Looking north towards the rivers and mountains

Chapter 137 Recruitment

Having not seen any women, Shao Shuyi naturally focused all his energy on men.

On the 17th, Qian Baishi had just gotten up and was still sleepy when he saw a large group of people walking towards him.

He instinctively flinched, but breathed a sigh of relief upon recognizing the person, saying, "Who do we have here? It's none other than Master Shao Yi." Shao Shuyi laughed from afar, "I dare not address you as that. How is the boat?"

Qian Baishi yawned and said, "It's better than the sea bream you brought the first time. At least we're not collecting junk anymore. It's almost finished, especially those two shallow-hulled boats. They look pretty good. After the repairs are done, you can sail to Zhigu without any problems." "That's exactly what I wanted to hear," Shao Shuyi laughed.

After saying that, he looked up at the Zheyang boat moored on the riverbank.

He named the ship "Pingjia". It was just renovated last night, and now only a few apprentices remain on board to clean up the debris left behind after the construction.

Unlike the Drilling Sea Loach, which has only one cabin, the Flat-fronted Ship has three habitable cabins arranged from the front and middle to the rear, greatly improving living conditions.

Wang Huadu followed behind Shao Shuyi, pacing back and forth happily, saying, "I fell in love with this ship when I first saw it at Wang Dajiang's house. Brother Shao, you can live in the cabin in the very middle. There are even two desks there, one for writing and one for eating. You can also put a mat in the middle to gather everyone for meetings. At night, you can remove the mat, put on a blanket, and sleep on it."

I'll stay in that cabin up ahead. I don't need tables and chairs, just a mat will do. Put a crossbow in there, or assign two or three archers to shoot arrows out the window. Oh, and this window needs to be modified; a little darkness is fine. Board it all up, leaving only a small window for shooting arrows.

The cabin at the back is arranged the same way; let the Kuroko brothers stay there.

"Hey, thanks, Brother Wang. I still have room." Wu Heizi laughed heartily, quite satisfied.

Shao Shuyi shook his head and said, "You dog slave, go to the 'Pingyi Ship,' that's where you belong."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions subtly changed.

There was no other reason than what Brother Shao himself said, which established Wang Huadu's position in their small group.

Although Wang Huadu had considered himself to be the second-in-command, Shao Shuyi's words still filled him with an irrepressible joy. He rubbed his hands together and said, "Since Brother Shao says so, I can't let him down. I'll select some brave and determined fighters for them to train over the next two days."

Qian Baishi stood not far away, wishing he could cover his ears. These people were so inconsiderate; how could they spout nonsense right in front of him? "Including you, there are twenty people in total," Shao Shuyi said. "Everyone must know how to row a boat; at least thirteen people must be able to..."

Shao Shuyi smiled at Qian Baishi and called to the others, "Come on, let's go up to the boat and talk."

Wang Huadu, Yu Yuan, Liang Tai, Wu Heizi, Gao Daqiang, and others responded and boarded the ship using the footboard.

The boatworks apprentices who were cleaning the boat instinctively stopped what they were doing.

"You may all leave now. We'll clean up the rest," Shao Shuyi said gently.

A group of teenagers were delighted and filed off the boat.

Shao Shuyi came to the bow of the boat, looked at the busy river in the distance, and said, "Continuing from what I just said. Twenty men is the full strength, and everyone must know how to handle a boat. Hmm, that's not difficult."

When needed, seven men would stay on the boat, while the remaining thirteen men, armed with their weapons, would disembark, line up, and await orders.

During the retreat, those remaining behind went forward to meet them.

The ship carries one or two small boats, which will be useful for landing and returning, since there are not piers everywhere.

so"

At this point, Shao Shuyi turned to look at everyone and said, "Now we need at least two teams of twenty-six people to practice battle formations and equip them with all kinds of weapons." "Brother Shao, there are twenty-nine people who have received training hardship fees, but less than twenty have practiced more than five times, and only a dozen or so have practiced more than ten times. There are only eight or nine people who practice regularly," Yu Yuan whispered from the side.

"Hmm, what Yu She said is quite right." Shao Shuyi patted his shoulder and said, "This is exactly what we need to strengthen in the future. You do the math, if we finalize the list of forty people and have them train every ten days, how much will it cost each month?"

Yu Yuan had always been involved in logistics and was quite familiar with these matters. He immediately began to estimate: "Each person needs three days a month, which requires a total of eight catties and two liang of rice and flour. Forty people would require more than three hundred catties, which is about one shi and eight dou (a volume stone, one shi is 180 catties, not 120 catties of weight stone). Calculated at thirty-nine guan per shi, that would be more than seventy guan."

He earned ten strings of cash a day for practicing, totaling 1,200 strings.

There are also some miscellaneous expenses to prepare, such as for sprains and bruises, and equipment repairs, which I estimate will cost around twenty-seven or twenty-eight ingots.

"So much?" Wang Huadu exclaimed in surprise. "Brother Shao, you were so generous before, giving too much in terms of hard work fees to attract people and get them to train. Let's lower it a bit, five strings of cash is about right."

Gao Daqiang pondered for a moment and said, "I saw my neighbor buy rice for five strings of cash the other day. He got a few dou and a sheng of rice. If he ate it sparingly, he could last for ten days. He just complained of being hungry from time to time. The boatmen who work at the docks don't get food, and they only get about thirty strings of cash a month. You provide three meals a day and give five strings of cash a day. That's a lot."

As the dog slave said, it was to lure people over before. Paying more allowed for more selective hiring. Now that the candidates are mostly chosen, and people outside know about Brother Shao's reputation, there's no need to pay so much. Five strings of cash a day for training seems reasonable.

However, a meal should be filling, so it's best to have some meat. Even if we don't buy pork or lamb, we should at least have some fish or fish soup; that doesn't cost much. That's all I can think of for now. Hei Zi, what do you say?

Wu Heizi nodded and said, "Now many people say that Brother Shao is generous and magnanimous, but we should still save where we can. Five strings of cash is quite a lot. Without this money, no one would be willing to come, or those who do come are skinny and starving. With this five strings of cash, many people will be willing to come."

But then again, Brother Shao, are you worried that some people won't be able to come if you order forty people?

Shao Shuyi nodded and said, "Out of forty people, thirty should be enough. It's impossible for everyone to come every time. However, when the yamen prepares money, food, and water, we should calculate based on the number of people present. Five strings of cash for each day of training is acceptable. We can save twelve ingots a month. We can take two ingots from that and buy some wine and meat for the brothers who come to train."

"Shao She is wise," Wu Heizi said with a smile.

"Brother Shao, in this way, we only need to spend seventeen ingots per month." Yu Yuan recalculated and added, "If not everyone comes, it might not even cost fifteen ingots."

"Let's leave it at that for now," Shao Shuyi said. "Prepare food and equipment in the next couple of days, and on the 20th, find a secluded deserted beach for some proper training." "Okay, all right."

"Okay, yes."

Upon hearing this, everyone responded in unison, their individual movements somewhat comical, but already showing a degree of uniformity. If a military salute were established and practiced regularly, they could achieve perfect harmony.

On the 18th, Zheng Sheng brought over the commission with his men, which made Shao Shuyi secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

When Sanshe has made enough money, it is still willing to put on a show.

On the 19th, Shao Shuyi visited the Shen residence again.

Madam Shen had not returned yet, and Manager Mo was also not there, but Lu Zhonghe was seen instead.

Old Shao wasn't embarrassed at all. He quickly said goodbye and left. He didn't have time to linger here; he was about to go to Shanghai.

On September 20th, a total of 33 people gathered at Qian's Boat Factory, sailed away in two shallow boats, Pingjia and Pingyi, sailed eastward for a short while, and stopped near Gancaosha, where they disembarked in batches.

For a time, drums and horns resounded and battle cries shook the once deserted riverbanks.

More than 30 people practiced tactical maneuvers such as landing, forming ranks, and providing support in the morning. It was a little chaotic, but it helped everyone get used to the routine. In the past, they would just land in a mess without anyone stopping them. This time, they anticipated interference. The first group to land was to drive away the enemy stragglers on the riverbank and then form a semi-circular formation to support the rest of the group as they landed.

The afternoon consisted of normal military drills, which continued until evening.

After lighting a bonfire on the riverbank, Wang Huadu looked around and said, "Next time we need to find a better place. Although there's no one here, a few fishing boats still pass by. People who don't know the situation might think that pirates have landed."

Everyone laughed.

In the afternoon, the two teams practiced together, advancing side by side. When the drums sounded, the swordsmen held shields to their chests with their left hands and swords held horizontally in front of their foreheads with their right hands, striding forward to the beat of the drums. Although there were only a few of them, it was a thrilling sight to behold.

The spearmen, holding their spears high, followed closely behind. There were only a dozen or so of them, but they still sent chills down the spines of these country bumpkins who had never seen the world before. If there were a hundred or even a thousand spearmen, they would form a moving jungle of spears, which would be even more terrifying.

At this moment, the usually unruly people became docile, and the self-proclaimed brave people fell silent. They all felt, to varying degrees, a power different from what they had previously perceived.

Wisps of smoke rose from the riverbank, and the aroma of fish soup filled the air.

Yu Yuan quietly approached and asked in a low voice, "Brother Shao, is two hundred ingots too little?"

"That should be enough," Shao Shuyi said. "After deducting the cost of the salt, we'll see what happens to the rest."

"Okay," Yu Yuan replied.

The two shallow boats carrying the ocean each contained some building materials, mainly timber, which had been purchased in Liujiagang, where the quantities were large and the prices were cheap, making it much more cost-effective than buying in Shanghai. These items were clearly intended for building houses.

"Are you scared?" Shao Shuyi looked at Yu Yuan and asked with a smile.

"A little." Yu Yuan nodded honestly and said, "It's probably not fear, but worry."

He had not experienced the battle of Lüsichang and had no direct understanding of the officers' and soldiers' combat capabilities, so he was somewhat worried.

"You're not afraid, you're cautious." Shao Shuyi patted Yu Yuan on the shoulder and said, "That's the right thing to do. On the battlefield, arrogance can kill you. We defeated the Yu Xi Patrol Inspectorate, but can we defeat the Lü Si Patrol Inspectorate? It's hard to say. We haven't fought them yet, who knows?"

For example, Guo Huoni is causing trouble in his belly and no one can control him. But if he changes his route and encounters another group of government troops, can he still kill soldiers and command them? No one can guarantee that. Since they haven't fought each other, it's hard to say.

"On the battlefield, it's crucial to avoid generalizations. Most government troops are incapable of fighting, but some might be capable. Or perhaps they were initially incapable, but after some reorganization, they might become somewhat capable. Your caution is correct; that lackey has already become arrogant, thinking the government troops are nothing special. Don't follow his example." "Oh, alright," Yu Yuan replied, then asked, "Then—are the patrol officers and salt inspectors in Shanghai capable of fighting?"

"Let's see how it goes," Shao Shuyi said. "I don't think it'll work, but my opinion doesn't count. The real test will."

"Dog Slave said he's met a few salt inspectors who only know how to extort money, so we should be able to deal with them," Yu Yuan said.

"Then we'll have to go on a buying spree this time," Shao Shuyi laughed. "If we can defeat or scare them away, no one will stop us for the next ten days or half a month. We can buy as much as we want."

Yu Yuan was very excited when he heard this. If he could successfully make a deal, the private salt trade would be on the right track.