Lin Jian saw that everyone's expression was very excited, indeed, for a private individual, the remaining silver of over 10 million yuan is a huge fortune. He also said: "In addition to this, we have picked up hundreds of pieces of armor, bows and arrows, and nearly 170 horses." Seeing that everyone was looking at him, he emphasized again, "It's really picked up..."

  Gu Wu Chen and the others all burst out laughing, they knew Lin Xian's meaning. Even if Zhang Yu Bo took over as the commander of the East City Garrison after Liu Xi Lin was transferred to take up the post of East City Colonel, these soldiers and horses would not obediently return to the East City Garrison.

  How will the armor and horses of this batch of soldiers be replenished in the future? Firstly, it can be supplemented by confiscating the property of Chen Zhi, the original Dongcheng Wei; secondly, the soldiers who abandoned their armor and horses must compensate for a part of it. These soldiers have been bullying and extorting money from the people in the Dongcheng area, especially some small leaders, who have accumulated quite a bit of wealth. It's unreasonable not to extort them. As for the remaining shortage, Jiangning Prefecture will have to generously provide for it.

  This batch of "picked up" armor and horses is not low in value, especially in Jiangning City, where good horses are worth a lot of money, plus the ransom silver, it's a huge fortune.

  Lin tied his eyes and knew that such a large fortune could not be put into his private pocket. Gu Wu Dun was short of silver in Jiangning, Chen Yuanliang and Zhang Yubo also had to share the profits, so he simply handed them over to Gu Wu Dun for disposal at this time.

  In fact, Lin Xie wasn't completely selfless either. The horses were hard to hide, but he had hidden over a hundred sets of fine armor and bows and arrows that were easy to conceal. Nowadays, other supplies are easy to obtain, but high-quality armor is hard to come by. This time, the big and small officials under Da Xiaoye's command have brought hundreds of households of fishermen who have been captured by the local authorities to Changshan Island, and what they lack most urgently is high-quality armor. Lin Xie planned to send this batch of good things to Changshan Island, and naturally hand over the rest to Gu Wudian for disposal.

  Dongcheng Wei is indeed a part of the imperial guard, but as the imperial guard stationed in the capital, they do have some good stuff. Lin Xie and his men picked up eight sets of fine scale armor alone.

  Although the current world says that the Xuan Jia's protective power is quite good, a full set of Xuan Jia weighs around 50-60 catties. Except for those born with divine strength, whoever wears such armor will have their movements greatly hindered. The fine scale armor has a protective power no less than the Xuan Jia, and its weight is even less than half that of the Xuan Jia. It's truly a good thing, and in the military, only mid-to-high-ranking officers usually have such equipment. Who would have thought that the East City Wei would leave behind eight sets?

  Apart from the eight suits of fine lamellar armor, Lin Kui and his men also picked up more than twenty suits of double-layered composite armor. Because these armors were worn on the body and affected their escape, it was surprisingly the people of Dong Cheng Wei who discarded them first.

  Before Qin Chengbo, Wang Xueshan and Gu Wuchen arrived with their men, Lin Fu transferred all the armor, bows, arrows and horses they had collected to Yu Dao Island. During the transfer process, Cao Zikang was in charge of transporting eight sets of fine scale armor, twelve sets of composite armor, twenty sets of leather armor, thirty strong bows with a draw weight of over five dou, twelve halberd heads, fifty steel spearheads, thirty steel daggers and over 1,200 arrows to another location. Only the remaining several hundred pieces of armor, bows, arrows and horses that were intended to be handed over were transferred to Yu Dao Island and temporarily stored in the warehouse under the supervision of Shu Banzhang Sun Geng for inventory.

  Today, the soldiers and horses of Dong Chengwei retreated in disarray from the fields south of the fence wall, abandoning their armor, bows, and arrows all over the ground. Apart from Lin Xie's men who were sent to collect them, nearby villagers also rushed to gather them. From the watchtower, Lin Xie and his men had a clear view of the situation. Afterwards, they even sent people to nearby farmhouses to demand armor, bows, and arrows, which he secretly stored away. Later on, Zhang Yuobo would not be able to account for these items, and Lin Xie could shift the blame onto the villagers' heads. Moreover, when Lin Xie secretly hid the armor, he only concealed the main protective gear, hiding the blades of swords and spears, while storing some accessories, handles, and scabbards in the warehouse for inventory. This created a false impression that although there were some damaged items, the overall quantity was roughly the same.

  Gu Wu Chen pondered for a moment, then said: "The soldiers and horses of the East City Guard indeed need to be punished and trained. I think it's best to do this: from now on, the Ji Yun Society will have 40 guards, so we'll set aside 40 sets of armor and 40 horses, and let the other soldiers who abandoned their armor buy them back privately. Zhang Yu Bo will reorganize the East City Guard in three days' time; anyone who still doesn't have a full set of armor at that point will be reported to the Procuratorate's Military Equipment Division for severe punishment..."

  "This... I won't be polite to thank you, sir," Lin Xie couldn't help but smile as he said, previously he had secretly stored all the fine armor and horses, now he really chose 40 sets of armor and horses first, which was a pretty good compensation. "Before, I was afraid that the town's garrison would take a share, so I transferred these armors, bows, arrows, and horses to Prison Island and handed them over to Long Sun-geng for storage. I'll choose 40 horses and 40 sets of armor, the rest will be left to County Magistrate Chen, Lord Zhang, and Mr. Zhao to handle."

  ***************

  Gu Wudu took a short rest and when he saw that it was broad daylight, he returned to the city under the escort of Ma Chao's cavalry.

  Nearly five hundred men of the Eastern City Patrol, with their horses and armor in disarray, lay scattered on the square inside the city gate. Zhang Yu-bo kept nearly a hundred fully armed soldiers behind - those who had managed to keep their armor intact amidst yesterday's chaos were already considered somewhat capable soldiers. The others, Zhang Yu-bo dispersed on the spot, sending them back to the city, and ordered them to gather again at the Inspectorate three days later to be held accountable for abandoning their armor and horses.

  These soldiers, although they were all from the Jiangning military household, because they were in the Dongchengwei yamen, which was a lucrative and oily place, apart from their salaries, there were many opportunities to make money from various places, and their families were not poor. Even the small military officers like patrolmen and small school officials had several courtyards in their homes. How could such soldiers have the will to fight to the death with the enemy? Zhang Yuobo and Lin Fu were not afraid that they would flee in fear of punishment. They also secretly sent people to spread rumors, openly pricing them, and generally making it cheaper than the military arsenal or black market, so that they could redeem their armor, horses, and other equipment with silver.

  These soldiers cursed in their hearts, but dared not to speak out loud, thinking of redeeming their armor and horses with silver money, and keeping the fat difference as the East City guard, they would have a chance to make a profit later. If they fell into the hands of the Procuratorate, they might be sentenced to serve as border guards in the border town, and then it would be too late for regrets.

  At this time, many people also gathered outside the wall, all of whom were family members of the detained children who came to redeem them.

  Yesterday night, the news that hundreds of city rascals were slaughtered by Dongyang's soldiers at the river mouth spread throughout the city. The families of those who did not return home also knew their family members' habits, and with the previous night's severe crackdown by the Inspectorate, they were naturally even more terrified and uneasy. However, after nightfall, the city gates were closed, and the eastern part of the city was also put under martial law due to concerns about Lin Xue's rebellion, so these families did not cause any trouble. After Qin Chengbo and Wang Xueshan entered the city, they first calmed down the rumors and announced the crimes of the city rascals who attacked the river mouth camp, allowing their families to go to the river mouth camp to pay for their release with silver.

  When it comes to extorting civilians and prisoners, Zhang Yuber left behind more than 100 soldiers from the East City Guard and the catchers, yamen runners, and knife and bowmen from Youling County, who were all good at this kind of thing. The people from the East City Guard knew the details of these city thugs very well. Although they usually had a good relationship, many of them were familiar with each other in gambling dens and brothels as friends who drank and ate together. However, when it was time to turn against them, they didn't recognize each other. Zhang Yuber, Chen Yuanliang, Yang Pu, Zhao Qinmin, and others took charge and detained more than 30 people who were either wealthy or truly prominent citizens of Jiangning East City as primary offenders. The remaining nearly 500 city thugs were allowed to be ransomed by their families in exchange for silver to redeem their crimes, and even the thirty strokes of the heavy rod were too lazy to be carried out.

  It's true that five hundred people, each receiving thirty lashes with the heavy rod, would be a huge task even if fifty people were assigned to carry out the punishment. They would be exhausted. It's better to receive thirty lashes and then get a few taels of silver in return.

  Gu Wudu spoke up, and Lin Xuan didn't hesitate to leave behind 40 bows, 40 long and short weapons, 10 sets of armor, 30 pieces of leather armor, 40 good horses, and nearly 2,000 arrows. The rest of the troops, armor, bows, and horses were handed over to Chen Yuanliang, Zhang Yubo, Yang Pu, Zhao Qinmin, and others to deal with.

  Starting from noon, Dong Cheng gave silver coins to redeem the soldiers who were dispersed and returned to the city.

  By noon the next day, except for the thirty-two principal culprits who were detained, all others were ransomed back to their families and the soldiers' armor and horses were also bought out. Due to Lin's private storage and the collection of Yun Society, as well as some being taken away by nearby villagers, many soldiers did not redeem their armor, which they had to deal with on their own in the remaining day.

  The construction site at the river mouth was unable to start work for two consecutive days due to these things, and Lin Jingzhong, Cao Zijiang and others organized people to repair the fence wall.

  Lin Guili handed over the matters of redeeming soldiers and prisoners to Chen Yuanliang, Zhang Yuber and others for handling, and asked Lin Jingzhong to cooperate as much as possible. Yang Shi was to accompany the officials from the Military Governor's Office, the Judicial Department, and the Army Preparation Division to select refugees on the north shore to supplement the prison guards. Yang Pu couldn't leave, so Lin Guili took some time off to visit the north shore of Chao Tian Tang, stayed overnight at Chao Tian Station, and didn't return until the next morning. When he arrived back at the river mouth, it was already late morning, and upon hearing that things were basically taken care of here, he prepared a banquet to entertain Chen Yuanliang, Zhang Yuber, Yang Pu, Zhao Qinmin and others as a reward.

  ***********

  The fields outside the fence, although trampled and disheveled, were precisely where people had come and gone over the past three days, creating a new road from the East Flower Gate official path to the south gate of the fence. Lin Xian asked someone to invite Chen Yuanliang and others to come to the thatched cottage for a meal. He stood with Zhou Pu on the high ground beside the bamboo dock, looking at the south side of the fence, smiling and saying: "In the future, building roads will be convenient!"

  The scene inside the wall was calm compared to the previous night, and only a few people from the Huailing County catchers, knife bowmen, Jiangning Garrison East City Wei's men and horses, as well as the patrol riders of the Procuratorate remained, while the others were sent back to their respective places.

  Lin tied up these days are also dusty, a official robe has several stains, looking at Chen / Yuan Liang them in the future, first go to the room to change clothes.

  Liu Yu'er and Xiao Man also moved back to the thatched cottage, where they were in the house when Lin Xie was changing clothes. At first, Lin Xie didn't feel anything out of the ordinary and even told them about the fresh news he had encountered at Chao Tian Yi. When Liu Yu'er was about to help him adjust his collar as usual, Xiao Man took a step forward, being slightly shorter, lifted her hand to adjust Lin Xie's collar, and said in a soft voice: "You really don't know how to wear clothes, the collar is not even properly adjusted... from now on, I'll be the one to help you get dressed..."

  Liu Yu'er stood aside with her hands clasped together, watching as Xiao Man carefully adjusted Lin Xie's collar. After a while, seeing Xiao Man's deliberate and meticulous movements, she found it uninteresting and said: "Why don't you two take off your clothes and put them back on again? I'll go check if the wine is ready..." Then she left the room.

  Liu Yu'er left the room, Xiao Man also stopped what she was doing and looked at the door twice before saying: "Alright, you can go now."

  They say girls are cunning, but Xiaoman is only fifteen this year. Lin Xian thought to himself: Has he brought back a small trouble this time? Smiling and asking Xiaoman: "You guys stayed in the pavilion last night, didn't you fight?"

  “……” Xiaoman glared at Lin Xie with a pair of clear and bright eyes, like a mountain spring, with distinct black and white pupils, and an extra touch of elegance. She pouted her pink lips and said, "You're worried about me, how could you have the heart to care about this little servant girl? Besides, everyone here respectfully calls her Miss Liu, would I dare to quarrel with her? When we came to Jiangning, they all called her Mrs. Xiao.”

  Lin Xian thought that Xiao Man had just arrived, and after spending some time with Liu Yue'er, things might get better. After all, Xiao Man was only 15 years old and still had a bit of a young girl's temper. Hearing the voices of Zhang Yubo and Zhao Qinmin in the outer room, he walked out.

  Chen Yuanliang, Zhang Yubo, Yang Pu and others had not rested for much time in the past two days, but there was no sign of fatigue on their faces. They were laughing and chatting with each other, looking very spirited. When they saw Lin Lian coming out from the inner room, they all smiled and came over to put their arms around his shoulders, saying: "Do you know how much we harvested today?"

  Lin Fu looked at Zhang Yubo holding the account book and smiled: "How much is there?"

  "This figure has not been verified, and it's not much different," Zhang Yubo opened the account book and showed Lin Xuan a line of words. Lin Xuan calculated silently in his heart, the amount of copper and silver money converted to silver was nearly 23,000 taels, indeed a large number, no wonder they were so excited. Zhang Yubo continued, "There are also thirty-two people temporarily detained as principal offenders, waiting for instructions from Lord Gu before making further arrangements..."

  Lin tied nodded and said: "It should be so, after all, we must punish a few people to scare the monkeys. It's better this way, there are many monitoring rooms on the prison island, put them all in the monitoring room. Their family members bring Lord Gu's token, I will release them, otherwise I will raise them well..."

  In Jiangning City, there were also wealthy and influential families who were not officials or nobles but had considerable power in the local area. For example, Chen Laiwu, who forced Qian Xiaowu to sell his wife to pay off debts, had dozens of thugs and hooligans under his command who made a living by collecting debts and usury. They were quite wealthy and belonged to one class of wealthy families. Apart from this, there were also wealthy families who opened gambling dens, brothels, and martial arts schools. Some specialized in selling girls and servants to brothels and wealthy households. Others relied on their large numbers and connections with government officials to collect protection fees from shops and merchants. There were also wealthy families in the city who contracted with the government to collect taxes and debts. The 32 people arrested this time were mostly these kinds of characters in the eastern part of the city, naturally living a life of luxury and ease.

  Chen Yuanliang and Zhang Yubo both nodded in agreement to first send these thirty-two people to the prison island for detention, waiting for their families to bring Gu Wudu's token to pick them up. This means that they might let Gu Wudu take the largest share of the profits without taking a cut themselves.

  Zhao Qinmin was truly exhausted, the psychological pressure he bore was enormous, and he didn't rest well last night, always on guard against Wang Xueshan sending assassins to kill him. Even a man of iron couldn't withstand it. He also knew that among so many trusted followers of Gu Wudust, he was probably the one with the least weight and status, and in his heart, he knew he had no other choice but to trust Gu Wudu. In his opinion, there was no difference between Gu Wudu and Wang Xueshan, just like Zhang Yubo and Chen Yuanliang, who were busy for two days, were only extorting money. On the other hand, Lin Xuan still couldn't see through him. It was not easy for Gu Wudu to give up such a large benefit without hesitation, despite being the one with the most credit.

  In the afternoon, Lin Xie accompanied Chen Yuanliang, Zhang Yuber, Yang Pu, and Zhao Qinmin to enter the city to report to Gu Wudian about their gains over the past two days. They had collected ransom money, with some people paying in silver and others in copper, totaling over 1,400 million copper coins weighing over 90,000 catties. The strings used to bind the copper coins were also cut off, weighing almost a thousand catties. Lin Xie and his group first loaded over 9,000 taels of silver and over 300 taels of gold into a horse carriage before heading straight for Gu's residence.