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

Chapter 724 After this battle, even the Heavenly King himself would tremble.

Actually, the demands of the Bakas this time are very simple: they just want recognition, or rather, their current emperor needs to be recognized.

Judging from Abe's description, the internal strife within the Baka is very serious. Since Prince Shotoku's death, they have split into two factions: one advocating complete Sinicization and the other advocating outward expansion.

Abe's faction advocates complete Sinicization, but their power is currently very weak, so they are turning to the powerful country to the west, namely the Great Wei Empire, for help.

Since they arrived in Jinling, they have repeatedly tried to request an audience with His Majesty the Emperor of Great Wei, but have been refused each time. This is because their status is too low. Not to mention envoys, even their own emperor is not qualified to meet the Emperor of Great Wei directly. Therefore, they have to follow the proper procedures, starting from the level of the Director of the Court of State Ceremonies and working their way up. Generally speaking, it takes at least half a year for a letter of state to reach His Majesty the Emperor.

But who knew that today, things would turn out so quickly, with the emperor himself appearing to speak with them in his capacity as the person in charge.

However, even though the emperor said he was in charge, they still had to treat themselves as outsiders and follow all the proper etiquette. They had already brought state gifts to present when the emperor gave his message, which saved them a lot of trouble.

"This time, we have brought His Majesty the Emperor of Great Wei one hundred bolts each of water-woven silk, Minong silk, fine silk, and yellow silk, 200 bolts of colored silk, nine luminous pearls from the East Sea, fifteen hundred-year-old tortoiseshells, forty ivory pieces, four thousand silver coins of the 'Hetong Kaizhen' variety, and eighteen gold Buddha statues. We hope His Majesty the Emperor of Great Wei will accept them with pleasure."

As the boxes piled up, even the well-informed Emperor Jingtai felt it was too extravagant, and even had a moment of disorientation.

When the envoy Abe saw Emperor Jingtai's expression, he was actually quite pleased with himself. Over the years, he had studied Buddhism, but in the end, he had not understood Buddhism but had mastered human nature. He knew very well that no one in this world could resist such temptation.

It wasn't until he turned his gaze to Xia Lin beside him that he noticed the man who could decide national policy sitting there with a teacup in hand. He casually glanced at the boxes filled with treasures—a hundred boxes of wealth that could elevate an ordinary person to high office with just one of them.

However, he only glanced at it, and even had a disdainful smile on his lips.

Upon seeing that smile, Abe felt a pang of panic. Sure enough, Xia Lin spoke up at that moment: "So-called gifts are nothing more than stakes placed on one's destiny. This is merely your wager, and all gamblers desire a huge profit, though some gamble everything and others take a slow and steady approach. Since what's placed here today is a wager, you surely expect a reward tenfold or even a hundredfold, don't you, Envoy Abe?"

After hearing this, Emperor Jingtai immediately turned to look at Xia Lin, then pointed at the envoy Abe and said, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and write this down!"

The Baka delegation immediately began to frantically take notes, while Xia Lin put down his teacup and said, "We will not accept your gift, but we can listen to your demands. It is not that the Great Wei is heartless, but that the Great Wei does not want to be used as a mine for people to seize profits. The sea cannot stop greed. When the vast Central Plains can no longer satisfy your greed, you will eventually harm others and yourselves."

"I swear to God, it's absolutely impossible."

Looking at the sincere expression on Abe's face, Xia Lin just smiled coldly: "It is said that flowers do not bloom for a hundred days. A country is like a flower. The ups and downs of fortune are sometimes beyond human control. Your country is separated from mine by mountains and seas. If one day you are strong and I am weak, what will happen?"

After saying that, Xia Lin stood up and said, "Please wait for me a moment."

He left after he finished speaking, while the Baka delegation looked up at Emperor Jingtai, who spread his hands helplessly and said, "That's just how he is, looking at me won't help."

Xia Lin returned to his residence and rummaged through his belongings for a while. Then he took out the "Chrysanthemum and the Sword" era replacement version that he had copied some time ago. He looked it over and it seemed to be fine. So he took the handwritten copy back to the Honglu Temple.

At this moment, Emperor Jingtai was sitting there studying a teapot made in Baga. He was used to the thin, white, and resonant porcelain from Fuliang, but when he looked at the crooked, uneven porcelain made in Baga, he found it rather cute.

Xia Lin walked back and threw the handwritten copy on the low table: "There's no need to talk about such things now. Go and read this book thoroughly before you come back to talk to me."

What could the envoy Abe say? Could he refuse? Even if he wanted to curse now, he had to hold it in, because if he uttered those foul words, Japan would face annihilation.

Next, they watched Emperor Jingtai and Xia Lin leave. After they left, the deputy of the envoy Abe came up and asked in a low voice, "Sir, just as you said, the troublesome one is not the emperor."

Abe didn't speak, but simply opened Xia Lin's handwritten copy. He only glanced at it briefly before breaking out in a cold sweat. Every word in it was about them, analyzing their national character from various angles. Whether it was because of the many disasters that they had no sense of security and were always thinking about finding a better place, or analyzing their desire and longing for the central continent from the perspective of scarce resources, Abe didn't speak.

Given Xia Lin's reputation and abilities, it's not surprising that he would know these things. But what truly terrified Abe was that when he compiled this into a book, from a national perspective, he had already harbored murderous intentions towards his own country.

A powerful empire will never allow a country that might pose a threat to them to live peacefully. It may not necessarily conquer it, but it will definitely try every means to make trouble for it.

If that's the case, then not only will my request for support fail, but it's also likely to bring about a strong check and balance from my suzerain state.

Not only will unification not be achieved, but what is even more frightening is that it may be mired in prolonged civil war and division. This is the tactic of the suzerain state, and also its cruelty.

Abe slumped to the ground, his expression filled with despair. He was truly lost and helpless. He looked up at the spot where Xia Lin had left and took a deep breath: "Go and investigate all his preferences now."

The two men, having left the Court of State Ceremonial, were already sitting in a dessert shop, each ordering a bowl of steaming sweet potato soup. "Ah Sheng, I never knew you were so skilled in diplomacy. Did you study it?"

"I was originally a strategist," Xia Lin patted his chest. "It's my job."

"Aren't you a former pageboy? What are you capable of?"

"Never mind that, I was just taking a course in the middle." Xia Lin rummaged through the sweet potato in his bowl, sighed, and said, "When you get back, immediately tell the historian to record today's events in the Emperor's Annals, to make it a historical precept, to warn future generations to be careful no matter when or where. There is no such thing as kinship or friendship between countries. Everyone in the world is driven by profit, especially in a place like Japan, which is arrogant at first but obsequious later. Their land and national character have determined that no good people can come from this place."

"Oka!"

"You've learned it too, haven't you?"

"What Zhang Aiqing taught me is quite useful."

As they were talking, a burly man joined them at the table. This man was clearly from the Northern Han Dynasty; he didn't talk much, but he ate loudly and was somewhat rude.

After he finished eating, he wiped his mouth, put down the money, and left. Emperor Jingtai pointed at his retreating figure and asked, "What about the Northern Han? Should we also be on guard against them?"

“Northern Han.” Xia Lin’s eyes drooped down: “The vast land of China stretches for thousands of miles, with ethnic groups like a forest. Whether it’s the Xianbei, the Xinghan, or the Northern Mang, they are all just trees in the forest. But it doesn’t matter when you’re separated by the sea. Just don’t treat them as human beings.”

"Ah Sheng, I think you're always very calm, but you always lose your temper when facing these Japanese. What's wrong? Have you been bullied by the Japanese?"

Xia Lin was silent for a moment, then slammed his hand on the table: "Send troops! Immediately issue an edict to the Ningbo Navy to send troops! The Japanese are incompetent; we must punish them!"

"Alright! Calm down." Emperor Jingtai grabbed Xia Lin's sleeve: "Although I don't know what grudge you have against them, we don't have that many ocean-going ships these days. You can't exactly use cargo ships to transport soldiers, can you? That would be like crossing the river in disguise."

"You're quite kind-hearted."

"It's all hypocrisy. The main problem is that you didn't even mention the Ningbo online army. We don't have any online army at all."

“That’s true…” Xia Lin suddenly laughed: “There are some scattered around, but probably not enough. Hmm, it’s time to take a walk on the beach.”

After hearing what he said, Emperor Jingtai looked like a pitiful little dog. Xia Lin knew what he was thinking at a glance, so he picked up a piece of pickled radish from the side and threw it into Emperor Jingtai's bowl: "Appetizer radish!"

In fact, Xia Lin vaguely sensed that Emperor Jingtai's mind was no longer on state affairs. He was even too lazy to return to the palace and just followed Xia Lin around every day, having a great time. But this couldn't go on forever.

"Don't try to persuade me, I'm not going back. Even a dog could sit on that dragon throne in the Golden Palace. I don't want to be a brooding emperor; I want to travel the world. Besides, you yourself said you wanted to follow the mass line. If I don't go out and stay in the palace every day, what kind of good people can that place cultivate? The government has three provinces and six ministries. Before, I was worried, but after your upheaval, who would dare to challenge them?!"

"I..." Xia Lin scratched the back of his head: "I haven't said anything yet."

“Daosheng, you’re only thirty-two years old. You’ve known me since you were fifteen, so it’s been seventeen years. Seventeen years. I could tell what kind of fart you were going to let out just by lifting your butt. I don’t care, I’m going to get out of here.”

"I can't get out!"

"It's just a business trip, no big deal."

The next day, Xia Lin received an assignment to inspect the post stations, and the two officials went to Ningbo Prefecture to oversee the inspection.

Holding the dispatch order, Xia Lin rested her chin on her hand and said to Tang Bao'er with a worried expression, "Sigh, it's really not easy to work. I still have to inspect the post stations."

"Then go, we can't disobey orders." Tang Bao'er glanced at Xia Lin from head to toe. "You must be overjoyed, right?"

"How could I! The thought of leaving your warm and soft embrace makes me feel depressed, and I feel like crying my heart out."

(End of this chapter)