After passing Chendiaowangzhai, the bamboo raft continued forward for about five miles. Soon after passing a sharp turn called Ximeiding, it stopped on a flat river beach.

You can vaguely see a winding path among the wild grass and trees leading into the mountains.

The guide was Lao Gu, a traveling merchant who had been traveling between the city and Phoenix Mountain for many years.

Lao Gu told them that this was the road leading to Hakka Shanjiaoliao. Not far from Shanjiaoliao was Feitianyan, where the porcelain clay mine was located.

"So Shanjiaoliao is the Hakka people's old nest?" Zhao Hao asked as he applied insect repellent ointment on his body with the help of Secretary Ma.

"No, their old camp was called Daliao. It was past Feitianyan. There was a flat area in the mountains where the Lin family's ancestral hall was located." Lao Gu answered in broken Mandarin: "Later, Daliao was no longer livable, so they built Shanjiaoliao and Beiliao. The three enclosures just surrounded Feitianyan in the middle."

"Okay, it's watched closely enough." Zhao Hao couldn't help but smile bitterly. No wonder the Fujianese couldn't take it down.

"Let's go and take a look." Lin Run refused the prepared sedan chair and walked into the forest.

Zhao Hao didn't want to leave if he could sit down, but Brother Gao reminded him in a low voice that it's best not to be lifted up high in such a place, otherwise he would be killed by an arrow.

Mr. Zhao immediately followed suit and refused the sedan bearer, saying, "Is that reasonable? If Lin Zhongcheng doesn't want to ride, then of course we will walk."

As he said this, he quickened his pace and followed.

In the end, everyone walked into the mountain. Even the elderly Liu Zixing was supported by two servants and did not sit in a sedan chair. It was obvious that he was also afraid of death.

In fact, it is quite pleasant to walk along the winding mountain road, along the clear stream, in the quiet mountain forest, with dense shade, mottled shadows of trees, chirping birds and cool breeze.

After walking for half an hour, we heard the rumbling sound of water. We followed the sound and walked out of the forest. Suddenly, the view in front of us opened up. We saw a waterfall about five or six meters high falling straight down from the north mountain. After the jade was shattered and the snow was splashed, it turned into a rushing white river that stretched across the front of everyone.

There was a suspension bridge over the river, which was now raised high. Only two Hakka young men, wearing coarse blue shirts with large collars, wide-legged trousers and straw sandals, were sitting on the capstan under the bridge and bragging about Niu Boyi.

The white-faced little man with his back to the river was boasting about how he heroically saved Xiaomei, the daughter of Doctor Sun from Jingmei Village, from the tusks of a wild boar while hunting the day before.

I heard that he carried Xiaomei, who had an injured ankle, back to Jingmei Village and was invited by Doctor Sun to have dinner with him. The dark-faced little man facing him was so envious that he wished he could take his place.

Xiao Hei was drooling, and suddenly he stood up in amazement, pointing at the opposite side and stammering.

"What's going on? Did I see a ghost?" The boastful Xiaobai turned around in the direction of his gaze and was also startled.

There were at least a few hundred people on the other side, most of them were fully armed officers and soldiers!

"Damn it! Call the police!" Xiaobai screamed.

"Oh oh." Xiao Hei quickly ran behind the tree and desperately knocked on a copper pipe tied to a branch.

The clang clang clang sound immediately resounded throughout the valley.

Seeing that they were quite vigilant, in order to avoid misunderstanding, Lin Run quickly asked Lao Gu to report that it was the Governor of Guangdong who came and asked their clan leaders to go out to greet him quickly.

The two young men watching the bridge naturally knew Lao Gu, and were stunned when they heard his words. In their eyes, the county magistrate was a high-ranking official.

"Governor, how many levels higher than the county magistrate?" Xiao Hei asked in a low voice.

"You don't know this?" Xiao Bai was about to show off his knowledge, but after thinking about it, he became discouraged and said, "Well, I don't know either..."

"The governor is the most powerful official in Guangdong!" Lao Gu obviously understood what the two were thinking. He put his hands to his mouth and tried his best to drown out the sound of water. "Go and report to your clan leader. You will be punished if you are late!"

"Oh..." Xiaobai thought about it and felt that this was an opportunity to show off, so he asked Xiaohei to stay here and turned around and ran into the valley.

~~

In the valley, an oval-shaped yellow building built with rammed earth, sand and stone is located on the sunny hillside.

This enclosure is more than 30 feet high, with a wall thickness of nearly 1 meter. There are no windows below 20 feet. Above 20 feet, there are some small windows about a foot square, surrounded by granite strips, which are loopholes for shooting out.

At the southeast ends of the highest point of the enclosure, there is a tower with earth cannons installed on it, which can also be used as a lookout tower to control the surroundings of the enclosure from a high position.

Hearing the alarm at the suspension bridge, the owner of the hut at the corner of the mountain, Lin Yifu, the eldest son of the Lin clan leader, immediately ordered someone to ring the big alarm bell on the blockhouse to notify the women and old people who were working on the terraced fields on the hillside outside, to quickly return to the walled house for safety.

During the migration process, the Hakka ancestors had to evolve into a semi-militarized organization in order to deal with robbers along the way, bandits who settled in the mountains, and natives who did not welcome them. Hakka women all had big feet and were the main force in doing housework and farm work. As for men, they only helped in the fields during the busy farming season, and spent the rest of the time practicing hunting and recuperating. They were responsible for protecting the entire family from foreign enemies.

Moreover, there were extremely cruel clan fights between different Hakka families. Frequent battles turned these Hakka people into well-trained warriors.

Hearing the alarm, the men who were training in the courtyard inside the walled house quickly carried their homemade guns and bows and arrows, ran to the various weapon rooms, and moved all kinds of self-made city defense equipment to the areas they were responsible for, without any need for any command.

Lin Yifu's third brother, Lin Yichen, carried his beloved bird-beak gun and trotted up to the blockhouse.

Lin Yifu was concentrating on watching the situation outside. When he heard the familiar footsteps, he asked without turning his head, "Did you send someone to inform Dad?"

"The signal smoke has been lit. When the eldest brother finds out about the situation, we will send someone to report it immediately." Due to lack of nutrition, Hakka people are generally short, and Lin Yichen is no exception. But he is very strong, with big and bright eyes, revealing a clever spirit.

"Yeah." Lin Yifu was only in his early thirties, but the hard life in the mountains made him look like he was in his forties. Hakka people lived together in a walled house, ate and lived together, and had common property. The living conditions of the clan leader's son were not much different from those of ordinary clan members, and he had to worry more.

"Four or five hundred people, all of them appear to be elite soldiers." From his high vantage point, he could see the waterfall outside the valley and the uninvited guests on the other side of the river. "They don't look like they are here to attack us."

Four or five hundred government troops without any siege equipment or artillery wanted to attack the heavily guarded Hakka walled villages where all the people were soldiers? That was really crazy.

"Ah?" Lin Yichen was stunned when he heard this and asked, "Then what are they doing here?"

"Wait and see, Yuan Fang is back." Lin Yifu's steady gaze fell on the mountain path leading to the col. There, Xiaobai, one of the two people watching the bridge, was running at full speed.

After a while, Lin Yuanfang was brought up to the blockhouse, panting, and reported the other party's words to his uncle.

Lin Yifu was also shocked when he heard this. "What, Governor? Why are you here instead of staying in Guangzhou?"

"They said they were here to inspect..." Yuan Fang wiped his sweat and said quickly, "Looking across the river, it seems like there are quite a few important people. The soldiers scattered around look like guards."

"I heard that the city was in chaos some time ago." Lin Yichen rolled his eyes and guessed, "Maybe they are here to quell the riot, right?"

"It's possible." Lin Yifu nodded, still frowning, and asked, "But what are you doing in this desolate mountain?"

"Looking for the prefect!" Lin Yichen slapped his thigh and said, "I heard that the chaos was caused by the loss of the prefect. The governor came to look for the prefect, it must be like this!"

"Go find it, how did you find us?" Lin Yifu thought about it and felt that this was the most reliable answer. "If they can run to Phoenix Mountain, how can they not escape back to the city?"

"Uncles, stop guessing. The governor is still waiting for his reply." Lin Yuanfang said anxiously.

"I can't make the decision on this matter. I have to ask my father to come over." Lin Yifu said to Lin Yichen, "Go to the dormitory."

"Okay." Lin Yichen nodded, but did not move and said, "But it took me at least an hour to go back and forth, and you let me wait outside? This is too rude. The governor can't wait that long."

"We can't just let them in like this." Lin Yifu also felt that something was wrong, but he was worried: "What if they have any ill intentions?"

"How about this, let them bring fewer people, and I will lead them directly to the dormitory." Lin Yichen thought of a solution and said, "You can ask someone to go ahead and report to Dad, so that Dad can be prepared."

"Hmm." Lin Yifu thought this was a good idea. The big lodge was twice as big as the Shanjiao lodge. The government troops were small in number. If they only brought one or two hundred people, they would not pose a threat at all. And it would not be impolite.

The only problem is that his brother might be in danger. "What if they come after you?"

"Hahaha, how is that possible?" Lin Yichen laughed when he heard this. "A governor has come all the way here just to cause trouble for a kid from the mountains like me? Don't worry, I will act according to the situation."

After saying this, he hurried downstairs without waiting for his elder brother's consent.

"Alas, this third brother always makes his own decisions." Lin Yifu sighed helplessly and said to Lin Yuanfang, "Go to the dormitory and report the news."

"Okay." Lin Yuanfang responded and hurried away.

Lin Yifu asked the tribesmen to guard the walled house and sent out ten young men with excellent martial arts skills to follow Lin Yichen from a distance just in case.

~~

On this side, Zhao Hao and others had just waited for a cup of tea when they saw a young man coming from the other side. He introduced himself as the third son of the Lin clan leader, named Lin Yichen.

Lin Yichen first expressed his warm welcome to the governor, and then said loudly: "I have already sent someone to report to my father, but it will take at least an hour to go to the Daliao. I am afraid that I will neglect the governor. In order to save time, how about you follow me directly to the Daliao?"

When Lin Run saw that the other party still did not lower the suspension bridge after he finished speaking, he knew that they had more conditions.

Sure enough, I heard Lin Yichen say that for safety reasons, according to the Hakka people’s rules, no more than a hundred people can enter the village at the same time, so please abide by this.

"Bullshit, why haven't I heard of this rule?" Yue Yunpeng muttered softly, but his voice was drowned out by the sound of the waterfall.

Lin Run readily agreed.