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

Chapter 748 The Real Purpose of Bandit Suppression

Did Xia Lin actually care about the female bandit leader? No, what he cared about was being slowly sliced ​​to death.

There's a deeper meaning here: it's about sending a signal to the people—a signal of stability. Given current productivity and transportation capabilities, it would be virtually impossible for men and animals to traverse the vast Asian continent to trade with Europe. Therefore, a stable and prosperous maritime region was needed, relying on tides and wind to accomplish what was impossible for humans. Suppressing the pirates was just the beginning; it was about building confidence among the people. Not only did it need to deter other pirates who hadn't been captured, but a pillar was also erected at the city gate to show everyone who truly ruled this place.

After that, he will personally go to Baka's place and ask them why they support pirates to disrupt the empire's borders.

This could be considered his obsession. As for whether Baka admits it or not, it doesn't matter. Let them talk to those five million bare sailing battleships, to the newly designed naval standard cannons, and to the incendiary bombs with three times the amount of white phosphorus. Don't talk to Xia Lin. Xia Lin doesn't understand the Japanese language and doesn't want to listen to them.

Xia Lin stood atop the newly built observation tower in the harbor, gazing at the horizon where the sea met the sky. In his hands lay a nautical chart he had painstakingly found online, which he was now redrawing according to current terminology. This ocean chart, worth hundreds of millions, was a testament to his hard work.

"General, an envoy from Japan has arrived and wishes to speak with you."

“Send them back. I don’t have time to see them.” Xia Lin didn’t turn around. “I will visit them in person in a few days.”

After a while, a local celebrity came to see Xia Lin. He stood under the tower and said, "General Xia... the envoy from Japan asked me to tell you that they are very sincere and hope that you can receive them."

Xia Lin pretended not to hear, sat there, picked up his teacup and took a sip. The dignitaries below didn't dare to urge him, just stood there waiting. After a long while, Xia Lin finally spoke: "You contributed a lot of manpower and resources during the reconstruction, so I can't refuse you. But I won't meet those Japanese envoys, and His Majesty certainly won't. Go tell them that they shouldn't wait until the knife is at their throat to regret their actions. I don't care which faction they belong to. They killed my people, burned my villages, and destroyed my farmland. This matter cannot be resolved with just an apology. Let them go back and prepare. The declaration of war should arrive in a few days."

"Is Xia going to...go to war...?"

"Otherwise what? Do you think I'd just accept a few boxes of grain and gold and silver and have a meal with him and that's it? Then you tell me how much a human life costs."

Those below dared not utter a sound. The person who could act as an intermediary here was a shrewd individual. If he dared to offer a price, his entire family would be bought off with a single silver note and sent to the guillotine today.

The man bowed and said, "General Xia, I shall take my leave."

When this news reached the ears of the Japanese envoy, he fainted on the spot. He now hated those beasts in his country to the core, but the facts were right in front of him. The Great Wei had found out that it was Japan that had initiated the plundering and massacre. Under such circumstances, anything they, as envoys, said seemed pale and powerless.

Before he had even regained consciousness, the campaign to expel Japanese merchants had already begun in Ningbo Prefecture. All merchants with Japanese shares were ordered to liquidate their Japanese shares within seven days. As for those Japanese merchants who were already doing business in China, they were given two options: one was to immediately liquidate their assets and give them to local merchants at 60% of the original value, and the other was to wait for the Great Wei State Decree to officially take effect so that they could be arrested and imprisoned in the mountains to work in coal mines.

Xia Lin is actually quite good in this respect. He never says he won't leave anyone a way out. Seven days is enough time for them to get out of this area. If they want to do business, they can either wait until the Great Wei subdues their country, or they can tie up the whole line of people who started this and send them over.

Obviously, they can't do the second option, so they'll wait until the Great Wei navy arrives and then let them know what a powerful legal force in the Asian region is.

As for whether there are good people among these bastards' businessmen, there certainly are, and perhaps the majority are even kind-hearted. However, conflicts at the national level can no longer be determined by the good or bad of a single individual. When the bastards' upper echelons use these tactics to achieve their own political goals, there is no room for maneuver.

At this moment, Xia Lin's orders had been issued, and the five major shipyards—Hangzhou Shipyard, Ningbo Shipyard, Jiujiang Shipyard, Quanzhou Shipyard, and Leizhou Shipyard—had already mobilized their full workforce and started working. The people had volunteered to raise funds for shipbuilding, and many merchants who were fed up with the harassment even donated nearly half of their family fortune to support the project. The brother-in-law of the Jiangnan Circuit invested 27 million taels of silver into the five major shipyards in the form of shares, which would be used to invest in the war's returns.

The Ministry of Revenue injected 17.7 million taels of silver into the five major shipyards, also for investment in war returns. They knew perfectly well that this was their own little scheme.

What surprised Xia Lin the most was that Li Shimin received a message from the Emperor of Li Tang via carrier pigeon, informing him that Li Tang had invested 30 million taels of silver in the war.

These people are crazy, completely crazy. If Xia Lin hadn't been so supportive of individual or private investment, private investment would have overwhelmed the entire production line, scheduling work five years into the future.

The Ministry of Revenue, which usually complains about being poor, not only invested more than 10 million yuan in one go this time, but also made it clear that there would be three phases of equal investment in the future.

"I came here to build ships, but they didn't have the money. I had to pay for their losses myself. Now it's added up to 50 million taels. They just casually handed over the money?"

After Emperor Jingtai saw the investment list, he pointed to the Ministry of Revenue's register, which was filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers. Xia Lin, sitting beside him, watched his rage without offering any explanation, simply sitting there and laughing, "They call this investing in war, or investing in confidence. Based on our previous experience fighting the Western Turks, the return on investment in war is generally more than double, so even the Li Tang dynasty wants to come and make a fortune." "Where does the Li Tang get so much money?"

“The Dugu family,” Xia Lin said, lowering his eyelids. “I’ve told you before, when it comes to profit, there’s no such thing as gratitude. The Li Tang family probably takes less than 30%, and the rest is all Dugu family’s profit. They will definitely get a share of the pie here.”

"I'd heard of warmongers before, but now I know what they really mean. So... how much can we make?"

"The money the Ministry of Revenue earns is the money you earn. If he invests 50 million taels, he can earn a guaranteed 50 million taels including principal and interest."

"You can make this much money hitting that tiny spot???"

"I plan to make them pay me 250 million taels of silver."

"That's a bit much..."

"Too many? We'll use our mines, our fish, our coastal defenses! I'll make sure they can't recover for two thousand years!" Xia Lin slammed his fist on the table: "Let's do it!"

Do you have some personal grudge against them?

Xia Lin didn't speak, but instead lowered his head and fiddled with the account book. After a long while, he finally spoke: "River bandits and Japanese pirates commit heinous crimes. In the past few years, nearly 30,000 people have died directly or indirectly at their hands. Is that enough compensation? Today, someone came to plead for mercy, and I asked him how much silver is appropriate for a life, but he didn't answer me. Now I ask you, how much silver is appropriate for a life?"

“A life for a life. If human lives could be measured in silver, wouldn’t the world be in chaos?”

“Their lives don’t deserve it, so I will use their national destiny to pay for it.” Xia Lin said resolutely, “It’s a combination of old and new grudges. We’ve finally got this day, and we absolutely cannot waste it.”

After finishing, he unexpectedly added, "I'm really looking forward to it."

The lights in the five major shipyards have never gone out since today. As for whether there are enough workers, we have to thank Emperor Hongbao. Since Emperor Hongbao, he has preferred to bear the nickname of "Turtle Emperor" rather than start a large-scale war. The most direct result of this is an explosive increase in population.

Xia Lin then continued his policies, developed new agricultural models, reclaimed large areas of black soil, and produced pesticides and fertilizers. Most importantly, the industrial sector, which absorbed a large population, began to show results. A large number of farmers and landless people were transformed into industrial workers. With the support of commerce, the primary and secondary industries continued to open up markets, which led to a crazy surge in the secondary industry without shrinking the primary industry.

This is why Xia Lin keeps building, because only by building can production capacity be consumed and industry not stop. A new Xianyang city can create nearly 1.5 million more jobs.

As these people continue to move around, they eventually end up in all walks of life. In other words, the current social operating model has far surpassed the Zhenguan era in official history. Apart from the lack of national unification, it is in no way comparable to the Zhenguan era.

The influx of experienced industrial workers into the five major shipyards has quickly boosted the local economy, and the lives of ordinary people have improved in a different way.

With this virtuous cycle in place, how dare those damn Japanese keep pirates around?
Do you really think any player would hoard two hundred peasants?

"By the way, wasn't it supposed to be the death by a thousand cuts? When does it start? To be honest, I've never seen the death by a thousand cuts before."

Emperor Jingtai's question made Xia Lin turn around and smile: "Don't worry, it'll be over soon. Let them live a little longer."

Meanwhile, the Japanese envoys in Jinling were desperately pleading with the Great Wei court to withdraw their letter of credence, but everyone they approached avoided them. If the letter were withdrawn, it would surely bring back a certain scourge, who had killed seventy or eighty thousand people in the first half of this year alone, and historians still didn't know how to characterize the matter.

If you offend him now, it's no exaggeration to say he could surround Jinling and kill the remaining tens of thousands of people. Nobody's stupid; he's already shown mercy. Even if someone wanted revenge, this isn't the time to do it.

(End of this chapter)