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

Chapter 719 Storm, Storm!
"Classmates, this world has always been like this, but is it right just because it has always been like this? Fellow students, this world shouldn't be like this, it shouldn't be like this! What we learn from books is ultimately just superficial, but it teaches us how people should live. Perhaps today you and I will fail, perhaps we will die, but are you willing for your descendants to live like this forever? As Chen Sheng and Wu Guang said, 'Are kings and nobles born with special privileges?' You and I don't presume to call ourselves kings and nobles; we only want to take back what they have taken from us. All we want is peace, joy, happiness, longevity, and good health. But they don't want to see us living in peace and prosperity, so this time we must take it back with our own hands."

"Students, peaceful days are never something you can wait for. All the world can wait for is shackles, and all we can lose are shackles. Headmaster Xia has been dismissed, and Prime Minister Ma has been impeached. Their knives are now aimed at Prime Minister Zhang. All those who spoke up for the people and for us have fallen one by one. Open your eyes and look! Look at Jinling City! It lies there like a dead city! Who made it go from prosperity to weakness? Who made it so scarred!"

As the students were giving their impassioned speech on stage, the door outside suddenly opened, and everyone turned around in unison to see a guard in a full dragon robe standing there. The students immediately became alert.

But then someone appeared, and they cheered: Xia Lin had arrived.

Surrounded by students, Xia Daosheng walked to the front, pacing around a few times with his hands behind his back: "Are you rebelling?"

"Headmaster..."

"Professor Xia..."

Xia Lin chuckled: "Do you know the crime of rebellion?"

There was complete silence below, but Xia Lin continued, "Exterminate nine generations of your family, students. You are all so young, how can you so easily risk your lives?"

"Headmaster!" Someone stood up at this moment: "You wrote the academy's motto, and you told us the meaning of reading!"

“I told you, you’re all so young, it’s not worth it.” Xia Lin shook his head, then clapped his hands: “Don’t become the instigator and the ringleader, you can’t handle it.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the guards outside carried in large boxes. Inside were layers of standard rifles, separated by straw, and covered with oil that smelled of iron.

All the students froze, their expressions turning blank.

"If you can't handle it, you naturally need someone who can to help you. Also, you bastards, what's the general overview on the first page of your political textbooks?"

"Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun!"

"Without guns, what are you going to do? Grab your weapons and get ready to go!"

The students' cheers shattered the snow on the roof. They were all graduates of Fuliang Academy, each of them having undergone intensive training at the camp, some even having directly participated in the development of weapons. This was something they could master as soon as they picked it up.

"Protect yourselves." Xia Lin walked past them like a general inspecting his troops: "Think clearly about your objectives. The city garrison won't be deployed, but they all have private armies and guards in their homes. After the gunfire starts, there will be backup, but not many. If you can't handle it, retreat. Classmates, whoever loses this battle is a traitor, do you hear me?!"

"understand!"

Xia Lin glanced at the sky: "Begin!"

On the evening of the Lantern Festival in the winter of the tenth year of the Jingtai reign, a crisp gunshot rang out in Nanjing. Many people thought it was just a loud firecracker, but it wasn't until they heard screams and shouts outside that many people peeked out to check.

At this time, the wealthy district of Jinling was in an uproar. The private armies of the powerful families were already engaged in fierce battles with the enemy, and the night watchmen were already banging gongs and shouting throughout the streets.

"An uprising has broken out! An uprising has broken out in Nanjing! Lock your doors and windows and do not go out!"

Grandma, please close the doors and windows!
When they heard that someone had started a rebellion, many men had already grabbed their belongings and rushed out. They had been holding back their anger for too long. Their hard-earned good life had been destroyed time and time again, and they could no longer contain themselves.

A single spark can start a prairie fire.

As each household opened its doors, the men, ignoring their families' pleas or under their expectant gazes, rushed out, some carrying tools and others farm implements, quickly joining this battle that no one knew who had started.

It didn't matter. Although they didn't know who their allies were, they knew better than anyone else who the enemy was.

Soon the riot spread from one point to the whole city. The wealthy and powerful were all affected. They used their high walls and heavy gates to resist the onslaught, but even the strongest fortress could not withstand enemies from all sides.

Some people went to the city defense army for help, but the city defense general only said that no troops could be sent out without an imperial edict. They went to the palace, but found that the palace gates were closed and all the guards were on high alert, refusing anyone to enter or leave.

Soon, the first fire was ignited at the Zhou family mansion in Jinling. The towering flames could be seen even from ten miles away.

In the hours following the ignition of the fire, Jinling, which had been drowsy and like a dead city, suddenly awoke. But now it had transformed into a man-eating monster, and its purposeful slaughter and retaliatory burning completely set the city ablaze.

No matter the official's residence, the mansion of the wealthy, or the mansion of the powerful, none were spared. Some families even kept thousands of private soldiers, but they were simply unable to withstand the wrath of Nanjing.

Xia Lin stood under a large banyan tree, his sleeves rolled up, quietly watching the chaos before him. Every "rioter" who passed by bowed respectfully to him. Even those rioters who were carrying severed heads turned into subjects of a land of etiquette in his presence.

The once-powerful figures known as Master Zhou, Master Huang, and Master He are now hanging from the trees at various street corners, their heads drooping, long since lifeless.

"Adultery is forbidden!"

At that moment, a student from the academy, holding a gun, smashed a man who was about to assault a woman with the butt of his gun, and then shouted sternly: "If you are caught again, execute him on the spot!"

As night deepened, soldiers bearing the insignia of the new army entered the area one after another. However, they were clearly not there to stop the riot, but rather to prevent it from spreading to other areas. These men formed a human wall, isolating the chaotic turmoil of the fighting within that area.

At this moment, people were running and fleeing everywhere, corpses were everywhere, and blood flowed down the drainage ditches, even staining the well water.

At that moment, a middle-aged man covered in blood struggled out and rushed to Xia Lin's location like a headless fly. He grabbed Xia Lin's clothes tightly. This man was none other than the one who had recommended Xia Lin to resolve the scholars' chaos: "Why...why..."

Xia Lin pulled out her clothes with a look of disgust and said coldly, "I gave you a chance."

After saying that, Xia Lin turned and left, then cleared his throat: "Go through the roll call of the gentry register, don't let a single one escape."

On this day, the foreign envoys of the Court of State Ceremonial stared in astonishment at the towering flames and shouts of battle in Nanjing. They were both shocked and terrified, but fortunately the riot was contained within a certain area. The once affluent area, which was off-limits to ordinary people, had now become a hell that would destroy them.

That was the best location in Nanjing, a place that adults flocked to. The place that once wanted to write "No poor ghosts or dogs allowed" is now a mixture of blood and mud, indistinguishable from the real thing.

For three days, the fire in Jinling City burned for three whole days, and as many as 70,000 corpses were cleared out. Xia Lin still stood there with his sleeves rolled up, watching cartloads of grain, gold and silver, and corpses being transported out of that area.

"General, six armies are rapidly approaching Jinling."

Xia Lin lowered his eyes: "How many people?"

"Over 100,000 people."

"嘁~"

Xia Lin pursed her lips: "Go ahead, go rest for a bit. We'll talk about it when they arrive."

"Order!"

Inside the palace, the young regent was trembling with fear, and he had fewer than ten ministers who could speak to him, each of whom wore a look of terror on their face.

They didn't know what was happening outside, but from the imperial city, they could see the raging fire and hear the agonizing screams. His ministers, too, were at a loss; their legs trembled, and the screams that had echoed for three days were like death knells, keeping them awake at night.

But now the palace is like an isolated island in a raging storm, neither allowing entry nor exit, completely cut off from the outside world.

At this moment, Xia Lin had arrived at the General's Mansion, which was also Old Guo's residence. When he opened the door, Old Guo was sitting inside, looking at him with a gloomy expression.

"Father Guo".

Old Guo nodded slightly: "Good, you did a good job. You killed nearly 100,000 people in three days!"

"No, over 70,000." Xia Lin smiled. "Some of them ran away, what a pity."

Old Guo's hands trembled slightly as he said coldly, "What's next? Do you want to become emperor?"

"proclaim oneself emperor?"

Xia Lin took out the imperial seal and the general's seal from his person: "I don't need to wait until now to become emperor."

Old Guo saw what was in his hand, took a deep breath, and then just smiled helplessly: "Then what brings you here today?"

"No, I've come to bring you good news, Father Guo." Xia Lin stepped forward and helped the old man up: "After today, the matter that the late Emperor has been longing for will not be far off."

Old Guo was helped into the room by Xia Lin. After sitting down, he could only manage a bitter laugh: "Do you know how history will record you?"

"Hey." Xia Lin spread his hands. "In my life, I have committed countless evils. But I have no regrets towards heaven and earth, towards the common people, or towards my own conscience. I have been waiting for this day since I left Luoyang, almost twenty years now, Father Guo. You were all black then, but now you are all white-haired."

Old Guo sighed deeply: "And then?"

"Kill! Kill them all along the path of the gentry!" Xia Lin slammed his hand on the table. "I've given them chances at least three times. But they didn't take me seriously."

"And what about me? And Your Majesty? And what about you!?"

"Father Guo isn't from a noble family; the Guo family has served the country's borders for generations, they are heroes. Your Majesty, Your Majesty is overjoyed! The interests of the nation are shared by the people, and the interests of the people are shared by the ruler; the ruler and the people are one. As for me... at most, I'll be purged in the future, but I'm not afraid. I'll kill them until they submit. I want to get along with them, but they won't. They make things difficult for me and ostracize me at every turn, so I'll lay my cards on the table. I'm not pretending anymore. I'll let them know what it means to have a weapon in hand and the will to kill arises spontaneously."

"Very well, very well, what a convenient excuse for murderous intent! Now that hundreds of thousands of troops have returned to the capital to defend the emperor, what are you going to do with them? Kill them all!?"

"Them?" Xia Lin chuckled softly, turning his head: "They are disciples of Wen!"

"Here!" A young military officer ran in from outside.

"Pass on my order to those armies: mutini on the spot and bring the heads of their commanders to the capital to see me."

"Yes!"

Old Guo was clearly taken aback, and after a long while he finally spoke: "A mutiny on the spot?"

"Oh, a mutiny on the spot, huh?" Xia Lin laughed even louder: "Uncle Guo, after all these years, I graduated from military academy and was assigned to various battalions. I'm at least a mid-level general in the army now, and they're all waiting for me."

"How did you do it?"

“Uncle Guo, you’ve led troops in battle your whole life, you should know what military spirit is.” Xia Lin stood up and straightened his clothes. “I made them know why they were fighting, and I made them understand what they really wanted. But those people outside who only know how to scream don’t understand, they don’t understand what belief is. Uncle Guo, take a good rest and try to live a few more years, you still have to lead the military academy.”

After saying this, he bowed deeply to Lao Guo, then turned and left, the wind from his cloak making the screen in the room flutter.

A massive purge has begun in and around Jinling City. Merchants who hoarded goods and engaged in speculation during this period were dragged out and executed. As for the corrupt officials who usually acted arrogantly, their fate was even more tragic. The streetlights on East Street were covered with people hanging from them.

If we're talking about who escaped this calamity, it would be the Dugu family.

Actually, Xia Lin didn't exclude the Dugu family this time. Anyway, Douyazi returned to the north with Li Tang's group. But Xia Lin felt that Dugu Douyazi was also like a time traveler.

First, after the Li Tang delegation left, the Dugu family sold off all their properties in the wealthy district. When they joined forces to wage a food price war, they opened all of the Dugu family's warehouses to sell rice, flour, and cooking oil at low prices and even distributed winter clothing for free. Several of the head managers left Jinling for Fuliang in the days leading up to the riot.

After that, only a few scattered industries remained, and they were all insignificant ones. In fact, they were not only unaffected by the chaos, but also became the ultimate winners... because the rioters also needed to eat, and it seemed as if they had planned ahead, actively providing meals for these rioters...

With this perspective, it's absolutely true that the bean sprout family has survived for a thousand years.

So what was Emperor Jingtai doing at this moment?

He was sitting in a small tavern in Fuliang, eating a red clay hotpot, drinking warm glutinous rice wine, reading the newspaper about the turmoil in Jinling City, and occasionally discussing it with the people around him.

"Tell me, what sins have those people committed to drive our Lord Xia to this point?"

"Eh, no." Emperor Jingtai raised his head: "He killed seventy or eighty thousand people, and you're still protecting him like this?"

"What do you know? That's Lord Xia. Lord Xia has always been gentle and refined. The reason he would do this is because those people have gone too far."

"Damn it!" Emperor Jingtai pointed at the man and cursed, "Why don't I understand?"

"I can't be bothered to talk to you; you don't understand him at all."

"You know! You're the only one who knows!"

"A word to the wise is enough." The man got up and left, taking Emperor Jingtai's glutinous rice chicken with him as he went.

"Damn it!" Emperor Jingtai stood up and cursed, then sat down again sullenly.

Just then, a man with a mustache strolled over, sat down with a smile on his face, and said in a low voice, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

"Hey, third brother. Long time no see, you've gained quite a bit of weight."

"Thanks to Your Majesty," the Third Prince coughed, "I've heard there's been a riot in the capital. Are you really not going back to check on things?"

"I'm not going back." Emperor Jingtai shook his head silently. "I'll go in the spring. Don't give me any more nonsense. I'll pay for whatever we eat."

"Don't eat here, this place is not good." The Third Prince chuckled: "I've been here for ten years, I know better than anyone else. Please move over, Your Majesty."

(End of this chapter)