Assessment of "Xia Hua"

Yang Guo was, after all, the leader of a powerful force, and in principle, he should have received all the respect due to him. Huizhou, Huijun even asked the most talented young man in the Lineage to write a self-recommendation essay.

But while they were still on the road, before they even entered the city, the guide suddenly said, "Hey, didn't you all want to see Young Master Yang? That's him!"

"Hmm?" Huizhou looked up upon hearing this and saw a young man dressed in blue, carrying a hoe on his shoulder, swaying as he walked from a distance.

Looking at the endless farmland behind him, it's easy to tell where this person just went.

"You mean he's Young Master Yang?" Huizhou was astonished. With his eyesight, he had already spotted a man working in the fields with his trousers rolled up, but who would have thought this man would be the leader of a powerful force?

"Yes, you've come looking for Young Master Yang, but don't you know what he looks like?" the guide asked in return.

Huizhou remained silent, but since the person in question was present, he naturally went to greet him immediately.

"The Hua Family Eastern Victory, Huazhou greets Young Master Yang!"

"The Hua Family?" Yang Ning looked up blankly.

"Yes!" Huizhou nodded. "We have long admired your great name, and that is why our Hua Family has traveled a long way to this place, just to help you achieve great things!"

"To accomplish great things?" Yang Guo shook his head. "Sorry, you've probably come to the wrong person. I'm just a mere farmer; how could I possibly accomplish anything great!"

"Huh?" Huizhou was speechless. If you can't achieve great things, then why do so many people support you?

Behind them, Huijun gently tugged at Yang Guo's sleeve. Huizhou could only hold back for now and then asked, "Young Master Yang, our group would like to settle in Xin'an City. Is that permissible?"

"Of course!" Yang Ning nodded. "All guests are welcome, and Xin'an would never turn away its guests!"

Watching Yang Ning's departing figure, Huizhou finally withdrew her admiring expression after a long while, turned her head and asked, "Why didn't you let me speak?"

"We don't know this young master Yang, nor do we know about his influence. What if we don't become his disciples?" Huijun said.

"What do you mean?" Huizhou asked.

"Since he's the ruler of this region, how could he possibly go out to till the land all by himself?" Huijun asked. "Even if it's just for show, shouldn't he have set up some sentry posts in secret? Did you see any?"

"Uh, no." Huizhou shook her head. They could tell whether a mortal force had sentry posts or not.

So you mean...

"This Yang Ning is probably just a puppet put forward by the people here!" Huijun said. "Let's stay in Xin'an first, and find a way in after we understand the situation!"

At this point, even the most intelligent young man in the Huijia Family couldn't help but sigh.

Firstly, it's amazing how Yang Ning the mobile phone, and with Zhang Jiao spreading his teachings everywhere, basic cultivation Cultivation Method have spread throughout the world, making universal cultivation within reach!

Secondly, I lament Lord Hengming's untimely blockade of Southern Forest. Without his intervention, the Great Peace Way would have been wiped out long ago, and ordinary people would naturally have had no access to cultivation.

Why should these cultivation Lineage lower themselves to submit to mortals?

He lamented his own ill-fated life and unfulfilled potential.

He was clearly the most talented and intelligent young man in the Huijia Family, but because he was not a direct descendant, he could not receive the Lineage's special training. Not only was his cultivation level overtaken by Huizhou's resources, but he was also not the one in charge when going out to carry out missions.

The group settled down in Xin'an City. Huijun and his disciples indulged in revelry, while Huizhou interacted with all sorts of people to learn about the local power structure.

He then gradually learned that this force was not originally called Qingyun or Xin'an, but Xia Hua.

The meaning of this name is simple: it is called Xia because of its great etiquette; it is called Hua because of its beautiful clothing; together they are called Xia Hua.

It means that the people in this place are polite and their clothes are very nice.

The person who named the faction was not Yang Guo, but his wife, Little Dragon Girl.

Using clothing as a name certainly fits the style of naming women.

Yang Guo was dull-witted and had no skills other than farming. He was also very quiet and slow in interpersonal communication, as was Little Dragon Girl.

However, their aloofness does not equate to indifference. On the contrary, both of them are kind-hearted, compassionate, and cannot bear to see human suffering.

Two years ago, the Great Peace Way Rebellion broke out, and then various ambitious people rose up, launching a major war that covered the entire Southern Forest, leaving countless people displaced.

Because Qingyun was located in a remote area, a large number of people fled there, and then wealthy families began to distribute porridge.

However, many wealthy households only put on a show, and once they realized that the number of disaster victims was endless and they could hardly save them all, they simply stopped caring.

At this time, Yang Ning and Little Dragon Girl stepped forward and distributed porridge in Qingyun Town for more than ten days.

The wealthy families in town couldn't stand it any longer, so they sent their servants to overturn the porridge stall and try to seize the Yang family's land.

The Yang couple were gentle and submissive, but the refugees who had benefited from their kindness could no longer sit still. They decided to go all out, stormed into the wealthy family's house, killed everyone, and took all the grain.

However, the disaster victims didn't know how to distribute these things, so they found two more people.

The two were fair and just in their dealings, and their fair distribution earned them everyone's approval. Thus, this small force called "Xia Hua" was born in Qingyun Town.

After that, this small force did not continue to expand. It simply distributed porridge and a serving of pickled vegetables every day. When the surrounding disaster victims heard about what was happening here, they flocked to the area.

In less than six months, more than 500,000 people gathered in Qingyun Town!

Qingyun Town could not accommodate so many people, so the Yang couple went into the city to seek help from the landlords to give the disaster victims a way to survive.

But the wealthy families in the city were unwilling to agree, after all, these were chaotic times, and grain was more precious than gold!

When the Yang couple returned to Qingyun Town, they told the disaster victims about the incident. The victims were outraged and surrounded the couple. They then stormed the county town and slaughtered all the landlords and wealthy people in the town.

This immediately put the surrounding cities and towns on high alert, prompting them to form guards and local militias to protect the area.

However, the Yang couple were just farmers and knew nothing about governing a country, so they simply continued to distribute white porridge and pickled vegetables in the old way.

Unexpectedly, the wealthy households in the surrounding cities were so greedy that, following their example, even the rations and pay of the militia soldiers were embezzled.

The soldiers were starving and cold. When they heard that someone nearby was giving out plain porridge and pickled vegetables, they simply deserted and ran over here in droves.

The Yang couple welcomed everyone who came, serving them plain porridge and pickled vegetables as usual.

Despite doing nothing, his forces have grown exponentially, and in just two years, he has unified the western region of Southern Forest!

"This, this, this..." Huijun was completely bewildered by this path to rise to power. Why?

Is this plain congee with pickled vegetables really that appealing?

I simply don't believe these two are incapable of governing a country. Maybe it was all planned out in advance?

Huijun then began to study Xia Hua's system, and then discovered that this Yang couple might really not be good at governing the country.

Because they had no offspring and could not be granted fiefdoms, they divided their territories into four levels: province, county, town, and village. Then, each village was headed by a magistrate, each town by a mayor, each county by a magistrate, and each province by a high-ranking official.

This is clearly a direct copy of The Great Peace Way, only with a different name.

Is this plan wrong?

Of course, that's completely wrong! How could a rebel's plan possibly be correct?

The feudal system that has been in place in our Taiheng Kingdom for hundreds of thousands of years is the correct one!

If you don't grant fiefdoms, where will the heir apparent come from? Without an heir apparent, who will join the Taiheng Sect to cultivate immortality?

Moreover, their departmental structure is also problematic.

Other factions only have six departments, but what about Xia Hua?

They set up a department for every issue that arises.

To facilitate his research on seeds, Yang Ning set up an agricultural seed department.

In order to study exquisite clothing and etiquette, Little Dragon Girl established the Clothing and Etiquette Department.

To manage the soldiers, they established a soldiers' department.

They set up a "Porridge Department" to handle the distribution of plain porridge and pickled vegetables.

The department in charge of accounting is called the Ministry of Revenue by other powers, but since no one in Xia Hua has ever held an official position there, they don't call it the Ministry of Revenue, but the Ministry of Finance.

There's also an organization responsible for personnel selection and arrangement; other factions call it the Ministry of Personnel, while they call it the Organization Department.

It's also possible that the department was created under false pretenses.

For example, industrial technology, commerce, and diplomacy—things that could clearly be handled by the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple—were instead given the need to establish new departments.

There's also the Department of Health and Hygiene, which oversees hygiene and medical care, and the Department of Private Schools, which manages private schools. Huijun completely doesn't understand their purpose.

In the military aspect, it was further exposed that the builders of Xia Hua's system had never served in the military or been generals.

If someone joins the army, they'll know that the army should be called something like the Divine Martial Army or the Valiant Army—armies whose very names alone suggest great power, making the enemy tremble with fear at the mere sight of their flags.

But how did Xia Hua's unit get its name?

The First Army, the Second Army, the Third Army, and so on.

Instead of setting up positions like General Who Conquers the East or Colonel of the Valiant Cavalry, they used the same system as provinces, counties, and townships, with ranks like General, Lieutenant General, Major General, Senior Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, Major, Captain, First Lieutenant, and Second Lieutenant.

Lacking both aesthetic appeal and historical depth, it made Huijun was used to the name Taiheng, want to laugh.

Moreover, anyone who has led troops knows that people from a particular region should be assigned to a specific unit.

After all, brothers fight tigers together, and fathers and sons go to war side by side!

But what did Xia Hua's army do? He completely disrupted the source of his soldiers!

This results in soldiers who are neither from the same hometown nor relatives; how can such an army be effective in combat?

They even borrowed the idea of military supervisors and created a position called the Supervisory Committee, but it seems they didn't quite understand the role of military supervisors.

The military supervisor is supposed to oversee the officers, but this supervisor is spending all his time with the soldiers. Isn't he worried they'll sideline the general?

Moreover, the principle that "a kind heart cannot command an army, and righteousness cannot manage finances" should be understood by everyone.

However, the military law of Xia Hua explicitly prohibits officers from beating or scolding soldiers.

"Perhaps because the wealthy were all killed, the upper echelons of Xia Hua lack cultured people and don't know how to build a power base. They act on impulse and have no long-term vision."

"Because there are no educated people, the characters taught here are incomplete; the locals call them 'simple characters.' Because there's no tradition of education and no understanding of the importance of knowledge, they've actually opened primary schools in various places to teach children those simple characters."

"Yang Guo was too focused on farming, which led to Little Dragon Girl holding the reins of power in Xia Hua. Little Dragon Girl practiced nepotism, appointing all her maids, servants, and female officials to official positions, and surprisingly, no one objected!"

"In terms of army building, because no veteran generals were involved, they knew nothing about how to build an army. They used their imaginations to come up with a lot of original designs, resulting in situations where soldiers didn't know their generals, generals didn't know their soldiers, people from the same hometown were in different units, and fathers and sons were in different armies! Such an army might be able to fight against local militias organized by gentry, but it is likely to collapse when it encounters the elite troops and generals of other rebel armies!"

"."

"To put it simply, Xia Hua's power is merely a result of Yang Ning and his companion's good fortune. It was built up by chance when other rebel forces were unaware of its existence. Once other rebel forces turn their attention to it, its collapse will be imminent. Therefore, Huijun does not recommend joining Xia Hua, even though no Lineage in Xia Hua is favored by them!"

Huijun compiled her research from many days into a book and then handed it over to Huizhou.

Huizhou didn't quite understand it, but overall it seemed to be fine.

So he forwarded the booklet back to the Lineage and asked the Lineage elders to make a decision.

After a while, the Lineage elder replied.

"Choose Xia Hua. It's better to offer help in times of need than to add flowers to brocade. With your abilities, it won't be difficult for you to hold high positions in Xia Hua. If other righteous armies invade, you can use your high positions to persuade the lord to surrender, and your future status will not be low!"

Upon seeing the elder's message, Huizhou was taken aback, then suddenly realized, "That makes sense!"

If you join a new faction, when will you be able to rise to a high position?

But it's easy in Xia Hua, because there are no capable people here!

When other rebel armies attack, we can just surrender.

I hold a high position of power here. I persuaded the boss to switch allegiance to you. You can't possibly give me an official rank lower than the first grade, otherwise no one will be willing to surrender to you in the future.

"An elder is an elder after all; their perspective is far more far-sighted than ours!" Huizhou patted Huijun on the shoulder. "It seems you still have a long way to go!"

Huijun, chuckle, do you think I can't see this?

I just don't want to make that decision; otherwise, if something goes wrong, I'll be the scapegoat.

Now it's all good. The elders are in charge, so even if we fail in the future, it won't be my fault!

And

Based on my description, the elders and the Lineage no longer have a high opinion of Xia Hua.

In this situation, if I could help Yang Guo rise against the odds, wouldn't that earn me more respect from my Lineage?

If, I mean if

Yang Guo will reach the summit and truly become the ruler of the Great Ming Kingdom!

What will he, who helped him ascend the throne, gain?

It's important to understand that, just considering the fact that Hengming stands behind the Great Ming Kingdom, even though the Great Ming Kingdom's status is lower than that of the Taiheng Sect, it's not by much.

The Prime Minister of the Great Ming Kingdom must be at least an elder of the Taiheng Sect!

After finishing the call, Huijun put down her phone and said, "Then I'll go contact Yang Guo right now!"

"Why Yang Guo? Isn't Little Dragon Girl in charge of the political affairs here?" Huizhou asked.

"It's true that the power is in Little Dragon Girl's hands, but the reason Little Dragon Girl can hold power is because Yang Guo relinquished it," Huijun laughed. "And the reason he relinquished power was simply because he didn't understand the consequences of relinquishing power, and no one reminded him!"

"With just a silver tongue, I can make him realize the seriousness of the matter, and then he will regard my Huijia Family disciples as his most trusted advisors and honored guests!"

"I see!" Huizhou nodded. "Then go ahead!"

"Yes!" Huijun nodded, then turned around with a disdainful smirk.

I met Yang Guo first, and he demonstrated his abilities. So, I was the one who was valued and placed in a high position!

This is a major change that hasn't happened in 300,000 years. If you regularly use Deep Blue Knows won't be completely oblivious to it.

This is supposed to be a direct descendant? Pshaw!