Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 117 Drought
Xia Lin said he wanted to go back, but he was not in a hurry. He stayed in the provincial capital and looked through some files, among which he found a report on the drought in northern Jiangnan Province last year.

This report also mentioned the issue of drought in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, saying that there has been no effective rainfall since May last year. Although the middle and lower reaches are still quite normal, what is coming is a locust plague rather than a drought.

After having this mental preparation, Xia Lin started to think about it. The pesticides would be shipped on a large scale.

"Good boy, smash it!" Lao Guo's voice rang out from outside, deep and loud: "Stop watching, come play a few games with me."

"coming!"

Just as he was about to walk out, he suddenly saw a file next to him with "Zhuangyuanzhi" written on it. He took the file, tucked it under his arm and walked out.

In the morning, Xia Lin played war games with Lao Guo for a while. When the two of them were having dinner in the government office, Xia Lin found an opportunity to ask, "Father Guo, how about you give me a promotion, from 500 to 3,000 people?"

"Speaking of this makes me angry. Is your barracks a barracks? You are a death squad barracks. I won't say anything if there are 500 people, but if there are 3,000 people, you will be in trouble. No approval."

After all, Old Guo was a relatively clear-headed man. No matter how Xia Lin tried to persuade him, he refused to give in. Three thousand soldiers were too dangerous for a young man with an unstable foundation. If he was not careful, he would be accused of treason. Looking at his style of doing things, it was hard for Old Guo to imagine how many people he would offend in the future.

"Stop talking, let's discuss this later. You can't control three thousand soldiers."

"Then will the armorless one work?"

Lao Guo was stunned: "What are you doing here without armor? No matter how many people without armor there are, they can only fill in the numbers at the front."

"Just approve it for me. Five hundred armored soldiers and three thousand without armor. Is this okay?"

Hearing what he said, Lao Guo didn't say anything else. Considering that he had made a great contribution this time, he naturally agreed. And because there was no need to approve the armor, Lao Guo didn't even need to issue a provincial governor's order for the share of 3,000 people. He just issued a government document and stamped it, and it was considered completed.

This is actually the limitation of the times. In this era, it is a foregone conclusion that people wearing armor are more dangerous than people. As for those without armor... no matter how many people there are, they are just a group of cannon fodder.

Xia Lin, who had once again managed to trick Lao Guo into giving him something, naturally expressed his gratitude, and then raised the file in his hand: "Let me take a look at this No. 1 Scholar Records."

"What's so interesting about this? It's just a list of the imperial examinations recorded by the prefectures of past dynasties, and it only records the top ten."

"It will be very useful!" Xia Lin raised the No. 1 Scholar's Record in his hand and said, "Father Guo, you have to bear the pressure from above. I will be leaving today or tomorrow."

"Play for a few more days. I heard you have a high reputation here."

"I don't have time. I need to prepare for His Majesty's southern tour. You don't want others to pick on you in your territory. I think there are still many things to plan."

"Oh~ yes, yes, you go quickly."

Xia Lin didn't waste any words and went to have a meal with Lao Zhang. He was scolded by Lao Zhang for the entire meal. But it was just a meal and he didn't have time to waste. The emperor would start his southern tour in twenty days at most and he didn't have much time left.

He rushed back to Fuliang County overnight. After landing, he went to the home of the murdered student Dong Shi to express his condolences without even having time to visit the new government office. He first ensured that Dong Shi's younger brother could enter Ehu Academy, and then arranged compensation for his family.

Here we have to say that Xia Lin did a great job in the city. After he came out from visiting Dong Shi's family, the students of Ehu Academy actually knelt on both sides of the road and kowtowed to Xia Lin.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, he said pretentiously, "Don't kneel to me. If one day you become an official in the court, you only need to remember one thing, that is, to integrate knowledge and action to achieve conscience. What you kneel to today is your future self, and you should thank your future self for not forgetting your original intention."

After saying that, he waved his hand and left in a casual manner. There were many people watching him. The joy of pretending to be cool and then leaving really stimulated dopamine quickly, making people feel ecstatic.

Xia Lin never understood why these people were working so hard to make money. They just watched books at home. To put it bluntly, their spiritual world was too empty. Those rich people who had some aspirations became teachers in the end. They either gave physics lectures live or wore red clothes to give people eloquence classes.

It is so prestigious to be a teacher. It makes you feel great when you see your students being awesome.

But it's hard to say anything about this, everyone has their own aspirations. And he didn't have time to chew on it, he still had to arrange entertainment for the old emperor.

"Ma Zhou, Ma Zhou!"

After returning to the new government office, he started shouting as soon as he stepped through the threshold. Not long after, Ma Zhou trotted out of the house and bowed to Xia Lin, saying, "Sir, you are finally back. I heard that you have recovered 70 miles of territory for the Wei Dynasty. Congratulations."

"Alright, alright, no time for flattery." Xia Lin put his arm around Ma Zhou's shoulder and said, "Come on, let's talk in the back hall."

Arriving at the back hall, Xia Lin found a stool and sat down: "You may have to go on a business trip this time." "Please let me know, sir."

Xia Lin coughed and said, "Now go to Suzhou, Yangzhou, and Hangzhou to recruit some famous prostitutes. Look for those who are not interested in entertaining guests and are good at playing musical instruments and singing. Don't let go of the Qinhuai River either. Get those who are from this spring or that summer. You don't have to pay for it. Just say you are performing for His Majesty and they will agree."

"Master Xia, how much does this cost? Those famous prostitutes would cost a thousand or eight hundred to see them once. Let them come together..."

Xia Lin slapped his thigh and said, "You are so ignorant. Money? How can you talk about money when serving His Majesty? When you go there, spread the word that His Majesty is about to go on a southern tour. Even a prostitute would like to express her gratitude to His Majesty and is willing to play music and dance for His Majesty during his journey to comfort him."

"Ah...are they willing to do this?"

"It'll be fine if there's one family that's willing. They'll roll their own." Xia Lin wiped his nose and said, "You'll be responsible for gathering all these women here, and then send them all to the palace and the dragon boat."

"Doesn't that mean Your Majesty is being excessively licentious..."

"Aren't you usually quite smart? His Majesty's expeditions are all about debauchery. My lady's initiative is all about peace and tranquility. What? Are you still worried about those prostitutes? Stop it, they are very happy. After this trip, no matter if they do anything or not, their value will double. They will be so happy that they will cry for their parents."

"Double your worth? Sir, Ma Zhou really doesn't understand this business... I hope you can teach me."

"Well, let me ask you, do you want to taste the tribute?"

"Think about it. There is no one in the world who doesn't think about it."

"Then if there was a plate of shortbread left over from a banquet hosted by His Majesty, and this plate of shortbread was placed in front of you, would you mind if His Majesty took a bite of one of the shortbreads?"

"I don't care. I don't care. It's a favor from His Majesty."

"That's it, let's do it."

Xia Lin patted Ma Zhou on the back and said, "Make an account for yourself. You can withdraw as much as you want. You know where the account is."

"Ma Zhou will set off now."

Soon Ma Zhou left in a hurry, and Xia Lin finally got two days of leisure. After he returned to the backyard, he felt something was really different. The whole place had expanded more than twice. The three dilapidated houses had long been demolished, and now there were rooms with a proper Chinese garden design. The back was even connected to a fish pond with several big red carps swimming in it.

Xia Lin took a bath. He had nothing to do today and was too lazy to go to the brothel to listen to music. He turned around and saw Sister Chuntao preparing snacks. He chuckled and did it first.

In the next few days, Xia Lin's life was as orderly as usual. He continued to complete the construction of the "official kiln", recruit soldiers, and forge weapons. The only difference was that County Magistrate Xia came up with something new for the blacksmiths in the town. He said they would roll a section of iron pipe. It was the first time they had seen this thing, so they were very careful. But Xia Lin's requirements were simple. As long as the lines inside could be successfully carved out, he would give them what they wanted.

And it was during these few days that information about him began to fly everywhere. First, a letter from Zeng Ming, one of the Three Dukes of the Imperial Court, to His Majesty arrived. The emperor treated the first part about his retirement as nonsense, but the second part about what he saw and heard in Hongdu Prefecture was very attractive, and Emperor Hongbao read it with great relish.

The level of detail in this thing is almost as good as a letter of recommendation, and the praise for Xia Lin in it is so great that it is beyond words.

"Did this old Zeng take the money from that kid?"

His Majesty read the letter and asked Tian En with a smile on his face. The old eunuch Tian En hummed and said, "Your Majesty, this is the same as the news from the eunuchs. It should be that Lord Zeng was inspired by it."

"Then Old Zeng has taken a liking to this person and wants Xia Daocheng to be his successor. In the past few decades, when have you ever seen Old Zeng write good words about anyone?"

"Your Majesty, this is not impossible."

"Hahaha... He also gets anxious sometimes. Then let me ask you, what was the reaction of the ministers after this matter was reported to the court?"

"Of course there is some indignation,"

"Let them be angry. These people have never suffered such a big loss." After laughing, Emperor Hongbao frowned. "This matter can be big or small. Send some people to appease the Hou family and tell them that we will definitely give him justice."

"Your Majesty, are you going to punish Xia Daosheng?"

"No, I want to let Gao Shilian fight with his men, and then I will step in when the situation is not too bad."

(End of this chapter)