Tuoji Island is located on the edge of the Bohai Bay and has a warm temperate maritime monsoon climate, with cold winters and hot summers, and short spring and autumn. Among them, the rainy season is short, windy and rainy, summer sunshine is abundant, and evaporation is strong, which is conducive to the innate advantages of seawater evaporation.
After seeing off Yang Lin and his party at the harbor, Zou Run rode around the island for two days, carefully examining the coastline.
Finally, we finally found a muddy beach with flat terrain and wide beaches on both sides of the island. By coincidence, these two beaches are also facing the monsoon wind direction in summer and winter, which can be said to be excellent salt-baking sites. .
The site survey was completed and the construction of the salt drying field was immediately put on the agenda. Zou Run personally directed and supervised the work, established the Tuoji Island labor camp, and incorporated all the more than 50 prisoners who had been sentenced to hard labor into it. According to the construction sequence of salt field first, then houses, then port, and finally the island wall, vigorous infrastructure development was carried out.
At the same time, Zou Run ordered that Zou Yuan continue to stay at Dengyun Mountain's main village and do daily training for the team. While Yang Lin assisted Zou Run, he also took on the task of purchasing materials and inquiring about Jianghu news. Deng Fei was responsible for leading the fleet, transporting personnel and materials between the mainland and Tuoji Island every three to five days, while also familiarizing himself with the routes and training the navy.
In the days before boarding the ship, Deng Fei's burden was not light. The area of Tuoji Island is not small, comparable to the area of a small town in later generations. When Zou Run inspected the island, he found that the water and grass on the north side of the island were abundant. Compared with the steep terrain of Dengyun Mountain, it was undoubtedly a good place for raising horses and training cavalry. It was a good place, so Zou Run specially ordered that most of the horses and cavalry in the village be gathered on the island and handed over to Deng Fei for training.
This was so tiring for Deng Fei that his eyes, which were already red, became even more red now. In addition, Deng Fei had a bad temper, and sometimes spoke and acted in an evil voice. In the end, I don’t know who was the talkative person on the island, but he said that Deng Fei, the fiery-eyed Suan Ni, likes to eat human flesh, so his eyes are red. This was originally a nonsense, but in the end it became more and more ridiculous, making everyone fear Deng Fei and making him dumbfounded.
Just as the development of Dengyunshan Village and Tuoji Island was in full swing, news of Mashun's death spread, and the opinions in the world were divided. Most of the men in the world had to praise Xiao Qin King Zou Runduan for his strength and hatred of evil. Before, he only eliminated the rich and wealthy who exploited the people and had a notorious evil record. This time, he also eliminated the scum that harmed the people on the green forest road.
However, there are a few people in the world who criticize Zou Run. They criticize him for being too broad-minded and having too much control. He is from the same lineage as the Green Forest but kills his comrades. This information was reported through the hotel system, compiled by Yang Lin, and sent to the island. Zou Run, who was too busy to touch the ground, smiled after reading it and didn't take it to heart.
There are only two things he is worried about now, one is how the salt drying farm can be put into production quickly, and the other is where Lin Chong is now.
Mashun's death also affected Dengzhou official circles. The commander of Ping Haijun was overjoyed after hearing the news. They massacred a small group of private salt dealers without explanation, and found a death row inmate who looked somewhat similar to Mashun from the prison. , after killing him, he took his head. Then he sent a big gift to the magistrate of Dengzhou. After getting his approval, he quickly fabricated the battle report and immediately reported it to the Jingdong East Road Appeasement Department, the Transportation Department, the Prison Department, and the Changping Department.
This is indeed a big contribution that can be divided into profits.
The commander of the Pinghai Navy reported the annihilation of the pirates and pirate salt leaders Haili Loachun and his gang. For the Appeasement Department, it was a contribution to the peace of the place. For the Transport Department and the Tiju Changping Department, it was a contribution to curbing the proliferation of illegal salt. Shangguan Everyone was delighted after seeing this, and with a stroke of his pen, he reported to Bianjing, so that the Dao Lord and Emperor could know that they were all honest and sincere ministers.
Taishi Cai was also overjoyed when the battle report was submitted to the Provincial Court. Nowadays, the imperial court was spending too much, and the salt tax was one of his main means of making money for Song Huizong. His subordinates understood his intentions so well that they had to reward him. While reporting it to the emperor, he He also gave his opinion on how to deal with the matter - he asked to promote the commander of the Peace Navy who is currently the governor of Dengzhou.
Zhao Ji has always been kind to Cai Aiqing, who can find ways to get money for himself. He even skips the procedure of submitting it to the Ministry of officials for discussion. With a stroke of his pen, it's accurate!
They are indeed a pair of "model monarchs and ministers" who will leave their names in the annals of history.
As a result, the current commanders of the Heping Navy in Dengzhou magistrate were immediately promoted to high positions, and the vacancies left by them were quickly filled by Wang Shizhong and Hu Yanqing who were at Bianjing Houque (Note 1).
If it is said that the death of Mashun was celebrated by everyone in Dengzhou official circles, that was not necessarily the case. At least there were two people in Dengzhou city who were somewhat indignant about Mashun's death.
These two people are none other than Kongmu, the king of Dengzhou mentioned above, and his father-in-law, Taigong Mao.
It is said that most cities in the world are rich in the east, expensive in the west, poor in the north, and cheap in the south, and Dengzhou City is no different. As the head of the state, although Wang Zheng was of low rank, he held real power in his hands. Although it was not possible to move directly to the west of the city due to his rank, Wang Zheng built a large house near the east and west corners of the city. A gatehouse is built outside the house and a courtyard is built inside. The houses are wide and spacious. At the turn of autumn and winter, exotic flowers and plants bought at high prices are planted in the courtyard. In the bleak autumn wind, these flowers and plants are red and green, and they are extremely beautiful.
The table where Wang Zheng entertained his father-in-law was placed among these flowers and plants.
It is not difficult to see that Taigong Mao had a high status in the heart of his son-in-law. It's a pity that Grandpa Mao, who is a sitting duck, is not an elegant person. He has something on his mind and complains hurriedly before the dishes are even served.
"Wonderful son-in-law, you can sit still! That Mashun... well, that guy named Ma is dead, but my principal and salt goods have also been lost, and the business in the past has also been cut off. This It’s a huge fortune! I’ve lost tens of thousands of dollars inside and out, but it really makes me feel bad!”
Wang Zheng knew that this was because his father-in-law complained that he did not persuade Zhizhou to send troops to destroy Dengyun Mountain. But Wang Zheng is really not to blame for this. He had tried very hard a while ago and sent out a lot of gold and silver from various places. But he didn't expect that the previous magistrate and the commander Xie Dihui would run the business and treat it as a red thing. Do it, and fabricate a success in suppressing bandits.
It was good this time. They happily patted their butts and left for promotion, but they had given away a lot of gold and silver but had no whereabouts. Wang Zheng also felt miserable in his heart, but he boasted that he had been in officialdom for a long time and always liked to imitate those people. The civil servant who was born as a Jinshi had the magnanimity of the city, so he did not show any emotion at the moment. He stood up, poured a glass of wine for Taigong Mao, and said:
"It's not strange in Mount Tai. It's not because my son-in-law refuses to use his strength. It's just that banditry in Dengyun Mountain has become a climate. The previous governor of the state didn't want to touch this hot potato. I just said it with my mouth. That guy is doing it for himself." I just pretended not to hear anything. What can I do?"
Although Mao Taigong was the father-in-law, he was a commoner after all. He still had some fear of Wang Zheng, who was the official Kongmu. After hearing what he said, even though he was dissatisfied, he did not dare to say anything more. He just said After suffocating the wine, he slammed the fine celadon wine glass on the table and said bitterly:
"Zou Yuan seems to have a grudge against me. He is always against me. First, Huang Zeli, and then Mashun and his gang are trying to cut off my wealth. I can only hate that these literati have no courage to be officials and leave the thieves in the country alone. Going to conquer and suppress, a coward like this deserves to wear a green robe and be a bastard for the rest of his life!"
During the Huizong period, the colors of officials' uniforms were revised. Those with grades above the fourth rank wore purple, and those above the sixth rank wore scarlet. Those who wore scarlet or purple must wear a fish bag, which is called a Zhang uniform. If you are serving green at level 9 or above, what Taigong Mao meant was to curse the local officials to be unable to be promoted for the rest of their lives.
Wang Zheng's face darkened when he heard this. Although he was not an official, he always prided himself on being a scholar, and he was currently wearing a green robe. In his opinion, Mao Taigong's words were tantamount to criticizing Sophora, so he immediately made a show of his face and felt displeased. No longer caring about being polite, he picked up a pair of chopsticks and knocked the dishes on the table loudly.
