The southeastern beach of Xisha Island is also known as Hei Tan. This wetland area has lush aquatic plants and abundant shrimp and snails. Every autumn, after the Dan top crane migrates through Chongzhou, a large group will inhabit this place, so the fishermen in Chongzhou call it Hei Tan.

  This year's red-crowned cranes have not yet begun their southward migration, and the crane beach is empty without any crane shadows. The survivors of the typhoon and sea tide disaster have migrated to Guanyin Beach, where a large number of water birds have started gathering and foraging again.

  Eight people fled in a panic into the reeds at the eastern end of He Tan, startling a flock of birds into flight. Two archers had already emptied their quivers, and two others had lost their weapons while fleeing. Outside the reeds lay the vast expanse of the river, with patrol boats on high alert in the distance. The sound of pursuing horses' hooves echoed incessantly behind them. This group of people was desperate, wanting to surrender, but the pursuing soldiers refused to accept their surrender.

  More than thirty pursuers, infantry and cavalry mixed together, surrounded and intercepted them. First, they shot arrows in a dense hail, shooting eight lake bandits who had escaped into the reeds like hedgehogs. Then ten men divided into two groups approached from left and right, and those who still had breath were beheaded with a knife to the neck. The supporting troops then came forward, throwing the eight corpses into the river.

  Watching the corpse being washed away by the river water, Ning Zhen finally pulled the reins and ordered everyone to follow him back to Guanyintan.

  At the end of July, the Guanyintan disaster relief camp was attacked by bandits from Hubei, resulting in 117 deaths and 267 injuries among the guards and militia; although the number of bandits who invaded Xiasha Island was small, they committed arson, murder, and plunder, causing nearly 2,000 casualties among the refugees on the island.

  Zhao Hu and Zhao Qing Shan led the crowd from the river mouth to reinforce, attacking the Lake Bandits at Guanyintan from the side and rear. Zhou Pu led the island's garrison troops and civilian militia to counterattack, driving the Lake Bandits back. Most of the Lake Bandits crossed the entire Xi Sha Island, escaping by boat from Nan Tan, but many gangs remained on Xi Sha Island, unable to withdraw in time, and were responsible for the most killings.

  After Lin Hua regained control of the situation on Xi Sha Island, the lake thieves who failed to withdraw from Xi Sha Island were almost annihilated. After the disaster, the resentment in people's hearts needed to be vented, and Lin Hua resolutely refused to accept the surrender of these remaining lake thieves, causing Ning Zhen and others to lead more than 300 civilian soldiers to search the entire island in five teams, and to thoroughly clean up the remaining lake thieves, also making the civilian soldiers on Xi Sha Island undergo tempering in the battle of iron and blood, fire and tears.

  Ning Zemin led the crowd back to the Guanyintan camp, and saw that there were yamen runners and soldiers in the camp. He casually pulled someone over to ask, and only then did he know that Chen Kun, the magistrate of Chongzhou, had arrived on the island. Ning Zemin spat on the ground and cursed: "Dog official!" He ordered the civilian militia to return to the camp, and with three or five attendants, they led the horses to the horse camp.

  Ordinary mules are not particularly rare, and in Chongzhou City, you can even buy one for less than ten taels of silver.

  After Lin Zexu was attacked on the Xisha Islands, he no longer cared about the opinions of Chongzhou locals and began to organize civilian militia teams on the Xisha Islands. Each team had a quota of sixty people, in addition to guns, bows and arrows, they were also equipped with twenty horses for self-care and feeding.

  Only the fine steed that Ning Zhen led, with a height of nearly one zhang and a weight of four to five hundred catties, which could carry three hundred catties of heavy objects for short sprints, was worth tens of thousands. The entire Xi Sha Island had only more than 40 such horses, all of which were precious and were brought over by Lin Xian from Jiangning.

  The Guanyintan camp has a horse camp. After the militia teams complete their tasks and return, they must promptly return these fine horses to the horse camp for unified feeding and care.

  "Rather die than be a slave, rather die than be a slave, sir is calling you over."

  Ning Ze turned his head and saw that it was Lin Xie's guard, Chen Huadian, who had a birthmark on his face. He asked: "Sir, what can I do for you?"

  "Several officials from Chongzhou have arrived, and the Haiyang Prefecture's Judicial Officer has also come. They discussed the settlement of refugees and the people's militia for half a day. According to regulations, even if Xisha Island is set up as a rural camp, it would still be under the jurisdiction of the County Magistrate of Chongzhou and the Judicial Officer of Haiyang Prefecture. They must have called you over to discuss this matter..." Chen Hua said.

  "Damn it. When Xisha Island was flooded by the sea tide, where were these corrupt officials? When Xisha Island was attacked by lake bandits, where were these corrupt officials? The brave people of Xisha Island only listen to one person's orders, what do these corrupt officials want from me?" Ning Zechen asked with a frown.

  "Let the adults talk, you nonsense, don't speak rashly and foolishly when entering the camp." Chen Hua scolded with a smile.

  "It's better to spend this time practicing swordsmanship!" Ning Ze Min muttered reluctantly, following Chen Hua towards Lin Xie's tent.

  **********

  Chen Kun was over forty years old, with a pale and slender face, a short beard under his chin that was black and dense. He could be considered to have a dignified appearance, with an air of refinement and elegance typical of a scholar. He and Wu Mei, the registrar of Haizhou Prefecture, were both jinshi (advanced scholars) who had passed the imperial examination in the same year, and thus shared a bond as fellow graduates. At this moment, he sat shoulder to shoulder with Wu Mei, looking at Lin Xie, who was seated across from them, with an air of evil that could not be suppressed rising up to his heart.

  The camp was set up according to military regulations, with the main seat empty and two rows of seats below. Chen Kun, Wu Mei-jiu, and other local officials, including Hong Chang-ji, the county magistrate of Chongzhou, sat on one side, while Lin Xian sat alone on the other side. If it weren't for Wu Mei-jiu's advice to him, saying "Gu Wudu has already taken office as Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and Jiangdong Surveillance Commissioner, with the power to supervise local officials. It would be easy for him to bring down a county magistrate if he set his mind to it. A man under another's roof can only bow his head," Chen Kun would have stormed off long ago.

  The curtain was lifted from the outside, and outsiders didn't have any rules, they just came in without saying anything. Chen Kun turned his head to look over and saw that behind the guard he had just sent out to find someone, there was a thin and pale young man. He thought to himself, "Is this the leader of the civilian militia chosen by Lin Xie?" He had thought it would be some rough and boorish man.

  "Chen Zhi County, Wu Can Jun, Hong Xian Wei, he is the Ning Ze Min I mentioned. His brother and nephew died in a disaster, his widowed mother died due to bandits, and he set up a rural camp on Xi Sha Island. Hu Zhi Yong was a well-known local gentry in Chongzhou, serving as a commander, which I have no opinion about; I also recommend Ning Ze Min as deputy commander. He has read books for several years and knows some military training, so I called him over to test whether he is competent with Chen Zhi County, Wu Can Jun, and Hong Xian Wei." Lin Fu then introduced Ning Ze Min to Chen Kun, Wu Mei Jiu, and Hong Chang Ji, "These three are Chen Zhi County, Wu Can Jun, and Hong Xian Wei. Quickly pay your respects..."

  Ning Ze's heart was unwilling, and Hu Zhiyong, who was standing beside him, secretly pulled his hem. He reluctantly bowed to Chen Kun, Wu Meijiu, and Hong Changji, without saying much.

  "What books have you read?" Chen Kun turned his head to look at Ning Zencheng, and seeing that he was slender and pale, unlike ordinary martial artists, his previous resentment faded by two or three points, and he began to examine him seriously.

  **********

  After the attack on Xisha Island, the military and government officials of Junshan Shuizhai stood by and did nothing. When Lin Tie returned to Xisha Island, he almost clashed with the soldiers of Junshan Shuizhai, and didn't even notify the local authorities. Instead, he directly distributed knives, spears, bows, arrows, and armor to more than 300 civilian militia and began a full-scale crackdown on bandits across the island.

  Lin Guo's behavior has already greatly offended the taboo, Chen Kun's anger rose to his head, and after learning the news, he immediately sent a paper note to Hailing House.

  The refugees were originally considered a major threat to local areas, with restrictions on their activities and close surveillance. Once the time was ripe, they would be sent back to their hometowns in batches. This was the main approach taken by local authorities to deal with refugees. Especially after the Hongze Pu riot, although the county officials asked local people to settle the refugees properly, the preventive measures were even more stringent, and it was natural for them to consider the refugees' access to military equipment as a major threat.

  In Chen Kun's view, the civilian courage selected from the refugees would not be loyal to the local area at all. Lin Ge's actions were simply giving the refugees on Xi Sha Island a sharp knife. Once the refugees on Xi Sha Island rioted, the disaster would be more severe than that of ordinary refugees, and Chongzhou County would find it difficult to resist.

  After Chen Kun's petition was submitted to the Hai Ling Fu, it did not cause a big stir. Wu Mei, the registrar of the Hai Ling Fu, immediately rushed to Chongzhou to represent the Hai Ling Fu in handling the affairs of the refugees from Xi Sha Island and also to mediate the conflict between the local government of Chongzhou and Lin Fu.

  Chen Kun believed that a scholar should have the demeanor of a scholar, how could he bow his head in front of power, and was unwilling to accept Wu Mei's mediation.

  Wu Mei pressed him: "If the matter gets out of hand, will the responsibility for the Xisha Island disaster be pursued first? The twelve cemeteries on the island are not buried with paper people. If Xisha Island is attacked, will the responsibility for the officials and soldiers' dereliction of duty be pursued first? Even if the petition is delivered to the capital, it will still end up in Chu Dang's hands, how to deal with it, isn't it still up to Chu Dang to decide? First remove your position as county magistrate, replace it with someone from Chu Dang's faction to take over as Chongzhou county magistrate, and this case will be sent back to Chongzhou for local disposal. Do you want to see such a result?"

  Chen Kun only then realized that Lin, as the vanguard of the Chu Party's favored general, was no longer someone a seventh-rank county magistrate like him could take down. No matter how much chaos Lin caused locally, as long as he didn't go against the interests of the Chu Party clique, it could be said that the Chu Party, which had control over the central government, would find ways to cover for him and indulge him.

  If we seriously investigate the responsibility of Chongzhou County's local disaster relief, Gu Wudeng can indeed remove him from his position as county magistrate. A man under the eaves cannot help but lower his head. Chen Kun sees that he cannot stop the establishment of Xisha Island Township, but he also wants to severely restrict Lin's actions in the locality.

  This is also the intention of all officials in Haizhou and Wu Meijiu. Rather than stubbornly fighting to the death, it's better to first go along with his intentions. In short, we must actively grasp the various affairs of Xisha Island in our hands. First, send Lin Xue, this new god of the Chu Party, back to Jiangning. After three to five years have passed, whether Xisha Island is pinched into a circle or a square, isn't it still up to the local authorities to decide?

  Chen Kun put down his confrontational attitude and wanted to invite Lin Xie to Chongzhou County to discuss the disposal of the refugees on Xi Sha Island, but was blocked by Lin Xie's sentence "The East Sea pirates have not left, and Xi Sha Island is in danger like a hanging egg, I dare not leave for a moment". Chen Kun almost had a stroke, and it was Wu Mei who persuaded him to come to the island to see Lin Xie and discuss the disposal of the refugees together.