It's easy to dispel Gu Wudeng's suspicious mind, originally Gu Wudeng is not a person who can be easily fooled, who benefits him and who is useful to him, he is the clearest in his heart. Moreover, at this time, he will not have any guard against Zhao Qinnian, Lin Xuan lightly lets Zhao Qinnian fall into a trap, it's not a difficult task.

  Lin Xie was still thinking about Su Mei's affairs, he could understand that Fu Qinghe would not arbitrarily interfere with his and Sun Wenjuan's marriage without discussing it first, so it must be that Su Mei mentioned this matter in the letter she sent to Changshan Island; Su Mei and Chen Mingyu were not as entangled and ambiguous as the outside world said, Lin Xie still had some insight into this, but at this time Su Mei was trapped in the Fang Lou and couldn't get out of it, having to deal with so many troubles, she had no choice but to find a shield to deflect the arrows, that's why things developed like this.

  Even if Chen Mingyu is a top scholar, what can he do? He's still just a pawn in the grand scheme of things.

  Lin Xuan thought of his "rival in love", whom he had met at the Jiangning Imperial Academy during the provincial examination, and again at the Lu Ming banquet after the results were announced. He had also seen him at Baiyuan when he was infatuated with Su Mei. Lin Xuan was not unfamiliar with this number one talent of the southeast, and in his heart, he looked down on him with a cold smile: Chen Xiyan, Chen Xinbo, Zhang Xie, Tang Haixin, and others were the ones who stood by the chessboard and made moves, but unfortunately, they were all caught up in party struggles and couldn't see that the chessboard was about to be overturned, and there were also foreigners eyeing the chessboard with ulterior motives. Perhaps among the current powerful officials, only Li Zhuo and a few others could handle things with a broad perspective, but these people were bound hand and foot by various circumstances, unable to display their talents or fulfill their ambitions.

  Lin tied up his horse and followed Zhao Jinmin into the inner house, handing over the reins to Zhou Pu and others.

  "Ah!"

  At the sound of a soft cry, Lin Xie was startled and came back to his senses, seeing that he almost bumped into Gu Junxiang's body. He took a step back and stood still, smiling and asking: "What are you going to do, Junxiang?" Since they were familiar with the Gu family, there was no need to be too evasive when meeting Gu Junxiang in the courtyard.

  "This girl is so reckless, running wildly in her own courtyard, isn't she afraid of scaring the guests?" Gu Wu Chen said with a smile, asking his daughter, "Where's your mother?"

  Gu Jun Xun blushed and gave a courtesy to Lin Fu and Zhao Qin Min, then glanced at Lin Fu twice, feeling even more shy. Only then did she respond to her father: "In the garden, they said that tonight's banquet will be moved to the garden, so I came to ask for your opinion, Father, as well as that of our guests."

  "...the garden is quite good, let's just stay in the garden." Gu Wu Chen said.

  Yang Pu knew that his wife would not take the initiative to call Gu Jun Xiang out to spread this message, and it was likely that the little girl had found an excuse to rush out.

  **********

  The sky turned dark, the lanterns in the courtyard shone brightly, and the moon was also shining in the night sky. Drinking wine in the garden is also a good atmosphere. Although everyone has a lot on their minds tonight, the atmosphere still needs to be maintained. After a while, Zhang Yubo also arrived at the banquet by carriage.

  When drinking, Gu Wu Chen asked his son Gu Siyuan to come and accompany him, increasing his training. After the wine was left over and the banquet was finished, Gu Jun Xiang led the maidservant to pour tea and bring it over. These things shouldn't have been done by her, but since she did them, everyone didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Zhang Yu Bo and Zhao Qin Min were considered uncle generation, Lin Fu and Gu's family were also close, they were all Gu Wu Chen's confidants, couldn't be considered outsiders, Gu Jun Xiang wasn't considered to have lost her femininity by being so forward either. Gu Wu Chen couple had been in the border army for nearly ten years, their hearts didn't care much about etiquette and propriety, otherwise the incident of Gu Jun Xiang disguising herself as a man to sneak out and play wouldn't have happened. At this moment, Gu Wu Chen again asked his son to go back to his room to study hard, not letting him stay to listen to the next secret meeting, also asking his daughter and maidservant to leave the garden.

  "Today, there is one good thing, just about to tell the adults... " Lin Xuan told Gu Wudeng about the engagement between Lin Jingzhong and the daughter of Sun Jingtang from Xihai, omitting some minor details.

  Lin Jingzhong is not a key figure at this time, and the Xihui Society is just one branch of the River Gang's forces. Gu Wudian holds the power to supervise the grain transportation, so all the River Gang's forces will come to curry favor with him. He doesn't even put the small Xihui Society in his eyes. Lin Jingzhong's marriage to Sun Jing Tang's daughter is a trivial matter. He feels strange: Why didn't Lin say this when they were drinking earlier, but now he brings it up?

  "Because of the marriage, and also chatting with Chen brothers from Xihui about the grain transportation, I know that the river gangs are feeling pressure on this year's grain transportation. The river course has been neglected for many years, which is one problem, and the river gang's grain boats have not been replenished in sufficient quantities for many years, which is another problem." Lin said, "At that time, even if the prefectures of Jiangdong are willing to pay the full amount of grain tax and load it onto ships to go north, if these two major problems are not addressed, there may still be big problems. If we investigate the responsibility afterwards, it would be useless to push all the responsibilities onto the river gang..."

  "Ah," Gu Wu Chen responded, furrowing his brow. Generally speaking, the grain transportation would only begin after the autumn harvest was collected and handed over. At this time, the main task of the Surveillance Commissioner's Office was to urge the prefectures and counties to fulfill their quota of grain supply for the year. Although they also supervised the maintenance of the grain transport river and the construction of grain ships, these were not the focus of their work at present. Especially since the grain transport waterway did not only pass through Jiangdong County, but stretched thousands of miles north from there. The Surveillance Commissioner's Office in Jiangdong County couldn't even monitor it all. This year's grain transportation was unfavorable, and the capital had no grain to allocate, so the price of grain continued to rise. At that time, the resentment of the court and the people would accumulate on Chu Dang's head, and blaming others wouldn't be able to reverse this disadvantage. Thinking of the severity of the situation, Gu Wu Chen subconsciously asked, "What should we do?"

  "Change the way of thinking, start early," Lin said, "In previous years, the grain transportation was always after the autumn harvest, and at that time, the water level of the canal began to drop, which seriously affected the speed of grain transportation. Moreover, the wind direction was not favorable for the northbound grain boats, so the speed was extremely slow. Even if there were no problems with the grain boats going north, it would take more than three months. On the other hand, after the spring, when the grain boats returned empty, although the water level had not risen yet and the wind direction was unfavorable, the cargo carried by the returning grain boats was limited, so they did not draw much water and were not easily stranded or damaged. The canal was naturally more unobstructed. If we start the grain boats northbound at this time, when the spring and summer floods come, there will be no need to worry about the problem of shallow water, and the wind direction will also be favorable. Moreover, there are fewer ships on the canal at this time, so it is more spacious. From Jiangning, starting the grain boats northbound, everything goes smoothly, and only one month's time is needed to reach Yanjing. The return journey takes a little longer, but it can still arrive in time for the second grain transportation after the autumn harvest... Besides, Yanjing is also short of grain this year..."

  "Right!" Gu Wu Chen's eyes lit up. The imperial court needed to stabilize the Yanbei front line and needed grain, the northwest was severely affected by the disaster and needed grain, and the capital city of Yanjing was severely short of grain. If he could organize a batch of grain transportation to Yanjing in advance, it would not only alleviate the pressure on the autumn grain transportation, but also be a great achievement at this time. He lacked sufficient political achievements to overthrow Jia Pengyu from his position as Provincial Governor. Although the autumn harvest had not been collected, the official granaries in the southeastern counties actually did not lack grain. Organizing grain transportation in advance was not actually difficult, it's just that it went against tradition and no one had thought of it before.

  "Governor Wang agreed to increase the grain transportation by 200,000 dan. Let him fulfill part of it first, we can't all delay until after autumn..." Lin Fu said.

  "Right, right, right..." Gu Wu Chen burst out laughing. Wang Xue Shan will definitely struggle to control this side, and the longer it takes, the better situation they had just obtained would quietly change. If by autumn, Wang Xue Shan goes back on his word, it'll be a headache. For now, forcing Wang Xue Shan to fulfill part of it first, by autumn, even if the situation changes, Wang Xue Shan won't dare to play any tricks with the grain transportation.

  At this point, Guwu dust and Lin Xie began to discuss the details.

  Zhang Yubo is not familiar with the affairs of the canal, and Zhao Qinmin also knows a thing or two, but in front of Lin Xie, he would rather hide his clumsiness than show it off.

  Yesterday, when meeting with Li Zhuo, Li Zhuo was very concerned about the problem of boat transportation. At that time, we also discussed the pros and cons of river transportation and sea transportation. Lin Bian was also talking freely at that time. After Li Zhuo sent off the civil and military officials of Jiangning, he continued to consider this issue. Today's events are also related to the influence of the West River Gang, and when chatting with Sun's brothers, we also talked about many things related to boat transportation.

  Although sea transportation has many advantages, the Great Yue at this time no longer had the ability to organize large-scale sea transportation. There were not enough seaworthy ships that could withstand the waves of the nearby seas, and only the maximum efficiency of inland water transportation was promoted. Although the court was in chaos and internal and external troubles were endless, the huge imperial system did not collapse and was still operating effectively. As long as the thinking was changed a bit, there was still much room for improvement in inland water transportation, but it was unknown whether the patchwork of small places could reverse the country's fortunes.

  Lin Xiang ultimately did not want the world to collapse, causing the people to become scattered and the barbarians to gain an advantage.

  During this period, Lin Xian's most concern was the strategy of revival. Whether the Great Vietnam Dynasty could revive or not largely depended on whether the transportation system could be effectively organized. As long as the energy supply from Yanjing continued to receive financial support from the southeast, and minimized losses in between, the vast empire would not immediately collapse.

  Although Lin Xuan is the prison officer of Jiang Island, it does not prevent him from offering plans and strategies to Gu Wu Chen in other matters. In fact, once the chief official's staff is strong enough and operates effectively, they can often replace the normal functioning of the government office, and the assistant officials will be left with nothing to do. The powerful figures among the staff naturally have much more power than the assistant officials. At least at this time in Jiangning, all the wealthy and powerful people who respect Gu Wu Chen dare not underestimate Lin Xuan, which is a manifestation of the hidden power structure of the time.

  "I think the first batch of grain to be transported should reach 300,000 dan, which is more suitable for the northward transportation," Lin said. "I have calculated that the normal annual shipping capacity of Jiangdong Prefecture is over 18 million dan, and even if new ships are not added in recent years, the capacity will not be less than 10 million dan. I chatted with Sun brothers from Xihai Guild today and learned that although some of their ships are out, at least half of them are idle. Last night, the black awning boats of Xihai Guild gathered on the east side of Juyi Island in Chongtian Tang, which was due to some minor misunderstandings. It's not necessary to pursue these minor issues, but it can be inferred that there are a large number of people and ships available for mobilization at this time. The granaries of various officials in Jiangdong Prefecture are still quite full, and even if the various prefectures and counties directly purchase 300,000 dan of rice from the market with silver, it will not have much impact on the eight million people in Jiangdong Prefecture - for the various prefectures and counties, organizing summer grain transportation has two advantages: one is that the transportation time is short, and the other is that it does not consume ships, so the cost of grain transportation is extremely low. After calculating the accounts clearly, I think the yamen of various prefectures and counties may not have too much resistance to this plan. To prevent extortion at local checkpoints, I think Your Excellency can even issue a special edict for this matter."

  "This is a strategy for the country," Gu Wu Chen's heart was completely cleared of the unpleasantness caused by Lin Xie and Li Zhuo's private meeting yesterday, excitedly patted the table and praised Lin Xie. If he could really transport 3 million stones of grain to Yanjing before summer, Gu Wu Chen felt that the position of Surveillance Commissioner should be his this year. Lin Xie had such a rare talent in managing the world, it was true that he couldn't disappoint him. He asked Lin Xie again, "Can you spare some time to help me with this matter?"

  "I'd also like to ask you, sir, to allow me to return to Shanglin for a trip. After returning from Shanglin, there should be time..." Lin Xuan said.

  "Alright," Gu Wu Chen replied, "I'll have to get Wang Xue Shan to agree to this first. If he agrees, it doesn't matter if the credit is split between us...". Gu Wu Chen knew that using his power to coerce Wang Xue Shan was not a wise move, and instead chose to unite with him to grasp the situation together.

  Lin Xie knew that the grudges between him and Wang Xueshan, Wang Chao and his son were hard to resolve, but since the situation was such that no one could do anything about it, they might as well cooperate with each other for now. He smiled and said, "Sir is indeed wise."

  Zhao Qinmin sighed inwardly, only to realize that he had been trying to curry favor with Gu Wu Chen in front of Lin Xie, which was truly a futile effort. Gu Wu Chen couldn't bear to part with Lin Xie's support at this moment. He took the opportunity to flatter and said: "Lin is indeed a talented assistant..."

  "Mr. Zhao, this remark is somewhat improper." Lin You smiled and shot a glance at Zhao Qinmin.

  Zhao Qinmin was slightly stunned, and then he understood what was going on. He said that Lin Xuan was a talent of Wang Zuo's caliber, wasn't that a hint that Gu Wu Chen had even greater ambitions?

  "Don't spread this around." Gu Wu Chen was delighted in his heart, and warmly reminded Zhao Qin Min, but he didn't take it to heart. As a new noble of the Chu Party, if he had any ambition, his greatest ambition would be to become a famous minister of the Zhongxing era. He wasn't worried that Lin Xuan's ability would surpass him, after all, Lin Xuan needed to accumulate experience and reputation in this system for a long time to grow up. If Lin Xuan could also become a famous minister decades later, Gu Wu Chen even felt that both teacher and student could leave their names in history, making it an even more brilliant story.

  ***************

  P.S: Looking for red envelopes.