Apart from the settlement of Lin's family members and the disposal of Lin's industries in Jiangning, the settlement of the village braves is also very urgent and a definite decision must be made as soon as possible; Lin Xulü and others will not take care of the ordinary people who fled to Shanglinli in Jiangning.

  Apart from Lin Jiyuan and Chen Shouyan leading more than 200 militia, there were also over 200 militia who came directly to the river mouth by boat with Lin Fu. In recent days, another 30 or 40 militia who were defeated at the Shanglin Ferry camp on the south bank and escaped to Jiangning after hearing the news were also taken in by Lin Fu. Adding to this the militia guarding the Lin family's properties in various parts of Jiangning, the total number of militia on the Lin family's side in Jiangning exceeded 300.

  The land was in a state of turmoil, with bandits and thieves lurking everywhere. Several ladies, clan elders, Lin Xulü, Lin XuHong, and others naturally hoped to continue owning private soldiers who could directly protect the Lin family members and their property, but the practical problem was that maintaining private soldiers consumed a lot of silver.

  The Lin family had a large business in Shanglin, with various businesses flourishing, and a large amount of silver flowing in every day. Every year, they spent an additional 20,000 to 30,000 silver coins to maintain private soldiers to protect the Lin family's business, without feeling strained.

  The situation is now vastly different. After the fall of Shanglinli, the Lin family suffered extremely heavy losses, and their various industries in Jiangning were also severely affected.

  Although the property brought out at this time can be worth 20 million taels of silver, for a long time, the silver has only been spent and not earned. The Lin family's expenses in Jiangning are also a huge sum, especially after the recovery of Shanglinli, they need to invest a large amount of silver in rebuilding.

  Maintaining a large number of private soldiers would continue to incur such huge expenses. If the Hongze Lake disturbance were to last for three or four years, just maintaining these private soldiers would use up nearly half of the Lin family's silver reserves. How could the Lin family endure this?

  Private soldiers need to be maintained and money needs to be spent, but the annual expenditure on maintaining private soldiers should be reduced.

  Before Lin Xulü came over, several madams and clan elders as well as Lin Xu Hong and a few others in charge had reached a consensus on this matter.

  ********

  The Xiangyong forces had by then actually split into two parts, one in Dongyang and the other remaining in Jiangning.

  The more than 200 village braves led by Lin Jiyuan and Chen Shouyan cannot be disbanded, and the Lin family still has to continue to support them.

  This militia was lent to Gu Wu Chen as a guard. Disbanding this militia would directly cause trouble with Gu Wu Chen.

  In addition, this militia was also very beneficial to Lin Tingli in Dongyang.

  The Jianghuai region has no troops to deploy, and all places are mainly on the defensive. Liu An'er's forces have expanded rapidly, and in less than ten days, they claim to have 200,000 soldiers. Even if Liu An'er is exaggerating, he still has a force of six or seven million undisciplined men.

  Many people also realize that the Hongze Lake incident will not be settled for a while.

  Lin Xulü brought a single sheet of paper that Lin Tingli had drawn up and handed it over to several aunties for their perusal. The two hundred or so militia led by Lin Jiyuan and Chen Shouyan would require an estimated annual expenditure of 10,000 taels of silver, with Lin Tingli raising 2,000 taels in Dongyang, leaving the remaining 8,000 taels to be provided by their own family.

  After Lin Xulü took out this list, the faces of San Furen, Liu Furen and Shao Furen Ma immediately changed, and they asked in unison while taking a cold breath: "Raising two hundred people requires so much silver..."

  "In peacetime, the cost of maintaining troops is absolutely disproportionate to that in wartime," Lin Xulü explained patiently. The silver was held tightly in his hand, and Lin Tingli had also instructed him that the Lin family should work together to overcome this difficult time with a proper attitude. "In normal training, armor and equipment may only need to be replaced once every few years; in an intense battle, armor is likely to be damaged by 20-30%, and the consumption of arrows and supplies is also immeasurable. Moreover, when local militiamen fight on behalf of the Lin family, their pay is doubled, and there are also funeral expenses for the dead and wounded... Father just prepares some extra funds according to this estimate, and the actual expenditure will be settled later."

  Lin Bing knew that this bill had some false reports.

  More than 200 local militiamen spent more than 10,000 taels of silver each year during the war, which was not considered excessive. However, Lin Jiyuan and Chen Shouyan led more than 200 local militiamen, Gu Wuchen expected them to risk their lives, so they naturally took good care of them. Lin Tingli was also the deputy magistrate of Dongyang Prefecture, and the local militiamen were fighting for the government to quell the rebellion, so it was reasonable for him to ask the prefecture to provide subsidies for food and silver rewards. In fact, the amount of silver that the Lin family had to provide was limited.

  Lin Tingli is currently in charge of training the militia in Dongyang Prefecture, and it is not possible to take over the militia from a certain family. The family must be fully responsible for providing rewards, silver, armor, and food supplies for this part of the militia.

  Although the silver reserve of Dongyang Prefecture is limited, the silver needed for pacification can be forcibly allocated to local gentry and wealthy families, or additional allocations can be made during autumn grain collection. If one really thinks about it, there are ways to collect and gather silver. Dongyang Prefecture is located in a fertile area with favorable weather conditions, and the people are relatively rich; having no major incidents for decades, collecting silver for several years of war is not a big problem.

  Lin Gu knew that Lin Tingli's bill was somewhat exaggerated, but he didn't bat an eyelid or say anything.

  Lin Xuan heard from Zhao Xu Hong that the three madams and six madams had discussed with him and three other clan elders, wanting to control the annual expenditure of one million two silver coins for the rural guards. If they were to take out all the silver coins planned for the rural guards in Jiangning, the scale of the rural guards on this side would be strictly controlled.

  Lin Jie was waiting for the handover of the reduced militia.

  The three madams, six madams and young madam, although they are all women, still have the skill of keeping an eye on silver. They stubbornly insisted that Dongyang took too much silver, such a large expense, must be made known to the eldest son to be proper.

  That night, nothing was concluded about this matter.

  Lin Xian arranged a separate courtyard in the enclosure for Lin Xuelu, where he and his wife, as well as their two maids and four attendants, temporarily resided.

  The ladies and the elderly, including Lin Xuhong, returned to the main house first. The discussion here went on until late at night. Liu Yu'er and Xiao Man accompanied Lin Xu's wife, Zhou Shi, until late at night. Lin Xu took advantage of his wife coming out from the inner house and had a frank conversation with Lin Mou: "There are 200 village braves in Dongyang, and with Lord Gu's care, the expenses are not great. My father has gained Lord Gu's trust and is responsible for organizing the village braves in Dongyang Prefecture to resist the rebels. However, all the financial expenditures of Dongyang Prefecture are controlled by Shen Zheng, who always finds excuses to shirk responsibility. My father thought that he would first advance some silver to organize the village braves, and once they have a certain scale, he wouldn't be afraid of Shen Zheng not acknowledging his debt later. Therefore, we need support from our family. The only concern is that the three aunts might not understand this reasoning, so I didn't speak clearly earlier and brought out that list..."

  Lin Xiang thought that Lin Tingli had released a pigeon in Shiliang County to inform the Dongyang cavalry, and finally knew the benefits of grasping the soldiers in his own hands.

  "Look at it this way," Lin Tie suggested on behalf of Lin Xulü, "the annual expenses for Dongyang will be a bit less, but by paying off two or three years' worth of expenses all at once, we can also meet Dongyang's urgent needs."

  Once it's for training, two or three million taels of silver are not a lot, recruiting and training 2,000 village braves, just the cost of sending them back home would be tens of thousands of taels of silver. Anyway, after Lin Ting-li and others have been rounded up, there will be no need to worry about military rations and pay.

  As long as Lin Tingli's rural warriors exceeded 2,000 people, they could completely use the rural warriors to threaten Shen Rong; of course, at that time, Lin Tingli's weight in Gu Wudian's eyes was heavier, and Gu Wudian would also help Lin Tingli suppress Shen Rong.

  "It seems it can't be helped," Lin Xulü said, "How much silver do you think is suitable for the expenditure?"

  "This, I'm not very clear either," Lin said, "Third Brother should discuss it with Seventh Brother and the three clan elders first. The reason may be that Third Madam, Sixth Madam, and Young Madam can't understand, but the three clan elders and Seventh Brother are still able to consider the overall situation. I think Eldest Master is also someone who considers the overall situation..."

  Lin Xie and Liu Yue'er, Xiao Man personally sent Lin Xu Lu couple back to Weidongwu, on the way back to Caotang, Xiao Man asked Lin Xie with her head tilted: "Does it look good?"

  Lin Xie only then discovered that Xiao Man had a beautiful phoenix hairpin with a jade flower on her bun, which he had never seen before. He thought it was given by Lin Xiu Lu's wife, Zhou Shi. Smiling, he asked: "Is this the gift from Zhou Shi for your meeting? She is indeed generous, but you must remember that in the future, whoever gives gifts to you, you must keep a detailed account and show it to me. Some gifts can be accepted, and we should return them; some gifts cannot be accepted."

  "I knew it, I knew it," Xiaoman said in a long tone, "Unfortunately, I only have this one phoenix hairpin as a gift, and I got scolded, but someone else received many wedding gifts..."

  "What nonsense are you talking about?" Yuemonth's face turned bright red, and she said to Xiaoman with great embarrassment, lowering her eyebrows and speaking softly to Lin Xuan, "Third Madam has a sharp tongue, making it impossible for people to refuse. I'll give you all the things when we get back."

  "You'd better keep it," said Lin Xie, "it's only proper to accept this gift."

  "......" Liu Yu'er simply responded with a soft "uh-huh."

  Although the two had been intimate like lovers before, they didn't have any formal relationship. But with this one response, it was as if she had given herself to Lin Xuan entirely. Liu Yue'er's pretty face flushed like she had drunk wine, and seemed to be shrouded in a misty haze at dawn and dusk, making her cheeks look delicate and charming under the distant lamplight, exuding an inexplicable allure. Meanwhile, Xiao Man was still watching her with wide eyes by the side.

  Looking at Liu Yue'er's beauty, Lin Xuan's heart was also slightly shaken, thinking that tonight might be a good idea to come up with a plan to get rid of Xiao Man.

  At this moment, a lame man was supporting a woman and came over from the riverbank/ passed in front of the thatched cottage. Seeing Lin Xie and two women coming over, he hurriedly came over to pay his respects. Lin Xie didn't have the habit of paying respects at the ferry terminal, seeing the familiar face, let the soldier retreat, asked: "Wang Ma Zi, why are you still staying at the river mouth, where did you bring this woman from?"

  "Tell Lord Lin that I've served my sentence, have no home or livelihood, and my wife has taken our two sons back to her family and remarried. I had nowhere to go, so Master Xiao Wu took me in and I'm working at the river port. I was thinking of saving up some money to get my two sons back," Wang Ma Zi replied, kneeling on the ground. He continued, looking embarrassed, "Qin Niang wasn't kidnapped by me, she's also just finished serving her sentence, and her family won't take her back. Since I'm working at the river port and can support one more person, I couldn't just watch her beg for a living..."

  "You also know how to cherish and pity, get up and talk, don't kneel down at every turn," Lin Fu smiled and helped Wang Ma Zi up from the ground. Wang Ma Zi was the one who escaped from prison and asked for punishment back then. After being punished, his sentence wasn't extended, and he had been brought over for half a month now. Lin Fu had spent most of this half-month outside, so it was the first time he saw him. The woman was originally also a female prisoner, with quite a bit of beauty. Probably when Wang Ma Zi was in charge of assigning tasks as the head of the prison, he had an affair with her. Seeing that Wang Ma Zi was limping, she asked, "What's wrong, didn't your foot injury heal on the island?"

  "Xiao isn't one to kneel down at the sight of people, he's a big boy. When he left, his foot injury was healed, and he even gained a few pounds of flesh. This foot was sprained when he accidentally slipped while working on the river embankment the day before yesterday. Wang Wuge, the fifth master, gave Xiao half a month's wages to stay at home and rest. At night, he couldn't bear to be idle, so he bothered Zhen Niang to come out with him for a walk."

  "'You're still limping, yet you're running around like crazy. Aren't you afraid your foot will get even more injured?' Lin scolded, then asked, 'My household is short two servants, if you resent me for whipping you thirty times on the island, consider it settled.'"

  "I don't dare to complain, I don't dare to resent, I'd be grateful if the master would give me thirty more lashes," Wang Ma Zi hastily pulled the woman back down to kneel and knock her head on the ground. "Whatever the master wants me to do, whether it's going down Knife Mountain or into the Sea of Fire, I'm willing to do it for the master."

  "You'd better take care of your foot first and let me guard the house," Lin said, "Tomorrow you can come find Miss Liu and she'll arrange a place for you to stay and some work in the mansion."

  "It's already Mrs. Liu." Xiaoman said softly from behind, with a hint of sourness in her tone.

  A wife can take her husband's surname, which is the privilege of a wife. A concubine still has to keep her maiden name. Just like Liu Yue'er married into the Xiao family, others called her "Xiao Jia Niang Zi" or "Xiao Liu Shi"; she became Lin Xian's concubine, as a madam, and could only be called "Liu Shi" or "Liu Jia Po Niang", etc.

  In this inner house, it is easy to rise from a maid to a concubine, but it is extremely difficult to rise from a concubine to a wife.

  Liu Yu'er was truly shy, her face flushing red and then fading away, now even the roots of her ears were stained red again. Seeing Wang Ma Zi kowtowing to her and asking for her well-being, she became flustered and didn't know what to do.