The house on the other side is slightly more stable, controlling the situation. It was reported that Gu Wu Chen had moved from the boat to the prison hall, and Lin Fu took Zhang Sun Geng and others to see Gu Wu Chen in the front yard. Outside the second wall, Zhang Sun Geng saw others pulling back a bit, he walked quickly to Lin Fu's side and said in a low voice: "Lord Lin, the problem of the big prison in the city is more serious, I know a thing or two..."

  Lin Zhan stopped in his tracks and looked at Zhangsun Gong.

  Chang Sun Geng was a scholar who had passed the imperial examination in the second year of Chongguan, and was only thirty-one years old this year. He was about the same height as Lin Xie, with a slender build, and his face was slightly pale due to spending most of his time indoors handling official business under the high walls that blocked out most of the sunlight. Lin Xie didn't know how to explain things to Chang Sun Geng.

  Gu Wu Chen came to Jiangning with a heavy responsibility, he was entrusted by the Chu Party to take control of the situation in Jiangdong, not to come to Jiangning as an honest and clean official. If Gu Wu Chen didn't have the intention to reopen the prison reform, needing complete control and transformation of the Jiang Island Prison, he would never support such a big commotion for the prison cleaning action.

  The city's great prison was full of evil deeds, and Lin Xie had already heard many things from Zhang Yu Bo and Zhao Shu Han. Many evil deeds even occurred in broad daylight, but the city's great prison involved too many complicated interests, and even various government departments directly traded with the city's great prison for the delivery of suspects. As for the Jiang Island Prison side, Gu Wu Chen's intention was only to capture the former prison warden Ge Zu Xin and other officials who were on the run, as for other issues that Ge Zu Xin confessed to, Gu Wu Chen might keep a private record to blackmail some people, but this time he would not take it out to expand the investigation.

  To speak of evil, nearly half of the officials in Jiangning City knew that Wang Xueshan, the prefect of Jiangning Prefecture, had a hobby - he liked to steer female prisoners towards adultery charges during interrogations. Others might not know why Wang Xueshan did this, but Zhang Yuber revealed the secret to Lin Zhan after a few drinks: according to the Great Viet law, women who commit adultery are punished by being stripped naked in public and then executed.

  To put it bluntly, Wang Xueshan, the governor of Jiangning Prefecture, enjoyed watching the yamen runners strip the female prisoners' pants and whip their snow-white buttocks with a rattan stick until they were bruised and bloody, so he deliberately sentenced female offenders to adultery.

  To satisfy Wang Xueshan's hobby, every year in the Jiangning Prefecture government office, there were not ten but eight female prisoners who died from being beaten against pillars, so who could control the dignified third-rank official Wang Xueshan?

  "In this Jiangning city, if all the officials were to be dragged out and beheaded, there would definitely be some who are wrongly accused. If they were to be taken away one by one to be beheaded, there would definitely be many who escape... Do you know whose hands your petition to the Jiangning Prefecture, accusing the prison guards of forcing prisoners into prostitution, ultimately fell into?" Lin Xuan stood under the old plum tree, looking at Zhang Sun-geng. In the Jiangdong official circle, although Zhang Sun-geng was a minor official, he was an "outsider". He didn't want Zhang to keep getting hurt, so he sighed and said, "When capturing Ge Zuoxin, Yang Dianwei found your handwritten petition in his luggage. During interrogation, Ge Zuoxin said that you wrote beautifully, so he kept your petition and brought it back to the countryside..."

  “……” Zhang Sun Geng was stunned, speechless and unable to utter a word. Who would have thought that it would be such a huge irony? Gu Zuoxin still appreciated his good handwriting until now. Is the world really so murky and black-and-white no longer distinguishable? I'm afraid Gu Zuoxin didn't think forcing prisoners into prostitution was a big deal! Lin Xie's words were also very clear: the law enforcement had already become a mess, and it was uncertain whether one person's enthusiasm could turn the tide. Lin Xie did not support him in bringing more trouble to Gu Wudun's doorstep, even if he did, it would be useless - after all, Gu Wudun was only a fourth-rank official, the Vice Commissioner of the Inspection Department.

  ************

  The night watchman had passed by outside the courtyard; it was already midnight, and the interrogation in the detention house was still going on.

  As for being able to dig out other secrets from the mouths of Zhou Shide, Jiang Jin, Cao Shang and others, Lin Xie was not interested. A person should know their limits, and as for interrogation, Lin Xie did not let Long Sunxing and others participate, instead borrowing a place and having Yang Pu and Ma Chao take charge.

  The front courtyard of the prison hall was brightly lit, with Lin Xie and Gu Wu Chen sitting opposite each other at a desk, on which a candle holder still sat, sipping strong tea as they spoke. The spring chill was biting, and the branches and leaves of the plum tree in the courtyard were rustling softly in the wind, but just sitting in the room, one couldn't feel like they were inside the heavily guarded high walls.

  In the main hall, apart from Gu Wu Chen and Lin Xuan, only Yang Shi Shou was sitting at a table by the entrance.

  Gu Wudu did not rush to leave the prison island and return to the city that night. Lin Xie discussed with him many ideas about reforming prisoners, dividing crimes to govern prisoners, and using prisoner labor. These ideas were some unsummarized experiences in prison management, and Lin Xie did not completely copy them from memory, but rather proposed some adaptive suggestions for improving prison management according to the situation.

  With Zhao Shuhan co-authored "Ti Lou Yu Shu" as a foundation, Lin Xie's proposal for prison management reform is more authoritative. Otherwise, in this official atmosphere where everything emphasizes seniority, someone else's casual remark "no hair on his lips" can easily dismiss his many efforts.

  Lin Xie thought that in order to do anything on this prison island, he had to get the support of Gu Wu Chen. First, he had to gain Gu Wu Chen's trust, but even if Gu Wu Chen trusted him, he couldn't ignore the rules of officialdom. Otherwise, Gu Wu Chen would definitely prefer Yang Pu or Ma Chao to replace him in managing this Jiang Island prison.

  A part of "Ti Lao Yu Shu" really laid down some foundation that can replace Lin Xie's qualifications.

  "By using prisoners to manage prisoners and dividing the crimes to be managed, we can also make use of prisoner labor, which is in line with the spirit of 'punishing crime through labor' in the criminal law," Lin said, discussing his approach to managing prisons, as well as some specific measures he would implement on the prison island. "When the weather warms up a bit, I will have prisoners build a vegetable garden and a cattle shed outside the high walls. There are still many empty cells in the prison that are not being used, so I plan to convert one of the prisons into a workshop, purchase some looms, and have female prisoners work there to make prisoner uniforms. We can also set up some craft shops for woodworking, ironwork, and other tasks that can be done within the high walls. With careful management, we don't need to worry about escape attempts. My plan is that within this year, except for rice and grain which need to be obtained from the Imperial Granary, all other supplies will be made self-sufficient as much as possible. Prison repairs and other tasks can also be done by prisoners. The silver saved can be used not only to improve the living conditions of the guards but also to allocate funds if needed by the Censorate... If there is still surplus labor in the prison, we can sell the products made on the island to the city. I plan to have the raw materials supplied by the Ji Yun Society in advance, and then have them sell the finished products and deduct the costs from the previous payment. As long as the prison management is strict and does not cause any trouble, I think Governor Jia will not object."

  Gu Wudu listened and nodded, he was never a person bound by conventional rules, and his understanding of reality was clear enough.

  Forcing female prisoners to become prostitutes in government-run brothels is not a big deal in this dynasty. It's common practice for prisoners to be forced to work as laborers in privately-owned workshops, and every time there's a large-scale construction project, such as repairing city walls or building government offices, prisoners are used as a source of labor. Lin Xian's proposal to set up a workshop on the prison island is just a small step forward based on these existing practices, and Gu Wu Chen has no problem accepting it.

  In the future, large-scale imprisonment will be implemented, with tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people in custody. Apart from guarding and supervision, the provision of food and supplies to prisons will become a major problem.

  Prison food, prison clothes, repair of the monitoring room, labor costs for guards and officials, medical expenses, etc. The total amount of money spent on these items, plus deductions at each stage, averages out to about 10 taels of silver per prisoner. Even if the future prison is expanded to hold 2,000 prisoners, it will still cost 20,000 taels of silver per year.

  The powers of the Surveillance Commissioner are quite great, but they do not extend to silver, and the amount of silver that can be freely used each year is only 30,000-40,000 taels. In this regard, it is inferior to the Provincial Military Commander's office, and even more so compared to the Pacification Commissioner's office which directly manages money and grain. If others were to oppose the proposal for a strong city in the future, they could completely block Gu Wudu's retreat with just one sentence: "The silver will take care of itself."

  Although the prison officials in the city's large prisons extorted more than 20,000 taels of silver from prisoners every year, Gu Wu Chen couldn't afford to offend everyone and let them spit out this money to be used on the prison.

  If Lin Xie didn't make these suggestions, Gu Wu Chen would have thought him useless, apart from his achievements in the imperial examination, this was also where Lin Xie far surpassed Yang Pu, Ma Chao and Yang Shi.

  Of course, at this time, Ji Yun Society will supply raw materials to Yu Dao for production. In the future, the products produced by Yu Dao will be sold uniformly by Ji Yun Society, and Ji Yun Society can naturally profit from it. Gu Wu Chen is very clear about this point. In his opinion, Lin Xian has some private motives after all, which is good. People with no private motives at all are the most difficult to control. Besides, his family also needs to get 1,000 taels of silver from Ji Yun Society every year. This 1,000 taels of silver will not come out of thin air.

  "Alright, you can take charge of the prison island as long as I'm in Jiangning... With just one word from me, this prison island will be yours to command..." Gu Wu Chen leaned on the table and listened to Lin Xie's words, feeling that there was nothing more he needed to instruct him. To say that Lin Xie was thorough, he had thought of everything even better than himself, leaving Gu Wu Chen with a slight sense of loss. As for literary talent, there were many in Jiangning City who surpassed Lin Xie; as for the study of governance, Gu Wu Chen hadn't seen any young people more outstanding than Lin Xie. Previously, when Lin Xie had brought up the "Tiliang Prison Book", Gu Wu Chen had somewhat felt that Lin Xie was using Zhao Shuhan as a stepping stone, but now in his heart, even if Zhao Shuhan had excellent governance skills, he still fell short of Lin Xie.

  "I have another request..." Lin Xuan said.

  "You said." Gu Wudu said.

  "Governance of prisons, the responsibility of guarding and preventing escapes is especially heavy, and one cannot afford to be careless or forgetful. Currently, the guards are not up to par, using many people would waste silver, while using few people would leave the prison under-guarded. The only viable solution is to use elite soldiers, but since prison affairs are complex and heavy, I still need to request that a superior send someone to assist me..."

  "Oh..." Gu Wudu hesitated for a moment, pondered for a while, pointed at the door where Yang Shi was sitting at the desk, and asked Lin Fu, "Can Yang Shi do it?"

  Yang Shi sat on one side and heard them mention him, so he hurried over.

  "It's fine as long as Brother Yang doesn't feel wronged." Lin Fu looked up at Yang Shi, and it was true that Yang Shi's father, Yang Pu, had a better impression of him. Some things that happened in Shiliang County made Yang Shi hold a grudge against him, but Lin Fu knew he didn't have the right to choose people.

  In general, the prison guards and wardens of a large prison will be used for a long time, but the guarding soldiers are still military in nature. In name, they even belong to the dual jurisdiction of the Inspectorate's Military Equipment Division and the Jiangning Prefecture's Garrison Command, making it difficult for Lin Xian to fully control them.

  To say that there is no trust without reservation in the world, it would be better to let Gu Wu Chen directly plant a trusted person than to have the Inspectorate send another completely unknown military officer. Lin Fu also made it clear that he wants to use his best efforts on the prison island, and the Inspectorate's directly controllable forces are limited. Three to five hundred elite soldiers may not seem like many, but Gu Wu Chen may want to control them directly in his own hands.

  "Yang, what do you think?" Gu Wu Chen also looked up at Lin Xuan.

  "Yes sir," Yang Shi replied.

  Although following Gu Wu Chen would bring more benefits, he didn't particularly want to take advantage of those benefits. Moreover, with his father serving under Gu Wu Chen, whatever benefits there were, their household wouldn't be left out. He wanted to do something more, rather than just running around in front of and behind Gu Wu Chen.

  "Alright, tomorrow your father will return with me, and you can stay here directly. After I return, I'll issue a transfer order," Gu Wu Chen decided. However, he was also worried that Yang Shi would be too proud and argue with Lin Mou on the prison island. At least for now, he completely trusted Lin Mou and believed that Lin Mou was more capable of managing the overall situation on the prison island than Yang Shi. So, he directly warned Yang Shi, saying, "But you should know that although Lin Mou is only one year older than you, his knowledge and abilities are far superior to yours. You must learn from him properly and don't learn the stubbornness of Si Yuan. If Lin Mou thinks you're not suitable, I'll transfer you back to the city at any time..."

  "Yang Shi remembered." Yang Shi nodded and said. Even if Lin Xuan's impression was not good, Yang Shi at least knew that Lin Xuan, although young, was a qualified person to discuss with Gu Wu Chen, who had studied in Jisheng Academy. In the middle of the night, he sat down and listened to Lin Xuan talking incessantly, making Gu Wu Chen nod repeatedly. On the island prison, who was the master and who was the assistant, Yang Shi still knew this point.

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  PS: A new chapter is presented, brothers vote for red votes.