Lin Hai still remembers his adoptive father's last words before his death.
"Keep your brothers alive. Find them something to eat. Don't think about revenge, you can't win."
Yes, my adoptive father meant not to seek revenge. After all, there was no way to seek revenge with only a bunch of missing people left. Now that peace talks were underway, the chances of revenge were even slimmer.
Lin Hai looked up at the sky and whispered to himself, "Foster father, I'm sorry. No matter whether I can take revenge in the future or not, we can't forget the hatred now."
Lin Hai pulled out a piece of paper from his bosom, unfolded it, held it above his head, and said loudly: "This is a map with the seal of the Ministry of Revenue on it. Brothers, you can take a look. The new area allocated to us is not smaller than the previous Qinghe County. We can rebuild our Qinghe County wherever we want."
The crowd gathered and everyone was looking for the location of Xinqinghe County on the map, whispering to each other.
"Did you see where it is?"
"I don't know if the place is big or not. The map doesn't tell the size either."
"The soil here is not fertile. I've never farmed in mountainous areas, so I don't know if it can grow crops."
"I can't read. There are so many circles on this. Which one is Qinghe County?"
Eventually, the whispers died down. Everyone looked at each other, then asked Wang Liang to ask for everyone: "Where will the Empire allow the construction of a new county? Can it still be called Qinghe County?"
Lin Hai put away the map and slowly pulled out a piece of paper from his bosom. He unfolded it slowly and held it up. "This is the authorization letter from the Ministry of Revenue, authorizing us to open up wasteland. The settlement will be called Qinghetun. The Ministry of Revenue has given us three years. As long as our settlement can meet the minimum requirements for a lower-level county after three years, we won't even need city walls. We can become a lower-level preparatory county, and we can name the county seat Qinghe County."
"If we really build Qinghe County, what should we do if the empire sends local officials? Wouldn't we still have to listen to him? How long would it take us to gather strength to take revenge?" The speaker was the thirty-third brother, whose family owned a cloth shop. His family had more dealings with the government, so he knew the character of that group of people.
Lin Hai didn't answer directly. He simply slowly put away the authorization letter, folded it, and slowly placed it in his arms. Everyone's eyes were drawn to his movements, and for a moment, there was even a dead silence. Lin Hai's hands rummaged in his arms again. After a while, he pulled out another piece of paper. He then slowly unfolded it, held it up, and said loudly, "This is a document from the Ministry of Personnel. It says that the head of our Qinghe Village is my big brother, Wang Liang! If we can establish a county, the county will not need a county magistrate. The county lieutenant will be responsible for all matters, big and small. Big brother will be our new county lieutenant."
With a bang, the crowd exploded.
Many people blushed and shouted, "Well done, Xiao Linzi, you're really well prepared. The old captain was right. Only you could have prepared all these."
"Let's work hard. There's hope. Even if it's not Qinghe County, having a Qinghe Village is not bad. The name of Qinghe is still there. We can always rebuild Qinghe County."
"Yes, it's a county. By then, everyone in the county will be our own people. It won't be a problem for Big Brother to gather 1,800 people with just one order. We have to see where those beasts are hiding, find them, and kill them."
Seeing that everyone's emotions had been fluctuating for a while, Lin Hai finally got aroused again. He smiled and said, "I haven't discussed the selection of a county lieutenant with you all. I hope everyone has no objection to my eldest brother being the county lieutenant."
Wang Liang, standing aside, was trying to be humble. Just as he was about to speak, one of his brothers said, "Big brother is the most suitable person to be a garrison commander or a county lieutenant. Big brother is the oldest and the only remaining centurion in the army. Even if the war ends, the empire would still give an officer like big brother a job and resettlement. But big brother wants nothing, he just wants to be with the brothers. For this reason alone, I obey him."
Then everyone chorused, "Yes, Big Brother is the most suitable person to be the county lieutenant."
"Then, what if we skip the lower-level preparatory county and build a lower-level county? Lower-level counties must have county magistrates."
"Hahahahaha, that's easy, just let Xiao Linzi be the county magistrate."
In the last rays of sunset, Lin Hai, standing on the stone platform, looked at everyone and lamented the difficulty of today.
Yes, the old captain said before he died that everyone should listen to him. Wang Liang also said that his brothers all supported him.
But these are not his capital, Lin Hai understands, these are just his responsibilities.
He knew that this was the best thing to do now, but he could never force his brothers to listen to him. He needed to give his brothers an explanation, and more importantly, he needed to give them hope.
Lin Hai knew better than anyone else who lived in a peaceful era how important hope was to these wounded soldiers.
They had no home, no family, no hometown, and even no ability to work. All they had was a little bit of relief that even a mouse would despise, which was squeezed out from the fingers of the Imperial Ministry of Revenue, and the disgust of the entire post-war society.
Lin Hai knew why he took the men away so easily, because no local official or sheriff wanted these soldiers who had fought in wars and killed people and were about to be penniless and homeless to stay in their territory.
They are destined to be abandoned.
Anyone can give up on them, but Lin Hai can't.
So Lin Hai carefully planned all of this, and deliberately delayed until this time to tell the truth. His purpose was to mobilize everyone's emotions, let everyone slowly relax from their anxiety, and then enter into extreme anger, and then extend the anger to their own sense of powerlessness. In the end, Lin Hai reversed everyone's emotions and gave everyone hope.
In this way, Lin Hai believed that everyone, including the brothers who had decided to die as long as they could send Lin Hai to the destination, would be willing to survive.
Lin Hai gently lowered his raised hands, signaling everyone to be quiet.
With his hands raised high and his back to the sky dyed orange and gold, his face was completely immersed in the darkness, and no one could see his expression. However, the rosy glow that passed over Lin Hai's skin also gave his outline an eye-catching golden edge.
The evening breeze rustled, ruffling the hem of Lin Hai's clothes. Lin Hai remained unmoved, standing there like a god, feeling the breeze envelop him. He seemed to see someone nearby, a member of his former self, or perhaps the captain. Or perhaps, at that moment, tens of thousands of Qinghe County residents stood shoulder to shoulder with him. He spoke word by word, "For the past, for the future, for Qinghe, I ask all my brothers to help me."
Starting with Wang Liang, all the brothers bowed their heads, clasped their fists to their chests, and saluted in the same way they always did to the captain, the same way they saluted to the Qinghe people who came to see them off on the day they left for the battle, the same way they saluted to their fallen comrades, and the same way they saluted every time they received the order to march. They all answered in unison: "We will obey the captain's orders."
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