You have truly caused me great suffering!

In July and August, it was basically impossible to wage war in the Southern Wilderness.

Even the caravans that came and went would rest in their rooms after they landed.

Storms frequently strike the sea.

However, the battlefield in the north has officially entered a fierce stage.

Large numbers of Jing troops began to penetrate deep into the northern desert.

They now have some experience on the grasslands, and moreover, they have subdued large tribes such as the Kereit, Mongol, and Ongud tribes, and have gained control of some nomadic cavalry.

These people are skilled at tracking the Northern Barbarians.

Chen Shao considered the battlefield situation and did not send more troops. Sometimes, quality is more important than quantity, especially in this kind of terrain.

If a Central Plains dynasty dared to launch a northern expedition, it meant that the country was in a golden age.

At this time, the troops from the grasslands were unable to engage in direct combat with the troops from the Central Plains.

The only problem was that once they ventured into the northern desert, the Central Plains soldiers, lacking horses, were unable to pursue them on the vast grasslands.

We can't catch up with them, and we can't find them.

Now both of these issues have been resolved.

Qu Duan opened up a fourth battlefield from the east of the Gobi Desert. By this time, there were four armies led by Jin Ling, Li Xiaozhong, Yue Fei, and Qu Duan, attacking the Gobi Desert from different directions.

No major disasters occurred in the north this year, so Chen Shao took the opportunity to convert the grain he had stockpiled into military rations.

Because the front lines were too far away, war was already a distant thing in the eyes of the people of the Central Plains.

They could only learn about the situation at the front by reading military reports in the Dajing Daily.

Many people in the Central Plains know these names, such as Mieguzhen and Huluba. Children sing songs to curse them, but they have no idea where these people are.

For them, it was as far away as the ends of the earth.

Inside the Summer Palace, a huge map was laid out on the floor of Chen Shao's main hall.

He and several officials sat cross-legged on a map, pointing at Lake Baikal, which people at the time commonly referred to as the North Sea, with wooden sticks in their hands.

"Once we reach this point, we should stop heading north. Further north is merely a matter of maintaining control."

This place is not just a symbol; it is a geographical hub, controlling the east and west, located in the heart of Siberia, bordering the Heilongjiang River basin to the east, the Yenisei River to the west, and the Mongolian Plateau to the south.

Controlling this area would sever the north-south connections between the various tribes of the steppe and prevent the Buryat people from merging with the Mongolians of the North.
The waterway can travel north along the Angara River, heading straight for the Arctic Circle; the land route goes south through the Selenga River, threatening Horqin.

With the defense line pushed to this point, the Central Plains will no longer have to worry about "barbarian horses spying on the river".

Looking at the location on the map, Han Shizhong was already quite shocked; His Majesty's ambition was truly immense.

Who would build their defenses here during a northern expedition?

Further north, no one has ever been there, and it's unknown what kind of barren land it is.

However, it is true that some people brought back precious items such as sable, lynx, and deer antlers from further north.

Having reached this point, Chen Shao no longer pursued the policy of replacing local chieftains with centrally appointed officials.

It's simply because it's too far away.

Although the war has not been completely won and some tribes are still resisting, the Great Jing Dynasty has already begun to plan and establish administrative institutions.

The initial plan was to establish the Anbei Protectorate in northern Mongolia, renaming present-day Ulan-Ude as "Huaiyuan Town," where troops would be stationed and land would be cultivated, resulting in a mixed Han and Mongol population.

Xuanxiao Jimi Prefecture, and Nerchinsk to the north of Transbaikal were renamed "Dingbeiguan". The chieftains were hereditary and paid tribute of sable furs annually.

They are developing and cultivating cold-resistant crops at the Si Nong Temple to see if they can be grown there, since traditional craftsmanship cannot be lost.

They opened a market in Huaiyuan Town, exchanging tea, iron pots, and grain for furs, medicinal herbs, and timber.

After these decrees are finalized, they will be implemented two or three years later once the northern deserts have been completely pacified. This can be considered a semi-indirect governance method.

In this way, the north became the first direction that Da Jing declared the attack complete; any further north was simply too difficult to advance.
It is sufficient to declare possession nominally.

As long as this righteous cause remains, there's no fear that they will deny it in the future; they might even want to submit to usurpation.

Chen Shao also specifically reminded them to keep all the documents related to investiture, tribute, and submission to the various tribes north of the Gobi Desert.

Because the area has abundant resources, when it becomes available for development, we should preserve the saying "since ancient times".

Among those sitting on the floor in the main hall now, Chen Shao is probably the calmest.

After all, in other people's minds, the north has always been the place with the greatest threat from foreign tribes, but now it has been completely pacified by the Great Jing.

As long as the policy is implemented smoothly, within a few years, Han Chinese and Manchus will live together, and the population will even be the majority, then the integration will be complete.

Like the Hexi Corridor, both the southern and northern parts of the Gobi Desert have become regions that can be governed by rules and regulations.

This is even more glorious than the Heavenly Khan during the Tang Dynasty.

Actually, we are currently in a bottleneck period in the desert. No powerful empires have been formed, so fighting is not too strenuous.

The Jurchens dealt with them even faster than the Great Jing Dynasty, and almost seamlessly took over the desert after destroying the Liao Dynasty.

However, the Jurchens did not know how to rule large areas; they lacked both the experience and the courage.

After all, their own clan had too few people. As a small clan facing a large clan, they were always worried about being attacked.

Given this guilty conscience, the only way to deter them in many matters was through barbaric slaughter. Every year, the Jin Dynasty would send cavalry to the desert to kill people indiscriminately, euphemistically calling it "population reduction".

Only with its current grand scale can it have the confidence to digest these tribes on the grasslands.

The emperor and his ministers bowed their heads together, pointing at the map and discussing the details of building cities and cultivating land.

In the midst of their laughter and conversation, they could decide the future development of a region thousands of miles away and the fate of countless people simply by pointing at a map with a stick.

That's what you call giving pointers on the country's affairs.
When I returned from the meeting in the outer hall and arrived at my bedchamber, it was already dusk.

Chen Shaogang took off his clothes and put on a thinner blue robe. Suddenly, the dim sky flashed, as if it had returned to daytime.

Immediately following a loud "crack," came the crisp sound of raindrops, like popping beans, as they fell rapidly onto the glazed tiles of the Summer Palace.

"We've finally been waiting for this rain," Chen Shao said with a sigh of relief.

It's so hot in Nanjing. A few days ago, I kindly suggested that everyone take a break, but officials and ordinary people alike went out to the streets to celebrate, and it almost turned into a festival.

Then came the terrible news: several people died from the heat that day, but the people still went out to the streets to celebrate the next day as usual.

All the people of Dajing who are five years of age or older have once been subjects of the Great Song Dynasty.

If you were to ask which dynasty in history had the most down-to-earth, fun-loving people, the answer would undoubtedly be the Song Dynasty.

Chen Shao said "May all your wishes come true" several times, and the palace maids around him looked at him curiously.

Chen Shao went directly to the second floor and, through a small door next to his bedroom window, went to watch the rain from under the eaves.

The wood on the ground had been heated over a fire, so it wasn't afraid of being corroded by rain. The rain grew heavier and heavier, gathering and flowing down the tiles, making the palace look like a waterfall.

The damp wind brought a comfortable coolness.

Several figures were seen walking towards this place in the rain, holding umbrellas.

Chen Shao hurried downstairs, and saw at the entrance of the antique palace, in the flickering lamplight, Shishi's wet dress clung to her body, her figure graceful.

"Why did you come in person when it's raining?"

Li Shishi smiled gently, seemingly unconcerned. She simply removed the towel covering her hair, her smile as radiant as a flower: "I've wanted you to be with me on this rainy night for so long."

Chen Shao laughed heartily. If he really had this idea, he wouldn't have been thinking about it for a long time, because it hadn't rained for quite some time. (End of Chapter)