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

Chapter 603 The Real Problem

Did Xia Lin actually know that this was a difficult problem Wei Changsheng had set for him?
At first, I didn't know, but after sitting in the camp and thinking about it carefully, I started to understand. It's even very likely that these people were brought here by Wei Changsheng.

He was a high-ranking official, a man of exceptional talent, and a figure on par with Xia Lin in Emperor Jingtai's Spring Seedling Plan. How could a scene of bowing down to someone like that possibly happen to him?
If it actually happened, then it would be unreal. Xia Lin actually understands everything.

Now, Xia Lin wants Wei Changsheng to do something for him, which is much more difficult than fooling Xiao Chenzi or Zhuo Heng. Xiao Chenzi is a romantic scholar, while Zhuo Heng is a young and impetuous man who is willing to risk everything for his ideals and ambitions.

But what is Wei Changsheng? He's a seasoned veteran in officialdom and a stabilizing force on the frontier. Although he can't compete with Xia Lin on the front lines, it wouldn't be difficult for him to do something to Xia Lin if he really wanted to.

These 70,000 people are most likely Wei Changsheng's scheme. He wants to see how Xia Lin handles this matter. If he handles it well, he will take care of the rest; if he doesn't, he will definitely try to climb the ranks and join forces with Li Shimin to form a powerful alliance.

"This is a really big problem."

Xia Lin crossed his arms and looked at the barbarian group that was controlled about 300 meters in front of the camp. In the past, Wei Changsheng's way of dealing with them was nothing more than giving them some supplies and sending them back. The Lingnan region was not wealthy to begin with, and the supplies given to them would probably not be a small amount.

This kind of extortion is really troublesome. You can't kill them, but if you deal with it like Wei Changsheng did, people will think, "Oh, you're just like me. What happened to the great Wei Youlin? Is this all you've got?" So Xia Lin must come up with a solution in a very short time.

Three days, at most three days. They can still appease these 70,000 people with food within three days, but if it rains in a few days, food alone will probably not be enough to keep them at ease.

"Is there any way?"

Xia Lin turned his head and asked the adjutant next to him. The adjutant lowered his eyelids and said in a cold voice, "In my opinion, it would be better to kill all these people, cut off their flesh and make it into jerky, and then mix the jerky into the military rations and sell it to Li Yuan in the north."

Xia Lin shuddered after hearing this, staring at the military officer in astonishment: "You... what's your surname?"

"This humble general's surname is Jia."

"Wow...you have a family tradition, right?"

Xia Lin immediately rejected the plan. He had historians and censors with him to prevent those aristocratic families from spreading rumors and smearing his reputation. Otherwise, if he made a single fart, the corpses in the books would block the river.

If he really dares to make jerky like that, there's no need for the aristocratic families to smear him; the historians will nail him to the pillar of shame in Chinese history. From now on, unless he can build an aircraft carrier, he will forever be an enemy of the world's righteous cause, and he will never be able to turn his life around. Even if he does build an aircraft carrier, there might be someone who can summon meteorites, or... well, maybe a tsunami.

"Summon all the strategists here for a meeting!"

Xia Lin turned around and went into the commander's camp. Then, more than a dozen strategists filed in, took their seats, and took out paper and pens.

"I'm sure you all know why I've gathered you all here today," Xia Lin said, pursing his lips. "The question of what to do with these 70,000 people is a major problem."

At this moment, one of the strategists spoke up: "General, why don't we turn them all into jerky and sell them to Li Yuan?"

"Li Yuan, thank you so much!" Xia Lin pointed to the adjutant beside him who had just agreed with this guy and said, "You two should get married, okay?"

"This... General, this is not appropriate. I already have a wife."

"You thief, you really want to, don't you?" The adjutant roared in fury, "I've known for a long time that something was wrong with you!"

The two, one eloquent and the other fierce, were about to start arguing when Xia Lin slammed his hand on the table: "If you utter another word of nonsense, I'll throw you both into the Hetao region to herd sheep. Let's see if you two will mate with the sheep or with each other."

After the laughter from below subsided, everyone finally began to think seriously.

Don't blame Xia Lin for being crude; that's how things are in the army. No matter how decent someone acts on the outside, once they're in the military camp and hanging out with these bastards all day, their speech becomes incredibly vulgar. But nobody cares, since this is considered a civilized moment for everyone.

Of course, despite their vulgar language, these people are all very intelligent, and when they get together to discuss things, they actually have a very clear and logical way of thinking.

“I think we shouldn’t release these people. If we do, they’ll come back every year. It’s becoming a way to breed laziness. The barbarians see they can get something for nothing every year, so they’ll keep coming. There’s no logic to that.” “If we don’t release them, what’s the point of keeping them? To let you hunt them?”

At this moment, someone nearby joked, "Make some jerky for Li Yuan to eat."

"No, what grudge does Li Yuan have against you?" Xia Lin rubbed his face. "If you mention dried meat again, get out!"

At this moment, there was a staff member surnamed Xu. He was older and was originally a doctor in Cangzhou. He later abandoned medicine to pursue literature but failed the imperial examinations repeatedly. He then joined Xia Lin's service. He spoke up and said, "General, these people are not difficult to deal with. The difficulty lies in capturing the leader first. In the past, the late emperor promised a great deal to the many barbarian kings in the southwest in order to protect the foundation of the Great Wei. However, these barbarian kings did not distribute the spoils evenly and fought each other for many years. The large tribes were divided into small settlements. Now, seeing that there is profit to be made, they have gradually gathered together to form a large tribe. However, these barbarians have no ability to educate and civilize. They only recognize profit and not righteousness among themselves."

Xia Lin nodded and said, "Mr. Xu, please continue."

"Right now, we only need to divide and conquer them, and then issue 'land reclamation bonds,' allowing barbarian nobles to invest in water conservancy and agriculture, with annual interest paid in grain or other goods. Of course, if we cannot abolish the authority of tribal leaders in the short term, we can implement a meritocratic strategy, declaring that only the true warriors in the tribes can become leaders." The strategist coughed and continued, "Afterwards, we will use the number of able-bodied men, weapons, livestock, etc., to allocate grain, farm tools, and other supplies among the different tribes. Even the least fortunate and laziest tribes will receive some, but it will be less than that of other tribes, much less."

Upon hearing this, Xia Lin's eyes narrowed immediately: "Mr. Xu, you've really figured out the insidious schemes like the 'Decree of Grace' and 'Two Peaches to Kill Three Warriors'."

"Classics are essential reading, after all." Mr. Xu spread his hands in a helpless gesture: "We've read them, but have they?"

Scholars can be truly wicked.

Xia Lin pondered Mr. Xu's plan for a while. It was a huge pitfall starting with the agricultural reclamation debt. It was a privatization trap, turning the tribal chiefs into capitalists of another model. As long as there was profit to be made, what did it matter if they were chiefs or not? It would be strange if they didn't oppress their tribesmen to death. It wouldn't take long, just a few months, to create a huge class divide between the working class and the capitalists.

The teacher once said that class contradictions are irreconcilable.

In the second stage, the meritocracy was implemented. The barbarians at the bottom were clearly no longer satisfied with the current distribution of benefits. With this meritocracy, even if the chieftain disagreed, it would plant a seed in their hearts. What kind of seed was this? It was a seed of daring to challenge upwards, a seed of revolution.

The third stage is the classic application of the proverb "two peaches kill three warriors": the people are not worried about scarcity but about injustice. The barbarians are lazy because since they won't starve, they might as well lie around. Everyone is equally poor, struggling to survive, so it doesn't matter. They'll just go ask the Han people for food when the time comes.

But suddenly, the guy next door who was poor with him became rich. He had an iron pot and a cow, and he had three kids and could eat white rice every meal.

That's it! Failure is terrible, but my brother's success is even more worrying!
When they reach this stage, their once united barbarian tribe will become a fragmented barbarian tribe. They'll think, "I can't beat the Han people, but I can beat you!"
Once such hatred arises, Xia Lin can intervene legitimately as long as bloodshed occurs.

Why? Because they are also citizens of the Great Wei. Since they receive relief in the name of the Great Wei, shouldn't they also be dealt with according to the Great Wei's model if something happens to them?

Once we can intervene, and everyone from the top to the bottom is overjoyed to welcome the victorious army, the problem will be much easier to solve.

Let alone 70,000 people, you could devour 700,000. Or, to be even more wicked, you could artificially divide them into two groups: one group of tall, big-eyed people, and another group of short, small-eyed people. Let the two groups slaughter each other, and turn the losing group into jerky to sell to Li Yuan.

Of course, this plan is not advisable, but Xia Lin has been struggling here for so long that he has clearly understood one thing: these people are not the same kind of people as the Miao or Zhuang people he will see in the future. They are more like Southeast Asian monkeys, after all, you can tell from their appearance.

Therefore, Xia Lin had no psychological burden towards them at all. In fact, if it weren't for the need to save face and avoid offending the historical record, he would have actually adopted the plan to turn them into jerky for Li Yuan to eat.

The true Miao people, with Xu Shiji still around, have plenty of strength and resources; they are our own people. As for these monkeys, in chaotic times, harsh measures are necessary.

"Okay, let's do as Mr. Xu says."

Just as Xia Lin was preparing to announce his new plan to the tribal chiefs, a local tyrant was about to face his twilight years.

Master Hu, known in the martial arts world as Hu Sandao, is now looking around Zhongwu County to find a suitable place to build a palace, as his army grows stronger and stronger.

He consulted feng shui masters and sought out people to find the dragon vein and divide the gold, and in the process, he obtained a piece of information from these charlatans.

"Huh? General Wei surrendered? To whom? I haven't heard a thing!" When Master Hu heard the news, he jumped three feet high: "Oh my! Isn't that a golden opportunity? muster the troops! Go to Yao County and find my brother Zhang. Raise an army immediately!"

(End of this chapter)