You have truly caused me great suffering!

In the fourth year of Jianwu, good news kept coming right from the start.

First, the submission of the Kereit tribe allowed the Great Jing to expand its pastures by nearly 400,000 square kilometers.

Then Dali was about to be submitted to the government.

Although the matter is not yet settled, it has already begun to circulate among the people under Zhang Run's covert manipulation.

If Gao Shunzhen goes back on her word, then the people's calls to attack Dali will rise up.

Previously, Dali and Dajing had a very friendly relationship, and there was no reason to attack them.

This, like the shared origins of Han and Bai people and the search for one's roots, is a seemingly friendly approach, but in reality, it pushes people to the brink of disaster.

Gao Shunzhen had already resigned himself to his fate, but his bargaining power was indeed higher than that of the Kereit tribe.

On the Kereit side, things appear to be at peace, but in reality, a large army is already pressing in.

The Great Jing's attitude towards the surrounding small states that had submitted to it always depended on when they submitted and their strength at that time.

After being completely defeated, Jiaozhi (Vietnam) installed a puppet ruler and then submitted to the Chinese empire. Like Ise Province, they received the lowest level of treatment.

Gao Shunzhen himself figured things out. Before the Great Jing had even deployed troops or intended to use force, he came to Jinling to negotiate, so the treatment he received was not low.

In the Funing Hall, Chen Shao stretched and stood up from the table, glancing at Gao Siyuan who was standing there.

"you"

Seeing his bruised and swollen face, limping as he came to complain about his father, Chen Shao was utterly speechless.

As expected, gambling, drugs, and prostitution are all harmful. Look at what the once noble Prince of Dali has become.

Moreover, this prince is an idiot. He should just take the beating and run away. Why don't you just run away?

This man came to file a complaint early in the morning, first accusing Zhang Run of being untrustworthy and betraying him; then accusing his father of being cruel and killing his son, which was unforgivable.

Chen Shao himself didn't really want to deal with this dispute, but considering that Dali was about to be incorporated into the Central Plains, he couldn't really let him die in Jinling.

Even though it was his own father who beat him, if this man really dies, who knows how future generations will portray him?

It's possible they'll make it look like they poisoned themselves. After all, in this kind of situation, it's easy to spread rumors, but debunking them is incredibly difficult.

Moreover, by then, he would most likely already be underground, a mere skeleton.

The scholar speaks lightly of the person in the tomb, but the person in the tomb laughs at your scholarly airs!
"Your Majesty, I beg you to spare my life!"

Chen Shao couldn't help but roll his eyes. After thinking carefully for a moment, he said, "Your father is about to come to Jinling to stay for a long time. You won't be able to stay here any longer."

"No! No!"

"Go to Xiaoliuqiu."

Chen Shao recalled that the Zhe family was very good at training people and had a knack for raising their children.

Sending this spoiled brat to Xiaoliuqiu might reform him.

Actually, he has a good foundation.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Chen Shao waved his hand, and Chen Chong, noticing his displeasure, quickly took the scoundrel and left.

The next step was to arrange for him to travel by imperial ship to Xiaoliuqiu Island, which was in dire need of reconstruction and desperately needed manpower.

According to Chen Shao's plan, the development of Xiaoliuqiu should not be so slow, but the actual situation seems to be different from what he thought.

Chen Shao originally learned from books that during the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Quan sent people to develop 'Yizhou', and he thought there should be many Han people there, and even cities.

When they sent people there, they discovered it was a deserted island inhabited by a fishing and hunting tribe living high in the mountains.

These fishing and hunting tribes were not like the Jurchen or Shiwei tribes; they were completely primitive and wild.

Chen Shao has already sent many talented people to the island.

To be honest, he wouldn't be entirely at ease if the military power wasn't in the hands of his own people.

Taiwan is also a place quite suitable for separatist rule.

In other words, the navy of the Great Jing Dynasty has developed rapidly in recent years. If it were an ordinary dynasty, it would indeed be difficult to fight against that terrain.

After Gao Siyuan left, Chen Shao turned around and saw a map hanging behind a dark brown nanmu screen.

This was drawn by Chen Shao himself. He was in high spirits at the time and painted the border between Dali and Dajing.

Looking out now, the territory already encompasses half of the Indochina Peninsula, the entire Northwest, the Western Regions, and Liaodong.
If it were an ordinary dynasty, it would have stopped here, but Chen Shao was different.

Now, we have completed the first step of a long march, and have basically recovered the land that has existed since ancient times.

There is still much more land waiting to be developed and conquered.

Even more crops await the return of the grand fleet of ships sailing across the land.

Limited by current productivity, even though Dajing has made great efforts to improve people's livelihoods, it is still impossible to prevent some people from going hungry.

The introduction of crops such as corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes was not solely for the purpose of filling stomachs.

Traditional grains in the Central Plains, such as rice and wheat, require flat, fertile land with convenient irrigation. However, China is mostly mountainous with little arable land, and many hilly, mountainous, and sandy areas are considered "barren lands."

These tuber crops are drought-resistant and can grow in poor soil, so they can be planted on hillsides; they do not compete for fertile land and can grow in sandy soil and red soil.

It can also be used to adjust diets, feed livestock, make flour, and brew wine.

After finishing his official duties, it was already close to dusk, and Chen Shao shook his head.

Every time he decides to take a few days off, a whole host of things come up. But when he's in high spirits and ready to make his mark, things are often peaceful and he has nothing to do.

After bathing and changing, Chen Shao went to Liu Caiwei's courtyard. A few days ago, Lin Niangzi had taken her pulse and found out that she was pregnant.

Although it was her first time giving birth, she had seen many things in the harem, so she wasn't that scared; in fact, she was even a little happy.

Just then, Liu Caiwei's mother, Madam Qin, also arrived at the palace.

They said they had stewed a pot of pigeon soup and brought it into the palace to nourish her body.

Perhaps because her family was there, Liu Caiwei appeared languid and exuded the air of a young girl yet to be married.

Chen Shao found it amusing. Back then, she and Li Yumei were both taken as concubines by him, as part of a marriage alliance between the Dingnan Army and the Hedong faction.

Only after that did the two forces begin to unite as one.

However, Li Yumei was much more mature than her. After arriving at the Prince Dai's Mansion, she began to take charge of receiving female guests and quickly integrated into her new identity.

Liu Caiwei is adorable and innocent, with no guile whatsoever, just like a little girl.

I never imagined I'd be having children now.

Because Lady Qin brought many female relatives with her into the palace, it was not appropriate for Chen Shao to stay there for too long, so he made an excuse and got up to leave.

A hint of reluctance appeared in Liu Caiwei's eyes, and Chen Shao said with a smile, "I will keep you company tonight."

Only then did she smile. After Chen Shao left, the women of the Liu family all gathered around Liu Caiwei, praising His Majesty for being so considerate.

Liu Caiwei was also confused. She had never been married to anyone else and thought that everyone was like that.

Liu Jizu was a businessman with few rules in his family. He doted on his daughter, which is why she was raised to be so innocent and naive, unaware of the ways of the world.
-
Iwami Province.

This vassal state has a very low profile, but is very well-known. Most people in Jing County don't know exactly where it is, but they have all heard of its name.

The sheer volume of silver transported back from here has become the greatest endorsement of the Dajingjing Coupon.

In fact, the center of Iwami Province is not actually in Iwami Castle, but on the coast, where a complex of buildings resembling a garrison has been built around the port and docks.

The navy of Dajing is stationed here.

The original Iwami Castle is located in the southeast, built on a hillside at an important valley passage, and is inhabited by locals.

The nominal royal family of Iwami Province resides there.

The Great Jing Kingdom, having largely inherited the style of the Great Song Dynasty, treated its vassal states with great courtesy.

You may question the abilities of the Song Dynasty's rulers and ministers, but their character and morality were still above the average of previous dynasties.

Even though Emperor Huizong of Song was a villain for all time, and Emperor Huan of Song walked into the trap to negotiate with the Jin camp, their crimes were too great to be described. However, they were not inherently cruel and tyrannical rulers.

The royal family of Iwami Province, the Yoshimi clan, and their ruler, Yoshimino, were originally a small landowner with very little power in Iwami Province.

However, since the majority of the people had been killed by Jing Jun, they were put on the back foot and became puppets.

Life is much better now than before.

Although they had less freedom, they were suppressed by powerful figures at the time, so they weren't necessarily much freer.

Huiming chose to build the center by the sea in order to receive reinforcements from the ocean and to transport goods to the sea.

The troops of Iwami Province, who were originally mainly defending against enemies from other regions on land, are now not in any danger at all.

The Iwami Silver Mine is located deep in the southeastern mountains.

From Shijianwei and Shijiancheng to the silver mine, the Jing people have repaired a post road with post stations and official posts along the way; at the same time, they have built fortified villages and established several units such as garrison camps and fortified strongholds at important passes.

Jingjun had three post roads in Iwami Province. The first was the post road from the silver mine to Iwami Guard and the port. The second was the post road from the silver mine to Omori Castle, which was used to transport grain from Natsumi County, which was controlled by Omori Castle, to the silver mine.

The third route is a post road from the Izumo region to Ōmori Castle, also used for transporting Izumo's grain supplies.

Now, the island is in chaos following the riots of the mob, and only the areas where the Jing Army is stationed have a precious peace and tranquility.

Many islanders, and even many powerful landowners, gradually began to migrate here.

When it comes to people, Dajing has always been open to all.

There is no upper limit to the number of miners needed for a silver mine; it can accommodate as many people as come.

The monk Huineng looked at the Iwami Kingdom, which was gradually getting back on track, and the Iwami Silver Mine.

He nodded slightly, raised one hand to his mouth, and said, "General Guo, I have fulfilled His Majesty's request. I am now returning to Chengtian Temple in Jinling. I will leave the rest to you, General."

Guo Hao was somewhat surprised, thinking to himself that His Majesty was not the kind of person to discard someone after they had served their purpose. This monk had performed such a great service, yet His Majesty had actually summoned him back?

Could it be another promotion?
Thinking of this, Guo Hao became suspicious, realizing he had no powerful backers in Jinling.

Because he was a follower of Qu Duan.

In Nanjing, the Dingnan Army was favored by the forces of Zhu Lingling and Han Shizhong, two of its three main forces.

The Xiazhou soldiers under Li Xiaozhong's command were based in the Northwest, and most of them were enfeoffed in the Northwest.

The forces of both kings were enfeoffed in fertile lands, and their military officers and generals were all stationed near Jinling.

Commander Qu's troops are all in Liaodong, Youyan, and Cangzhou and Daming prefectures in Hebei.

If this monk gets promoted in Jinling, I might find it useful to him in the future because of our friendship.

Even if you don't need it yourself, your descendants might need it in the future.

Guo Hao tentatively asked, "Master, your recall must be a great honor, like a bird soaring to the heavens or a fish returning to the sea, indicating that His Majesty will give you an important position!"

"This departure is not due to His Majesty's voluntary summons. It is because I saw in the Great Jing newspaper that Xiaoliuqiu overseas is short of people, so I am going to Xiaoliuqiu to contribute to our Great Jing and bring glory to Buddhism."

Guo Hao was stunned.
They insisted on going back, and they still wanted to go to Xiaoliuqiu!
Although he was a martial artist, he read every issue of the Da Jing Bao newspaper.

He was too busy watching the spectacle to appreciate how this person could become an official in Jinling, or how that person could become a general in Jinling.

He couldn't help but sigh. On this isolated island, even a powerful regional official with absolute authority would find life utterly tasteless.

But they never paid attention to national policies or overseas policies.

Guo Hao was deeply impressed by the monk's loyalty to the emperor and his patriotism, but he also found it hard to believe.

Huineng had already packed his belongings, which were very simple. He held a mountain of silver in his hand, but did not take a single loose piece of silver.

Instead of sending a special ship to take him, he took a silver-carrying ship back to Dajing.

He earnestly told Guo Hao to be careful of the mob, because those mobs had seen blood and killed people; they were no longer ordinary citizens.

If we let them in, Iwami Province will become very chaotic, and we should kill them one by one.

Guo Hao nodded. These rioters were actually trained by them.

Otherwise, how would they know how to kill, how to fight, or how to fight with others?

Invading Heian-kyo was far more complicated than it sounded; they had to deal with a group of warriors who did not engage in production but only fought.

Jing Jun's initial training was designed to mold them into killing machines, with the aim of spreading chaos in Japan.

Naturally, they wouldn't be allowed to return and spread chaos on what had become their territory.

They wanted to continue driving these rioters eastward, to let them fight with the powerful clans of Kanto, preferably in a dog-eat-dog battle that would result in mutual destruction.

After Huineng finished speaking, he bid farewell again and turned to leave.

Looking at the monk's thin back, Guo Hao felt a bit absurd. This monk was clearly a murderer and arsonist, a demonic monk capable of destroying a country, yet he actually saw a bit of Buddhist nature in him.

Guo Hao shook his head with a wry smile and walked into the barracks.

The Da Jing Daily reported that the imperial court intended to completely resolve the threat from the northern barbarians within the next few years. Guo Hao could almost imagine the excitement of this battle with his eyes closed.

I wonder how many lucky convicts and soldiers will be able to be ennobled, grant titles and honors to their wives, and completely turn their lives around.

I don't know if I, as an overseas general, will have another chance to participate.

Who the hell remembers now that he was once the commander of the Dingnan Army's cavalry?

Your Majesty and Commander Qu, you haven't both forgotten about us, have you?

"Call all the brothers out; we'll practice riding and archery today!" (End of Chapter)