With the rise of my family, I can summon the Daoist Soldiers' Nest.

After more than half a year of hard work, the 18 towns in Xiang County, which were once desolate, have begun to recover and, with the connection of the Wushui River, have re-formed close economic and social ties.

Every day, boats shuttle back and forth on the river, and shouts of loading and unloading goods rise and fall at the docks along the banks, and a busy scene is slowly returning.

As the original gentry of the eighteen towns were purged by the local officials, some chose to leave the town and go to other territories; others moved to the newly built county town at Lin Ye's request, severing ties with their original towns.

Now, actual control of each town has fallen entirely into the hands of the stewards personally appointed by Lin Ye.

In accordance with the long-term strategy set forth in the council hall at that time, each town, in addition to maintaining a sufficient amount of farmland to meet basic food needs, also vigorously developed distinctive industries based on its own conditions and resource advantages.

Some towns, relying on their abundant grasslands and water resources, have devoted themselves to developing animal husbandry, which has become an important commodity in trade;

Some towns, relying on the mineral veins in the mountains and the inheritance of craftsmen, specialize in the production of weapons, from swords to bows and crossbows, and have created batches of excellent equipment.

Other towns planted mulberry trees everywhere, developed the sericulture industry, and silk weaving gradually became a large-scale industry.

This industrial division of labor model not only significantly improved overall production efficiency, but more importantly, it broke the previous closed and rigid small-scale peasant economic structure.

In the past, a town was like a fully functional small society, capable of completing various production and processing processes within itself, meeting most of its living and military needs, thus reducing unnecessary dependence on the outside world and forming de facto small territories.

This reduced reliance on the lord and weakened the lord's authority.

Now, towns are not isolated from each other; rather, they depend on and complement each other because of their different industries.

Towns that develop animal husbandry need clothing and fabric from silkworm towns, otherwise they will face the predicament of having no clothes to wear in the cold winter.

Towns that manufacture weapons need to be supplied with food by grain towns and exchange resources with other raw material producing areas.

It is this complementarity that has fostered frequent and active trade between the towns.

The Wushui River thus became busy, with boats constantly passing through and goods flowing along the river.

The prosperity of the river also attracted uninvited guests. River bandits from other counties, seeing the potential for profit, once attempted to plunder merchant ships.

However, the river patrol force led by Tian Han and Zhao Sanpao had already set up a tight defense line on the river. This force was composed of a mix of Taoist soldiers and martial artists, and they were quick to react. Once they discovered any trace of the river bandits, they could often complete the encirclement and annihilation in a short period of time.

In a fierce battle, Tian Han took the lead, personally going into the water to fight alongside his two contracted crocodile-armored bodyguards. They killed two third-rate bandits in the water, earning merit.

This battle not only deterred the river bandits, but also greatly reduced the previous gossip within the river patrol and guard teams.

On land, Lin Qiang's guard team was equally diligent.

For the past six months, they have been clearing long-abandoned roads, abandoned villages and barren fields on both sides of their territory, and killing monsters.

Taking advantage of the terrain, the guards set traps and ambushed the monsters, making the operation to eliminate them much more efficient.

Although they had encountered fierce attacks from second-rate monsters like the Iron Claw Giant Bear, they were able to successfully resolve them with careful coordination and the assistance of Taoist soldiers, without any major casualties.

The only third-rate martial artist had his arm bitten off, and several other second-rate martial artists also perished.

With improved roads and rebuilt villages, the territory's landscape has been completely transformed.

New villages have been built one after another near the county seat and various towns. These villages are mostly restored on the sites of the original abandoned villages, which not only saves the cost of opening up new land, but also continues the local people and memories.

Even more gratifying is that as the nests gradually came into use, the number of monsters born in the territory decreased significantly, and the once rampant wilderness gradually returned to peace.

The population recovery has also been remarkable. The total population within the territory is now approaching 300,000.

Among them, the people of the former Xiang County in Yun County returned to their homeland intermittently. According to Lin Yi and the officials in charge of various towns, about 80,000 people returned to Xiang County.

In response to this displaced population, Lin Ye implemented a temporary tax rate of two-tenths for five years, which was different from that of other people in the territory.

As for the other people in the territory, they were subject to the usual tax rate of one-tenth, as was the practice in most territories of the Northern Han.

However, due to Lin Ye's increased monitoring and inspection of local gentry and stewards, the common people did not have to bear extra exorbitant taxes, which was much better than in other territories.

To this end, Lin Ye specially formed a patrol team, whose members were all young men from the Lin family. These young men had not yet been worn down by the world and had a strong sense of justice.

They take turns patrolling the territory to promptly discover and report any acts of oppression against the people or corruption.

As various undertakings in the territory progress steadily, the strength of the warriors also continues to grow.

The most obvious sign is the growing popularity of martial arts and the increasing number of people practicing it.

The Lin family martial arts schools opened one after another in various places, with branches spread throughout the county and eighteen towns. As ordinary people's lives became more and more hopeful, they were naturally more willing to send their children to martial arts schools to train.

Moreover, this is a martial arts school personally established by the lord. It not only teaches martial arts skills, but also allows those who perform well in the school to be directly selected into the guard team.

Donning standardized armor and armed with standard weapons, they patrolled their territory with imposing grandeur.

At the same time, the support promised by the Qingyuan Sword Sect gradually came into effect, and coupled with the harvest of spiritual plants in the territory, although it was still not abundant, it was a world of difference compared to the past.

The warriors of the territory, who had long suffered from a lack of resources, were now like parched land receiving rain, frantically absorbing the energy from the spiritual plants to temper their bodies and meridians.

As a result, breakthroughs to the third-rate martial arts level occurred one after another, becoming one of the most exciting sights in the past six months.

The changes to the guard were the most significant.

They constantly confronted demonic beasts head-on, honing their skills in battle, and were rewarded for their merits after the war, receiving precious spiritual plant supplies.

The fierce battles and timely nourishment complemented each other, and in just over half a year, eight third-rate martial artists emerged in the guard team, while the number of unranked martial artists increased exponentially.

The guard team quickly expanded to twenty-five squads, with nearly five hundred formal martial arts members.

If we include the non-martial artists in each squad, as well as the able-bodied men and laborers responsible for supplies, scouting, and logistics, the total number exceeds one thousand.

As a lordly family, the Lin family naturally enjoys abundant resources. While it's impossible to say that they can squander third-rate spiritual plants at will, the supply of lower-grade spiritual plants, such as iron wire vine, is always continuous.

Thanks to this, several members of the Lin family have broken through to the third-rate realm, with five people achieving this to date.

Two of them were town officials, and although they were quite old, they persisted in practicing martial arts in their spare time and eventually achieved a breakthrough.

The other three are outstanding members of the younger generation: Lin Qiang's son Lin Jing, Lin Hu, the leader of the Lin family's young men, and Lin Ping, a member of a collateral branch of the family.

Lin Ping was not particularly noticeable in the clan, and Lin Ye did not pay much attention to him on a regular basis.

His father was the steward of the town. With his achievements in governing the town, he was rewarded with the third-rate spiritual plant, Jade Sprout Rice. After consuming it, he successfully entered the third-rate realm. Now he is following Lin Ye to learn politics and martial arts. He is considered to be a person who is being deliberately cultivated.

As for Lin Jing and Lin Hu, they were already guards of Wubao before Lin Ye returned, following Lin Qiang to protect the old fort. They often practiced martial arts and played together when they were young, and they got along well.

They are now both serving in the patrol team and are highly regarded.

Among the smaller families within the territory, the number of those who break through to the third-rate martial artist level is relatively small.

Firstly, these family affairs are complicated, and the clan leader and key members need to spend a lot of energy managing the industry and maintaining relationships, unlike the guards who frequently engage in battle and lack practical experience.

Secondly, family resources need to be allocated to the entire clan. Even if the family is well-off, it is difficult to concentrate resources on supporting one person to fully advance their cultivation level, and they will inevitably be constrained by the family.

For example, Tian Han from the Tian family, whose eldest uncle's son, Tian Mao, is now wholeheartedly assisting his cousin Tian Liang in managing the town. According to Tian Han, Tian Mao has not touched a knife or gun for more than half a year.

However, Tian Mao himself seemed to be quite content with his life, managing town affairs in an orderly manner and living a stable and comfortable life. Others could not force him to focus on martial arts.

Therefore, only two people from each small family took a crucial step on the path to becoming a third-rate success.

One of them came from the Zhang family and rose to the third rank through years of accumulation and hard work.

The other was Tian Han's younger sister, Tian Yu. She was originally an outer disciple of the Qingyuan Sword Sect, with a solid foundation. In addition, Tian Han often gave her some third-rate spiritual plants to help her, so her breakthrough was a natural and unimpeded process.