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

Chapter 628 Some things definitely need to be done.

Regardless of how shocked Emperor Jingtai's worldview was, Xia Lin's biggest concern right now was the constant smear campaigns and rumors circulating outside.

Who says there aren't any experts on the other side? There are far too many experts on the other side, even Li Shimin seems somewhat helpless now.

"You've just led yourself down a dead end. Did you think that as long as you didn't crave credit or fame, you could have long-term peace and stability? Now you see, they've blocked both your path and your interests."

Xia Lin just smiled, leaned against the chessboard, picked up the chess pieces and put them back in the box, then handed Li Shimin a cup of cold tea.

Erfeng had a somewhat fiery temper. He took the herbal tea and drank it all in one gulp: "This can't go on. Say something."

Xia Lin didn't know what to say at this moment, so he just sat there and played chess in silence.

He walked his own path and never competed for fame or fortune. He thought that this would earn him a great reputation, but the problem was that since he didn't compete, most people didn't know him. After dominating the public opinion market, he didn't fill that position. Instead, he pushed Emperor Jingtai, Ma Zhou, Zhuo Heng, and even Lao Zhang to the top.

Their reputation among the people was excellent. Looking back at Xia Lin, the world only knew him as the literary genius of ten years ago and now a powerful minister of the Great Wei, but few knew what he had done. He truly embodied the principle that a good warrior has no great military achievements. Even in the battle against the Turks, Zhuo Heng was the one who made the greatest contribution.

Now, people are taking advantage of this to distort their perception of him, gradually transforming a brilliant young genius into a tyrannical and powerful minister like Dong Zhuo.

Yes, they are good at this. They have been good at this for hundreds or thousands of years. Not long after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, they could say that millions of people died. However, they never mentioned the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, when every year was filled with piles of bones. It was as if all the turmoil was brought about by that group of Yellow Turban soldiers who only wanted to fill their stomachs.

It's not that the Yellow Turbans were good people, but the way history unfolds is clear: a conspiracy that has been brewing for millennia.

If Xia Lin were to contest this now, he would be accused of being too powerful and harboring ill intentions. Furthermore, given that he holds military, political, and even tax powers, all three are combined, it would be futile for him to claim he had no such intentions, or even for Emperor Jingtai himself to clarify that he had no such intentions.

The phrase "His Majesty has been deceived by treacherous people" is enough to explain everything.

Ultimately, the power to interpret the world still lies in the hands of those people. Xia Lin scratched his head as he played chess, making six wrong moves and even having to ask Li Shimin to push his pieces back a few spaces.

"If you have something on your mind, don't play games." Erfeng laughed. "Don't be too gloomy either. There are countless heroes in the world, and how many people can avoid making mistakes? Besides, this is not your fault. Every step you take is correct. It's just that some people say you are wrong."

Xia Lin tapped a chess piece between his fingers on the chessboard, making a clattering sound: "I have a method, but once this move is used, there's no turning back."

"tell me the story."

Xia Lin gave a bitter smile: "Break away from Wei and establish ourselves independently."

"Great! That's fantastic news. So, you won't help me when I attack Jinling, will you?"

Li Shimin was overjoyed: "Once I conquer Nanjing, we will divide the country along the Yangtze River. The land south of the Yangtze will be yours, and the north will be mine. What do you think? Then we can establish a brotherly alliance. Once Zhi'er grows up and secures his throne, our two regions can be united. Wouldn't that mean the unification of China? Although the cause of this might not be on us, it is on our children and nephews. It might not be such a bad thing after all."

Xia Lin took a deep breath and didn't respond to Li Shimin's words. However, the game was over. He threw the chess piece in his hand onto the chessboard, walked to the window, and exhaled a deep breath: "I am clearly highly regarded among scholars."

"What's the use? How many people in the world actually read? Go ask those people locked in the woodshed how many can read and write their own names. Do you expect a bunch of people who can only silently leave their fingerprints when facing lawsuits to understand your grand undertaking? Is that appropriate? Daosheng, Daosheng, you scholars are naturally too romantic. If I were you, and they said I was bloodthirsty, I would kill them all, slaughter them until blood flows like rivers and whips stop the flow of streams. Once the world is at peace, those people will only remember my good deeds. Give them a few years of leniency, and they will remember me as a wise and benevolent ruler!"

"What is the use!"

Xia Lin slammed his hand on the window frame: "You're awesome, you have the Zhenguan era, but what's the use? To put it bluntly, no matter how powerful you, Li Er, were, you still died after only two generations. The first hundred years were spent on your legacy, how were you going to survive the next two hundred? In the end, the world was still in chaos, the dynasty still collapsed, and the people still barely survived. I don't know what you want, but it's definitely not peace! Your Tang dynasty only lasted a hundred years, you know that! Is this the hundred years I want? I want the next thousand years, ten thousand years!"

"Can it work? Can you live forever? You call me that? Do you think I don't know that the world has its own destiny? What can I do? When I close my eyes, my children and grandchildren will have their own blessings! If you're so capable, then you should never die, and you should shine as brightly as the sun and moon! What you're seeking is impossible to achieve, a delusion! A delusion of you stinking scholars! Let me tell you, Xia Daosheng, the world is still the same world. If you can have a hundred years of good days, that's already something you can't even pray for by kowtowing and burning incense. You're asking for a thousand or ten thousand years? Even a tortoise can live a thousand years! Dynasties won't last!"

The two inside were shouting so loudly that no one outside dared to approach them. To put it in a more mystical way, at that very moment, a black dragon and a fire dragon were locked in a fierce battle in the sky above Guizhou Prefecture, causing a tremendous upheaval that mortals were forbidden from getting close.

After a long time, the two of them calmed down.

Xia Lin leaned back and glanced at Er Feng: "I want to give it a try."

"Alright, go ahead and try. But before you try, break this stalemate first. You're not the only smart person in the world, Xia Daosheng. I've thought it through. Either you pick up your sword right now and carve out a bloody path to a brighter future, or you'll have to endure the scorn of the world, being called a manipulator of power, a cruel and bloodthirsty person. What can you do? Even if a million people know that you, Xia Daosheng, have worked tirelessly, there are still tens of millions who don't recognize you as a person! At that point, even Tuoba Jing won't be able to protect you. Either he will kill you, or you will rebel against Tian Wei! There are no other options."

Xia Lin leaned on the windowsill, gazing at the distant, layered mountains: "There's only one way now."

"explain."

"To rebuild the glory of Legalism."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin felt a jolt and sat up straight: "Playing this big?"

"What else? An egg broken from the outside is destruction, but broken from the inside is rebirth. Investigate, start with myself!" Xia Lin turned around: "All are guilty!"

"You...you're asking whether you're guilty of the same crime as everyone else or destined to live as long as heaven and earth?"

"What else? Let me ask you a question. One day you go out and eat a bowl of noodles, but the noodle seller insists that you ate two bowls. How would you prove it?"

"I can't prove it myself. I'll just kill them with one blow and that'll be the end of it."

"Okay." Xia Lin nodded. "Think carefully before you answer me."

Li Shimin walked around a few times with his hands behind his back, saying, "Hiss... this is a huge trap."

“Yes.” Xia Lin picked up the fan on the table and gestured on his stomach: “They want you to cut open your abdomen to prove your innocence. It’s no use lying. If you lie once, you will be a complete liar and scoundrel from now on.”

Li Shimin narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment before pointing at Xia Lin: "I understand. Since disembowelment can prove innocence, can cutting the throat test loyalty and treachery? I'll disembowel myself and you cut your throat, let's see who's lying. You're ruthless."

"I bet they won't dare to risk their lives against me." Xia Lin tossed his fan onto the table. "As long as they gamble with me, they're guaranteed to lose. If they don't dare to gamble, the rumors will fall apart. Whether they gamble or not, I'm going to give them a good beating."

"Hahaha, very well, you're quite an interesting person. I'll see how you handle this."

Without wasting words, Xia Lin ordered someone to bring paper and pen and began writing in front of Li Shimin. The higher-ups immediately issued an order to the central government of the Great Wei Dynasty, instructing them to open a case and investigate not only Xia Lin but also everyone involved in the matter. No matter who it was, they were all to undergo a thorough and detailed investigation.

And this had to be a public trial, and Xia Lin even personally appointed the person to handle the matter, who was none other than Anmus, the then-Prime Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

“I know this guy. He’s like a big, hard, stinking stone from a latrine.” “Yes, that’s exactly the kind of person we need.” Xia Lin circled Anmus’s name after saying that: “Anmus will definitely face all sorts of obstacles during this period, so the entire Investigation Department will have to put aside what they are doing to protect him.”

"Okay, I'll wait and see."

Xia Lin's letter was sent out, and then he brought Emperor Jingtai back. After explaining the situation, Emperor Jingtai was shocked and looked at Xia Lin with a bewildered expression.

"Are you crazy? Investigating like this will only lead to mutual destruction! At the very least, you'll be guilty of lax governance, and how do you expect me to deal with you?"

"Deal with them as they see fit. Those who deserve exile, exile them; those who deserve death, die. Don't feel pressured. This is my only chance to prove my innocence. If you want to exile me, so be it. It's not like I haven't been to the frontier before." Xia Lin said to Emperor Jingtai with a smile, "Emperor, you don't want to see yourself being purged of your inner circle so soon after your ascension to the throne, do you? And have history recorded that you became an Emperor Ai."

Emperor Jingtai gritted his teeth, his fists clenched so tightly that the veins bulged, and after taking a deep breath, he said, "With you like this, how am I supposed to... live my life? Being an emperor is truly pathetic."

"I would love to get carried away and smash this empire to pieces, but I can't, Your Majesty. The late Emperor's instructions are still ringing in my ears. Don't talk about me; think about how much humiliation the late Emperor suffered, how he was forced to move the capital, how he ceded territory and paid indemnities. He was cursed by everyone, but those who openly cursed him simply didn't understand. If the late Emperor had really gone all out, in the end, all those people would have had their heads hung on the flagpoles of the Turks. What's wrong with having a few more decades of peace?"

Emperor Jingtai looked up, tears welling in his eyes, not out of sympathy for Xia Lin, but entirely from feeling humiliated and wronged.

As an emperor, he was so pathetic. He truly hated this godforsaken world.

"Don't worry." Xia Lin patted his shoulder. "Once this matter is settled..."

Xia Lin paused here, then held up one finger: "I'm going to build a mound of skulls in Jinling City. I'm not kidding this time, I'm going to take the lives of 100,000 people."

"I'll give you a list." Emperor Jingtai glanced at Xia Lin: "Just don't die."

"Damn it, who do you think you are? This time, bring out all the related aristocratic families. It doesn't matter if they admit it or not. Just make sure the chain of evidence is solid and restore the glory of Legalism. Either we don't do it at all, or we do it big."

"I will gladly risk my life to accompany you, but I have one request."

"explain."

"For the first battle of the campaign, I shall personally lead the expedition with the imperial banner."

"Have you ever fought a war? And yet you're standing here pressing down in front of the imperial banner."

"You will be the deputy general."

Xia Lin said, both amused and exasperated, "What if you die?"

"The military flag covers their bodies, living up to the Tuoba family's reputation for being good at fighting."

After speaking, Emperor Jingtai paused for a moment, walked to his desk, and took out a jade pendant: "This jade pendant was given to me by my father when I came of age. Since then, I have been covered by my father's wings for the rest of my life. Now I also want to do something that will not let down my ancestors and bring shame to future generations. Even if the Tuoba family no longer exists a thousand years later, when people mention it, they will say that there are no cowards in the Tuoba family."

"That's awesome!"

"It's really exciting."

"Fine, if you really can die on the battlefield, BYD will definitely give you a Wei, and there's absolutely no way it will be transferred to Great Wall."

Emperor Jingtai: "???"

Xia Lin ignored his question and silently took out the letter: "Stamp it."

"I didn't bring it." Emperor Jingtai spread his hands: "The seals are with your wife. Just make one yourself. You have plenty of fake seals."

"You're forcing me to forge an imperial edict." After saying that, Xia Lin opened a box: "Let me see... Oh, I found it."

As he spoke, he took out a set and quickly stamped it with six seals. Emperor Jingtai stepped forward and glanced at it: "You really have the complete set..."

"It's unacceptable to be missing even one person, sign it!"

Emperor Jingtai signed his name on the letter, and thus a formal imperial edict was created. Although the seal was fake, the emperor recognized it, so it was considered genuine.

There were a total of 139 post stations from Lingnan to Jinling, one every 20 li. The fast horses never stopped, and the messengers and horses were changed but the messages were not. At the same time, the beacon towers of the post stations were also lit with smoke signals.

The letter was still en route when the smoke signals had already reached Nanjing.

Just two hours later, all the civil and military officials gathered in the main hall of the palace. Everyone looked bewildered, simply because the palace bell was ringing loudly.

"What's going on? Why did the bell suddenly ring?" Old Zhang was still half asleep, and he was swaying as he stood there. He asked curiously, "What's the big deal?"

"The beacon tower is lit." Ma Zhou turned his head and whispered, "Lingnan Road is under attack, and Nanjing is under lockdown."

"Holy crap, could the emperor be dead? That's a real problem."

"Shut your mouth, you jinx."

Ma Zhou nudged him, and then Prince Teng hurriedly walked in: "Gentlemen, please calm down. The sounding of the beacon fire is a major event, but it is not necessarily a bad thing. Guo Da."

"exist."

"Order the Polu Army to be on full alert."

"Yes." Old Guo accepted the order and left.

Then the prince coughed and said, "Ministry of War, Ministry of Personnel, and Ministry of Revenue, seal the files. Ministry of Justice, Court of Judicial Review, and Censorate, recall all personnel on official business outside the city. All other ministries, stand by and do not leave the city without orders!"

(End of this chapter)