You have truly caused me great suffering!

After the start of summer, the flood season arrived as scheduled.

Contrary to everyone's expectations, this year's flood control efforts have actually faced the least pressure.

In Hebei's Youyan region, where the seasons have always been unpredictable, heavy rainfall has significantly decreased this year.

In addition, the construction of irrigation canals and reservoirs has reduced the disaster area by more than 80% compared to last year.

Chen Shao arranged for officials to provide relief to the flood-stricken areas, and then commended the officials in charge of river management, each receiving a reward.

Over the years under the rule of the Song Dynasty, Hebei was essentially abandoned. Even knowing that the dikes were about to burst, no pre-emptive measures were taken.

Historically, before the Jingkang Incident, Du Chong even breached the Yellow River to block the Jin army from advancing south, which directly drowned about 200,000 people in Hebei and displaced nearly 10 million others.

What a terrifying number.

As a result, Du Chong was still promoted and ennobled.

In addition, he had previously massacred nearly 100,000 refugees in Cangzhou, which means that this bastard alone killed hundreds of thousands of people.

Such a 'god of slaughter' should have been extremely ferocious, but he was terrified of the Jin soldiers like a tiger and dared not fight a single battle.

He later surrendered directly to the Jin Dynasty, becoming the highest-ranking surrendered official since the founding of the Southern Song Dynasty.

This time, it was fortunate that he ran into Qu Duan, who acted first and informed Qu Duan later.

The floods in Hebei were actually intentionally caused by the Song Dynasty, in order to make the rivers flow erratically, cut off the terrain, and forcibly create a barrier.

To prevent the northern barbarian cavalry from quickly advancing south.

To this end, they also planted a large number of giant trees along the border.

Before the founding of the Great Jing Dynasty, the government began to manage the floods in Hebei, and once again dispatched Yang Cheng, Chen Shao's trusted confidant.

At this point, the initial results were evident, and Chen Shao was in a very good mood. The officials also noticed this and couldn't help but praise him.

Chen Shao was secretly pleased, thinking to himself that there was a reason why the emperor liked sycophants; who doesn't like to hear nice things?

But he also secretly reminded himself that he must stick to his principles and be a person of moderation and who abides by the rules.

Only when the emperor also abides by the rules can order and prosperity be brought to the world.

Chen Shao waved his hand, interrupting the ministers' praises, and said, "Since the previous dynasty, for over a hundred years, Henan, Jingdong, and Hebei have suffered greatly from the Yellow River's breaches, almost every three years, causing immense suffering to the people."

"Now that the methods of repairing water conservancy, digging canals, and building reservoirs have been proven effective, we must continue our efforts."

"In addition, Hebei has been plagued by war and has suffered a serious loss of population. This year, we will continue to encourage people who have lost their land in the south to go there to make a living. All people who reclaim wasteland can enjoy a three-year tax exemption. For those who move and settle down as a whole clan, the local government can sell them oxen, farming tools and seeds. These do not need to be paid immediately. They can wait until the harvest next year and pay off the debt in installments each year."

Chen Shao made no attempt to conceal the widespread use of iron farm tools; he was afraid that giving the people a few hoes would lead to a rebellion.

What despicable thing must you have done to feel so guilty?

Dajing Institute of Technology has always invested the most in agricultural tools, followed by weapons.

“The flow, changes, and resettlement of household registration also need to be reformed,” Chen Shao said. “We should encourage people who can’t make a living to go out and try their luck, instead of waiting to die in their villages.”

Only when people move around and exchange and learn from each other can progress be achieved.

That's what Chen Shao thought.

There are many farmers who have lost their land in Dajing, but even in fertile land like Hebei, there are many abandoned fields that no one cultivates.

The situation is even more pronounced in places further north, such as Youyan, Liaodong, and Yunzhong.

By this point, large-scale population migration was no longer feasible, and these places had never been fully occupied, so the only option was to use policies to attract people to go there voluntarily.

Just like the migration to Northeast China in later generations. The officials looked at each other, and no one objected. This matter did not involve the core interests of any party, so it was quickly approved.

After the court session ended, they returned to the Funing Palace.

Chen Shao glanced at Yuwen Xuzhong, who was reviewing memorials, and asked, "Is there something important?"

Yuwen Xuzhong stood up and said, "It's mostly about things in Japan. Iwami has already transported the silver to Korea and then transferred it back."

Chen Shao nodded with satisfaction and said, "I didn't expect it to be done so quickly!"

The people sent this time were indeed highly efficient, but the fundamental reason was that Chen Shao's investment was sufficient.

Yuwen Xuzhong continued, "After the Kingdom of Tsukushi declared itself king, Toba was indeed furious and even sent a letter requesting the Kingdom of Jing to send troops to help him uphold justice."

"These bird feathers," Chen Shao shook his head slightly and said, "are truly wishful thinking!"

He initially claimed to be on par with me, but after witnessing the difference in strength, he switched forms at lightning speed.

He always expects me to help him with whatever happens, as if I were his father.

If he had any sense at all, he should have realized that something was wrong and that all the difficulties he was facing were actually controlled by himself.

The independence that Tsukushi Province sought to establish was a huge blow to the prestige of the Imperial Family, setting an example for other powerful clans on the island.

If the Shao'er clan could defeat the government army again, then they would have truly transitioned from the Spring and Autumn period to the Warring States period.

Yuwen Xuzhong said, "Although I have never been to Japan, judging from the daily reports, the number of troops that can be mobilized after the establishment of Tsukushi Kingdom is no more than ten thousand."

"Why don't we let them fight a battle first, and when they are defeated, we can take the opportunity to offer them food and supplies so they can continue fighting, but they have to sell us the mines."

Chen Shao nodded and said, "That's very well said."

Historically, when the Central Plains were embroiled in warlord conflicts, the great powers operated in the same way. They supported one warlord after another, allowing these warlords to fight amongst themselves and thus cutting off any possibility of national unification and rise.

This forced these warlords to become increasingly reliant on loans and weapons provided by their foreign powers in order to deal with other warlords and protect their own territories.

Over time, these warlords ended up working for them. In order to defeat other warlords, they sold off almost all of China's land and rights that they could.

If Chen Shao and Yuwen Xuzhong's plan succeeds this time, they will first make these powerful families in Japan become enemies, so as to prevent them from colluding with each other in the future.

The situation in Japan was different. The roads were rugged and the forces were pitifully small, making it much more difficult to destroy a power.

In this way, no one will be easily defeated and forced to withdraw from the battle. Let them fight for several more years, become mortal enemies, and then let the mob destroy the Emperor's family. In that case, Japan will be completely unable to be unified.

The already conflicting families will become absolute enemies once the Emperor is no longer their sole bond.

They could even become sworn enemies.

Yuwen Xuzhong discovered that although Dongying was a small place, it was very typical.

He kept using Japan as an analogy for the southern desert, but eventually found that the situation in Japan was more complicated.

Although Yuwen Xuzhong was very busy here, he did not forget his original intention and continued to pay attention to the construction of the city in Baidao and the training of troops in Hetao.

Chen Shao was already in a good mood because the disaster situation in Hebei this year was relatively mild, and he was even more delighted to hear about the chaos in Japan.

He said with a smile, "We should build a few more large warehouses near Jinling."

The voice was neither too loud nor too soft, and Yuwen Xuzhong couldn't tell if he was talking to himself or to himself.

He could only pretend not to hear and continue bending over to read the memorial.

Chen Shao fiddled with paper and pen, drawing some strange characters and images. (End of Chapter)