"This boat is so fast..." Zhao Qinmin looked at the two banks quickly retreating backwards, and compared with the horse-drawn carriage on the riverbank, he also felt that this boat was sailing very swiftly in the Jin River.

  Lin Xuan burst out laughing. This thousand-ton ship had three masts, each over 80 feet tall, and carried fifteen sails. The hull was also sleek and long, making it much more complex to operate than an ordinary mid-to-large-sized sailboat. However, the high mast and compound sail structure made this ship far faster than ordinary sailboats. This fast sailboat could harness wind power on the open sea, even setting a record of traveling 500-600 miles in a day and night. The 3,000-plus taels of silver that the Yunyun Society spent were not wasted. If it weren't for the Longjiang Shipyard begging to get rid of the ship, this vessel would have cost at least 5,000 taels of silver during the heyday of the canal transportation business. Lin Xuan also pre-ordered two more fast sailboats of the same type from the Longjiang Shipyard and added an additional 500 taels of silver as a symbolic payment. He privately sent many benefits to the officials in charge of the shipyard, but he wouldn't brag about the advantages of this ship on the open sea. Instead, he just smiled and said, "When transporting goods, I'm afraid of being slow. If we transport goods once a year and gain 30% profit, if we transport more than once, our gains will double... As someone who is obsessed with making money, it's truly shameful for a scholar like me."

  "Governor Lin is truly humble," said Zhao Qinmin with a smile, thinking that since Lin arrived in Jiangning, he had been arrogant and domineering. The positions of prison officials were always looked down upon by scholars and Confucians, and Lin's extreme promotion of miscellaneous skills and crafts that were despised by the mainstream made his reputation among scholars and Confucians not very good.

  These, however, did not prevent Lin from making a name for himself in Jiangning, although he was despised by the Qing government. Nevertheless, it is likely that no one in Jiangning's aristocratic families could ignore him anymore. Gu Wu Chen also trusted him more and more.

  Lin Tie naturally lived up to Gu Wu Chen's trust, not only helping him open up a new situation in a short period of time and stabilizing his footing at Jiangning Station, but also releasing more than 20 of the over 30 primary offenders who were arrested during the raid on He Kou. Zhao Qin Min didn't know how much silver Gu Wu Chen had actually gained from this, but he knew it was definitely not a small amount. In short, Gu Wu Chen came to He Kou for inspection twice in these days, and both times he was very happy, with a smile on his face, and would put his arm around Lin Tie's shoulder to show affection and an extraordinary relationship.

  Distant gongs and drums sounded, welcoming the thousand-ton ship into the harbor. Although Gu Wu Chen didn't come in person, dozens of Dongyang Township Party members rushed to the river mouth to congratulate him, all waiting on the riverbank.

  The riverbank on this side will be opened to block the water, and the deep-water channel that has been excavated with tens of thousands of work hours can make large ships of thousands of tons directly dock at the riverbank, without worrying about being stranded on the beach. Although it will take some time to excavate the stone platform of the riverbank wharf, the use of cableways and the temporary stacking road built on the cliff wall of the river can already load and unload cargo from ships that have docked ashore.

  This thousand-ton ship will also be trained in Chao Tian Tang for a period of time before it is officially put into use.

  Zhao Qinmin narrowed his eyes at Lin Fu, and Lin Fu agreed to let him be in charge of inviting Dongyang Township Party to jointly build the river mouth. He also kept his word and didn't send anyone else to restrain him. Gu Wuchen brought Gu Siming to the river mouth, and although Lin Fu had old grievances with Gu Siming, he did not obstruct him from participating in the river mouth affairs.

  Building the river port will not only bring great benefits in the future, but also help to consolidate the party's power in the countryside. Gu Wu-deng needs this most as he is establishing himself in Jiangning. With Lin Meng-de taking the lead, Ye Kai, Xiao Mi and other East Yang Township Party members who are doing business in Jiangning responded enthusiastically. In addition to donating 500 silver taels for the convenience of vehicles and horses, they also donated nearly 4,000 silver taels for the construction of a stone-paved street with tile-roofed sheds, which connects the warehouses on the riverbank to the river embankment dock. The land on both sides of the long street that can be used to build shops was also allocated to each household according to their donation. After the completion of the market, it will be jointly managed by all households, with a total of 36 silver shares. Jiyun Society holds 4 shares, Gu's family holds 4 shares, Chen Yuanliang and Zhang Yuber each hold 2 shares, and the remaining 24 shares are divided among other households.

  In the meantime, apart from the Jiang'an Wharf berths that can accommodate large ships, the river mouth's open waters and shoals were also used to build riverbank wharfs that can berth more medium-sized passenger and cargo ships. There is also a convenient road for vehicles connecting with the Donghua Gate official road. If we don't consider the bandit situation in Caotian Dang, it is indeed an excellent water-land wharf. The ferry from Chao Tian Yi to Jiangning City does not need to stop at Xi Xia Du Kou or Long Cang Pu San Jie He Kou, which are over 60 miles away. After all, the nearest Jiuyong Bridge Wharf is too small and can only accommodate official ships, while the Quyang Town Wharf is limited by inland rivers and bridges, and medium-sized sailboats with a tonnage of over 1,000 stones cannot enter.

  Zhao Qinmin spent this period inhekou, truly and deeply understanding the worldly and practical talents embodied by Lin Xie. It was indeed a strong helper for Gu Wu to arrive in Jiangning later. Lin Xie's performance was also very knowledgeable about the inch, very knowledgeable about progress and retreat. Except for many things, there is no extravagant hope of occupying all the benefits ofhekou, which is a clear example. However, Zhao Qinmin also had an unusually suspicious place: how much financial resources did Jiyun Society secretly hide?

  The preliminary foundation work on this side of the river mouth, including the construction of the riverbank, embankment and pier, the building of the surrounding houses and bamboo halls, as well as the recruitment and settlement of refugees, were almost all provided by Jiyun Society. It wasn't until early April that the main source of funding for the river mouth camp shifted to being raised from the Dongyang Township Party. Zhao Qinmin estimated that Jiyun Society's initial investment was no less than 60,000 to 70,000 taels of silver.

  Although after the Qing prison, the prison island Wu Tzu and the difference role are largely vacant, Lin Bindao can eat the empty quota, Zhao Qinmin also cannot see the detailed account of the prison island, but Gu Wudun came over twice to inspect, he had the opportunity to accompany him to the prison island to take a look on the spot, after taking a look on the spot, it is clear that the small amount of vacancies and empty salaries are far from making up for Lin Bindao's investment in the prison island in the early stage.

  The case of the escaped prisoner was reported to the Ministry of Punishments by the Surveillance Commissioner's office, and Lin Xie was rewarded for his efforts. He received a promotion in the spring evaluation of officials' performance and was granted the title of "Gentleman of the Ninth Rank" in the Imperial Academy.

  This morning, in addition to the official positions that should be held previously, the scattered ranks are also an important basis. Unless there is a special promotion, it will have to follow the rules of rank and grade. Similar to the rules of stock level, science level, and treatment level in later generations, if you want to entrust a county magistrate, at most, you can choose a deputy department-level cadre for promotion. If a section-level cadre suddenly becomes a county magistrate, it would be unbelievable that there is no super-large boss behind him.

  Although his official position did not change, Lin Xie, who was born into a family of scholars, had already received the honor of being appointed to the ninth rank of the scattered hierarchy after entering officialdom for half a year.

  Lin Tie didn't mind these things, and Zhao Qinmin could also roughly judge from the incident of escaping from prison that Lin Tie not only did not deduct money from the prisoner's food, but also added some extra. Moreover, the island officials' food and treatment were good, which was not enough to cover the expenses with the labor costs allocated by the Xuanfu Si (宣抚使司), and the extra shortage had to be paid out of Lin Tie's private pocket.

  In the past three months, on the island prison, hundreds of acres of wasteland have been opened up for cultivation, over a hundred thatched cottages have been built, a large quantity of fishing gear and weaving equipment has been purchased, several smelting furnaces have been set up, numerous boats and ships have been acquired, two new warehouses have been built outside the high wall, and over 200 heads of pigs, sheep and cattle have been added, as well as tens of thousands of ducks. All this requires a large amount of silver to be spent, with just four fast warships costing 1,600 taels of silver, not counting the cost of hiring forty-four extra oarsmen apart from the soldiers.

  In Jiangning City, apart from the meritorious and noble families, official households, and officially designated low-born households, ordinary urban households were divided into ten grades. The main basis for this grading was family property, which was also a specific manifestation of the high social status of merchants in the Great Viet era compared to previous dynasties. A household with assets worth 300,000 coins could be listed as an upper-grade household; even in prosperous Jiangning City, having a fortune of one million coins was considered extremely wealthy.

  Zhao Qinmin was certain that Lin Zhen's investment in the past few months, from the river mouth to the prison island, was absolutely over 10 million yuan. At this time, he had also purchased a large sailboat worth 3,000 taels of silver, and even bought three at once. In addition to the one under his feet, there were two more sailboats of the same size being built in the Longjiang shipyard's dock, and Zhao Qinmin really couldn't guess how much financial resources Jiyun Society had hidden.

  It is said that Lin Xuan is the abandoned son of the Lin family, who offended his own family and was expelled to Jiangning. However, Zhao Qinnian found it hard to imagine that this was indeed the case. In any case, Lin Xuan's status was equivalent to that of Chen Yuanliang, Zhang Yuber, etc., although he was considered a member of the Gu Wudun faction, as one of Gu Wudun's trusted followers. Unlike Yang Pu and Yang Shi, who were attendants or servants, Lin Xuan did not hinder his own expansion of power while relying on Gu Wudun.

  Lin Xuan didn't know what Zhao Qinmin was thinking, but he had considered that scattering such a large amount of silver at the river mouth would raise suspicions from others. Adding to the cost of buying ships, more than 30,000 taels of silver earned over several months had already been scattered, leaving less than 10,000 taels in the account. Suspicion wasn't what he feared; it was the envy of others that was more troublesome. Bandits coming to the door were small matters; without power, being framed by officials and thrown into prison was a common occurrence. However, as long as Gu Wu Chen still held the position of Vice Censor-in-Chief in Jiangdong, Lin Xuan didn't have to worry about anyone openly taking action against Ji Yun Society. As for the Gu family, not to mention that Gu Wu Chen was a man who cherished relationships, aside from the 1,000 taels of silver shares given by Ji Yun Society to the Gu family each year, what they gained from this incident involving the Eastern City Guard and the market children clashing at the river mouth wasn't just 30,000 taels of silver. Moreover, Lin Xuan had also let the Gu family take control of the strategic location of the river mouth. As for whether the Gu family could control Zhao Qinmin and Gu Siming well, that was no longer something Lin Xuan could consider.

  After the construction of the estuary was transferred to Dongyang Township Party, the silver spent by Jiyun Society on infrastructure decreased significantly, but the expenditure on training new recruits and military households increased sharply, as well as the cost of settling migrant workers and military dependents.

  Although Ji Yun She had not yet started large-scale business, after entering April, the new tea produced by Gu's family this year also arrived in Jiangning for sale in small batches. However, on the island prison, ten big looms can produce over 300 catties of yarn day and night, which is equivalent to the output of 145 households in Jiangning City, with a monthly surplus of over 200,000 coins, exceeding the profits made by the former prison governor forcing female prisoners to sell themselves at brothels in Quyang Town. The number of fishing boats on the island increased to six, and with the addition of shallow water catches on the riverbank, aside from meeting the needs of the island and the river mouth, nearly 300 catties of salted fish were left over for sale to fish merchants every day; however, at this time, the salt needed for salting fish was all purchased from official salt merchants, and the profit from salting fish did not even match that of fresh fish. Nevertheless, preparations were being made to use private salt in large quantities for salting fish in the future. The iron workshop on the island had basically met the needs of the island's iron tools and could also supply the river mouth. The earliest planted vegetables had begun to yield, able to supply both the island and the river mouth.

  The initially recruited migrant workers were all dispersed in various places, and the labor force at the river mouth gradually became mainly composed of local young men from Dongyang. However, there were still over a hundred young women and nearly two hundred dependents of newly enrolled military households to be resettled. This side could not provide enough land for them to cultivate, but it also could not support them for nothing. Lin Xie made the Ji Yun Society set up a textile mill at the river mouth. Before the factory was built, a large number of ordinary spinning wheels were purchased and distributed to each household. The Ji Yun Society uniformly supplied cotton to each household for spinning, and then centralized the sale to various weaving workshops in Jiangning City.

  Ji Yun She is still struggling to make ends meet, but they have survived the period of greatest silver expenditure and their financial deficit is shrinking at a visible rate every day. If Zhao Qinmin could see the detailed accounts of the prison island, his astonishment would increase several times over.

  They say "using power to seek wealth, using wealth to seek influence", but in Lin's view, the silver spent is the real silver, and ensuring the balance of income and expenses for Ji Yun Society is the most important thing.

  Lin Xuan recalled the last time he returned to the city and heard Gu Wu Chen say that Qin Chengbo had privately melted all the silver ingots collected in Jiangning over the past three years into large silver balls weighing one thousand taels each to prevent theft. Lin Xuan could only sigh deeply, wondering: How many of these large silver balls would Qin Chengbo take with him when he left Jiangning and headed north?

  The large sailboat arrived at the river mouth, and the drummer on the riverbank pier made a greater effort, beating the drums loudly. The big fisherman directed his subordinates to manipulate the sailboat out of the river mouth, heading west against the current, turning into the deep-water navigation channel of the dock, entering the berth.

  Lin Xie stood on the bow deck, gazing far into the distance at a small boat drifting downstream in the east. Several people were standing on the boat, pointing and gesturing towards Prison Island. As the sailboat sailed out of the river mouth, it also caught their attention, causing them to turn their heads and look over.

  These people were all dressed in long shirts and headscarves, nothing out of the ordinary, but on both sides of this light boat there were two fast sculling boats, each with a dozen or so men sitting in them, their posture was exceptionally robust.

  Lin Xie was curious: Who were these scholars? Even the dozens of elite guards who were closest to Qin Cheng didn't have such robust and spirited physiques. They were just too far away, and he couldn't see their facial features clearly.

  *********************

  P.S: Looking for red envelopes.

  Not only from prisoner rations