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

Chapter 833 As excited as possible

This year's rotating chairman of this place is a man named Chen Xiangyao, who studied at Ganshui Academy and majored in agronomy.

Let me briefly introduce Ganshui Academy. Although it sounds like a sloppy academy, it is one of the five major academies in Jiangnan Province. The five major academies are Yuzhang Academy, Ehu Academy, Jiujiang Academy, Yichun Academy and Ganshui Academy. The main subjects of study for these five academies are literature, engineering, law, science and agriculture.

The agricultural science program at Ganshui Academy is among the best. In fact, for any positions related to agriculture in the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works of the Wei and Tang dynasties and their subordinate government offices, graduates of Ganshui Academy are given priority. Only when there are no other qualified candidates will they be considered.

Chen Xiangyao was an outstanding senior from the Agricultural College of Ganshui Academy. As one of the first people to go to the countryside, he should have returned home long ago. However, once you have been in the countryside for a year, you will be attached to it for life. He stayed here for five years. Instead of going back to become an official, he chose to stay in the mountains to teach the children to read and write and to teach the men to farm and reclaim wasteland.

"Who?"

Chen Xiangyao, who was having breakfast, was caught off guard when he heard "Lord Xia Lin has invited him." He turned his head and asked the person who had announced it, "Who did you just say?"

"Xia Lin, Xia Daosheng. Magistrate of Fuliang County, Lord Xia."

After hearing this clearly, Chen Xiangyao, with an ear of corn in his mouth and his hat down, ran over as fast as he could, not daring to delay for a moment. His expression was particularly devout, as if he were going to see Buddha on a pilgrimage, not Xia Lin.

Panting, Chen Xiangyao rushed into the inn and saw a man holding a child's daily exercise book and looking at it. He immediately recognized the man as none other than Xia Daosheng, the great Buddha in the hearts of scholars all over the world.

"Headmaster!"

Chen Xiangyao rushed forward and cried out, tears welling up in his eyes, but he held them back, clutching the half-ear of corn tightly in his hand. It was as if all the grievances and pain he had suffered over the years were about to erupt in this instant.

Xia Lin looked up at him and said, "I remember you. Hongbao entered the academy in the seventeenth year. Your family didn't want you to study back then, and I personally went to persuade them. Where did you go after that?"

Hearing Xia Lin recount his past in detail, Chen Xiangyao finally couldn't hold back his tears. He choked up and said, "After finishing the primary school, I went to Ganshui Academy to study agriculture, and then I came here. I am a useless disciple and have failed to bring honor to my master."

“Hey.” Xia Lin laughed. “Isn’t this a source of pride? When I came here last time, this place was full of bandits. Now there must be tens of thousands of people living here. In four or five years, this place has been transformed from a desolate place into an important supply point. It’s a miracle to go from nothing to something. In five years, how many people did Fuliang have? And that was in the heart of Jiangnan. You’re really amazing.”

For a man to be recognized is already a remarkable achievement, let alone to be recognized by his idol and the person he dreams of pursuing – that's practically a medal.

"The main reason I'm here is to discuss the specific situation here and our future plans. Finally, a large business delegation will be passing through in the next few days, led personally by His Majesty. I hope you can firstly clear out the bandits and outlaws in the surrounding area so they don't disturb the God of Wealth, and secondly, compile a written report on your local industrial structure. Do you understand? This is a very rare opportunity. If more than half of the businesses believe this place has potential and secure substantial investment, I believe you can recreate a Jiangnan-like landscape here."

"Is it just to avoid disturbing the God of Wealth...? What about Your Majesty?"

“I’m worried about him too. If he knew there were still bandits left here, he’d fucking go and wipe them out himself.” Xia Lin sighed and said, “So you know what to do. I also believe in your ability to unite these uneducated old bastards around you in a short time. This is not something an ordinary person can do. That’s the gist of it. I’ll stay here for three days.”

Xia Lin's words were an order, and Chen Xiangyao immediately stood up: "Master, the soldiers you have trained will never disappoint you."

"Go."

Xia Lin waved his hand, issuing a military order. When Chen Xiangyao stepped out of the room, his expression had changed. He glanced around at the mountains before him, and the once sharp and cultured man now looked murderous.

The teacher said he would only stay here for three days, which made it very clear that he needed to get things done within three days. If he couldn't, the teacher wouldn't blame him, but he would still leave, departing with disappointment.

Can we tolerate this?

Without any hesitation, Chen Xiangyao immediately found the clan leaders and elders of the various families in the area. It should be noted that some of these clans were even natural enemies. Just being able to unite them was already astonishing. Yet, he was able to summon all of them to come out and discuss important matters.

These tribes were merely ignorant and uncultured, not brainless. After a brief explanation from their mutual friend and trusted confidant Chen Xiangyao, the elders immediately understood that this was probably their only chance to completely turn their lives around.

That very night, a bandit-hunting team, composed of the most elite and skilled hunters from various tribes, appeared. They were the spirits of the mountains and forests and the most ruthless hunters in this place. However, they had been instilled with hatred for each other since childhood. But today, something made them put aside their hatred and gather together for only two words—the future.

No one could escape their pursuit, not even a rabbit or a wild boar in the deep mountains, let alone the bandits and brigands who hid in the mountains.

They hadn't done it before because they were outnumbered and outgunned, but today they had their own three-day agreement. "Ten taels of silver for one head, let's go."

As evening fell, a light rain began to fall, but with Chen Xiangyao's order, these mountain hunters began to pour into the forest in batches and quickly concealed themselves under the cover of night.

The tacit understanding between the strictest fathers of those mountain bandits and the mountains reached its peak at this moment. They quickly tracked down and located several bandit strongholds. These mountain bandits often came down the mountain to rob passing merchants. Most of them were a dozen or so people, and the largest number was no more than a hundred. However, in front of these hunters, they were not much harder to kill than rabbits in the mountains.

Poisoned blowguns pierced the night sky, rendering the bandits' smug sentries useless in a matter of breaths. Then, under the cover of the rain, they sneaked in, and what happened next is self-evident.

The human head was like a captured rabbit; after the blood was drained, it was hung on their waist. To increase credibility and to successfully obtain the ten taels of silver, they also took many of the bandits' tokens.

The bandits who roamed around never imagined that they would die so quickly, that they would never get up again after simply turning over in their sleep.

The team returned early the next morning, with each person carrying three to four human heads on their waist and various tokens used as proof of identity on their backs.

Another group continued their search into the deep mountains. They were greedy and wanted to earn more money. Their sons needed pens and paper for school, and they might even need to send them to study outside the mountains in the future. How could they not save some money for their children?

By the morning of the third day, the bandits within a hundred miles had been wiped out. Early in the morning, Xia Lin heard a commotion downstairs. He groggily opened his eyes and went downstairs to take a look, only to find a tower of human heads outside the inn where he was staying.

It doesn't qualify as a mound of corpses, because in Xia Lin's opinion, anything less than ten thousand people doesn't qualify. But he doesn't know why, it seems that people of his lineage have a particular fondness for building mounds of corpses; perhaps this is a tradition...

"Teacher, your disciple has been ordered to suppress bandits. In three days, I have eliminated 481 bandit leaders. Please inspect them, Teacher!"

Xia Lin looked at the bloodied heads and nodded in satisfaction: "I told you you could do it. Not bad, you did a great job."

"Fortunately, I live up to my fate!"

The bandits who usually harassed the villagers have finally been dealt with. Xia Lin chuckled. Just then, a subordinate came to report: "His Majesty's convoy has arrived forty miles away and will be here today."

After listening, Xia Lin nodded, stepped forward and patted Chen Xiangyao on the shoulder: "The opportunity is in your hands. The heads are right here. Let them see, give them confidence, understand?"

"Understood! Thank you for your guidance, Master."

"Then I should go too," Xia Lin said cheerfully. "I hope to see you in the history books someday."

"The students will definitely give it their all."

Xia Lin led his men away to the next stop, and Emperor Jingtai and his entourage arrived in the afternoon.

As they approached, Emperor Jingtai saw a pile of dead heads by the roadside and was startled. He immediately ordered the carriage to stop, saying, "Stop, stop, stop!"

After the convoy stopped, he jumped off and circled the tower of human heads twice: "Goodness, the locals are pretty tough. Hey you, go ask what's going on here. What era are we living in? Still doing this kind of thing?"

The Imperial Guard general hurriedly stepped forward to inquire, and then summoned Chen Xiangyao, who had been waiting for a long time.

"Long live my emperor."

"Stop with the 'Long Live the Emperor' nonsense." Emperor Jingtai pointed at the pile of heads: "What? Trying to intimidate me?"

Chen Xiangyao bowed his head and said, "These heads are for Your Majesty to welcome you and wash away the dust of your journey. These heads belong to bandits in the mountains along the way. A few days ago, I was ordered by Chief Xia to wipe out all the evil bandits in the mountains. The heads are placed by the roadside to welcome Your Majesty and to pray for good weather during this planting season."

"Good heavens..." Emperor Jingtai, hands on his hips, circled the pile of heads a few more times: "I was thinking that it would be good enough if you could stew tofu with fish heads to welcome us, but who would have thought you would use these human heads..."

(End of this chapter)