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

Chapter 605 The Head is Passed Down in Jinling
"It can be said that his life was full of ups and downs, but in the end, all that is left are these four words."

Looking at the order to deliver the head, Wei Changsheng felt a pang of melancholy: "I wonder if you and I will one day end up like this."

Xia Lin patted the railing with both hands, gazing at the misty Li River. A faint red sun appeared and disappeared in the clouds. He didn't answer directly, but just smiled. But the silence at that moment was the answer. Smart people don't need to say so much.

"Oh, by the way, I heard that Lord Xia doesn't plan to send those native barbarians back? What's the point of keeping them here?"

“If we don’t keep them today, and we don’t keep them tomorrow, they will come asking for things year after year. The country is still relatively wealthy now and can afford it. But what will happen if we encounter natural disasters or man-made calamities and can’t afford it? If we don’t do this, then our sons and grandsons will do it. We will do it eventually.”

Wei Changsheng nodded slightly: "That is indeed the case, but I still don't know how Lord Xia will deal with these uncivilized people?"

"As long as you're human, you'll always find a way."

Xia Lin sat down and told Wei Changsheng about his arrangements and plans in detail. Wei Changsheng was amazed after listening. He had thought of these methods before, but each one had its own flaws. However, after combining them, these natives were like three-year-old children, completely under their control.

It won't take many generations, at most one or two, before these natives are completely assimilated into the great alchemical furnace of Central Plains culture. They may retain some of their own cultural characteristics, but probably not, because that would represent utter backwardness to them.

"But Lord Xia, isn't this process taking a bit too long?"

"It won't be too long, maybe three to five years. In the first two years, we'll let them get a basic understanding of the world. Of course, taking a bath is the first step. These past few days, I've been really disgusted by their stench. I even dream about the smell of their body odor mixed with the stench of herbs."

When this was mentioned, Wei Changsheng's expression was not very natural, clearly indicating that he had been bothered by that smell quite a bit over the years.

But just then, Xia Lin suddenly pulled out a small porcelain bottle from his pocket and handed it to Wei Changsheng: "By the way, I got those herbal prescriptions from the locals. Smell them."

Wei Changsheng, without any suspicion, took it and put it under his nose, letting it slurp through his lungs. He immediately gagged. That was the smell... that terrifying smell!

"Why are you inhaling so hard?" Xia Lin exclaimed, gently patting Wei Changsheng's back. "Brother Wei..."

"I'm fine."

"You're still alright, but your face is pale." Xia Lin smiled as she took back the porcelain bottle. "This medicine is truly miraculous. I've already had people set up medicinal fields to prepare for large-scale cultivation. It can prevent scabies, bedsores, and eczema; it can repel mosquitoes, insects, and snakes; and it can also effectively prevent and treat malaria. Moreover, although it smells bad, it has an excellent effect on acclimatization problems and can even be used to induce sweating and reduce fever."

Wei Changsheng came to the table, took a big gulp of water, and forcefully suppressed his churning stomach. He sat down and said, "They only have this much good stuff, and you managed to get your hands on it. How did you negotiate with them? I wanted this stuff before, but they absolutely refused to give it to me."

“I’m helping them sell the medicine. The medicinal herb fields are theirs, the pharmaceutical workshops are theirs, and all the money from the sales, after deducting costs, belongs to them. Why shouldn’t they give it to me?”

"Do they really believe you?"

Xia Lin slammed the contract on the table: "Even natives are human. With reasonable communication, they can understand. Besides, I'll tell them straight: if I didn't want to plan the future with you properly, even if I turned tens of thousands of you into jerky and sold it to Li Yuan, what could you do about it?"

Wei Changsheng couldn't help but chuckle, but he still picked up the contract and read it carefully. It listed a series of support policies, as well as an overall plan for these local people, including labor and education.

"The Central Plains are prosperous not because they are so prosperous, but because they are so vast." Xia Lin leaned against a pillar and laughed. "As the saying goes, 'The ocean is vast because it can accommodate all rivers.' We can use their medicine and allow them to wear our clothes. How could such a vast country as China not accommodate a group of dirty, uncultured people?"

Wei Changsheng stared at Xia Lin for a long time, then suddenly laughed and said, "Lord Xia truly has the power of a thunderbolt but the heart of a bodhisattva, and a world within his heart."

"Don't flatter me, don't flatter me too much, it'll lose its charm." Xia Lin waved his hand and said, "Later, you'll come with me to meet those indigenous leaders."

"Huh? This... alright." Wei Changsheng looked troubled, but he quickly regained his composure: "It's inevitable that it will stink once a year."

In the afternoon, they went to see the tribal leaders, but to their surprise, the leaders were all wearing brand new clothes and had no unpleasant smell. They were clean and their skin was a little dark, but it was normal for people who spent their lives hunting and farming in the mountains to be a little dark.

Upon seeing these people, Wei Changsheng was also very surprised. They were dressed in Han Chinese clothes and could even sit there properly drinking tea, without carrying any weapons.

Everyone seemed to be getting along very well.

At this moment, Wei Changsheng couldn't help but glance at Xia Lin again. He saw Xia Lin greeting the leaders of these local people in their manners. Some required cheek kisses, others required arm-linking, and Xia Lin did it all. He could even communicate with them in his broken local dialect, asking them if they had eaten and slept well these past few days.

This is a prodigy. Wei Changsheng had made up his mind about Xia Lin. The word "prodigy" was no longer enough to describe his abilities. After all, given his status and abilities, there was no need for him to be so friendly with these natives. More importantly, he even learned to speak their language. This mentality alone was something that ordinary people could not match.

The traditional social hierarchy is scholar, farmer, artisan, and merchant. Xia Lin, as a leading scholar, was nicknamed "the Night Emperor's man," yet he humbled himself to this extent. Now it seems there's a reason why he's so powerful.

"We discussed finding a settlement for them west of the Li River. Their request is simple: they want to no longer be called Qiang people; they are not Qiang people." "Then who are they?"

"They say they are a certain kind of person, then that's who they are," Xia Lin said, spreading her hands. "We can't exactly change their ethnicity for them, can we?"

Wei Changsheng stroked his chin: "What if they say they are Han Chinese?"

“Those are Han Chinese. Just register them and that’s it. I’d love for them to say they’re Han Chinese.” Xia Lin laughed. “As long as they dare to say that, there will be no more border troubles here in the future.”

Unfortunately, they didn't say they were Han Chinese, nor did they say what ethnicity they were. They just left it at that for now, since there were several totems in their circle, and no one could convince anyone else. If they kept talking, they would start fighting among themselves.

In the following days, Xia Lin and Wei Changsheng were not idle; instead, they began to actively and closely plan the issue of allowing these border residents to stay.

From land planning to arranging production and daily life, the workload is quite large, and there can be no mistakes. Xia Lin doesn't trust his subordinates to do it. These guys still don't have a concept of equality, and these locals are almost as sensitive as female teachers in Japanese adult films. They'll explode at the slightest mistake.

So at this stage, all we can do is appease them.

"Lord Xia".

Xia Lin had just gotten up when Wei Changsheng was waiting for him outside. Upon seeing Xia Lin, Wei Changsheng said in a low voice, "The imperial edict to send the head to Jinling arrived yesterday."

"Oh..." Xia Lin slapped his forehead: "I forgot about him. Okay, I know. Hey you, Xiao Mao, come here for a second."

A guard ran over and said, "General."

"Xiao Mao, go back to Zhongwu County now and tell them that Xiao Zhang has already captured Guizhou and is now welcoming Lord Hu to come and give guidance."

"Order!"

The guards ran out, while Wei Changsheng looked at Xia Lin curiously: "Little... Zhang?"

Xia Lin laughed heartily: "Brother Wei, here's what happened..."

After some explanation, Wei Changsheng burst into laughter, but stopped abruptly after a while, because he suddenly realized that the person being secretly targeted was none other than himself.

In other words, if he did not surrender, then the four eastern counties of Guizhou would send more than 30,000 elite troops to attack him, and they would only be local militias in name. But what local militia would have armored warhorses, cavalry battalions, and firearms battalions?
After figuring it out, Wei Changsheng scratched his head, saying, "It's impossible to guard against..."

"Oh, all's fair in war," Xia Lin waved his hand and said, "If Brother Wei had rebelled back then, it would have been a really fierce battle. I've observed this place, and it's easy to defend but difficult to attack. This is not what I want to see."

Wei Changsheng gave a dry laugh: "In the end, it was because I was cowardly and avoided battle."

“Hey! Brother Wei, you can’t say that. The historians who accompanied the army have all recorded that it was because Brother Wei was unable to move forward due to internal and external troubles that he invited the Jiangnan Circuit to suppress the bandits and quell the rebellion. How can you say that he was cowardly? He was clearly a man of great righteousness.”

Xia Lin shook his finger and said, "The blame for treason will naturally fall on someone else."

Wei Changsheng rolled his eyes a few times, then cupped his hands in thanks to Xia Lin: "Thank you, Master Xia."

"Don't thank me, thank yourself." Xia Lin pointed to the town outside: "Brother Wei has managed to govern this wretched place so well, it's really quite good, I'm not kidding. You're a capable man, Brother Wei."

Xia Lin was not lying about this. Although Wei Changsheng did indeed have some ambitions of becoming a powerful figure, he had actually done a very solid job of suppressing local gentry and restricting aristocratic families from other places over the years. The region may have been poor because there was no large influx of funds, but overall the lives of the people were quite stable. As someone who came from a commoner background, he was also quite concerned about disaster relief and resettlement.

Along Xia Lin's journey, even in flood-stricken areas, he didn't see any scenes of starvation or cannibalism, which was quite remarkable. The Central Plains are wealthy; however, whenever something happens there, the villages surrounding non-large cities are filled with the deaths of dead children.

This is Wei Changsheng's ability and achievements. It is true that he had rebellious intentions, but it is also true that he was capable.

"By the way, Lord Xia, why didn't you just order someone to kill that thief on the spot? Why did you have to bring him here?"

“What’s the point of just beheading him on the spot? Only by making it difficult for others can this be considered an extraordinary feat. I want him to advance unstoppable, reach the outskirts of Guizhou, and fight the Guizhou garrison for thirty-seven days and nights, ultimately losing tens of thousands of troops before finally capturing this bandit king.”

(End of this chapter)