Chapter 77

Shi Hu liked grand construction projects, especially palaces.

When he was in Xiangguo City, he built the magnificent Taiwu Hall.

After moving the capital to Ye City, he again constructed the East and West Palaces on an extremely massive scale.

Behind Xianyang Hall, there were a full nine enormous palace complexes.

He forcibly conscripted tens of thousands of young and beautiful women from the nation to fill the palace.

Previously, these women had already been betrothed, assigned to the soldiers in the army.

It was just that there was no place to settle them for the moment, so they were all still staying in their respective residences.

Lin Dao defeated Shi Hu, like killing the old lion king in a pride, and then took over the entire pride.

At this time, the palace complexes in Ye City, including everyone inside them, all belonged to him.

Lin Dao himself did not care about this; he was still in an adaptation period.

Adapting to a different identity always takes time.

But when one's identity reaches a certain height, many things you never thought of will always be taken care of for you in advance by someone.

The celebration banquet ended, and the slightly tipsy Lin Dao did not return to the Modern World, but found a sleeping hall to rest.

Early tomorrow morning he still had to hold a military council to discuss the Qihuo Army's next action arrangements.

After all, capturing Ye City was only the beginning, not the immediate arrival of peace under heaven.

The northern barbarians still numbered in the millions, the dog Xianbei had not yet been exterminated, and the Jiangzuo aristocratic families were still partying wildly.

All of these had to be dealt with one by one.

Lin Dao's clothes here had not even been taken off yet when Li Nong came requesting an audience.

"So late."

Seeing Liu Hu bring Li Nong inside, Lin Dao asked in confusion, "What important matter requires you to say it right now?"

"Grand Commander."

Li Nong saluted, "The stone bandit committed countless evils; the common people under heaven deeply hate him."

He addressed Lin Dao as Grand Commander because, like Ran Min, he was a defector to the Qihuo Army.

Similar to an outside guest minister, so he called him Grand Commander.

Qin Lang and the others acknowledged Lin Dao as master, regarding themselves as house slaves, so they called him Lang Zhu.

Xie Yi and his daughter bore heavy Jiangzuo traces.

Before Lin Dao expressed his stance, their identities were still those of people from Jiangzuo, so they addressed him by his Eastern Jin Court official title of Grand Commander.

Different forms of address also represented different identities.

"Mm, what you say makes sense."

Lin Dao, sitting on the couch, looked even more puzzled, "But Shi Hu is already dead, what else is there to do?"

"Whip the corpse?"

"But his bones are already gone, scattered everywhere."

"Grand Commander."

Li Nong spoke with a stern and awe-inspiring expression, "To vent the hatred of the common people under heaven, the Grand Commander should take the stone bandit's women into his harem, to vent anger for the common people!"

Lin Dao was stunned, ". Huh?"

Although he had some Qi-refining skill, hearing Li Nong's words still shocked him.

"Are you certain the common people under heaven think this way?"

"Grand Commander." Li Nong replied sternly, "If not so, the people's anger cannot be pacified."

This kind of thing is actually very normal; history is full of such doings.

Lin Dao raised a hand to rub his forehead.

He hadn't drunk many cups tonight, how could he hear such bizarre remarks.

"I'll consider this matter."

Lin Dao waved his hand, "I'll give you an answer in a few days."

"Grand Commander."

Li Nong stood up and took out a scroll painting; Liu Hu at the side gripped his saber hilt.

The scroll opened, "This is Princess Anning, Liu Shi."

The woman in the painting was extremely beautiful, brows like distant mountains holding dark pigment, eyes like autumn waters with horizontal ripples.

One must say, the painter's skill was exceptionally outstanding.

A genuine beauty in a painting.

Lin Dao stroked his chin, staring at the scroll without speaking.

Li Nong came to Liu Hu's side and said, "Trouble you to invite Miss Jin Lian over."

Liu Hu looked at Lin Dao, saw the master gave no indication, saluted, and left together with Li Nong.

Biting her shell-teeth, gaze carrying resentment, Jin Lian hatefully stepped forward to carefully search Princess Anning, confirming she carried no sharp weapons.

Closing the hall door, Jin Lian led several Nü Lang from Sanhe Village, guiding the freshly bathed and fragrant Princess Anning into the sleeping hall.

Li Nong outside the hall finally let out a breath of relief.

He cupped fists to Liu Hu in farewell, turned and left.

He did not return to his prefecture, but went to seek Ran Min.

Upon seeing Ran Min, his first sentence was.

"The matter of Shi Shi's death, you must strictly keep secret!"

The sun was high, Lin Dao appeared before everyone.

"I drank a bit too much wine last night," Lin Dao explained casually, then turned to Wang Meng. "Next, what will the Beggar Army do?"

"My lord."

Wang Meng rose and saluted. "The most important thing right now is to settle the refugees and wild people from all regions."

"Nowadays, many fields lie abandoned everywhere, and many people are heading for Ye City."

"There are even rumors that once you reach Ye City, you can eat your fill and won't starve to death."

This was not a rumor; it was a fact.

"That being the case, the pressure on my lord here will be very great."

Ever since learning that Lin Dao's grain was not inexhaustible, Wang Meng had begun considering this core issue.

But the current time period was truly rather dire.

Spring plowing had already passed, and previously Shi Hu had acted recklessly, conscripting elite men from all states, provinces, and counties to fight at the critical juncture of spring plowing.

He even emptied all the stored grain and supplies from every region, causing all places to lose the ability to respond to natural disasters and human calamities.

"With spring plowing unsuccessful and great drought everywhere, I fear the autumn harvest grain will be only seventy or eighty percent of previous years."

"Even before the autumn harvest, large-scale starvation will occur."

Wang Meng saluted. "My lord, I request to implement measures to increase revenue and reduce expenditure."

Hearing this, Lin Dao's expression remained calm. "Explain in detail."

He had thought the situation was serious, but he had not expected it to be serious to this extent.

Spring plowing was destroyed, and with the continued drought, grain production will inevitably decrease on a large scale at the autumn harvest.

Large-scale starvation is inevitable.

Originally, the stored grain in all regions could still save many lives.

But this grain had all been emptied by Shi Hu previously, and most of it had been gathered into the various granaries of Ye City.

Wang Lang was ordered to burn the city, and the granaries were the top priority.

Several million hu of grain and supplies were put to the torch.

Facing hundreds of millions of mouths that need to eat, they must be supported until next year's autumn harvest.

Thinking of this, Lin Dao's scalp felt a bit itchy.

"The various Hu of the Northern Lands number several million." Wang Meng explained how to reduce expenditure. "An order should be issued to expel the various Hu and drive them all away."

Indeed, this was reducing expenditure, immediately reducing the needs of several million people.

Ran Min was confused and spoke up to ask. "Driving them away is troublesome; wouldn't it be more appropriate to simply dispose of them?"

"That is because."

Wang Meng calmed his breath. "My lord's rewards are too high."

Disposing of them directly is indeed simpler and more convenient than driving them away.

But the problem is that Lin Dao had stated beforehand that Regular Soldiers who take the heads of Hu captives will all be given rewards.

Grain, cloth, and lard.

Speaking only of grain, one head is worth ten shi of grain.

If the Regular Soldiers were allowed to slaughter them all, they would have to pay out tens of millions of shi of grain!

"Cough~~~"

Lin Dao shifted his gaze, looking somewhat embarrassed.

When he first arrived and didn't understand the situation, the rewards he casually offered had now become a hindrance.

With his status rising rapidly, it was becoming increasingly difficult to go back on his word.

"If there is a chance to go to other spacetimes in the future, I must investigate clearly first, and absolutely cannot casually boast again."

Actually, he couldn't be blamed.

Lin Dao came from the modern world where resources were extremely abundant.

The rewards he casually mentioned seemed very few to him.

Who would have thought that the Yonghe Spacetime here would be so impoverished.

Ran Min's expression was somewhat unnatural. "But order the soldiers and civilian laborers, refugees and wild people to do it."

"First, let's not talk about how many casualties there would be in letting them slaughter the various Hu; who slaughters whom is still uncertain."

Wang Meng shook his head. "My lord had also stated beforehand that those who take Hu captive heads can be converted to Regular Soldiers."

"General Ran, do you know the treatment of Regular Soldiers in the Beggar Army?"

Ran Min naturally knew.

Eating fine rice and white flour all day, occasionally getting an extra meal where they could eat meat.

Not only could they eat their fill and dress warmly themselves, they could also support a family and live a decent life.

In Ran Min's view, this treatment was better than that of the Black Lance Dragon Soaring Army and Shi Hu's personal guards.

The Beggar Army fought extremely fiercely, which was inseparable from their extremely high treatment.

If there were millions more Regular Soldiers, what would they use to support them?

Ran Min fell silent.

Wang Meng continued to explain how to increase revenue here. "I request to distribute fields."

"Distribute the ownerless wasteland from all regions to the refugees and wild people."

"Encourage reclamation; newly reclaimed land will be tax-exempt for three years."

"Lend grain, seeds, agricultural tools, oxen, and horses to farmers."

Lin Dao hesitated for a moment. "Spring plowing has already passed."

"Yes," Wang Meng replied with his head lowered. "There might be many things to plant; as long as they can be eaten, plant whatever is available."

"I request to establish markets," Wang Meng paused, then continued, "standardize weights and measures, mint new coins, appoint trade officials, open trade routes, and clarify tax grain."

The Later Zhao economic system was destroyed during Shi Hu's reign.

The barbarians were cruel, robbing and killing at will, and no merchant caravans from anywhere dared come.

Wang Meng's proposal to prioritize commerce had only one purpose at its root.

Open the trade routes and let merchant caravans from all under heaven bring gold here.

What the lord needs most is gold.

Wang Meng truly deserves to be the fiercest man of the Wei Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties period.

The proposals to increase revenue and cut expenditure are all not bad.

Everyone's gaze turned to Lin Dao, awaiting his final decision.

Lin Dao sat quietly there, a half-smile on his face, speaking softly.

"Just drive them away?"

After a long while, Lin Dao simply stood up, walked out of the great hall, and came to the terrace outside the hall.

He raised his head to gaze at the sky.

Dark clouds gathered in the sky, black as ink, as if about to devour heaven and earth.

After who knows how long, golden sunlight tore through the dark clouds, casting light upon the earth.

Between heaven and earth, it was bright and dazzling as if sublimated.

Lin Dao's heart suddenly opened up along with it.

"In ancient times when heaven and earth first opened, they established the ten-thousand-mile Shen Zhou, flourishing in wind and splendor, the Eight Wastelands and Six Harmonies, power reaching the four seas~"

"The barbarian lands and foreign tribes eat our Han food, learn our Han characters, follow our Han customs, far from eating raw flesh and drinking blood, no longer beast-men~"

"Yet now, looking at the foreign tribes, none fail to repay kindness with resentment, seizing our Han lands, killing our Han subjects~"

"The beautiful rivers and mountains were originally a land of joy, but today within the domain, whose family's under heaven is it actually?"

Xie Daoyun's beautiful eyes shone with spirit as she lowered her voice to ask, "A Ye, Grand Commander."

"Don't speak, listen well!"

"Today's foreign tribes have wolfish ambitions, taking plunder and slaughter as joy, seizing Han lands as honor~"

"The foreign tribes disturb the Central Plains, massacre cities and seize lands, committing every evil~"

"The barbarian dogs, the Xianbei, greatly plunder the Central Plains, robbing wealth without number~"

"They capture and plunder hundreds of thousands of Han women, by night dishonor them, by day cook and eat them, a thousand women throw themselves into the river, and the Yi Shui stops flowing because of it~"

"The foreign people, the Xiongnu, set fires on all sides, roast Han people as food, treat Han people as sheep, kill them as grain~"

"The Northern Lands are desolate, caps and gowns migrate south, barbarians are everywhere, and the Han Family's children are nearly all slaughtered~"

"All these various things cannot be fully written!"

"Between heaven and earth, winds and clouds change color, plants and trees contain sorrow!"

"The Central Plains are in danger! The Great Han is in danger!"

"The four seas have the urgency of being overturned, the home has the grievance of blood being drained, the person has the regret of revenge~"

"The blue sky above, order prospers and rebellion perishes~"

"The nine provinces from all sides, raise righteousness and slaughter the barbarians~"

"Restore our Han's fallen state, support the Central Plains' tilting fate!"

Lin Dao calmed his breath.

Turning around and walking, he came before Ran Min.

"General Ran, I have a great matter, only you can handle it!"

End of Chapter