webnovelvip Chapter 358 Delayed Gratification
Chapter 358 Delayed Gratification
Zhao Ji rolled her eyes upon hearing this and ignored Xu Lin.
Although what Xu Lin said was true, she didn't want to admit it.
Because the region had been short of food for a long time, the government was already paralyzed. Xu Lin took this opportunity to bring the grain directly to the government office.
"Who...who are you?"
An old man, skin and bones, walked out of the government office.
He had not eaten or drunk anything for two days and was clearly nearing the end of his life.
"We are here to save people."
Xu Lin replied.
To prevent anyone from recognizing Zhao Ji, he did not let her get out of the carriage.
After speaking, Xu Lin waved to the assassins from the Luo Wang organization, signaling them to unload the grain.
Upon seeing the mountain of grain, the old man pursed his chapped lips, unable to hide his joy.
"Did the King send you?"
The old man, suppressing his hunger, asked.
Although he was hungry, he still retained his rationality.
"Yes."
Xu Lin nodded.
The old man was overjoyed and quickly walked towards the grain.
He can finally eat!
Just as he was about to eat the grain raw, Xu Lin spoke up, saying that he was not sent by the King of Zhao.
"what?"
"You are not from Zhao?"
The old man's pupils trembled.
If you weren't sent by the King of Zhao, how did you enter Zhao territory?
Thinking of this, the old man patted his forehead with difficulty. He was on the verge of death, let alone the soldiers.
The soldiers either died or fled; it's estimated that the number of soldiers remaining in the entire Dai region could be counted on two hands.
"At this point, does it still matter whether they are from Zhao or not?"
"We would rather die than eat grain that wasn't sent by the King of Zhao?"
Xu Lin asked with a smile.
Then he had someone set up the pot and started cooking porridge.
When people are extremely hungry, they need to be given liquid food first; giving them solid food directly can easily cause problems.
Indeed.
"I eat the king's food and serve the king; that is my duty..."
The old man held his head high.
"Then you can just wait to die."
"King Zhao is too busy indulging in pleasure to care about your life or death."
Xu Lin didn't even turn his head.
It's hard to reason with a damned devil.
Soon, news of the Daidi government distributing grain for free spread throughout Daidi.
Because there were so many starving people, there was definitely not enough food. So before the first batch of starving people entered the government office, Xu Lin had people prepare a second batch of food.
When Jing's father learned of this, he was first stunned, then shocked.
If that's true, then he wouldn't need to sell his daughter.
As for having already agreed to it?
He can back out and compensate the other party with the property deed or other documents.
What's more important than a daughter than a property deed?
So he sent Jing's mother to the government office to see what was going on.
Jing's mother agreed and went to the government office, leaning on her wooden cane.
She was already on the verge of death, but perhaps she regained her strength after hearing that the government was distributing grain. This might be somewhat similar to Cao Cao's attempt to quench his thirst by looking at plums during the Three Kingdoms period.
……
About half an hour later.
Jing's mother arrived at the government office.
A black Qin-character royal flag hung in the government office, fluttering in the wind.
The common people didn't care whether the people distributing the grain were sent by the King of Zhao or not; they just wanted to have food to eat.
They were indeed citizens of the Zhao state, but the King of Zhao didn't care whether they lived or died.
The Qin state may be bad, but it was willing to provide them with free food.
Seeing that the common people of Dai were grateful to Xu Lin after they had eaten their fill, Zhao Ji felt that this was a good opportunity to incite them to rebel.
But Xu Lin rejected it.
First, now is not the time.
Secondly, rebellion requires the spontaneous participation of the common people; the rebels can only fuel the flames.
"Your Majesty, you must learn to delay gratification."
"We can't expect them to turn against us just because we've given them food."
Xu Lin lowered his voice.
Although Zhao Ji was more than ten years older than him, she acted like a little girl in many ways.
If you're hungry, you should eat; if you put in the effort, you should get something in return.
"How could I not know that gratification should be delayed?"
"But it's easier said than done," Zhao Ji sighed.
She also wants to delay gratification, but she can't.
She could restrain herself when she was in the hostage residence in Handan, because she had no choice but to.
Now that she is the Empress Dowager, she has no need to restrain herself.
She needed to exercise restraint in Handan, and she still needs to exercise restraint when she returns to Qin as Empress Dowager. Otherwise, wouldn't she have been Empress Dowager for nothing?
Upon realizing this, Zhao Ji instinctively placed her hand on Xu Lin's leg.
"Your Majesty, please have some self-respect."
Xu Lin gave a serious reminder.
Then he sent Zhao Ji to the study to rest.
The most urgent task is to ensure that the common people of Dai have enough to eat, to make them grateful to Qin, and to make them reflect on whether Qin was truly a ruthless and cunning state.
Most ordinary people are still simple and honest. How could they not tell who treats them well and who treats them badly?
If you rely on your words to achieve something, the Qin state, as early as the reign of King Huiwen of Qin, unified the world thanks to the silver tongue of its prime minister, Zhang Yi!
"I, the Empress, have no self-respect!"
Zhao Ji pursed her lips, thinking to herself.
She planned to give Xu Lin a good beating that night!
After leaving the study, Xu Lin caught a glimpse of Jing's mother out of the corner of his eye.
Although Jing's mother was thirty years old, she had a very good temperament.
Seeing that she could receive free food, she hesitated, wondering whether to go home first or collect the food first.
She was afraid that when she got home, all the food would have been taken.
Seeing this, Xu Lin walked towards Jing's mother unhurriedly.
Instead of giving Jingmu food directly, he chose to observe her closely.
Jing's mother was very quiet, somewhat like Nongyu's mother.
Because the order was very good, it was time to get to Jingmu quickly.
The order was good because the assassins from the Luo Wang organization were armed with sharp swords, and anyone who dared to cause trouble would be killed on sight.
This is what Xu Lin referred to earlier as the combination of kindness and severity.
"Is the lady alone?"
"The assassin from Luo Wang asked."
The person in charge of distributing the food was a female assassin from the Luo Wang organization, who was quite cold-blooded.
“My husband and daughter are at home.”
Jing's mother nodded.
Why don't they come?
"The female assassin from the Luo Wang organization asked."
"They...they are not in a convenient position."
"When I get back, I'll have them come."
Jing's mother acted very reserved.
She doesn't lie.
The reason for not directly mentioning the sale of his daughter was that the matter was too long to be explained in a few words.
"it is good."
The female assassin from the Luo Wang organization nodded.
Then they gave Jing's mother a single serving of food and several days' worth of rations.
Despite Jingmu's good looks and Xu Lin's apparent interest in her, the female assassins from Luo Wang still didn't provide her with any extra food.
Because this is a matter of principle.
If we make an opening here, how will we handle the rest?
So even if Xu Lin is favored, it won't work!
Xu Lin was not angry about this.
He also felt that it should be done that way.
The embankment of a thousand miles was destroyed by an ant's nest.
Seeing that Zhao Ji had fallen asleep, Xu Lin gave a few instructions to the assassins of the Luo Wang organization and then left the government office.
The news of the grain distribution won't reach Handan for a while, so there's no need to worry.
But Jing's mother was too weak to even kill a chicken. Carrying a few pounds of grain home was like a child carrying gold through a bustling market; she might be in mortal danger.
Although the assassins of the Luo Wang organization were strictly forbidden from stealing food, those inherently wicked people didn't care about such things.
Sure enough, not long after Jing's mother left the government office, she was stopped on her way.
The man blocking the road was holding a dagger and had a fierce-looking face.
"Madam, why are you all alone?"
"where is your family?"
The person blocking the road asked with a grin.
He only came out after confirming that Jing's mother was alone.
"What do you want to do?"
Jing's mother looked wary and took a few steps back.
After saying that, she looked around, hoping someone could save her, but there was no one nearby!
She chose to take the back road to get home faster, but who knew...
"First, food."
"Secondly, you."
The man blocking the road brandished a dagger and approached Jing's mother step by step.
As the saying goes, "When people are well-fed and warm, they think of lustful desires." He had barely finished eating when other thoughts began to stir within him. (End of Chapter)