway, they can't catch us."

Dong Rui also felt it was unbelievable: "Is it that flexible? Don't they want their face anymore?"

"State methods can also be very flexible, as long as they want to." He He Lingchuan shrugged, "Keeping Zhu Yao Erniang on the list for a long time, and in such a high position, will only make them more embarrassed. It's rumored outside that Between Beijia can't exert its strength now; what to do if the first and second on the list are hung up every year but can't be caught? It's better to just revoke it; this is called being pragmatic."

Zhu Yao Erniang asked: "Does this mean we are all safe? Between Beijia doesn't intend to do anything to you anymore?"

"At least for a short time, that's the case." He He Lingchuan said solemnly, "I don't know how State Preceptor Frost Leaf did it, but he managed it. This revocation of the wanted list can be seen as Between Beijia believing your statement and not intending to take action against you or the Yangshan Archipelago for the time being."

Although Zhao Linyang was in charge of internal affairs, he had to temporarily lead the East City military affairs at this time; how could he ignore such a good opportunity?

But He He Lingchuan immediately added: "But the crisis is not over yet; this news only means Between Beijia can't be bothered to pay attention to us."

Zhu Daniang asked curiously: "Who else are you wary of?"

This kid is fearless, even daring to offend Between Beijia; who else would he take seriously?

"State Preceptor Frost Leaf."

When this name was spoken, everyone fell silent.

He He Lingchuan schemed against State Preceptor Frost Leaf; wouldn't the other party hold it against him?

￥￥￥￥￥

After another period of time, a servant came to report:

"Suoding Island is currently hosting two distinguished guests, surnamed Dou, who say they came from afar in response to your invitation."

He He Lingchuan's spirits lifted: "The Dou brothers are here?"

Ding Ding Zuodong naturally didn't know who those people were, while the Soul-Absorbing Mirror let out a long "Oh": "It's them, huh?"

Its memory is very good.

He He Lingchuan went to the supply station to welcome them in person, but after circling twice, he couldn't find them, and finally saw the Dou brothers in the cafeteria.

Both were tall and thin, in their twenties, and their faces were somewhat similar.

One was eating yellow croaker noodles, while the other was focused on dealing with mackerel dumplings.

He He Lingchuan walked over quickly and cupped his fists first: "Oh, distinguished guests have arrived! Long time no see, you two!"

"Brother He!" As soon as the two saw He He Lingchuan, they dropped their chopsticks and stood up, returning the salute.

He He Lingchuan said enthusiastically: "We haven't seen each other for more than a year, have you two been well?"

These two brothers were friends he made while traveling in Lingxu City, Dou Dou Wenguan and Dou Dou Wuxing, who were also students of the Lingxu Imperial Academy, but came from the Shahe River Basin near the Mou Kingdom.

He He Lingchuan had gone on outings and gatherings with them no less than four times, so he knew these two relatively well.

He had always remembered these two brothers, and when he asked someone to inquire, eh? The Dou brothers had already returned to Shahe.

So he immediately wrote a letter, inviting them to "come and help," and the wording was quite earnest.

The letter was sent out and sank like a stone in the ocean; he originally thought the Dou brothers didn't want to come and planned to invite them again during the New Year, but who knew...

Dou Dou Wuxing was busy chewing on something and didn't reply. He was a dull and introverted person, and He He Lingchuan didn't take it to heart. Dou Dou Wenguan laughed: "Thanks to you, thanks to you! Just like that, muddling through the days."

His answer was measured. He He Lingchuan said they were distinguished guests, but the two brothers were actually coming to rely on He He Lingchuan. If they said they were doing well, why would they come to the Yangshan Archipelago?

He patted the noodle bowl: "Have you eaten the yellow croaker noodles from this place yourself, Boss He? The taste is very fresh." The best part is that it only costs five copper coins.

The portion is large and the taste is delicious; the cost-performance ratio is there.

"How could I not? This cook was poached by me from a small tavern in Blade Harbor, and he has been making yellow croaker noodles for twenty-five years. Within a hundred miles, no one makes a broth fresher than his!"

Thanks to book friend 20221230115407475 for the reward.

(End of chapter)