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

Chapter 682 The Strange Middle-Aged Uncle
"Don't worry, I may not have much money, but I have a lot of friends."

The young man glanced at Xia Lin, his smile tinged with helplessness and mockery: "Having your own parents is worse than having your own, let alone friends. Even if your friend is the emperor, so what? Brother, let me ask you, do you know what kind of feud in the world is one that will never end?"

"It's nothing more than the hatred of killing one's father and stealing one's wife," Xia Lin said with a smile, continuing his line of thought. "Otherwise, what else could it be a grudge?"

"Oh dear, it's not your fault. The outdated books you've read since childhood have made you short-sighted. In this vast world, are there people who would recognize a thief as their father? Of course there are. Not to mention the so-called hatred of having one's wife stolen. But there is one kind of hatred that even Han Xin, who could endure the humiliation of crawling between someone's legs, could not tolerate, and Goujian, who could endure the hardship of sleeping on firewood and tasting gall, could not tolerate. This is the hatred of having one's interests stolen."

Xia Lin silently added in his mind, "niche competition."

"What His Majesty and Xia Daosheng want right now is to change the system of the realm and abolish the succession of aristocratic families. But things are not that simple. They have been working on it for many years. Although they have made people back down a bit, the strong and powerful are still strong and powerful. It's just treating the symptoms, not the root cause. There are new policies, but look at those young people outside who have no livelihood. Aren't they all trapped in the capital by a piece of paper? To put it nicely, they are called reserve officials. To put it bluntly, who knows when this reserve will take? The policies are good, but they can't be implemented. The newly promoted people become new power holders, blocking the path that newcomers must take."

The young man shook his head and sighed, "If the stream is small but there are many fish, it will inevitably be blocked. Have you ever heard of Yu the Great's flood control efforts? If you want the water to flow smoothly, it is better to dredge than to block. And this dredging means that someone has to go forward and dig out the thing blocking the river, which is laborious and costly, and may not even bring a good reputation."

"Then what do you mean?"

"Hmm... Kill, kill a batch."

Simple and straightforward, Xia Lin just smiled and didn't take it too seriously. He had already thought of this solution, but could killing really solve the problem?

Murder can certainly resolve some problems in the short term, but before long, the newcomers become the old, and the ordinary become the nobles, and then we will be back on the old path.

The biggest challenge he faces now is not people, but human nature, which is a million times harder to deal with than people themselves. Governing a country is a very inhumane thing.

Did they think that if the emperor issued a decree, the clouds would part and the sun would shine again?

Does one think that diligent governance will make one a wise ruler?
Do you think that if you choose everything in a positive direction, you will have a good outcome?

Do they think that appointing people based on merit will bring about a clear and just society?
Wrong, wrong, terribly wrong. When a person holds power, the first thing he must do is fight against desires, against past deficiencies, against human relationships, and even against morality.

At this moment, countless people stand up and shout "I can!", but when it comes to a specific task, very few can actually compete with it and win.

When your hometown elders kneel before you with tears streaming down their faces, when your beloved, who resembles you so much, turns back with a helpless and sorrowful smile, when you encounter injustice on the road and are filled with expectations, when you have to send your eldest son to the front line when the country is in crisis, every time is a difficult choice, and no matter what choice you make, you will be morally questioned.

Being a person is difficult, being an official is even more difficult, being an emperor is especially difficult, and being a good person, a good official, and a good emperor is the most difficult of all. Why are the sage rulers throughout history considered saints? Firstly, they are few and far between, and secondly, they spent their entire lives fighting against their own nature, or rather, human nature.

And now this young man is talking about killing a batch.

Okay, kill them. And then? Blood flowed like rivers in Nanjing, countless people died and were injured. The wealth that the people had painstakingly accumulated over the years of struggle vanished completely in a single conflict. Countless people were displaced, families were torn apart, and the population plummeted from a million to a few hundred thousand.

Is this a good thing? Combating human nature requires a system, a mechanism, and education. Power is, after all, a double-edged sword, and it needs a closed-loop chain to restrain it.

However, it's good for young people to have ideas; we shouldn't dismiss them rashly. As Lu Xun said, the biggest problem in this era is apathy. Therefore, Xia Lin responded to his words in a guiding way.

"But killing people would destroy this hard-won prosperity in an instant, and with powerful enemies all around us, what if something terrible happens? Besides, there are plenty of killings in history books, but in the end, isn't it all the same?"

"No, no, no." The young man stood up, his eyes shining. "This time is different."

"How are they different?"

"There's an old saying that water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. But every time this saying is uttered, it just means a new emperor comes along. That won't do. I want a different approach: to create a god."

"Creating a god?" Xia Lin sat up. "Go ahead."

"The will of the common people has always been weak and powerless, but even a trickle of water can become an ocean. Right now, Your Majesty and the powerful families are at odds, constantly testing each other and looking for weaknesses. At this time, as long as Your Majesty's reputation is at its zenith and continues to rise, all those who oppose him will be bad people, and all those who do not listen to him will be traitors. Then who will deal with these bad people? Of course, it will be the common people. As long as you give them a little power, they will naturally have ways to deal with them."

Xia Lin frowned deeply, his head buzzing. He craned his neck and said, "But if you do this, wouldn't you be putting the emperor in an unrighteous and immoral position?"

"The emperor? The emperor has enjoyed too much luxury; it's time to pay his debts. There's just one thing I haven't figured out yet, and that's whether in the end..."

He suddenly stopped talking and looked at Xia Lin, saying, "Brother, what follows could lead to the extermination of nine generations of your family. It's unspeakable, unspeakable."

Xia Lin stroked his chin: "Okay, I'll go call my rich friend over. If you can persuade him, he can give you a lot of money."

"Then I'll wait here for you, brother. Please don't try to deceive me."

"Don't worry, I'll have someone inform you whether it succeeds or not." Xia Lin stood up: "By the way, do you know Zhang Zhongchun?"

"I've heard of it, but I've never seen it. All I know is that my remedy can bring at least a hundred years of peace! All I need now is the money."

Xia Lin stopped in her tracks: "Why is it that we're only short of money?"

"I need to gather some like-minded people. Their food, clothing, daily necessities, and rent in the capital will all cost money. Without money, you can't move an inch."

"Understood, you wait."

About forty minutes later, Xia Lin arrived at the back gate of the palace, looking inside like a child waiting for his friends to come out after school.

"Hurry up, hurry up, you're rushing me! I just went to sleep."

Emperor Jingtai, dressed in a gentleman's attire, reluctantly slipped out of the small door, followed by Old Zhang. Although the two were carrying umbrellas, the drizzle still left a layer of fuzz on their clothes.

"Hurry up, someone's going to overthrow you."

Xia Lin's words made Emperor Jingtai turn his head to the side: "What's wrong? What did you want me to do again? I can't get used to it yet."

“Go talk to that kid and see if his idea is feasible.” “Ridiculous! Utterly absurd!”

Emperor Jingtai, both amused and exasperated, pointed at Xia Lin and cursed, "You scoundrel, tell me, is this even reasonable? Someone is rebelling, oh, you want me to rebel with him? Rebel against whose rebellion? Rebel against my own?"

Old Zhang chuckled as he listened, while Xia Lin smacked his lips and said, "Let me tell you, this time it might actually be a direction. Don't worry about it too much, let's go and take a look."

Soon, the three strange older brothers reappeared in the alley, but the boy was no longer there. Xia Lin inquired around but only found out about the boy from the noodle stall.

"That guy is a liar. He goes out to scam people every day, one or two today and one or two tomorrow."

Xia Lin was still somewhat unwilling: "But he was so hungry, he didn't look like a liar at all."

"Who knows? He's very good with words and can always fool one or two people."

Do you know where he lives?

"Nobody knows, he's very cautious."

After hearing these descriptions, Xia Lin stood there with her hands on her hips, laughing uncontrollably. Emperor Jingtai and Old Zhang next to her laughed even harder. After all, compared to being hastily summoned, seeing Xia Lin being tricked brought them far more joy.

This is Xia Lin, the man hailed as the most talented man in the world after Cao Zhi, and now he's being lectured by a junior.

"Oh shit."

Xia Lin muttered, "I absolutely have to find him!"

Before he could finish speaking, a person ran over from the alleyway entrance, carrying a bundle in his hand. He wasn't carrying an umbrella, and his back was already soaked.

Upon seeing Xia Lin, he immediately waved and said, "Brother, I thought you weren't coming."

Xia Lin breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him coming. She turned around and glanced at the two big shots behind her before walking towards the man: "I thought you were lying to me."

"Of course not." As he spoke, he glanced at the two people behind Xia Lin: "It's rare to find kindred spirits, so I certainly can't lie to them. And who are these two?"

“Master Tian and Master Zhang, they’re both very wealthy,” Xia Lin said, pointing to the two of them. “They’re also my good friends.”

The young man squinted at the two strange uncles, then nodded to them: "Then...may I have the honor of visiting your humble abode?"

"Let's go."

He led Xia Lin and the other two to his "humble abode," which was truly a humble abode. In Xia Lin's words, it was no different from a cowshed. The only good thing was that it had good lighting, but the downside was that the place was really shabby.

The man invited the group to sit under a large tree stump. Because there was a trellis covered with various plants, it had become a natural rain shelter. The large tree stump had probably been cut down to be used as a coffin, leaving only this stump, which was large enough to serve as a table. There were some long benches made of stone slabs placed next to it, which was quite charming.

"Please sit for a while, I'll go and get you some tea."

After a while, he took out a blackened iron kettle and a winnowing basket. After boiling water in it, he climbed up the low wall and began picking mulberry leaves from the wall. He picked a whole basketful. He washed the mulberry leaves with clean water, picked off the coarse and old parts, and then put the mulberry leaves in a gauze and rubbed them. After the leaves were blanched, he actually started to stir-fry tea leaves...

After completing the whole process, the boiling water was ready, and he used that broken bowl to make Xia Lin and the others a cup of mulberry leaf tea...

Old Zhang is actually quite knowledgeable about tea ceremony, but he's never drunk it like this before. This tea isn't sun-dried or aged, so how could it possibly have... um!?
After taking a sip, he was surprised to find that the mulberry leaf tea was so fragrant. Although it had a slight grassy taste, it added a touch of springtime charm.

"Wow, you've got some skill!" Old Zhang praised sincerely, then took another sip: "Not bad, not bad at all, refreshing and fragrant, not bad at all."

Emperor Jingtai also took a sip and indeed found it quite pleasant. However, Xia Lin had no interest in drinking tea and simply wanted to quickly steer the conversation in the direction that was appropriate.

"By the way, what's your name?"

“I have no given name. When my father and elder brothers died, I was still of legal age and had not yet been given a given name. My surname is Di, and I am the third son in my family. Everyone calls me Di San. My ancestral home is Bingzhou, but we later moved to the Central Plains.”

"Then I'll call you 'Mistress'," Xia Lin said with a smile. "What's that package you're carrying?"

“This is my travelogue from these years.” Di San opened the package, revealing a large pile of odds and ends, but he treated it like a treasure: “It records the evil deeds of gentry, foreign powers, noble families, and officials from north to south. I wrote down everything I saw, thinking that I would be able to use it someday.”

Xia Lin and the others each picked up a copy and began to read. The stench of the era emanating from the simple writing was overwhelming, and even Emperor Jingtai couldn't help but frown.

"It's utterly absurd."

“There are many things more absurd than this.” Di San placed his hands on his knees: “Gentlemen, I don’t know what you three are after, but I hope you can hear me out.”

Neither Xia Lin nor Emperor Jingtai spoke, but Old Zhang laughed and said, "Young man, do you know that your behavior is no different from selling your head for profit? If we were government officials, you would probably lose your head."

"Fall down, fall down wherever you want. I've lived long enough, but I feel there's still a glimmer of hope in this world, and I want to give it a try. Besides, judging from your faces, you three are not greedy or corrupt people; you all have the appearance of gentlemen. Otherwise, if it were anyone else, I would have just cheated them out of some money and that would have been it."

Xia Lin and the other two looked at each other, then suddenly burst into laughter. Emperor Jingtai looked at Xia Lin, his eyes clearly saying, "No wonder you were in such a hurry; isn't this just like you back then?"

Old Zhang was all smiles at this moment, because the young man's words and demeanor just now reminded him of Xia Lin from many years ago, that smooth-talking yet somewhat resilient young man.

"Hahaha, you know how to talk. Go ahead and say it. I want to see what you can come up with."

(End of this chapter)