"I'm here......" Qin Chengzu walked out of the gatehouse and stood under the lanterns hanging from the eaves, looking at Lin Fu. Qian Xiaowu and Zhao Mengxiong had all been sent on errands by Wu Qixian to other places, so there were no outsiders in the front yard. Afternoon snow had accumulated a thin layer, without much appearance.

  Compared to his appearance in Qingjiangpu after autumn, Qin Chengzu had lived at sea for several months, his skin was darker, and the cold wind had cut open a few fine cracks on his thin face, making him look slightly older. His eyes were bright and spirited under the lamp, and he wore a silk shirt, disguised as a merchant.

  "Mr. Qin is here, that's great," Lin Tie was also delighted that Qin Chengzu could come in person. Zhou Pu and Wu Qi each had their own strengths, letting them steal chickens and set fires would absolutely be better than others, but when it came to the layout of the fallen child, they were not as good as Qin Chengzu's cleverness. There were some things that Lin Tie hoped to discuss with Qin Chengzu, so he walked over and asked anxiously, "Did you encounter any trouble entering the city?"

  "This year's refugee tide is earlier than in previous years, and Jiangning has always been a peaceful place, so it won't be a problem for us to enter the city with fake identification...". Except for the person sent by Wu Qi to make contact, Qin Chengzu brought one of his subordinates along the way, disguising himself as a merchant when entering the city. He said, "I want to take a trip from Chongzhou to Jiangning's waterway to put my mind at ease..."

  "Hmm, I'm tied up and can't get away, otherwise I'd also go for another trip..." After Autumn Dusk left Qingjiangpu, Lin Xuan and Zhou Pu first sent Su Mei, Fourth Daughter, and Little Man back to Jiangning. They took the water route from Jiangning to Chongzhou and walked a round trip. Lin Xuan invited Qin Chengzu and others to the main hall wing room, walking and saying, "Are Mr. Fu, Zi Ang, Qiao Guan, and Qiao Zhong doing well on the island?"

  "It's all right, it's just a bit more tiring, otherwise I wouldn't dare to leave the island easily," Qin Chengzu said about the situation on Changshan Island. "Since entering winter, there have been several groups of pirates from the Yangtze River mouth who invaded Chongzhou and Hailing, but Changshan Island is not on their route, so there hasn't been any conflict. However, after we arrived on the island, pirate ships kept approaching and eyeing the island, and I discussed with Zi Ang and Qinghe that we couldn't just swallow our anger and do nothing, we had to fight. Last month, in the first ten days, we lured a group of pirates who landed on the island into the forest and annihilated them, and in the middle of the month, we directly drove away two pirate ships that were approaching Changshan Island, after that it's been much quieter..."

  Qin Chengzu said it was easy, but Lin Xie could imagine their hardships and dangers.

  The remaining elite forces of Qin Chengzu's lineage were only forty or fifty people, but the old, weak, women and children had three to four hundred people. To stand firm on Changshan Island, apart from the hardships of survival on the island, they also had to show their ferocity to dispel the covetous eyes and greedy thoughts of other pirate forces. In the Eastern Sea where the strong preyed on the weak, no one would be polite to Changshan Island just because it was a good place to live; on the contrary, other pirate forces must know that attempting to swallow Changshan Island would come at a bloody cost.

  "Lin Xie is waiting in Jiangning to hear that Qin Gong and Zi Ang have regained their reputation in Donghai..." Lin Xie said with a smile.

  "But what we released in the East Sea is the name of Donghai Hu Tan Zong..." Qin Chengzu narrowed his eyes and stared at Lin Xuan.

  Lin Xuan was taken aback for a moment, then burst out laughing and said: "Mr. Qin is indeed clever, using the real to fake the fake, in order to establish himself on Changshan Island, he must both establish his authority and make contact with the Donghai bandits, how could he easily let others see through his plans? I happened to think of a pseudonym and lent it to Mr. Qin for you to use, so it seems that I cannot let this name 'Donghai Hu' fall!" Lin Xuan was well aware that Qin Chengzu's group of pirates were an extremely powerful independent force, they would not easily attach themselves to others, nor could they pin their hopes on him, a young master with no power. The reason he used his pseudonym to establish himself on Changshan Island was perhaps due to gratitude for his hard work during this period, but the main reason was that Qin Chengzu had laid out a smokescreen of doubt on Changshan Island, confusing the other Donghai pirates. He laughed and asked: "But why did you choose 'Donghai Hu' as your pseudonym?"

  Qin Chengzu burst out laughing and said with a smile, "This is indeed Qinghe's idea. If you have any dissatisfaction, go find him in the future." Lin Mou's reaction was very satisfying to him. Although Lin Mou was worthy of admiration and trust, it wasn't the time to think too much about it now.

  At this moment, Liu Yu'er brought tea to the main room. She had just heard Qian Xiao Wu say that there were guests coming from outside. Now she saw Lin Fu return and immediately made tea for them. Looking at Qin Cheng Zu and Lin Fu sitting opposite each other talking, Zhou Pu, Wu Qi, Zhao Hu, Chen En Ze, Lin Jing Zhong and others all stood aside, also knowing the guest's identity was extraordinary. Because previously when Xie Fei Hu and Zhao Shu Han came to visit, she hadn't seen such respect in Zhou Pu and Wu Qi's eyes for anyone.

  Liu Yu'er couldn't have imagined that the guest who came today was originally a horse thief, and now he's changed his ways to become a pirate leader. He put down the tea water on the table, bowed to Qin Chengzu, and asked Lin Xie: "When the guest arrived, the house had already finished dinner, and I've prepared some wine and dishes..."

  "Alright, I'll go with Mr. Qin in a moment, thank you for your trouble." Lin Mou said, looking at Liu Yue'er's face under the lamp, which was full of charm and beauty, and thinking of what Gu Wu Chen had said before leaving the Gu residence.

  Men like beautiful women, there's nothing to hide. Lin Xuan clearly knew that County Magistrate Liang Zuo's intention in sending Liu Yue'er to the Gu family as a maid was not pure. He had no other thoughts about keeping Liu Yue'er in the house until tonight when Gu Wu Chen said something that made him feel a bit strange, and he thought to himself: "As it turns out, one can't be too careful." As his mind wandered for a moment, Su Mei's delicate face flashed before his eyes. Lin Xuan looked up at Wu Qi and asked, "Has Mr. Qin come over? Has he told Fourth Mistress?"

  "Master is not in Bai Garden, let's go and see later..." said Wu Qi.

  Liu Yu'er stood there, holding the tray and panting slightly. A feeling tightly grasped her tender heart: Master Lin was discussing secrets with the guest without avoiding her! She lowered her head, slightly suppressing the excitement in her heart.

  Qin Chengzu nodded slightly to indicate his understanding, and then glanced at her before she left. After he came over, Wu Qi told him about the situation in the mansion. He didn't mind Lin Xuan discussing matters in front of this woman. In this era, women like her who were beautiful and charming were the easiest to control, as long as they kept their mouths shut. Unlike ambitious men who would betray their masters for wealth, fame, or power, these women's prosperity and sense of security depended on a particular man. Once Lin Xuan fell out of favor in Jiangning, a beauty like Liu Yue'er would only attract competition from others, and her fate would be doomed.

  The wine and dishes were ready, Lin Tie invited Qin Chengzu and his two subordinates to move to dinner, Zhou Pu, Wu Qi, Lin Jingzhong and others sat with them. After dinner, Lin Tie and Qin Chengzu returned to the wing room to discuss the arrangement of using Ji Yunzhai as cover for transporting supplies to Changshan Island.

  From Jiangning to Chongzhou, the waterway winds for nearly four hundred miles, and is jointly administered by the four prefectures of Jiangning, Weiyang, Hailing, and Pingjiang. The river defense area also belongs separately to the Yanqi Water Camp under the jurisdiction of the Jiangning Guard General's Office and the Ninghai Town Water Camp under the jurisdiction of the Jiangdong Provincial Governor's Office. Except for the occasional incursions by the bandits from Dongting Lake upstream and the pirates from the East Sea downstream, this section of the river has no powerful water bandits that have long occupied it, but sometimes local rural strongmen will come in to stir up trouble. The situation is quite complicated. To be honest, it's not like letting one family, whether they are officials or river bandits, occupy this entire section of the river would be any worse - after all, you still have to pay for passage, so why not just give it to one family...

  In this era, the powerful pirates who dominate certain areas have to some extent replaced the role of the government. As long as merchant ships pay the protection fee, they can generally ensure safe passage. Even if pirates in their own territory rob merchant ships, there are rules to follow; they understand the harm of draining the pond to catch fish. Only occasionally do external pirate forces come to plunder and kill people. Lin Xie knows this principle, which is why he has such feelings. As for the thieves among the common people, haven't government officials been doing the same thing as bandits for thousands of years? They just cover it up with a layer of warm and fuzzy rhetoric.

  Lin was tied to a simple map of Jiangdong Prefecture on the desk, explaining the situation from Jiangning to Chongzhou Yangzi River section to Qin Chengzu. The map was very rough, but it was not easy to come by. Lin wondered if there were more accurate maps in the army and could only barely convey his meaning.

  Qin Chengzu and his group had just arrived on Changshan Island and had little contact with the outside world; Lin Fu, as a disciple of Procuratorate Vice Envoy Gu Wudian, was himself a successful candidate in the imperial examination and had the qualifications to read ordinary official reports. He also had close ties with officials from the Procuratorate, so he could gather information about the situation in Jiangdong Prefecture much more easily and discreetly than Qin Chengzu's group.

  "It's fortunate that Linji Warehouse also travels this waterway, and along the way, they need to make some connections and pay off certain officials, so generally speaking, there shouldn't be any major mistakes," said Lin Xian. "Moreover, Jiyun Society has obtained a business permit from Miling County; the matter of hiring armed guards for the merchant ships has also been settled. Jiyun Society will falsely report a capital of 20,000 taels and hire 40 men with knives to serve as armed guards..."

  Business licenses are similar in nature to business licenses after a thousand years. Business names and companies can only obtain business licenses to legally sell or store goods.

  The armed guards hired by the escort agency were just nominal, with the actual private soldiers belonging to the merchant houses or companies. These were semi-legalized private armies, and if the merchant groups felt that these men were not sufficient as bodyguards, they would then hire real escorts from the escort agency, although the rules were never strictly followed. The Qingfeng Escort Agency, led by Du Rong, had 200 armed guards, while Lin Xie estimated that the Jiangning headquarters of the Qingfeng Escort Agency alone had around 200 guards. Concentrating these scattered guards from various branches and those accompanying merchant caravans and ships would form a formidable force not to be underestimated.

  Many affairs of the merchant fleet are under the jurisdiction of the Xuanfu Si and the prefectural and county governments, while only the escort business is under the jurisdiction of the Ancha Si. Supervising and restricting local armed forces has always been an important responsibility of the Ancha Si.

  Lin Tie mentioned to Qin Chengzu again about building a warehouse at the mouth of the Jin River, and Qin Chengzu took a deep breath and said: "The position of Jiang Island's prison officer is really just right..." thinking that Lin Tie's arrangement was indeed appropriate, and what remained was how to get people in without revealing any flaws.

  Lin Yuner smiled and said, "At this time, Wu Qi had just returned from secretly going to Baiyuan to find Siniang. He said, 'Siniang and the others have returned to Baiyuan. Su Mei said she also wants to see old friends...'"

  Lin Xian thought for a moment and said to Zhao Hu, "You take my name card and go directly to Baiyuan. We'll go to Baiyuan openly tomorrow..." The servants and guards at Baiyuan were all sent by the Fan family. If he went alone, it would be easy to get caught and would only lead to trouble. It was better to go openly tomorrow and avoid arousing suspicion from the Fan family. Next, he arranged for Qin Chengzu to rest in a side room, letting Zhou Pu and Wu Qi catch up with him. He then returned to his own room to rest.