Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 404 The Kingdom of Eunuchs
"Buy more things."

Lin Dao sat in a chair, writing and drawing on a piece of paper with a pen in hand.

"The modern world's industrial Cthulhu production is in excess."

"I have to help them absorb some of their production capacity, otherwise..."

Lin Dao paused, looked up and pondered, thinking about the increasing number of breakfast stalls and food stalls near his living area in the modern world.

"A tacit agreement?"

Lin Dao's time portal can only be used by himself, and he cannot bring anyone with him.

In this way, the possibility of direct robbery also disappears.

Of course, killing Lin Dao might reveal this, but there is no evidence to prove it.

If the excess capacity cannot be released, the opportunity to absorb it will be lost.

Unless the forest trail loses its value, this kind of thing is unlikely to happen.

"I need to increase my value."

"Although my body is getting stronger, but..."

"I have to persevere until I am strong enough."

Bringing his thoughts back, Lin Dao continued to bury himself in his work.

His main purchases nowadays are steel and cement.

Construction is taking place across all time and space, creating a high demand for these items.

Of course, compared to the output of Industrial Cthulhu, it is still insignificant.

If Lin Dao wants to increase his procurement volume, he needs to have enough funds to pay for it.

In reality, funds are simply bargaining chips for exchanging goods.

In the trade of time and space, the role of capital is greatly diminished.

The forest road needs more supplies.

Aside from precious metals, other items like jade, jewelry, silk, and antiques are all small businesses.

The real bulk of the profits comes from timber and various minerals.

In all the worlds, there are eras with low productivity and almost no technological level.

Whether it's logging or mining, it all has to be done using the most primitive human labor.

But Lin Dao was unwilling to use the lives of the people of the Central Plains to fill a mine that could never be filled.
"Looking back now, I realize I need to change my strategy somewhat."

"Apart from those that must be removed, the remaining able-bodied men should be used in the mines to extract their remaining value, which is more useful."

After finishing his work, Lin Dao returned to his tent to prepare for sleep.

This was half a month after Lin Dao captured Tanzhou (Changsha) and wiped out the Wuping Army.

After the Wuping Army was wiped out, only the Southern Han remained in the entire south.

The forest road traverses the Five Ridges and heads south, heading straight for Panyu, the capital of the Southern Han Kingdom.

Lying on the bed, Lin Dao recalled the information he had consulted and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Southern Han is truly an interesting place."

"To become an official, you actually have to become a eunuch first."

“Interesting~”

The Southern Han, located in Lingnan, was ruled by a cruel and indiscriminate ruler.

They even killed all the civil and military officials and imperial relatives, leaving only the eunuchs.

Later, he even took the initiative to require all those who wanted to enter officialdom to undergo castration in order to take up an official position.

Those who have not been castrated are called outsiders, and those who have been castrated are called insiders.

"What kind of door is this?"

"Surprisingly, there are actually scholars willing to accept such a bizarre rule."

"They'd give up anything for the sake of becoming an official."

"Even if you include the Jinghai Army, the Southern Han Dynasty has no more than two million people."

"If half the population is men, there are over 20,000 eunuchs!"

"This is truly a kingdom of eunuchs."

Thinking of this, Lin Dao laughed again.

"Your Majesty~"

Zhou Ehuang, holding a candlestick and wearing a silk robe, came in to check if anything was wrong.

She came in to see what was wrong because she heard Lin Dao laughing intermittently.

By the dim candlelight, Lin Dao saw Zhou Ehuang's fully relaxed figure.

Undoubtedly, it's very tempting.

Unfortunately, Lin Dao remained expressionless and said, "It's nothing."

Hearing the coldness in her words, a bitter look flashed across Zhou Ehuang's oval face.

She knew that her previous rejection had angered Lin Dao.

At the time, she did not know that Lin Dao was not a burly, illiterate martial artist.

If only I had known earlier~
With a soft sob, Zhou Ehuang, holding the candlestick, turned and went out to rest.

Lin Dao didn't pay any attention to this.

He's not the type to indulge a fairy. If Zhou Ehuang really wants to gain forgiveness, she'll have to take the initiative herself!
The army marched south, and most of the prefectures and counties along the way surrendered without resistance.

Of the few that resisted, no city could hold out for more than a day in the face of modern machinery and explosives.

For the forest trails, the real troubles are the hot weather, the ubiquitous mosquitoes, snakes, ants, and miasma.

Fortunately, with the availability of various medicines from the modern world, plus the extensive use of pesticides including DDT, the journey was ultimately uneventful.

Arriving outside Panyu city, Lin Dao took a breath as he gazed at the Pearl River not far away.

"The scenery in Lingnan is indeed unique."

If we disregard the mosquitoes, snakes, ants, and miasma in the mountains and forests, and the various parasites in the water, it is no exaggeration to say that the scenery is beautiful.

Lingnan, without the skyscrapers of later generations, was all mountains and forests.

Bananas and sugarcane were everywhere, as well as lychees, which Li Longji himself, being greedy for, insisted were the favorites of Yang Yuhuan.

"This is really a great place."

Lin Dao exclaimed in admiration, "If it weren't for the excessive number of mosquitoes and the extremely hot weather, the population here would surely have multiplied several times over."

With the army newly arrived, they naturally wouldn't rush to attack the city.

After the camps were built, the troops moved into various military camps to rest and recuperate.

Lin Dao was naturally preoccupied with numerous military affairs. "Your Majesty~"

Zhou Ehuang, whose attitude had clearly changed, brought over a plate of freshly picked lychees and said with a smile, "These are the lychees that Yang Guifei loved to eat the most."

"Yang Yuhuan did not like to eat lychees."

Lin Dao put down his pen and shook his head to explain, "What she actually likes to eat is pomegranate."

"The one who truly loved eating lychees was Li Longji."

"It's just that Li Longji was a man who cared about his reputation and was afraid that people would say he was wasting people's money and resources just for a meal, so he shifted the blame onto Yang Yuhuan."

"This man is outwardly fierce but inwardly weak; he is fond of empty fame but not of practical matters; he is timid and fearful of trouble."

"It's just a bad thing that took advantage of a good opportunity."

The achievements Li Longji made in the first half of his life were largely due to the circumstances of the time.

As for the latter half of his life, there's no need to say more; he was simply a model of a tyrannical ruler.

Calling him timid is not an insult, but simply a genuine statement.

At Mawei Post Station, the rebellious soldiers originally intended to kill the incompetent emperor.

Li Longji took the initiative to admit his mistake and shifted the blame to Yang Yuhuan, deliberately pushing the woman to her death in order to save his own life.

This person was the one who caused the An Lushan Rebellion and the subsequent destruction of the empire.

Mingjun?

He's not qualified!
Zhou Ehuang, who was holding a plate of lychees, was clearly in a daze.

She just brought lychees, what's wrong with that?
Coming to her senses, Zhou Ehuang peeled the lychee and handed it to Lin Dao.

Lin Dao opened his mouth and bit into the lychee, crushing it and filling his mouth with sweet juice.

Spitting out the core, Lin Dao didn't even look up. "I want more."

With a charming smile, Zhou Ehuang simply sat to the side and kept peeling lychees, feeding them to Lin Dao one by one.

If you know today, why should you be in the beginning.

Before, she was like a fairy, refusing to agree to anything.

Now that they have witnessed Lin Dao's true appearance and abilities, they have turned around and are chasing after him again.

Why bother?
"Sister~"

Zhou Ehuang's younger sister came running over and jumped into her arms, shouting, "I want some too!"

Zhou Ehuang looked at Lin Dao with obvious difficulty.

"Hmm." Lin Dao, who was engrossed in his work, gave a soft hum.

Humans are naturally inclined to love children and to be more tolerant and caring towards them.

Of course, unruly children are an exception.

The plate of lychees was quickly devoured.

Zhou Ehuang smiled helplessly, got up and went outside to look for someone, intending to pick some more.

But she returned quickly, bringing with her a group of beaming military officers.

"Your Majesty~"

"Panyu has surrendered!"

Panyu, the capital of the Southern Han Dynasty, surrendered without even undergoing a siege.

It was not the emperor of the Southern Han who surrendered, but the generals who saw no hope.

They slaughtered all the members of the Southern Han imperial family, and carrying their heads, they opened the city gates to surrender.

"This chaotic world."

Looking at the hideous heads of Liu Sheng, Liu Chang, and others, Lin Dao sighed repeatedly.

Such acts of patricide are all too common in chaotic times.

It's no wonder that the later Song Dynasty was so wary of military men.

There was no other way; they were all terrified of being killed by the martial artists of this era.

According to the rules, Lin Dao did not kill the military generals who surrendered the city.

But Lin Dao did not let these cruel warlords of the vassal states off the hook.

Similar to the surrendered warriors of Nanping Kingdom and Wuping Army before, a portion of them were selected and sent to neighboring countries to let the barbarians experience firsthand the terror of the late Tang Dynasty's regional military governors.

The majority of the remaining people were sent to various mines.

These are brutal, murderous, and even cooking-loving warriors.

Lin Dao couldn't keep them, so he had to send them to the mine to make use of their surplus value.

After entering the city, Lin Dao saw a huge, dark mass of eunuchs.

These eunuchs pleaded with Lin Dao to take them in, wanting to enter his palace and continue serving him.

After all, Lin Dao didn't need eunuchs to become officials; they had no other way to go besides entering the palace.

"You and me."

Lin Dao simply shook his head and said, "Find your own way out."

It was impossible for him to take in so many eunuchs, numbering as many as ten or twenty thousand.

What kind of palace would require so many eunuchs to serve it?
Besides, most of these eunuchs became eunuchs voluntarily in order to become officials.

Lin Dao was already being kind by not killing them.

The next task was to stabilize the Southern Han, rebuild government offices, and so on.

Lin Dao was already very familiar with this, so he just had to make the arrangements.

After finishing these tasks, Lin Dao did not return but continued to lead the army south.

This time, he went to Jinghai Army.

That is, the former Jiaozhi.

Lin Dao had read historical records and knew that the Jinghai Army would soon seek a rebellion.

This separated this land, which had been part of the Central Plains since ancient times.

This is something Lin Dao absolutely cannot tolerate.

"The best way to deal with those who rebel is to make them disappear forever."

"Only in this way can we achieve a complete and permanent solution."

"No one can take away the land of the Central Plains, which has existed since ancient times!"

In the increasingly hot weather, Lin Dao, drenched in sweat, forced himself to lead his troops south.

"Monkeys, here I come."

(End of this chapter)