The silver taels donated by Okura Castle were enough to make up for the losses suffered by the Guangdong Navy in this battle. Moreover, the ships belonged to the imperial court and were not the property of Shen Youlong and the generals of the Yue Navy. They treated them as such. It's not bad to use "mercenaries" to conquer pirates. At least everyone won't come in vain and they can get a lot of money from it.

Shen Youlong, who knew the way of being an official well, gave 200,000 taels of silver to Cao Muyun, and Cao Muyun, who was also familiar with the officialdom, accepted it calmly. He was not coveting these taels of silver. Two hundred thousand taels of silver was indeed a lot of money, but it was still far from the two million Kwantung Army salary he had raised according to the order. However, Cao Muyun also knew that if he refused to accept it, Shen Youlong would definitely feel guilty. The grudge is also because he dare not share the remaining silver with his subordinates privately.

Shen Youlong, the third-rank admiral of Guangdong Province, has little weight in the eyes of the powerful "Mr. Muyun" in the capital. However, the Guangdong Navy is the strongest combat force in the South China Sea at this time. The military power of Shen Youlong is still of great use.

Just because Cao Muyun's next plan actually still needs Shen Youlong and the Guangdong Navy.

The oil and water that Shen Youlong caught in Dacang City was not only silver taels and red envelopes. Today, there is no shortage of silver taels in Dacang City, but there is no food. The navy from Guangdong came in large numbers and brought ten large grain ships with them. The ship carried a total of more than 20,000 stones of grain and grass.[

When Chai Lin mentioned buying grain to Shen Youlong, Admiral Shen immediately realized that there was an opportunity to make another windfall. Even a rich man would starve to death if he had nothing to eat. Nowadays, people in Okura City More than 100,000 people need to eat, and the food and grass provided by the Guangdong Navy is the only source of immediate relief.

Normally, the price of one stone of grain is about two taels of silver, or no more than three taels at most. However, under current circumstances, it cannot be calculated based on ordinary prices. As the governor of a province, Shen Youlong, Of course he acted very boldly, but he raised the price slightly and quoted twenty-two stones, which was only ten times more than usual.

After some discussions, Okura City finally bought the Guangdong Navy's ten ships of 20,000 shi of grain and grass at a price of fifteen taels per shi. Shen Youlong pocketed another 300,000 taels of silver. This business was done However, Shen Youlong, who had a full purse, was full of regrets. If he had known that such a good thing would happen, when he set out from Guangdong, he should have brought twenty or thirty more boatloads of food with him.

So ten grain transport ships sailed into Dacang Port. Three days later, 20,000 shi of grain were unloaded from the ships and transported into Dacang City. Shen Youlong then issued an order to the five major water villages in Guangdong. The fleet will set sail back to the mainland tomorrow.

Only a few days had passed since the war, and the reason for setting sail back in such a hurry was very simple: there was no food.

In fact, Mr. Shen has sold the rations of the soldiers on each ship to Dacang City. If he does not leave, the officers and soldiers of the Guangdong Navy will have to drink from the northwest wind. But if that happens, Shen Youlong is reluctant to use fifteen He bought food for them at a sky-high price of two dan per stone.

The next day, more than a hundred ships of the Guangdong Navy set sail with more than a dozen captured pirate ships and left Okura Island. For Shen Youlong, the only fly in the ointment was Cao Muyun specifically told him that the navy's expedition must be kept secret, and he was not allowed to submit a letter to the court to declare it. This would reduce the chance of claiming credit and receiving rewards.

But even so, this trip has already made a lot of money. Now that he has returned with a full load and has met "Mr. Muyun", a powerful figure in the court, Shen Youlong is extremely satisfied.

Shen Youlong left with his naval fleet, but Cao Muyun stayed in Okura City. His mission of recruiting money has not yet been completed, but the next step must be planned in this city.

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At noon, with the sun shining brightly, Hua Bushi rode his horse back from the City Lord's Mansion to the Waitian Tower.

In the past few days, he has been in the City Lord's Mansion every day, and he can only come out after dusk. Today at noon, he has returned to the Waitian Tower. It's not that he came out early, but this young master was in the City Lord's Mansion all night yesterday, busy. for one night.

When the pirates of the "Black Dragon Palace" besieged the city, they were busy organizing the defense of the city. Now that the danger of the siege has been resolved, the affairs in the city are even more arduous, and are not at all easier than during the siege.

The first priority is the food problem. The 20,000 shi of food purchased from Shen Youlong at a high price can only relieve the temporary difficulties. The top priority is to immediately organize a fleet to purchase rice outside the island. However, the existing food coordination Distribution is also quite complicated. There are currently more than 100,000 people in Okura City. Grain distribution offices are set up in various parts of the city, and labor is allocated to allocate grain. Careful arrangements must be made.

The second important thing is to resettle the indigenous people. Now there are more than 70,000 indigenous Babas in Okura City. Their villages and fields have been destroyed by pirates. They have no homes to return to and they have to support so many people in the city for a long time. , the burden was too heavy for Okura Castle, which originally had only 50,000 residents, and it was impossible to do it.

Now that the pirates have retreated, these Babas must be allowed to leave the city as soon as possible to rebuild their villages and re-cultivate the fields destroyed by the pirates. Okura City must still provide the necessary supplies of food and utensils.

Both of these matters involve silver coins, and they are by no means small amounts.

The 500,000 taels of red envelopes for the Guangdong Navy were collected from various merchants in the city, while the 300,000 taels for the purchase of grain came from the "Wanjintang". Nowadays, they continue to purchase and sell grain, and To help the indigenous people rebuild their villages, more money is needed.

When Okura Castle was besieged, everyone in the city was like a grasshopper tied to a rope. If the city was breached, no one could escape, and everyone would die and go bankrupt. Therefore, each merchant did his best to donate money. The money guarding the city is also very high, but now that the pirates have been driven away and Okura City is safe, it will be even more difficult to get these profit-seeking businessmen to come up with silver.[

Therefore, these silver taels can only be paid out by the "Wanjintang" who is in charge of the city. Although the "Wanjintang" is very rich, it is not easy to afford all these expenses.

Sima Rulan was kind-hearted and was very enthusiastic about buying grain and distributing it to the residents in the city, and helping the indigenous Babas rebuild their homes. Although Chai Lin and Yao Yuanxiao felt distressed about having to use up the large amount of silver, they were determined by the insistence of the eldest lady of the city. But it can't be endured.

Hua Bushi stayed in the city lord's mansion all night yesterday, calculating various expenses and making plans to arrange for the indigenous people of each tribe to leave the city. Now that the plan has been basically completed, Chai Lin and Chai Lin will discuss the subsequent implementation matters. The two elders Yao Yuanxiao can preside over it, and Hua Bushi, the person in charge with his famous position, can retire unscathed.

Entering the gate of Veitian Tower, Hua Bushi, who had not slept all night, felt quite tired, but still walked to the front hall, just because he knew that Yang Jiangyi was determined to be there. Compared with Hai Hongzhu, who never took care of things , Yang Jiangyi can be of some help to this young master, at least all the matters in the Weitian Tower can be left to her to handle.

Stepping into the hall, Hua Bushi saw Yang Jiangyi sitting at the table, holding a pen and lowering his head to write something on a piece of paper. He stepped forward and said, "Sister, I have been helping me deal with things in the building these days. But it’s hard work.”

When Yang Jiangyi saw the young master arriving, he put down the pen in his hand, stood up and said, "You're back! You've been busy all night again. Let's sit down and rest first."

Hua Bushi sat down as he was told and asked, "Has anything happened in the past two days at Veitian Tower? What is my sister writing?"

Yang Jiangyi said: "It's a very important matter. In the morning, Uncle Xin came to say goodbye and said that he would take the villagers of 'Moli Village' out of the city and back to the seaside to rebuild the village. Jiangyi kept them for one more day and wanted to buy something. Let them take some food and utensils with them, and we are making a list of some things so that we can tell the guys to go out and buy them."

Hua Bushi took the piece of paper and saw the names of various miscellaneous utensils written on it. He immediately said: "Sister is really careful. Hua Bushi is lucky to have a virtuous wife like his sister to help him. It took him three lifetimes to cultivate it." What a blessing!”

Yang Jiangyi spat: "You are so glib. No wonder those little girls are coaxed by you."

Hua Bushi said sarcastically: "How can this happen? Sister, please don't listen to other people's rumors."

Yang Jiangyi's beautiful eyes moved, looking into the young master's eyes, and suddenly smiled sweetly, and said: "I haven't heard any rumors at all. Seeing that you are so guilty, I will go to the street to inquire about it tomorrow. .”

Hua Bushi changed his face and said: "Those rumors on the street are all nonsense, sister, there is no need to inquire!"

Yang Jiangyi said: "Even if it's really ridiculous, it's okay to listen to it, right?"

Hua Bushi couldn't guess whether Yang Jiangyi already knew about the scandal between him and Sima Rulan, or whether it was just a joke, but he was speechless for a moment.

Looking at Hua Bushi's rather nervous expression, Yang Jiangyi said with a smile: "Okay! Since you said it was a rumor, I will listen to you and not inquire about it. Even if I hear it, I won't believe it. That's okay. "

Hua Bushi was overjoyed when he heard this. He stretched out his hand to hold Yang Jiangyi's jade hand and said, "Sister is really my confidante. With her by my side, Hua Bushi has nothing more to ask for in this life!"

Being held tightly by the young master, Yang Jiangyi's pretty face couldn't help but turn red. After a while, she broke away and said: "You, this handsome young master, are always ungrateful. I won't be too polite to you." You said it! But there is still someone waiting to see you?"

Hua Bushi said: "Who wants to see me?"

Yang Jiangyi said: "Mr. Cao came to the front hall just now to see you and said that he had something urgent to discuss with you. In addition, dad also told you to go to the back garden to see him when you return to Waitian Tower."

Hua Bushi said: "Well, I will leave now and come back to accompany my sister after seeing them."
Chapter completed!