Order No. 73

  Never mind how prosperous it will be in the future, for now, this little monk Si Lang is facing the abbot Gao Bin, and he has no way to think about it. He can only use silence to express his resistance to such a vicious attitude.

  With a reluctant glance at the overbearing and hateful old monk, he bit his lip, and the young monk helplessly lowered his head, saying:

  It is.

  After finishing speaking, Fourth Brother Little Monk picked up the broom on the ground and quickly walked towards the temple.

  At the door, the old monk who was chatting with Lin Xu, at this moment he was facing Lin Xu and couldn't see the little monk walking into the Buddhist hall and angrily hitting the Buddha statue with a broom. This childish act of venting didn't escape Lin Xu's notice, who happened to be in a position to see it, and upon witnessing this scene, Lin Xu suddenly thought of someone else who had done something similar.

  In the history of the earth, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, who had been a monk in the temple for several years, seemed to be quite similar to this small Shaolin monk Si Lang, whether from personal appearance, experience or temperament.

  Is the course of history the result of accidental factors or is it caused by some inevitable factor? Lin Xu doesn't have time to study such profound philosophical propositions now, at this moment, he faces only one difficult problem, which is to make a correct choice, after all, who should he put his chips on.

  Should I choose the one with exceptional marksmanship and a bold personality, Chen Liang the Hunter, or invest in this naturally talented but taciturn young monk, Shami Shirō?

  It's up to the individual, both the true dragon purple gas and the five-color rainbow light are undoubtedly qualified to be the alternative certificate of the emperor's throne, but the key to success or failure still lies in the individual.

  After all, the human world is ultimately a world belonging to humans, and only human choices can ultimately decide everything.

  After much deliberation, Lin Xu carefully considered the major issue of making a choice between these two candidates. To say that compared to the always gloomy-looking Si Lang, whose thoughts were often hard to read, Chen Liang's bold and generous personality was undoubtedly more reassuring for Lin Xu to invest in. Especially when Lin Xu thought back to Zhu Emperor, who came from the Ming Cult and spent his whole life striking down the Ming Cult that he relied on to rise to power, simply because he didn't want anyone else to replicate his success model. Thinking of this point made it even harder for Lin Xu to look favorably upon this little monk who resembled Zhu Yuanzhang.

  For a whole night, Lin Xu tossed and turned, thinking back and forth, but still decided to put his bet on Chen Liang, this illiterate hunter.

  The greatest advantage of gods over mortals lies in their abundant time. No matter how talented and far-sighted a human emperor may be, when they die, they will eventually have to yield the position to unworthy descendants. If a god does not fall into an unexpected situation that leads to dormancy or downfall, it can exist for thousands of years without dying, although there is also a day of termination, but compared to the short lifespan of humans, it cannot be measured in the same way. The different perception of time directly determines the future direction of many things.

  Lin Xu admitted defeat in this high-stakes gamble, and he even thought about what to do next if Chen Liang couldn't succeed.

  Choosing a suitable object to bet on is an easy thing, doing nothing and waiting for the result to appear seems too passive. After careful consideration, Lin Xu decided to use his good relationship with Chen Liang to implement an emperor cultivation plan.

  A tree takes ten years to grow, but a man takes a hundred. Education has never been a profitable business. Before the widespread use of printing technology, books as carriers of knowledge were extremely expensive luxury goods for ordinary people.

  In the folk, knowledge inheritance relies on oral transmission between seniors and juniors. Therefore, Zhuangzi, a predecessor of Taoism, highly praised Hui Shi, a Confucian scholar, in his writings for having great learning, saying "Hui Shi has methods, his books fill five carts." Later generations derived from this the famous allusion "erudite with five carts of books". In the Spring and Autumn period, books were generally written on bamboo or wooden slips. A small piece of bamboo slip or a smoothed-out wooden slip could only hold about twenty characters. Even if a cart was filled with these slips, not many words could be written. The rarity of books can be seen from this.

  Books are rare for many reasons. Copying books requires literate people to copy them, and to ensure the quality of the copied text, a person may not be able to finish copying a book in one day, with extremely low work efficiency.

  In ancient agricultural societies where the literacy rate was less than one percent, the social cost of copying books was too high. The ideal for scholars was to stand out from the crowd, not to be a book copier for life.

  The Great Qin Empire, where technology has developed quite well overall, printing is not a high-tech thing, and even movable type printing has appeared. However, the publishing industry of the Great Qin Empire has always been in a state of semi-paralysis due to repeated blows from literary inquisitions.

  Up to now, except for a small number of books such as medical books, divination and agriculture, as well as literacy textbooks for young children, ordinary people find it difficult to access books that record useful knowledge.

  This seemingly intangible shackle is actually a hierarchical barrier formed by the rigidification of the entire social class. The interest groups that have gained benefits are unwilling to share their interests with others, not even after they have become bloated and only want to eat the leftover scraps. Only a storm that sweeps away all the old and rotten things can clarify the world and restore peace to humanity.

  Lin Xu has decided to increase his investment in this unlisted potential stock, of course, he will not be stingy with things outside of himself.

  Lin Xuhua, who had been stationed near Chen Liang's old home for a long time, often invited Chen Liang to his home for drinks and would definitely attend any social gatherings, and the relationship between the two sides quickly became close.

  As time went by, Lin Xu felt a bit constrained. A hero is hard to defeat with just one coin, and he wanted to get closer to Chen Liang, so spending money was necessary. Relying solely on chopping firewood could only earn him a few coins, and it was already difficult for him to make ends meet at home, let alone frequently invite others to drink wine, which didn't seem reasonable. Therefore, Lin Xu had no choice but to think of another way out.

  To avoid drawing attention to himself, Lin Xiang first borrowed the excuse of dredging the ancient well in front of his own house and asked for help from the villagers nearby. Then, he took the opportunity to excavate several large jars of copper coins that were said to be the ancestral treasure of the Lin family at the bottom of the well. As a result, Lin Xiang transformed himself from a poor woodcutter living below the poverty line to a small but comfortable household that was envied by local people, with no worries about food and clothing. The significant improvement in external economic conditions gave him sufficient excuse and ability to support Chen Liang.

  Through their close relationship of coming and going, Lin Xu turned to teaching Chen Liang chess and tea tasting as a form of entertainment, subtly transforming many knowledge into different forms and instilling them in each other.

  This brainwashing-like teaching method was once a well-known secret in the insurance industry, but later because this trick was too similar to the pyramid scheme's brainwashing route, it had to be reduced. Lin Xu, who is considered to have a good level among insurance salesmen, slightly understands some superficial knowledge, which is a very normal thing.

  Time flies like an arrow; years pass like falling leaves.

  Three years, more than a thousand days and nights have passed in the blink of an eye. For humans with short lives, nearly one-twentieth of their lifespan has been consumed. For a piece of land, three years is just a fleeting moment.

  More than three years ago, the Qin Empire was already judged by insightful people to be on its last gasp, yet it still continues to implement oppressive policies of plunder and extortion.

  Locally, the big and small officials are still enriching themselves in layers, and the frequent floods, droughts, and locust disasters in various places are still as before. Everything seems to have not changed at all. If there is anything different, it is that Huoshan, which had restored order under Lin Xu's hand, has now become the first choice destination for refugees from surrounding counties.

  From the cryptic hints passed down from relatives and friends who had gone ahead, people in dire straits learned that there were no exorbitant taxes or endless corvee labor and chores on Mount Huo, as long as they worshiped the god of Mount Huo. This life, comparable to a paradise on earth, really stimulated the desire for happiness among the common people. Immediately, people from all directions flocked to Mount Huo with infinite longing for a better future.

  In Jiufeng Town alone, the population has been expanding rapidly at a scale of over 3,000 people per month on average. Temporary sheds and other simple dwellings can be seen everywhere in the town, and the sanitary conditions in the town have also deteriorated rapidly. The situation is indeed overcrowded, and it's not an exaggeration to say so.

  The surge in immigrants forced Lin Xu to make a decision, and he quickly decided to expand the satellite city, diverting the population that could not be accommodated in Jiufeng Town to surrounding areas.

  After a thrilling and intense workload, Lin Xu finally squeezed out some time to catch his breath in his own home nest, but unfortunately, the good times didn't last long, he was soon pulled out by his subordinates to attend a meeting. This is also unavoidable, as the top leader, Lin Xu can choose not to express any opinions, but when making decisions, he cannot be absent.

  "Not bad, seventeen towns and sixty-eight townships. It's not easy for our Huoshan to develop to this extent! You all have worked hard."

  Lin Xuyan casually flipped through a stack of reports on his desk, praising the work performance of his subordinates perfunctorily. If he had a choice, he would rather go home and drink tea than sit here dealing with these dull and tedious reports.

  "These achievements are all under your wise and powerful leadership, plus our humble efforts, that's why we have such great results, not just an ordinary good situation!"

  It goes without saying that with such a glib tongue, he has the standard tone of a sycophant. Apart from Adjutant General Mi Long, who is notorious for being shameless, there isn't another suitable candidate in the entire Mount Tai Temple.

  Hearing this, Lin Xu glared at Mi Long with a bad temper and scratched his head, saying:

  "Alright, stop just picking up nice words. That tiger demon Huo Shan Jun has been restless again lately, hasn't he?"

  Upon hearing this, Deputy General Zhang Xing stood up and said in a deep voice:

  "Reporting to the great master, yesterday that demon celebrated its birthday and invited various mountain demons to attend the banquet. In my humble opinion, it's clearly an excuse for ulterior motives."

  At this time, Lin Xu nodded and continued:

  "Uh, whether it's true or fake, in short, you all need to be on high alert during this period of time. Especially these few days, keep one eye open even when you're sleeping, got it?"

  "Yes, I obey."