Chapter Twenty-Four: A Glimpse from Afar

  Yiling warehouse has now become a large construction site. According to the warehouse management regulations, the current warehouse is undergoing large-scale renovation: purchasing more land, planning new functional areas, building more houses, and preparing for the opening of wine shops... Lin Deshao was busy running around in circles, fortunately Zhou Feng and Wang Er could help out, otherwise it would have been paralyzed. Li Chongde has already been transferred by Lin Chunhong to be in charge of document work and scheduling.

  "King Two, are the thirty beams we need ready?" Lin Deshao wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked King Two.

  "I went to Baili Island and got Manager Zheng to agree that he would definitely transport it over within three days." Wang Er's usual careless and sloppy demeanor had disappeared, replaced by a more serious and steady appearance.

  Lin Deshao asked again: "Little Feng, how much silver can Old Master Lin allocate to us? The newly purchased land has already cost a fortune, and we are now short of silver."

  "I've spoken to Li Xiuciai, and he said that no matter how much silver is needed, the key is to report the budget according to the warehouse management regulations, and after auditing, it will be allocated." Zhou Feng replied.

  Lin De said with a scratch of his head, "I can barely recognize a few characters, I understand what you're saying, but I don't know how to make a budget, this is something you should do."

  Zhou Feng smiled and said: "Shao Shu, rest assured, I'll take care of this. However, I don't know how much to pay the workers when hiring them, you need to guide me on that."

  "No problem, you have any questions just come ask me, get the budget done and tell me about it, then report to Li Xiuzai. Ah, Xiao Feng, not being able to read is really a big problem, that stinky little Wang Er learned faster than me, even Xing Er recognizes more characters than I do, how embarrassing."

  Wang Er said with a smile: "I studied in a private school for two years when I was young, if my father hadn't died early, maybe I would have been a scholar too."

  Zhou Feng glared at Wang Er and said, "You're so pleased with yourself, you get flattered by a single compliment. You can't even do math properly, not even half as good as Shao Shu!"

  It's also strange that Zhou Feng is a virtuous and gentle girl in front of others, but in front of Lin Chunhong and Wang Er, she becomes a fierce tigress, making people laugh. Wang Er stuck out his tongue and made a ghost face, no longer speaking. Wang Er is now very comfortable, not collecting protection fees, doing business, and the neighbors are gradually no longer afraid of him. Occasionally, some bold people even joke with him, and some shop owners usually respectfully call him "Boss Wang". He enjoys this feeling and cherishes his current life. Recognizing characters is important, so he studies with Lin Deshao and several others, living a fulfilling life, and feeling at ease in his heart.

  Although scolded by Zhou Feng, Wang Er also had his own measure and still said what he should say: "Director Lin, Brother Li said that in the past few days, there have been three suspicious people lurking around the construction site, asking many people about our warehouse. I'm worried that these three people are related to Ma Si, so I arranged for Brother Li to follow them for a few days, but it seems they have nothing to do with Ma Si. What do you think we should do about this?"

  Zhou Fengyi listened and became interested, saying: "Three people? No matter what they want to do, we'll bring a few people to catch them first!"

  Lin De Shao hesitated for a moment, shook his head and said: "It's not good, they may not necessarily want to do anything, maybe just curious, it's not good to catch people casually. Wang Er, you send a few brothers to follow him, if there's anything, tell me in time."

  Wang Er nodded in agreement. Now Lin Deshao arranged for Wang Er to be in charge of procurement and security, while Zhou Feng was responsible for finance and other matters. According to the regulations, many people were still lacking, and Lin Deshao couldn't find suitable people for a while, so he had to do many things himself.

  The three men were Zhang Zhao, Zhao Hehai and others. Li Mengshen was injured in the leg and was recuperating in his old nest. Zhang Zhao is now investigating to see how far Lin Chunhong's things can go and whether it is worth bringing his brothers to join him. The first stop was the warehouse of Yiling State. After entering Yiling, he soon discovered that there were followers behind him. Zhang Zhao was initially very nervous, worried that they were officials, but later found out that they were warehouse staff and put his mind at ease, secretly admiring the vigilance of the warehouse. Zhang Zhao and others found that the warehouse in Yiling is not only operating normally but also expanding, after expansion, it will be divided into storage area, handicraft area, grain and oil area, clothing area, miscellaneous goods area... This is not a warehouse, it's simply the commercial district of Yiling! Zhang Zhao thought: When the warehouse develops, won't one-fourth of Yiling State's territory be controlled by Lin Chunhong? Even the prices of goods in Yiling State may be manipulated by the warehouse.

  This is the situation where the warehouse was not disturbed, as the saying goes, the county magistrate who broke the house and the governor who destroyed the door, as long as the government interfered slightly, Lin Chunhong would probably lose his investment. Now Zhang Zhao somewhat understands why Lin Chunhong spent several hundred taels of silver to buy a small official position, after entering the official circle, he had connections, and was familiar with the intricacies of the matter. Thinking again about those three or four hundred fully armed guards, they looked like seasoned veterans who had been through battles, where did Lin Chunhong get so many armor and strong bows from? Where did he fight a war? Having this force is no different from plotting rebellion, could it be that Lin Chunhong wanted to use the patrol as a cover for his purpose of raising private soldiers? Furthermore, Lin Chunhong was desperately recruiting himself, with Lin Chunhong's financial resources and status, as long as he didn't do anything particularly out of line, wouldn't the Yangtze River waterway be under his control?

  Zhang Zhaoyue felt more and more shocked, thinking it was necessary to go to Qingjiang to see what Lin Chunhong had done there. He didn't want to delay for a moment, so he immediately discussed with Zhao Hehai and others about going to Qingjiang. Zhao Hehai only mentioned one thing: they had been followed for several days, so it would be better to give a shout to avoid being underestimated by Lin Chunhong. This proposal was approved by Zhang Zhaoyue.

  Zhang Zhao and the other two people wandered around the warehouse, entered a alley in Yiling City, and dodged back and forth. The person following them was panting, and if they weren't careful, they would lose track of them. While looking around, someone suddenly patted their shoulder, and the person tailing them saw that it was Zhang Zhao and the other two, and was shocked to the point of being stunned. Their feet had already frozen in place, unable to take a step.

  Zhang Zhaosheng said, "Not everyone can do surveillance. You three need to split up and assign each person a specific alleyway with a plan. Station someone at the critical intersections!"

  The three people standing at the end were speechless, Zhang Chao clenched his fist and said: "Please ask Lin Xun to ask for my well-being on my behalf." After finishing speaking, he left with Zhao Hehai and others.

  Zhang, Zhao and the other two stayed overnight in Yiling. The next morning, they set off for Geheyan. While they were still on the boat, someone on the dock shouted: "Are you Zhang brothers on the boat?"

  Zhang Zhao and the other two immediately picked up the wooden swords in the boat, on high alert. Zhang Zhao shouted: "Which brother is it on the shore?"

  "In the lower village, Guo Mingyan has come to welcome a few brothers." Zhang Zhao had heard of Guo Mingyan when he was in Yiling and saw that there were no people around him. He signaled to Zhao Heyi and others to put down their wooden swords. The three jumped ashore and exchanged pleasantries with Guo Mingyan. Zhang Zhao and the others couldn't understand why Guo Mingyan knew they were coming and couldn't help but ask.

  Guo Mingyan said: "Lin Xun inspected ten days ago and instructed us to welcome the three of them well. I also learned from Lin Deshao this morning that they would be coming this afternoon, so I've been waiting here." This made Zhang Chao and his two companions stunned. What they didn't know was that Lin Deshao had already reported their characteristics and actions, and Lin Chunhong guessed that it was indeed Zhang Chao and Zhao Hehai. Estimating that the three would come to Qingjiang after learning about him, he instructed Guo Mingyan to take good care of them.

  A group of people arrived at the Geheyan warehouse, where Guo Mingyan hosted a banquet for Zhang Zhao. During the meal, Guo Mingyan said: "To understand our business, apart from Geheyan, there are several places to visit, such as Yakou and Xiaowanzi, where we have warehouses. You can also visit Baiyadong and Sichuan Changguan's office, as we have more dealings with them."

  Kuo Ming-yen bluntly stated their purpose, making Zhang Zhao and others somewhat embarrassed. After all, inquiring about other people's affairs is also a shameful thing to do. Kuo Ming-yen seemed completely unbothered, chattering on: "The three of us from the Isolated River Rock saw it too - the wood was piled up like a mountain. Now those barbarians are desperately cutting down trees, and I don't have much silver on hand now. We're currently buying giant logs at two taels of silver each, with better quality wood having some markup depending on its thickness. What we lack now is a fleet of ships - so many goods and lumber can't be transported out."

  "Si Nan and Bai Ya Dong have been trading with us for a long time, now there are some small Tusi added, three of them arrived at the warehouse, you can see a group of people wearing red clothes, those barbarians like to wear red clothes when selling things."

  ……

  Zhang Zhao felt that Lin Chunhong had intentionally let them know so many things and had even sent Guo Mingyan to explain in detail. Zhang Zhao was already inclined to surrender to Lin Chunhong when he was in Yiling, and now that he had arrived at Qingjiang and heard Guo Mingyan's explanations, he had long since made up his mind. However, there were some things that he couldn't help but ask about, so he asked about the helmets and strong bows. Guo Mingyan didn't hide anything from him, explaining the origins of the weapons one by one, and also talked about the battles with the people of Sichuan and the secrets with the commander of the Great Field Garrison. He also told Zhang Zhao that among the more than 300 guards, apart from Han people, there were also barbarians from Baiyadong and a portion were military households from the Great Field Garrison. Zhang Zhao couldn't help but admire this, and fully recognized the importance of the Yangtze River waterway to Lin Chunhong. It could be said that if the waterway was cut off for one day, Lin Chunhong would lose a large amount of silver. For this reason, Zhang Zhao and others were not worried about their position in the Lin group after surrendering.

  Zhang Zhao and others did not hesitate, staying in Qingjiang for a few days before arriving at Baili Zhou to express their desire to surrender. Lin Chunhong was overjoyed and immediately ordered Zheng Tiancheng to hand over the transportation matters to Zhang Zhao and Li Mengshen, while sending Zhao Hehai and other strong pirates to join Zhou Wang's guard team to practice land warfare first. As for the other pirates, they were either dispersed or assigned to work as sailors. After all, with Zhang Zhao settled, there were no more pirate disturbances on the Yangtze River for the time being. As for the naval forces, according to Lin Chunhong, there were currently no ships, and new ones would be built before training began. The pirates' old ships were too small even for fishing, let alone for combat.

  According to Lin Chun-hong's arrangement, Zheng Tian-cheng handed over the warehouse to Lu Shi-yuan for management. Together with Li Chong-de, he was in charge of financial matters and also responsible for some document preparation and rule-making tasks. In short, they were Lin Chun-hong's think tank. Zheng Tian-cheng was very satisfied with this arrangement. He was originally short-handed and enjoyed accounting, so he worked with great enthusiasm.

  The area of Baili Zhou is over 200,000 mu, most of which are sandy beaches that are submerged in the summer and exposed in the winter. It was winter at the time, and Lin Chunhong and his party of more than 20 people galloped their horses on the beach, with the sound of horseshoes and shouts filling the air, and the dust raised by the horses' hooves was blown away instantly by the northwest wind. This is indeed "the cold wind is pleasant, the horse's hooves are urgent, one day to see the whole Baili Zhou". Originally, there were several people here who couldn't ride a horse, such as Zheng Tiancheng and Li Chongde, but they couldn't resist Lin Chunhong's persuasion, and they all learned to ride under the guidance of Zhou Wang. The horses were fine breeds from the Yellow River Delta, which Zhou Wang had managed to obtain through various means, and he had hired specialized grooms from the northwest to take care of them. He also collected a large number of ordinary horses from various places for the guards to ride and practice horse riding.

  A group of people slowed down their pace, advancing slowly, looking at the vast Yangtze River and the open sandy beach. Lin Chunhong couldn't help but loudly say to Zhang Zhao beside him: "Baili Zhou has 50,000 mu of arable land. As long as all of this is repaired with river embankments, blocking the summer floods, I estimate that there will be at least 150,000 mu of arable land. Haha, this silver is simply too valuable!"

  Li Chongde heard this, calculated silently for a moment, and shouted: "To repair the river embankment, it must be at least 100 li long. With at least 10,000 laborers working on it, it will take at least two years to complete. Moreover, work can only start in winter, as it cannot be done when flooded. Good heavens! How much silver will that require? At least 300,000 taels!"

  Three hundred thousand taels clearly intimidated everyone, all of whom said it was impossible to complete.

  Lin Chunhong smiled and said: "Thirty million taels is ten million mu more, three silver coins per mu, do you think it's a good deal?"

  Everyone heard this and thought it was a good deal. Zheng Tiancheng called out: "Where can we get 300,000 taels of silver now?"

  "Slowly but surely, we will get there." Lin Chunhong was full of passion and ambition.

  Chu Wen-shan used to be a mud-legged man, skilled in farm work. He said: "This account can't be calculated like this. This is all sandy land. Even if it's not flooded by water, no crops can grow here. It takes several years of renovation to become thin fields. This silver cannot be left uncalculated."

  Everyone nodded in agreement, looking at Lin Chunhong in unison. Lin Chunhong laughed and said: "Can't we grow flowers? How about cotton? Alfalfa can also be used as fodder for livestock. Tian Cheng, take note of this, find someone who is well-versed in water conservancy to estimate how to build the embankment, roughly how much it will cost, and also ask a few old farmers what to plant on sandy land, how to plant it, and sooner or later, this place will be all fertile fields!

  Everyone was moved by Lin Chunhong's heroic spirit and couldn't help but gallop their horses wildly, yes, things planned always excite people.

  Everyone arrived at Ba Mu Tan and took out dry rations, then ate a bit hastily with the water from their leather bags.

  Li Chongde stood on the Yangtze River for a long time, and couldn't help but recite: "The rolling Yangtze River flows eastward, its waves washing away heroes. Success or failure is all in vain, the green mountains remain, the sunset glows red several times. The white-haired fisherman stands on the riverbank, accustomed to watching the autumn moon and spring breeze. A jug of turbid wine brings joy to our reunion, and the countless events of past and present are all paid off in laughter."

  Everyone listened and couldn't help but sigh that the world is impermanent. The people here basically didn't know each other two or three years ago, now they are gathered together, waving their arms and shouting, it's a bit like asking the vast earth, who dominates the rise and fall.

  Lin Chunhong was the most moved, saying: "Yang Shen's 'Linjiang Xian' is low and majestic, with a heroic spirit, and in its excitement, it is subtle and rare. It's a pity that Yang Shen and his son were both famous ministers, but they ended up dying in exile, which is really a shame." After finishing speaking, he couldn't help but hum the tune of a later era, and everyone covered their ears, frowning and saying: "Where did you hear this tune from? It's terrible!"

  Lin Chunhong hastily stopped talking and asked, "There are still ships to be built on the Yangtze River. Zhang Zhao, what kinds of warships are there? Which one is better to build?"

  Zhang Zhao said: "If you want to talk about plundering, then the flat-bottomed warship is better, it's faster and doesn't require many people. If you want to form a battle array and contend for victory, you need to combine large and small ships, with the centipede ship as the main force, the dragon ship transmitting messages and luring the enemy, the flat-bottomed boat fighting in shallow water, and also supporting the centipede ship."

  "What is used on ships to strike down enemies?"

  "A ship fears fire, so use fire to attack first. Next, use firearms and bows and arrows. Then, use long spears. Finally, engage in close combat with swords. Firearms and bows and arrows can outrange the enemy, which is ideal. With the added speed and agility of the ship, it will be invincible on the Yangtze River."

  "I want to build a boat now, do you know any excellent carpenters?"

  "Hmm, I know quite a few of them, all in Jiangnan, none in Huguang. And they're all shipbuilders for the sea, not sure if they'd be willing to build river ships."

  "Alas, piles and piles of timber have been prepared long ago, it's a pity to leave them there without building a ship." Lin Chunhong sighed.

  "It's a pity that those giant trees are only suitable for making river boats." Zhang Zhao had already seen the giant trees on Baili Island, and they were all processed according to the standard for making sea-going ships, which was obvious at a glance.

  Lin Chunhong smiled and said: "First solve the current problem, talk about the sea ship later. You help me recruit shipbuilders, the more the better, first set up the framework for building ships."

  Zhang Zuo bowed and accepted the order.