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

Chapter 658 It's been quite a while since I've enjoyed peace and quiet.

However, praise should be given where it is due, and criticism should be given where it is due. When Xia Lin was reviewing the military equipment, he scolded Xiao Chenzi from top to bottom.

"The guidelines call for 50,000 professional soldiers, but you've given me over 20,000 old, weak, sick, and disabled soldiers to make a fool of myself?"

Xiao Chenzi had been getting scolded the whole time, but he couldn't hold back when he got to this point: "If it weren't for them... the city would have fallen long ago."

"You're talking nonsense! If it weren't for you using them, you wouldn't have suffered such a crushing defeat. Your military technology is second only to Jiangnan Province, and yet you still got beaten so badly. How dare you say that? You let those old, weak, sick, and disabled people guard the city. I'll tell you, you bookish dog of a scholar, are truly incapable of commanding an army. Come on, repeat after me: 'A kind heart cannot command an army, and righteousness cannot manage finances!'"

After being reprimanded, Xiao Chenzi could only lower his head and remain silent. He couldn't bear to see the veterans looking so miserable after they retired, which is why he decided to keep them on the job.

But now it seems that this idea did not bring them a better life; instead, it cost them their lives.

It was indeed my fault for handling this matter poorly. If the city's defense forces had been composed of 50,000 elite young men, we wouldn't have been defeated so badly by a bunch of lousy bastards.

"Stop talking, stop talking."

Xiao Chenzi frowned: "I already know, but why did you come to save me?"

"Am I here to save you? I'm here to save my granary." Xia Lin adjusted his posture and said with exasperation, "In the Battle of Handan, the enemy suffered more than half their losses, and Yang Ying fled. But then the emperor of Northern Han came to negotiate peace, ceding territory and paying reparations, but the talks have been deadlocked. I felt there was something wrong here. You do the math: from Yang Ying's flight, to the Northern Han emperor's peace talks, to the news reaching me, and then me setting off day and night, I estimate you'll have to hold out for about fifteen days. But Yang Ying is a bit more cunning than I thought; if I had arrived a day or two later, you might not have been able to hold out."

Xia Lin looked up and remained silent for a moment: "He really doesn't treat his men like human beings. This kind of siege tactic is just filling the gaps with human lives until you fail."

Xiao Chenzi gave a wry smile: "If I can endure two more days, I really can't take it anymore."

"It's all because you changed military orders without authorization!"

However, this is not the time to pursue Xiao Chenzi. He has already done a great job, and things have come to this point. We should first stabilize the situation here. Now that we can see the strategic intentions of the Northern Han, we can no longer maintain the status quo.

Seeing that Xiao Chenzi had stopped arguing, Xia Lin continued, "In the capital, the Legalists are launching an attack on the aristocratic families. If it weren't for you and Huangya Pass here, I would never have come here to any other place."

"What is the situation in the capital?"

"In full swing." Xia Lin chuckled lightly. "You don't think you're the only one willing to sacrifice yourself for righteousness, do you?"

"Stop talking..." Xiao Chenzi said helplessly, "I know I was wrong."

"That's exactly what I've been waiting for you to say."

After Xia Lin finished speaking, she stood up and said, "I'm going to go for a walk outside."

Inside Huangya Pass, Xia Lin didn't really have anywhere to go. There were no places to eat, drink, or have fun. There used to be, after all, it was an important pass for trade, but now all the merchants had fled, and more than half of the people had left. In addition, there were those who died in battle, so there was hardly anyone left inside the pass. It was deserted and desolate everywhere.

Xia Lin leaned over the city wall, gazing outside. The bodies from the previous battlefield were being disposed of. "Disposal" was really just digging a large pit and burying them. However, the burial site was particular; it had to be far from water sources, otherwise, a plague could break out. Watching the layers upon layers of corpses being pushed away on carts, Xia Lin's feelings were complex. Although he had scolded Xiao Chenzi inside, reminding him of the saying "a merciful general cannot command an army," seeing these corpses in person still made him feel deeply saddened.

He spent over a decade trying to establish a peaceful, unified strategy, but he clearly failed. War was inevitable, and although his current advantage was obvious, it probably wouldn't last much longer. After this war, everyone would study him and his new army, and their secret weapons would eventually be deciphered. Although the enemy might not fully understand those sophisticated firearms, their basic principles would certainly be known.

Don't underestimate the heroes of the world. They are not monkeys from Southeast Asia or Dalits from the subcontinent. They are Chinese people of the same origin, with incredibly intelligent minds.

"Hey!"

Suddenly, Xia Lin felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and was stunned to see that it was Gongsun Meimei, whom he hadn't seen for almost five years. She was the stupid princess that Xia Lin had always called his concubine.

"You're still here?"

"I saw you kill the enemy chieftain!" Gongsun Xiaomei ignored Xia Lin's question, and just turned around in front of him a few times with her hands behind her back: "Hmm, not bad, not bad. I haven't seen you for many years. You look much more composed than before."

Xia Lin tilted her head and looked at her: "What? You married into this family?"

"No way!" Gongsun Xiaomei rolled her eyes. "I haven't avenged my parents yet, how can I get married? Besides, I have so many things to do, I don't have time for all that romance. Let me tell you, I've assembled a women's army here. Just a few days ago I was thinking that if the front lines couldn't hold out, I would lead those brave women to fight them. But before I could even show off, you showed up. What a spoilsport."

"You spoils the fun!" Xia Lin pinched her cheek. "People will die from this."

The younger sister shoved Xia Lin's hand away: "Speaking of which, you haven't come to see me even once in all these years? Back then, you kept calling me your little wife, your little wife. Men really are all dogs."

"Hey! You're really rude." Xia Lin sneered, "I haven't even looked at my own child a few times in all these years. I'm not kidding you, I haven't been near any women for half a year."

"Is it that you can't, or that you don't want to?"

“I’m too busy.” Xia Lin turned around and sighed, pointing with his chin towards the outside of the city: “Look, every frozen corpse on that cart outside was the apple of their parents’ eye, a mountain in their children’s eyes, and a pillar in their wives’ eyes. But now, they’re just nameless corpses in the pit.”

Gongsun Xiaomei looked outside, not in the mood for playing around. Instead, she sighed softly. After a long while, she suddenly turned to Xia Lin and said, "Take me with you this time."

"What? Still want revenge?"

"No, I want to go out and see the world. I'm not the same as before."

“Okay, I think I’ll be staying here for a while. You can be my tour guide. It’s not easy for you to have endured all these years in this harsh place.”

“Who says otherwise?” Gongsun Xiaomei turned around and pointed into the city: “If it were any other time, I would take you to eat that restaurant’s pheasant stew with mushrooms, but unfortunately they left before the war started, so we can’t have it.”

(End of this chapter)