You have truly caused me great suffering!

Fujikawa.

Originating from the western foot of Mount Fuji, it flows south into Suruga Bay and is the largest river near the Tokaido.
The river is 200–300 meters wide at this time, and the current is rapid, making it difficult to cross, especially during the snowmelt season (spring) or typhoon season (summer and autumn).

The banks are mostly swamps, reed beds, and pine forests, which are not conducive to the deployment of large armies.

Jing Junyou estimated on horseback that the river stretched for more than 200 li, and on one side of the river was an even larger continuous mountain range.

The terrain is so complex and varied that large armies would absolutely not want to enter unless absolutely necessary.

The Kwantung Army set up a second line of defense here, hoping to stop the Jing Army.

At this moment, the scouts sent out by the Jing army were galloping back and forth in front of the battle line as if no one was around.

Occasionally, an enraged Japanese soldier would fire arrows, but they would never hit them.

A large group of Japanese civilians were driven to the front lines to build fortifications.

The Jing army basically knew all of these techniques. Because they had been sick for a long time, they had become experts in their own medicine. The Jin soldiers fought this way in every battle back then, and as their opponents, they had learned most of it.

Of course, the Jing army was not as ferocious and ruthless as the Jin soldiers.

These Japanese soldiers were provided with food while working on the front lines, so they were quite happy about it, since in those days, you couldn't get enough to eat even if you worked yourself to death in the fields.

Facing the Fujikawa defense line, Li Yanqi's idea was simple: to charge straight through.

Back then, when General Jin was at the Ji River, he still managed to break through despite the fierce defenses of Zhen Wuchen, a general under Guo Yaoshi.

Is the Fuji River even more difficult to cross than the Aji River?
Li Yanqi rode his horse along the riverbank, looking at the wooden fortress complex on the opposite bank, and already had a plan in mind.

On the opposite bank of the river, the Kwantung Army converted the former Nationalist government building into a command center, where a group of people gathered to discuss the next battle tactics.

Despite the time constraints, they still conscripted people to build earthen ramparts and wooden palisades on the high ground along the riverbank and set up watchtowers to monitor the various crossings.

His monk soldiers and followers requisitioned grain and stockpiled provisions and arrows everywhere.

Fujiwara no Motohira, who was in charge of the government in Mutsu, personally led a group to collect grain from a nearby village.

His nephew, Fujiwara no Yoshishige, was killed in battle, which greatly angered him.

Although he also belonged to the Fujiwara clan, he had almost no connection with the lineage of the regent Fujiwara no Tadashi. Their lineage was based in Hiraizumi, was extremely wealthy, and was almost an independent kingdom.

Jing Jun's military might did not intimidate him; instead, it aroused his wildness and made him even more ferocious.

Inside a low-lying farmhouse, the yellow earth on the ground was soaked and stained red with blood. Two Japanese samurai carrying bundles were laughing and talking about their day's harvest, making no attempt to conceal the fact that the corpses of the family who owned the house lay at their feet.

Hearing the commotion outside, he realized that his companions were fighting over a woman's belongings and making a few sarcastic remarks.

In the neighboring courtyard, several Japanese men knelt on the ground with their heads bowed, while two women nearby were being tortured on a table.

Having vented his lust, the samurai drew his sword and loudly rebuked the elderly man kneeling on the ground for craning his neck.

These people dared not resist and could only tremble as they stuck their heads out.

Then he raised the knife, aimed for a moment, and slashed down.

Another samurai stuck his sword into the table, stabbed the woman to death, and stepped on the corpse, feeling extremely brave.

Did you find it?

Someone kicked open the door and came in, shouting questions. He didn't even glance at the disheveled woman on the floor or the man whose head was being stepped on.

"This family is poor; they only have this little bit of food."

"Let's go, let's go, burn it all down, don't let the Jing people use it as camp. It would be best if it rained and drenched them all to death."

In fact, Jingjun had tents that he carried with him, so even the heaviest rain wouldn't kill them.

Judging from the appearance of this farmhouse, it may not be as sheltered from the wind and rain as Jingjun's tent.

After a strange drum and horn sounded, a number of warriors emerged from the village.

They carried some food, more or less, and if they were lucky, they might even catch a chicken.

Young, able-bodied men, their hands bound together with a rope, were dragged along to repair the fortress.

They killed almost all the old, weak, women and children.

The samurai, who had been chatting and laughing, immediately fell silent upon seeing Fujiwara no Motohira on horseback, and dared not make any more noise.

Fujiwara no Motohira ordered the village to be set on fire, and then moved on to the next place to collect grain and laborers.

He was unable to drive all these people to the rear and implement a scorched-earth policy, because he did not have enough food to feed them all, nor did he want to waste food on feeding useless old people and children.

Therefore, the only option was to kill them all, leaving none for Jing's army.

Suddenly, a loud explosion rang in their ears.

Many samurai were so startled that they drew their swords and looked around nervously.

The sound was coming from the riverbank.

Fujiwara Motohira immediately realized that the Jing army was firing cannons—that incredibly powerful, mysterious weapon.

Li Yanqi ordered the artillery battalion to advance to the riverbank and then begin setting up cannons to bombard the wooden fortress.

Fujiwara Motohira sighed inwardly, feeling somewhat annoyed that such a powerful weapon had fallen into the hands of the enemy.

If I had one myself.
"Keep going!"

After Fujiwara no Motohira gave the order, the samurai had no choice but to suppress their fear and continue driving the able-bodied men to the next village to requisition food and able-bodied men.

On the opposite bank of the river, Li Yanqi and his men pointed and discussed the effects of the bombing, deciding what shells to use in the next round.

The wind is strong on the river, so the poison smoke and fireballs are not very effective; it's better to save them for attacking the fortress.

Because the Japanese preferred to use wood, the Jing army used fire-propelled cannonballs.

Strange cries could be heard from the opposite bank from time to time, indicating heavy casualties, with many of the fortress's defenders left mangled and bloodied.

Faced with the artillery barrage, the nobles of the allied forces decided to ignore it, since they had no better way to deal with it anyway.

They blocked all the ferry crossings, dismantled all the bridges, and concentrated all the civilian boats on the east bank to prevent the Jing army from seizing them.

Wooden stakes and iron chains were driven into the shallows to obstruct the passage of boats and rafts. Many Japanese soldiers familiar with the water were prepared to destroy any pontoon bridges that the Jing army might build at night.

Although these cannons are powerful, in terms of the number of casualties, they are not as effective as the Jing army's terrifying crossbows.

In their view, they were well prepared; they had never had such a meticulous plan or such a powerful force in previous battles.

So despite the vast difference in strength, they were still confident.

As for the cannons outside, just plug your ears and pretend you can't hear them.

They wanted to see how many cannons the Jing army had; surely they would run out of them eventually!

However, gunpowder workshops existed in Iwami, Ise, and Tsukushi provinces, and these were produced by the locals themselves, not transported from the Central Plains.

Theoretically, it can keep exploding.

Sure enough, the bombing stopped half an hour later.

Jingjun began to build a pontoon bridge across the river.

The Japanese quickly changed their garrison, sending another group of men to the river crossing to block the Jing army from building a bridge.

Li Yanqi personally directed the bombing from the riverbank, watching the Japanese soldiers rush to the fortress, which was now a mangled mess. Li Yanqi waved his hand again, ordering the bombing to continue.

This went on repeatedly, and the Japanese could only watch helplessly as Jingjun built the bridge.

Even shortly after the pontoon bridge was built, some impatient Jing soldiers ran onto it to shoot arrows.

They couldn't wait to kill their way there.

After observing for a while, Li Yanqi had a plan in mind. He said to his deputy, "Three days. We must cross the river and break through this defensive line within three days."
-
Chen Shao stayed at the Hot Spring Palace until mid-April.

If we don't go back to Beijing soon, we can just go straight to the Summer Palace.

Chen Shao did not send the women from the inner palace, but returned to the capital alone.

The Zhenla envoy arrived in Jinling. It's truly a mystery how he overcame so many obstacles to reach Jinling.

This journey must have been fraught with peril, yet they managed to make it all the way to Jinling.

Chen Shao was inside the Funing Palace, wanting to see what they had to say.

Upon meeting the so-called Zhenla envoys, Chen Shao was filled with suspicion and immediately asked, "Are you Zhenla people?"

The messenger stepped forward, bowed, and rose to say, "Your Majesty."

As soon as those three words were uttered, before they could continue, Wu Jie said, "Judging from their accent, they're from Guangnan!"

The envoys quickly wiped their sweat and said that they were indeed Han Chinese and had stayed in Angkor Thom in Zhenla after going to do business.

Because of their Han Chinese identity, they were chosen to go to Nanjing to sue for peace.

After listening, Chen Shao sneered repeatedly and said, "The Great Jing is currently at war with Zhenla. As Han Chinese, why are you helping the barbarians?"

These guys probably managed to escape from Zhenla by using their Han Chinese identity.

It should be noted that Zhenla is now surrounded by multiple layers of enemy territory.

Chen Shao disregarded this behavior and directly ordered them to be expelled.

All negotiations with Zhenla were impossible at this point, because Chen Shao's goal was to annex the entire Zhenla.

After sending them away, only his own people remained in the hall. Since it was Chen Shao's first day back in the capital, many high-ranking officials had come.

The table was covered with memorials, which Chen Shao casually flipped through while chatting with his ministers.

Wu Jie, who had just returned from Yunnan, was so enthusiastic this time because the highest commander in the Zhenla War was actually his second brother, Wu Lin.

He was also very protective of his younger brother, fearing that something might happen to him.

After the envoy was driven away, Chen Shao asked about the Yunnan route, and Wu Jie answered him very well.

Yunnan Road is unlikely to be as stable as other roads in the Central Plains in the next few years, but there are no fatal problems, only minor issues that can be resolved.

The Yunnan and Guizhou routes can actually be viewed together now, because Guizhou also had too many local officials, and the biggest problem was the abolition of the local chieftain system and its replacement with centrally appointed officials.

Chen Shao originally planned to wait until they had adapted a bit more before starting sweeping reforms.

But after listening to Wu Jie and Zhang Shuye, Chen Shao changed his mind. He couldn't rush things, and he couldn't get fat in one bite.

If these two routes are to truly win over the hearts of the people and become of one mind with the Central Plains, they must gradually change course.

Unless the imperial court sends troops to disregard the terrain and storm in, wiping out all the local officials' clans.

It wasn't that Chen Shao was soft-hearted and didn't want to do it; it was just that it was too difficult, and the results weren't necessarily good.

Rather than taking risks, it's better to gradually transform these two areas into complete inland regions.
At that time, we will build roads extensively and then construct cities and set up government offices along major transportation routes.

As time went on, they had no way to resist.

“In these places, we can use the pretext of road construction to conscript local tribesmen,” Chen Shao said. “We’ll provide enough money and supplies, and the roads will be genuinely built.”

We've built roads for you, and no one can find fault with it.

But once the roads were built and travel became more frequent, things gradually became less isolated.

This presented the imperial court with an opportunity.

Wu Jie nodded repeatedly.

What Chen Shao liked most about Wu Jie was that he was obedient and could always truly understand the meaning behind his words.

Even when Chen Shao personally led troops on several occasions, he was not necessarily able to realize his ideas so thoroughly.

Thinking of this, he smiled and said, "Prince Hui of Fu is the one I like the most."

These words startled Wu Jie, who quickly said he wouldn't dare.

They were brothers, one a king and the other a duke, so it was right for Wu Jie to be a little wary.

Fortunately, their emperor was Chen Shao, who wouldn't suspect anything because of this.

They wouldn't test them unnecessarily.

Chen Shao was confident enough. He wasn't afraid of anyone, not even if there were two princes in his family, let alone a king and a duke.

So when Chen Shao saw Wu Jie's panicked look, he frowned and glanced at him.

What are you pretending to be, kid? Do you think I'm just giving you a warning?
At this moment, Han Shizhong suddenly said, "Your subject is not convinced."

As soon as he said that, everyone in the hall burst into laughter, and Wu Jie gave him a grateful look.

Chen Shao was so angry he laughed, shook his head, and didn't bother to say anything.

"Is there anything else important?"

Han Shizhong said with a smile, "His Majesty has placed two kings on the border, so Yelü Dashi cannot concentrate on competing for hegemony with Wanyan Balisu. The two of them have made peace."

Chen Shao chuckled. Wanyan Balisu had truly become slick and slippery.

The last time I saw such a greasy Jurchen Tartar was Wanyan Xiyin.

As for the Western Liao ceasing its westward and southward expeditions, this was something Chen Shao did not want to see, but since Yelü Dashi had stopped fighting, he would not force him.

Chen Shao had written a letter explaining the situation in the Ili River Valley, but if Chen Shao and Yelü Dashi switched places, Chen Shao wouldn't believe such nonsense either.

Whether Yelü Dashi attacked westward or not, the only difference was the size of the territory.

However, the troops in the Ili River Valley were capable of taking his life and destroying his Western Liao.

He couldn't help but be nervous.

Chen Shao immediately realized that this might prompt Yelü Dashi to consolidate the land he currently occupied and accumulate strength to deal with the possible western expedition of the Jing army.

Yelü Dashi himself was also puzzled. The Jing army did not seem like the type to quit while they were ahead. They were already so powerful, so why didn't they attack him?

If you say it's for moral reasons, Yelü Dashi would be the first to disbelieve you; in his eyes, what moral principles do the Han people have?
They had agreed to be brotherly states, but when the situation in the Khitan suddenly changed, Tong Guan led 200,000 troops toward Youzhou.

If it weren't for his and Xiao Gan's sudden burst of power, the last stronghold of the Khitan would have been attacked from both sides by the Jin and Song dynasties, and the Liao dynasty would have perished five years earlier.

Yelü Dashi shifted his focus eastward, building cities, fortresses, warehouses, and stockpiling strategic materials.
In reality, although the Great Jing Dynasty looks incredibly powerful now, the total number of its troops is probably only about the same as when Tong Guan attacked Liao.

In terms of troop numbers alone, the Western Liao probably had more troops than the Great Jing.

But the Jin dynasty's conquest of the Liao dynasty left a deep impression on him, making Yelü Dashi extremely cautious. The mere thought of the Ili River Valley kept him awake at night. (End of Chapter)