If you traveled back to ancient times, while others ate Guanyin clay, you would actually have giant

"I wonder how many slaves Your Excellency requires."

One of the slave owners mustered his courage and asked.

"Do you see the ship behind me? I want to fill my fleet with slaves."

The slave owner looked at the entire fleet of Bull Demon-class ships docked at the pier, his eyes filled with both greed and envy. When he heard that the other party wanted enough slaves to fill the entire fleet, his eyes lit up even more.

"Sir, we will certainly fulfill your request, but it will take some time."

"You only have one day. By this time tomorrow, I will lead the fleet away."

Deng Yuanliang knew these people too well; if he didn't push them a little, they would always dawdle and procrastinate when it came to work.

"Sir, we will certainly do our best."

"I'm warning you, I can accept women and children, but health is the bottom line. Don't just go through the motions."

Deng Yuanliang did his best to minimize the slaves' demands within his capabilities.

"Don't worry, sir."

The slave owners began to calculate again. Deng Yuanliang's requirements were far too low for them. As long as they weren't old, weak, sick, or disabled, they could basically meet the requirements.

Upon hearing Deng Yuanliang's request, the slave owners immediately returned to their respective posts and began arranging for the slaves. Those who acted quickly had the slaves delivered to the dock by late afternoon.

On Deng Yuanliang's side, he also brought professional human traffickers from Dalong. Every slave was pried open by these traffickers to check their teeth. It was no different from trading livestock. This was the reality. In fact, slaves were not even as good as livestock.

The laws of the Dragon Kings stipulate that killing a cow will be punished with a fine, but killing a slave will not violate any of the laws of the Dragon Kings.

. . . . . .

The next afternoon, all the ships were filled with slaves. After settling the payments with the slave owners, Deng Yuanliang left immediately, leaving the slave owners and Li Bing to deal with their affairs.

"Mother, where will we be sold this time?"

Inside the warehouse, countless slaves awaited their fate in complete darkness. Their numb eyes seemed to have grown accustomed to being sold and traded like commodities.

"Baby, don't be afraid. No matter where you go, Mommy will be by your side."

The woman even felt a little relieved. This time, she bought her own people, including the child. As long as she could be with her child, she wasn't afraid of going anywhere.

A few days later, Deng Yuanliang finally returned to Niujia Town. However, this time he did not have the fleet dock directly at the pier. Instead, he anchored and stopped far away from Niujia Town, and waited until night before setting sail. He stopped near the salt field because there was no pier there, so the slaves could only be transported ashore slowly by small boats.

It was late at night when all the slaves were transported ashore.

"Houses have been built for you here. From now on, you won't need to do heavy physical labor. As long as you obediently work, you will get everything that ordinary people have, except for freedom. It's too late today, so go back to your rooms and rest. We'll arrange work for you tomorrow."

Zhou Wu thought his passionate speech would win the slaves' approval and applause, but he seemed to have underestimated their servility. Their eyes were completely unmoved, and the slaves simply obeyed orders like robots.

. . . . .

Early in the morning, many slaves had already gotten up and began to secretly look around at the place where they would be living. Soon, the aroma of rice filled the air.

"smell good."

"It should be rice porridge; I haven't had it in a long time."

"I wonder if I'll ever have the chance to drink a bowl of rice porridge in my lifetime."

"Mother, what is rice porridge?"

Although the slaves' servility was ingrained in their bones, their instinct for hunger still made them fantasize about the temptation of delicious food.

Perhaps because they had become accustomed to it under the control of slave owners, slaves basically did not have the habit of sleeping in late.

"Clang clang clang."

A guard kept banging a gong in his hand, attracting everyone's attention, and the slaves gradually gathered around.

"Now I will announce your future mission: to produce salt here. You know the importance of salt, so to keep this secret, you will lose your freedom. But as long as you obey and complete the tasks on time and in the required quantity, you will receive all the treatment of a normal person except for freedom. You will have food, shelter, and medical care if you are sick."

The slaves looked at the man before them. He had said something similar yesterday, but they were too exhausted last night to take it seriously. However, he brought it up again today, and a slight softening appeared in the slaves' numb eyes, but it was only a fleeting one.

"Three meals a day, all you can eat. In the morning, there's rice porridge, steamed buns, and pickled vegetables. Everyone line up to get their meals."

These slaves had nothing on them except for their smelly, tattered clothes, so when Zhou Wu was serving food, he also distributed bowls and chopsticks to each person: two wooden bowls and a pair of chopsticks. It wasn't that Zhou Wu was reluctant to use ceramic bowls; he simply felt that wooden ones were more practical at the moment.

Two bowls, one for rice porridge and the other for steamed buns and pickled vegetables. Each person gets two steamed buns, and there's plenty of porridge. This is the standard set by Zhou Wu.

When the slaves looked at the bowls of white rice porridge, they felt as if they were dreaming.

Three meals a day, just rice porridge and white flour steamed buns—this was a life I never dared to dream of before becoming a slave. Most people still only eat two meals a day; only nobles and the wealthy can enjoy three meals a day.

"Mom, this rice porridge is delicious."

"Sweetie, drink more if you like it. This bowl is for you too."

"No, Mother will drink it."

Because Deng Yuanliang had said that children were also acceptable, the slave owners practically shoved all the children onto the ship. As a result, Zhou Wu saw many slaves with children. Although he was not a saint, he was not a villain either. So, he thought, "Let the children be. People are more obedient and work harder when they have something to care about."

After breakfast, Zhou Wu arranged for people to teach the slaves the process of making salt from seawater. He broke down all the steps and assigned personnel to one of them, so that the slaves could master the steps more quickly and improve their proficiency.

With rice porridge and steamed buns in the morning, the slaves studied with exceptional seriousness. They had thought it would be difficult, but to their surprise, it was so simple.

The fate of ordinary slaves was either to go to the battlefield and become cannon fodder, or to be bought by their masters and forced to live like cattle or horses, worse than animals.

But so far, the slaves feel that everything has exceeded their expectations, and perhaps this master is really different from the past.

On the first day, all the slaves learned the steps they were responsible for. Starting tomorrow, Zhou Wu will officially begin salt production. A lot of time has already been wasted, and Hu Sai has urged them several times.