Zhao Hu returned to the island that night, and under Gu Wu Chen's personal intervention, the Provincial Inspectorate sent a group of mounted police to secretly arrest Ge Zu Xin on his way back home. The mounted police were led by Yang Pu himself, and in order to prevent the news from leaking out, after capturing the person, they did not return to Jiangning City, but instead borrowed a place in Miling County with Magistrate Chen Yuan Liang for secret interrogation.

  Whether it was Gu Wu Chen or Lin Xie, neither of them wanted to dig up some big trouble from within the Procuratorate at this time. However, Lin Xie had to thoroughly grasp the Jiang Island Prison, so how could he use untrustworthy clerks under him?

  The officials and guards of Jiangdao Prison must undergo a major reshuffle, which is a consensus reached by Lin Xie and Gu Wu Chen.

  Yang Pu led his men to secretly capture Ge Zuixin, the former prison warden; Lin Jingzhong followed Lin Xian's orders and also secretly arranged a black awning boat at the mouth of the Jin River, with Zhou Pu personally guarding the boat with two sailors, while Wu Qi brought another sailor, Liu Ma Kou, to lurk around and monitor the prison island.

  After Zhao Hu returned to the island and told them about these arrangements, Lin Fu was still as usual. He even asked Zhao Hu to bring many fishing tools such as nets, fish baskets, fish forks, fish hooks, and fish rods from the city when he returned to the island. He also brought several baskets of chicken, duck, and pork to supplement and improve the lives of the prison guards. Zhou Shi De, Jiang Jin, and others did not feel anything unusual, they just thought that Lin Fu, this new superior, had the intention to control the overall situation but also didn't forget to win them over, these small officials.

  The use of prisoners to catch fish in the shallow waters by the river was also going smoothly. Lin chose a spot on the north beach of the prison island, where the water surface was about 16 or 17 zhang wide and only knee-deep. As the river flowed past, rice grains were scattered on the shallow water as bait. Even without a fishing boat, as long as one was not afraid of the cold water and stood in the shallow water using a net to catch fish, the harvest was quite abundant.

  Ten people were selected, and three of them had experience fishing in the lake. They knew that river fish are particularly stupid during the cold spring season, so they carefully led the others into the water to catch fish. On the first day, they caught 40-50 fish, weighing 200-300 kilograms of delicious river fish.

  Of course, Lin Tie would not provide enough fish for the prisoners. About 20 prisoners were provided with two meals of braised fish soup made from a chi-long Jiang carp. The guards' food was slightly better, and only a small amount of river fish was added to improve their diet. In one day, they could exchange more than 100 kilograms of fish with nearby villagers for vegetables, eggs, pork, rice, flour, etc.

  Near the riverbank in the suburbs, fish and meat should be very cheap, but in fact, it is not. The Jiangning Prefecture, Mailing County, and the Jiangning Garrison Commander's Office have various methods of taxation, not only do fishing boats going down to the river or lake have to pay money, even ordinary people's homes with a net or a fishing rod are discovered and have to pay river taxes. With such heavy taxes, plus the fact that there are 150,000 households in Jiangning City, even in the suburbs near the river, fish and meat cost more than twice the price of rice, and when transported into the city, it is four or five times the price of rice. After all, entering the city not only requires merchants to make a profit but also involves paying taxes on entering the city and market taxes.

  After Lin Zexu arrived on the island, he saw that the water camp under the jurisdiction of the Jiangning Defender General's Mansion patrolled along the river several times a day, working hard from dawn till dusk. They were not mainly guarding against pirates, but rather collecting river taxes and arresting fishing boats that had escaped paying taxes and people who were stealing fish.

  Arrest and bring to justice those who evade taxes, send suspects to the city's main prison, where the city's main prison can use various excuses to extort suspects, and naturally also willing to share with the yamen that sent the suspect. Many people are caught by various yamens for minor offenses, most of whom fear going to the main prison to suffer torture and extortion, and are willing to plead guilty on the spot and leave, even murderers and arsonists can negotiate a price to escape if they have money - catching suspects has become a lucrative business for various yamens.

  The Jiangning Garrison Commander's Mansion was originally a military government office, strictly forbidden from interfering with civilian affairs. Not to mention the arrest of anti-French rebels, collecting river taxes was not their business either. However, how could they not get involved in such a lucrative matter? The local matters were divided among various prefectural and county yamens, and they had the excuse of defending the Yangtze River and the rivers, so naturally they turned the main water systems of Jiangning Prefecture and its surrounding areas, such as the Yangzi River, Chao Tian Dang, and Long Cang Pu, into their own territory. They even drove out the teams collecting river taxes from these waters. More than half of the thousands-strong water camp's combat strength was dispersed to do these things, and guarding the Yangtze River and rivers became a joke. Even the small boats used by the water camp to collect river taxes often became targets of attack by river pirates.

  Although the Jiang Island Prison is only a ninth-grade government office, it is still a government office. At least when fishing on the riverbank, no taxes are required. Taking the fish from the river to the shore and exchanging them with villagers for rice and vegetables is not afraid of being pursued by the prefecture and county government offices. Every day, if you can catch more than 100 or so catties of fish, it's almost enough to offset the losses incurred since Lin Xianliang established new rules.

  It has only been three to five days, and people like Zhang Sun-geng and Zhou Shi-de all feel that this new superior is really clever in governing the prison. They even think it's necessary to find more honest and reliable prisoners to come to the riverbank to catch fish. You know, Jiangning City has 150,000 households, consuming a large amount of river fish every day. By using the name of the Surveillance Commissioner's Office, they transport the river fish into the city for sale, making even more profit.

  January 26th, also the eighth day of Lin Xie's imprisonment on the island, Yang Pu led a team of armed soldiers to the island, holding documents and announcing that tomorrow, the deputy censor-in-chief Gu Wu Chen would come to inspect the island. He brought people over to strengthen the military defense of the island in case of an emergency.

  After the rejection of the proposal for a strong castle, Jiang Island Prison seemed to have been forgotten. In recent years, unless there was a major problem, no high-ranking officials in the Provincial Inspector's Office would remember this place. The other day, Xiao Xuanchuan, the Provincial Inspector, sent Lin Fu to take office, and it had been two years since the highest official came to the island. However, Xiao Xuanchuan stayed on the island for a moment, feeling that it was too long; in just a few days, the Deputy Provincial Inspector would come to the island for inspection again. Zhou Shide, Chang Sun'geng, Jiang Jin, and Cao Shang, low-ranking civil and military officials, felt honored and arranged for Lin Fu to prepare for the reception, without thinking of going anywhere else.

  Lin Xiangru led Yang Ju into his solitary courtyard on Prison Island.

  "Have the prison guards in the big prison ever had any doubts?" Yang Pu was still not at ease and couldn't settle the matter cleanly, which was unfavorable for Gu Wu Dun to take a stand in Jiangning. Many people in Jiangning City were waiting to see Gu Wu Dun's good show.

  "With just these few small fry, would they think that the dignified Vice Commissioner of Justice would personally take action to capture them?" Lin Xie said with a smile, "Everything is fine, just make sure to catch people tomorrow..."

  "Alas, the Jiang Island Prison is full of inmates who cannot afford to redeem their crimes. Guarding this prison island can be said to be the most unprofitable task. However, they have been thinking of ways to make money," Yang Pu introduced the situation of the interrogations over the past few days. "The former prison warden, Ge Zuixin, was caught and brought back, but he couldn't withstand the torture and confessed after only three or four days. They indeed colluded with each other, using the threat of reducing rations and physical punishment to force female inmates who were slightly attractive and had committed adultery to sell themselves in brothels in Chuyang Town, east of the city. Three of the female wardens were actually madams from the brothels in Chuyang Town. There were also cases of prison guards forcing female inmates to serve them in bed. It wasn't until the rumor spread that you would be coming to Jiang Island Prison to take over as the new warden that this racket stopped, but I'm afraid they are just waiting for an opportunity to resume..."

  "Where did they think of giving up?" Lin said with a snort, thinking about the female prisoners being forced to sell their bodies, which had never stopped for thousands of years. He said, "As soon as I arrived on the first day, they sent two female prisoners to try me out, thinking that only by dragging me down would they be satisfied."

  Female prisoners who commit adultery will be sentenced to imprisonment, and those who commit more serious crimes will even be sentenced to become prostitutes in official brothels.

  Prison officials forced female prisoners to become prostitutes, and this is not just recorded in history books. In the sixteen provinces of the Great Viet dynasty, each had a procuratorate office, and each prefecture and county had nearly a thousand prisons, but it was not just limited to one place on the island. If you change places, the head of the procuratorate office would know that there were such evil deeds under his jurisdiction, and most would ignore them. In the eyes of ordinary people, especially moralists, this might not even be considered an evil deed. Chen Xiyin, a former Minister of Revenue who resigned after losing power in the party struggle and went to teach at the Xicui Academy, even publicly stated that female prisoners who committed adultery should be sent to government brothels as prostitutes to atone for their sins.

  Yang Pu thought that Gu Wu Chen and Lin Xian might just need an excuse to clean up the Jiang Island Prison, so he smiled and said: "To avoid startling the snake, let's start from this side tomorrow."

  **********

  The next morning, Lin Xie and Yang Pu led more than a dozen people, including Zhang Sun-geng, Zhou Shi-de, Jiang Jin, Cao Shang, and others, to the simple dock on the south side of the island to wait in attendance. The team of guards who followed Yang Pu were temporarily stationed in the prison courtyard, and the monitoring rooms were also temporarily closed.

  First, four warships came to drive away the fishing boats and merchant ships in the southern waterway of the prison island, temporarily closing the waterway. Then, Gu Wu Chen arrived on an official boat. The official boat was filled with guards wearing dark red uniforms and holding swords, while Gu Wu Chen wore a bright red official robe with a black hat and stood at the bow of the boat, very eye-catching. When the official boat docked, the guards disembarked in a line and stood in four rows on the dock, looking very majestic. Long Sun Gang and others looked on and felt that the newly appointed Vice Inspector Gu Wu Chen was quite impressive, so they followed Lin to pay their respects.

  "Under the jurisdiction of Jinjiang Island, the prison officials and guards welcomed Inspector Guo to inspect...". Lin Xian bowed deeply and invited Inspector Guo to disembark.

  "Alright, alright," Gu Wu Chen got off the boat and said a few more "alrights", looking at the officials standing beside Lin Xian. Standing on the simple dock, he spoke loudly, "You have all been guarding the prison for eight or nine years, some of you for three or four years. Most of you have worked hard with great merit. I have prepared a list, those whose names are on it, please step to my left..."

  Chang Sun Geng and others were slightly stunned, thinking that Gu Wu Chen was about to give a reward, and they were all very delighted, standing respectfully on the side waiting for Gu Wu Chen to read out the list.

  "Shu Banzhou Shide, Wu Zu Xiao Xiaocao Shang, Jiang Jin, Ban Tou Duziteng, Xiao Hu, Chen Dazhuang, Yang Hei..."

  Chang Sun Geng listened to Gu Wu Chen finish reading the list, and about 80% of the prison guards, squad leaders, and martial arts team leaders were called out to receive rewards. Only he and two other honest squad leaders were not mentioned, and he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Looking at Zhou Shi De and others being complacent, his heart felt even more disheartened and lazy, only wanting to go back and drink a few cups, letting the world's right and wrong, black and white, be unclear.

  Lin tied her sleeves and stood aside, looking at the expressions on these people's faces, thinking: The change in expression in the next moment will probably be very wonderful!

  "You all know that you have worked hard and made great contributions, do you know what I will reward you with?" Gu Wu Chen narrowed his eyes as he looked at the officials in front of him, suddenly changing his expression. He pointed at the officials and gave a low order: "Take down these corrupt officials for me..."

  Zhou Shide and others were suddenly unaware of what was happening, when the guards brought by Gu Wu suddenly tied them up from behind like wolves and tigers. They wanted to shout for injustice, but the guards didn't care about them, using cloth to stuff their mouths one by one, and took them away to wait for orders.

  Gu Wu Chen said to Lin Fu and Yang Pu: "You lead the people, disarm all the guards and soldiers on the island, lock them up and investigate one by one. Not a single traitor can be let go..."

  The sudden change on the dock left Zhang Sun-geng stunned, and even if no one came forward to arrest him, he stood there at a loss.

  "Lang Sun Shu Ban, what are you thinking?" Lin Fu took the sword from his waist and held it in his hand, looking at Lang Sun Gong standing there in a daze. "Among the bailiffs and prison guards, who is the accomplice of these evil men? You know best in your heart, why don't you come with me to identify them?"

  "Ah!" Zhang Sun-geng only then realized that the new superior, with the support of the Vice Censor-in-Chief, was going to thoroughly clean up the Jiang Island Prison. He and two other honest and upright but frightened-to-death bailiffs followed Lin Xuan and Yang Pu step by step towards the prison, a team of guards who came with Gu Wu-chen following behind them. Zhang Sun-geng turned his head again, only to see Zhou Shi-de and others tied up at the dock, while Gu Wu-chen returned to the ship.

  Chang Sun Geng was not even clear how the Procuratorate Deputy confirmed that he and two other squad leaders were innocent, Lin Xie saw his face full of surprise and uncertainty, and comforted him by saying: "Former prison warden Ge Zuixin was intercepted and captured on the way back to his hometown by Yang Dianwei and others, who had been investigating for several days. The Procuratorate has already figured out who is involved and who is not, but as for who among the soldiers and runners are accomplices, even Ge Zuixin himself doesn't know..."

  Zhou Shide, Jiang Jin, Cao Shang and many squad leaders and martial arts instructors were all arrested. Lin Xie had many guards, the guards inside the high walls and miscellaneous servants did not dare to make trouble, they honestly put down their weapons and were locked in the prison cell waiting for investigation. Yang Pu led a team of guards to take over the defense of Jiang Island Prison.

  Miscellaneous servants and many martial soldiers, even if they served as claws, were mostly coerced. After being identified by Long Sun-geng and two squad leaders, nearly twenty vicious thugs were selected to wear cangues, while the others were simply detained. The two squad leaders' 20 subordinates were also released after a simple inquiry because their leader was innocent and had not been coerced into doing anything evil. With anxious hearts, they prepared dinner for the prisoners under the supervision of Yang Pu and the martial soldiers.

  *********************

  PS: Going to drink and give a gift, brothers vote for red tickets, and there is another chapter after drinking and coming back to code.