The Dai Viet dynasty had been selecting scholars for over 200 years, but it had already strayed from the right path. The selected scholars might be well-versed in the Four Books and Five Classics, poetry, literature, painting, and calligraphy, and some of them might even be elegant and refined, able to compose poems and essays to entertain themselves on excursions. However, they lacked practical talents who could bring benefits to the world. Of course, there were also truly talented and learned scholars like Li Zhuo, Shen Rong, Dong Yuan, Gao Zongting, and Gu Wu Dun, but compared to the vast bureaucratic system of the Dai Viet dynasty, such people were too scarce.

  Xia Chuo's plan, Lin Xie guessed that Li Zhuo and Gao Zongting also thought of it, but don't look at Li Zhuo's higher position, but Li Zhuo proposed this plan, which is not as useful as this small ninth-grade Confucian official. Li Zhuo's power will be limited to the maximum extent in the Jiangning Guard Military Government, without the authority to restrict local administrative affairs; after all, Gu Wuchen and Chu Dang colleagues will not allow Li Zhuo to give Chen Xinbo political achievements. On the contrary, Lin Xie implemented Xia Chuo's plan through Gu Wuchen, which can take care of the overall situation, and Li Zhuo will secretly assist.

  Lin Xuan did not wish for the downfall of the world, but he had no ambition or interest in being a minister who revives the dynasty. His great principle was to adapt to circumstances and navigate the world. If the Great Viet Dynasty still had room for recovery, he would not mind becoming a minister who revives the dynasty; if the Great Viet Dynasty was doomed to perish, he would not die with it either. The strategy of offering summer grain, mainly aimed at thoroughly suppressing Zhao Qinnian, was something he could not do without Gu Wudian's trust, allowing Gu Wudian's power to take another step forward, which also helped him establish himself in Jiangdong; secondly, although he could not join Li Zhuo's camp, he wanted to help alleviate his worries a bit, as a way of repaying the kindness he had received from him before.

  There was Zhang Yubo, Lin Xie and Zhao Qinmin who could enter and exit the Donghua Gate at night. Seeing that it was getting late, they bid farewell to the Gu Mansion. Gu Wudeng had obtained Xia Chu's plan tonight and had a glimpse of the prospects for the position of Ancha Shi. He was also very excited and personally sent Lin Xie, Zhang Yubo, and Zhao Qinmin to the front yard to take their carriages.

  Lin tied up the horse and pretended to hesitate, not hurrying to leave with Zhao Qinmin and Zhang Yubo from the Gu residence.

  Sitting under the gate of Weihua Hall to see off, Gu Wu Chen saw Lin Xian hesitating and asked: "Do you have anything else to say to me?"

  "Should I say it or shouldn't I?" Lin Xie said.

  "What's going on? Is there anything else you can't tell me?" Gu Wu Chen asked with a smile.

  "... Lin Xian walked up to the Vernal Hall, gesturing for Zhang Yubo and Zhao Qinmin to follow him. Lowering his voice so as not to be overheard by the guards, he said, "According to what I've heard, Chen Xiyan is the wife's cousin of Qu Wu Yang..."

  "Oh?" Gu Wu Chen's eyebrows suddenly rose, and he asked, "Is that really so?"

  "Mr. Zhao has been living in Jiangning for a long time and should know something about it..." Lin Xian turned his head to look at Zhao Qinmin.

  "Chen Xiyuan and Qu Jia indeed have this relationship, and the Xixi Academy is also funded by Qu Jia," Zhao Qin thought that Lin's mind was really poisonous. He saw that Gudong's expression had already changed, so he took advantage of the situation to say, "Qu Jia is not a good person either, it's just that the government can't catch his weakness... but in short, there is a weakness..."

  Zhang Yubo was indeed a bit honest, and only then did he understand: Lin Xie, Zhao Qinmin, and Gu Wudian were actually discussing how to frame Qu's family and involve Chen Xiyan. Even if they didn't hope to thoroughly overthrow Chen Xiyan, they wanted to make Chen Xiyan leave his position far away.

  Xia Chuo's strategy can make Gu Wu Chen achieve great political achievements in Jiangdong, but whether Gu Wu Chen can stand firm in Jiangdong is not fundamentally about his political achievements, but rather whether the Chu Party can stand firm at the center, and the struggle for power is the root.

  Chen Xiyin not only has the strength to compete for power, but also the ambition to compete for power. He had taken action to compete for power and achieved some success. The current emperor's appointment of Chen Mingyu, who was ranked third in the imperial examination, as the top scorer is not without reason. At least from the current perspective, the current emperor also intends to use Chen Xiyin to balance the influence of the Chu Party, and the spring exam results are just a test of public opinion.

  For the common people, the emperor is high above, and no one dares to resist. In fact, there is no absolute supreme power in this world. At least on the issue of prime ministership, the current emperor cannot act arbitrarily. If Chen Xiyuan were to be forcibly promoted to the position of prime minister, the Chu Party and other factions in the court might not dare to collectively go on strike, but secretly obstructing him would be enough to make the situation develop in a worse direction, and may even prevent imperial decrees from being issued outside the Imperial City, let alone control the situation of the entire country in one person's hands.

  The current emperor did not dare to suddenly appoint Chen Xiyi as prime minister, so he used Chen Mingyi to test the reaction of the court and the people, or to lay the groundwork for appointing Chen Xiyi as prime minister.

  At this time, the Chu Party could not have an excessive reaction. Although Chen Mingyue was listed as the third in the imperial examination, he was pointed out as the champion in the palace examination, and there was nothing excessive about it. However, the Chu Party also couldn't have no reaction. Once public opinion shifted from "it's possible that the emperor will use Chen Xiyi as prime minister" to "using Chen Xiyi as prime minister is not a bad choice", or "Chen Xiyi as prime minister might be able to turn the situation around better than Zhang Xie", at that time, if the Chu Party still insisted on opposing the emperor's decision to use Chen Xiyi as prime minister, they would become the minority.

  The Chu Party must exert resistance before the matter is settled, as long as it can destroy Chen Xiyi's possibility of serving and being appointed prime minister, there will be no need to face the last danger.

  "This matter must not be spoken of to outsiders," Gu Wu Chen said sternly. "You are all to act as if it had never been mentioned..."

  Lin Xie knew that Gu Wu Chen's heart was moved, but it was not easy to set up a trap for Qu Jia. However, if the plan failed and things were exposed, it would be a great disaster. Gu Wu Chen could not have been careless, nor could he have used this strategy without discussing it with Zhang Xie and Tang Hao.

  Lin tied nodded and left with Zhao Qinmin and Zhang Yuber, leaving the Gu residence, and then was sent by Zhang Yuber to pass through Donghua Gate.

  Out of the East China Gate, the moon is clear and the wind is gentle. Lin Xie rides his horse in silence, not even speaking to Zhao Qinnian. He gazes at the dark shadows of the grass in the roadside ditch, seemingly lost in thought. Zhao Qinnian's demeanor has been completely suppressed by Lin Xie, and he can only worry about how to repair their relationship, not daring to show any resentment towards Lin Xie's coldness.

  Zhou Pu and the guards were scattered around, after the Donghua Gate was closed, on the wide official road with a width of more than 20 steps, it was cold and deserted, without even half a pedestrian, the fine wind sound mixed with insect sounds.

  The avenging of the river mouth refugees' tragic case is unavoidable, Lin Xie had been investigating the motive behind Qu's creation of the refugees' tragic case in the river mouth but to no avail, now it seems that Chen Xiyan was likely the one who instructed from behind the scenes.

  For Chen Xiyi, the biggest obstacle to his ascension was Zhang Xie, the leader of the Chu Party.

  Gu Wu Chen is the son-in-law of Tang Hao Xin, the leader of the Chu Party, and a fellow student of Zhang Xie. It was Zhang Xie who quickly promoted him to the position of Jiangdong Press Deputy Envoy. If Gu Wu Chen made a big mistake in Jiangning, the entire Chu Party would have to take responsibility, which would lower the emperor's trust in the Chu Party, making it even less likely for Zhang Xie to be appointed as prime minister. The assassination of Gu Wu Chen at Shiliang was also possibly orchestrated by Chen Xiwen behind the scenes. Whether it was the manufacture of the refugee case or the assassination attempt on Gu Wu Chen at Shiliang County, both could further intensify the conflict between Gu Wu Chen and local forces in Jiangning. If Gu Wu Chen's arrival caused the situation in Jiangning to become chaotic, regardless of who was at fault, Gu Wu Chen would have to take responsibility. The situation may have developed exactly as the people behind the scenes had intended, with the East City riot causing relations between Gu Wu Chen and Wang Xueshan to deteriorate to an extreme point. However, it was actually Chen Zhi, the stupid and clumsy Eastern City Magistrate, who made a big mistake, allowing Lin Shu to help Gu Wu Chen seize the initiative.

  Chen Xiyuan had a reputation as a great Confucian scholar, but he was not a good person. Lin Xue felt that the harm caused by the party struggle in the court was more severe than the war and the flood drought.

  Chen Xiyin may be wronged, but Qu's family cannot be spared. However, he does not want to let Gu Wudeng know about the Changshan Island affair, so he cannot directly accuse Qu's family of being the mastermind behind the Flowing People's massacre. Lin Xie can only take a detour and offer Gu Wudeng the plan to "frame Qu's family to implicate Chen Xiyin" in order to achieve his goal of killing with a borrowed knife, it depends on whether Gu Wudeng will adopt this plan after discussing it secretly with Zhang Xie and Tang Hao.

  *******

  Upon arriving at the river mouth, Zhao Qinmin returned to his hut as usual. The soldiers led their horses to the stable. Lin Xuan and Zhou Pu walked towards the thatched cottage. As they reached the entrance, just about to knock on the door, they suddenly heard a loud barking sound. Two black shadows darted out of the courtyard with the wind, causing Lin Xuan to jump in fright. He instinctively drew his waist knife, ready to fend off the two ferocious dogs.

  "Don't kill the dog..." A scream came from the yard, and Sun Wenpei ran out of it.

  Lin Tie and Zhou Pu each lifted one leg, kicking away the two vicious dogs. The two vicious dogs yelped loudly as they tumbled in the mud, but instead of retreating, they got up again, seemingly exchanging a glance before charging at Lin Tie, who was slightly ahead. Just as they were about to pounce, Sun Wenpei arrived and kicked one dog with each foot, causing them to yelp again. The dogs retreated behind Sun Wenpei, but continued to glare menacingly at Lin Tie and Zhou Pu.

  "Master Lin, don't kill Lu and Baozi, they won't bite people randomly..." Sun Wenpei said cautiously.

  "You should first stop those two vicious dogs from biting people," Lin Xie joked, and asked Sun Wenpei, "Is Jing Zhong a guest in the thatched cottage?"

  "No," Sun Wenpei, although a daughter of the He Gang, was always timid in front of Lin Xie. Naturally, when Lin Xie mentioned Lin Jingzhong, she didn't dare laugh. She briefly stated her intention, "My sister asked me to tell Lord Lin that borrowing the Bamboo Pavilion is unavoidable. She doesn't want to owe you a debt, and three thousand taels are not enough for you to look at us favorably, so naturally, we can't repay your debt either. However, the He Gang doesn't have anything valuable, so I'll send over a few small dogs instead." Sun Wenpei finished speaking and took her leave.

  Sun Wenpei followed Lin Xie like a ghost, bowing her head and leading two tall black dogs with leather collars around their necks towards the south wing of the Bamboo Pavilion.

  "Am I so scary?" Lin Xie asked Zhou Pu with a smile.

  Zhou Pu smiled and looked at Sun Wenpei holding two black dogs, saying, "These two black mountain dogs are not bad, I didn't expect Xihai to have black mountain dogs, I don't know if they've caught the eye of the crow..."

  "Does Crow Grandpa like to eat dog meat?" Lin Xie asked with a smile, he also saw that the two dogs were not bad, and giving him and Zhou Pu each a kick would not reduce their ferocity. Their body size was large, their intelligence was not high, but they could be domesticated, it seemed they were of good breed. In later generations, the military and police often used foreign breeds, Lin Xie was not familiar with local dogs, but he knew that there had been a tradition of raising dogs since ancient times, thinking to himself that this dog was originally called Hei Shan Quan (Black Mountain Dog).

  "Don't conspire against me behind my back, dogs can guard and deliver messages, we're detectives, how could we eat dog meat?" The crow slid down quietly from an ancient mulberry tree outside the door and said, "The girl from the Western River sent six puppies, can I have them all?"

  When the Northern Song Dynasty's military saint Su Shi yuan annotated "Wu Xue Qi Jing" (Seven Classics of Martial Arts), there were comments like "Whenever an army sets up camp, they set up dog tents on all four sides to guard against enemies. When the enemy comes, the dogs bark to alert the camp." There is also a tradition of raising war dogs in the military. Lin Xie had considered raising dogs on Prison Island to share the workload of guarding and patrolling with the soldiers. However, he had previously seen many mixed-breed local dogs in Jiangning that were only suitable for ordinary households as watchdogs, not as guard dogs or war dogs. Unexpectedly, Sun Wenjuan was no ordinary woman; she knew that the breeds of dogs suitable for guard duty and warfare on the riverbank and Prison Island would be far more valuable than 3,000 to 5,000 taels of silver.

  ***********

  PS: I've been on vacation abroad for a few days, and I'll make up for it when I get back.