The morning light is faintly visible, and the campfire outside the thatched cottage is about to go out. The lanterns on the corner tower still shine brightly like a full moon hanging high above the treetops in the western sky.

  Although it was an open space, Lin Jingzhong took good care of the guests and prepared melons, fruits, tea and wine for Xiao Xuanchuan, Zhang Yuber, Zhang Wendeng, Zhao Shuhan, Ge Siyu and other officials to enjoy. The four sides also used copper basins to hold charcoal fire to drive away the cold spring night air, and provided a midnight snack for the soldiers who were stationed at the south gate of the fence wall. Lin Jingzhong was busy all night without stopping, and after chatting with Yang Pu and Ma Chao who were guarding the riverbank, he hurried back to the grass hall. The front and back of the grass hall were heavily guarded by Qin Chengbo's attendants, and nothing could be seen or heard inside, nor did anyone know why Chen Zhi's interrogation had taken so long into the night.

  At this time, Zhao Qinmin did not hide either. His connections in Jiangning City were much broader than Lin Jingzhong's. Tonight, the officials of Jiangning gathered in front of Caotang, and Lin Jingzhong recognized only a few of them. Almost all of them knew him, and he came forward with Lin Jingzhong to greet them. In fact, apart from relying on Gu Wudun, Zhao Qinmin had no other choice. He was busy running around, also wanting to make this matter a reality, and reduce Wang Xueshan's murderous intentions towards him.

  Zhao Qinmin's eyes gazed at the faint light shining through the paper window of the thatched cottage, where only a few pale human shadows were reflected on the snow-white paper. He knew it wouldn't be difficult to get the Jiangning Prefecture to withdraw the arrest warrant for his family, but it would be no easy task to completely eliminate Wang Xueshan's murderous intentions towards him. Even if Wang Xueshan compromised tonight, he would still try every means to eliminate the handle that Gu Wudun held over him.

  Lin Jingzhong and Zhao Qinmin were about to leave when they heard the creaking of the wooden floorboards in the thatched cottage. The door, which had been closed for half the night, was now being pushed open from the inside. It was Lin Fu who opened the door, stepping aside to let the tall and stout Qin Chengbo out first.

  Qin Chengbo covered his mouth and yawned, it had been many days since he was so tired. He looked at the officials who had been waiting outside all night and stood up, then calmed down, cleared his throat and said: "Dongcheng Wei Chen Zhi is greedy, incompetent, deceiving the people, framing others, fortunately, the various departments can see through his treachery, and did not let him succeed. Now, the various departments have decided to remove Dongcheng Wei from office and put him in prison, and Jiangning Prefecture will work together with the Procuratorate to investigate and determine his crime. Seeing that Dongcheng Wei is so chaotic, the three departments have decided that the position of Dongcheng Wei will be temporarily taken over by Zhang Yu Bo, the left commander of the Kao army, until a good candidate can be selected later..."

  After a night of interrogation, Chen Zhi was not found guilty of any crime, and in the end, he would still be tried jointly by the Jiangning Prefecture and the Procuratorate. However, the officials present understood that Wang Xueshan and Gu Wudeng had reached a temporary compromise. The most likely pawn to overthrow Wang Xueshan, Chen Zhi, was still in Wang's hands, and the Procuratorate would only conduct a joint trial. It seemed that Gu Wudeng was not eager to stir up trouble in Jiangning City. Zhang Yubo was Gu Wudeng's party member from Dongyang Township, and he had been ostracized in the Jiangning Prefecture before. This time, he was able to take over as the East City Captain, which seemed that Wang Xueshan had made many compromises to keep his position. Of course, everyone knew that Wang Xueshan's compromise would not be limited to this, but these were secrets between Wang and Gu, and outsiders naturally did not dare to pry.

  Looking at Qin Chengbo's smiling and self-satisfied appearance, it was clear that he had also gained a lot of benefits. The officials sent by the Pacification Commissioner and the Provincial Military Commander also secretly regretted that if their superiors were not afraid of getting too involved, they would have come together and naturally gained benefits from last night's secret meeting. Now they could only watch as Gu Wuduan, Wang Xueshan, and Qin Chengbo reached a secret agreement, without any share for the two yamens.

  Things were settled, and Qin Chengbo didn't want to stay in this broken place for a moment. He ordered the withdrawal of the warships from the river mouth, and the two elite camps also broke camp to follow him back to the city. Wang Xueshan and Zhang Wendeng, officials of Jiangning Prefecture, returned to the city under the escort of more than 100 close followers of the Wang family. The officials sent by the Imperial Commissioner and the Provincial Commander naturally had no need to stay any longer. Xiao Xuanchuan was not a trusted follower of Gu Wudian, so he also bid farewell and left. In the faint light of dawn, the people inside the fence wall quickly withdrew, leaving the place empty. The dirt road couldn't hold too many people, and the fields south of the fence wall had to be trampled again.

  At this time, Gu Wu Chen summoned Zhang Yu Bo, Yang Pu, Ma Chao and others to the grass hall to discuss matters together. He also specially instructed Zhao Qin Min to come in with them, knowing that Zhao had no other choice but to participate in confidential matters to win him over. Lin Fu ordered Lin Jing Zhong to cook some night snacks and bring them over. Gu Wu Chen was indeed happy at this time, and when Lin Jing Zhong arranged for someone to bring the night snacks, he also asked Lin Jing Zhong to stay in the grass hall and chat. Meanwhile, Chen Zhi Ge's position as Dong Cheng Xun Wei was temporarily vacant, and his duties were taken over by Zhang Yu Bo, the Left Si Kou Can Jun. The others all left in a hurry, while the 400-500 men of the Dong Cheng Wei were still stuck inside the fence, waiting for Zhang Yu Bo to sort things out. For the time being, he didn't have the heart to deal with them, and they were temporarily controlled by the An Cha Shi Jun Qi.

  "In just two short days, the situation in Jiangning City has changed dramatically," Gu Wu Chen said excitedly, holding a bowl and shoveling the white, round, and tender xiao long bao into his mouth without caring about etiquette. "Lin Xuan is going to be the first to achieve success."

  Since Gu Wu Chen arrived in Jiangning to take office, it can be said that he has been facing difficulties at every step. He didn't expect a breakthrough to come so soon, within just two days. He knew Wang Xue Shan wouldn't be so easy to deal with, and even if he agreed to many conditions tonight, it was unlikely he would actually follow through. However, the fact remained that Gu Wu Chen had grasped the initiative, and people like Chen Yuan Liang and Zhang Yu Bo had become his trusted allies in Jiangning after this incident. With Shen Rong's approval, he could bring in Liu Xi Lin from Dongyang County to take control of the security rights in the eastern part of the city. Only then could it be said that Gu Wu Chen had finally found his footing in Jiangning and gained some power to contend with other forces in the city. After this incident, he wouldn't let other forces in Jiangning City look down on him or slack off. How could Gu Wu Chen not feel excited?

  Gu Wudu looked at Lin Xue and felt more and more delighted in his heart. Without Lin Xue's sharp counterattack against the city thugs in Dongshi, which forced Wang Xueshan to make mistake after mistake, how could they have achieved such a situation?

  Chen Yuanliang, Zhang Yubo, Yang Pu and others naturally would not compete with Lin Xuan for credit. They also thought that if they were in Lin Xuan's position, it would be difficult to break through the situation with such a sharp and decisive attitude. In Jiangning City, people said that Dongyang scholar Lin Xuan was actually the number one disciple of Gu Wudeng. They had to admit this in their hearts.

  Lin Xie knew that at this time, he had to be humble and not arrogant, so as not to cause dissatisfaction in the hearts of others. He put down his bowl and chopsticks and said: "My efforts were really limited. If it weren't for Yang Dianwei and Ma Dianwei leading people to come to Dongshi to rescue me the other day, with my reckless personality, I'm afraid I would have been beaten into a pig's head waiting for the adults to come and save me. Last night, if Chen Zhixian hadn't rushed to reinforce, this situation wouldn't be under control either. Zhang Daren also ran around for this matter, working very hard - of course, the adults were in charge of planning and scheming, imprisoning four people in the city's great prison, forcing Wang Xueshan to become frantic, which was a wonderful move. The subtleties of this situation are best understood by Mr. Zhao, and if the adults don't believe it, they can ask Mr. Zhao. To say that Mr. Zhao abandoned his dark past and turned to the light for the sake of Mu Daren is truly the first achievement. If not for Mr. Zhao's understanding of justice, this time would only be able to teach a few rascals a lesson."

  Zhao Qinmin saw Lin Xianyi's words were smooth and had pleased everyone, thinking that he couldn't possibly be a rash person. He had joined forces with Gu Wuduan because of the circumstances to protect his only son's life, so at this time he could only follow along with Lin Xianyi's tone and flatter Gu Wuduan a bit.

  Everyone likes to listen to good words, and Gu Wu Chen is also very satisfied with his own arrangement. He was coaxed into a loud laugh and said: "Mr. Zhao, please rest assured that you will stay here for a while. I have my own arrangements for you in the future..."

  "Mr. Zhao, if you don't think this matter is too trivial, I'll muster up the courage to ask for your help," Lin Fu said to Zhao Qinmin, then turned to Gu Wudeng and reported, "Within the river mouth's fence wall, relying solely on Jiyun Society's financial resources, it's difficult to build something of scale. Lin Fu wants to invite you, sir, to get Dongyang Township Party involved in this construction project together. As long as Dongyang Township Party invests money to build shops, Jiyun Society will provide the land for free. Jingzhong is still young and inexperienced after all; with Mr. Zhao's mediation and planning, things will naturally be twice as effective..."

  Since ancient times, the most taboo thing is to have great achievements and overshadow one's master. After this incident, the forces on the riverbank side gradually took shape, and Lin Xuan didn't dare to trust Gu Wu Chen completely to hand over these forces and interests to him. Rather than arousing Gu Wu Chen's suspicion and others' jealousy, it was better to proactively give up power and interests at this time. Apart from Prison Island, Lin Xuan only wanted to firmly grasp the Ji Yun Society in his own hands. Zhao Qin Min had defected to Gu Wu Chen's side, and Gu Wu Chen also had plans to use him, so he might as well ask Zhao Qin Min to temporarily take charge of things on this side for Gu Wu Chen.

  Furthermore, inviting other Dongyang Township parties to invest in the river mouth on this side, these Dongyang Township parties will also be led by Gu Wu Chen. Lin Xie also knows that he himself does not have enough qualifications and prestige to gather the power of the Dongyang Township party around him. The most important label on his body is that of a member of the Gu family, and he can be so powerful in Jiangning because he relies on the badge of Gu Wu Chen as the vice censor-in-chief. At this time, it's really narrow-minded to not allow it.

  Lin Jingzhong was somewhat reluctant to give up, as the situation here was clearly something Lin Xian had worked hard for, and now he was going to let go of a large share of the benefits. However, he didn't have the qualifications to intervene, so he just sat quietly on the side, not making a sound.

  Gu Wu didn't decline at all, he was very satisfied with Lin Xuan's initiative. To gather the party forces in the countryside for his own use, there must be a more clear benefit goal. He turned his head to ask Zhao Qinmin: "Can I trouble you, sir?"

  Zhao Qinmin naturally knew that he couldn't escape working for Gu Wudu, and didn't have the qualifications to be picky, so he nodded in agreement and said: "I'm just afraid of not doing a good job and disappointing you..." He thought to himself that although the defense on this side of the river seemed sparse at first glance, but after seeing the standoff between Lin Xie and Ji Yun She's people at the gate yesterday, it was clear that they had effective management and organization. It would be extremely difficult for an outsider to sneak in and carry out an assassination. If he went back to the city now, he might have to hide in Gu's residence every day and not dare go out on the streets. On this side of the river, he could actually move around more freely.

  "Master, don't be too modest..." Gu Wudu chuckled and said to Zhang Yubo, Chen Yuanliang and others, "You all need to take care of things here too."

  "Of course." Chen Yuanliang and Zhang Yubo replied in unison.

  Lin spent a lot of effort building the dock and warehouse, which has already taken shape. Now Wang Xueshan has also agreed to let Jiangning Prefecture and Muling County jointly bear the cost of road construction. The guards at the river mouth have the right to joint defense, and there is a certain guarantee for maintaining law and order. The benefits of the world's roads are the greatest, Chen Yuanliang and Zhang Yubo both understand in their hearts, they just fear that those who participate will not come forward, where would they be afraid of being bothered by this matter?

  Lin tied up his energy and calmed his mind, clearly aware that he couldn't monopolize all the benefits. He didn't want to give away what wasn't his to others, and there was nothing to be anxious about. He said: "There are over 500 people imprisoned in this city, and as for the matter of redeeming their crimes with silver, I won't get involved on my end. It's up to Chen Know-County and Zhang Gentleman to discuss it thoroughly, or perhaps they'll need to trouble Yang Imperial Envoy to take some pains. Ideally, they should be able to distinguish between these people and mete out punishments accordingly. The ringleaders with property will have to receive heavy sentences; the down-and-out households can be given lighter punishment; if they've formed a powerful clique, they can be heavily punished again... I've roughly calculated that we can get tens of millions of dollars..."

  Gu Wu Chen, Chen Yuan Liang and Zhang Yu Bo's eyes lit up when they heard Lin Zou say this. Indeed, if they didn't differentiate between each person and just fined them one million yuan each, at most they could only get 500 million yuan, and it was uncertain whether many poor households would be able to pay the ransom. According to Lin Zou's method of distinguishing these city people, classifying and punishing them, they could indeed extort a lot more money out of them.

  After Gu Wuhen arrived in Jiangning, the biggest drawback was that there were too few usable personnel, and another drawback was limited financial resources. Whether it was recruiting staff, raising servants and attendants, or official occasions such as welcoming and sending off guests and greasing various palms, every occasion required spending money, and a lot of money at that. Gu Wuhen's salary was only over 100 taels of silver, which was not enough for his family to live comfortably, what Gu Wuhen lacked at this time was money.

  Negotiating with Wang Xueshan, they agreed to use the ransom money to compensate for the losses on this side. However, it was just a verbal agreement, and the final allocation of the money still depended on Gu Wuhen's decision. Lin Xian would not be foolish enough to put all the money into his own pocket, so he handed over the matter of collecting the ransom money to Chen Yuanliang and Zhang Yuber.

  "Yang Pu just suffered a bit, Mr. Zhao is also at the river mouth, can participate in it...". Gu Wu Chen didn't mention these material losses, he just thought about being able to gather the silver for redemption and take out a sum of money to make up for this side.

  ***************

  P.S: Today's two chapters have more than 8,000 words again.

  So cool!

  Brothers,

  Cast red ballots and give some strength!

  "The Hawk Minister" is about to break 100,000 red votes

  Who will cast the 99999th and the 100000th red ballot?