Confronted with such sweet troubles, He Lingchuan could only sigh. "Put the other matters aside for now and focus all our efforts on resolving the palm harvest season's crunch. And don't neglect the construction of the supply posts either. This golden sea route is our real cash cow; in the future, it will be far more important than farming across the Yangshan Archipelago."
Ding Zuodong gave a wry smile. "By that standard, short of mining, shipbuilding, and weapons forging, we have to do everything."
Wasn't that just the truth?
"Give me an estimate. How many more people do we need?"
"Before you subdued the yin hui and the Third Channel pirates, we had already begun recruiting, but nobody thought highly of our chances, so very few people responded. Once word gets around of your mighty display of power, I expect we'll be able to hire quite a few more."
"Right now, we are most lacking in hands to harvest and press palm oil and to farm. Most of the farmhands we've hired have brought out their entire families—young and old—to pitch in, but it's still not enough." The able-bodied young men climbed trees to cut down fruit clusters, while the elderly and weak gathered fruit and pressed oil; everyone in the household could earn wages. "It would be best to get another three to four thousand people, or at least two thousand one or two hundred."
"Haven't we nearly hired every available boatman and porter in Blade Harbor?"
Ding Zuodong nodded repeatedly. "Indeed! The docks are practically empty."
Even though Blade Harbor was a major port, scraping together so much labor on short notice was a tall order.
"I will tell the pirates on the islands to return to their home villages and recruit people to work here," He Lingchuan said after a moment's thought. "Most of them still have roots."
He had suppressed bandits on both Red Cliff Road and in Longchuan, so he knew well the tangled ties between bandits and the locals. Pirates, presumably, were no exception.
Keeping the good fortune within the family, the pirates would likely be glad to bring work to their fellow villagers.
He Lingchuan snapped his fingers. "Furthermore, go recruit people in Bailie—the more the better. Tell them that for the first ten years, land rent here will be cut in half! And after that, we will purchase grain at premium rates."
Then, reaching into his lapel, he pulled out a storage ring and handed it to Ding Zuodong. "This is Yue Pinghe's personal estate. Enter the banknotes inside into the ledger and put them to use first; find someone to sell off the rest."
Yue Pinghe's personal wealth had been stored in three storage rings. After his decapitation, He Lingchuan inherited the estate. Although it lacked the thirty to fifty thousand taels Yue Pinghe had claimed, there were over two thousand taels in banknotes, along with some magic artifacts and assorted goods, which could be liquidated for cash.
Indeed, murder and arson brought in money fast—no wonder pirates loved running a business with zero capital.
Ding Zuodong did not stand on ceremony, taking the ring and stowing it away safely. What task of his employer didn't cost money?
This windfall from Yue Pinghe arrived in the nick of time.
Right then, He Lingchuan asked, "How much have we spent recently?"
"Lately, silver has been flowing out like water. Building houses, chartering ships, purchasing various tools and materials of production—we've already spent over ten thousand taels. Once we hire more people, labor will be the biggest expense." Ding Zuodong calculated the figures for him. "Most of the workers we're recruiting are short-term and urgent hires, so the rates are naturally slightly higher than ordinary labor. If we manage to recruit seven or eight thousand people, between wages, food, and other expenses like wound medicines, pensions, and material wear and tear, we'll be spending at least a thousand taels of silver a day. On top of that, your Mount Rong men, the pirates, and those of us managing the operations are another significant expenditure."
The pirates alone numbered six to seven hundred. Once converted into archipelago guards, they would draw salaries, and how could those wielding swords and spears not earn more than those swinging hoes and shovels? The base pay was at least five taels per person. The salaries of Qiu Hu, Ding Zuodong, and the other managers were higher still. Adding all these together, plus miscellaneous expenses, at least another five thousand taels would vanish each month.
He Lingchuan gave a wry smile. A minimum monthly cost of thirty-five thousand taels, and yet he had to be happy about it, hoping that all this silver could indeed be spent—because that would mean they had filled every farmhand vacancy.
Indeed, the first step is always the hardest.
The two hundred and forty thousand-odd taels of silver in his pocket sounded lavish, but how long could it really last?
Fortunately, once the palm harvesting season ended, the archipelago wouldn't require nearly as much manpower.
Yet He Lingchuan had other plans lined up, which would burn even more money and squander fortunes even faster.
And so... poor!
Outwardly, however, he had to appear nonchalant. "Those are minor matters. Chief Steward, do you have enough people under you?"
"Not enough." Ding Zuodong had been sleep-deprived for the past few days, sporting two heavy dark circles under his eyes, yet his spirits were eerily high. He took out a booklet and placed it before He Lingchuan. "You need more managers, accountants, and overseers. Here is a candidate roster of sixty-two people. In my opinion, we must select at least fifteen. What are your thoughts?"
Just the sight of a roster gave He Lingchuan a headache now, so he immediately came up with a way to slack off: "Why not hold an exam?"
"An exam?"
"You and I will each draft some questions, gather them together, and test them simultaneously. Those who test well and score high will be hired," He Lingchuan said with a sullen grumble. "It spares us having to interview them one by one. Neither of us has the time."
Just as Master Sun tested him, he would test these candidates. He couldn't be the only one to taste such agony.
Ding Zuodong nodded. "That's a sound idea. How about you and I each write three questions?"
He Lingchuan naturally had no objection.
Ding Zuodong added, "You also need several master architects to plan out the island's zoning and the layout of the buildings. But I'm afraid Blade Harbor lacks such talent."
Master architects? Wasn't that essentially urban planning designers?
He Lingchuan scratched his head. Well... he certainly didn't know how to do that.
Still, that was not an urgent priority at the moment.
At that moment, Min Tianxi also arrived to report a problem:
"Young Master, the farmhands refuse to go to Longji Island. They dread the fiendish energy and the yin hui; no explanation does any good."
Blade Harbor always had long-term and short-term laborers waiting for work—unemployed hands willing to take on any job as long as it paid. But the Yangshan Archipelago had a notorious reputation. Though rumors abounded recently, people still harbored doubts about what had once been a no-man's-land, terrified they would earn the money only to lose their lives before spending it.
Such doubts could only be smoothed away by time.
"What if we raise the pay?"
"We bumped wages by thirty percent, but fewer than a hundred people are willing to go ashore," Min Tianxi said. "Should we add a bit more?"
Ding Zuodong objected. "Once those hundred-plus people make several safe round trips, the others will naturally realize Longji Island is not dangerous."
"Doesn't that take time?" Right now, time and manpower were what they lacked most.
Both turned to look at He Lingchuan, waiting for his decision.
He Lingchuan rubbed his eyes. Ever since becoming "island lord," he had to deal with these petty, endless trifles day in and day out.
Alas, the joy of being carefree and footloose was gone, never to return.
Yet before he could speak, Zhu Daniang suddenly appeared outside the window, her massive form blocking out the sunlight streaming in.
"My sister is here."
The spider demon sisters shared a telepathic bond, allowing Zhu Daniang to sense her sister's position in real time.
"Erniang is here?" He Lingchuan asked offhandedly, then suddenly shuddered with realization and sprang to his feet. "Erniang is here!"
Erniang?
Seeing his beaming countenance, the other two looked utterly bewildered.
Zhu Daniang was a spider demon, so Erniang was probably a great demon as well?
He Lingchuan didn't bother explaining to them and bolted out like the wind.
***
To avoid causing panic, Zhu Erniang had not entered Blade Harbor, instead halting in the western outskirts of the port.
When He Lingchuan arrived, a line of giant spider demons emerged from the deserted dense woods, each larger and more terrifying than the last.
The largest among them was at least twice the size of Zhu Daniang.
Not only were Min Tianxi, Huang Zhao, and the others struck dumb, but even the Mount Rong disciples felt their scalps tingle with dread at the sight of so many prehistoric giant demons emerging in a single file.
How was Young Master He always able to befriend prehistoric giant demons? First, he had effortlessly struck a deal with the king of the yin hui, and now all these hulking behemoths had come to throw in their lot with him.
Dragons flock with dragons, and phoenixes with phoenixes; Young Master He, who could pal around with prehistoric archdemons, was certainly no ordinary mortal.
"Erniang!" He Lingchuan opened his arms and strode forward to greet her, his face radiating the joy of reunion after a long separation.
Zhu Erniang watched him clown around in silence.
*Come hug me if you've got the guts.*
Sure enough, He Lingchuan halted right before the spider demon's dense thicket of spikes, complaining with an aggrieved air, "Erniang, why so cold?"
"You've got the wrong one." Zhu Daniang pointed a leg toward another spider demon nearby. "This one is my sister."
Everyone: "..."
These spider demons looked as if they had been stamped from the exact same mold, differing only in size. However, the last two were nearly identical, so Young Master He could hardly be blamed for mistaking them.
He Lingchuan turned to Zhu Erniang, his enthusiasm unabated. "Erniang, I missed you to death!"
Zhu Erniang replied unhurriedly, "Have you gotten into trouble again?"
Brilliant! The onlookers secretly gave a thumbs-up. This archdemon seemed to understand Young Master He remarkably well.
"Trouble? What trouble!" He Lingchuan laughed. "Nothing more than a few sweet troubles."
Zhu Erniang cut straight to the chase. "My sister said you prepared a new home for me?"
Otherwise, having already settled in a canyon in the eastern reaches of the Mou Kingdom, why would she travel thousands of li just to seek shelter with He Lingchuan?
It was solely because of Zhu Daniang's vehement urging and claims that the environment here was prime real estate, ideal for burrow spiders to nest.
"Indeed!" He Lingchuan pointed toward the shore. "Please board the ships. We can talk as we go."
This spot was near the sea, but had no dock; six large ships were moored right below a thirty-foot cliff.
He Lingchuan had chosen this desolate spot for the rendezvous precisely to avoid attracting unwanted attention.
Fortunately, everyone possessed cultivation, so scaling down the cliff was child's play. As for the spider demon sisters and the molted carapaces, scurrying down the cliffside was as effortless as walking on level ground.
He Lingchuan knew Zhu Erniang's moving methods inside out. He knew her myriad brood was packed within the molted carapaces, and each mountain-like molt weighed nearly as much as a small hill. That was why he had summoned so many large vessels, loading only one giant spider per ship.
Zhu Erniang took one look and said, "Your ships are too small. The great vessel I took from Baisha Bay to get here was three times the size of these!"
"What's the rush?" He Lingchuan had patience in spades. "In the future, we'll have ships even bigger than that."
The giant freighters Zhu Erniang mentioned would eventually be used by the Yangshan Archipelago to haul cargo too.
The sea vessels set sail, riding the favorable wind into the depths of the Yangshan Archipelago.
Roughly an hour later, the ships made landfall, and everyone disembarked in succession onto the island.
"This is the island I reserved for you sisters—Pansi Island," He Lingchuan said, showing his guests around and offering eager explanations.
This island had been renamed specifically for the spider demon sisters. Situated northwest of the main island, Longji Island, it was about a half-hour boat ride away, making communication back and forth very convenient. Furthermore, two islets lay between Pansi Island and Longji Island, blocking line of sight between them.
This ensured the privacy of the spider demons' territory.
The island covered roughly four hundred qing, making it the fourth largest island in the Yangshan Archipelago.
Chapter 927