The moon is bright on a clear night, the night wind blows gently without chill, and people have changed into light spring clothes.

  Back in the grass hall, Xiao Man was listlessly sitting at her desk, doodling on a piece of yellowish rice paper with a brush. Liu Yue'er was sitting at the other end of the desk doing needlework. This pair of beauties under the lamp were delicate and charming. Liu Yue'er had matured and become plump, with a slightly rounded face shape, and her slender waist and high, full chest made her light green spring shirt bulge out, forming a perfect and alluring curve. Xiao Man's body was still not fully developed, a bit thin, but her face under the lamp was exquisitely delicate, and her eyes were exceptionally clear and charming. When she saw Lin Xie return, she stood up, yawning, and called out in a soft voice: "How come you're back so late? I'm almost asleep..." Her voice was sweet and gentle, like it could melt people's ears. Xiao Man enthusiastically came over to hug Lin Xie's arm, pulling him into the house to see her paintings.

  It's a peony painting, not yet colored, but the little girl's fine brushwork is exquisite, and this painting already has a good shape. Xiaoman is familiar with Su Mei's tunes in the Fang Lou, and she is also proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Lin Xie is watching the painting under the lamp, and he says to Xiaoman: "The day after tomorrow, I'll have someone go to the city to buy some paints and bring them back for you to color this painting..." The little girl is also affectionate towards Lin Xie, and when Lin Xie looks at the painting, her soft body is passionately attached to his, even though she is still young, her slender figure is not yet fully developed, but she has a unique elasticity of a maiden.

  Liu Yue'er pretended not to see and continued sitting there, holding the embroidery needle to embroider the lotus leaf pattern on the edge of her undergarment.

  Xiao Man Yan's red lips leaned in close to Lin Xie's ear and asked, "Brother Lin, when do you think Su Mei will come visit me?" She was thinking of speaking softly so that Liu Yue'er wouldn't hear, her breath like orchids puffed against the base of Lin Xie's ear.

  Liu Yu'er put down the embroidery in her hand and said, "This side is simple, there's only a thatched cottage, how can I invite people over?" She also asked Lin Xie, "Are you thirsty? I'll brew a cup of tea for you?"

  "Not busy for now, Jing Zhong and the others will come over to discuss things later, I'll trouble you to brew some tea together..." Lin Xuan let Liu Yue'er rest first, then said to Xiao Man, "When the Bamboo Hall is built, there will be an excuse to invite Su Mei over. If you get tired of staying here, I'll have someone send you back to Baiyuan Garden..."

  "No," Xiao Man said, pouting her plump and rosy lips, which were full and curved in a beautiful arc. She shook her head and continued, "It's too much trouble. I want to help you with things, not add to your troubles... How about you find something for me to do?"

  "Didn't Miss Liu ask for your help?" Lin Xuan had just asked this when he lightly stepped on Liu Yue's foot under the table, thinking that the two girls hadn't gotten along yet. Since they were sharing a room now, it was probably to save on one oil lamp. He quickly changed the subject and said to Xiao Man, "Your handwriting is good, I have some rough drafts that need rewriting, can you help me copy them out so Miss Liu can collect them..."

  At this moment, voices came from the front of the thatched cottage, and it was Cao Zi'ang's voice. Lin Xie wanted Xiao Man to help Liu Yue'er brew tea and bring it to the front hall.

  Lin Jie let Lin Jingzhong, Cao Zikang, Ge Cunxin, and Ge Cunxiong come to the front hall and sit down. He told them about some things that happened today when they entered the city. The main head of this batch of redemption silver must be given to Gu Wuduan. On this side, four thousand taels of silver can still be divided from the redemption silver. Lin Jingzhong was also open-minded. After all, it's good to take advantage of the shade under a big tree. The value of the armor and horses obtained on this side far exceeds four thousand taels of silver. In addition, the two million taels of silver cleverly obtained from the Qu family a few days ago will not be used up for the time being.

  Lin Tie said again when he returned to see the situation at Tian's house, and instructed Lin Jingzhong: "For now, we can only take this compromise approach and give them some compensation. After all, we have been preparing for road construction for a long time, and the construction will start in these two days. Before the rainy season arrives, raise the roadbed, pave sandstone, and plant willows after digging drainage ditches. Let the carriages and horses trample on it first, and barely use it; after the autumn rain is over, we will tamp the earth and lay a mixture of stone powder and soil to make it as neat as the official road... These tenants come to work tomorrow, and record their names and give them ten days' worth of wages. Be careful not to let others mix in and take advantage of the situation."

  "Those who think they can take advantage of us will not be able to get in, Master Cao has thoroughly investigated the two nearby villages and we have registered all the sly ones here," Lin Jingzhong said with a smile, "But why do we always end up losing out every time?"

  "If you want to achieve something, you must first learn to suffer losses," Lin Xuan said with a smile. "Every time it's you who takes advantage, who would dare help you do things?"

  "I'm not afraid of losing out, I also come from a humble background, how could I forget my roots? These tenants came over, don't mention three sheng of rice as wages, four sheng, five sheng, if you ask me to give it out, I won't even frown. Clearly there was an agreement beforehand that the green shoots money should be given to the villagers' hands, how could the money possibly be snatched away by the rent collector? This matter, I think Zhao Qinnin should have turned a blind eye, most likely it's Chen Daren's underling surnamed Zhou who is playing tricks in the middle, taking advantage of the Qu family... We've lost out, but we can't let these parasites get the benefits either!" Lin Jingzhong said.

  "You can think of it as us taking a lot of silver from the Qu family, and now we're giving them some face, so they'll be satisfied; besides, the Qu family is thinking about getting benefits from us, which shows that they really don't have any suspicions about us." Lin Xuan said, "A fish will not survive in clear water", even if Chen Yuanliang didn't understand the character of his advisor surnamed Zhou, Lin Xuan would still try to be as "benevolent" as possible. Most officials in the Great Yue court are greedy and corrupt, they have to be treated with caution, otherwise nothing will get done. The events of the past two days, apart from the immediate benefits, also alleviated other crises, and Fan Ding and Fan Zhi Mei will probably have to swallow their anger for a longer time.

  "I also understand the reason, and it feels better to say it out loud." Lin Jingzhong said.

  Cao Zikang, Ge Cunxin and Ge Cunxiong all burst out laughing. They had experienced many injustices before, so this matter was nothing in comparison.

  Lin Tie told everyone about the gathering at Dongyang Guild Hall today, and Lin Jingzhong asked: "Zhao Qinmin can't do so many things by himself. Should we pick two people to help him?"

  "Mr. Cao, what do you think?" Lin Xuan asked Cao Zikang. Cao Zikang and Qin Chengzu were both wise and resourceful men. He kept Cao Zikang on the shore, also hoping that Cao Zikang could help him share the pressure.

  "I think it's better to be cautious," Cao Zikang shook his head and said, "It's not that Gu Wudeng suspects Lin Ye at this time. Gu Wudeng should understand the way of balance and won't entrust everything to Lin Ye. The sudden changes in Jiangning City over the past two days are far beyond Gu Wudeng's expectations, leaving him no time to make arrangements. However, once he calms down and sees that Zhao Qinxin is still being restrained by our side, he will likely have some thoughts. Since Lin Ye was supposed to hand this matter over to Zhao Qinxin anyway, let's just let him handle it. Another thing is that Zhao Qinxin is not a simple person. In just two or three days, he has thoroughly investigated the river mouth, so I had to deliberately transfer our people away from him, fearing that he might discover some clues."

  "We don't need to use our own people, so let's pick two strong and capable ones from the migrant workers and have them serve as guards for Zhao Qincun. We must avoid him being killed by the assassins sent by Wang Xueshan at the river mouth," Lin Fu said. "The day after tomorrow, I'll go with you to the Longjiang shipyard and hand over the silver to the other side. Da Xiao will bring all the people to the shipyard for training, and from then on, they will eat and live on the boat. We will also control the dock and warehouse, so we won't have to worry about leaving any loopholes for others to see."

  Although Da Xia and his men were all fishermen by origin, with rich experience in sailing boats, they had no experience in driving large sailboats. The thousand-stone ship had three masts that could hang fifteen sails of different sizes, the main mast was 10 zhang high, the front and rear secondary masts were 8 zhang and 6 zhang high respectively, and the single oar on the side of the stern required two people to operate. It could carry a thousand stones, or 100,000 catties of rice or other goods. Although only sixteen people were needed to drive this large sailboat that carried a thousand stones, it was not possible for just any ordinary sixteen people to get on board and set off. Da Xia and his men had some experience in sailing boats, so they were slightly better off. When Lin Xie and his men drove that three-masted sea ship earlier, they were lucky that the winds and waves were calm after the beginning of winter in the waters north of the Yangtze River, which allowed them to waste a few more days and safely drift to Qingjiangpu to run aground. Da Xia listened to Lin Xie's account of their experience and said it was thrilling. They were lucky that they saw the wind pick up slightly and lowered the sails to avoid the wind. Otherwise, even if it was after the beginning of winter, with their skills, out of ten ships, four or five would have capsized at sea. Qin Chengzu and his men invited a few reliable sailors from a private salt merchant they knew in Qingjiangpu to join them, and after a long time of struggling on Changshan Island, they finally managed to get familiar with driving that three-masted sea ship.

  Lin Jie will take the sixty taels of gold he got from Gu's house and give it to Lin Jingzhong, saying: "This is a reward, not to be put in storage. You go to Quyang Town on another day and exchange them for six-mace heavy unmarked silver coins. Use the private seal of Jiyun Society, assign a number, and have the lower-ranking people select twenty people who are diligent in their work, willing to think and practice with their hearts. First, give each person one silver coin. The remaining gold and silver coins will be stored for future use. Whoever achieves merit in the future will receive gold coins for great merits and silver coins for small merits. Six-mace gold and silver may not be worth much money, but it can motivate their hearts."

  Twenty-four coins make one tael, and one tael of silver is worth 1,200 copper coins. A six-coin silver piece is worth 300 copper coins; one tael of gold is worth eight taels of silver or 9,600 copper coins. A six-coin gold piece is worth 2,400 copper coins.

  Next, the matter of selecting Wu Wei was discussed again. This matter has already matured. Among the thirty subordinates brought by the Ge brothers, ten will be selected into Wu Wei. This is convenient for incorporating most of the Ge brothers' subordinates into one ship to ensure that the back-and-forth trips to Changshan Island are not leaked to outsiders; in addition, thirty Wu Wei will also be selected from the recruited workers and refugees.

  After the Liuyang massacre, Lin Tie quickly organized the strong and brave among the migrant workers into a militia with bamboo spears for training. Although the extra training time each day was not long, it was enough to select the Wu Wei. Moreover, Cao Zi'ang had been living among the migrant workers for days, sharing their joys and sorrows, and he had already seen through the kind of people they were with his keen eyes.

  On the eve of the big night, Chen Zhi led 500 people from the East City to catch people. The strong and brave refugees stood firmly behind Lin Fu, which can also prove that these recruited refugees are trustworthy. In fact, Cao Zi'ang suspected that Lin Fu would take these people directly to Changshan Island as pirates at this time, probably not many people would hesitate - the most important thing now is how to train these people into elite troops.

  The number of Wu Wei is limited after all, Wu Wei can be handed over to Zhou Pu for training together with the guards and soldiers, Lin Tie also has time to instruct in person. However, Lin Tie and others will not wait patiently for the bandits to attack and only use Wu Wei to defend against the enemy, or only equip Wu Wei with weapons on merchant ships, and more effectively organize the strong and brave among the refugees as a reserve and supplementary force for Wu Wei, which is another headache.