Linxia

Chapter 234, Storm

On this day, Fang Lin received a letter from overseas, saying that a conflict had broken out between the Nanyang base and the indigenous kingdom, and the 'Second Infantry Regiment' led the new immigrants in a big battle with the other side.

"After seeing me relocate a large number of people there and conduct military training for them, the indigenous kingdom developed a sense of crisis and planned to strike first, but was then pushed back?"

Fang Lin was not surprised by this result.

The 'Second Infantry Regiment' stationed there is an armed regiment of 1,000 men, all of whom are equipped with muskets and have been 'upgraded' by fighting the natives. It is a truly iron-blooded elite force.

Not to mention, the people who migrated there this time were also distributed weapons and leather armor, and after a period of military training, they have acquired a certain combat capability!

When the common people heard that they would be given land for their military merits, and that the land was top-quality paddy fields that yielded two harvests a year, and that their opponents were just a group of natives, they viewed it as a rare good thing that they could get land by picking on such a weak opponent, and they were all very motivated.

Especially when the battle is going in your favor, you will be so excited that you will scream.

The subsequent battles were one-sided, and eventually, the king and nobles of Srivijaya were killed, and the land changed hands.

Fang Lin was not surprised. There were only more than 20,000 people in his own base in the South Seas (a total of more than 30,000 people had moved overseas, and there were more than 10,000 people in the Luzon base), most of whom were the elderly, the weak, women and children. How could they face the counterattack of Srivijaya with a population of millions? This was thanks to Srivijaya's peculiar system.

The land of Srivijaya belonged to the king and nobles, and the people of Srivijaya only cultivated it on their behalf. When the Han Chinese came, they were too lazy to resist. Why would they fight with these Han Chinese for the land that did not belong to them? They were not stupid.

In the eyes of the people of Srivijaya, even if the Han people occupied this place, they would still have to farm the land. It didn't matter who they farmed for, wasn't it just a change of landlord? It was not unacceptable.

In fact, this is indeed the case. The main population of the Nanyang base is small in number, and these natives are indeed needed to help with farming.

"Such a war to destroy a country, with massive confiscation of property and extermination of clans, will naturally yield a lot of rewards. Are you asking me to confirm the reward and giving me the biggest reward?"

Fang Lin looked at the number and was silent. This one robbery was almost equivalent to all his efforts over the years.

"The commander of this operation is Ren Yaomo, the head of the Second Infantry Regiment. I remember him. He is from the same village as my aunt Ren Sunshi. He was a student in the first skill training class. Not bad!"

Fang Lin was not worried about their loyalty. The soldiers of these overseas armed forces were selected from factories and crews. Their family background, physical fitness, etc. were strictly examined. They all knew Fang Lin's name, and he would show favor and visit the families of these soldiers every year. Most of the officers came from skill training classes, and he was the principal of the "skill training class", just like Chiang Kai-shek to the Whampoa Military Academy.

In addition, in terms of welfare benefits, every soldier is a large landowner with at least ten hectares of land; in terms of political ideology, loyalty education is conducted regularly to let them know that everything they currently have is based on their dependence on Fang Lin; in terms of the military system, they are rotated back to Huai'an to protect the safety of the Fang family, which is also convenient for Fang Lin to win over people's hearts in turn.

In short, all these factors ensure the loyalty and purity of these military forces towards each other.

"The Nanyang base is in the Malacca region. Srivijaya is a nearby indigenous kingdom. I remember that in my previous life, Srivijaya was destroyed by the Java Kingdom in the early Ming Dynasty. This time and space is a little different."

Fang Lin looked at the map and tapped on it: "This Nanyang base occupies a strategic location and can be used for business. At the same time, the climate is humid and the land is fertile, which is convenient for farming."

"Once we develop to a certain level and have reached the limit of accommodating the people, we can move eastward and westward to open up living space."

"Now, the only thing that limits the development of the Nanyang base is the population! More specifically, the main population based on the Han people."

He had an ambition in his heart: "If I can relocate millions or tens of millions of Han people and successfully assimilate them, that will be the foundation of the real empire!"

"Ren Yao's suggestion, let the immigrants write letters home to recruit people? It's a good idea, we can try it."

"Also, while Yan Shideng is in power, it is quite convenient to move some of the factory population there to strengthen control."

Fang Lin's eyes were deep: "Missi has also returned to Taixi. When the agreed craftsmen arrive, the Nanyang Military Factory can also be put into operation... Later, we will study how to install steam engines on ships and carry heavy artillery, moving towards the era of strong ships and powerful artillery..."

……

Government office.

Yan Shideng put down a copy of The Legend of the White Snake and exclaimed, "What a good book! It's really a good book!"

He had no hope of promotion and his term in Huai'an was only three years, so he was no longer so concerned about his official duties, especially after the dam breach was settled and the eunuch Li left. This trend became more and more obvious over time. Now he began to look for miscellaneous things to pass the time, such as popular novels, which he found quite interesting.

At this time, Master Qi came in holding a pile of documents.

Yan Shideng didn't even glance at the documents, waved his hand and asked, "I heard that the Legend of the White Snake recently produced a fireworks show?"

Upon hearing this, Master Qi suspected that he had misheard and was stunned for a moment.

In fact, Yan Shideng used to be a model worker, but now he is not thinking about official business and asking about such entertainment. This is the first time in his many years as the prefect of Huai'an. However, he thought about what happened recently and probably understood the change in his master's mood. He replied: "Yes, does the master want to go and see? I will reserve a seat for the master."

"Then let's go and take a look!" Yan Shideng pushed the documents aside and was about to go out.

To be honest, if a prefect really wants to do something, there is no end to the work. But if he doesn't want to do anything, as long as he is not afraid of being sidelined or of being blamed for the mistakes made by his subordinates, he can just push the blame away and things will run smoothly under him.

But is Yan Shideng afraid of being sidelined? After the Gu and Fan families were defeated, Fang Lin is now the only one in Huai'an. The general trend is irreversible. All the officials in the government office have a close relationship with Fang Lin. The most ridiculous thing is that the dividends they get from Fang Lin every month are more than the government salary.

In this situation, if Fang Lin really wanted to sideline him, even if he resisted, he couldn't be stopped!
As for the people below making trouble and letting him take the blame? This is also something Yan Shideng is very glad about. He now has some understanding of Fang Lin. He knows that Fang Lin has a bottom line and probably won't do things that harm the people and make their lives miserable and let him take the blame.

In addition, Yan Shideng had seen Fang Lin's methods and did not want to make himself unhappy. What's more, he would only be in office for three years and had no conflict of interest with Fang Lin. On the contrary, Fang Lin had a life-saving friendship with him. In addition, he had no hope of promotion and was frustrated... A combination of various factors made him choose to give up power.

For example, Fang Lin had recently mobilized many people in his factory to move overseas, but he turned a blind eye and pretended not to see it.

……

In the evening, Yan Shideng came out of Yishun Teahouse, humming the tune of The Legend of the White Snake, and was obviously in a good mood.

He walked a little further and suddenly asked, "Aren't you asking for the name of the girl who plays the White Snake?"

"Your Excellency has a good eye. That is Song Wan'er, the most famous courtesan introduced by Qing Huan Xiao Ju after Miss Yu Yan and Miss Wen Jun."

"Oh?"

Yan Shideng agreed, and suddenly he began to wonder whether he should take a concubine.

Master Qi observed the changes in Yan Shideng's expression and secretly took note of this in his heart, intending to give his master a surprise. After hesitating for a moment, he asked again, "Master, as you know, the Gu and Fan families were searched, and the women of the two families... many of them are beautiful. Do you want to go and take a look?"

"Then... go and take a look?" Yan Shideng paused when he heard that.

Not long after, Yan Shideng came to the private room and saw a graceful woman inside. He felt something growing in his heart like grass, and his body felt slightly hot: "Madam, I seem to have seen this lady there before?"

"Your Excellency has forgotten that last year during the Lantern Festival at Bieshan…"

"I see. Madam, would you like to sleep with me tonight?"

……

Outside the house, Master Qi had not walked far yet. When he heard his master's blunt and explicit words, he staggered and almost fell, with an indescribable expression on his face.

——If Fang Lin were here, he would probably tell him that your master is starting to let himself go.

……

Yan Shideng let himself go and indulged in sensual pleasures. Fang Lin secretly took over the power of a prefecture and became the uncrowned king of Huai'an. Just as Yan Shideng had expected, he would not do anything stupid with this base camp.

The situation in Huai'an tended to stabilize and time passed. In contrast, the court was in constant turmoil.

Just like Emperor Hongtai who liked novels, Emperor Tianshun also had a hobby, which was calligraphy and painting. Wei Zhongxian found many famous calligraphers and painters and brought them to the palace to exchange ideas with Emperor Tianshun. Sometimes Emperor Tianshun would confer official titles when he was happy, and he conferred many honorary positions on the Jinyiwei like Fang Lin.

Emperor Tianshun ignored state affairs, Wei Zhongxian monopolized power, the civil service group was completely at a disadvantage, and all the horses were silent.

It's funny to say that during the reign of Emperor Hongtai, these civil servants came one after another to impeach and advise, like stirring up a hornet's nest, but when faced with Wei Zhongxian, the Nine Thousand Year Old Emperor, they became obedient.

The reason is very simple. Under Emperor Hongtai, they would at most be beaten with a stick and their names would be recorded in history. However, Wei Zhongxian really dared to kill people. There were not many tough people among the civil servants. After killing a few of them, the civil servant group became completely obedient.

The civil servants' behavior made Wei Zhongxian see their weak nature: perhaps there were some true gentlemen with strong character among them, but ninety-nine percent of them were deceivers who only wanted to gain fame and bully the weak and fear the strong.

Wei Zhongxian realized this and became more unscrupulous, making money lavishly and indulging in extravagance. The civil servant group was dissatisfied with the eunuch party's power and pretended to obey them, criticizing Wei Zhongxian and stirring up momentum, while also following suit to make money, as if they were afraid of losing out by making less than the eunuch party.

As a result, while the eunuch group and the civil servant group were fighting each other, they each made money and undermined the foundation of Daxia, and the administration of Daxia quickly deteriorated irreversibly.

But the amazing thing is that even so, even in the context of constant natural disasters within Daxia and the Liaodong Tartars outside, Daxia still operated stably.

In the final analysis, Wei Zhongxian remembered the instructions of Emperor Hongtai before his death: if there is a disaster, actively provide disaster relief, reduce taxes in the affected areas, and use the money needed to punish the princes and nobles in the capital and the powerful families in the south of the Yangtze River; and if any officials were found to have embezzled disaster relief funds, no matter if they were from his own family or from the civil service group, they would be tortured; sometimes when the treasury was empty, he would make up the difference out of his own pocket by making a lot of money from perfume and soap, showing great integrity.

——Of course, afterward, they targeted the big families in the capital, the princes and nobles, and the big families in the south of the Yangtze River and compensated them double, which goes without saying.

The same was true in Liaodong. In the past few years, it was almost impossible to pay the soldiers' salaries, and Wei Zhongxian made money to pay them.

A strange scene happened: decades ago, the soldiers in Liaodong had never received full pay, but when Wei Zhongxian was in power, the officers and soldiers in Liaodong actually received full pay.

Of course, Wei Zhongxian was not easy to fool. He would kill anyone who dared to take his money, just like he did with disaster relief. He would bring down corrupt and incompetent generals who could not control their family members from smuggling or changing the roster to eat empty salaries. At the same time, Wei Zhongxian promoted capable generals, promoted the capable and demoted the mediocre, breaking the class monopoly in the army...

Such a brutal approach naturally had backlash, but it was suppressed by Wei Zhongxian's power, and the Daxia army also immediately improved its combat effectiveness with these reforms.

On the other hand, the Liaodong Tartars have had a hard time in recent years. During the Little Ice Age, the north became increasingly cold and bitter. Shanxi merchants like the Fan family were uprooted and had no blood transfusion kit left.

As one side gained strength while the other lost strength, it became increasingly difficult for them to break through.

The situation in Liaodong was stable and improving. For two or three consecutive years, the Tatars failed to break through the pass. In the winter of the fourth year of Tianshun, they were even ambushed by the Daxia army, suffering heavy casualties. The Jurchen chieftain Huang Taiji was seriously injured by artillery fire.

This dealt a heavy blow to the arrogance of the Liaodong Tartars and made them realize what "the Xia army is invincible when it is not fully paid, and is invincible when it is fully paid" meant.

Wei Zhongxian kept in mind the will of Emperor Hongtai, and relying on the three tactics of "keeping an eye on the civil officials, keeping an eye on Liaodong, and not raising taxes without money, and taking action against the princes and nobles in the capital and the big families in the south of the Yangtze River", he repaired the dilapidated building of Daxia, and for a while the situation improved dramatically.

At this point, the entire Daxia even showed signs of revival.

As a result, Emperor Tianshun was more at ease studying calligraphy and painting in the deep palace. Wei Zhongxian also took advantage of his prestige in resisting the Liao Dynasty to further seize power and act more domineeringly. He recklessly suppressed and persecuted the ministers who opposed him in the court. At one point, it was difficult to serve as an official in the court if you did not surrender to Wei Zhongxian...

At the beginning, in order to arouse the fear of Emperor Hongtai, the civil service group created the ironic title of "Nine Thousand Years Old" for Wei Zhongxian. Now, the title has become well-deserved and a compliment. Wei Zhongxian truly lived up to his reputation as a eunuch, second only to the emperor and above everyone else!

However, where there is oppression, there is resistance. The civil service group's tolerance for Wei Zhongxian is almost reaching its limit. Together with all the opposition forces suppressed and persecuted by Wei Zhongxian, a shocking storm is about to brew.

……

(End of this chapter)