Kinoshima Island uses the swallowtail-shaped rocky reef at the southern tip of the island, fills it with stones and slightly renovates it as a wharf. The people on the island call this the Swallowtail Reef Wharf. The Swallowtail Reef Wharf is very small, barely able to berth an official ship with a capacity of 500 stones. A dark red lacquered official ship is moored at the wharf, and four patrol boats have already been deployed according to regulations, driving away fishing boats and merchant ships in the waterway and sealing off the waterway.
The next morning, Gu Wu Chen stood on the rocky shore before boarding the boat, gazing out at the scenery. The southern bank was very close, with only about a mile of water between them. The grass and trees along the riverbank, the warning lines, and even the fishing boats and merchant ships were all visible to the naked eye. Many villagers had been attracted to the riverbank to watch the commotion. Beyond the prison island, the northern view was a vast expanse of misty mountains, with the dark green mountain ridges and shoreline stretching out in a jagged line across the horizon.
Lin Xuan stood beside Gu Wu Chen, he didn't know what kind of mood Gu Wu Chen had as he gazed out at the surroundings. Did he feel that his responsibilities were heavy and the road ahead was long since arriving in Jiangning? Lin Xuan would occasionally glance towards the direction of Jin Chuan River mouth. Gu Wu Chen agreed to expand the Yan Wei Ji dock, deepen the waterway, extend it to both sides, so that the dock could berth two or three thousand-stone ships or even larger Jiang ships. He also agreed to build a dock on the opposite bank of the river, at the Jin Chuan River mouth, and connect it with Yu Dao Island. However, all the silver needed for this would have to be figured out by Lin Xuan himself, as the Surveillance Commissioner's office wouldn't allocate even one or two taels of silver, and it was hard to imagine that the Pacification Commissioner's office would agree to take out this special allocation.
Lin Zhi only needs to follow the name of the inspection department, and although Lin Jingzhong still has six or seven thousand taels of silver in his hands, he can't accomplish much, but he can support himself for a while.
Yang Pu accompanied Gu Wu Chen to take a boat back to the city, and helped his son Yang Shi adjust his brown leather armor. Looking at Lin Xie standing beside Gu Wu Chen, he patted his son's shoulder and said: "Not like being by an adult's side, on Prison Island, you should observe more, learn more, speak less, and ask fewer questions..." Yang Pu had known Lin Xie for nearly three months and knew that this person was talented, capable, and ambitious. He believed that Gu Wu Chen was fully capable of controlling Lin Xie's ambition at this time, but he worried that his son didn't know how to gauge the situation on Prison Island, so he reminded him specially. When Yang Pu followed Gu Wu Chen into exile in the army, he brought Yang Shi with him from a young age, and Gu Wu Chen treated Yang Shi like his own nephew. Even if Yang Shi made mistakes, Gu Wu Chen could tolerate them, but Lin Xie might not be so lenient.
"The child remembers in his heart," said Yang Shi.
"That's good......" Yang Pu watched as Gu Wu Chen boarded the official ship, and he followed after.
Lin Xie stood in front of the dock at Yanwei Wharf, watching as Gu Wu Chen's official boat sailed into the Jin Chuan River mouth and was blocked by the riverbank, with only the tall main mast still visible.
Compared with the crowded scene at the Yanwei Wharf yesterday, only a few people came to see off Gu Wu Chen today when he left the island with Lin Xian.
*****
Gu Wu Chen took a boat to leave and return to the city, Zhou Shi De, Jiang Jin, Cao Shang and more than 30 others were escorted back to the city for trial. They extorted money from prisoners, after being imprisoned in the city's main prison, they would also receive the same treatment that was applied to others. Another 150 soldiers were not punished for being coerced, but they were disarmed and taken away by boat to be dealt with elsewhere. Gu Wu Chen would not let Lin Fu handle these troubles.
Da Liang Shu Ban Chang Sun Geng was promoted one rank to "Liu Wai Er Deng" and retained in his position due to his loyalty, adherence to the law, and meticulousness in official matters.
The officials of the Dai Viet dynasty were divided into nine ranks, each with a distinction between zheng and cong, totaling eighteen levels. Lin Xie was appointed as the prison officer of Jiangdao Island, which is considered the lowest level among the entering flow officials, ranking from the ninth rank.
Apart from the civil officials, there were also outer officials in the ??i Vi?t dynasty, usually referred to as mandarins, which were divided into nine ranks, with the first rank being the highest.
Those who enter the mainstream become officials, and those who are outside the mainstream become clerks. Ordinary people usually don't know what the difference is between officials and clerks. Using an example from a thousand years ago to illustrate, officials refer to leaders at all levels of the party and government, while clerks refer to ordinary civil servants. Although both officials and clerks are unattainable for ordinary citizens, there is a huge difference between officials and clerks.
In the Great Yue Dynasty, only when one enters the imperial court as an official can they receive a regular salary and be considered a true noble who eats the emperor's grain. The amount of their annual salary is fixed and cannot be deducted by local authorities, but may have additional benefits. With power in hand, even the most humble prison guard has control over the local prison, and even the county lieutenant, county recorder, or county scribe are all high-ranking officials in a county. Even the most humble patrol officer is still the head of a town.
Changsun Gong was promoted to "Liuwai Second Class" Da Lao Shu Ban, only two steps away from entering the official flow. It was these two steps that Changsun Gong, with his Juren honors, had no opportunity to take, and without a powerful backer, he couldn't step over for half his life.
Apart from Zhang Sun'geng, there were two other squad leaders who were not implicated in the cleansing of the prison. One was surnamed Shi and the other Mao. These two had nothing to do with the case, but it wasn't because they were upright or strong-willed. Rather, they had deep personal grudges against the prison warden Zhou Shide, which is why they were both excluded together.
Since they were not involved in the case, they will naturally be promoted and retained. After going through this ordeal, I think they will cherish their jobs even more. The nearly twenty runners under Shi and Mao, the two squad leaders, will also be retained.
The previous bailiffs and squad leaders were all arranged to be full, but in fact, after the prison city plan was vetoed, the number of prisoners on the island had always been between 200-300 people, far from being full. It's just that the government has always been only entering and not leaving, the bailiffs, squad leaders, and clerks are all arranged, if it is necessary to reduce the number of clerks and bailiffs due to the insufficient number of prisoners, it is extremely difficult. This has been maintained for eight or nine years. At this time, four squad leaders were arrested and brought back, 40 bailiffs involved in the case were also transferred out of the island for further disposal, leaving only two squad leaders leading 20 bailiffs on the island, temporarily not feeling that there are not enough people; In addition, Yang Jie led 60 armed soldiers to guard the prison island.
Gu Wu Chen and Lin Fu talked for a night, in addition to accepting the various suggestions put forward by Lin Fu, he also granted him a special privilege, that is, the number of guards on the island would not be reduced or increased temporarily, and the inspector's office would not send anyone else to the island. The vacancies created by this clearing of the prison would be left for Lin Fu to dispose of.
The annual expenditure of the Inspectorate has a fixed quota, and almost every penny is used. Wanting to squeeze out an additional thousand taels of silver each year to allocate to Prison Island would be too complicated, so Gu Wu Chen tacitly allowed Lin Xie to take a portion of the empty quota; on the other hand, Lin Xie wanted to reform Prison Island drastically and needed people who could follow orders, which Gu Wu Chen also tacitly permitted by allowing Lin Xie to recruit personnel on his own.
Apart from this, Gu Wudu also agreed with Lin Xie that Zhao Hu would be transferred to a military post, starting from the lowest rank.
******
After Gu Wu Chen left, Lin Xuan brought Zhang Sun Geng, Yang Shi and two other team leaders to the front hall of the prison. He smiled and asked everyone to sit around his desk, saying: "From now on, we will all be in the same boat on this island. If there is a problem on the island, the inspector's office will hold me accountable first, but you can't think about getting away from it either; if the island is well-governed and recognized by our superiors, I won't forget your contributions. Now that we are short-handed, do you feel tired...
Chang Sun-geng and Shi, Mao two team leaders were still uneasy in their hearts. Who would have thought that after just one night's work, the prison island was cleared and only one or two of the original guards remained? Lin Xie had been friendly and courteous to them all these days, but now they deeply realized that behind Lin Xie's friendly face was a murderous intent. They hastily said: "We are willing to serve the adults, no matter how hard the work is..."
"Don't say anything about resigning, with one less clerk and four fewer squad leaders, in the future each of you will have to bear more than double the burden," Lin said, "The Surveillance Commissioner's office is also short-handed, the shortage of manpower on the island prison will be solved slowly, if your burdens are heavier then they're heavier, but I can take charge of increasing each person's food and silver allowance by 50%... however!"
Chang Sun Geng was initially delighted to hear that the labor and food allowance would be increased by 50%. As a clerk, he relied on this allowance as his only source of income, aside from extorting money from prisoners or their families. He knew that the island's personnel would not be increased temporarily, but the Provincial Inspector's Office would also not reduce the number of clerks and guards on the island. This meant that the island would receive an additional 1,000 taels of silver each year in unused funds. However, how these funds were used was entirely up to Lin Xie. Even if Lin Xie wanted to embezzle all the unused funds himself, they could only watch helplessly. When Lin Xie promised a 50% increase in labor and food allowance, Chang Sun Geng's heart naturally swelled with joy. But as soon as Lin Xie uttered the word "but", his tone suddenly turned menacing, causing Chang Sun Geng's heart to skip a beat. He looked up at Lin Xie, who raised an eyebrow and wore a stern expression on his face. Over the past few days, especially after the prison inspection yesterday, Chang Sun Geng no longer dared to be complacent towards this young superior officer.
Lin's voice was slightly stern as he continued, "If I find out that any of you have been secretly torturing prisoners or extorting money in the prison, I will make sure to send you to prison to experience the taste of being tortured and extorted. As for the guards and soldiers below, their wages and allowances will be increased by 30% based on the original amount. Make sure to convey this message seriously and solemnly to them. If any problems arise from your subordinates, I will hold you responsible first! Do you all remember?"
"Remembered." Chang Sun-geng, Yang Shi and the two squad leaders, Li and Mao, all responded immediately.
"That's good," Lin Xuan put his hands on the case and said to Zhang Sun Gong, "Yang Dianwei has just arrived at the prison island, and the soldiers under his command are also new to guarding the prison. The key points of the prison, the monitoring room, and the defense, you explain them in detail today; I have to go to the south shore this morning, if there is any urgent matter on the island, Zhang Sun Shu will handle it for you...". And then said to Yang Shi, "Since Zhao Hu has entered the military, he will be under your command first."
Yang Yi was not as seasoned as his father, he knew that Zhao Hu was a trusted aide of Lin Xie, and he shouldn't have directly dispatched Zhao Hu, but for the time being, he couldn't think of a more subtle way to do it, so he had no choice but to silently agree for the time being.
"Should we postpone fishing for two days?" Chang Sun asked.
"Why the delay?" Lin Xie asked, "After I left, when fishing, you and Yang Dianwei were in charge of guarding together..." The ten prisoners who went fishing were strictly selected and would not cause any problems. The other prisoners were all locked up inside the high walls, and if it weren't for concerns about possible external impacts, even thirty guards would be enough to handle everything.
