Chapter 947: Old Friends

Ding Zuodong smiled bitterly: "According to what you said, except for mining, shipbuilding, and casting weapons, everything has to be done."

Isn't that so?

"You estimate, how many more people do we lack?"

"Before you subdued the Yin Serpents and the Third Island pirates, we started recruiting, but no one was optimistic about us, and there were few responses; once the news of your great power spread, I estimate we can recruit more people."

"Now we lack manpower for palm oil extraction and farming the most; most of the farm workers we hired are whole families, but it's still not enough." Young and strong climb trees to cut ears, old and weak pick fruit and extract oil, and the whole family can collect wages. "It would be best to have three or four thousand more people, at least two thousand one or two hundred."

"The ship workers and laborers in Blade Harbor have almost been recruited by us, right?"

Ding Zuodong nodded repeatedly: "Isn't that so? There is no one left on the pier."

Even if Blade Harbor is a big port, it is very difficult to gather so many laborers in a short time.

"I will tell the pirates on the island to go back to their own villages and find people to work." He Lingchuan thought for a moment. "Most of them have roots."

He had wiped out bandits in Red Cliff Road and Longchuan, and knew very well the intricate connection between bandits and local people. Pirates should be no exception.

If the fat water doesn't flow to outsiders' fields, pirates should also be very willing to find work for their fellow villagers.

He Lingchuan snapped his fingers: "Also, go to Bailie to recruit people, as many as possible, just say that the land rent here is halved for the first ten years! Later, grain prices will be purchased at a favorable price."

Afterwards, he took out a storage ring from his bosom and handed it to Ding Zuodong: "This is Yue Pinghe's private legacy; you can use the silver notes in it for the account first, and find someone to sell other things."

Yue Pinghe's family wealth was hidden in three storage rings, and after he was beheaded, the legacy was inherited by He Lingchuan. Although there were no so-called thirty or fifty thousand, there were more than two thousand silver notes, and some magic treasures and sundries, which could also be exchanged for money if sold.

Sure enough, killing and arson make money fast; no wonder pirates love to do business without capital.

Ding Zuodong was not polite, took it and put it away. What thing that the master wants to do doesn't cost money?

This supplement from Yue Pinghe came just in time.

It happened that He Lingchuan asked again: "How much has been spent recently?"

"Recent expenses are like running water; building houses, renting ships, buying various production materials, more than 10,000 taels have been spent." Ding Zuodong calculated the account for him. "We recruited mostly short-term and urgent workers, and the price is originally higher than ordinary labor. If we can recruit seven or eight thousand people, including wages, food, and other expenses, such as injury medicine, pensions, and material losses, we have to spend at least a thousand taels of silver every day. There are also the Rongshan people under your command, the pirates, and those of us who manage the work, which is also an expense."

Just the pirates have six or seven hundred people; they have to receive wages after turning into archipelago guards. How can those who hold swords and guns not have higher salaries than those who hold hoes and shovels? The base salary for each person is at least five taels; the salaries of Qiu Hu, Ding Zuodong, and others are higher. Adding these together, and mixing in some miscellaneous items, another five thousand taels go out every month.

He Lingchuan smiled bitterly. A cost of 35,000 a month, he still has to be happy, still has to hope that this money can be spent, because that represents that the farm workers can be recruited.

Sure enough, everything is difficult at the beginning.

The more than 240,000 taels of silver in his pocket sounds very generous, but how long can it last?

Fortunately, after the palm harvest season, the archipelago won't need so much manpower.

However, He Lingchuan has other plans later, which are more money-burning and more wasteful.

So... poor! But he still has to be indifferent on the surface: "Those are all small things. General Manager, is your manpower enough?"

"Not enough." Ding Zuodong has been lacking sleep these days, with two big dark circles, but his spirit is strangely good.

He Lingchuan got a headache the moment he saw the list, so he immediately thought of a way to slack off: "Why not organize a test!"

"A test?"

"You and I will both come up with some questions, and we'll have them gather for a unified exam. Those who perform well and get high scores will be retained." He Lingchuan said resentfully, "It saves us from interviewing them one by one; neither of us has the time."

He would test these people the same way Master Sun tested him. He couldn't be the only one to taste this kind of suffering.

Ding Zuodong nodded: "This is a good method. Shall you and I each come up with three questions?"

He Lingchuan naturally had no objections.

Ding Zuodong added: "You will also need several master builders to plan the island's zoning and the layout of the buildings on the island. But I'm afraid Blade Harbor doesn't have such talent."

Master builders? Isn't that just urban planners? He Lingchuan scratched his head; he—well, he didn't know how.

But this was not the most urgent matter at the moment.

At this time, Min Tianxi also came over to report a problem: "Young Master, the farmers are all unwilling to go to Dragon Spine Island. They fear the baleful energy and the Earthly Yin Qi, and no matter how we explain it, it's useless."

Blade Harbor had long-term and short-term laborers out of work all year round, commonly known as unemployed labor; as long as they were paid, they would do any job. But the Yangshan Archipelago had a notorious reputation, and although there had been much discussion recently, everyone was still suspicious of the former no-man's-land, fearing they would earn money but have no life to spend it.

This kind of suspicion could only be worn down by time.

"What about increasing the pay?"

"The wages have been increased by thirty percent, but fewer than a hundred people are willing to go to the island." Min Tianxi asked, "How about we add a bit more?"

Ding Zuodong objected: "Once these hundred or so people who go to the island return safely several times, the others will naturally know that Dragon Spine Island is not dangerous."

"Doesn't that take time?" Right now, what they lacked most was time and manpower.

The two looked at He Lingchuan together, waiting for his decision.

He Lingchuan rubbed his eyes. Ever since he became the "Island Master," he had to face these trivial, endless chores every day.

Alas, the joy of being alone in the past was gone forever.

However, before he could speak, Zhu Xiuer suddenly appeared outside the window, her massive figure blocking the light shining in from outside: "My sister has arrived."

The spider demon sisters shared a telepathic connection, and Zhu Xiuer could know her sister's location in real-time.

"Erniang is here?" He Lingchuan asked casually, then suddenly gave a start and stood up with a jolt, "Erniang is here!"

Erniang?

Seeing his joyful expression, the other two were full of question marks.

Zhu Xiuer was a spider demon, so Erniang should also be a great demon? He Lingchuan couldn't be bothered to explain to them and flew out like the wind.

To avoid causing panic, Zhu Erniang did not enter Blade Harbor but stopped in the western suburbs of the port.

When He Lingchuan arrived, a row of giant spider demons emerged from the uninhabited dense forest, each one larger and more ferocious than the last.

The largest one was at least twice the size of Zhu Xiuer.

Not to mention Min Tianxi, Huang Zhao, and the others who were dumbfounded, even the Rongshan disciples felt their scalps tingle when they saw so many prehistoric giant demons lining up to come out.

How could Young Master He always make friends with prehistoric giant demons? First, he easily signed an agreement with the King of Earthly Yin Qi, and now so many big guys had come to join him.

Dragons associate with dragons, and phoenixes associate with phoenixes; Young Master He, who could be friends with prehistoric great demons, was definitely no ordinary person.

"Erniang!" He Lingchuan opened his arms and greeted her, his face full of the joy of a long-awaited reunion.

Zhu Erniang just watched him act out quietly: If you have the guts, come up and hug me.

Sure enough, He Lingchuan stopped in front of the spider demon's dense, sharp spikes and said resentfully, "Why is Erniang so cold?"

"You recognized the wrong one." Zhu Xiuer stretched out a claw and pointed to another spider demon on the side, "This is my sister."

Everyone: "..."

These spider demons looked like they were carved from the same mold, with only differences in size. But the last two were almost identical, so it was no wonder Young Master He recognized the wrong one.

He Lingchuan turned to Zhu Erniang, still full of enthusiasm: "Erniang, I've missed you to death!"

Zhu Erniang said unhurriedly: "You're in trouble again?"

Amazing! Everyone secretly gave a thumbs up; this great demon seemed to know Young Master He very well.

"What trouble could there be!" He Lingchuan laughed, "It's nothing more than some sweet troubles."

Zhu Erniang cut straight to the point: "Sister said you prepared a new home for me?"

Otherwise, it had already settled down in the canyon in the eastern part of the Mou Kingdom; why would it travel thousands of miles to join He Lingchuan? It was all because Zhu Xiuer had strongly encouraged it, claiming that the environment here was first-class and most suitable for burrowing spiders to build nests.

"Exactly!" He Lingchuan pointed to the seaside, "Please board the ship; we'll talk as we go."

It was by the sea here, but there was no pier, and the six large ships were moored below a cliff nearly three zhang high.

He Lingchuan chose this desolate place to meet because he didn't want to attract the attention of idlers.

Fortunately, everyone had cultivation, so climbing down the cliff was a piece of cake. The spider demon sisters and the spider molts descended along the cliff even more easily, as if walking on flat ground.

He Lingchuan knew very well how Zhu Erniang moved, knowing that all its thousands of descendants were stuffed into the spider molts, and each hill-like spider molt had almost the weight of a small hill. Therefore, he had called for so many large ships, with each ship carrying only one giant spider.

Zhu Erniang took one look and said: "Your ships are too small. The large ship I took from White Sand Bay to here was three times the size of your ships!"

"What's the rush?" He Lingchuan had plenty of patience, "There will be even larger ships in the future."

The giant cargo ships Zhu Erniang mentioned would also be used by the Yangshan Archipelago to transport goods in the future.

The sea ships set sail, heading downwind into the depths of the Yangshan Archipelago.

About half a shichen later, the ships docked, and everyone disembarked one after another.

"This is the island I reserved for you sisters—Silk-Spinning Island." He Lingchuan led the guests around, explaining diligently.

This island was renamed specifically for the spider demon sisters; it was located in the northwest of the main island, Dragon Spine Island, about two quarters of an hour's boat ride from the main island, making it very convenient to send messages back and forth. But there were two small islands between Silk-Spinning Island and Dragon Spine Island, so they could not see each other.

This ensured the privacy of the spider demon's territory.

The island's area was about four hundred qing, making it the fourth-largest island in the Yangshan Archipelago.

(End of chapter)