Three days later is the Chong Chun Jing Zhe day, grass and trees sprout, a few peach trees on the north shore of the prison island also spit out red flower buds.

  In a little over a month, the tung trees will bloom and Jiangning Prefecture will enter its rainy season.

  Although it is said that the spring chill has not been eliminated, the river water in Chuantianlang has already revealed a light green color. The reed fields on the north beach of Yu Island have also revealed tender new shoots, and the ducklings raised in groups are foraging among the green reeds. Some ducklings are occasionally washed underwater by the rolling white waves, only to resurface after a short while.

  Gu Wudu crouched on the stone at the water's edge, looking for a while at the ducklings scattered all over the beach, with a few small yellow chicks and goslings with light yellow down feathers in between, which had already grown some size.

  Unlike those officials who didn't know the five grains, Gu Wudun had been exiled to the northern border for nearly ten years and had experienced many hardships. He knew that these shrimp, fish, crabs, and aquatic plants provided sufficient food for the young birds being raised. The 3,000-4,000 mu of beach land on Prison Island was enough to raise 200,000-300,000 birds, even if it was just a small-scale operation. When he came over, he asked Lin Lian and found out that there were already 7,000-8,000 ducklings being raised on the northern beach. Ducklings and goslings from Jiangning were very cheap, only two copper coins each, so people raising ducks could bring them over by boat and release them directly onto the beach. A small number of people from Prison Island would be sent to take care of them.

  What is called a talent for saving the world is not just something that can be said lightly, seeing the whole leopard through a glimpse of its spots. Lin Xie arrived on Prison Island less than two months ago and was able to manage it to this extent, Gu Wu Chen felt there was nothing to worry about.

  What was even more unexpected was that Ge Fu, an old official from the Jiangning Ministry of Works, who had closed his doors to visitors for many years, was willing to come to Prison Island and live in a hut.

  This was Gu Wudu's second visit to the prison island in two months. He wanted his entourage to be more relaxed, but he himself walked quickly and left Lin Xian and Yang Pu behind.

  Gu Xunyu, who was dragged along with Gu Wudu, felt a faint smell of water grass and duck manure by the riverbank, and was afraid that if he wasn't careful, he would step on duck droppings. He couldn't wait to leave immediately. In his heart, he thought: Lin Xie is really something, after all, he's a scholar from a good family, a proper official who has entered the mainstream, but instead of doing proper things on this prison island, he specializes in raising pigs and feeding ducks, such lowly tasks. His father was also confused, these miscellaneous tasks that can be done by lower-ranking artisans, what's there to admire? If the news gets out, won't it be laughed at?

  "After entering autumn, it's getting harder to find food by the river. I'm afraid we'll have to build a duck house and raise them instead?" Gu Wu Chen turned back, seeing his son frowning, didn't respond to him, and started discussing duck farming with Lin Xuan."

  "After autumn, these chickens, ducks and geese can be slaughtered in batches to supplement meat food, and then replaced with a new batch next year." Lin Mou replied.

  "Haha," Gu Wudu smiled, "it's just that simple, but my brain couldn't turn around for a moment... Jiangning Prefecture has always been a rich and fertile land, where every inch of land produces gold, this saying is not false."

  "Not to mention anything else, just this Chaotianwang surrounding tens of thousands of acres of beach land and a hundred miles of water area. If managed properly, it's no problem to support several tens of thousands of people..." Lin Xuan said.

  Gu Wudu saw Lin Xie say this, his eyes looking up at the sky to the north, and asked: "Are you thinking of talking about opening up the Jiangyi restrictions? Tell me straight out, don't beat around the bush."

  "I once chatted with Old Ge, the former official of Gong'an County. When he first came to Jiangning 60 years ago, the riverbank was still well-guarded and there were no more than a thousand households raising ducks around Chao Tian Tang. Each household raised over a hundred ducks, which could support four or five people comfortably. Over the past 60 years, the tax on duck farming collected by the riverbank authorities has increased from half a coin per duck to two coins per duck. Later, the Jiangning Water Garrison also started collecting water fees, and now you can't see any duck farmers around Chao Tian Tang..."

  Lin squinted his eyes looking northward. "Human vision is limited after all," he said. "You can't see the tens of thousands of refugees stranded on the northern shore of Chao Tian Tang." He continued, "According to our dynasty's laws, prisoners who are sentenced to imprisonment for three years or more and cannot afford to pay their fines are sent to this prison island. Over the years, the number of prisoners held here has remained at around 200. However, in the past two months, the number of prisoners sent from various prefectures and counties has increased significantly, with almost 400 people now. While other prefectures and counties have not seen a significant increase, Jiangning Prefecture and its subordinate counties have seen a surge in prisoner numbers. There may be other reasons behind this, but the prolonged presence of refugees on the northern shore is also an important factor..."

  "Opening the river ban is not easy, it's like eating a piece of fat meat that no one wants to spit out," Gu Wudun sighed. As the Vice Commissioner for the Northern Shore, he couldn't help but be aware of the situation with the tens of thousands of refugees stranded on the northern shore. With so many people, there were naturally more cases of theft and robbery. Not to mention the increase in prisoners on this side of the island, and the number of refugees who were killed on the spot was almost a daily occurrence. The conflict between the refugees and local residents was also escalating. He looked towards the direction of the Jinjiang River mouth at the southern end of the island and said to Lin Shu, "The river mouth massacre has basically been silenced now, but the Commissioner's office can't take over even if they want to. In the past month, there have been two armed clashes between refugees and local residents in Gutang County, with more than 100 casualties each time. The Jiangning Garrison General's Office has successively deployed six battalions of troops to the northern shore... Such troubles, but the river ban cannot be opened. Other government offices are afraid that if they loosen their grip, it will attract even more refugees to flock here, and in the end, they will still have to deal with an even bigger mess. Moreover, now that the Jiangning Garrison General's Office is collecting taxes from the river, this general is waiting for someone else to take his place, so why would he be willing to give up this lucrative business?"

  "He's not afraid of causing a big disturbance among the refugees?" Lin Xuan let out a soft sigh.

  "He's really fearless," Gu Wu Chen said in a low voice, with deep dissatisfaction, "The refugees on the north shore gathered and caused trouble, he didn't have to take much responsibility, maybe he even hoped for more chaos, so that he could accumulate some military achievements and prestige before leaving..."

  According to Gu Wu Chen's words, it is unfounded and somewhat sinister. Lin Xuan also thinks that the current Jiangning garrison general may indeed have such a sinister mind. After all, there are 30,000 troops stationed under the jurisdiction of the garrison general's mansion on this side, and another 10,000 troops from the Tidu Fu government office. They are not afraid of the tens of thousands of refugees stranded on the north shore causing any major chaos.

  These people would be delighted if things were even more chaotic, making it easier for them to muddy the waters.

  Lin tied his breath and asked again: "When will this new official take office?"

  After the formal surrender of the Xie family, the court issued a document requiring Jiangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Huguang and other counties to suspend their grain supplies to Dongming. After the Dongming army arrived at their new garrison, the Ministry of War would provide them with back pay, urging them to march north. In recent months, the court had successively withdrawn 50,000 to 60,000 elite soldiers from Dongming, but the imperial edict appointing Li Zhuo, the Minister of War and Governor of Jiangning, as the new commander-in-chief of Jiangning was still pending, with no indication of when it would be issued.

  "Everyone says it's soon......" Gu Wudu spread his hands, indicating that even he didn't know the exact time.

  Lin speculated that on the one hand, the imperial court hoped Li Zhuo would stay in Dongming for a longer period of time. On the other hand, the imperial court might also want to withdraw as many elite soldiers and strong generals from under Li's command as possible, to prevent them from staying in the southeast after Li took up his post in Jiangning. If Li could intercept the taxes and supplies of one prefecture in Jiangdong, he would barely be able to support an army of 100,000 men, which might again lead to a situation where the tail was too big to get rid of.

  Li Zhuojun has a bad reputation, but Lin Xie is expecting that after he arrives in Jiangning, the situation here will improve somewhat.

  Lin Xie and Gu Wu Chen walked south along the riverbank, Gu Wu Chen saw many fishing boats on the water's surface and asked Lin Xie: "The weather is warming up, there are more fishing boats on the water's surface, has the daily catch of fish increased on Prison Island?"

  "In the past, fifteen people were sent to fish and could get 300-400 pounds of fish every day. These two days, they can get 500-600 pounds, which is an increase..." Lin Mou said, also looking at the fishing boats on the distant water surface, secretly thinking: these fishing boats are not all here to catch fish in Chao Tian Tang, Qu's family has spread the news of exchanging people for ransom today in Chao Tian Tang quietly, and I don't know how many bandits and thieves around Jiangning Prefecture think of going to Chao Tian Tang to make a fortune, after all, 20,000 taels of silver is not a small number for anyone.

  Lin Xiang had just been talking to Gu Wu Chen about the refugees while observing the situation on the river.

  The boat with the silver cargo was now anchored on the water about four or five miles from the southeastern corner of the prison island, pretending to fish. This small boat disguised as a fishing boat had an inconspicuous special mark, which Lin Xie had seen when it passed by the river mouth earlier. Lin Xie wondered: Where was Qu Wu Yang hiding now, observing every move in Chao Tian Tang?

  "Sir," Yang Pu walked over and asked, "Isn't it time to return to the city?"

  "It's still early," said Gu Wu Chen, looking up, "We agreed to go take a look at the shore...". He had long heard that the Jin Chuan River mouth was bustling and had wanted to come see it for himself, but he never had an appropriate excuse, so now he thought he'd go take a look while he was in the area.

  "I'll go make arrangements..." Yang Pu said.

  ***************

  After causing trouble twice, Qu Wu Yang this time only spread the news secretly and didn't take any other action. To prevent other forces from rushing over to fish in troubled waters and discovering the boat carrying silver, except for some inconspicuous markings, this boat was no different from other fishing boats. Even the two trusted men were fishermen by origin, taking fishing gear with them when they went out. The boat carrying silver left from the Jin Kou River mouth and waited at Chao Tian Dang for the other party to bring people over to exchange the silver. Qu Wu Yang led his men to observe the water surface from the high dike on the east bank of the Jin Chuan River, looking for any abnormalities.

  Today, there were many things happening in the morning at Chao Tian Wan. In the morning, the wife of Wang Xueshan, the governor of Jiangning Prefecture, took an official boat to the north shore to burn incense. Before noon, the deputy inspector Gu Wudun arrived at Jiang Island Prison for inspection. When Gu Wudun took the official boat to the prison island, he had the waterway between the prison island and the river mouth closed for a period of time. Fortunately, the silver-loaded ship left the river mouth early, otherwise, it would have been blocked outside the river mouth and could only pass through in the afternoon. Qu Wuyang stood under an ancient willow tree over 100 years old, seeing that there were no other ships approaching the silver-loaded ship on the surrounding water surface, and looking towards the direction of the prison island, he could see the figures of Gu Wudun and Lin Fu standing at the riverbank talking. Although they were far away, Gu Wudun wore a crimson official robe, Lin Fu wore a blue official robe, which was in sharp contrast to the armor-clad and knife-wielding guards.

  "Why didn't he just kill someone with a knife in Shiliang County, but instead stirred up so much trouble for him in Jiangning?" Qu Wuming spat.

  Qu Wu Yang looked up at the sky, estimating that it had been two hours since the silver ship entered Chao Tian Tang. At this time, no one came to take the silver, although everyone was competing in patience, he couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

  Not only Qu Wu Yang was anxious, but also the various pirate forces who came to hear the news in the Azure Sky Pavilion were getting anxious. Some ships began to move closer to the fishing boats on the side, wanting to find the silver-loaded ship before the transaction and take it down first, without thinking that as soon as one party got the silver and exposed their target, they would become the object of others' scramble to rob and kill.

  Li Ling's mind was confused, and Qu Wu Yang didn't expect these bandits to have much intelligence. At this time, he also worried that the silver-loaded ship would be discovered by the water thieves who had come to fish in troubled waters. If so, the Qu family would secretly release the news and make a mistake. At this time, the prison island began to seal off the river, and four rowing boats full of soldiers sealed off the waterway between the prison island and the south bank, driving out all the fishing boats and merchant ships within the range. Qu Wu Yang saw that Gu Wudun, who was wearing a crimson official robe, and Lin Lian, who was wearing a blue official robe, did not board the larger official ship, but instead boarded a black awning boat to head towards the south bank. He wondered: Is Gu Wudun coming to this side of the river mouth?

  "No...” Qu Wu Ming's attention was also drawn to the matter of Vice-Inspector Gu Wu Chen riding an ebony boat, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that two trusted attendants on the silver-loaded ship had stopped their pretense of casting nets to catch fish. They stood still, allowing the fishing net to be washed away by the river water. From a distance, it seemed as if they were staring at something underwater on the other side of the boat. Qu Wu Ming suddenly understood, "Someone is hiding underwater!"

  Qu Wu Yang stared intently at the water's surface and suddenly saw two people, wrapped from head to toe in clothes that matched the color of the river, climbing onto the boat, dripping wet. He had been staring at that part of the water just now, and there was nothing unusual within a few miles around the silver ship, not even the warship with Gu Wu Chen's entourage, which was still more than two miles away from that place, and he didn't know where these two people came from, swimming underwater.

  There were more than two people on the other side. Qu Wu Yang also saw that on the other side of the silver ship, there were two points of reflection that seemed to be iron arrow clusters protruding from the hull. He certainly didn't believe that someone could threaten his two trusted men with a bow and arrow in the water, making them not dare to move. It was either a bow or a crossbow, but the other side actually had crossbow arrows! In the imperial military arsenal, crossbow arrows were strictly controlled, and both the imperial army and the local militia were prohibited from using crossbows. Although the law was relaxed and abolished, any force that could possess crossbow arrows would not be simple.

  A silver ship suddenly appeared underwater, and several people emerged. Two more boarded the ship. The surrounding Jiang pirates who were trying to take advantage of the situation, no matter how stupid they were, could see that there was something mysterious going on here. The surrounding pirate ships disguised as fishing boats immediately took action, all rushing to paddle in that direction.

  Two of the musician's trusted followers handed the underwater person a crossbow and arrow, forcing him to remain still. The two people who had flipped onto the boat then brought out five heavy silver bags from the cabin, each weighing 250 kilograms. Just as they were about to throw the bags into the water, the two men jumped in after them.

  How many people are there in the water to receive it? Qu Wu Yang and Qu Wu Ming looked at each other, even if the river water has buoyancy, the heavy silver would not be lightened much underwater. He didn't believe that anyone could dive out of the main waterway of the Yangtze River with a 250-pound silver bag for one mile, unless there were four or five people working together to transport one silver bag! If they wanted to transfer 20,000 taels of silver in the water, they would have to send 20-30 good swimmers to approach the silver-loaded ship at the same time - this is also impossible. They couldn't see the clues in the water from a distance on the shore, but their two trusted men had good swimming skills and it's impossible that 20-30 people approached the ship without being noticed.

  At this time, there were seven or eight pirate ships rushing towards that waters, Qu Wu Yang's eyes were tightly fixed on them, he suspected that one of the ships was the kidnapper's, he no longer cared about the silver, he had sent out the message and didn't think that the 20,000 taels of silver would still return to the Qu family, now he just hoped that the other side could keep their promise and release the person.

  Seventeen or eighteen fishing boats surrounded the silver-laden boat, and at the same time, seventeen or eighteen men jumped aboard. These seventeen or eighteen men were clearly not from the same faction. First, a few of them pushed and squeezed their way into the cabin together, only to find it empty, and then they rushed to jump onto other boats to search. They also suspected that one of the boats among them was sent by the bandits to retrieve the silver. The two thousand taels of silver were enough to make everyone's eyes red with greed. Some people had been waiting in ambush disguised as fishing boats on Chau Tin Toi since the day they received the news, growing more and more impatient. At this moment, they suddenly spotted the silver-laden boat, and their emotions were instantly ignited. They didn't believe that anyone could transport two thousand taels of silver from underwater to the shore. The southern shore was four miles away by water route, and the distant prison island was even farther away, and it was against the current. More and more pirate boats disguised as fishing boats surrounded them from behind. When Kuk Wong Yeung's eyes were fixed on the water, trying to figure out which boat his son might be hiding in, the seventeen or eighteen pirate boats that had been entangled together suddenly broke into a fierce fight. One person drew their knife, and they all rushed to draw their knives and engage in a frenzied battle. The other pirate boats that arrived later thought that the silver had already been found on this side, and seeing the commotion, they swarmed over like flies attracted to blood.

  "Damn it!" Qu Wu Yang looked at the chaotic scene on the river, those two who jumped into the water earlier and their accomplices never resurfaced again. Qu Wu Yang suddenly came to his senses, realizing that the other side had only been trying to get the silver, without any intention of letting them go. He saw his two trusted men, who were sent out unarmed, being killed by the thugs in the chaos. Qu Wu Yang punched a nearby willow tree trunk with all his might, not caring about the blood flowing from his fist. His eyes blazing red, he cursed at the river like a mad dog: "You treacherous bastards, you cowardly turtles! Qu will make sure to tear you into pieces one day..."

  The incident happened suddenly, and the Wu soldiers' ships that were blocking the river saw so many fishing boats gathering together on the water's surface and suddenly engaging in a fierce battle. They were also shocked and bewildered, hesitated for a moment, and then all four Wu soldiers' ships gathered towards the direction of the river mouth, making a show of protecting Gu Wudu's rear route.

  Lin Tie and Gu Wu Chen had just climbed up the riverbank on the west bank of the river mouth, and Gu Wu Chen was also confused by the sudden outbreak of chaos on the river surface. He stood on the high embankment for a while, watching as dozens of fishing boats clashed together, with flashes of knives and swords, but he couldn't tell which side was fighting which side - it was complete chaos... It wasn't until after a short while that he remembered to order Yang Pu to send someone to ride a fast horse to notify the Jiangning Garrison General's water camp to dispatch warships to clear out the bandits.

  Lin Tie looked up towards the east bank of the Jin Chuan River, faintly hearing Qu Wu Yang's curses. He pretended not to have heard anything and turned his head to say to Gu Wu Chen: "Of the 36 people who died in the Liumin tragic case, except for one person who was transported back to Shanglinli for burial, the other 35 were buried in the cemetery ahead. Lin Tie dares to ask your honor to go pay respects to these innocent souls..."

  Gu Wudu was worried that the thugs on the river would rush to the prison island, but Lin Xian had an air of nothing's wrong, and looking at the prison island side, they were already on guard, the guards were in order to escort the prisoners who were laboring outside the high wall back to the high wall in an orderly manner. Putting his mind at ease, he said: "Of course, we have to go pay our respects first..."

  **************

  P.S: Looking for red envelopes.

  If you have any good requirements or suggestions for this book, or criticisms, please leave a message in the comment section.