After Lin Mengde left, Lin Fu and Zhou Pu went down to the riverbank, treading on the cobblestones, and walked to the riverside where they had chosen to build a dock. They dispersed the guards to one side to keep watch; after a while, Lin Jingzhong led Cao Zikang, Hu Qiaozhong, and two robust men with worn-out clothes and grass ropes around their waists down to the riverbank below.

  "Master Lin, these two are Ge Cunxin and Ge Cunxiong brothers, whom I mentioned to you the other day. Few outsiders know their real names, but people call them Bai Langchui, also known as Da Chuiye and Xiao Chuiye. They are highly respected by the fishermen of Huai, but hated by the government. Among the thirty men arranged to enter Jiyun Society, many are brothers under Da Chuiye and Xiao Chuiye..." Cao Zikang introduced.

  "What a white wave fish, it's just a mudskipper in the muddy water, can't make a living on the Huai River, please ask Master Tan to take us in." The Ge brothers bowed and gave Lin Xie a salute.

  Lin Xian was taken aback for a moment, but soon understood that the Ge brothers only knew him by his alias, and Donghai Hutan was his true identity. He bowed to the Ge brothers with a fist: "No need to be polite, after all, we're just bitter brothers making a living together. In Jiangning, you can still call me Lin Xian..."

  "Cao Ye had already given orders, we in Jiangning call Tan Ye Lin Daren." Ge Cunxin said.

  "Hehe, what's in a name...” Lin Xuan chuckled and stood on the riverbank to discuss with Jiang how many of Ge brothers' men should be assigned to Jiyun Society as guards and how many as sailors, ensuring that Cao Zikang and Ge brothers could fully control a three-masted, thousand-ton ship.

  Da Jiao Ye Ge Cun Xin was around forty years old, always coming and going in the wind, with a dark and rough face, and a stubbly beard. They abandoned their boat and followed the flow of refugees on land, thinning out his chin, but standing there he looked very sturdy, with bright and spirited eyes, giving the impression that he was just right as the leader of the merchant ship's guard; Xiao Jiao Ye Ge Cun Xiong was only thirty years old, except for resembling his older brother in facial features, his appearance was much more refined, and he could be a manager of a merchant ship with Cao Zi Ang.

  In fact, Xiao Jia Ye Ge Cun Xiong had indeed studied in the county school for a few years. The Ge family in Huai Shang Xu Chang Fu was classified as a "powerful civilian household", although they were ordinary civilians, but they had a great influence among the fishing households in the Nan Rong River basin. After Xu Chang Fu set up the river port and opened the river tax, Ge Cun Xiong, as a member of the Ge family who had studied in the county school, was also appointed as the river port's chief. Since the war on the northern front became intense, the Xiao family also started a rebellion in the southeast, and the taxation on civilians in the central and western regions became more severe. The river tax in Xu Chang Fu increased from 200 coins per fishing boat to 600 coins, and in addition to the river tax, fish taxes were also levied. The fishermen's lives were extremely difficult, and their conflicts with the government were sharp. The Ge family firmly stood on the side of the fishermen, and Ge Cun Xiong abandoned his official position and secretly organized the fishing households with his brother Ge Cun Xin and other members of the Ge family to engage in illegal fishing and resist paying taxes.

  After Liu Ma Kou, Chen Han San surrendered to the government, the anti-theft camp's power in Xuchang Prefecture increased greatly. The Ge family suffered a great blow: two of Ge Cunxin's three sons were hanged by the anti-theft camp, and Ge Cunxiong's wife died after hitting her head against a pillar in front of the government office.

  Cao Zi'ang this time returned to Huai Shang to pull people and horses. In addition to the Ge brothers leading nearly thirty people directly to Jiangning to join the Ji Yun Society, there was also Ge Cunxin's eldest son, Ge Changgen, who led fishermen with their families, totaling three or four hundred people, in batches along the Huai River to go out to sea and head to Changshan Island.

  More and more people are coming to the island, and Changshan Island is about to exceed a thousand people. Just from Jiangning's side alone, the consumption of supplies transported to Changshan Island is too great. On one hand, it's easy to arouse suspicion if the accounts aren't balanced, and on the other hand, Jiyun Society needs to operate for a long time in order to be a long-term backing for Changshan Island." Cao Zikang furrowed his brow, his face filled with worry as he said, "I've been thinking about this matter these past few days... what supplies can Changshan Island transport to Jiangning to maintain balance?"

  "Act as a middleman and transport salt over here!" Lin Fu said.

  "Are you kidding me?" Cao Zikang's eyebrows jumped up and he asked, "Isn't that too risky?"

  This morning, salt, iron, tea, and horse goods are exclusively operated by the government. Salt merchants pay 3,000 copper coins to the Salt and Iron Intendant's office for a salt ticket, which can be used to obtain 200 catties of salt from the salt yard. This means that without calculating production and sales costs, the salt tax paid directly to the Salt and Iron Intendant's office is as high as 15 copper coins per catty of salt, ultimately making the price of salt in Jiangning and other places equivalent to that of meat and oil.

  Although the imperial court's criminal law stipulates that selling 30 catties of private salt is punishable by death on the spot, such huge profits have tempted many to engage in this illicit trade. In some areas like Huai'an Prefecture, there are even wealthy families who have been involved in private salt trading for generations. When Qin Chengzu and his companions rescued Cao Zikang and Fourth Daughter at Qingjiangpu, they received assistance from local private salt traders. It would not be difficult for Qin Chengzu and his companions to obtain private salt; they could even organize people on Changshan Island to boil seawater to produce salt.

  It's easy to get private salt and even smuggle it into Jiangning, but selling it secretly in Jiangning is a thousand times more difficult. Jicloud Society doesn't have the foundation for this, and cooperating with other private salt traders is too risky.

  "On Prison Island, ten prisoners are employed every day to use simple tools such as nets and fishing rods, and they can catch 300 or 400 fish a day. If more manpower is added to use fishing boats to pull the net, or even directly purchase fresh fish from nearby fishermen, how many catties of fish can Prison Island use to make salted fish every day?" Lin Xian asked with a smile."

  "Good, it's a great plan! I've been racking my brains for days, but Lin Ye's strategy is even more brilliant...!" Cao Zi'ang exclaimed in a low voice, "One kilogram of pickled fish requires two kilograms of salt. If we pickle 2,000 kilograms of fresh fish every day, we need 400 kilograms of salt. Even if we buy 100 kilograms of official salt to cover our tracks, we can still mix in 300 kilograms of private salt. In just one month, we can mix in tens of thousands of kilograms of private salt..."

  The Ge brothers, who were listening on the side, also had a gleam in their eyes. When Cao Zi'ang brought them into the partnership with Qin Chengzu's letter, the letter said that Donghai Hu was a brilliant strategist and an extraordinary talent, but they had doubts about it. Now, seeing Lin Xuan casually come up with the clever plan of using pickled fish to smuggle private salt, they thought that Qin Chengzu might not have been exaggerating. They had heard Cao Zi'ang talk about the situation on Prison Island and the Ji Yun Society, where the transportation of salt, fishing, pickling, and sales were separate links, so how could outsiders possibly see through their tricks in the pickled fish?

  "If Changshan Island can transport 100 stones of salt every month, it will almost be able to balance the account," Lin Fu said with a smile. He was also racking his brains thinking about these things. To maintain an island with over a thousand people and ensure sufficient combat effectiveness, there must be sufficient material guarantees. Otherwise, no matter how capable Qin Chengzu and others were at training and leading troops, they couldn't make hungry soldiers as fierce as tigers. Lin Fu continued, "In addition to salted fish, many places use salt, even on the island for feeding pigs. In 100-200 kilograms of feed, a few kilograms of salt must be added to make the pigs grow faster. It's just that this official salt is too expensive, not only can people not afford it, but pigs also can't afford it..."

  Lin Xie said pickled fish and pig farming, these words fit Ge brothers' temperament, they all burst out laughing after hearing them.

  Lin Xian asked Cao Zi'ang: "Where is your sister and Wen Long's son?"

  Lin Mou will purchase a large ship of one thousand stones in the name of Ji Yun Society and entrust Cao Zi'ang with full authority. At least in name, Cao Zi'ang is an important figure in Ji Yun Society. Other forces want to investigate the roots of Ji Yun Society, they will definitely check the important figures of Ji Yun Society. If Cao Zi'ang were alone, no matter how perfect his fake household registration was, it would still raise suspicions. That's why he specially brought his wife from Changshan Island to serve as a cover for him.

  "On shore, for now, we're still mixed in with the migrant workers, your sister and I are used to eating bitterness, the conditions here are relatively good." Cao Zi'ang said.

  Lin Tie temporarily did not go out of his way to make special arrangements for Cao Zi'ang's wife and children. After they finished discussing their business, they found a relatively flat place and climbed up onto the river embankment. These many recruited workers and refugees would definitely need to temporarily select some people as leaders in order to organize them in an orderly fashion, so Lin Tie and Lin Jingzhong called over Cao Zi'ang, Ge Shi brothers and others to talk, and the other people wouldn't think it was unusual either.

  Afterwards, Cao Zikang and Ge brothers dispersed among the recruited workers and refugees.

  At this time, the migrant workers on the riverbank were bustling about. Some exhausted migrant families sat on the ground to rest, but more people were rushing to build as many windproof and rainproof huts as possible; a little further away, some people dug holes for stoves, piled up bricks and stones, set up iron pots to boil water, while others carried buckets to fetch water from the river and rinse rice to prepare dinner.

  To prepare for the arrival of these people, Lin tied up a large number of materials and tools at the river mouth with the help of Lin Mengde. At this time, Qian Xiaowu organized people to set up two flagpoles, pull ropes, and wait for nightfall to light up the wind lanterns. Today's weather is relatively good, but no one knows if it will rain tomorrow. The weather has not warmed up yet, and if it rains, there is no shelter from the rain on both sides, and the situation will become severe. They still have to rush to build a hut tonight, without stopping for a moment.

  ************

  Although it is said that the river mouth affairs are extremely complicated, after dark, Lin Tie still handed over this side of the river to Lin Jingzhong. He and Zhou Pu returned to Yu Island, fortunately, Cao Zikang, Ge Shi brothers and others were formally selected as the head of the migrant workers to assist Lin Jingzhong, which made people slightly relieved.

  Back on Prison Island, there were many things waiting to be dealt with. Lin Xie and Zhou Pu had just returned home for dinner when Yang Shi brought Zhao Hu over to report on the situation.

  Yang Shi was complaining about the hardship, the martial arts practitioners had to practice every day, be on duty, and go out to supervise the labor of prisoners, which was particularly hard. The fixed amount of food allocated to the martial arts practitioners before could no longer meet their daily consumption. Since this group of martial arts practitioners were newly transferred to the island, there was some resentment, but it was not serious yet. Yang Shi clearly understood the hardship and knew that if things continued like this for a long time, it would be impossible to train them into an elite team. These martial arts practitioners were all thin and gaunt, with pointed mouths and sunken cheeks, how could they become a crack troop? Lin Xie was the highest official on the prison island, he could only come to find Lin Xie to ask for his help in increasing the food supply for the martial arts practitioners.

  Zhao Hu gave Yang Shilai a look, but didn't make a sound. After listening to Yang Shi's grievances, Lin Fu asked: "Is the Wu Du Yuan having dinner at this time?"

  "It hasn't started yet, why don't you go and take a look yourself?" Yang Shi said.

  "Good," the servant who was waiting at the door shouted in, pointing to the table of dishes that Lin and Zhou had not yet touched, "Take these dishes to the Martial Arts Institute. I'll be dining with the guards there tonight!"

  Lin Tie and Zhou Pu's dinner was not luxurious, only three dishes and a pot of soup, but with a plate of braised fish and a bowl of braised pork, it was already quite sumptuous. Yang Shi thought to himself, apart from the guards on duty, there were forty guards in the guardhouse preparing for dinner, each person would get only one piece of meat, he wanted to see Lin Tie go share a meal with the guards...

  Lin Xie stood outside the door of the barracks and heard the soldiers complaining that the food was not enough to fill their stomachs. They were all selected for their tall stature and strong physique, and their appetite was originally larger than ordinary people, let alone the intensity of training was so high, and they had to be on duty every day.

  "The way of elite soldiers has many factors, one of which is that you can't let the soldiers go hungry," Lin said to Yang and Zhao, letting the guards bring in the dishes first. "It's all about how a general should be clever and strategic, but when I read through the notes of my predecessors, it turns out that what those famous generals did most was figure out how to solve the problem of feeding their soldiers."

  It is said that Lin Xie ran to Wu Zuoyuan's place, thinking there was something going on, and Zhangsun Long also came running over.

  When they saw someone bringing in food, the Wu soldiers inside knew that their superior was standing outside. Suddenly, there was complete silence, and even the sound of a needle falling could be heard.

  "These days of strict training have been effective." Lin Xie said with a smile to Yang Shi and Changsun Gong, then pushed the door and walked in.

  Ten large tables, forty martial arts graduates surrounded five tables, and one table was where Yang Shi and Zhao Hu sat. The four bowls of soup that Lin Fu had someone bring over were placed on this table.

  Lin walked over, facing the martial arts practitioners and sat down. Yang stood at the door, full of energy, and instructed: "Mr. Lin sympathizes with your hard training and guarding, especially came to have dinner with you - thank Mr. Lin for his sympathy!"

  "Long live General Schering!" all the soldiers shouted in unison.

  "What's the point of being polite or not, if you can't even get a full meal before going for training or guard duty? If you don't curse behind my back, that's already being very courteous to me," Lin said bluntly, but it actually made the soldiers' expressions relax. Lin pointed at the empty seats in front of the table and said to Yang Shi and Zhao Hu, "Only this table has more dishes, but there aren't enough seats for everyone. Each of you recommend three soldiers who train and do guard duty the hardest every day to come over..." Then he pointed at the seat next to him and said to Chang Sun Gang, "Chang Sun Shu Ban, you come join us for dinner too. Yang Dian Jun and Zhao Hu, wait first."

  Chang Sun Gong relied on Lin Xie's words and sat in the past. In his heart, he thought that some details of Lin Xie's actions should make these martial arts students realize that Zhao Hu and Yang Shi's status on Prison Island are equal.

  Lin Xie said, "Today, I'm setting two new rules. As long as I'm on the island, there's no need to prepare separate meals for me; I'll come and eat with everyone together. Another rule is that all military officers must wait until the soldiers have finished their meal before eating themselves. If the soldiers are hungry, it's unreasonable to let the officers eat their fill - what do you think?"

  "We obey your orders, sir." Yang Shi and Zhao Hu responded in unison, Yang Shi himself had the dream of becoming a famous general, with sufficient momentum; what Lin Xie said was not difficult for him to accept. As for Zhao Hu, he didn't care at all, to be honest, he still wasn't used to military officers openly eating snacks in front of their soldiers.

  Yang Yi and Zhao Hu each selected three soldiers from their troops who were known for being diligent in their duties to join Lin Xuan and Changsun Gan for a meal.

  Lin tied up a piece of braised pork in the bowl, didn't rush to put it in his mouth, but placed it in front of him and stared at it for a while before saying slowly: "As the saying goes, 'the emperor doesn't skimp on hungry soldiers', Zhang Sun Bookan, with such a small piece of meat, we must ensure that the Wu soldiers can have three pieces per meal, each table must have a fish, stir-fry oil doubled, white rice sufficient, two training sessions in the morning and evening, and use steamed buns, flower rolls or meat buns as snacks. Can you do it?"

  Chang Sun-geng slammed down his bowl and chopsticks, furious that he couldn't get out of there. Not being in charge, he didn't know the value of oil and salt. Prisoners were allocated rations, runners were allocated silver for food, soldiers were allocated silver and grain, all with a fixed quota. Outside the fixed quota, they still had to give more, which was the deficit of the Jiang Island prison. After Zhou Shi-de was captured, only Chang Sun-geng, a clerk, was left in the prison. The matter ultimately rested on Lin Fu's decision, but the accounts in the prison were enough to give Chang Sun-geng a headache.

  The standard for supplying food and vegetables to the Wu army has already been reduced to the same level as that of ordinary laborers. If we follow Lin's suggestion to provide more food, add meals, and add meat, even if we apply to the higher authorities to double the standard, it may not be enough. Fish can be caught by prisoners without counting the cost, and four ounces of meat is equivalent to three catties of rice. Obviously, the higher authorities will not agree to relax the standards even a little bit, so the deficit will have to be borne by the prison itself.

  The deficit generated by improving the lives of prisoners is actually limited. After all, using prisoners for labor can make up for this part of the deficit and still have some left over. However, if the guards are allowed to eat their fill, it would be enough to create a huge hole in the finances of Jiang Island Prison. Moreover, the guards are supposed to gradually increase to 150 people. Even if only an additional four taels of meat, one jin of rice, and half a jin of flour are prepared for the guards each year, after the guards are fully staffed, there will be a deficit of almost 1,000 taels of silver per year. The former prison warden Ge Zuxin and Zhou Shide, etc., colluded with each other to force female prisoners to sell their bodies in Quyang County, but they only gained a little over 1,000 taels of silver in ill-gotten gains each year.

  Zhang Sun Geng's heart was bitter, but the crowd of Wu soldiers were overjoyed and excited, shouting in unison: "Thank you, sir, for your concern!"

  Zhang Sun Geng originally thought that raising pigs outside the high wall was a dirty thing, but now he wanted to run out and take a look; however, he also confirmed that Lin Xie was not a greedy person, if he really wanted to be greedy, he would put 1,000 taels of silver into his own pocket every year. One thousand taels of silver in Muling County could buy more than 100 mu of land, which was equivalent to the property of a rich family, Lin Xie let the Wu soldiers eat it without any heartache, and he also wanted to find ways to make up for this loss.

  *************

  P.S: Looking for red envelopes (with money).