After Lin Fu inspected the prison cell, he took Ao Canghai and the guards back to the mouth of the river by boat.
When he returned to the thatched cottage, he saw Zhao Hu's mother waiting for him in the thatched cottage. It was already past midnight. Liu Yue'er and Xiaoman who were accompanying him were so relieved to see Lin Fu back that they couldn't help but yawn.
Lin Fu took off his waist knife and handed it to Liu Yue'er to take to the inner room. When he saw Zhenniang bringing tea, he pointed at Ao Canghai and told Zhenniang, "This is Mr. Ao. Go tell your family. If you see
Go to Heiye and ask Heiye to come over. Then ask your family members to prepare a quiet room for Master Ao in the outer house. From now on, whatever orders Master Ao gives in the outer house, you must all obey them..."
Zhenniang responded, put down the tea cup and left. Zhenniang was originally a female prisoner on the island. After serving her sentence, she was abandoned by her family and could not return home. Lin Fu made the decision and promised her to a former prisoner.
Wang Mazi, the cell leader. There were a lot of things going on in the thatched cottage now, so Lin Fu officially kept Wang Mazi and his wife in the thatched cottage and ordered them to help Liu Yue'er with some chores.
Lin Fu sat down and asked Zhao Hu's mother, "It's so late, what's the important thing for my aunt to come over?"
"It's not an important matter. I was sitting and talking with Madam and Little Man girl. I forgot about the time." Zhao Hu looked at Ao Canghai. Although Lin Fu almost fell out with She Feihu because of Ao Canghai, but Hekou
There are only a handful of people here who know about Ao Canghai's existence. Zhao Hu's mother has only been in Hekou for ten days and has never been to Prison Island, so naturally she doesn't recognize him.
"It's nothing important, just scare me," Lin Fu said with a smile, "Zhao Hu left me on the island. He rarely comes back. My aunt has something to do at the mouth of the river. She can't find me. How can I go with Qi?"
Madam said it was inconvenient, so she directly ordered Yue'er and Xiaoman to do the same."
Lin Jingzhong and Zhao Hu's family all moved to Hekou this time. The new house has not been built yet, so they are temporarily housed in a surrounding house. Lin Jingzhong's parents and Zhao Hu's father are both honest and friendly people. Zhao Hu's mother is next to the seventh lady Gu Yingxiu.
I have been working for many years, I have a lot of experience, and I can handle things quickly. When I came to Hekou, I continued to work with the seventh lady Gu Yingxiu.
"It's still about Qingshan," Zhao Hu's mother said, "What he did today was inappropriate, and he should be reprimanded by me... I heard that the third lady wanted to drive all the people with foreign surnames out of the countryside. Qingshan had a future.
He is the person who introduced Huzi to the township camp, and he is more reliable than Huzi in doing things. It would be a pity if he is really kicked out of the township camp."
Lin Fu thought that the angry words the third lady said in the yard of the new house had finally spread. The Lin family had gone through so many things in a short period of time. Even if he was suspicious of Xiang Yong, it would be inappropriate to say it out loud in anger.
No wonder Zhao Qingshan felt uneasy and asked Zhao Hu's mother to guard him in the thatched cottage until late at night.
"That was just an angry remark made by the Third Madam. I never saw the Third Madam mention it later. There is no need to take such words seriously, and I don't know who spread the word. Auntie, please tell Brother Qingshan that there is no need to worry about this matter, even if the Third Madam
If the madam wants to evict someone, doesn't she want Sister Yingxiu to stay in the new house?" Lin Fu said, "If Brother Qingshan has anything to do in the future, you can come directly to me to discuss it. If you really don't bother Aunt Zhao, you can sit there until late at night.
.”
Zhao Qingshan and Zhao Hu are distant cousins, and Zhao Hu's mother is his aunt. Today, Xiang Yong gathered a crowd to make a fuss. Although Zhao Qingshan failed to control the situation, he did not make it worse. There was nothing inappropriate in his handling;
The people in my family were frightened by the many things that happened in succession during this period, and became frightened.
Although Lin Fu intends to win over Zhao Qingshan, he will not directly pull him over for the time being. It is also beneficial to let him continue to work for the family.
Today, the total number of people at the river mouth and on Prison Island is about 400.
In addition to the more than 50 elite Dongyang troops commanded by the Great Loach Lord Ge Cunxin, and the 60 soldiers on duty commanded by Yang Shi, there are a total of 300 newly recruited soldiers and guards. Lin Fu has the ability to personally control them, and Zhao Hu is usually responsible for them.
, Zhou Pu is responsible for training and all matters. When needed, he will temporarily assign a commander, and will not appoint a fixed commander for the time being.
Lin Fu thought for a while, thinking that since Zhao Qingshan wanted to take refuge, maybe it would be good for him to get involved in the training of Minyong in Hekou.
The guards and guards are both standing forces and specialize in combat preparations. However, organizing Hekou Qingzhuang more widely and using spare time or setting aside three to five days every month for a certain degree of military training can not only strengthen Hekou's
The defense force can also be used as a backup force for prison guards and guards.
*************
Lin Fu sent Zhao Hu's mother back to the surrounding house and returned to the thatched cottage. On the way, the crow Wu Qi flashed out of the shadows and said, "The Dongyang is back!" He then asked Ao Canghai, "Master Ao, have you figured it out?"
When Ao Canghai and other assassins were surrounded and killed by She family warriors at the southern foot of Mount She, it was Wu Qi who took the risk and rescued them.
"I would like to ask Mr. Wu to take more care of me in the future." Ao Canghai said with cupped hands.
"I just hope you will come on the pirate ship," Wu Qi said with a smile, "There are many people in Jiangning City who want to harm Hekou. With Master Ao's help, everyone will feel a lot more relaxed..."
Ao Canghai smiled, which meant that everything was left unspoken.
When Ao Canghai attempted to assassinate She Feihu for the first time, Lin Fu and others happened to meet him, and a clever plan enabled Ao Canghai and others to escape by taking advantage of the mountainous terrain. Afterwards, Ao Canghai planned to assassinate again, so he naturally also inquired about Lin Fu's situation. Ao Canghai's first
When he was rescued by Wu Qi for the second time, he knew that they had not been able to get rid of the She family's tail that time. Although Ao Canghai still didn't know how Lin Fu dealt with She Feihu, he knew that Lin Fu and others had a lot of hidden secrets.
The big secret is not as simple as it seems.
Ao Canghai has been recuperating on the prison island for more than a month. Except for the training camp and prison room on the east beach of the island, he has not been banned from other places on the prison island. Ao Canghai has seen many things. Besides, since Lin Fu can
Taking him in and not being afraid of letting the She family know, all these things prompted Ao Canghai to make up his mind to temporarily put aside his family feud and follow Lin Fu.
Lin Fu wants to open up the situation in Jiangning as soon as possible and offend many people. Although he has Gu Wuchen as his backer and is not afraid of others' explicit revenge, these forces are not good men and women. Wu Qi, Cao Ziang and others are afraid that they will send assassins.
Although in the eyes of outsiders, Lin Fu is just a disciple of Gu Wuchen, Wu Qi, Cao Ziang, Zhou Pu and others only see Lin Fu and not Gu Wuchen. The situation in Changshan Island-Hekou is not easy, and they all know it in their hearts.
Lin Fu could never be replaced by others, so naturally he was most concerned about Lin Fu's personal safety.
Zhou Pu now spends most of his time on Prison Island training new soldiers with Zhao Hu. Lin Fu usually has four or five guard soldiers with him. When traveling, Wu Qi either secretly guards him personally or sends other secret sentries to accompany him. But after all, people
Even if the opponent cannot send more assassins, as long as twenty or thirty people ambush the narrow road, Lin Fu can be put into danger of life and death. If this happens, a brave general who is fearless in life and death will be needed to kill Lin Fu.
It was Zhou Pu's responsibility to find a way to escape. Now that Lin Fu asked Zhou Pu to stay on the prison island, Ao Canghai could just take his place.
Wu Qi and others had witnessed Ao Canghai's skills with their own eyes. They were not inferior to Zhou Pu. Sometimes his skills were second to none. The key was that Ao Canghai had the spirit of fearlessness in life and death.
The so-called heroes cherish each other, Wu Qi took the risk to save Ao Canghai for no other reason. These days, everyone is hoping that Lin Fu can get him to join the gang, and today he got what he wanted.
Only then did Wu Qi report more specific matters to Lin Fu, "You may not have expected that the three tigers also came with the ship."
Wu Qi and other old people used to call Fu Qinghe by his old name.
"Mr. Fu is here?" Lin Fu said in surprise. He and Fu Qinghe had not seen each other since they separated in Qingjiangpu. He had written several times saying that he would come to Jiangning, but he did not expect that he would come this time, so he asked again, "
Where is Mr. Cao?"
"Zi'ang is at the dock. I'll come find you." Wu Qi said.
Lin Fu, Wu Qi, and Ao Canghai immediately passed by Lin Mengde's residence at the mouth of the river. They took Lin Mengde to the river pier to meet Cao Zi'ang, and took a paddle boat directly to the northeast side of Prison Island.
After the Dongyang returned to the mouth of the river from Shanglinli, it anchored at the mouth of the river for two days, and then left Jiangning. Of course Ao Canghai didn't know that the Dongyang actually went to Changshan Island in the past few days before returning today.
On the east side of Changshan Island, except for the training camp pier, there is no other place to park ships. Moreover, the training camp pier is too small and the waterway it enters is narrow, so it cannot accommodate the Dongyang. The Dongyang anchors in the waters near the island.
Ao Canghai was sitting on the paddle boat, watching the Dongyang docked on the water like a giant beast. When he got closer, he discovered that there were six small boats docked on the other side of the Dongyang. Someone was taking heavy bags out of the boat.
The Dongyang was unloaded onto the small boat.
"It's a salt bag, it's private salt," Lin Fu explained to Ao Canghai and said with a smile, "This is the first time we have done this kind of business."
"Master Ao probably can't guess how we will sell the illegal salt we brought in..." Wu Qi said in a coquettish way.
Indeed, all Lin Fu offended in Jiangning were local forces. If he wanted to engage in private salt business, it was absolutely impossible to offend local forces.
Ao Canghai frowned and thought for a moment, then said: "Fish, salted fish."
"Ah..." Wu Qi was quite surprised. He didn't expect Ao Canghai to think of the key point at once, "How did you think of it?"
"Your Excellency, you have no intention of hiding anything from me. I can walk around many places on the island at will," Ao Canghai said with a smile. "I have always been curious. There are iron workshops, wood workshops and many other businesses on the island. Why do we have to invest so much?"
People go fishing in the river, is it possible that salted fish is particularly profitable? I couldn't figure it out at first, but now I understand it when I see this."
Cao Ziang nodded secretly, Ao Canghai surrendered to the army in vain, and he was not a close confidant. He could be the deputy general of Chen Zhihu's forward battalion, so he would not be a brave person.
Lin Fu smiled, looked at Fu Qinghe standing on the bow of the boat, bowed and said with a smile: "Mr. Fu is finally here. Xiaoman knows how happy he will be..."
Fu Qinghe looked to be in his fifties, his temples were stained with frost, but his skills were strong. Without waiting for the rope ladder to be lowered, he climbed down the side of the boat and climbed onto the paddle boat.
The big loach master Ge Cunxin wanted to watch four hundred packets of private salt being transported to the island at night. Lin Fu and the others first took Fu Qinghe to the training camp.
The imperial court had a monopoly on salt and iron, and had a special salt and iron office in Weiyang Prefecture, which had jurisdiction over the salt fields and transshipment affairs in Hailing, Pingjiang, Huai'an, and Jiashan Prefectures. It was not subject to local control, and had special salt soldiers.
, the salt troops even reserved tens of millions of acres of fertile tidal flats in various prefectures to prohibit local reclamation, just to grow grass and provide enough fuel for boiling sea salt and ensuring that the imperial court could draw up to two million from the Jianghuai Salt Service every year.
Heavy tax on money worth two silver or more.
In Jiangning, the price of salt is the same as that of meat. People can go without eating meat for a year, but they cannot live without eating salt for a day. Going further to Jiangxi and the hinterland of Huguang, the price of salt is several times that of meat. In places where the salt shortage is serious, even a load of grain must be exchanged for it.
Less than a pound of salt.
If the four hundred packets of private salt can be successfully distributed through the pickled salted fish, the profit will be at least one thousand taels of silver.
Although Lin Fu and the others fished in the troubled waters of Luoyang Lake this time and the money was nearly one hundred thousand taels of silver, that kind of business could only be done occasionally and was far less practical than the one where they could profit from one thousand taels of silver from a ship of private salt.
Lin Fu's private salt profit alone was enough to support six to seven hundred elites on both sides of Changshan Island and the river mouth.