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"If you pay in gold, you get ten percent off. If you pay in silver, there's no discount.

Yesterday, I gave Li Dawang a batch of goods to offset the cost of the Thousand-Leaf Workshop. The rest are still on the island.

I've already sent people back to fetch them. They should arrive toward evening," Tang Wen said.

"Agreed!" Shen Xihe nodded.

By evening, Shen Xihe was already waiting at the Thousand-Leaf Workshop.

As soon as the goods arrived, he began inspecting them. After a busy spell, the handover of ten thousand taels of gold was complete.

It weighed several hundred pounds. All the remaining goods went to Li Chun'er.

"Miss Li, this silver crown is yours, as payment for introducing Proprietor Shen to me. Keep bringing me customers, and there'll be a reward every time," Tang Wen said with a smile.

"Thank you for your generosity, my lord! I will." Li Chun'er knelt to thank him.

"Proprietor Shen, our first venture together has been a very pleasant one. This specially made lighter is yours, along with this bottle of Grape Wine." Tang Wen brought out the Grape Wine and the Gilded Lighter.

"I once tried Grape Wine at a friend's home. He only let me taste one cup, but it was mellow and delicious, with a lingering finish. I never imagined you would have something so fine, my lord. You have my thanks." Shen Xihe cupped his hands.

"Stay a while at the Thousand-Leaf Workshop tonight. I still have a few bottles left. We'll open them all and drink our fill, and let Miss Li have a taste too," Tang Wen said with a smile.

"Thank you, my lord. My taste buds are in for a treat." Li Chun'er was so excited that her little face flushed red.

"Please, come inside!" Tang Wen smiled, and the three took their seats at the table.

Three bottles of Changyu Cabernet were brought out on a silver tray. Tang Wen opened them himself and poured the wine into a glass vessel to let it breathe.

Then the red liquid was poured into stemmed glasses.

"You're so practiced at this, my lord. Do you often enjoy wine?" Shen Xihe asked, his face full of envy.

"Heh, whenever I'm tired, I open a bottle. I can enjoy a little whenever I please to ease my fatigue. Come, take a small sip first, then close your eyes and reflect on it," Tang Wen said with a smile.

Shen Xihe and Li Chun'er each took a small sip, then closed their eyes.

"Ah... the flavor is beyond words. Wonderful," Shen Xihe sighed after opening his eyes.

"It makes you feel as though you're floating a little. Such a marvelous feeling," Li Chun'er said with a smile.

"When tasting wine, let it enter your mouth first, then your throat, and finally your heart...

The flavor is like the fragrance a beautiful woman leaves on your cheek with her lips.

Just imagine how unforgettable that would be..." Tang Wen smiled. "Come, come, have some food. You probably haven't tasted this fish before."

"Is it from the Western Lands too?" Li Chun'er asked, looking at it.

"Of course not. It would have spoiled long before it arrived from somewhere as distant as the Western Lands. These are ocean fish, not the sort you can ordinarily catch. This one, for instance, is called tuna..." Tang Wen shook his head.

Shen Xihe picked up a piece with his chopsticks. The moment he tasted it, his mouth fell open. "It really does taste different. I've never eaten this before. Such a distinctive flavor."

"Ah... what a pity we won't get to eat it again." Once the wine was finished and most of the food was gone, Li Chun'er looked dejected.

"Heh, the facilities at the Thousand-Leaf Workshop are rather basic. It'll take a few more months to get everything built. But you can visit my Su Mei Island. The cooking there is even better than here," Tang Wen said with a smile.

"Isn't Su Mei Island a deserted island?" Shen Xihe blurted out in surprise.

"It's still undeveloped, but it was left to me by my Tang ancestors, and I've already begun putting it in order," Tang Wen said with a smile.

"Good. I'll be sure to impose on your hospitality when I have time," Shen Xihe said with a smile.

The next day, Tang Wen returned to Su Mei Island and continued supervising the dam's construction.

The site was simply too vast, however. Even two excavators were nowhere near enough, and construction still progressed slowly.

Moreover, cement and rebar were running short again. The recent rebuilding and expansion of the camp had consumed more than half of the supplies.

The camp now covered over a hundred thousand square meters. Paving the floors alone had consumed several hundred tons of cement, and the rate of recruitment simply could not keep pace with the rate at which cement was being used.

His eighth crossing required 350 strands of popularity, and Tang Wen had been back for over a month.

He had recruited only a few dozen people. His plans to expand the Personal Guard Army again had to be shelved for lack of manpower.

With cement and other supplies dwindling by the day, work would have to stop if he did not cross over again soon.

Tang Wen had considered establishing a cement factory in this other world, but the equipment was too complicated. Without guidance from modern technicians, there was simply no way to build one.

The Great Landlord Space was good in every other respect, but it could not bring living people back with him across worlds.

A few days later, however, Yang Yun brought Tang Wen an enormous surprise.

That morning, a group of bailiffs escorted a crowd of three or four hundred people into the camp.

"Constable Yang, who are these people?" Tang Wen asked after welcoming Yang Yun into the reception room.

"Young brother, this place changes by the day. Last time I came, it was all tents. Now they've all become sheet-metal houses. And your camp must have grown to three or four times its former size, hasn't it?" Yang Yun glanced around with a smile.

"We have more people now, and there aren't enough tents to house them, so I had to bring back some prefabricated metal houses. They need to feel they have a home. Otherwise, they won't want to stay," Tang Wen replied.

"Lord Zhang entrusted me with bringing you this batch of people. They're a little unusual, though," Constable Yang said.

"They certainly are. Why are all their hands tied? Are they prisoners?" Tang Wen asked.

"They are, but their offenses are only petty theft and the like. Most are disaster victims and refugees who drifted into the area.

They had nothing to eat, so they seized some rice or grain. That led to fighting, and we arrested them.

Truth be told, we would normally release them after a few days.

The jail is overcrowded, and we can't afford to feed them all.

I've already interrogated every one of them thoroughly. There are no serious offenders.

Otherwise, I wouldn't have brought them here. That would only bring trouble down on you, young brother," Yang Yun said.

"Of course. But will they be willing to stay?" Tang Wen asked.

"They're free to refuse. I'll just take them back to jail. Play along with me in a little performance later... I guarantee they'll be too frightened to do anything but stay," Yang Yun said.

The two drank tea for a while, then went out to the open space in the courtyard and gathered all the prisoners together.

**"Listen up, all of you! This is Tang Wen, the master of Su Mei Island. He is a Count.

You drifted into our Yanling Commandery and committed crimes. Did you think a few days in jail would settle it?

You're dreaming!

Things are different this time. The Northwestern War is at a critical point, and every last one of you will be escorted to the battlefield to fight.

However, Count Tang here is a friend of mine. He told me last time that Su Mei Island was recruiting people.

That's why I brought you here. If you sell yourselves into the Tang household, you'll receive not only thirty taels of silver, but clothes to wear, food to eat, and a roof over your heads.

You'll also receive a monthly allowance of half a tael of silver. Those with wives and children can bring them here too. His lordship will provide their food and lodging."** Yang Yun wore a fierce expression.

"As you can see, everyone living here is a servant of the Tang household. Ask them what work they do and how they live," Tang Wen said.

"Will you really provide food, clothes, and lodging...?"

"Of course. Look, everything we wear, live in, eat, and use was provided by Master Tang," Zhan Dongwen replied.

"We get meat every other day. When there's no meat, there's fish, and all the rice we can eat..." Ge Ziyun chimed in, working to win them over.

"Are you trying to trick us?"

"Trick you? Lord Yang, you can untie them. I'll show them our washrooms and dining hall," Zhan Dongwen said.

"Untie them!" Yang Yun ordered. Then Zhan Dongwen and Ge Ziyun, the two planted helpers, led the group around to see the place.

Even Yang Yun took an interested look around, used the washroom to take a dump, and sat for a while in the dining hall.

As usual, Tang Wen gave each person a towel to wash their face and wipe themselves down, then treated them to a hearty meal in the dining hall.

With both words and living examples before them, the group began to waver.

Coupled with the terrifying threat of death awaiting them as laborers on the battlefield, it led every one of them to sell themselves into the Tang household that afternoon.

Several dozen who had wives, children, or elderly relatives returned to Yanling Commandery to fetch their families.

Ding-dong! You have accumulated 350 strands of popularity. The Great Landlord Space has immediately upgraded to 2.0. You may open the second gate and cross into another world.

As the space responded, Tang Wen discovered several hundred strands of popularity surging wildly toward him.

He hurriedly activated the Fish-Dragon Nine-Turn Art Yang Yun had given him, absorbing, refining, and storing the popularity.

Tang Wen also discovered that some of the popularity was being fed directly into the Third Eye between his brows-the Popularity Eye.

A few minutes later, the popularity had been fully absorbed, and the large screen in the Great Landlord Space displayed updated figures:

Popularity index: 1480

Land area: 2,342 qing and 20 mu.

Wealth index: 83,000 taels of gold.

Martial arts realm: eighth-rank perfection.

Luggage capacity: 1,000 tons.

Time before crossing: fifty days.

His people had suddenly swelled by some five hundred. Of course, over three hundred of them were from this batch of prisoners.