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

Chapter 596 This Shabby Place...

Xia Lin's smartest trait is that she never listens to anyone.

Oh, so you can't bring people in just because they say no? You can't bring weapons just because they say no?
The villagers chased them for about two miles along the mountain road. Xia Lin raised his hand and said, "We're not running anymore."

After saying that, he turned around and stood there, watching the villagers rushing towards him like pigs, brandishing clubs and stone spears. He turned to the guide and said, "Tell them that they still have a chance to retreat now, but if they get past that big tree, they're doomed."

The guide hurriedly went to the front to shout, but to his surprise, only a spear answered him. At this moment, Xia Lin chuckled and fired two shots into the air with his shotgun. Then, commotion broke out all around, and a group of soldiers in leather armor quickly emerged from their hiding places, holding sharp blades and shields to protect Xia Lin behind them.

Xia Lin didn't waste any words; he simply stood there and stretched out his hand, and more than a thousand soldiers charged towards the crowd.

Don't be fooled by movies, TV shows, and novels where primitive tribes can fight a fully equipped regular army to a standstill. That's all just for entertainment. Sometimes, if someone has weapons and technology that are two or more generations ahead, the game is over. Not to mention, a nearly primitive tribe that struggles to even eat is going up against Xia Lin's super soldiers built with money.

In essence, there is no good or bad here. The Nanzhao Kingdom took more than a hundred years to emerge. At this critical juncture, the wilderness was the mainstream. Relatively speaking, Xia Lin believes that this is all good. At the same time, the Tubo Kingdom overhead was the real hell mode.

Alright, enough talk, let's see how over a thousand field troops fight against a couple hundred tribal warriors...

The enemy also had weapons, but most of them were made of stone and bamboo. In comparison, Xia Lin's warriors were armed with very advanced swords and wore leather armor.

This leather armor is no ordinary leather armor; it's a three-layer composite leather armor. In terms of protection, it's only vulnerable to blunt force impacts from cavalry and exceptionally strong individuals. Ordinary swordsmen are like child's play to them.

In addition, most of them were veterans who had been trained for many years and were rehired. Their combat skills and fighting will were so good that they were practically monsters. Six strikes per second was the limit of their hands, not the limit of their loyalty!

As the battle began, many people from the village quickly joined the fight, but their fighting strength was basically overwhelmed by the regular army, which quickly pushed the battle line back into the village.

It was said before that this place could house 20,000 to 30,000 people, a difference of 20 to 30 times, but it was useless. All they could organize was village-level brawls. Against elite soldiers who knew how to use knife formations and the three-man cover charge, it was really a joke.

After bringing the people to the village, Xia Lin strolled leisurely to the spot where his second brother had previously worked the millstone and plopped down on it.

"Second brother, are you happy now?" Xia Lin patted his bewildered second brother. "I know you are kind, and you judge others by your own standards, thinking that if you are kind, everyone in the world will be kind like you. But that's not true. You grew up in too privileged an environment. Wandering the martial world is just for fun. The real martial world, the real martial world, is in the imperial court."

Xu Shiji then took his second brother's and his own weapons from someone else and threw the spear in front of his second brother: "Daosheng is right, you are still inexperienced. Daosheng had already made arrangements before we came to this village."

"But..." the second brother still looked bewildered: "How do you know they won't let us go?"

Xia Lin wagged her finger: "I heard that you can't bring people or weapons into this sacred mountain, which I found suspicious. It's always good to be careful. Second brother, do you know how much I've wasted because of you?"

At this moment, the sounds of fighting outside gradually ceased, replaced by cries, shouts of shooing, and reprimands.

After about an hour of this commotion, a captain came in, cupped his hands, and said, "General, the men have been assigned to guard three different locations."

"What is the situation regarding casualties among the brothers?"

"Six people sustained minor injuries, one person was seriously injured, and one person fell off a cliff. We are searching for them with all our might."

"Okay." Xia Lin nodded and said, "First, do a good job of providing compensation, then starve these barbarians for two days. Except for those under three years old, give the rest only water and no food for these two days."

"Order."

"Daosheng, aren't you leaving?" Xu Shiji tilted his head and looked at Xia Lin. "What are you still lingering here for?"

“Brother Xu is too narrow-minded.” Xia Lin sighed, then paced around the sacrificial site: “Are the descendants of Chi You no longer Chinese?”

Xu Shiji looked at Xia Lin with his hands behind his back. Although he was called narrow-minded, he was not angry. He just asked with interest, "So, what is Daosheng planning to do?"

"Let's try to solve the problem here, but the transportation here is inconvenient, there isn't even a decent road, this is going to be difficult."

The noise outside had noticeably subsided by then. Xia Lin pushed open the door to go out when Xu Shiji suddenly exclaimed, "Hey!"

"What's wrong, Brother Xu?"

Xu Shiji smiled and waved his hand: "It's nothing, I just wanted to remind you to be careful and watch out for things in the shadows."

"Don't worry." Xia Lin cupped his hands in greeting to the two of them. "It's not convenient for you two brothers to get involved in the rest of the matter, so please rest here for a while. Someone will call you for dinner later." Xia Lin left, and at this moment, the second brother, who was more in sync with Xu Shiji, turned around and looked at Xu Shiji with a simple and honest look: "Why didn't you finish what you were saying when you shouted?"

Xu Shiji pursed his lips and remained silent for a long time before leaning against the window and saying, "I was just about to ask him if he had any ambition to conquer the world. But then I thought that if I asked, it would lower my character. But if I didn't ask, I would feel somewhat unwilling."

"What if he has that intention?"

“If I have that heart, I will descend the mountain as a Taoist priest.” Xu Shiji paused and continued, “If not, I will continue to practice medicine and help the world. At first, I planned to serve the Li family, but I despise Li Yuan. Then I thought of serving Wang Shichong, but Wang Shichong is not capable of great things. I then thought of serving Zhai Rang and Li Mi, but I felt that these two were hypocrites. There are very few heroes in the world that I can approve of.”

"You're quite dramatic."

"A good bird chooses a good tree to perch on, what do you know, you blockhead?"

The second brother laughed heartily: "How could I not understand? I may not understand military strategy, but I certainly understand reputation in the martial world. In recent years, whenever there has been a disaster, the locals immediately rise up and say they want to go to Jiangnan. Jiangnan now has more than ten million people. Have you ever heard of any cases of tyranny and oppression of the people? When my father was in charge, it wasn't like this at all. You can't possibly say that it was my eldest brother, who is always thinking about farming, who did this, can you?"

Xu Shiji raised his hand and pointed at his second brother, laughing, "You rascal."

"If you want to join forces, then join forces. You people are no different from merchants. You just go wherever there is profit. I don't care about you. I'd rather be a wandering knight."

Xu Shiji was indeed speechless after what his second brother said. He left with the words, "I'm going to check on Daosheng's side," and then pushed open the door and went out.

"I already told you it's inconvenient for you to go," the second brother muttered. "Isn't it because I'm afraid you'll give him bad advice?"

"Don't talk nonsense. He said it was inconvenient because he didn't want the two of us to get involved in karma."

Despite saying that, the two still went to watch the excitement. At this moment, Xia Lin had gathered several elders, priests, and chieftains from the large village together, and with the guide's translation, he began to try to win them over psychologically.

In reality, there's not much to discuss in this kind of negotiation. If someone else were here, they would just kill them all. After all, the number of people isn't that large, and in the eyes of the general public, these people can't even be considered human. They are ignorant, barbaric, and backward, and in short, they look like monkeys.

But when it comes to actually talking about it, there are many things to consider. Leaving aside culture and customs, just how to change the genes of poverty in this area is a big problem.

Unconditionally provide food and drink? That would only breed laziness and unruly people. But if you really ask them to farm and herd livestock, given their limited knowledge and perspective, they might just boil wheat seedlings and rice seeds to eat, and make dried meat from piglets and calves.

Therefore, considering all factors, the simplest solution is to gather them together, pile firewood around them, and burn them alive, or dig a huge pit and fill it with tens of thousands of people, which would be a contribution to nature.

But that was obviously not an option right now, and Xia Lin didn't have that much time to waste with them in this poor mountain village. While he was hesitating and conflicted, Xia Lin glanced at Xu Shiji, who was peeking around nearby, and an idea immediately came to him.

"Brother Xu, Brother Xu, come here for a moment."

Xia Lin went to the window, poked her head out, and called Xu Shiji in. Xu Shiji looked bewildered, wondering why Xia Lin had called him in.

The two looked at each other in silence for a moment, then Xia Lin suddenly spoke up: "Um... Brother Xu, I have something I'd like to ask you, what do you think?"

Xu Shiji's eyes darted around, observing Xia Lin's expression and gaze, and his heart skipped a beat.

Sure enough, before he could accept or refuse, Xia Lin said, "Brother Xu, if you're willing, I'd like to ask you to stay here and help develop this area. I'll first pave the road, and then teach you farming techniques..."

"Establish a government office here?" Xu Shiji, as expected of a top strategist, asked, "Does Daosheng intend to establish a government office here?"

"Yes!" Xia Lin nodded heavily, "I just don't know about Brother Xu..."

Xu Shiji lowered his eyelids, then laughed: "Then I wonder under what pretext you intend to invite me? Is it as a friend, or as a mediocre official?"

Good heavens, Xia Lin watched as Old Xu intensified his efforts. In the name of friendship, that meant he owed Xu Shiji a huge favor.

But that title of subject confirmed Xia Lin's ambition to become emperor.

If Xia Lin gives a wrong answer right now, she will lose a capable assistant.

“That… of course it is…” Xia Lin reacted quickly and answered decisively, “Neither a friend nor a subject, but in the name of someone who has a passionate love for this land.”

(End of this chapter)