You have truly caused me great suffering!

The imperial court frequently mobilized its troops; even as the New Year approached, troops were still marching on the official roads.

This made the Goryeo envoys who came to pay homage extremely nervous.

But I'm also a little excited.

They also read the Da Jing newspaper, so they naturally knew that Da Jing was currently on a southern expedition, and some powerful Goryeo families even wanted to get involved and share the spoils.

However, due to insufficient navigation capabilities, even if they were eager to provide support, they were simply unable to deploy troops.

Inside the royal carriage of the King of Goryeo, Wang Kai looked at the soldiers marching on the official road near the capital with a somewhat bewildered expression.

Given such a grand vision, if he truly intended to annex Goryeo, he might not be able to preserve his own kingdom.

Thinking of this, Wang Kai felt somewhat saddened.

When the Tang Dynasty declined and the Central Plains were embroiled in years of warfare, Silla also weakened. By the end of the 9th century, the central government of Silla, which had unified the Korean Peninsula for over two hundred years, collapsed, and local powerful clans carved up the country.

Later Goguryeo (founded by Gung Ye, 901–918): controlled the northern part of the peninsula; Later Baekje (founded by Gyeon Hwon, 900–936): controlled the southwest; Silla could only barely survive, holding only a corner in the southeast.

At this time, the Korean Peninsula was in a state of "three Koreas standing in a tripartite balance, with constant warfare and turmoil," and the people suffered greatly.

Wang Kai's ancestor, Wang Jian, was a powerful family in Kaicheng, and his father, Wang Long, was a maritime merchant and manor owner with immense wealth.

He joined the army at the age of 15, serving under Gung Ye (the later founder of Goguryeo). He was brave in battle, kind to his soldiers, and wealthy enough to give gifts everywhere, so he quickly rose to the rank of general and commanded a large army.

He then married a woman from the Gong family, thus becoming a member of the imperial family.

Later, Gong Yi became brutal, calling himself "Maitreya Buddha" and promoting extreme religious rule.

The execution of meritorious officials and the abuse of cruel torture led to widespread public resentment.
Wang Jian offered advice repeatedly, but was met with suspicion instead.

Then the classic scene unfolded: Generals Hong Ru, Pei Xuanqing, Shen Chongqian, and Bu Zhiqian conspired to lead troops into the palace and depose Gong Yi (who was killed after fleeing).
They enthroned Wang Geon as king, changed the country's name to "Goryeo," meaning "high mountains and beautiful waters," and also inheriting the name of the ancient Goguryeo. Wang Geon quickly annexed the other two kingdoms, unifying the peninsula.

It has been more than two hundred years since then.

This is the seventeenth generation.
Wang Kai's sorrow was not without reason; he had already seen that beneath the benevolent mask of the ruler and his ministers of the Great Jing Dynasty lay immense ambition.

Their territory was the largest in history, but they were fighting in the north and south at the same time, with both sides waging war in the heart of the enemy's territory, not in self-defense.

Although the reports from the Great Jing were full of flowery language, since the Great Jing replaced the Great Song Dynasty, and even before that, after the Dingnan Army was established, there had not been a single year without war.

Their army is the most warlike army in the world; they rejoice at the prospect of war and are never happy without it.

The Great Jing even crossed Korea and annexed most of Japan.

How can Goryeo, trapped in the middle, resist?

Wang Kai gave a wry smile, and the palace servants around him asked, "Your Majesty, what's wrong?"

"fine."

The palace servants, having witnessed the arrival of the Jing army, all thought to themselves, "The Jing army is so mighty, and to send them to be stationed in our Goryeo is truly a blessing for Goryeo."

Your Majesty can rest easy without spending a single penny on raising troops, whereas previous emperors faced immense difficulties in raising funds for the nation's military.

Indeed, His Majesty is blessed with great fortune.

The Jing army, on their way, paid no attention to the Goryeo delegation; they were already impatient.

The original Bianliang New Army was full of talented people. In order to repay Zhao Ji's kindness, Gao Qiu spent his later years training troops with all his might, which almost exhausted the money he had embezzled in half his life.

Liu Qi and Yang Yizhong are now heading to the southern battlefield, while Wang De is heading to the northern battlefield.

The Chenghai naval fleet, as planned, was to anchor near the port and bring the Nanjing troops to Saigon Port in Zhenla.

Sailing is not going well this season, and there isn't much time left.

Therefore, the soldiers were all in a hurry, afraid of missing out. This time, the Great Jing Dynasty had opened a door for the soldiers and given them another chance to win wealth and honor.

Except for those like Han Shizhong who were indifferent to worldly desires, almost everyone in Jingjun was eager to try.

After a short period of training at the training grounds in the capital, the soldiers can set sail.

Officials set up ceremonial guards around the area, and the emperor would take the opportunity to inspect the navy as the army passed by.

Halfway there, Wang Kai discovered that a large number of troops were deployed at the port, and he could see yellow parasols and thrones in the distance.

He immediately sent someone to inquire, only to find out that the Emperor of Dajing would also be coming today, and he almost missed his chance.

He immediately ordered a halt to their march, to watch the ceremony with the people of Dajing, and then reported to the emperor, requesting an audience.

Because foreigners frequently visited Jinling, the locals didn't care, but the Goryeo officials were very interested and eagerly awaited the spectacle.

Wang Kai looked up and gazed for a while at the emperor's parasol on the high platform. The scene depicted the Tude Dynasty, and the emperor mostly wore a yellow robe with a five-clawed golden dragon printed on it, which was very high-profile.

Unlike the emperors of the Song Dynasty, who were addressed as "Guanjia" and wore ordinary red robes, making them indistinguishable from other officials, these emperors were different.

Wang Kai looked at the sky again in the direction of his umbrella and saw that the sky was gray and the clouds were very low.

Soon after, thunderous cheers came from afar, and Wang Kai knew that the Emperor of Dajing had arrived.

He is the true emperor, the ruler of the country. Compared to him, I am truly pathetic as a ruler.

His ministers were loyal, and his hundreds of millions of subjects obeyed his commands completely.

From the very beginning, he had been controlled by Li Ziqian, and now he was being sidelined by the powerful clans of Kaijing.

Chen Shao wasn't wearing a formal imperial robe today, but he was still quite different from others, dressed in an apricot-yellow military uniform embroidered with golden dragons and a gold and jade belt.

During the Tang and Song dynasties, clothing was still quite simple. However, during the later Ming dynasty, the architecture and clothing of the Central Plains developed in a more elaborate direction.

The official robes were embroidered with birds and beasts, which were used to distinguish ranks.

Chen Shao arrived on horseback. As an emperor who came from a military background, he was skilled in archery and horsemanship and was considered a qualified military officer in the Northwest at that time.

He deftly dismounted, his feet in the stirrups, and a group of people followed closely behind, quickly walking up to the high platform.

There are a great many people here today, probably all people who have heard the news and come to see what's going on. The imperial court's deployment of a large-scale military operation is almost impossible to keep secret beforehand; the commotion is too great.

Moreover, the report made no attempt to conceal it, showing no fear of the enemy country seeing it.
After all, even if they saw it, it would only scare them and wouldn't do any good.

Moreover, both Jianyi and Zhenla are far away, so it's unlikely that there are any spies in Nanjing.

There were also many young women carrying oil-paper umbrellas along the roadside, dressed very well, many of them quite flamboyant.

They guessed that the soldiers were family members of Jingjun. In recent years, the soldiers' rations and pay had been paid on time, and they also had extra income from fighting, so they were no longer considered poor. They belonged to the Beijing Garrison, received military pay, received resettlement allowances before each voyage, and received rewards upon their return. The pensions given by the imperial court were also generous. They were all richer than ordinary people.

Unfortunately, the Great Jing has no plans to recruit soldiers recently. Instead, it is constantly reducing and resettling its troops to help them settle down as soon as possible.

From the very beginning of its founding, the Great Jing Dynasty was different from previous dynasties. The more wars it fought, the fewer soldiers it needed.

The emergence of various new weapons has already rewritten the original tactics of warfare, and even greater changes are yet to come. In the stands, Chen Shao appeared completely calm and natural; he was already accustomed to participating in such events.

Although he had lived in the palace for a long time, Chen Shao did not gain any weight because he paid attention to his health and exercised regularly.

He was also very tall and straight. In the past few years, Chen Shao had grown much taller than when he was in Hengshan.

The main thing is that he gets enough nutrition, enough exercise, and enough rest, so his development hasn't stopped.
As the emperor, who governs all the people, a spirited demeanor and a majestic image are perhaps also very important, as they can give the world a sense of stability and power.

Standing in the emperor's position, your health, your family, and your overall well-being are all of paramount importance. Any problem with any of these could have serious consequences.

Watching his soldiers rush to various battlefields, Chen Shao seemed lost in thought.

As the year draws to a close, the pace of development in Dajing has actually slowed down somewhat.

Because they've hit a bottleneck, relying solely on the talent that the craftsmen have unleashed is no longer enough to push them forward.

Chen Shao has already found a solution: to vigorously develop education and also to promote theoretical research.

However, this requires a period of accumulation, a gradual build-up, and when the great development erupts again, the momentum will be even stronger than in the years since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

During this period, his focus will be on the domestic situation, ensuring that the direction of domestic political reform remains unchanged and does not deviate from its course.

Because this was something that no one had ever done before; it was the first time in history.

Therefore, Chen Shao's ministers were completely in the dark, with no examples to refer to or learn from.

This makes it all the more necessary for Chen Shao to take the helm.

After all, he had a vision that was more than a thousand years ahead of his time, and he was someone who had seen the next era.
-
After the troops had all set off, Chen Chong bowed slightly and said a few words to Chen Shao.

Chen Shao looked surprised, then ordered someone to summon the King of Goryeo to meet him.

They've really gotten too familiar with each other; a meeting of this caliber should have been arranged very carefully.

However, in recent years, Koreans have been visiting Nanjing very frequently, including their king.

If you come here once in your life, then you are naturally a state guest. If you come every year, the Court of State Ceremonies will be too lazy to put in much effort.

Therefore, Chen Shao was quite surprised to meet the King of Goryeo on the way, and the people from the Ministry of Rites were also somewhat guilty.

Strictly speaking, this was a dereliction of duty. They arrived in Jinling knowing the emperor was at the Hot Spring Palace, and their request to see him should have been handled by the Ministry of Rites, not by them themselves making a large group of people rushing to the Hot Spring Palace to request an audience.

Chen Shao was standing by the river, watching a group of Koreans walk over.

For some reason, he suddenly felt like laughing, but he forced himself to hold it back.

Wang Kai's relationship with his ministers is currently very awkward; they are dissatisfied with each other but helpless to change the situation.

Their relationship was good for Daejeong. If the Goryeo king and his ministers had been of one mind, his various arrangements would not have gone so smoothly.

Ever since those people from the Beijing faction killed the monk Miaoqing, Wang Kai has become wary of them.

In his view, this group of people was not even as good as Li Ziqian, at least Li Ziqian was overtly domineering.

This group of people talk a lot about loyalty and righteousness, praising themselves highly in public, but in reality, none of them respect themselves.

After the ceremony, Chen Shao ordered people to offer seats. The eunuchs brought over some benches for the Goryeo officials to share.

Those with seniority should sit down; those without should stand.

"With Your Majesty's army being so formidable, you are sure to achieve a resounding victory," Wang Kai said with a smile, offering a compliment.

Chen Shao nodded slightly, acknowledging the situation. Even if he should be modest, he was unwilling to belittle his troops.

The soldiers of the Great Jing are now invincible.

Chen Shao had originally planned to wait until Chen asked about the laborers before trying to find a way to brush him off.

Wang Kai didn't mention it at all, only saying that he wanted to visit many places during his trip, but the officials of Goryeo were unwilling, which made him quite regretful.

He also asked Chen Shao which place in Dajing was most worth visiting.

Chen Shao was somewhat taken aback by his question, realizing that he had only been to a small part of this vast land.

Chen Shao's activities took place in the Northwest, Hedong, Bianliang, and Jinling.

He had been to Hangzhou, and then nothing more. Although he spoke of every place with great detail, including the local officials.

Chen Shao had long wanted to tour the country, but he had never set out.

Perhaps it's time to take a look; many of his policies are implemented among the people.

Chen Shao really wanted to go and see if it had been implemented properly.

Hearing is believing, seeing is believing. No matter how good a policy is, if the people are not of one mind, and if the local officials do not want to implement the court's original intention, they can find a thousand ways to distort it.

Even if officials in the prefectures and counties are determined to strictly implement the emperor's decrees, those below may not necessarily follow suit.

In the Central Plains dynasties, it was always said that imperial power did not extend to the county level. The formal bureaucratic system of traditional centralized Chinese states usually only extended to the county level.

The grassroots society below the county level mainly relied on local forces such as gentry, clans, and village covenants for self-governance.

The formation of this governance pattern is the result of the combined effects of fiscal constraints, technological limitations, cultural traditions, and ruling rationality. Its evolution can be traced back to the Qin and Han dynasties, it was finalized in the Tang and Song dynasties, and continued until the end of the Qing dynasty.

During the Qin and Han dynasties, each village had three elders, a tax collector, and a patrolman, all of whom were supported by the imperial court. Therefore, the Qin and Han dynasties had a fairly good control over the local areas.

During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, constant warfare led to clan self-preservation, weakened state control, and the emergence of powerful local strongholds and fortified villages.
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, village heads were appointed on a rotating basis by wealthy households. They received no salary and were required to pay taxes in advance. At this time, the imperial court had begun to shirk its responsibilities and lost control over the grassroots level.

As for the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties, the village chiefs and headmen were forced to perform corvée duties, including collecting taxes and maintaining order, without pay and even losing money. This established the principle that imperial power "did not extend to the county level."

After Chen Shao ascended the throne, he ordered Xu Jin to measure the land and re-establish the household registration system.

The Great Jing Dynasty has more than two thousand counties. If there are formal officials (receiving salaries and having official positions) below the county level, then the following must be paid:

Official salaries and yamen runners' wages;
Construction and maintenance of government offices;
Costs associated with document delivery and judicial proceedings.

It would require supporting over ten thousand more officials, which would indeed be very costly. Even a wealthy dynasty like the Great Jing had never considered reforming this aspect.

However, after a few more years, once his plan is realized, the initial goals are achieved, and productivity takes another leap forward, Chen Shao is prepared to spend this money.

If these positions in the township and village system could also be paid by the state, then they would be formal officials, and their power could extend to the grassroots level.

Whose milk you drink and whose words you listen to are rules you are born with.

Even if you are the emperor, it won't matter.

"There are many places I haven't been to either, so I can't give you good advice. You can ask my cousin, the Prince of Fu."

Wang Kai was unaware that his question had inspired Chen Shaosheng to develop a grand vision and plan. (End of Chapter)