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

Chapter 714 What do you want? The twilight of an empire or a peaceful and prosperous world.

Emperor Jingtai seemed completely unconcerned about Gao Shilian's matter, but unexpectedly, rumors began to circulate that Xia Lin was going to get involved in the investigation.

"He wants revenge for Anmus? What gives him the right?"

"What gives him the right? It's because he commands a large army and because he was entrusted with the late emperor's dying wish. What more needs to be said? You should have foreseen this when you forced Anmus to his death."

“Sir, but Anmus has nothing to do with him. Besides, it was Anmus who was in charge of the investigation when that person was investigated. He didn’t show any mercy back then.”

Faced with the fool standing before him, the chief strategist hired by the powerful family team suddenly felt a profound sense of powerlessness. How could such foolish words have come out of his mouth? He had truly lived a life of ease for too long, forgetting that this world was not inherently black and white, but simply a game of predation. Whoever exposed their weakness first would be ruthlessly eliminated. Cooperation was not necessarily a good thing, nor was confrontation necessarily a bad thing.

Those who achieve great things certainly don't sit there waiting for an opportunity. They still can't see why Anmus wanted to sacrifice them, nor can they see that his previous investigation and downfall of Xia Lin was just a scheme to remove Xia Lin from the rules of the court.

Now that Xia Lin is free from the constraints of unspoken rules, he is no longer bound by any restrictions. First, the new imperial examination system solidified his foundation among the people, and then he used the harvest festival to achieve a temporary external balance.

Now that the foundation is in place and external threats have been temporarily relieved, what's left? Is it time for a round of strangulation to begin?
Avenging Anmus was just a pretext; his real purpose was to weaken the influence of the entire aristocratic family, further reduce their voice in the court, and thus increase the rule and influence of the Legalist school.

On the surface, this may seem like a thankless task, but in the power struggle between the two sides, the people at the bottom of society ultimately benefit. This expands the base of support and gradually turns a tiny minority into a majority, which in turn increases the influence of imperial power.

If the emperor were to witness such a scene, would he favor him? Most likely he would, even if he didn't say it outright, he would certainly support him secretly.

Otherwise, no emperor in the world would allow his subordinates to be so arrogant. After all, for Xia Lin at present, it would only take a word for him to sit on the dragon throne.

"Sir, does His Majesty really turn a blind eye? You saw it for yourself today; his arrogant demeanor in the main hall made it hard to tell who the emperor was. Can His Majesty really trust such a person to hold power?"

The man beside him, Mr. Zhuge, simply looked up at the ornate pillars above, feeling a pang of sorrow: "Even now, you still place your life and death in the hands of others? Why do you ask His Majesty whether he cares or not? What difference does it make whether he cares or not?"

These words were a real blow to the other party. He only realized in a daze that the matter was now full of strangeness, but upon closer examination, it was very likely that the emperor himself was involved.

Xia Lin might even be nothing more than a pawn of the emperor. This has always been the way it is: when you want to get rid of a loyal minister, you will always support a villain, use the villain to do dirty work, and then turn around and shift the blame. It's just killing a villain, the job is done, and you get the fame.

"Oh, Mr. Zhuge. We have been loyal to our lord, yet we have been treated like birds that have been used up and bows that have been put away. I really don't know what to say."

The man sat down and said with a sense of helplessness and melancholy, "Thinking back on my family, spanning three generations, a hundred and twenty officials, all of whom worked diligently and tirelessly for the Great Wei, I never expected this... never expected this."

Upon hearing his words, Mr. Zhuge turned around and looked at him in surprise, his eyes widening in disbelief.

Listen to this, listen to this, is this even human language? Three generations of officials, more than 120 in total, and this is just one family. If you count the other families, they've taken over more than half of the Great Wei Empire, and yet they're complaining about being wronged. Is there any justice in this world? Is there any law in this world?

That's true. Mr. Zhuge overheard several scholars from Jiangnan chatting in a teahouse that day, and heard them say something like, "Your position determines your perspective," which he found very convincing.

Yes, your position determines your perspective. It may be crude, but it's easy to understand. If you're in their position, you can't see the big picture; you can only see your own little patch of land.

Put yourself in their shoes. If they were emperors, and they saw that most of their officials and ministers had mothers who were related through marriage or other kinship, wouldn't they panic? Would they send someone to sever that connection, or would they let them continue to hold high office for generations?
Anyone with a slightly clear head can figure this out. Why would Emperor Jingtai choose to believe a powerful and treacherous official rather than them?

If we continue to trust them, we're doomed! They've woven an intricate web of influence that covers the sky. When the country truly falls, they can simply strip off their official robes, change into something else, and remain the magistrates of Hongnong and the prefects of Jinling. But the emperor will be arrested and beheaded…

Well, a legitimate emperor who ascends the throne won't necessarily be killed by sword or axe, but he might just drown or suddenly fall ill.

"You still think this way even now? If you were the emperor, and you discovered that all your ministers were related by marriage, could you still sit still?"

"How could that be! Didn't we give up our positions to those scholars from the common people? We gave up quite a few, we've already made many concessions, yet he still insists on pressing us. Even a rabbit will bite when cornered."

Mr. Zhuge wanted to speak but suddenly became speechless. He realized that these people were not stupid, but had been in a comfortable state for far too long, so long that they could no longer see the way and were immersed in a naive and fixed mindset.

The man opposite seemed to notice the helplessness on the gentleman's face. He composed himself and asked, "Sir, what do you suggest we do?"

Zhuge lowered his eyelids: "The most important matters of state are sacrifice and war."

"Hmm? Sir, I don't understand."

"You may choose between sacrifice or war."

The person opposite was clearly confused. He didn't understand what Mr. Zhuge, this old riddle-maker, was saying, but he couldn't just jump up and curse him. So he could only smile awkwardly and cup his hands, saying, "Please enlighten me, sir."

"To put it simply, conquest is about purging the court of corrupt officials, ensuring the loyalty of the emperor, and ending this adversity."

After the man finished speaking, a picture gradually appeared in the mind of the person opposite him: They had gathered an army of 500,000 men from all over the country, and marched to the capital to defend the emperor and purge the court of corrupt officials. However, halfway there, they were suddenly encountered by the new army, and then the 500,000 men were defeated by the new army like fruits and vegetables, their bodies scattered and their rivers ceasing to flow...

This sent a chill down his spine. He said in a deep voice, "Sir... do you still remember what happened last year? Yang Ying's hundreds of thousands of troops, plus nearly two hundred thousand troops from the Northern Han, were all wiped out by Xia Lin. And now, after this grand harvest festival, all the heroes of the land have benefited and returned home to recuperate. We only have two hundred thousand men under Liu Heita of Shandong. I'm afraid..."

"I'm afraid it wouldn't even be enough to fill someone's teeth." Mr. Zhuge tapped the table: "Then let's try another method."

"Sacrifice? You mean...we want to offer sacrifices to Xia Lin? That's not bad, but I don't know what he's interested in. I've heard he dislikes money and women, and his only hobby is being a teacher...By the way, I have some alchemy techniques for achieving immortality in my household. I wonder if he would like them."

“Oh dear…” Mr. Zhuge flicked his sleeve and said with exasperation, “Give him the way to immortality and he’ll send you to heaven on the spot.”

"Then the gentleman mentioned sacrifices..."

"Human heads! We need human heads!" Mr. Zhuge said viciously. "He is a vicious beast. We need human blood and human heads to sacrifice to him."

“Ah... If we go to collect blood offerings at this time, wouldn't that give others something to say? But it's not impossible. I'll go find those Tibetans. They have quite a few slaves. I can just spend some money to buy three thousand heads.”

Mr. Zhuge frowned, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was truly finding it hard to tolerate the arrogance and stupidity of these high-ranking officials. Buying slaves? What use are slaves? To cook a stew for Xia Daosheng? If you dare to transport three thousand heads to the capital, it will be considered a witchcraft incident in the Great Wei Dynasty, and you, you damned old bastard, will be the first to be sacrificed.

"Your family has had over a hundred officials across three generations. How many people in the world are like you?"

One sentence left the person opposite him speechless once again. He bent down in disbelief and said, "Sir, do you mean... I should sacrifice someone else to Xia Lin?"

“There is no other way; this is what he wants. Let's perform the sacrifice. If we don't, he will never give up.”

"How can this be allowed!"

"Alright, then you just wait. The Mid-Autumn Festival has passed. Just wait for winter to come. Before the winter solstice, that will be the time for him to make his move."

The man slumped down: "If I don't offer sacrifices, he'll have to?"

"Correct."

Now that things have come to this point, anyone who still doesn't understand is not just arrogant; they've probably been pinched on the head at birth.

"I understand."

Outside the imperial court, everything was jubilant. Whether it was the new imperial examination or the harvest festival, these were all joyous occasions. The people's income had increased significantly, and the goods in the market had expanded considerably. If nothing unexpected happened, this would be the peaceful and prosperous era that everyone had longed for in the past.

But within the imperial court, the atmosphere was truly murderous. A mere rumor, its veracity unknown, triggered a chain reaction. The dark forest system within this small world had been initially established, with each person operating independently, carefully guarding against being hunted by others while striving to hunt others themselves.

At first, they were relatively restrained, and everyone still held the idea of ​​leaving each other a way out. But this restraint was soon broken. The cause was nothing more than a test, a test between staunch allies. The crime accused was simply that so-and-so's wife beat her concubine to death.

These are all crimes that are hardly respectable and, if left unmentioned, would be considered minor offenses, since a concubine isn't even considered a person. But if brought up, they become heinous crimes of murder.

This test played right into the hands of the Dali Temple. They were like man-eating tigers, how could they possibly let go of this meal that had been delivered to their door? In an instant, the members of the Dali Temple, like hyenas that had smelled the scent of death, swarmed around them.

After this incident, these people had a clear understanding of the situation. Although they were far from being bloodthirsty, the great battle royale belonging to the powerful officials had finally begun.

Looking to history for answers, the last time such a grand occasion occurred was during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. It's just a pity that by then, the Zhou emperor had lost control of the situation and the people's hearts. But this time, everything is under control.

Everyone knows who this battle is for and why they are fighting it. It is cruel, helpless, and laughable, but they are powerless to do anything about it. If they continue to unite, they will be cut down by the executioner wielding the giant blade. But now that they are fighting individually, they find themselves like a lone boat on a vast ocean, unable to control their own destiny.

Soon, they began to feel helpless, as trust had plummeted to its lowest point. Every gesture of goodwill was seen as espionage. They resorted to desperate measures, but in doing so, they completely tore apart their small groups.

As they got into the swing of things, the investigation into Gao Shilian's old case also began to gain momentum, with old cases dating back as far as forty years being unearthed one after another.

What? You're saying it's difficult to handle if the evidence is lost?

It's easier to deal with things now that the evidence is lost! They took down the leader of the Legalists themselves, so don't blame the Legalists for driving their four-axle, eight-wheel-drive cars on the national highway as if they were speed bumps.

"Your scheme is truly vicious."

Old Zhang lowered his head and flipped through a thick stack of files: "I have 1,300 lives on my hands, all of which they fought for themselves."

"kill."

Xia Lin's casual remark made Old Zhang suddenly raise his head: "No room for compromise?"

“The winter solstice is almost here.” Xia Lin’s face twitched. “I was just worried that I wouldn’t have any offerings for Anzi this year.”

"You're really ruthless, aren't you afraid of causing chaos in the world?"

Xia Lin laughed heartily: "I'll get a taxi this year, and I'll use it as soon as I pick it up!"

"How do you park the Legalist's car?" Old Zhang glanced at Xia Lin: "It's terrifying if you can't stop it once it's started moving."

"The South City Law School will open in three months."

"Hahaha, good, good. Give them something to do, huh?" Old Zhang nodded, but then he said worriedly, "But if you don't cut the weeds at the root, they'll just keep coming back like weeds, you kill one batch and they'll grow back."

"Don't worry." Xia Lin patted the file in Lao Zhang's hand: "There's a second round, and this one might be even more cruel and painful."

"Give me a reminder."

Xia Lin stretched and walked forward lazily: "Oh dear, these young people nowadays are lazy and don't know anything about farming. It's time to send them to the countryside and teach them what it means to say that the people are the country and the grain is the state."

Old Zhang's eyelids twitched: "Aren't you... pushing them into the gentry's camp?"

"Hahaha, gentry? Gentry aren't enough for these clever people to play with." Xia Lin turned to look at Lao Zhang: "You give me a detailed report. I need at least 300,000 people to go to the fields."

"Why don't you go?"

"It's okay if I don't go. But those who go will be given priority. Only if they go can they compete with others. If they don't go, they won't even have a chance."

Old Zhang pointed at Xia Lin and said, "You, you, you not only kill him, you also destroy his spirit!"

(End of this chapter)