Lin Mouben had planned to return to Jiangning for a trip. Since Gu Wudust was going to Chongzhou, it would be perfect. He didn't want to leave Xisha Island during this period either.

  Gu Wudun, who had just been appointed as the Jiangdong Surveillance Commissioner and Left Supervising Censor, arrived in Chongzhou County on the 23rd day to inspect local military preparedness, official governance, and grain transportation. Accompanying him were officials from the Surveillance Office, including Xiao Xuanchui, as well as officials from the Pacification Commission and the Provincial Military Command.

  Lin Xie changed into a brand new green robe with a cyan collar, he was worried about the local security of Chongzhou, so he brought Ao Canghai and several dozen Ji Yunwu guards, taking a boat to shore and then changing horses to arrive at the Long Pavilion outside the west gate of Chongzhou County to welcome them.

  It was the ninth year of the Shunzhi reign, in the mid-autumn season. The sky was high and clear, with a gentle breeze blowing from the southeast that carried a hint of seaweed's salty scent. Even under the bright sunshine, it didn't feel hot.

  Lin Jie sat on his horse, resting and calming his mind. Behind him, Ao Cang Hai and more than 40 others wore their armor and held their swords, sitting upright on their horses. Except for the occasional snort of a fine steed or the swish of a horse's tail, there was almost no movement from them, exuding an aura of golden armor and murderous intent.

  Apart from Lin Daiyu and her entourage, Chen Kun, the county magistrate of Chongzhou, along with other local officials and representatives of the gentry, also waited at the Long Pavilion, craning their necks for Gu Wudang's carriage to arrive.

  Chen Kun wiped the fine sweat that had seeped out of his forehead with a wide sleeve, and glanced at Lin Xie. He saw that he was wearing an official robe, with a wide waistband adorned with green jade around his waist, which made him look handsome and elegant, but what didn't match was the waist knife he also wore, which made people frown when they saw it.

  County household registration bookkeeper Li Shuyi was among the welcoming team in Chongzhou County, with his hands hidden in his sleeves, basking in the warm sunshine, feeling drowsy and thinking that Gu Wudeng would arrive soon so they could finish their duties and return to the county for rest. His elder cousin, also the head of the Li family of Dongshe, Li Shutang quietly moved beside him, nudged his back with his elbow, and asked in a low voice: "Why hasn't Hu Zhiyong come over?"

  "There isn't even a decent road on the island; Hu Zhiyong broke his foot at night and now walks with crutches, so he didn't come over," Li Shuyi replied in a low voice, "Do you have something to discuss with him?"

  "There's nothing else, just asking," Li Shu-tang moistened his somewhat dry lips and asked, "Now that the Surveillance Commissioner Gu Wu-chen has arrived, is Lord Lin going to return to Jiangning with him this time?"

  "Mr. Lin is only temporarily assisting with disaster relief in Chongzhou under the pretext of raising funds, and will ultimately return to Jiangning. Whether he will leave this time or not, I'm not sure." Li Shuyi said.

  "Alas," said Li Shu-tang with a light sigh, "Lin's reputation is not good to hear, but he is more useful than Chen Ma-zi. Previously, everyone followed Chen Ma-zi in scolding him, but these two days they have come to know his good points. Chen Ma-zi this time pulled people to report his case before Gu Wu-chen, but not many people responded to Chen Ma-zi..."

  County Magistrate Chen Kun had a few white moles on his face, and everyone privately called him Chen Mazi. Li Shuyi smiled slightly, neither confirming nor denying it.

  Lin Yuyang's words and deeds were contradictory, and he was also arrogant and domineering. Before he came to Chongzhou, the local gentry had already heard rumors of his evil behavior.

  Lin Zhen did not go through the local authorities and arbitrarily went to the Xisha Islands for disaster relief, resettling refugees, which exposed his unorthodox and arrogant personality.

  No matter how desolate and barren the Xisha Islands are, no matter how frequent and severe natural disasters are, local authorities have always been unwilling to see the Xisha Islands being occupied by outsiders.

  No need for Chen Kun to stir up trouble, the local authorities, especially some big families who originally had hopes of getting their hands on the land of Xisha Island, were secretly stabbing Lin's back and scolding him.

  The Dong She Li family also wanted to take a piece of land on the Xisha Islands for reclamation, and Lin Mou's opinion was naturally extremely dissatisfied. Li Shu-yi, who was caught in the middle, was not pleasing to either side, and at the most intense moment of conflict, the head of the Li family, Li Shu-tang, even sent someone directly to find him, asking him to pack up his things and leave the Xisha Islands.

  The turning point of things is also very simple.

  The Donghai bandits are now withdrawing from the Taihu Lake area, and the Yangtze River is one of the main waterways for their withdrawal.

  For those pirates who did not reap a great harvest along the shores of Taihu or whose greed was not satisfied, the counties on the north shore of Yangzi River were good places for them to continue their hunt. Every day, several groups of pirates landed and plundered, making the situation in the coastal areas of Hailing Prefecture suddenly critical, with Chongzhou County being the most affected.

  The previous night, a group of pirates landed at Jiulongyu and raided the Dong She village. After receiving the news, the county government closed the city gates and did not send any troops to reinforce the Military Mountain stronghold. The person sent by Li Shu-tang to seek help thought of his nephew, Li Shu-yi, who was on Xi Sha Island, and went there to ask for assistance. In the end, Xi Sha Island dispatched troops just in time to arrive at the Li family's mansion before it was breached and drove off the pirates.

  It was not until then that the people of Chongzhou County and the gentry knew that in the past ten days, not counting those who were repelled or defeated, more than 400 pirates had been directly killed by Lin Zexu or captured and sent to the Chongzhou County prison.

  It's hard to imagine what kind of disaster it would bring to Chongzhou County if these pirates were allowed to infiltrate here.

  The various prefectures and counties along Taihu Lake were devastated this time; by now, except for those who refused to change their ways, everyone else had begun to think of Lin Xue's well-being.

  Although it is very reluctant to let the refugees occupy Xisha Island, from another perspective, Xisha Island and the refugees on the island have actually formed a barrier in front of Chongzhou.

  To welcome Gu Wu Chen, and also haven't been back home for many days, Li Shu Yi returned to his Dong She Lao Jia yesterday.

  Li Shu-tang invited him to speak, discussing how to repay Lin Xie's kindness to the whole family, and also heard from his mouth many stories about Lin Xie's trip to Taihu to collect grain.

  Due to previous prejudices and hostility, Lin's victories in defeating the pirates at Mei Creek Lake, breaking through the pirate's stronghold of Shu Family Stockade, and recovering Anji County were not spread among the local gentry. Last night, Li Shudang talked with Li Shuyi for a long time, and only said one sentence at the end: "He is indeed arrogant, but in this kind of world, only such powerful officials can bring blessings to the local people!"

  Everyone is well aware that these pirates in the East China Sea have only temporarily retreated, and once they have squandered all their plundered wealth, they will soon gather again to launch another attack. Li Shuyi was also worried, fearing that after Lin Xie left, could the safety of Chongzhou County still be relied upon by officials like Chen Kun?

  Li Shuyi glanced at Lin Xie, who was sitting on horseback not far away, waiting. Behind Lin Xie were more than 40 guards with robust physiques and sharp eyes, exuding a fierce aura that made people dare not approach. Chen Kun had arranged for over 100 knife and bow soldiers to be stationed in front of and behind the Long Pavilion to welcome Gu Wuduan's arrival. However, the knife and bow soldiers from the county were truly worlds apart from Lin Xie's guards. Li Shuyi thought that if Lin Xie sent just three or five men over, they could easily slaughter these knife and bow soldiers until they fled in terror.

  Li Shuyi turned his head again to look at the back of County Magistrate Chen Kun's head, thinking that he was still trying every means to get Lin Xie out of Chongzhou as soon as possible, and the local gentry were still following him, really blind.

  In the distance, dust was flying everywhere, and everyone's spirits lifted as they knew that Gu Wudu's carriage had arrived.

  Li Shuyi knew he wouldn't have a chance to talk to Gu Wudu, but still carefully adjusted his collar.

  "Something's wrong, look over at Lord Lin's side!" Li Shu-tang hastily pulled Li Shu-yi's hand, making him look towards Lin Xie's side.

  Lin Tie and Chen Kun were at odds, to the point of not even exchanging pleasantries. After arriving, they directly led their subordinates to wait in the fields under the Long Pavilion for Gu Wu Chen's carriage to arrive. Li Shu Yi turned his head to look, and saw that Lin Tie's bodyguards had turned their horses around, mounted the official road, dispersed to surround and protect Lin Tie at the core, while several riders galloped forward amidst the flying dust.

  "Li Shuyi!"

  Li Shuyi saw Lin Xie riding a horse towards this side and loudly called out to him. He hastily squeezed out of the crowd and responded, "Lord Lin, what happened ahead?"

  "The cavalry's slow march can't raise such a large cloud of dust, I've sent scouts to investigate!" Lin Tie shouted loudly to Li Shuyi, "Get ready for an enemy raid!"

  Junshan Shuizhai was usually on the defensive, but when Grand Coordinator Gu Wu Chen came to inspect the military preparations, Junshan Shuizhai did not dare to slack off. The warships were already deployed along the river as a precaution, and since Gu Wu Chen was coming, his guards would also be heavily armed. Therefore, the officials of Chongzhou County dared to leave the city to welcome Gu Wu Chen at the Long Pavilion, who would have thought that bandits would take advantage of this opportunity to launch a surprise attack?

  Lin Tie didn't care about the officials in the Changting Pavilion who were in a flurry, he sat on horseback with furrowed brows gazing into the distance.

  If the East Sea bandits who raided the counties along Taihu Lake this time were scattered and disorganized, they would not have been able to bypass the military mountain stronghold's surveillance and land to attack the Chongzhou officials who came to welcome Gu Wu at the Long Pavilion. After all, there was no benefit for them to do so. However, with the Xie family secretly manipulating things from behind the scenes, the situation is entirely different.

  "Master Lin, is it really the enemy's attack?" Chen Kun was also frightened to the point of being pale-faced, and he walked stiffly to the bottom of Lin Xie's horse, looking up and asking hastily.

  "It's probably so," Lin said, looking around the terrain with a horse, the surrounding area of Changting was empty for several miles except for some farmhouses, and there were no other shelters. He shouted to County Magistrate Hong Changji, pointing to a house 200 steps south of the official road, "The enemy is coming fiercely, and there won't be too few people. I'll give you a chance to prepare for defense in that house." Then he turned his horse's head towards Li Shuyi and said, "I'll send two men to escort you back to the city to report the news and notify the city to close the gates tightly to prevent the pirates from breaking into the city..."

  Li Shuyi had just said a word of approval, and Lin tied up his body and rushed out with two riders. One of them bent down and hugged Li Shuyi around the waist, let go of the horse's hooves and hurried towards the county town to demonstrate the alarm.

  Chen Kun wanted to ask Lin Xie to send someone to escort him back to the city, but when he saw Lin Xie's cold and stern gaze, he didn't dare say it out loud. Seeing Lin Xie's calm and composed demeanor, with an air of majesty that inspired both self-abasement and envy.

  Hong Changji was transferred to Chongzhou as the county commander after the Tongzi kidnapping case last year. He is a man of some courage and saw County Magistrate Chen Kun in a state of panic, unable to make a decision at this critical moment. He yelled at the county yamen runners and guards to escort the panicked officials and gentry to escape to a farmhouse in the south, only to have two guards support Chen Kun as they fled south together.

  At this moment, the several scouts sent out by Lin Tie earlier blew their whistles to sound the alarm in front, one of them rushed back to report on the enemy situation, and the others took out their bows and arrows and dispersed into the fields on both sides of the official road.

  Lin tied the horse's head and merged with Ao Cang Hai and others on both sides of the official road, saying: "The Procuratorate's team won't be too far away. There are garrison troops along the river to guard against this gang of robbers entering Chongzhou territory to take advantage of the time difference for a surprise attack... As long as we delay them by half an hour, it will be enough..."

  "Chongzhou officials and gentry are all here, if we let the Xia family launch a surprise attack and slaughter them cleanly, it would be embarrassing for everyone involved..." Ao Canghai said, he could use his strong bow on horseback, taking down the bow and holding it in his hand, reining in his horse to closely follow Lin Shu, with the Wu soldiers surrounding him and Lin Shu dispersing into the fields outside the official road.

  Fortunately, by late August, the rice in the fields had already begun to ripen and there was no accumulated water, otherwise they would have had to intercept the enemy on the official road.

  "Xue's family wants to shift the troops of Jiangdong Prefecture eastward, and the pirates in Taihu Lake are also stirring up trouble for this purpose," Lin said loudly on horseback. "This is a strategy of attacking the east and striking the west. I think that in the near future, the most dangerous direction will still be the Huai state! Once Liu An's son makes a major breakthrough in Huai state, the situation from Huai state to the west all the way to Huai Shang, and to the north all the way to Zhongzhou will collapse. At that time, the troops of Jiangdong Prefecture will inevitably be drawn to the west again, exhausted from running around. If the military towns under the jurisdiction of the Jiangdong Prefectural Governor's Mansion are defeated, even if Li Zhuo this old tiger is released, it will be difficult for him to make a big move! This is Xue's family's clever plan, and the person who planned all this behind their back is a ruthless character!"

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  P.S: Looking for red envelopes.