According to the rules, the rural braves were forbidden from using strong bows, crossbows and other types of weapons. One advantage of being a surveillance commissioner was that they could monitor local military preparations. Gu Wu Chen, as deputy surveillance commissioner, took 200 rural braves as his guards and went to Dongyang Prefecture to oversee the suppression of rebels and bandits in the area, many things can be done with flexibility.

  The next day at noon, Gu Wu Chen set out from the northern border of Bei Tang County to Dongyang. Lin Jiyuan and Chen Shouyan led the local militia to receive 10 pieces of crossbows, 20 pieces of arm-crossbows, 60 pieces of step-bows, 20 pieces of broadswords, 60 sets of combined armor, and 20 mule carts from the arsenal. Instantly, the local militia's military equipment was brand new and impressive. In addition, Lin Jiyuan gave Lin Jiyuan and Chen Shouyan each 500 taels of official silver to take with them to Dongyang Prefecture in case of emergency.

  Dongyang only has Shiliang County fallen into enemy hands, and most of the prefecture is still calm. Except for the 200 militia, Yang Pu and Ma Chao also led 200 cavalry to escort Gu Wudeng, so there's no need to worry about the harassment of small bandits within the border.

  Admiral Zuo Zongrong set out for Huizhou Prefecture last night; Gu Wuduan departed from the large camp north of Gutan County after lunch. Lin Bian also did not stay in the large camp, and after sending Gu Wuduan and others on their way westward, he rode horses with Zhou Pu and other Wuwei guards directly to Chao Tian Yi via the muddy road on the west bank of Shiliang River to take a boat back to the river mouth.

  It's already early summer, the ancient willows along the shore are shading, the wild grass is as high as the calf, the river water is clear and calm, it has just rained, the road is muddy, Lin Xie and Zhou Pu ride their horses slowly.

  "Mr. Hayashi..."

  Listening to Gao Zongting's voice calling out from behind, Lin Bindian reined in his horse and turned around to look back, only to see a dozen or so cavalrymen surrounding a carriage with an open wall and a columned canopy approaching, with Gao Zongting sitting inside the carriage calling out to him.

  "Is Mr. Gao also returning to Jiangning?" Lin Xiele reined in his horse and waited for Gao Zongting's carriage to draw near, wanting to keep a distance from Li Zhuoyi, and there was no need to meet on the road without speaking.

  "I went to Chao Tian Yi, and unexpectedly got to travel with Lord Lin. The north shore of Chao Tian Tang is where the refugees are hiding in the largest numbers, Commander Zong has been worried all along, fearing that something will go wrong, and wants me to go take another look." Gao Zongting said.

  "Oh." Lin replied coldly, between Li Zhuo and Gu Wu Chen, he could only choose Gu Wu Chen.

  "What's your view on Lord Lin's suppression of the rebellion in Hongze Pu?" Gao Zongting asked, his eyes cold and unseeing towards Lin Xie.

  "Lin Mou's humble words are light, Lin Mou's opinions don't matter, what matters is the commander and your esteemed opinions." Lin Mou said.

  "Does Director Lin also think that prolonging the situation is beneficial to the country and to the over 20 million people along the Hongze Pu coast?" Gao Zongting refused to let Lin Xian off easily.

  Lin Tie let out a soft sigh, gazing at the distant clear river water, and said: "My Lin clan's land has been occupied by the water bandits. I truly hope to recover our lost territory as soon as possible. However, His Majesty and the high-ranking officials in the court have their own plans, and we are just minor characters. Speaking of the people's livelihoods, when I passed through the north shore of Chao Tian Tang seven or eight days ago, I saw that many refugees were still stranded in the riverbank area beyond the summer flood line. Since the spring floods, these refugees have spontaneously built dikes on the outer periphery of the riverbank. This is a very dangerous thing. I suppose Commander and Mr. Gao are aware of this situation... Lin Tie is just adding his two cents here..."

  "Ah!" Gao Zong's back suddenly straightened, and he subconsciously asked, "What danger is there?"

  "That's all Lin Xian has to say..." Lin Xian refused to speak further, only staring at Gao Zongting with his eyes.

  Gao Zongting was no fool and immediately thought that Lin Xie was reminding him of some danger, suddenly scaring him into a cold sweat.

  The refugees stranded on the riverbank spontaneously built a dike, which was naturally extremely simple and made of mud.

  In the spring, the water rises inch by inch in Chuantian Lake, with a gentle current. The mud dike can hold back the water outside the riverbank, but once the Yangtze River forms a flood peak and rushes down or the water level rises to its limit, the mud dike becomes as fragile as paper.

  At this time, tens of thousands of refugees stranded in the riverbank were as dangerous as sitting on a volcano.

  Gao Zongting had been keeping an eye on the situation in Jiangning City for Li Zhuo, and after Li Zhuo entered Jiangning, he took over many tasks related to the defense of Jiangning, which was enough to keep them busy. When the Hongze Pu riot occurred, they hastily led the Jiangning garrison troops to set up a defensive position in the northern border of Gutang County, but it had only been three days, and they had not noticed the danger lurking in the riverbank area.

  "All of you officials should be killed!" Emperor Gaozong cursed in a fit of anger.

  Lin tied her eyes and stared at the thin, cloudy sky, saying nothing, Gao Zongting didn't mind at all.

  The Yangtze River has floods every year. In order to prevent the city of Jiangning on the south bank from being threatened by floods, it has been strictly forbidden to build stone dikes on the north bank of Chao Tian Dang since the founding of the dynasty, treating Chao Tian Dang as a flood storage area and the north bank of Chao Tian Dang as a flood discharge area.

  For over 200 years, the people on the north shore of Chao Tian Dang have also developed a rule. By building an embankment along the line from Chao Tian Yi to the south foot of Ling Yan Shan Mountain, they can basically withstand the floodwaters that pour into Chao Tian Dang in summer and autumn. The government also built a post road along the river embankment to Tu Zhou in the west, which further solidified the river embankment. The ancient Tu Post Road became a clear dividing line. To the north of the post road were fertile fields and gardens, while the vast sandy land south of the post road, although exposed during the dry season in winter with tens of thousands of hectares, was actually part of the flood storage area along with Chao Tian Dang.

  Ordinary people do not know about hydrology and cannot see the danger or anything strange. When miscellaneous studies and craftsmanship are not valued, even scholars who see refugees building mud dikes on the outer banks of rivers often praise this move for enclosing tens of thousands of hectares of fertile land to support the people, but local officials absolutely cannot be unaware of the details.

  From the Spring Festival to now, tens of thousands of refugees have been stranded on the riverbank, with hut after hut, like a forest of tombs in the moonlight. However, for several months, the officials of Gutang County have turned a deaf ear and blind eye to this situation, without even a word of warning, their hearts are certainly punishable.

  Gao Zongting stood up straight and said to Lin Xie: "Zongting has a request, I hope Lord Lin will not shirk his responsibility for the livelihood of tens of thousands of people; I'll rush to Chao Tianyi first, please ask Lord Lin to stay overnight at Chao Tianyi today..." The Chu Party's influence was great, and Lin Xie relied on Gu Wudian's rise in Jiangning. At this time, it was impossible for him to leave Gu Wudian. He knew that Lin Xie would not dare to openly go with him to the north shore of Chao Tianwang to inspect the riverbank situation, but Lin Xie paid attention to this issue and had his own views. Gao Zongting hoped to discuss it with him when the time came.

  Lin Xie sighed softly in his heart and said, "I'm going to Chao Tian Yi to drink with Left Envoy Zhang, tonight we probably won't be able to cross the river." From here to Chao Tian Yi was still nearly a hundred miles away, they arrived at Chao Tian Yi just as night was falling.

  Gao Zongting didn't hesitate any longer. He immediately abandoned his carriage and mounted a horse, whipping it to hurry towards Chaotian Station.

  In another month, the flood season will arrive, and if the riverbank is indeed dangerous, it will be no easy task to relocate 200,000 refugees to a new safe place within a month without any chaos.

  This matter was originally the responsibility of Jiangning Prefecture and County, but since the whole situation has not been clarified yet, it is impossible to confront the local officials.

  Gaozongting, disregarding the muddy road and the exhaustion of their horses, sped away in a cloud of dust. Lin Xie's chest was still congested with a lump of unutterable gloom as he and Zhou Pu hastened towards Chaotian Station. What Lin Xie did not expect to see was that after traveling twenty miles, they caught sight of several merchant ships from Qingfeng Hang navigating slowly southward on the Shiliang River.

  Looking at the Qingfeng Hang business flag hanging from the main mast of the merchant ship, Lin tied up his horse on the river embankment and exchanged a glance with Zhou Pu.

  Calculating the time, Qingfeng Hang's several merchant ships should have passed through Fugang County North's floating bridge checkpoint before noon. Lin and his men retreated south from Luoyang Lake, so it can be confirmed that there are no large merchant ships lingering in Shiliang River. Qingfeng Hang's several merchant ships were either in other rivers of Shiliang County or they came out of Luoyang Lake after them.

  The Xie family secretly supported the forces of Liu An'er and Hong Ze Yu's water stronghold, gathering crowds to rebel, which is not a difficult thing for people to believe. The Xie family's secret participation can also explain why the refugees in Shanglinli and south would become chaotic so quickly.

  Lin tied up his horse's reins and whipped its buttocks, galloping southward.

  As they overtook the Qingfeng Hang merchant ship, he saw several people standing at the bow of the ship looking over. The two ships were only a dozen or so zhang apart. One of them was a young man in a green shirt, Lin Xuan had seen him several times by Xi Fei Hu's side, and he should be one of Xi Fei Hu's important strategists brought to Jiangning.

  Lin Xie's mind was increasingly convinced that the Xia family had an inseparable relationship with the Hong Ze Pu riot.

  **************

  The merchant ship's bow, a young man in a green shirt watched Lin Xie and the various Wu Wei cavalry rush away, his brow slightly furrowed, and said to the middle-aged Han beside him: "He is indeed Lin Xie. He was calm and collected at Luoyang Lake, without any panic, as if he had come prepared, and there are also rumors that someone in the Hongze Pu water camp has been hiding spoils of war, it's not certain whether he's the one causing trouble inside."

  "When I saw him in Baisha County, he was completely different from now. It's better to kill such a person with one sword, so as not to become a big trouble in the future," said the middle-aged man. "I heard that Young Master wants to win him over?"

  "Let's not bother with the young master for now," said the youth in green, "he has eleven fully armed men by his side, all of them skilled fighters, and they're riding good horses. How many men do you think you can gather to take him down without leaving a trace?"

  A middle-aged Han man looked at the Shi Liang River, where there were only boats heading to Jiangning to escape, and the riverbank was constantly coming and going with messengers. He wanted to disguise himself as a bandit and kill Lin Xie in the wilderness without leaving any traces, which would be very difficult; of course, if he really wanted to issue an order to kill, he would have to get the consent of Young Master Hou and Young Madam first.

  The middle-aged Han man changed the subject and asked the young man in a green shirt: "At this time, secretly helping Liu An'er and sending people to help him practice his troops, if he succeeds, won't it be like raising a tiger as a threat?"

  "What if he became the trend?" The young man in green robe laughed, "If the imperial court could be overthrown so easily, you and I, as well as the men of Dongming who died over the past decade, would just have to accept our fate..."

  The middle-aged Han man also smiled and let go, thinking that he had thought too much. As the saying goes, "a hundred feet of insects die without being tied up", the basic order of the court and the countryside is still there, and the central government's restraint on local areas is still strong and effective. If you say that gathering crowds to rebel, in these decades, Zhongzhou, Huai Shang, Jinzhong, Xiqin and other places have never been interrupted? At its peak, there were as many poles as cow hair, and county-seizing was also common. Tens of thousands of elite troops passed through the border to clear the bandits, but didn't they all retreat and hide in the deep mountains?

  The young man in the green shirt smiled and said, "At present, the most important thing is to gradually undermine the foundation of the Yuan family, making it unstable, so that there will be opportunities for all the heroes in the world to compete." He was not sure if the Xie family had much chance, but after the imperial court caught its breath, it would probably not tolerate the Xie family becoming a separate entity in Jinan. However, with many heroes rising together, the Xie family could at least protect itself.