Gu Wudu sat behind the desk, on which was placed a delicate copper lamp with an openable copper cover. The inner side of the copper cover was polished and could concentrate the light in one direction to increase the brightness.

  This exquisite piece was made by the old craftsman Ge Fu according to his own design, and Gu Wudu found it novel. Just now he wanted to hold it in his hand and play with it, but the copper lid burned his hand a little.

  Four days ago, the governor's office, together with the Jiangning Prefecture and Miling County government offices, urgently reviewed the case of Qu's gang. The goal was to settle the case as soon as possible and then report back to the imperial court for disposition. Gu Wu Chen couldn't stay in Jiangning for too long, he had to hurry back to Dongyang to direct the battle. In order to save time, Gu Wu Chen stayed at the river mouth for these four days.

  Sun Jingxuan made an excuse that his daughter, Wan Niang, had injured her foot and needed to recover at their house in Longcangpu, south of the city. As for Sun Jingxuan's pretended illness, Lin Xian didn't pay much attention to it either. They were all destitute bachelors with no way out, but Sun Jingxuan had to constantly worry about the livelihoods of the 2,000 followers, and he couldn't afford to act rashly or take risks.

  After Sun Wenyue and her entourage moved out of the Bamboo Hall Western Garden, Lin Xie arranged for Gu Wu Chen to temporarily move in.

  Until today afternoon, the three yamens obtained all the confessions of Qu's family members, confirming their crime of colluding with bandits. The three yamens jointly issued a document to be sent to the Yanjing Ministry of Punishment and the Censorate, and also copied to the Jiangning Ministry of Punishment and the Censorate, impeaching Chen Xiyin. This matter has been properly arranged by Vice Premier Zhang Xie in Yanjing, and now we just wait for good news from this side.

  Jia Pengyu's memorial requesting to resign and return home to care for his aged parents has already been submitted.

  For Gu Wudu and Lin Xian, the Qu family bandit case at Hekou can be considered temporarily closed.

  Lin Fu, Zhang Yubo, Chen Yuanliang, Zhao Qinmin and others sat around the case discussing matters.

  Zhao Qinmin presented a plan saying: "The bandits are all over Quzhou, and the officials and soldiers of the Quzhou Patrol Office have all become tigers' accomplices. Can we request to abolish the Quzhou Patrol Office?"

  "Pulling out the plug from the bottom of the pot?" Gu Wu Chen asked Zhao Qin Min uncertainly.

  "Yes," Zhao Qinmin nodded and said, "Building a town at the river mouth, competing with Quyang for benefits, is also an important factor in the downfall of the Qu family; now that the Qu family has fallen, if we abolish the Quyang Patrol Office, it will cause the merchants operating in Quyang Town to move to the river mouth voluntarily..."

  Lin tied up the black mosquito that sucked his arm and threw it onto the oil lamp flame, listening to the sizzling of the mosquito's body.

  Quyang Town is one of the 24 towns outside Nanjing City, and it is also one of the three major rice markets in Jiangning. Every year, Quyang Town trades millions of dan (a unit of measurement) of rice, grain, oil, sugar, etc. Millions of boats come from Huzhou, Danyang, Pingjiang, Jiaxing, and other prefectures every year. During the autumn grain transaction season, Longjiang Lake is almost filled with cargo ships coming from all directions.

  Also because Longjiang Shipyard is also located in the south of Quyang Town, a patrol inspector's office was set up in Quyang Town, with 90 soldiers.

  The private army of the Qu family was completely destroyed, and the patrol office was abolished again. Quyang Town had no defensive forces at all, and ordinary civilians didn't care about it, but merchants doing business in Quyang Town lost their sense of security.

  The transaction amount of rice and grain in Quyang Town is quite large, and the transaction amount of a single large grain merchant from outside can reach dozens of ships of rice and grain, which is equivalent to several thousand taels of silver. Although Dongchengwei is not particularly far from Quyang Town, it does not prevent bandits and thieves from launching surprise attacks during the peak season of rice and grain transactions.

  Zhao Qinmin's plan is better described as a desperate move than a clever strategy.

  Following Zhao Qinmin's plan would also be beneficial for the rapid rise of Hekou to replace Quyang Town, but this strategy would seriously disrupt Jiangning Rice Market, and Lin Xie would never prioritize his own interests over the food problems of 150,000 households in Jiangning City.

  Lin Yizhen quietly watched Gu Wudu, seeing that he seemed to have already moved Zhao Qinnian's heart, and she let out a faint sigh.

  Zhao Qinmin nodded in understanding, and Chen Yuanliang's heart also felt a sense of relief as he said: "This plan is feasible..."

  The downfall of the Qu family can be said to have dealt a severe blow to the local forces in Jiangning, and it is impossible for them to control Quyang Town by borrowing this. If they are convicted of the crime of colluding with bandits, they can only uproot the two houses of Qu Wuyang and Qu Wuming, but the Qu family's collateral relatives still have a relatively large force in Quyang Town. However, the river mouth is invited to build together with the Dongyang Township Party, abandoning Quyang and prospering the river mouth, which can bring great benefits to all parties present and the Dongyang Township Party.

  Previously, the local party had been worried that the river mouth was vulnerable to pirate attacks, but after the Battle of the River Mouth, Lin Xian's victory in Jiangning greatly boosted morale and largely dispelled the local party's previous concerns about security.

  Anyone with a little foresight can foresee the rise of the river mouth. In recent days, Gu Wu Dun has been determined to establish Qu Jia Tong's crime in the river mouth, and Lin Xuan has no time to deal with other matters. Zhao Qin Min, who represents Gu Wu Dun in the river mouth to connect with the rural party, is busy beyond measure.

  Zhang Yubo said worriedly: "Quyang's sudden abandonment will cause a sharp fluctuation in Jiangning's rice prices, which is not conducive to the people's livelihood..."

  "Quyang was abandoned, and the river mouth took its place. Although the price of rice in Jiangning fluctuated, it did not disturb the people." Zhao Qinnian explained, this matter still needs to be considered by Dusty First, but Lin Xuan's silence also made him feel strange. He looked at Lin Xuan and asked: "Zhen Shang Lang, what do you think?"

  Yanjing officials who came to mourn and comfort the family of Qin Chengbo arrived in Jiangning with an imperial edict two days ago.

  Although the Battle of River Mouth made Lin Xian truly establish his foundation in Jiangning and made others dare not to underestimate him, in terms of merit, it was far less than rescuing the Qin family's descendants and Dongyang officials from Luo Yang Lake. The emperor specially rewarded him with ten gold and silver coins, appointed him as a Zhengba Lang (a eighth-rank official), and promoted him two ranks at once.

  In front of Gu Wu Chen, Zhao Qinmin called Lin Xie "Lin Daren" which always sounded awkward, so he used his official title to address him instead.

  Lin Xie was promoted to the eighth rank in less than half a year, and in nearly ten years, only Dong Yuan could be compared with him. Lin Xie thought it would be difficult not to become famous. The eighth rank can even directly grant the position of county magistrate if there is an opportunity.

  Gu Wu's memorial in the Qu Jia case glossed over Lin Xiang, not mentioning his great achievements in leading the vanguard to defeat the bandits, also fearing that Lin Xiang's sharpness would be too dazzling and easily broken.

  "Mr. Zhao still calls me by my name freely," Lin Xian said with a smile, "I think it's both good and bad, we want to reduce the number of Quyang inspectors, others may not necessarily follow our wishes."

  "I think it's better this way," Gu Wu Chen said with a decisive tone, "no matter how Qu Yang Xun Jian Si is dealt with, it will have to go through Yunling County. Even if someone in Jiangning doesn't want to abolish the Xun Jian Si and drags it out for a year or so, it will still allow the river mouth to take advantage..."

  "Alright, I'll take care of this." Chen Yuanliang replied succinctly.

  Gu Xiewu has made up his mind, and Lin Kui also agreed. He thought that the rice market in Quyang Town would not decline immediately, and it was the right way to speed up construction on this side of the river.

  Gu Wu Chen will take a boat to the north shore tomorrow and head to Dongyang via the postal road. He won't be back in Jiangning until the sixth day, so today Gu's wife, Gu Jun Xiang, and Gu Si Yuan all came out of the city to the river mouth to meet up with their family members. Lin Fu and the others also knew what was going on and since things had been discussed enough, they didn't bring up any more trivial matters and bid farewell together before leaving.

  The Bamboo Pavilion in the Western Garden has an area of nearly one mu, although it is far inferior to the Eastern City's Gu Mansion. However, Zhao Zui Gui Er is a master craftsman of bamboo carvings in this generation, and he built this bamboo pavilion with great elegance and interest. Gu Jun Xun was standing at the corner of the courtyard, looking at a strange stone that resembled a lion, when she saw Lin Xie and others coming out, she hastily curtsied and paid her respects. Her beautiful eyes flashed across Lin Xie's face, and her pretty face suddenly turned bright red.

  Lin Xian's heart was secretly worried: Was it difficult for her sister to make a marriage proposal and test her attitude?

  According to customs, people who have recently lost their spouse should not act as a matchmaker or help others propose marriage. It is especially taboo within 100 days of the passing.

  Gu Junxun has been staying at Gu Yingxiu's house in Hekou for the past few days, and as they are cousins, Gu Yingxiu might have tried to sound her out first.

  The world is not the same as the later generations, flirting and teasing are a kind of sin. Although Lin Xie's heart wants to tease the lovely Gu Junxiu, he can only pretend to be unaware and walk out of the bamboo hall.

  ***********

  Returning to the grass hall, Lin Xie chatted with Yue Er and Xiao Man for a while before Lin Mengde and Lin Jingzhong came together to look for him.

  Because Gu Wudu has been in Hekou for the past few days, Cao Zikang, Wu Qi, and Ge Cunxin, Zhou Pu and others naturally also hide and show their faces less. The heavy responsibility of collecting the remaining scenes in He Kou will be borne by Lin Mengde and Lin Jingzhong.

  Lin Jie told Lin Mengde and Lin Jingzhong about the plan to withdraw troops from Zhao's territory, and they were overjoyed, saying: "This is a great advantage! It seems that the river mouth is already too narrow..."

  Rice is a cheap commodity, with a catty of fine grain costing only 4 or 5 cents at ordinary times. Even in years of poor harvests, the price of rice in Jiangning was only 6 or 7 cents. Not counting the cost of transporting tribute grain, just the city of Jiangning alone, with its population of 1.5 million, consumes over 700-800 million catties of rice per year. Quyang Town is one of the three major rice markets in Jiangning, and it supplies enough rice to meet the needs of the city, worth nearly 2 million taels of silver per year.

  If such a large rice market can be forcibly relocated from Quyang tohekou, the huge benefits are obvious. Hekou is adjacent to the vast Yangtze River, and as a rice market, it also has an unparalleled advantage in terms of grain transportation compared to Longcangpu and Shangyuan Rice Market.

  Lin tied a slight smile and said: "To do rice business, we usually store grain as much as 200,000 stones. Now the warehouses and granaries at the river mouth are far from enough. Let's not be too eager about other things. I see Chen Yuanliang is also quite excited. We should focus on building more warehouses and granaries. Besides, two five-masted sailing ships from Longjiang Shipyard need to be ordered immediately. When building the ships, we will send someone to supervise the whole process. Give them a few thousand taels of silver more, and the construction period cannot be delayed. Also, don't let these turtles give us shoddy work..."

  Lin Xiang finally made up his mind to build two large sailing ships with a load of over 5,000 stones at once.

  There are also large cargo ships with a capacity of over 5,000 stones in the Yangtze River. The cost of building one ship is not even four thousand taels of silver. However, Lin Xie gave an order to Longjiang Shipyard for one ship at a rough estimate of ten thousand taels. In fact, Lin Xie's budget for Lin Mengde and Lin Jingzhong was two million taels per ship. Because many reinforcement techniques can be added later, it is not necessary to reveal the bottom line to Longjiang Shipyard at the beginning.

  For a fairly long period of time, Lin Tie would not be able to expand his forces recklessly. Apart from the 200-strong Yunwu Guards, even the prison guards on Prison Island might suddenly no longer be under his control. What Lin Tie had to do now was focus on cultivating reserve strength in the militia and ensure that the Yunwu Guards could expand to 400 men at any time without being severely affected.