On the east side of the island, a thorny bush forest grew into the water. Ge Cunxin and others floated to the surface one after another, climbed onto the deck, carefully picked up the airbag made of pig bladder, took over the wine jar, sat on the deck, and poured wine into their mouths in big gulps. After staying underwater for so long in this cold spring weather, their bodies were numb all over. After drinking a few mouthfuls of wine, they used ginger soaked in wine to rub their bodies, and after bustling about for half a day, they finally put on their clothes.

  "Will this work?" Crow Wu Qi crouched beside them, watching as Old Mandarin Fish Gu Cunxin and the others rubbed themselves with ginger.

  "Put you in the water for a couple of hours, and you'll feel useful..." Old Gao Cunxin finally caught his breath after putting on his clothes with all his might. He smiled at Wu Qi and picked up the end of the rope made of cotton thread that was piled up at the bow of the boat, examining it carefully. "This rope is very useful, light, durable, and doesn't entangle people underwater..."

  "It's good to use, but it's too expensive. Do you know how many pieces of cloth can be woven with these few ropes? Moreover, after soaking in water, they rot quickly." Cao Zi'ang directed the men to gather up the fishing net and carefully remove the float bags made from pig bladders from the net. His eyes peeked through the gaps in the shrubs, watching the chaotic battle on the distant water surface. Who would have thought that they had used the simple contraptions of fishing nets, cotton ropes, and float bags to quietly retrieve the five heavy silver bags from four or five miles away? Of course, their boat was also hiding on the water's surface, keeping a distance from the chaotic waters with other genuine fishing boats, so as not to get caught in the crossfire. He thought that as long as Qu Wu Yang never figured out who had secretly bitten them, the mystery would remain unsolved.

  "Where's Tan Ye?" Ge Cunxiong tidied up and walked over to Cao Zikang, asking in a low voice. Some people still didn't know Lin Xie's identity.

  "On the shore," Cao Zikang said in a low voice, facing the direction of the river mouth, "it is said that we will go to the cemetery first..."

  Ge Cunxiong glanced towards the southwest corner, his line of sight blocked by a thicket. When he first arrived in Jiangning, Qin Chengzu, Cao Ziang, Zhou Pu and Wu Qi had all been promoting Donghai Hu, and Changshan Island was also known for its Donghai Hu reputation. Ge Cunxiong and his brother were under someone else's roof and had no choice but to follow along, still harboring doubts in their hearts about the sudden rise of Donghai Hu; after spending more than a month together, so many things had happened, and now Ge Cunxiong finally understood why Qin Cao Zhou Wu and others who had been roaming the Huai River for years were so enthusiastic about Donghai Hu.

  ***********

  Six fast sculling warships from Jiangning Water Camp, loaded with soldiers, approached this side of the island, drums beating loudly, but the ships moved slowly. Within a range of several li from the approaching warships, the pirate ships that had been in disarray suddenly dispersed and sailed away. The soldiers on the warships then fired a barrage of arrows into the water, and the pirate ships gradually disappeared into the thick fog.

  Lin Xie and Gu Wu Chen stood on the riverbank, shaking their heads in dismay. The water camp soldiers were so weak that it was no wonder the Jiang pirates and sea bandits were rampant this year.

  Although the mysterious gang of Jiang was dispersed, Gu Wu Chen still had some worries: if the prison island was impacted, he feared that the Jiangning Water Camp might not be able to provide timely assistance. He had seen the training of the guards on the island, and this batch of guards had been replaced after the cleaning of the prison, with a total of only sixty people, compared to a month and a half ago, they indeed looked more elite, but after all, the number was too limited, and it was not possible to take care of everything.

  Gu Wudu didn't go to watch the fake cat chasing mice game on the water's surface, and instead said to Lin Xie: "The River Mouth case is probably not going to be investigated further, but that doesn't mean there are no benefits. The other day, the five officials gathered to discuss the matter of the northern shore refugees, and in the end, they agreed to allow the prison guards and soldiers to work together to defend the river mouth against bandits..."

  Lin tied nodded, perhaps in the eyes of many people, even Guwu dust, the thirty-six people who died in the Hekou massacre were insignificant, and the greatest benefit was that the prison guards had the right to defend the Hekou area. From then on, whether there was a matter or not, the prison guards could openly dispatch troops to Hekou.

  It's not yet time to reopen the prison, but the number of guards will be supplemented to restore it to its original level before the Qing prison was cleared, and two more teams can be added with 120 guards.

  Lin Xian had little confidence in the remaining Jiangning military households, especially those left over from the Jiangdong Governor's Office and the Jiangning Defender General's Office, to select many more soldiers who could fight. He suggested that Gu Wu let the Bingbei Branch of the Caishe Department take charge, and jointly with the Military Lieutenant of the Governor's Office, go north of the river without hardship, selecting some strong and brave refugees to join the military households as guards and soldiers.

  Whenever there is a wave of refugees, the imperial court also encourages local governments to select strong and brave ones from among the refugees to fill military households. On the one hand, it can provide fresh blood for the garrison and prefectural systems; on the other hand, it can solve the survival problems of some refugees; and on the other hand, it is also a way to weaken the potential harm that refugee waves may bring to local areas.

  "Alright," Gu Wu Chen nodded in response. The existing military households were mostly old, weak and disabled soldiers. Not to mention Lin, he wouldn't agree to send these old, weak and disabled soldiers to the prison island to serve as guards either. Recruiting refugees into the military households was a common practice, and it was also the responsibility of the Surveillance Commissioner's office to handle military preparations. He said, "You're free, let's go to the north shore together..."

  "Let Yang Shi go this time. The south bank is in such a mess, I don't feel at ease leaving either. Even if it's to return to the city, if something happens on this side, we can still rush over in time; if we went to the north bank, this 40-50 li water route would take at least half a day." Lin Fu said, he didn't think of adding more people this time, selecting Jian Yong had standards, at least in front of Gu Wu Chen, Yang Shi should show off his skills in training soldiers, this was also a way to repay Yang Pu.

  "Alright," Gu Wu Chen said with a smile, "I'll have Yang Pu go over there too, and see if Yang Shi's kid can do something that will satisfy his old man."

  "That little guy's abilities are also thanks to the guidance of the adults and Lin Si Yu." Yang Pu said with a smile beside him.

  Yang Shi followed Lin Xie's true strength, " Gu Wu Chen smiled and said to Yang Pu, "I'm afraid you didn't have confidence in Yang Shi bringing the troops so well before..."

  Yang Pu smiled, he was very impressed with Lin Xie's talent and learning, and they met with great courtesy, but always felt that there was a layer between him and Lin Xie. Perhaps it was the dazzling display of talent by this young man in front of him, which made people feel uneasy.

  Although Gu Wu Chen had the privilege of entering the city gate at night, he was not a person who was accustomed to abusing his privileges. As the sky was about to darken, he bid farewell and left, riding his horse directly from the river mouth under the escort of his entourage back to the city.

  **********

  The sunset has fallen on the eaves of the distant city building, the surface of the water that was stirred up by the heavenly oars has returned to calmness, the people from the Qu family on the eastern riverbank have left with a grudge, and the six fast warships of the Jiangning Water Camp have also departed. Now there is a boat coming from the Prison Island towards this side of the river mouth.

  Cao Zikang, dressed in a gray robe, stood at the bow of the boat. Ge Cunxin and Ge Cunxiong brothers waded into shallow water to pole the boat forward. As they approached the Zhutang dock, Lin Xianwei, standing on the embankment, smiled slightly and sent someone to invite Lin Jingzhong over.

  Lin Tie accompanied Gu Wu Chen to inspect the river mouth, Lin Jing Zhong did not go with him, after all, he was an insignificant person, so he didn't join in the commotion. When Lin Tie asked someone to call him to the grass hall, he instructed Qian Xiao Wu to take care of his tasks and washed his face with a scoop of water from the jar before heading towards the grass hall by the river mouth.

  It was called a thatched cottage, but it was actually just a simple grass hut. Lin Xie and Liu Yue'er had been living there for days.

  On this side of the river embankment, a row of houses has been built. Lin Xian insisted that the migrant workers who were recruited should move in first, especially those families who had casualties in the River Mouth Tragedy to be resettled with housing first.

  The enclosure house, rather than being a large courtyard, is more like a defensive castle that can accommodate thirty to forty households. Although the layout of the enclosure house is also one household per courtyard, all the gates of the houses open towards the small square and public hall in the center of the enclosure house. The back wall of each house is also the outer wall of the enclosure house, which is built with a mixture of stone, lime, and bamboo strips as wall reinforcement, much higher than the ordinary house eaves and far more solid than the ordinary rammed earth wall. There are also small and steep watchtowers at the four corners of the enclosure house. The construction of the enclosure house was suggested by Ge Ciyu, who proposed building large courtyard walls with a mixture of stone, lime, and bamboo strips. This method has a short construction period, is solid and durable after completion, can save land, and has public halls for handling public affairs within the enclosure house, which is also conducive to strengthening cohesion and organizing these migrant workers more effectively.

  Although only one courtyard has been built, the foundation of the second courtyard has just been excavated. The migrant workers who are used to eating in the wind and sleeping in the dew do not have such high requirements. Three or four families temporarily settled in a single courtyard, and the messy hut that was previously built had to be cleared out to build a warehouse, cargo shed, and library. According to Lin's intention, Ge Wu Yu also planned three main streets for this side: one along the south bank of the river, one along the west bank of the Jin River, and one passing through the warehouse and library, connecting with the official road of Donghua Gate.

  Everyone's mind is very good, who doesn't want this to become a prosperous water and land terminal? The key is still money, Lin Jingzhong whispered in the center of Linjing, Lin Fu said not to worry about silver, but within less than half a month, Lin Jingzhong calculated that more than 1,000 taels of silver were consumed again, now only 1,500 taels of silver are left, which can only support half a month's expenses.

  Lin Jingzhong walked into the thatched cottage and saw Zhou Pu, Wu Qi, Cao Zikang, and the Ge brothers all there. The outside of the thatched cottage was also guarded. He said: "Everyone is here, that's good. Someone from Longjiang Shipyard came to deliver a message, saying that as long as we send over the remaining silver, we can take the boat out of the shipyard on Longjiang Lake. You all come up with a plan to raise two thousand taels of silver... If we miss the deadline, not only will we not be able to get the boat, but we also won't be able to get back the five hundred taels of silver deposit we paid earlier. Now is also the worst time for the shipyard industry, and Longjiang Shipyard has increased the water-tight compartment and reinforced the structure according to our requirements. A thousand-stone boat costs two thousand five hundred taels of silver, which is a good price. In previous years, with such modifications, it would not have been possible to get it for less than five thousand taels of silver..." He looked at Lin Xiansheng's desk and saw a bag on it. Today he had walked all afternoon, his feet were sore, and seeing Zhou Pu and the others sitting down, there was no empty stool in the room. He touched the bag with his hand and asked Lin Xiansheng: "What is this thing? Can I sit on it?"

  "Sit down..." Lin Xuan said with a smile.

  Lin Jingzhong felt something was off, opened the bag and took a look, inside were all silver ingots, he fished out seven or eight of them, all standard fifty-tael official ingots, heavy and solid, didn't seem to be fake. Lin Jingzhong thought he was dreaming, gently pinched his own cheek, looked around at everyone: "Am I not dreaming? I've been thinking about silver every day until I'm crazy."