Dad, don't be greedy! My brother climbed into the emperor's bed, and I became famous overn

Weihu Village originally had about a hundred people. There were thirty-two at Baishipo, more than forty at Hama Ridge, and about sixty at Yingzui Cliff.

There are almost three hundred people in total.

And it's still flowing in.

Before dawn, people from two more small villages arrived.

When Gu Mingyue stood on the village wall and looked down the next morning, there were people everywhere—in the courtyard, in the shed, and on the rocks.

Xiong Erdangjia ran over, holding a newly compiled list in his hand.

"Boss, including those who arrived tonight, there are a total of 467 people. Among them, 280 are able-bodied men and 187 are women, children, and the elderly."

Four hundred and sixty-seven people, each receiving two taels of silver per month.

That means the monthly allowance alone is nearly a thousand taels.

In addition, there are expenses for food and lodging, tools and materials, and daily necessities.

It must take at least two or three thousand taels of silver a month.

Xiong Erdangjia rubbed his hands together, his face full of worry.

"Boss, aren't there too many people? Should I send some of the smaller villages back?"

"No need," Gu Mingyue waved her hand.

On the system panel, there are still 210,000 taels of silver left to be spent.

Two or three thousand taels a month, it would take forever to spend it all.

"Not only do you not need to send them away, you can also send people to inquire in the mountains of the surrounding counties. If there are any villages with people who want to seek refuge, take them all in."

"The more people, the better."

Xiong Er's eyes widened.

"Boss, we're already struggling to feed, drink, and relieve ourselves with over four hundred people. You think that's not enough?"

"That's not enough," Gu Mingyue said firmly. "Road construction is a huge project, requiring far more manpower than this. Mining also needs people, and transportation also needs people."

She looked at Xiong Erdangjia and said seriously.

"Please pass on this message for me. Anyone who is willing to come, regardless of what they did before, will still receive their monthly salary as long as they are willing to work. The elderly and children will still have food to eat."

Xiong Er nodded emphatically.

"Boss, I've remembered what you said."

He turned and ran out to make arrangements.

Gu Mingli leaned against the door frame, arms crossed over his chest.

"Are you really planning to spend all 210,000 taels on road construction?"

"Otherwise what?"

Gu Mingyue turned around and glanced at her brother.

"The system gave us a sixty-day deadline. How much disinfectant can we use? Won't the rest be used for road paving?"

"Besides, Xiao Er has already set his sights on us. If we don't increase the national treasury's revenue, our family's lives will be in constant danger."

Gu Mingli had nothing to say.

His sister's logic of "spending money recklessly" is always self-consistent.

Early in the morning, just as dawn was breaking.

Gu Mingyue, along with Gu Mingli, Yi Wu Yi Shi, Gong Huo, and Tao Zhi, set off from Wei Hu Zhai and headed towards the valley behind the mountain.

Xiong Er ordered twenty strong men to follow behind, carrying pickaxes, shovels, ropes, and several empty buckets on their shoulders.

This team is responsible for mining.

Once you leave the village and cross a mountain ridge to the east, you'll find a primeval forest.

The trees were so tall they blocked out the sun, and the ground was covered with ferns and decaying leaves that were half a person tall.

Xiong Er walked ahead, using his broadsword to cut through the branches blocking his path while turning back to call out.

"Boss, watch your step! There are snakes around here."

Startled, Taozhi grabbed Gu Mingyue's arm.

"Miss! Shall we go back?"

"What's there to be afraid of? With Yi Wu Shi around, even snakes will have to go around."

Yi Wu walked on the side of the group, expressionless, his eyes constantly scanning the dense forest around him.

"Snakes don't go around detours," he coldly corrected.

"But I can kill snakes."

"...Thank you for your comfort." Peach pursed her lips.

Fortunately, our destination was not far from Weihu Village.

We arrived in less than an hour.

Yi Shi squatted on a rock, glanced ahead, and suddenly pointed into the distance and shouted.

"There seems to be a stream ahead! The water is white!"

Gu Mingli quickly stepped forward.

Standing on the edge of the ridge and looking down, sure enough, a narrow stream seeped out from a crevice in the rocks halfway up the mountain.

The water flow wasn't strong, but its color was indeed a light milky white.

He quickly pulled out a navigation map.

The marked point on the map is about two hundred steps ahead.

"This is it." Gu Mingli lowered his voice. "The seepage outlet of the underground river."

He squatted down, dipped his finger in the stream water, and smelled it.

There was a faint, pungent odor.

"It contains sodium chloride, and the concentration is not low."

He rummaged through his bag and pulled out a small porcelain bottle, which contained half a sample of stream water.

He then pulled out a roll of toilet paper and squatted by the stream, quickly recording water quality observation data.

Xiong Er came closer, looking curious.

"Lord Gu, is this water drinkable?"

"You can drink it." Gu Mingli said without looking up. "But you'll get diarrhea if you drink it."

Xiong Er silently put down the bucket of water that was already at his mouth.

Gu Mingyue also walked to the stream and squatted down to observe for a while.

"The mineral water source has been confirmed. What's next?"

Gu Mingli stood up and patted the mud off his knees.

"We need to excavate a collection pool near the seepage point to divert and collect the mineral water."

"Then set up a simple distillation apparatus. Heat the mineral water and distill it to separate a high-concentration sodium salt solution."

"Finally, sodium hypochlorite is prepared by combining sodium salt solution with other materials according to the formula. This is what my sister called disinfectant."

He squatted down and drew a simple flowchart on the mud with a twig.

"Distillation requires a lot of firewood. Wood is the one thing that's most abundant in the mountains."

"The water collection tank and the distillation stove both need to be dug and built manually. Twenty people are not enough; at least fifty are needed."

"The finished disinfectant needs to be sealed and stored, so it must be packaged in earthenware jars or porcelain bottles. We need to order this from down the mountain."

As Gu Mingyue listened, she mentally calculated the expenses.

The construction of the water collection pool: labor and materials, costing several hundred taels.

Construction of the distillation stove: bricks, iron pots, copper pipes, costing one or two thousand taels.

Earthenware jars: Made in bulk from workshops firing kilns at the foot of the mountain, costing several hundred taels.

In addition, there are transportation costs.

All things considered, about five or six thousand taels should be enough.

Only five or six thousand taels?

Gu Mingyue thought it was too little.

"Brother, could you install a few more distillation stoves?"

"How many more do you want to build? How much production capacity do you need?"

"The more the better."

Gu Mingli glanced at her.

"Do you know how much disinfectant is needed? Kyoto and the surrounding prefectures combined, at most, consume a few hundred jars a month. Two stoves are enough."

"Then let's get four," Gu Mingyue said.

Gu Mingli wanted to refute it, but then felt that his sister must have a reason for doing so.

"Okay, four stoves."

"The core component of the distillation stove is the copper pipe. Ten sets of copper pipes were made in the city and transported up, costing at least two thousand taels of silver."

"it is good."

Gu Mingyue didn't say a word.

She glanced at the system panel. A sum of money had been spent, and her remaining balance was several thousand taels less. Comfortable.

The exploration and planning took up most of the day.

Gu Mingli walked around the valley and determined the location of the water collection pool, the placement of the distillation stove, and the construction plan for the finished product warehouse.

He drew a detailed construction plan with charcoal and handed it to Lao Ma.

"Dig according to the location and dimensions marked on this map."