At the pier of Pi Island, there were sails like a forest and needles could not be inserted into it. Mao Zhongming, Mao Youde, Mao Kexi, and the prefect Liu Guangzhi came out to greet him, Zhao Xing, who was visiting him on the sea.

Liu Guangzhi, the governor of Pidao, apologized: "This is not because General Mao refused to let the fleet dock, but because his subordinates were afraid of disturbing the merchant fleet and affecting our credibility. Please forgive me."

"What can I blame for this? Our Pi Island is to build an island with commerce. Commerce is the foundation of our Pi Island. Without damaging the country's foundation, everything must be given way to commerce."

Liu Guangzhi quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Look for a quieter harbor, I will quietly land on the island. Don't you report to me, I only believe in my eyes. Listening to ears is false, and seeing is true. Only when I see it myself can I have a clear mind and then I can make the most correct decision."

Everyone bowed and bowed because they understood that this time the adults came would definitely be a big move. He first conducted a field investigation like this, so he had a clear idea and then made a steady arrangement.

At a small simple pier, Zhao Xing's boat approached the shore and took a few followers to casually walk into the fishing village next to the simple pier.

The fishing village is very quiet and tidy. Walking on the street, I casually found a yard and knocked on the yard door.

After a while, an old voice rang in the yard: "Come on, come on."

The gate of the courtyard opened, and an old man with white hair appeared in front of Zhao Xing.

The old man looked at the stranger Zhao Xing, but at the same time, Zhao Xing was also looking at the old man.

He was gray-haired, but although his face was full of wrinkles, he could not see the color of the vegetables. Although he wore a few patches, he could still see the original color and washed it very cleanly and neatly.

"I don't know where the distinguished guest came from, but the old man was welcomed."

Zhao Xing smiled: "I just wandered on the sea and stopped on the simple pier in front of the village. I was so thirsty that I disturbed the old man and wanted to go in and ask for a drink."

"Oh, it's a guest from afar. Come into the house quickly and have a cup of tea."

"Can every family drink tea here?"

Zhao Xing asked puzzledly.

The old man laughed: "All ordinary families, how can they be so luxurious? But when you go to sea, you will get septicemia if you don't bring a bag of tea. Everyone is used to it. If there are guests wandering on the sea from other places, you must cook a bowl of tea to replenish the guests' lack of it."

The furniture in the house is simple, but it still shows its tidyness.

A few large thick porcelain bowls were placed on the table, and the old man carried a teapot and poured them onto several people: "The tea leaves are not good, but they can treat the disease, so please forgive the guests from afar."

Zhao Xing smiled and held his hand: "Don't be busy anymore, sit down and talk."

"Okay, okay." The old man sat down with a smile: "The guests from afar must be not familiar with this place. If you have any questions, just say anything you want to ask, and if you need help, just speak. Don't look at me as old as I am. If I run errands and lead the way, I will still be competent."

Zhao Xing lamented that the folk customs here are simple and did not have the smell of copper because of the strong commercial atmosphere here.

"Where was the old man from before?"

The old man sighed: "I am from Gaizhou, Liaodong. In the third year of Chongzhen, I heard that Lord Zhao reopened Dongjiang Town, so I left my family and ran away here with my son and wife."

"I suffered a lot along the way."

The old man had tears in his eyes: "What's the point of suffering? He suffered a lot more than my neighbors, but at the last moment, he did not set foot on this land of Ming Dynasty."

The Liaodong Han people who fled from Liaodong to Pi Island went through a lot of hardships and passed through the city blockade and finally finally got onto this island.

After a while of sadness, the old man raised his head and said with happiness: "No matter what, we finally escaped to Pidao, the place of Mao Dashu. Although the thalassin is proletarian, the government arranged fishing work for me. The fish caught every day will not be sold. Then my son went to the arsenal to work and earned me a lot of money every month. Now he has bought this house and has married a daughter-in-law. The daughter-in-law is also from the Northeast and is capable. So he went to the dock to work in a garment shop and earned another wage. If this continues, our lives will get better and better."

Liu Guangzhi stretched out his head, "However, Huang Taiji, a wild boar skin in Liaodong, is not going to let us live a good life."

The old man replied toughly: "He thought, but we have to let him do it too? Don't mention Xiao Mao Shuai, who commanded thousands of troops and was strong. Even my son, who worked during the day and participated in the village militia at night, and was training quickly. And my daughter-in-law, who was not idle. After finishing work every day, she also had to participate in the politically organized transportation team to train her transportation skills."

Zhao Xing took a look at Qian Qiancheng.

Qian Qiancheng said: "Now all villages have implemented a militia system. Once our army goes to the front line, the guard work of the entire Pi Island will be handed over to the reserve soldiers. Then, the militias across the island cooperate with the strong women, and the strong women are responsible for making fires, cooking, taking care of the wounded, and transporting materials."

The old man beat his thigh: "Yes, we want all the people to be soldiers, so we have to do this. Don't his little wild boar skin still want to attack our Pi Island? Then let him come, we are still eager to let him come. If he comes, we will destroy it on Pi Island and avenge my dead neighbors in Gai County."

After drinking the old man's tea and rejecting the old man's food, the group walked towards the arsenal not far away.

The closer they got to the arsenal, the stricter the left-behind Jinyiwei was in the investigation. It was still the same old rules. Although they all knew Zhao Xing, they still strictly investigated. After the investigation, they knelt on the ground and kowtowed to see the family members.

"Qiancheng, your defense is good, but do you have enough staff?"

"Sir, because my responsibilities are too wide, the original 1,000 brothers are not enough to be assigned. So my subordinates applied for a report to Mr. Zhu two years ago to expand my team."

Zhao Xing then remembered in a daze that it seemed like this was the case, and he approved it at that time.

"I forgot, how much did you agree to expand at that time?"

Qian Qiancheng quickly answered truthfully: "As you told me, the Jinyiwei officially expanded to 3,000 people. At the same time, he recruited gangs, also called "Sharing two thousand teams."

"Is this a lot? But you can't implement tax collection here, how can you pay the funds?"

Liu Guangzhi stepped forward: "Part of the additional equipment funds of 2,000 people will be paid by each factory. After all, are the Jinyiwei brothers also protecting their factories? Some of them will be paid by our government."
Chapter completed!