Under the night, the moonlight was slightly dim, and the corner tower lights of the surrounding house as well as the lighthouse on the southwest coast of the prison island shone their lights onto the riverbank dock. People suddenly realized that the Dongyang No. had quietly returned to Jiangning after leaving the estuary for several months.

  To the east of Nanbei Chang Street, He Xiang Lou is a property set up by the Fan family at the river mouth, also known as Xiao Fan Lou. However, in terms of scale and style, it cannot be compared to the five-story Fan Lou in the city with four eaves overlapping each other. The wing building is only two stories high, and the courtyard has only three entrances. It is sandwiched between the new houses on Nanbei Chang Street and is not eye-catching.

  It's not that the Fan family is reluctant to spend money, but when they first bought this new house from Dongyang Xiang Party, they rushed to open it for business within three months, so it was inconvenient to make major renovations and expansions.

  The Xiaofang Building was still a bustling place in the early days of the Hundred Industries, after all, it was a place where people gathered, with its thatched hut, it could still attract a large number of wine customers. What's more, there was clear wine, delicious food, clean and elegant young waiters, charming and seductive wine maidens in red and green clothes, and occasionally the sweet and clear singing voice of Su Mei.

  It's strange to say that on the day of the opening of Xiaofang Building, Chen Qingqing, a pillar of Xiubailou who never went out to perform, also came to Xiaofang Building to show off her dance skills.

  This not only made Xiaofang Tower lively and bustling, but also instantly gave the river mouth a scene of Jiangning's 25th city.

  In the northern wing of Xiaofang Building, by pushing open the window, one could see the dock on the riverbank. Yuan Jinsong sat cross-legged on a finely woven reed mat, gazing at the Dongyang merchant ship moored at the dock outside the window.

  It is said that the merchant ship, Dongyang No. 2, has a female wall panel erected on both sides of the hull, about chest-high, and the stern cabin top deck and foredeck are all covered with tarpaulins.

  The situation of the Luoyang Lake water battle and the Meixi Lake water battle was not secret, Yuan Jinshe knew that the stern cabin top deck and foredeck of the Dongyang ship were covered with tarpaulin, which were bed crossbows and strong war equipment such as stone-throwing crossbows.

  Judging from the battle achievements of Dongyang, which retreated from Luoyang Lake with its whole body and annihilated one enemy ship at Meicun Lake mouth despite being attacked by three ships, Dongyang can be considered a large warship in the Huai Army. Even among the Jiangning Water Camp's sturdy warships comparable to Dongyang in terms of hull strength, there were only five or six such vessels.

  Lin Xie's retreat from the whole body of Rao Yang Lake can still be said to be lucky, and the Battle of He Kou can also be said to be a surprise attack by the Taihu thieves who are a mob. The Cur family is too foolish, but since Lin Xie entered Taihu, his performance has been excellent, and it is no longer possible to cover up his brilliance with luck or the enemy's foolishness.

  Although the Battle of Jiyang was mainly about Gu Wuhen's protection and pursuit, it also raised Gu Wuhen's reputation in Jiangdong again. However, those who truly understood the details knew that Lin Xie and his guards played a crucial role in the Battle of Jiyang.

  The sharp edge on Lin's body is hard to conceal, and the Yunwu Guard, which was incorporated into the Dongyang Xiangyong and had a formal name, although it has a limited number of people, cannot be denied that it is an elite force with a fighting will as firm as a rock.

  If all 4,000 Dongyang militia were as well-trained as this, Liu An'er's forces from Hongze Pu would probably not be able to threaten Dongyang either.

  Within the Gu system, it has been made clear that Lin Xie will not interfere with Dongyang Xiangyong's military affairs. However, outsiders who do not know the truth are speculating wildly. If Gu Wudeng takes Li Zhuo as his target, in the eyes of others, Dong Yuan or Chen Zhihu may not be beyond Lin Xie's reach.

  Dong Yuan is now a fourth-rank official, the prefect of Weiyang, and Chen Zhihu is a third-rank general in the imperial court. If not for the decline of the Western Qin faction, Dong Yuan and Chen Zhihu's prospects would be even brighter. Even so, the imperial court cannot help but continue to use them heavily.

  Yuan Jinseng was thinking randomly, when footsteps echoed from the outer corridor, followed by the sound of someone speaking: "Young Master, Second Young Master is resting in this room..." He furrowed his brow, not understanding why his older brother had suddenly come to the riverside. Just as he was lost in thought, the door was pushed open from outside, and Yuan Jinseng saw his older brother Yuan Jinqiu walking in with a swagger, followed by Chen Qingqing.

  Yu Jin's brow furrowed even deeper: Chen Qingqing, this woman, was unclear and improper with the old Marquis of Mu Guo. Big Brother still wanted to get entangled in it, causing the Yongchang Hou Mansion to become a shameful topic of conversation in Jiangning City, damaging their reputation greatly.

  "How can my second brother have the leisure to hide here and drink alone, without even finding a girl to chat with?" Yuan Jinqiu stroked his neatly trimmed small mustache, sat cross-legged on the couch, gazing at the Dongyang ship docked outside the window, and smiled as he said to Chen Qingqing, "My second brother has always been proud of himself, but Lin Xuan made him lose face." He invited Chen Qingqing to sit beside him, took out a wine cup, poured himself a drink, and drank a cup by himself.

  Listening to the eldest son's reckless and unbridled words, Fan Ding knew that the second son would not be pleased, and he also knew that the marquis favored the second son more. However, he could only stand there awkwardly smiling, unable to drive the eldest son away, as it was this very same profligate who would eventually inherit the title.

  Chen Qingqing smiled warmly and poured wine for the brothers Yuan Jinqiu and Yuan Jinshe. She heard Old Zeng say that their ancestors, the Marquises of Yongchang, were once in a position to contend for the throne, but ultimately missed their chance by one move, allowing Taizong to seize power first. Their military authority was stripped away, and they were demoted to Jiangning without even securing a princely title. Although they inherited the title of Marquis of Yongchang, they were essentially kept under house arrest, and it was hard for their descendants not to harbor some resentment.

  Chen Qingqing glanced out the window and saw a few people coming down from Dongyang, accompanied by Lin Jingzhong, the manager of Jiyun Society. Fu Qinghe's left sleeve was empty and swinging, which was very eye-catching. She wondered: Fu Qinghe used to be Su Mei's invited boxing master, how did he travel with Lin Zuo and others to Baisha County and back, and then follow Lin Zuo? This time, he even lost his arm on Xisha Island?

  It wasn't until now that Su Mei, Lin Lian and Xiao Man, who had been dragged away by Lin Lian, appeared on the dock, talking to Fu Qinghe and others. Su Mei and Xiao Man seemed to be wiping away tears; after these people got off the boat, the Dongyang No. set sail again, leaving the dock, it was unknown where they would go at night.

  The river surface was without lamp fire illumination, a vast blackness.

  "This is lively," Yuan Jin Qiu laughed when he saw the dock, "I heard that the emperor's special edict granted Chen Ming Xue a leave to return home and get married. It's said that granting leave for marriage is just a warning to the Chu Party: you shouldn't take advantage of your power and bully people too much, after all, Chen Ming Xue was personally appointed as the top scholar by him. Looking at the situation, Wu Party still has its heyday, the East Sea bandits are rampant in Pingjiang Prefecture, Chen Ming Xue returned home to get married, most likely in Jiangning. With one more character, Jiangning City will be even more lively, can you guess who Su Mei will end up with?"

  Yuan Jinsuo smiled slightly, but this trip was considered a favor to Wu Di. However, it couldn't make up for the huge gap between the party struggles. After Chen Xiyu retreated, the Wu Party was led by Yu Xin Yuan, and Chen Mingyu came to Jiangning with the support of the largest clan in Wu, the Pingjiang Chen family. The Wu Party's power would inevitably give Gu Wudeng a headache, but after all, no one directly controlled the county government's heavy power, and there was no one in the central government to support them. Li Zhuo's attitude was ambiguous, Wang Tian was old and muddle-headed, and there was no sharp will to compete with the Chu Party. Wang Xueshan was led by Gu Wudeng, and Zuo Shangrong had to see if he could successfully settle the Hongze Pu riot. Gu Wudeng always had the upper hand.

  It would be better if the situation on the western front were more chaotic and uncontrollable. If the central government sends an envoy to supervise military affairs in Jiangdong, Gu Wuhen's seniority is still far inferior, and he cannot bear the responsibility of being the commander-in-chief. At that time, if another core figure from the Chu Party comes over, it will be even more lively than Chen Mingyu coming to Jiangning.

  Does Su Meng want to get rid of him? Yuan Jinsheng smiled coldly in his heart, but then thought again, maybe using Su Meng as a pawn would not be bad either. He glanced at Chen Qingqing and thought that Zeng Mingxian was an old fox hiding behind her back, what was he planning? Didn't big brother understand that Chen Qingqing was not a simple woman?

  ************

  Lin tied up the sedan chair and came to the dock to welcome Fu Qinghe, Hu Zhicheng, Lin Mengde, Ge Cunxin and Qin Chengzu. He turned his head and glanced at the wing of Xiaofang Building. The Xiaofang Building was in a dark place, with windows open, and people inside could be seen moving around, looking this way, but it was impossible to see who was peeking out.

  The river mouth must be open to outsiders in order to gain great benefits from collecting city taxes and tariffs. By this time, Lin Tie was completely unable to prevent others from peeping at the river mouth. The key is to continue to shroud the prison island in a dark fog that is invisible to outsiders.

  After Lin Liguo returned to the estuary, Fu Qinghe, Lin Mengde, Hu Zhicheng, Qin Chengzu and others immediately rushed over to re-discuss the deployment of Changshan Island, Xisha Island and Yuwengdao.

  Even if the Donghai bandits do not pose a threat for the time being, Lin Xie still orders Zhou Pu and Wu Qi to lead the main force of Yunwuwei to garrison Xiasha Island together with the local troops. Not only can't they take the Donghai bandits lightly, but also need to be highly vigilant against the nearby Junshan stronghold; Hu Zhiyong is busy with the affairs of settling the refugees and cannot extricate himself.

  Hu Zhicheng rushed over and met with the people of Jiangning, also taking the opportunity to see his son Hu Qiaoguan who was still in Jiangning.

  Back at the Grass Hall, Cao Zikang, Xiao Jiaoye Ge Cunxiong and Hu Qiaoguan, Ao Canghai and others were already waiting here. There was no good food on the boat, only some prepared on the side of the Grass Hall, but it couldn't be prepared to grasp when the boat arrived. At this time, Liu Yu'er ordered hot wine to be served.

  After dinner, they quietly took a boat from the river mouth dock to the training camp on the east end of Prison Island; Su Mei was still a notable figure at the river mouth and it wasn't convenient for her to travel with them, so she returned to the other courtyard first.

  After Yang Shi left, Zhao Hu took full control of the prison guards and some of the guards were taken by Yang Shi to Dongyang as a backup; Fu Qinghe and Hu Zhicheng came over this time, recruiting a batch of strong and brave men from the refugees on Xisha Island, which was to make up for the shortage after Yang Shi left with his men. These strong and brave men all followed the ship over, first sent to the training camp.

  Since the refugees were settled on the spot in Xisha Island, they had a foothold from then on. It was only natural to recruit soldiers on Xisha Island without any objection.

  Chang Sun Gong was not a person who didn't know how to advance and retreat, and at this time, Zhao Hu also had full control over the guards and soldiers guarding the prison, as well as the boats entering and leaving the island, and all material exchanges between the island and the outside were controlled by Ji Yun Society. Even if Lin Xuan was not in Jiangning, he could still guarantee complete control over the island.

  It can be said that this is also a balance obtained by Lin Xie after giving up most of the benefits of the river mouth.

  Regardless of whether it is Gu Wu Chen or Zhao Qin Min, Chen Yuan Liang and others all recognize the huge benefits after He Kou replaces Qu Yang Town.

  The river port is more geographically convenient than Quyang Town and can connect the grain trade of the upper and lower reaches of the Yangzi River. In the past, Quyang Town had an annual rice transaction of nearly 3 million dan (a unit of measurement), if the river port can reach this level, the benefits will be astonishing.

  As a rice merchant, having a large transaction volume is secondary, the key is to have the strength to stockpile rice.

  When the grain is harvested, a catty of fine rice is worth only four cents. When the green and yellow crops do not meet, a catty of fine rice can be worth six cents. If there is a grain shortage, the price will rise even more sharply.

  This summer, Jiangxi and the two Hubei provinces suffered a great flood, which led to a sharp rise in rice prices along the Yangtze River. A catty of coarse rice soared to over 10 cents. The disaster on Xi Sha Island was severe, and Lin Xiantang had to rush to Chongzhou to buy grain for relief. At that time, the price of coarse rice in Chongzhou city rose sharply to over 20 cents per catty.

  Store grains when they are abundant and release them during times of scarcity, which can help local governments stabilize grain prices, with profits that ordinary grain merchants cannot match.

  Of course, if the profiteers hoard grain during a food shortage and the government turns a blind eye, the price of grain will skyrocket.

  Taking this as a premise, the magistrate of Xunling, Chen Yuanliang, directly bought six connected houses on one side of Nanbei Chang Street to make a rice store, with one of his nephews serving as the manager. The front house facing the street was renovated into a shopfront, and the backyard was converted into a grain warehouse; he also planned to build a large warehouse that could store up to 100,000 dan (a unit of measurement) of grain in an empty lot within the already very crowded river mouth area.

  In this rice shop, Gu's family and Zhao Qinmin have all invested in silver stocks. Lin Xian pretends to be unaware of it and wants Gu Ying to secretly instruct the Lin family to also invest in stocks.

  On this basis, the interests of the prison island are somewhat insignificant; The fundamental interests of Lin Xiangru in Jiangning are precisely within the prison island, and each takes what they need.

  Qin Chengzu stood at the bow of the light boat, gazing out at the river mouth shrouded in lantern lights, and sighed: "The last time I came to Jiangning was also from this place, more than nine months ago. It feels like a city has flown in from outside the sky."

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  PS: As soon as I got up in the morning, there was a new chapter. Did you guys vote for the red ticket?