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

Chapter 571: The Age of Troubles
When Xia Lin left, a farewell snow fell in Jinling City. The heavy snow forced the team to stop 140 miles away from Jinling City.

Next to the camp was a village, which was neither rich nor poor. The people in the village could barely afford food, but the food was not necessarily good.

Again, they can barely behave like human beings now, that's because Jiangnan Dao and Xia Lin are right next to them, and every bite of food they eat is not because of the mercy of these landlords but because of their fear.

This is the state of affairs in troubled times. It is not a status quo that can be changed by the diligent efforts of one or two emperors. It requires a thorough and overwhelming internal upheaval.

Xia Lin was sitting on a rock by the roadside eating canned food. A few dirty furry kids next to him were staring at him. It was obvious that they were not hungry, but they were just greedy.

"Want to eat?" Xia Lin handed over a can of food: "Take it."

The children looked at each other, and finally the oldest child carefully took it. He looked about eight or nine years old. After taking the can, he asked Xia Lin curiously, "Aren't you going to eat it?"

"You guys are greedy, aren't you?" Xia Lin put his hands on his knees and said, "Then I'll give it to you."

"Are you a soldier?" the child continued to ask, his eyes full of curiosity and scrutiny.

Xia Lin smiled and asked, "Do you think I look like her?"

"Hmm..." The older boy shook his head. "No, I think those soldiers are all tall and strong. You're so thin, I don't think so."

“Hahahaha…” Xia Lin waved his hands and said, “It doesn’t look like that, then it doesn’t look like that. Why don’t you go home when it’s so cold?”

The children all looked cunning, and finally the oldest child said, "We heard that if you see that flag and follow it, you can get something delicious."

The older boy pointed at the Summer flag flying over the military camp and said seriously, "They said we should pretend we haven't eaten for a long time, saying that the soldiers under this flag are different from the other soldiers and they will give us food."

His words made Xia Lin laugh, and he continued to ask: "Then other people won't give it?"

"They would give it to us, but we don't dare to take it." The child's eyes turned a little ferocious when he said this: "Two years ago, my parents took a bag of rice from those people, and they took my sister away during the Chinese New Year. They said that they lent the rice to my parents in the spring, and they had to return a roomful of rice in the fall, because the rice will grow into rice, and one grain of rice is a handful of rice. If my parents can't pay it back, my sister will be gone."

Xia Lin's smile gradually faded when he heard this: "So you hate them, right?"

"Yes!" The child looked up at the Xia flag flying outside the camp and said, "My brother said that when I grow up, I will join the army here. Only by serving here can I avenge my sister."

"Then do you know what kind of army this is?"

Xia Lin's question made the child stunned for a moment, then he shook his head silently but still pointed at the flag: "Just remember this flag, my brother said that he served in the army here."

Xia Lin reached out and touched his head: "Grow up well."

"Ok!"

At this moment, a lieutenant general came quickly behind him and whispered in Xia Lin's ear: "General, the wind and snow have stopped, we can set off now."

"Okay." Xia Lin stood up and was about to leave. He turned back to look at the group of children, then pointed at the big flag in the barracks and said, "Go, get a commander's flag."

Soon the lieutenant general brought a box. Inside the box was the real flag of the new army. There was no pattern or words on it, just a piece of dark red cloth. Xia Lin placed the box in front of the children and said, "Remember, don't join any flag with a name in the future. You have to remember this color."

After saying that, he got up and went back. Not long after, the sound of a cow mooing was heard, and the camp officially set out. The group of children stood on the side of the road and watched Xia Lin riding a tall horse and carrying three thousand elite soldiers passing by. When passing by them, Xia Lin even cast a look at them.

"Wow, that's the Marshal!!! The one who just gave us things is the Marshal!" The children shouted excitedly. They had never even seen an ordinary general, let alone someone like Xia Lin who was qualified to be the commander-in-chief. They just felt that the brother in front of them who had a pretty good smile was actually the commander-in-chief of this heavenly army, which made them fascinated.

The wind stopped and the snow cleared, revealing a bright and clear sky. Xia Lin could not help but stare at the blue sky in the distance in a daze, as if he had left Luoyang eleven years ago. He was sixteen that year, and now after the New Year he is already twenty-seven years old.

It's funny to say that he is only 27, but he is already 27. It is better to become famous early. At the age when others are still busy preparing for the imperial examination, Xia Lin has already taken charge of the generals and traveled all over the world.

He still has a lot of time. The look in the child's eyes when he looked at the flag just now made him more certain that there was nothing wrong with his route. Although he would encounter many problems in the future, there was no doubt that the fire he had spread over the years was finally slowly blooming. Even if there was still a long way to go before it could set the whole prairie on fire, he would still reach his destination despite the difficulties.

The road from Jinling to Fuliang was easy to travel, and it didn't take them much time as they stopped and walked along the way. Thinking about how long it had been since Xia Lin came back here, it had been almost four years.

Time passes so fast, and in a blink of an eye, a lifetime has passed.

Because Emperor Hongbao was away on mourning leave, and now he has returned again, standing on that funny "Cape of Good Hope" and looking at Fuliang, even Xia Lin feels a little unfamiliar.

After transferring the troops back to the camp, Xia Lin did not disturb anyone. He changed his clothes and headed for Fuliang. Because the new army camp was more than ten miles away from the county town, he simply spent more than twenty coins to board a black-sailed ferry.

In late spring in March, when the small black-sailed boat turned the last bay, there was a slight tremor under his feet. The water splashed by the boatwoman's bamboo pole fell on his green shirt. He looked at the brand new dock on the shore and wondered if he had taken the wrong waterway.

The day I left home four years ago, it was also drizzling. The slate in my memory has long been replaced by blue-gray cement, the weeping willows on the shore have been replaced by rows of red lacquered beauty chairs, the flying eaves and brackets of teahouses and taverns pierce the mist, and the "Drunken Moon Song" embroidered in gold thread on the wine flag flutters in the wind. He clenched the wet cable at the bow, feeling both emotional and relieved.

"Sir, be careful, we're approaching the shore!" The boatwoman threw the rope to the mooring stone, and the copper bells made a clear sound. When Xia Lin stepped on the gangplank and landed, he saw a ship carrying grain from the government passing through the waves. The 180-foot-long hull was painted with tung oil, and a layer of white salt crystals formed near the waterline of the ship. Several shirtless boatmen squatted on the top of the cabin, sweating in the late spring cold, eating pancakes, and the laughter and scolding in the Minnan accent mixed in the humid wind. It was obviously a cargo ship coming from Quanzhou Port.

The memorial archway erected in the original Doufu Lane was taller than the beacon tower that Xia Lin used to look out when he was on guard duty. Xia Lin stood under the gilded plaque and watched the ox carts and sedan chairs crossing each other on the eight-zhang-wide street. The stall where he flirted with Tang Baoer back then now stands as a three-story restaurant, with glazed tiles reflecting the spring sun, making people dizzy. The old locust tree at the corner of the street is still there, but its branches are wrapped with scarlet silk ribbons, and under the tree there is an incense table with a painted statue of the God of Wealth.

"Hey...you...Xia..." A woman walked out of the inn at this moment, with a faded wooden hairpin in her gray hair. Xia Lin immediately made a gesture to silence her. This was Mrs. Qing, who used to sell steamed buns at the dock. She used to treat Xia Lin to free food and drinks. Mrs. Qing grabbed his sleeve and tears welled up in her eyes: "Master Xia, why didn't you say hello when you came back? Come in, come in..."

As dusk fell, Xia Lin stood in front of the inn newly opened by Sister Qing. A gilded lantern hung on the carved door lintel, and the waiter called out "Two guests in the No. 1 wing room", and the sound of copper bells on the eaves overlapped with the sound of the night watch. At this moment, through the opened red screen window upstairs, a woman was singing the most popular Fuliang opera "Partridge Sky", the soft Wu dialect mixed with the scent of Persian spices, lingering in the night sky illuminated by lanterns and torches all over the street.

"Please wait a moment, sir. I will bring you some wine and food."

Mrs. Qing wiped away her tears, she felt very sad. Xia Lin was so high-spirited when he left, but now he came back alone. Mrs. Qing, who had seen a lot at the docks over the years, thought at first sight that Lord Xia had been demoted, otherwise why would he look so lonely and shabby even when returning home?

Soon, the best wine and meat in the store were piled in front of Xia Lin's table. Sister Qing stood beside Xia Lin with red eyes and said, "Master Xia, if you have any difficulties, please tell me. I will help you even if I have to sell everything I have."

Xia Lin waved his hand, picked up the bowl and began to eat: "Sister Qing, don't cry."

"How can I not cry? You were surrounded by people back then, but now you are all alone. How can the human feelings in this world be so cold? Don't panic, Master Xia. You can stay with me as long as you want. If you hadn't taken care of my family, I'm afraid we would have starved to death on the streets long ago."

Xia Lin just smiled without much explanation and ate silently until his belly was full.

The changes in Fuliang over the years are indeed obvious. Perhaps this is the normal pattern after a region has developed healthily. But in this world where everyone is competing for the worst, it stands out from the crowd...

After the meal, Xia Lin quietly deposited a five-liang silver note on the table and left. This meal certainly didn't cost five liang, but he had eaten and drunk for free quite a few times at Mrs. Qing's place over the years.

He wanted to continue walking around. After all, this was the place he built and it was like a child he raised, making people happy.

(End of this chapter)