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

Chapter 831 Well done!
Since the trip to the southwest has already been planned, all that's needed when setting off is two legs. However, this is an imperial tour of the west, and the emperor's personal inspection of impoverished areas can boost the work enthusiasm of various regions, so this matter should be taken seriously.

Therefore, in addition to the emperor and Xia Lin, a large number of merchants from Jiangnan Circuit were also involved in the preparations for this trip. They were to personally accompany the inspection team to the southwest to investigate the local specialties and trade routes.

The saying goes, "To get rich, build roads first." This means not only of roads, but also of having a foundation of commercial routes.

Since the procession is like this, it can't be too shabby. Security along the way must also be guaranteed. Otherwise, if some fool suddenly decides to kill them all, things will get really messy.

"General, the new army will send 5,000 men to escort you on this trip, including 1,200 light cavalry, 500 heavy cavalry, and the fourth and fifth battalions of the Divine Machine Battalion. The rest will be supply trains."

"Remove the heavy cavalry." Xia Lin drew two lines in the heavy cavalry column with his pen. "Reduce the light cavalry as much as possible. That area is mostly mountainous, so cavalry is redundant. Replace them all with light infantry and Shenji Battalion personnel. You can optimize the configuration yourselves."

"Order."

As Xia Lin issued his orders one by one, Emperor Jingtai sat to the side eating brown sugar rice cakes. He usually did not participate in issuing these orders, firstly because his own abilities were limited, and secondly because Xia Daosheng's abilities were too strong. He didn't need to steal the spotlight for the sake of face. In the end, everyone would say that he, the emperor, was wise and powerful.

"Give me something to eat."

Xia Lin put down the list and leaned out to take the bowl from Emperor Jingtai's hand: "You've been eating here all afternoon, and I'm so hungry I'm about to have low blood sugar. Are you even a human being?"

"Then what am I supposed to do if I don't eat?" Emperor Jingtai handed him the bowl and chopsticks: "You've been assigning tasks all afternoon, and I haven't been able to get a word in edgewise."

"Would it kill you to say a few words?"

"No problem." Emperor Jingtai raised his hand: "Little Prince."

Secretary Wang immediately stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty."

"Go, arrange for a few pretty girls to take with me, around seventeen years old. Too old won't do, they'll get stuck in my teeth."

Secretary Xiao Wang looked at Xia Lin with a troubled expression, while Emperor Jingtai slammed his hand on the armrest of his chair: "Hurry up and go!"

Xia Lin raised his hand but didn't pay attention to the outrageous request. However, in the end, Secretary Wang really did bring a few girls. Goodness, while they weren't exactly stunning beauties, they were all pretty and looked like first loves.

“Please understand, I didn’t ask you to come, it was that tyrant who did.” Xia Lin pointed to Emperor Jingtai: “You don’t need to do anything else along the way, just take care of his food and daily life.”

When Emperor Jingtai saw this group of young women, he frowned and said, "I told you to shout, and you actually did?"

Secretary Wang, feeling extremely aggrieved, muttered with her head down, "Not shouting would be deceiving the emperor..."

"Bring a few along." Xia Lin generously waved her sleeve: "Anyway, you're not short of money, just consider it as bringing a few laundry ladies with you."

"What a pity. Why am I not lustful?" Emperor Jingtai sighed. "It's probably because my body is failing. Daosheng, I see you're over thirty and still eager to have sons. Do you have any methods to strengthen your body? I haven't had an erection in the early morning for many years."

"Your mother..."

Xia Lin muttered a curse under her breath, though no one heard it. But Emperor Jingtai's words still made the girls blush, laughing shyly at the same time...

Everything was ready, and the tour was about to begin. However, it was more accurate to call it a business inspection than a tour. In Emperor Jingtai's own words, everything he did now was somewhat against his will. He had originally thought he could sing praises of poetry and distant places, but now he had to maintain the airs of a dog emperor all the way.

The dog emperor stayed for dinner that night. There were only two people at the table. Since it was a work meal, it was quite simple, just the food from the government canteen, which was what Xia Lin ate most often.

"To be honest, having some power is good. Ever since I got a canteen in the government office, I don't have to go out on credit to buy steamed buns anymore." Xia Lin chuckled, but ate his rice very quickly. "It was fine when I was young, but now that I'm older, it's not right for me to freeload anymore."

"Others manipulate power to secure their wives' and children's positions and achieve immense influence, and you're doing this just so you can eat this garbage every day?"

Emperor Jingtai pointed to the three dishes and one soup on the table: "No, you don't have to act so ridiculously, do you? Your monthly salary is as much as twenty-seven taels of silver. You live so frugally on twenty-seven taels of silver? Besides, aren't all your women wealthy people?"

He poured himself a bowl of soup, took a couple of sips, and then said, “Your Majesty, you must understand one thing. Since I joined this group, I have not used my position to seek any benefit for any of them. They haven't benefited from my influence; on the contrary, I have been using their abilities to give back to the town. From the very beginning, the public-private partnership with the Tang family, and the investment from the Dugu family, these were all deals between Fuliang and them. Back then, I asked you, if you were in my shoes, would you have dared to invest here?” Emperor Jingtai hurriedly shook his head: “I wouldn’t dare. At that time, this place was a dilapidated village with hardly any houses. Only someone with great courage would dare to invest.”

"They invested, especially Tang Bao'er, who even went bankrupt and staked her entire life on this. After leaving the family in Luoyang, she settled down here. Do you know why she can now fight Douyazi to a standstill here?"

"That's not true."

Xia Lin then walked to the window, opened it, and pointed to the most central, brightest, and most prosperous area of ​​the city, which had expanded many times over: "Isn't that place incredibly valuable?"

"Correct."

"Back then, she invested nearly 70% of the construction of the core area. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she went bankrupt. That core area was all her property. You could say she could do without anyone else, but without Tang Bao'er, there would be no Fuliang. So, do you think I benefited from her success or she benefited from mine?"

After a moment of silence, Emperor Jingtai chuckled and said, "So it seems you were indeed involved more."

“How can I take money from her to subsidize myself? A man has his pride.” Xia Lin sighed. “As for my salary… I have to donate twenty taels to Ji’an Hall here every month.”

Why isn't the funding being allocated?

“They will allocate funds, but that’s government money, not my money.” Xia Lin leaned out the window and looked outside: “I was raised by the country, so naturally I should do my best to give back to this land.”

"You are the nation... no, weren't you raised on swill?"

Xia Lin just smiled without answering, but looking at the twinkling stars outside, he felt a pang of sadness. Perhaps this was a case of old habits die hard. Before he came into this world, or rather, during his lifetime, he donated most of his monthly salary, bonuses, allowances, and other allowances, aside from his daily expenses on cigarettes and meals. Because he lived a life of constant danger, he didn't know when he would die, and the small amount he donated could perhaps help a child buy an egg, an apple, or a carton of milk.

And perhaps it is precisely these things that happy, contented children disdain that can sometimes change a person's life. Because from the time Xia Lin could remember until he joined the army at the age of sixteen, his impression of apples was that they were sour and astringent, and meat was that they were fatty, hairy, and hard to chew.

It wasn't until after he enlisted and his squad leader gave him a Fuji apple that he realized apples could be so sweet, and it wasn't until he ate braised pork in the mess hall that he realized meat could be so delicious.

From that day on, he was certain of one thing: who he should give his life to. Later, he was selected for the Armed Police Reconnaissance Team, then transferred to the Anti-Terrorism Brigade, joined the Special Agent Class, and then went from the Special Agent Class to the Anti-Espionage Team. Finally, he died in the unseen smoke of war. He never regretted it.

Even now, he remains steadfast on the path he chose when he was sixteen. He always clearly understands who he is meant to live for, and he will continue to forge ahead even if the time and space change.

This is faith: from birth to death, and from death to life again. Everything else changes, but this remains constant.

"I don't understand you." Emperor Jingtai chuckled. "You really are a strange person. Hey, have you really been able to resist so many temptations all these years?"

“Go and search my house now. If you find more than one hundred taels of cash, or any gold or silver jewelry that belongs to me, you can kill me. I definitely have one hundred taels. Sometimes my wife will secretly slip me some, saying that a man who doesn’t have money outside is not respectable. I can’t donate that money.”

"Honestly, this is the first time I've ever heard of someone who's reached your level still needing financial support from his wife's family."

"There's nothing we can do, everyone has their own ambitions." Xia Lin sighed. "Have you finished eating? If you have, pack your things, we have to leave first thing tomorrow morning."

"I'll have a couple more bites. The food in your cafeteria is pretty good. I'll take some of these steamed buns with me on the way; they're delicious." Emperor Jingtai stuffed a mouthful of steamed bun and took a sip of soup: "What's this soup called? It's delicious too."

"Soup with Pepper."

"When I get back, I'll designate it as a state banquet item, and from now on, all foreign guests will have to drink it!"

The next day, a procession of several thousand people set off in a grand procession. This was an inspection tour by the emperor, and he did not give any notice to any region along the way; it was a surprise inspection right from the start.

On the carriage, Emperor Jingtai was eager to try, feeling that this time he could finally satisfy his desire to eliminate corrupt officials. However, Xia Lin repeatedly warned him not to touch the anti-corruption line at all. Emperor Jingtai was curious about this, and then he heard Xia Lin spout his fallacious reasoning again.

"We definitely need to oppose it, but you can't just start by directly opposing it. You have to do it through other means. Combating organized crime is fine, cleaning up rivers is fine, you can even use the excuse that the local people's quality of life isn't up to standard, but you can't use the pretext of anti-corruption to investigate. Because if you investigate like that, nobody will do the work, Your Majesty." Xia Lin said, waving his finger. "It's very difficult for the system to fight against human nature. All we can do is try to find a balance. Just don't bring up these things later. Treat the symptoms, not the root cause."

(End of this chapter)