Wife, you didn't really drug me, did you?

Chapter 669 Island Building Plan
"My lord, my lord!"

Chen Jiegang said he would bury them alive, but unexpectedly, several Japanese soldiers immediately crawled out and said, "My lord, spare our lives! We are not Japanese soldiers, we are Han Chinese, we are Han Chinese."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie frowned and said, "Han people? Why are Han people dressed like Japanese slaves?"

"Your Excellency, we are all Han Chinese, and our ancestral home is Fuzhou. We were originally merchants, but we never expected to be robbed by a group of Japanese pirates. We were robbed of everything and then captured and humiliated by the Japanese. We had no choice but to impersonate Japanese and become river pirates!"

"Please spare our lives, sir! We will never dare to do it again, never dare to do it again!"

The group kowtowed to Chen Jie, while Chen Qi, standing to the side, said coldly, "We are all compatriots, and those who harm their own compatriots deserve to die!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie looked at the group and, after thinking for a moment, asked, "How many bandits are there in total?"

The leader kowtowed and said, "There are more than three hundred people in total."

"More than three hundred people."

Chen Jie said, "It seems you don't have three hundred here!"

“We, we still have men hiding on nearby islands. If you spare our lives, I am willing to lead the Heavenly Dynasty army to wipe out these bandits. In addition, all the wealth we have plundered over the years can belong to you.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie looked at the leader and asked, "What's your name? What's your status in this gang of river bandits?"

Upon hearing this, the man immediately kowtowed and said, "I am the second-in-command of this group of river bandits."

"And where is your boss?"

Chen asked, and the man replied, "Our leader is cunning; he wouldn't do such dangerous, frontline work."

Chen Jie: "Heh, he sends his men to their deaths while he lives behind the scenes. That kind of guy really deserves to die. So, Chen Qi!"

"My subordinate is here."

Chen Qi clasped his hands in a fist salute and Chen Jie said, "You will lead all the soldiers on the island to go with Du Xiong to capture this group of river pirates. Remember, capture them alive if possible, and bring back all the treasure to use as military expenses!"

"Yes!"

Chen Qi clasped his hands in a fist salute and immediately led his men to prepare to capture the thieves. Seeing Chen Qi leave, Chen Jie looked at Du Xiong beside him and said, "You go and take a look. Oh, and change your clothes."

Upon hearing this, Du Xiong said, "Alright, this is a good opportunity for me to practice this artillery flying technique."

Seeing this, Chen Jie was quite helpless, but he still let Du Xiong follow. Soon the army set off, with three warships carrying more than 800 soldiers heading straight for the nearby islands. The captured bandit leader was the one leading the way.

The group set off.

However, Chen Jie also left behind quite a few people, including the cooks.

With nothing to do, Chen Jie asked the cook, "What are we eating today?"

The cook paused for a moment upon hearing this, then said, "Let's stew the fish."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie thought for a moment and said, "Stewed fish is good. I've heard that the fish here is very fresh and delicious. As our army sets off, I will prepare a sumptuous victory banquet for them right here."

After saying this, Chen Jie called the cook over and asked, "Is there anything good to eat around this island?"

The cook thought for a moment and said, "Your Excellency, this is an island. We may not have much else, but we do have seafood."

Our mess hall crew has set crab traps around the island. We've been doing this for half a day now, and we should be able to return with a full catch.

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie exclaimed, "Are there so many crabs here?"

The cook said, "There are an unusually large number of crabs on this island, and many different kinds, but in terms of plumpness, the small, patterned flower crabs are the best."

"However, if you want to eat the claws, the crabs with hard backs that turn bright red after cooking are the best."

"As for wanting to eat meat, you should eat those flat crabs, they're all delicious."

"In addition, we can send our mess troop to fish in small boats. One net can catch all kinds of fish, and stewing them together will make a delicious meal."

"We can also send soldiers to collect some oysters and conches from the rocks on the beach. There are plenty of them here, and nobody is picking them up. They've become an overabundance."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie thought to himself that the ocean is still so abundant now, with so much seafood to eat, unlike in later years when the ocean is almost depleted and seafood has to be farmed. Now, all the seafood is wild.

So Chen Jie followed the cook, boarded a small boat, went out to sea, and went fishing everywhere with a fishing net.

After a busy day, everyone returned home with a bountiful harvest. Five large pots of crabs had been caught, and they were all steamed in one pot.

They also caught six large pots of mantis shrimp, which the local fishermen call "shrimp crawlers".

Then there were all kinds of sea snails and all kinds of sea fish, truly an abundance of natural resources.

Chen Jie even caught dozens of wild large yellow croakers. These fish would cost thousands or even tens of thousands of yuan each in later generations, but they are still very common in the ocean today. The reason they are so rare in later generations is because of their delicious meat, which has led to overfishing.

In this way, the mess hall had enough ingredients to cook, and they got busy.

Looking at all the delicious food, Chen Jie said, "This time, the brothers can enjoy a good meal."

The cook said, "Sir, actually, after living on the island for so long, we don't really like seafood anymore. We're craving meat now, any kind of meat, we really miss it."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie nodded slightly and then said, "These problems can all be solved. You all start cooking, and I'll go to the island to take a look."

In this way, Chen Jie inspected the entire island. It was only because of Chen Jie's superb lightness skill and speed that he was able to browse the entire island so quickly. By the time Chen Jie finished his inspection, the food was almost ready.

Then we saw that Chen Qi and his men had returned in triumph.

All three warships were filled with prisoners. Chen Jie watched as a prisoner was taken off the ship and imprisoned in one place. He also saw chests of treasure being unloaded. In the end, he didn't see Du Xiong disembark.

Chen Jie looked at Chen Qi and asked, "Where is Du Xiong?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Qi couldn't help but laugh. He lowered his head, and Chen Jie looked at Chen Qi and said, "Mocking an official is a serious crime!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Qi immediately clasped his hands and said, "This subordinate knows his mistake, but as for General Du, well, this subordinate will not say anything more. You can see for yourself, Your Excellency."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie immediately looked up and called out, "Du Xiong, come out."

Du Xiong then emerged from the back, looking awkward and hesitant. His newly changed clothes were tattered, and although his face was clean, you could still see traces of black ash that hadn't been washed off.

Chen Jie covered his face helplessly and said, "So the cannonball flying method failed again?"

Upon hearing this, Du Xiong grinned and said, "We need to try more. This time it's not my fault, but the shell was of poor quality. It couldn't withstand my kick and exploded in mid-air. You can't blame me for that."

Hearing this, Chen Jie looked at him helplessly and said, "Go and change your clothes quickly, don't embarrass yourself here." Du Xiong replied, "Someone is bringing me clothes."

Chen Jie was also quite helpless upon hearing this, and looked at Du Xiong, saying, "Alright, you can wait for now."

After saying that, Chen Jie led his group away, while Du Xiong stayed behind to change his pants. He had felt quite chilly when the breeze blew by earlier.

At this moment, a group of people arrived at the temporary military camp. Immediately, the cooks brought out fine wine and dishes, with all kinds of seafood neatly arranged.

There are various kinds of crabs, mantis shrimps, sea snails, and sea fish. The most precious thing is that there is even a plate of braised pork in the middle.

The soldiers sat down, and then everyone started eating. Du Xiong really liked seafood, especially crabs. The crabs were very plump at this time of year, and Du Xiong was eating a large bowl of crabs.

Chen Jie was eating crabs while listening to Chen Qi's report.

"Your Excellency, this time we captured more than 320 river bandits, killed 70 or 80, and had two of our men lightly wounded."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie frowned and asked, "Why are there two people with minor injuries?"

After hearing this, Chen Qi said, "When we went ashore, the two brothers were too close to General Du. When the shells exploded, the flying stones grazed them."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie looked at Du Xiong and said, "The expenses for these two to recover from their injuries will be deducted from your salary."

Upon hearing this, Du Xiong, while eating crab, said, "Alright, anyway, I haven't used my salary much."

Chen Jie remained silent, and then Chen Qi continued to report: "In addition, we have seized more than 100,000 taels of silver, 3,000 taels of gold, five large boxes of various jewels, more than 5,000 bolts of brocade and cloth, and about 200,000 shi of grain, enough for our soldiers to eat for several years."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie nodded slightly and said, "Pass on my military order: of the silver and goods captured, 20% shall be used as a reward for the soldiers who have been stationed on the isolated island for this period of time. Of the remaining 80%, 30% shall be used for military supplies in the near future, and the other 50% shall be allocated to the construction of the port."

"Yes!"

The group immediately clasped their hands in agreement, and then Chen Jie looked at Chen Qi and said, "Here, this is the design I made when I toured this island today."

"This island is high in the east and low in the west, which is suitable for building military camps. Moreover, there is a stream here. If we block this stream and use it as a drinking water source, we will not have to worry about the enemy cutting off our water supply."

"Strategically, it is more advantageous to fight from a high position."

"In addition, two watchtowers can be built on these two high points for observation during wartime, for guard duty during peacetime, and for navigation as lighthouses in critical moments."

Chen Qi nodded slightly and said, "What you say is absolutely right, I will go and prepare the laborers right away."

Chen Jie said, “No rush, I haven’t finished yet. Keep looking. Besides building military camps here, there are still many vacancies. I checked and the land to the south is soft with few stones, so it can be cultivated into fertile fields to grow grain and solve the food shortage problem.”

"There are more miscellaneous trees to the north, but they are not tall. We can clear land for livestock pens and raise cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, geese, etc. to supplement the soldiers' nutrition."

"And the manure from these livestock can be turned into the best fertilizer to irrigate the fertile fields in the south. With this measure, the island can be self-sufficient and have nothing to worry about."

Chen Qi's eyes lit up as he looked at Chen Jie's plan. He then clasped his hands in a fist and said, "What the Prefect says is very true. In this way, my Xiaozi Camp will not lack food, which will greatly reduce the pressure on Huangzhou Prefecture to provide us with support."

"Excellent, as expected of the Prefect."

Chen Jie looked at Chen Qi and said, "When did you learn to flatter? These are just ordinary tricks, there's no need to go to such lengths."

Chen Jie continued, "However, it will take a lot of manpower to get all these things done."

Chen Qi said, "Your Excellency, we have a thousand men, that's enough."

Chen Jie said, "You are elite troops, and your training cannot be neglected. How can you spend so much time farming? This won't do."

"Then we should find a way to recruit workers, to bring people from the mainland to work on the island."

Chen Jie said, "That is a solution, but it's not suitable right now. The island doesn't yet have enough conditions for the people to survive."

Chen Qi asked, "What does the Prefect mean?"

Chen Jie pointed to the group of river bandits and said, "These guys are good laborers. There are more than three hundred of them. If they are used properly, they can be a good workforce."

Chen Qi said, "Let the river bandits do it for us?"

Chen explained, "It's just making use of waste."

Chen Qi frowned and said, "I'm afraid they'll be dissatisfied and cause trouble for us, which would be a loss."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie said, "That's simple. For this group of people, we should actually recruit some and then punish others."

Chen Jie continued, "First, win over their second-in-command and make him the leader in charge of these river bandits. Let him gather a small team and use them to manage these river bandits."

Chen Qi was taken aback and asked, "This?"

Chen Jie said, "These bandits actually respect their leader. The second leader has never been valued, and this time it was he who led the troops to subdue this group of bandits. These bandits hate the second leader."

"The second-in-command's survival among these bandits depends on us, so after we selected him as the leader, he must show enough loyalty to us. Therefore, it's much easier for him than if we were to manage him ourselves."

"Moreover, he manages these river bandits far more strictly than we do; such people are called scabs!"

Chen Jie chuckled, and upon hearing this, Chen Qi frowned slightly and said, "If all these people are kept on the island, what about the food supply?"

Chen Jie said, "When we get back, I'll have Shen Wansan and his men bring you some sweet potato and potato seeds on the next boat. With those two things, they won't starve."

"If you reward them with a piece of meat every now and then, they will treat you like a living ancestor and work hard."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qi exclaimed excitedly, "If that's the case, then that's wonderful! This solves a major problem for us!"

Chen Jie smiled and nodded, then looked at Du Xiong, who was eating crab with gusto, and asked, "Du Xiong, is this crab delicious?"

"Mmm, it's so fresh! It's completely different from the river crabs we usually eat. It's so delicious."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qi said, "Hehe, I'm glad General Du likes to eat. We have plenty of crabs here, General Du can have as many as you like."

Upon hearing this, Du Xiong said, "Yes, yes, I must eat more, otherwise I won't be able to eat any more after returning to Huangzhou Prefecture."

Chen Jie laughed after hearing Du Xiong's words: "Du Xiong, since you love to eat so much, then I'll let you eat your fill. Chen Qi, the situation overseas is complicated and we need a strong person to oversee it. What do you think of General Du?"

"Ah, General Du!"

Chen Qi looked at Du Xiong and then clasped his hands in a fist salute, saying, "That's exactly what I wanted!"

　Author's New Book Express:

　　
　
(End of this chapter)