Chapter 550
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Chapter 550: Changing Times
After a thousand years, Lin Jiang woke up.
Coming out of the cave, he saw the forest still there, not turned into a city. Feeling disappointed that even after more than two thousand years since humans appeared, there was still no spiritual energy recovery.
Lin Jiang, feeling a bit weak after just waking up, quickly found some prey to eat. He also made himself some clothes because he didn’t like walking around naked.
After walking for miles, he came across a village. Lin Jiang traded some of his prey for clothes and then gathered information. However, the village was very closed off, and apart from knowing about the authorities called Great Wei, he didn’t know anything else.
"Should I go back to sleep or explore outside?"
Lin Jiang faced a decision: should he go back to sleep and wait for spiritual energy recovery, or should he go out and explore?
After thinking for a long time, Lin Jiang decided to take a walk outside and see the world. If it was a prosperous era, he would enjoy it. If it was chaotic, he would come back and go back to sleep, not wanting to get involved.
Lin Jiang went back up the mountain and hunted some more prey, like wild chickens, to disguise himself as a hunter from the mountains. He hoped that the authorities below the mountain didn’t have any laws protecting animals, or else these wouldn’t be wild chickens but "chicken in jail."
After walking hundreds of miles, he finally reached a small town. The town wasn’t big, but had some shops. Lin Jiang sold his prey for money, earning about twenty to thirty copper coins. Prey didn’t fetch much money at the foot of the mountains.
"Great Wei Treasury"
Lin Jiang looked at the characters on the copper coins. They were similar in shape to the coins from Xia Kingdom, just with different characters.
The government control in Great Wei seemed strong, with checkpoints on the roads. However, Lin Jiang wasn’t daunted by the checkpoints. If the main road was blocked, he would take a smaller path until he had enough money to bribe someone for a pass.
The world worked in such a way that when rules were set, there would always be people trying to break or exploit them. Rules were created to make money.
Following his memory, Lin Jiang headed in the direction of the old Yunzhong City. After walking for miles, he finally reached a larger city. Under the cover of night, Lin Jiang used his agility to scale the city walls and sneak inside.
The city was pitch dark, probably under curfew. There were few patrolling soldiers, but he didn’tice some night watchmen.
Lin Jiang avoided these individuals and found a bookstore. He quietly slipped inside, selected a few historical books, left some coins, and left without a sound.
By the next afternoon, Lin Jiang had finished reading the historical books. He now had a general understanding of the past thousand years of history, and even came across records related to someone known as Mr. Guigu.
Years ago, Lin Jiang sparked a wave of diverse ideologies in Chu Kingdom. This wave spread from Chu Kingdom to other vassal states and within a few decades, attracted more and more elites. Various beliefs emerged, providing theoretical basis for reforms across the countries.
After that, many countries reformed and strengthened. The small countries of the Zheng Kingdom were absorbed by the larger reformed kingdoms. This led to a war of unification that lasted for over a hundred years. In the end, the Qin Kingdom unified all the countries and completely replaced the Xia Kingdom.
However, unlike in the past, the Qin Kingdom didn’t fall after the second generation, nor did they have an emperor similar to the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty. Many things had already been done by Lin Jiang when he was the Emperor of the Xia Kingdom.
After the unification of the Qin Kingdom, their rule lasted for over three hundred years. The downfall of the Qin Kingdom was related to their conflict with the Qing State. Historically, it is recorded that the Qin Kingdom sent millions of soldiers to the Qing State, but most of these soldiers never returned. This led to the complete weakening of the Qin Kingdom, resulting in a large-scale rebellion and its eventual collapse.
After the fall of the Qin Kingdom, there were decades of warlord conflicts, which were eventually replaced by the Qi Kingdom. The Qi Kingdom ruled for over three hundred years but later faced a weak emperor and internal unrest. This led to a widespread uprising and ultimately being replaced by the Great Wei, which is the current ruling kingdom. The Great Wei has only been established for less than a hundred years but is currently very strong.
"Many details are missing in these historical records."
Lin Jiang looked at the historical books in his hand, realizing they were incomplete and filled with personal emotions. Unable to rely on them entirely, Lin Jiang decided to look elsewhere, hoping to find more comprehensive historical records, such as the "Records of the Grand Historian".
"I need to borrow some money to make ends meet."
Before setting off, Lin Jiang glanced at the wealthy landowners in the city, considering borrowing some money from them, pretending to be a thief for a moment.
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Great Wei, Yun State
Yun State is not the same as the one Lin Jiang remembers. It is now just a normal province within Great Wei’s territory. Xia Kingdom divides its territory into feudal states, but Qi Kingdom has a different system with 36 counties instead.
In Qi Kingdom, they added provinces above counties in the administrative system. Qi Kingdom has 42 provinces and hundreds of counties. Great Wei follows a similar system inherited from Qi Kingdom with some additions, totaling to fifty provinces including Zhong State where the capital is located.
"It’s chaotic, it’s all chaos!"
Lin Jiang saw a map of Great Wei’s territory in the capital of Yun State and felt confused. The fifty provinces now include former states like Zhong State, Qing State, and Bing State. Most of the territory is from Yun State and He State. Lin Jiang couldn’t understand this mess and felt dizzy.
"Why should I think so much? It’s none of my business."
After a day, Lin Jiang realized that fifty provinces are just fifty provinces. It doesn’t matter what they are called, why bother with so many details?
Yun State is busy with trade, so their management of guides and permits is a bit relaxed. Lin Jiang borrowed money from some wealthy individuals to get a legal identity for himself.
Afterwards, Lin Jiang spent time in Yun State’s bookstores for a month to fill in his knowledge gaps in history. He realized that what he had read before was not entirely wrong but missed many things.
For example, the Qin Kingdom’s expedition wasn’t against the Qing State, but to help the Qing State defend against the Demon Human. Before the last sleep, Lin Jiang helped weaken the Demon Human forces on the north bank of the Qing River for the Qing State. The Qing State enjoyed a few hundred years of peace, firmly controlling the Qing River and defending against enemies on the north bank.
However, Lin Huasheng’s concerns from back then became true. The Demon Human bypassed the Qing River and invaded the Qing State from the southeast of the Liang State. Caught off guard, the Qing State suffered a devastating defeat and sought help from the Qin Kingdom.
The ruler of the Qin Kingdom at that time was a wise person who understood the big picture. Therefore, the Qin Kingdom deployed its elite troops and mobilized an army of three million to join forces with the Qing State against the Demon Human’s attack.
After more than a decade of war, the Qin Kingdom’s finances were drained, internal conflicts escalated, uprisings broke out continuously, leading to a shortage of supplies for the expeditionary army, resulting in a major defeat and ultimately the downfall of the Qin Kingdom.
After the establishment of the Qi Kingdom, they also sent out troops for an expedition. However, this time the Qi Kingdom was well prepared, didn’t commit as many troops, and with the help of formidable individuals from the Qing State, they successfully repelled the Demon Human’s attack. In the northwest of the Qing State, a Great Wall was built to stabilize the situation.
"The Immortal Sect, Wu Sect, and Clan Alliance have disappeared. The Qing State is now called the Immortal Kingdom after a thousand years, witnessing great changes over the centuries."
After reading this historical account, Lin Jiang felt deeply saddened. Everything he once knew had vanished. The Demon Human army attacked the Qing State, and the Immortal Sect, Wu Sect, and Clan Alliance were the main forces of resistance, suffering heavy casualties.
They fervently mobilized ordinary people, but in the end, they were engulfed by history, becoming a thing of the past. The newly emerged power learned from the Qi Kingdom, established a country, and due to the heavy influence of mastering the Immortal Language, they called themselves the Immortal Kingdom, claiming to be descendants of immortals.
"Oh…"
After a long time, Lin Jiang sighed again. Sometimes he would doubt himself. Was it right or wrong for him to sleep for a thousand years? Did he need to get involved in these histories personally, or should he continue to be just a passerby?
