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

Chapter 736 You may doubt my motives, but don't doubt my abilities.

In fact, Xia Lin didn't have to do this himself, but he's not a god, and the cheat device doesn't have everything. Practical work and real knowledge are the foundation of long-term stability. Although it's nice to be a hands-off manager, you'll have to pay the price sooner or later.

Since they had chosen to do it themselves, they decided to start over. However, time was of the essence, and they didn't have time to recruit new recruits. Therefore, Xia Lin's idea was to recruit veterans who had left the combat ranks from all over the society.

The idea was approved by the other two. In Li Shimin's words, the veterans had experience and skills. Compared with the new recruits, they might not have the same physical strength. But now the task they had to do was not to charge into battle against hundreds of thousands of troops. Physical strength was no longer so important. Experience and skills had become the primary factors.

However, the money must be in place before that. Without money, it's like conscripting soldiers, and loyalty and fighting ability cannot be guaranteed.

"The money is fine. I have already ordered the Ministry of Revenue to allocate funds, and it should arrive soon." Emperor Jingtai was sitting there playing cards with a cigarette in his mouth. Hearing Xia Lin's urging, he looked up impatiently: "This time, I said I asked for the money in the name of building a temporary palace."

"That's interesting. You, as the emperor of a country, have money to build palaces, but no money to suppress bandits and have more men. What kind of logic is that?"

"Your brain is full of lumps of flesh," Emperor Jingtai shook his head helplessly. "The Imperial Workshop can spare 20% to 30% to fill the gaps in other places. For example, the Ministry of Works reported 7.5 million taels of silver for the river management in Yangzhou, but that year, because of the trouble caused by you warlord families, labor, logistics, warehousing, and materials all increased in price, and in the end, it cost 12 million taels. This money had to be spent; if it wasn't, everyone from top to bottom would be beheaded. But what to do with the millions of taels of deficit? We can only make an account and leave it there to fill the gaps."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin suddenly realized: "Oh! I understand now. Your establishment of new government offices is just creating new holes for them, but your construction palace is funded from the royal treasury, which is not related to the Ministry of Revenue's accounts. They only need to take a little out of it when allocating funds to fill the previous holes, which is a win-win situation."

"Hmm." Emperor Jingtai nodded: "Otherwise, why do you think I would want to amass wealth? What is the significance of money to me? This money is to be kept to cover the deficit of the court, because if there are discrepancies between the plan and the result, you can't expect your officials to put money into it themselves."

"Then let me ask you, if you take this money but don't build a palace, what will happen if things get out?"

“If a temporary palace is built, I am the person who will be the last to inspect it and the person who will be held accountable. What if I don’t hold them accountable? Right, it’s not too bad to pass this on. After all, which emperor in history didn’t have a temporary palace? I also need one. It’s just a matter of size. In fact, what do emperors need so many temporary palaces for? To put it bluntly, they are all for filling holes.”

These words changed Li Shimin's opinion of Emperor Jingtai. This man was not only a scoundrel who ate fish soup with rice, but he was also a man who was well-versed in the ways of an emperor. But what exactly caused him to become so incompetent?
As expected, while Xia Lin was still setting up the organizational structure, the funds from the capital had already arrived in Ningbo Prefecture. Emperor Jingtai reported 20 million taels, but after discussions between the cabinet and the six ministries, 15 million taels were finally sent over, and the remaining 5 million taels were kept in the Ministry of Revenue as reserve funds.

To put it bluntly, they've already filled the hole with five million taels of silver. Once the money's in their hands, it's impossible to get them to come back.

Why don't you guys ever mention this embezzlement issue?

During a break from tallying the accounts that day, the three of them, along with the accountant summoned from the General's Mansion in Ningbo, were having a meal together when Li Shimin suddenly asked a strange question: "I've calculated it, and there are at least 80,000 taels of silver missing here."

“Because we can’t control them.” Xia Lin held the bowl and looked up. “But this is a kind of support. The money that each department takes out is a kind of pledge of loyalty. If they deserve to die one day, we will have a reason to kill them.”

"I understand." Li Shimin slapped his thigh: "You civil officials are truly incompetent."

"This isn't sordid; it's the wisdom of struggle. Everyone's not stupid; they understand perfectly well that if they don't have leverage over others, how can the emperor trust them to do anything?" Xia Lin lowered his eyes. "Everyone talks about corrupt officials and honest officials. True, if it's all corrupt officials, the dynasty will fall. But do you think a dynasty with only honest officials will last? The way of Yin and Yang lies in harmony. Balance, balance. So-called balance isn't about rallying one group against another—that's called factional strife. Balance is about dividing the pie—you get a piece, he gets a piece, I get a piece. The dogs guard the gate well, the cats catch the mice well—that's true balance."

“That makes sense!” Li Shimin took out his notebook again: “I always said I could learn real things from you scholars.”

Xia Lin glanced at him and thought to herself, "If you hadn't rescued Third Sister, you probably would have learned it by now."

At this moment, Emperor Jingtai took the last puff of his cigarette butt, put down his water cup, and said, "Now that we have the money, what should we do?"

"Post the notice!"

The next day, from the city gate of Ningbo Prefecture, within a radius of fifty miles, there were young children running around everywhere, carrying leaflets and notices and handing them out to everyone they met. Although this method was tedious and expensive, it was the fastest way to spread the news.

The news gradually spread throughout the city that a Mr. Tian was recruiting a private army. The pay was good and the age requirements were quite lenient, but there was a major hurdle: having served in the military before.

"Didn't they say it's forbidden to keep private armies now? How come there are still people who dare to go against the grain?" In the tavern, many people were discussing the leaflets. Ordinary people are happiest when they talk about the latest happenings. News of the massacre in the capital had already reached here. In recent days, the tyrannical lords who used to be domineering have indeed become much more benevolent. Some have donated their property and some have returned fertile land. Anyway, since someone set an example in the capital, the whole country is now holding back their energy and waiting to see how the local lords behave.

"Who says otherwise? A few days ago, there was a young master in Heshang Town who didn't believe in superstitions. He said he had his private soldiers burn down the houses of the scholars and officials who came to the countryside. The next day, those scholars and officials ransacked their house. There were soldiers watching over them, but they didn't do anything about it."

"I've heard about this too. Being a master isn't easy these days, but it's actually a good thing for us. So, given all this, how dare this Master Tian still raise a private army? Isn't he afraid of death?"

"There are plenty of people who aren't afraid of death; just watch the show."

"However, this private soldier receives a monthly salary of six taels of silver, plus commission... What is this commission?"

"Can't you see the small print at the bottom? The commission section says that you get paid based on the results of each battle."

They were still discussing how the combat bonus should be calculated. Nearly five hundred people had already signed up in Xia Lin's area. They were all soldiers who had retired from the army, the oldest of whom was nearly forty years old. After returning from the army, most of them were allocated land.

But most of them were soldiers who had fought on the battlefield, some of whom were even among the first to enter Ningbo. The mundane life was a real thorn in their side for them. The problem was that if they left the fields, they would not be able to support their wives, children and elderly parents.

Suddenly, someone started recruiting private soldiers, specifically mentioning that they were mainly recruiting veterans like them who had been on the battlefield. This reassured them that they could entrust their families to their brothers, wives, and children, so they came here to sign up.

Of course, this was only the surface reason. The real reason was that news came from the Ningbo Prefecture camp that the person recruiting soldiers this time was none other than Marshal Xia, the big boss behind him.

To put it simply, Xia Lin's reputation in the court and among the aristocratic families was extremely bad. He could stop a child from crying at night, but in the army and among the common people, he was a god. Especially in the hearts of these veterans, even the emperor's words might not be effective, but if Commander Xia ordered them to die, eighty percent of them would immediately go to their deaths without hesitation or asking why.

They know perfectly well what kind of people they were before they met Xia Shuai, and what kind of people they are after they met Xia Shuai.

So when they heard that it was Marshal Xia recruiting soldiers, they made up any excuse and rushed over. When they got there, they saw that the person sitting there registering was indeed Marshal Xia.

This group mainly consists of new recruits from the first and second batches. Many generals outside would now call them "Old Squad Leader." Their excitement upon seeing Commander Xia again was palpable, but their excellent manners allowed them to maintain maximum restraint. Even during registration, their hands were already trembling.

"Xia Shuai...you're getting old too."

"Damn it..." Xia Lin was taken aback by these words and looked up to curse, "If you can't speak properly, then get out of here. Do you mean I'm old? I mean I've matured with time."

Seeing that their guiding light and sun were still there as always, the veterans smiled. Then they were led to the back room, changed into private soldiers' uniforms, and picked up their weapons again.

Xia Lin had been registering names until the afternoon when he finally got a little rest. The veterans, who had just changed their clothes, brought Xia Lin tea and food, which had just been taken from the pot they were eating from. This was a custom of the new army; unless there were special reasons, the commander-in-chief and ordinary soldiers ate from the same pot, and even the emperor was no exception.

"Commander Xia, let's eat."

Xia Lin raised a finger and warned, "Call me Master Zhang!"

"Understood! I'll follow Commander Xia's arrangements!"

"Commander Xia! Commander Xia!" Xia Lin stood up and kicked him twice in the butt: "Is your brain still that bad? Go back and silently recite Master Zhang's name three hundred times, go!"

(End of this chapter)