Bring the five people who responded to Lin Fu's recruitment notice, three sturdy men, one young man and a thin little girl. Lin Jingzhong was not clear what Lin Fu wanted these five people to do on the island prison, but Qian Xiaowu brought them along, he naturally took them to the island first and then said it. Cao Zikang's side did not make any arrangements either, and let them mix with other recruited refugees together.

  Looking back, two ships were moored at the dock on the southern tip of Prison Island. On this side of the river mouth, a black awning boat was also moored as a spare. Lin Jingzhong led his men onto the ship, and Lin Xie's guard naturally followed him onto the ship to return to Prison Island. The three men didn't know why they were the only five people who had to take the boat to the island, nor could they read anything on Lin Jingzhong's face. They were filled with suspicion and uncertainty in their hearts, and unless they ran away, they couldn't refuse Lin Jingzhong's arrangement.

  More than a mile past the river mouth, rowing slowly with oars, it's just about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

  The boat docked at the simple wharf of Prison Island, and Lin Jingzhong led his men onto the island. Only then did he discover that in just six or seven days, Prison Island was vastly different from before.

  Outside the high wall, between the big prison gate and the South Head Wharf, a space of three hundred paces square was opened up. It was also used as a drill ground for military training at ordinary times. The place was empty, with nothing but dust blown by the wind. At this time, the drill ground was divided into two parts. The front part of the prison gate was still used as a drill ground; on the west side, more than a dozen wooden stakes were erected, and arrow targets were tied up. On the ground, lines were drawn with lime to make an archery range. Lin Xie was dressed in a short and tight outfit, drawing his bow and shooting arrows there. Zhou Pu, Lin Mengde and others stood aside watching him shoot.

  Lin Jingzhong went up to the dock, stood there and looked for a while, saw Lin Xie's ten arrows, four of which had missed the target, smiled and shook his head, leading people to walk towards the archery field.

  "It's been just a few days and things are already so different here." Lin Jingzhong said with emotion.

  "Hehe, I see you've arrived at the river mouth," Lin Xie smiled and handed his bow and arrow to a nearby guard. He glanced at the four guards who had been following Lin Jingzhong for five or six days outside and said, "You can return to your posts!" The four guards then stood together with the guard who had helped Lin Xie with his bow and arrow. Lin Xie looked again at the five people who had intercepted him in front of the post house a few days ago and pointed at Zhou Pu, saying, "You've all worked hard to hurry over here, follow him inside for now to eat and rest... I have some tasks for you to complete later." He instructed Zhou Pu to take them to the main prison gate.

  "Who are they? Why did you call them to the island alone?" Lin Jingzhong looked at the five people who were taken away by Zhou Pu, and asked Lin Lian with a puzzled expression.

  "I don't know which family's hidden card was played, but Zhou Pu led him in to clean up..." Lin Fu said.

  "Ah..." Lin Jingzhong was stunned for a moment, he had been busy and flustered these past few days, with too many things to worry about, and hadn't even noticed this matter. These people were holding Lin's recruitment notice when they came to sign up, and at the time, he wouldn't have thought much of it. He asked again, "And that young man and little girl? Doesn't seem like it! They also had an old mother who was ill and couldn't even walk, brought over by oxcart, saying it was for a doctor's fee you gave..."

  "These two are not, wait a while and you will take them back, just settle them down... Come, don't worry about this for now, I'll take you to see the changes on the island first." Lin Xuan said with a smile, completely ignoring the three turtles that were brought into the high wall by Zhou Pu, and walked towards the east of the school field with Lin Meng and Lin Jingzhong.

  In the past five or six days, more than 40 mu of land outside the east wall of the school has been opened up for vegetable gardens. The newly watered vegetables have already sprouted. A cattle shed made of bamboo poles and thick branches has also been built, covering an area of about seven or eight mu. It is divided into seven or eight pens, each containing twelve to thirteen piglets. Lin Jingzhong had heard from Qian Xiaowu before that Lin Mengde only transported the piglets here today by boat. Upon closer inspection, there are also breeding pigs in the shed. In front of the shed, two prisoners wearing prison uniforms are busy at work.

  "Those two men used to be swineherds before they were imprisoned, and had raised pigs for the wealthy villagers. They knew which aquatic plants pigs could eat and which would cause disease if eaten. They even knew how to use snails and small fish as feed. A sow can give birth several times a year, and each litter can have several piglets - these two men were experts in such matters. According to their calculations, they needed to keep twelve or thirteen sows for breeding purposes. These were all useful skills, but the moral authorities in the city looked down on them as worthless... Now, with the 1 jin of prisoner rations provided by the Proclamation Office, about 30% is rotten rice - that's about 1 shi of rotten rice per day. Humans can't eat it, but if you mix it with aquatic plants, snails and small fish to feed pigs, you can raise over a hundred pigs. After some time, this island will be able to slaughter a fat pig every two days to improve our diet..." Lin Xie said with a smile.

  Lin Jingzhong's mind habitually calculated that in Jiangning City, pork cost 30 cents per catty, and a pig raised for six months could yield 100 catties of meat, worth 3,750 cents. One hundred pigs would be worth 300,000 cents, or about 250 taels of silver. The prisoners' labor to gather water grass, river snails, and miscellaneous fish didn't need to be calculated into the cost, nor did the labor for raising pigs. In six months, only 180 dan of rotten rice was consumed, worth around 15-16 taels of silver. That left a net gain of 234-240 taels of silver. Raising two pens of pigs per year would yield nearly 500 taels of silver.

  Lin Jing was delighted, his eyes shining brightly. "This business is a good one," he said. "Rotten rice is worthless in the market, you can buy more than a liter with just one coin. Otherwise, I'll have someone send a boat to the island every month..."

  "You've been the accountant at the warehouse for several years, and you're completely out of touch with reality," Lin Fu said with a smile. "You send ship after ship of rotten rice to the island, but I don't want to waste manpower having people pick water grass and snails on the riverbank. The pigpen also needs specialized caretakers. Where am I supposed to find so many laborers? What I'm planning now is to prioritize the needs of the island first, and only supply the surplus to Jiyun Society - this was also agreed upon with Lord Gu."

  Lin Mengde smiled on the side, thinking that Lin Jingzhong was competent as the manager of Ji Yun She, but when it came to making money, others were not as good as Lin Xuan. The Jiang Island Prison had been built for almost ten years, and the former prison officer Ge Zuxin only thought of forcing female prisoners to sell themselves in the brothels of Quyang Town, but did not know that the more than 1,000 mu of good land, 2-3,000 mu of shallow land, and the labor of prisoners who came to work without pay were the foundation of making money. At present, there were only over 200 prisoners on the island, but once Gu Wenyi reopened the prison city in Jiangdong, the number of prisoners on the island would increase tenfold, and the labor force that could be exploited would become even more prosperous. The key was to find ways to use some of the labor force and supervise others, and to come up with multiple ways to make money.

  Lin Jingzhong rubbed his nose, knowing that there were too many factors to consider on the prison island. He couldn't just see one advantage and be satisfied with it. He continued walking east with Lin Fu and Lin Mengde, while twenty or thirty prisoners continued to clear land in the vegetable garden to the east, and several prisoners behind the cattle shed dug a pit, excavating a circle of shallow soil that was not small.

  The prisoners were working here, with only five armed guards standing a little further away on watch.

  Lin Jingzhong worriedly asked, "With so many prisoners working outside, and only five guards on duty, what if a few of them suddenly make a run for it and jump into the river? How can we catch up with them?"

  "Nowadays, those who are allowed to work outside are mostly prisoners with minor crimes and good behavior. They are all locked in separate cells, so the possibility of collective escape is very low..." Lin explained.

  Lin Jingzhong slightly furrowed his brow, and some of the things that Lin Xianmu said were quite ordinary, but they always made people think for half a day before realizing some of the subtleties.

  Lin Bing didn't care about Lin Jingzhong's wandering thoughts, and pulled him to continue walking. As they walked, he explained some of the things they would do next, such as building another warehouse outside the high wall to store supplies, moving the Wu Du Yuan to the outside of the high wall, and also relocating the Si Yu Ting. This was not in order to imprison more prisoners, but rather to clear out space within the high walls to build workshops. After all, they had to prevent large-scale prison breaks from happening, and using the prisoners for labor inside the high walls would be more convenient to manage.

  At this moment, Zhou Pu walked over from the gate of the cart, and Lin Xie asked him: "Solved?"

  "A turtle in a jar," Zhou Pu said with ease, "they're all tied up, and for the time being, nothing can be gotten out of their mouths. Do you want to take a look?"

  "What's there to see?" Lin Xian shook his head and said, "I went too, but I couldn't ask anything out of it."

  "Could it be someone from Qingfeng Bank?" Lin Jingzhong asked.

  "Qingfeng Hang is the most suspicious," Lin said, "but things are still revealing strange. Even if Qingfeng Hang wants to cause us trouble, they shouldn't leave any traces. Xia Feihu hasn't even established himself in Jiangning City yet, let alone dare to openly provoke the Procuratorate for the sake of competing for that section of riverbank to build a dock and warehouses."

  "They will be put in shackles and sent to the inner prison first on the charge of sneaking into the prison island," Lin Fu said, "If no one comes out to negotiate after a few days, they will be sent to the Procuratorate's yamen, where there are skinning and bone-gnawing clubs waiting for them..." No matter which family these three people came from, Lin Fu did not want him to make things too extreme. The foundation of Ji Yun Society in Jiangning was still too shallow. If the scene became too bloody, Gu Wu Chen might not take it upon himself.

  *****************

  Three men were suddenly arrested and taken away, Lin Xian no longer delayed, with Lin Jingzhong, Lin Mengde, Zhou Pu and others took a boat back to the south bank, also brought the young brother and sister back to the south bank.

  These days, apart from setting up a few thatched huts, there is not a single tile on the shore to shelter from wind and rain. However, Lin Jingzhong brought back nearly 500 refugees, but the thatched huts are not enough to accommodate so many people. Lin Ye will not send these refugees to Jiangning temporary settlement, they all need to be settled at the river mouth, if a sufficient number of shelters are not built in one day, some people will have to sleep under the stars.

  The boat dropped anchor in front of the sandy beach at the river mouth. On this side, the sandy beach was paved with bricks and wood, opening up a dirt path leading to the shore. A simple dock allowed cargo ships three or four zhang long to berth directly, and dozens of logs were stranded on the sandy beach.

  "From Chao Tian Yi ferry to Jin Chuan River mouth, the straight-line waterway is only over 40 miles, and more than 400 people with their families have been struggling for five or six days. I don't have to worry about food, clothing, shelter, or transportation, and I feel like I've lost a circle in these few days. It's really hard to imagine how those armies of tens of thousands of people can move thousands of miles." Lin Jingzhong said this while following Lin ashore, recounting the hardships of the past few days.

  "...originally could have gone faster, from small to large, and even large-scale military transfers are organized by people, vehicles, horses, materials, etc.," Lin Xuan smiled slightly, logistics management and organization have always been a thorny problem. He turned back to Lin Jingzhong and said, "Choose the strong and healthy ones to form troops and march, strong village women can also be organized to take care of cattle carts, supplies, children, the elderly, and responsible for preparing meals for everyone. Before things happen, we need to make sufficient predictions, each specific matter needs to be assigned a dedicated person in charge, and major matters will have one more manager, it's impossible for you to do everything alone, no matter how big or small. Following this thinking, even the most complex matters can be sorted out - if you let someone run a few more laps, they will have a deeper understanding."

  Lin Jingzhong followed behind, walking and thinking, without noticing that one foot stepped on the soft ground, and a piece of it collapsed, almost rolling down. Zhou Pu supported Lin Jingzhong from behind, and Lin Xian turned his head to look at Lin Jingzhong with a smile: "Be careful where you step, this section of stairs is too simple, the soil is loose, if there's a sudden rainstorm, it will be washed away and can't be paved with bricks or wood. This side is temporarily used, when the stone steps on the west side are opened, it will be much better."

  Lin Jingzhong followed onto the shore, where things were already in motion. Qian Xiaowu and several helpers borrowed from Lin Mengde were directing the refugees to move materials such as bamboo, wood, bricks, stones, and tarps westward. He said to Lin Xiang, "The west isn't our land; if we pile up goods there, the landlord will come knocking on our door..."

  "It's not just about piling things up, we also need to build sheds there and settle these people down first," Lin Xuan said with a smile. "Two days ago, I went back to the city and obtained the official document from the Surveillance Commissioner's Office permitting the construction of a warehouse dock on the west bank of the river for the Jin Chuan Island Prison. In name, all the laborers at the river mouth have now been requisitioned by the Jin Chuan Island Prison. The land on the riverbank has naturally also been requisitioned to temporarily settle the hired workers, mainly because they came to us themselves, and compensation for the crops is...".

  Lin Jie said it lightly, and Lin Jingzhong also put his mind at ease. In this era, no matter how powerful the power is, it's not as good as the yamen (government office). If things can't be done in the name of the Jiangdong Provincial Government Office, then there are not many people who can do things. Occupying dozens of acres of land is a trivial matter.

  Lin Jingzhong suddenly thought of something and said to Lin Fu, "It's strange to say, but who is the owner of that piece of land on the west bank of the river? I've been searching for days, but I still can't find anyone. From the land registry records of Yunling County, it was found that this piece of land has changed hands less than ten times in decades, and the current owner cannot be found from the records. When we went to the village, the tenants only handed over the rent to the rent collector every year, but they didn't know who the landlord was, and the rent collector refused to reveal the landlord's name... It seems that we can only force them to show up."

  In the city of Jiangning, there were over 100,000 households with surplus wealth and a habit of accumulating silver coins to bury in underground vaults. Some had the habit of buying land in suburban counties and renting it out to tenant farmers to collect rent and interest. The majority of small and medium-sized landlords in the city held scattered plots of land that did not form large-scale estates. Every harvest season, they would personally go to the countryside to collect rent and pay taxes, which was very troublesome. Especially when encountering rent resistance, these absentee-type small and medium-sized landlords were usually helpless. Even if they reported it to the authorities, they would first have to be exploited by the officials themselves. With demand comes the emergence of new things. In this situation, collection stations appeared in the city's suburbs to collect land rents on behalf of urban landlords from tenant farmers. Many local landlords also yearned for the luxurious and convenient life in the city, so they handed over their land to the collection stations for management and moved into the city with their families to live as absentee landlords. The collection stations were usually local powerful forces, and many had official backgrounds. Due to the county's land registry being updated only every 20-30 years, it was unable to reflect the changes in land transactions over the past 20-30 years. Tenant farmers and landlords were also separated by the collection stations, making it difficult to determine who the owner of a piece of land was.

  Lin Mengde looked up at the sky and said: "I want to hurry back to the city before dark, so I won't delay any longer."

  "Alright, be careful on your way, Uncle Meng." Lin Dai said.

  Lin Meng has been putting in a lot of effort to help Lin Fu with things these days, but he is still the person in charge of the Lin family in Jiangning, and there are many tasks waiting for him at the Linji warehouse.

  Although Lin Meng initially acquiesced to Lin Xuan setting up his own household in Jiangning out of helplessness, after several months of interaction, especially seeing the means and boldness displayed by Lin Xuan, as well as knowledge that far surpassed ordinary people, and his close relationship with the Gu family, Lin Meng's heart only regretted that Lin Xuan was not a direct descendant of their household; otherwise, he would have gone all out to help Lin Xuan seize the position of head of the household.

  Lin Mengde sat in the carriage, before his attendants raised their whips, he turned his head and took a last look. He let out a soft sigh in his heart: Lin Tingxun was still half-dead on his bed, who knew who would eventually take charge of the Lin family? Once the Lin clan was controlled by new people, they might send someone else to Jiangning to replace him.

  Lin Mengde was somewhat reluctant to leave, everyone has their own thoughts. Having been in charge of Jiangning for seven or eight years, who would be willing to return to Shanglin and be treated as a collateral branch, being squeezed out of the core affairs of the Lin family? Thinking about it, he didn't have the determination and luck to establish his own household like Lin Xian.

  All sorts of factors made Lin Mengde decide to help Lin Xie with all his might, and also leave a way out for himself.

  *******

  P.S: Red ticket.