(Updated two chapters, there is still one chapter before, be careful not to make a mistake, asking for red tickets)

  Soon, Lin Xie led his soldiers to scatter on the south side of the official road in the fields, and went to meet the enemy. Soon they met with the enemy.

  There were over a hundred enemy cavalrymen, all strong and brave. The leader, Lin Kou, looked familiar, and he remembered that this man had stood beside Du Rong during the Baisha County robbery case.

  These more than a hundred cavalrymen were the elite forces directly sent out by the wealthy families, and Lin Xie didn't feel the slightest bit surprised about it.

  Chongzhou County, in preparation for Gu Wu's arrival, stationed troops along the river and set up a warning system. It also notified the county seat to strengthen its defenses west of the city. The county government dispatched some bailiffs and bow-and-knife guards to inspect each township for suspicious individuals. Today, the security network within Chongzhou is already quite dense.

  These more than 100 riders were able to penetrate the surveillance network and sneak close, their anti-reconnaissance capabilities are not ordinary, they would not be ordinary Donghai bandits, let alone ordinary Donghai bandits would not dare to take such a great risk to infiltrate the border and launch a surprise attack.

  Lin Xie did not engage in a fierce battle with the enemy, and more than 40 cavalrymen scattered along the south side of the official road, shooting arrows at each other. They quickly circled to the rear of the enemy and then got back on the official road. When the enemy came in large numbers to pursue them, Lin Xie and his men galloped westward along the official road, fleeing in a hurry. Whenever the enemy tried to pursue and kill the officials of Chongzhou who had taken refuge in farmhouses, Lin Xie would turn around and attack their rear.

  The enemy cavalry repeatedly entangled until Yang Pu and Ma Chao escorted Gu Wudu's carriage to arrive, this enemy cavalry went east to break through before the encirclement was formed.

  Chen Kun and other Chongzhou county gentry were left looking disheveled and embarrassed by the sudden enemy raid, a far cry from their dignified appearance earlier that morning. As they watched the enemy cavalry flee, the Ninghai town garrison in Chongzhou also sent out troops to pursue them. Only then did Chen Kun and the others emerge from the earthen house to greet Gu Wuhen, looking utterly disreputable.

  Gu Wudu got off the carriage and chatted with the officials of Chongzhou, comforting them with kind words and letting them rest assured.

  The day before yesterday, when the messenger from Jiangning came to report, he didn't mention that Zhao Qinmin would come to Chongzhou with him. Lin Fu was surprised to see Zhao Qinmin and Gu Suiyuan getting out of the same horse carriage at the same time, thinking: Has Gu Wuchen already decided to let Zhao Qinmin participate in the decision-making within the Procuratorate?

  Zhao Qinmin saw Lin Fu and made a polite and enthusiastic greeting, he was very clear about Lin Fu's role in Gu Wu Chen at this time.

  Lin Xuan hurried to collect a large amount of money and grain for Dongyang's militia training before the East Sea bandits flooded into the Taihu Lake area, which was not something that anyone could do. Zhao Qinmin still had some self-awareness, letting him make decisions behind the scenes was okay, but this kind of charging and rushing work was far from being done as neatly as Lin Xuan; besides, there were many high-ranking officials who wanted to win Lin over now, would Gu Wudian let go?

  Gu Siyuan seems more mature compared to the last time they met, at least Lin Xian is no longer frowning, and his conversation with Lin Xian is still sparse. As he is Gu Wudeng's son, when the officials of Chongzhou surround Gu Wudeng, they naturally pay more attention to him as well. Gu Siyuan quickly gets along with the officials of Chongzhou, leaving Lin Xian aside.

  Gu Xuan thoroughly abandoned the path of taking the imperial examination to become an official, after Gu Wu Chen was promoted to Zheng San Pin Investigating Censor, he inherited a title as a Zhen Shi Lang with a scattered rank, and lived in the same residence as Lin Fu at the rank of Zheng Ba Pin. However, inheriting a title required seeing habituation in official matters for a certain number of years before being able to obtain a real position, so Gu Wu Chen kept him by his side as a bookkeeper to increase his experience.

  Lin Xie led the troops along the official road, dispersing to carry out a warning. He and Yang Pu stayed behind. Yang Pu told him about the situation on the way: "We set out from Hailing City in the morning, and encountered disturbances all the way. Several sections of the road were dug up at night, and people were sent to deliver messages, but it seems that those who came to deliver the messages were intercepted on the way. The adults are worried about being ambushed on the side of Chongzhou, so we didn't dare to delay on the way, and unexpectedly, this side was indeed ambushed." Yang Pu also asked Lin Xie: "You have been to Chongzhou and also went to Anji in Huzhou, what is the situation in the south?"

  "I have already explained the details to the adults in my letter, and Uncle Yang should also have seen it. The situation will only be worse than what I wrote in the letter, not better. A few days ago, I intercepted several pirate ships on the river, guess what they were smuggling out to sea?"

  "What's wrong?" Yang Pu asked, shaking his head.

  "The bronze Buddha, roughly estimated to be around 25,000 or 26,000 catties," Lin Tie said, "The pirates were able to load such a heavy bronze Buddha onto the ship with ease, it can be seen how dire the situation is in the south?"

  Yang Pu furrowed his brow, if the situation was really like this, he feared that the local defense systems of Pingjiang Prefecture and other places had been almost completely destroyed.

  Lin Tie said, "Now the east side of Yang looks calm, but I'm worried that they're playing a trick to divert attention. After entering the city and sitting down, I still want to discuss with the adults and with you all..."

  Gu Wu Chen's entourage and their escorts as well as the escort troops from Hailing Prefecture were all accommodated in the city posthouse and civilian houses requisitioned around it.

  The conditions were relatively simple, and the local government of Chongzhou County was actually lukewarm to Gu Wudu's arrival. However, as the head of the prefectural government, local officials had no choice but to show enthusiasm on the surface.

  Gu Wudu entered the city and first inspected the defenses, then went to the post house to summon the county magistrate, registrar, county lieutenant, and Ninghai Town's garrison commander in Chongzhou, as well as other civil and military officials, to inquire about banditry, governance, military preparedness, and grain transportation in the county, not releasing them until deep into the night.

  *************

  By late August, the weather suddenly turned cool, and at night in the courtyard wearing a single layer of clothing could no longer withstand the chill. Lin Xie wore a sweater and sat with Gu Wu Chen and Zhao Qin Min in the small yard of the post house talking, while Yang Pu and Gu Si Yuan stood by their side.

  When it comes to the poor performance of Ninghai Town's water troops and garrison in Pingjiang Prefecture, Gu Wudeng also shook his head and said: "The town's military is already insufficient, but at this time there are no more troops to deploy. Zuo Shangrong, the commander-in-chief, thinks that the western line has stabilized, and Liu An'er, who is holed up in small cities like Xizhou and Shiliang, claims to have 200,000 men, but a mob of undisciplined soldiers can't accomplish much. The East Sea bandits are so rampant, and the eastern provinces are especially important to the imperial court, not to mention that salt taxes cannot be lost, so we should strengthen our military preparations on the eastern line."

  "No," Lin Xie shook his head and said, "I mentioned to Uncle Yang on the way here that this might be a diversionary tactic by the Zhao family."

  "Oh," Gu Wu Chen asked, "how did you come to this conclusion?"

  "I have been observing on Xisha Island for over a dozen days and captured some more prisoners..." Lin said.

  "What's the point of just catching a few?" Gu Wu Chen smiled and said, "The Ninghai Town has so many generals led by the Donghai bandits, exhausted from running around, but none of them have seen any troops kill or capture more than 400 enemies."

  "This is also a clever move. It was from these captives that I judged the Donghai bandits directly controlled by the Xie family were still limited. Originally, I wanted to return to Jiangning and report this matter to the adults," Lin Fu said, "Before the stormy season, there were only 13 Donghai bandit families gathered on the Zhoushan Islands, with more than 4,000 people. This was also the backbone of the Donghai bandits who attacked Taihu this time. Among them, only about a thousand were directly controlled by the Xie family. This should have been enough for the six battalions of Ninghai Town's water troops to handle. The main reason why the disaster occurred and the Donghai bandits succeeded was that the coastal provinces such as Pingjiang, Jiaxing, and Huzhou did not form a complete external defense system. In the early stage, when more than a thousand Donghai bandits raided Anji County, the garrison troops of Jiaxing, Huzhou, and Pingjiang were all mobilized to the inner line, making the originally scattered defense line completely open; in the middle stage, Ninghai Town's water troops avoided battle negatively, and when their warships were damaged by nearly half, they eliminated very few Donghai bandits, allowing the Donghai bandits to become more and more rampant. As a result, in the later period, the powerful families of Mingzhou, Jiaxing, and Pingjiang also disguised themselves as Donghai bandits and entered Taihu to plunder..."

  "...". Gu Wu Chen nodded and said, "You see very clearly, you don't agree with strengthening the eastern line's military preparations, but the eastern line has already become a mess. What do you think should be done?"

  "In a short period of time, the coastal provinces should concentrate their superior forces and unite with the local militia to defend against the pirates entering through the main waterways within their borders. With defenses in place, especially since the Ninghai Town naval force still maintains its original organization, the narrow waterways such as Dongjiang in Pingjiang Prefecture and Jiaxing Prefecture can be easily sealed off. The key is the Yangzi River and Zhejiang (Qiantang River) estuary, which cannot be resolved by simply redeploying troops from other garrisons. I suggest reporting to the imperial court that a portion of the forces from the Jiangning naval camp should be redeployed to strengthen the Ninghai Town naval force. If we can replace Xiao Taoyuan, the commander of the six battalions of the Ninghai Town naval force, with a general who knows how to fight on water, then there will be no worries about the eastern front in the short term..." Lin said.

  Zhao Qinmin sat beside the table, feeling embarrassed. He had some insight into military strategy, but in front of Lin Xie, he couldn't find any opportunity to interject.

  "What you said makes sense, but it's not that easy to do. The military system is hard for outsiders to intervene," Gu Wu Chen sighed, "So, you're still worried about the Western Front?"

  "Yes," Lin nodded, "Liu An's troops are a motley crew, but they have 200,000 men. Moreover, Liu An won't be willing to stay trapped in Sihzhou and Shiliang with his 200,000 motley crew. Once the western front line is weakened after barely stabilizing, the possibility of Liu An making a move or even organizing a major battle is quite high."

  "I also think that Hongze Pu's bandits are too quiet," said Gu Wuchen, "The Changhuai Town Army is the main force in the Western War, and Zuo Shangrong's victories have been frequent, but there has never been a decisive outcome. The Dongyang Township Army doesn't know when it will be trained, nor does it know whether Hongze Pu's bandits can give us this time..."

  There are two major disturbances in Jiangdong, and the current military strength is barely sufficient. Gu Wudu is eagerly looking forward to the training of local militia to yield results, which will not only stabilize the situation in Jiangdong but also add a brilliant stroke to his political achievements.

  "If you want to gain more time, Dongyang Xiangyong can enter Shiliang County to actively contain the Hongze Pu rebels and delay their possibility of organizing a battle in the Huai'an direction," Lin said, "Train with battles, train with battles, and only through battles can we produce elite troops..."

  Gu Wudu did not ask Lin Xie why he judged that Liu An's troops would go to war in Haozhou.

  Although Commander-in-Chief Zuo Shangrong had more than 15,000 troops in Changhuai Town, Huizhou, the military strength was far greater than that of Dongyang, Weiyang and Huaian in three directions. However, Liu An'er only needed to capture Huizhou and open up the passage to Huai Shang and Zhongzhou, so that the chessboard of Hongze Pu could be activated.

  Of course, Liu An'er conquered the two prefectures of Wei and Yang, Hai Ling, and opened up a passage to the sea. With the support of the wealthy families from the sea, he could also liven up the chess game. However, it's not necessary for Liu An'er to conquer Hai Ling Prefecture; as long as Wei Yang Prefecture is severely threatened, there will be concerns about the complete disruption of grain supplies, and the Chu Party will also be forced to use Li Zhuo.

  The Hongze Pu canal route was cut off, and the canal route in the Weiyang Prefecture became even more important. Even though it was known that the Weiyang Prefectural Governor Dong Yuan was a former subordinate of Li Zhuo, the Chu Party, which controlled the central government, still allocated 3,000 troops to Weiyang Prefecture to train local militia. Ninghai Town also had nearly 5,000 government soldiers stationed in Weiyang Prefecture.

  The situation is also quite clear. If troops are drawn from within Jiangdong Prefecture to strengthen the eastern line, the most likely source would be the Longhui Town Army in Huaiyang Commandery, which would truly be an extremely dangerous thing to do.

  "With war comes training...". Gu Wudu's hand tapped on the table, deep in thought, and asked Lin Fu, "Between Lin Jiyuan and Chen Shouyan, who do you think is worthy of the heavy responsibility?"

  "None of them have experienced a major war, it's hard to say who is capable and who is not," Lin said, "Let them take turns leading the troops to harass Shiliang County, let Lin Tingli sit in Dongyang, this arrangement is slightly more stable..."

  Gu Wu Chen regretted that the Gu family had declined for ten years, and there was no one among the young generation who could be used. He thought that Lin Ting Xun's dominance in Dongyang for many years, suppressing other families to the point of suffocation, was not without reason. The Lin family could easily dispatch someone to take charge. Fortunately, the upper Lin village was occupied, dealing a unprecedented blow to the Lin family. Whether it was Lin Ting Li or Lin Xian Wen, the eldest son of the Lin family, they had to rely on Gu Wu Chen politically, and as fellow members of the Dongyang party, Gu Wu Chen could also use people from the Lin family with ease. This time, Gu Wu Chen still incorporated many members of the Gu family and Hutang into the newly formed 4,000-strong Dongyang militia. Even if training an elite army came at the cost of high casualties, in order to allow the Gu and Hutang families to grow rapidly, ruthlessness was a necessary step.

  "It's just that," Gu Wu Chen nodded, "I'll write a letter to Lin Ting Li now, and have him take the initiative to harass the bandits at Shi Liang in Dongyang. It's true that an army cannot be refined without training in battle."