You have truly caused me great suffering!

At the Jinling Ferry, Wei Daqi saw Cui Shunting off.

Looking at Wei Daqi waving from the shore, Cui Shunting was somewhat distracted.

But he still raised his hand and shook it vigorously.

Vice Minister Wei is one of the few connections I have in Dajing. If things really work out in the future, I will have to rely on him to establish myself in Jinling.

Going to Goryeo means leaving Xijing (Seoul) and continuing to work there.

He was about to fully infiltrate the Da Jing garrison and begin acting as an intermediary to secure greater benefits for Da Jing.

There seems to be no turning back now.

At that moment, he felt a little guilty, but it quickly dissipated.

He began to convince himself that submitting to Daejeong was the right thing to do; for Goryeo, it was a rare opportunity.

He was not a traitor to his country and ancestors, but a great benefactor of the entire Goryeo.

The Yangtze River is vast and misty, with the scenery on both banks appearing and disappearing in the mist. Countless sails are on the river, carrying goods towards the Grand View Gate.

Did I make a mistake by leading Goryeo into such a prosperous era?

I did nothing wrong.

After letting go of her already light psychological burden, Cui Shunting felt a sense of clarity and relief.

Backed by Jing Jun, they put pressure on all parties in Goryeo, constantly forcing them to cede some interests.

This was not difficult for him.

Whether it was Xijing or Kaijing, Cui Shunting had long since seen enough of the true colors of those powerful clans.

He now prefers to speak Chinese and doesn't even want to speak Korean anymore. Fortunately, most of the people in Korea who can get along with him also speak Chinese.

You upper-class people speak Chinese, write Chinese characters, and enjoy the delicacies, porcelain, and silk of the Central Plains, yet you expect the common people below to uphold tradition.

What kind of logic is this? It's utterly laughable!
The more Cui Shunting thought about it, the clearer it became, and the more confident she felt.

The river was surging with waves. After leaving Longgang, the sailors began to hoist the sails. The ship was about to enter the boundless sea, carrying him back to Goryeo.

Inside the Summer Palace, Chen Shao left a few people behind for a banquet. Although Liu Jizu and the others didn't say anything, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Take a day off, even if you're busy in the government office all day. There will still be endless things to do when you go back tomorrow.

Even when Chen Shao was at the Summer Palace, he rarely saw so many trusted confidants. Although people came to see the emperor every day, they mostly came one by one.

They came in groups of two or three, all talking about the same thing, and then hurriedly left.

Since becoming emperor, Chen Shao had less contact with his subordinates, and the camaraderie they once shared could only be felt when they gathered together.

In the later years of his life, Li Shimin would weep bitterly whenever a minister who had helped him conquer the country died.

Chen Shao was quite able to understand this.

They fought side by side to conquer the world, which already forged a very strong bond between them.

When Li Shimin was conquering the country, he was very young, so the generals around him all died before him.

Chen Shao was the same; he was young when he was conquering the world, and those around him would probably pass away one by one.

When Chen Shao visited Zhong Shidao last time, he already felt somewhat saddened, as the old man's consciousness had become clouded in his later years.

In fact, in the years before, whether it was attacking Jiaozhi or conquering the Jurchens, Lao Zhong was still in charge of the Privy Council and made great efforts.

His lifelong experience in battle allowed him to vividly picture the battlefield even without actually being on the front lines.

The twilight of a hero always evokes a deep sense of melancholy.

As night fell, although there were still many state affairs to attend to, Chen Shao and his comrades tacitly agreed not to discuss them at all.

They only talked about landscapes, interesting stories from the court and the countryside, and even discussed methods of raising children.

The emperor and his ministers parted in high spirits.

Back in his palace, Chen Shao was still in high spirits. That's how people are; joy and sorrow both have a lingering effect.

For a time, Chen Shao thought about things that would happen after his death and was extremely worried. Li Shishi quickly noticed his worries.

He would sit idly in his palace every day, looking somewhat melancholy. Sometimes, when he seemed to be in a better mood, Li Shishi would dance for him; but they couldn't dance all the time, so most of the time they would sit silently facing each other, occasionally exchanging idle chatter.

Chen Shao didn't go anywhere to play, let alone want to find any fun. Shishi racked her brains but still couldn't figure out how to please him again.

He remained in that state until he went to see Xiao Ting and read some Taoist books, at which point he gradually felt relieved.

All I can do is try my best and leave the rest to fate. Once I've done my best, I can't control what happens after I die.

Emperors who achieved great feats usually sought immortality in their later years. Chen Shao used to think that they were afraid of death and indulging in pleasure.

But thinking about it now, it's not necessarily all because of that.

They were afraid of the achievements they had created, fearing that their descendants would not be able to take on the responsibility.

Emperor Wu of Han killed his crown prince in his later years, and everyone said he was senile. But if we put ourselves in Emperor Wu's shoes, he was also afraid that his achievements would not be inherited.

In the palace, Jin Laosan, who was to serve the emperor tonight, was already fast asleep on the bed.

Chen Shao found it somewhat amusing, reached out and patted her. Jin Le'er opened her eyes, her voice becoming even softer and sweeter, "Your Majesty is back. Your Majesty, I will help you change your clothes."

She spoke very well, but she didn't move an inch, lying on the bed and not moving at all.

Her two older sisters often said that she was spoiled and arrogant, but Jin Laosan didn't care.

She grew up in His Majesty's arms from a young age.

Because she was young when she entered the palace, Chen Shao liked to hold her in his arms when they were in the inner quarters.

In her eyes, His Majesty dotes on her so much, what's wrong with being arrogant because of his favor?

I, Jin Laosan, will not harm anyone, nor will I compete or rob with you.

Chen Shao patted her again.

Jin Laosan then opened his eyes, his big eyes darting around as he looked at Li Wanshu and Cuidie who were bringing in water, and felt a little more confident.

When His Majesty is drunk, things usually go faster.

She figured she could handle it, so she didn't need to call Chun Tao. If all else failed, she could beg for mercy and have her two personal maids take over.

Thinking of this, she smiled with her eyes narrowed, tugged at her clothes, and struck a seductive pose, revealing her snow-white shoulders.

"Your Majesty, Le'er misses you."

Chen Shao burst into laughter at her series of actions and her playful and adorable eyes.

The next morning, Chen Shao also stayed in bed.

When the two got up, it was already quite early in the day.

The morning breeze in the mountains was very refreshing. Chen Shao and Jin Le'er had breakfast together, thinking that since they had gotten up late today, they might as well rest for the day.

Jin Zhu'er, the youngest daughter of the Jin family, came to teach the princesses to read and, as usual, came to find her third sister.

Jin Laosan set a rule that she would dress up her little sister. Actually, Jin Zhuer wasn't the fourth child; she had two older sisters, but those two weren't as good at studying as she was.

Like Chen Shao, Jin Ling believed that the more children the better. So he also had many children, and in the past few years in the Northwest, he was said to have had two more sons and a daughter.

When Jin Le'er first came to Chen Shao's side, her two older sisters took turns dressing her up and tidying her up every morning.

At that time, Jin Laosan felt that this was a kind of power of an older sister, and it was extremely prestigious.

So now Jin Laosan is following suit, making Jin Zhuer dress according to his ideas, like a little model, for her to play dress-up games every day.

As soon as she entered, she saw Chen Shao there and quickly stepped forward to greet him.

Chen Shao smiled and waved his hand, indicating that she shouldn't worry about him.

After they finished dressing, Chen Shao asked, "What books are Xing'er and the others reading?"

“Your Majesty, I am reading the Book of Poetry,” Jin Zhu’er said.

Her voice was still as clear and melodious as a lark in the mountains.

Chen Shao nodded and said, "I'm free today, so I'll take them to the Imperial Garden later to see the bamboo bears that were sent over a few days ago."

At this time, the giant panda was called the bamboo bear, and its official scientific name was "Zouyu". It was regarded as a "benevolent beast" or "righteous beast", symbolizing peace and trustworthiness.

A few days ago, Uncle Zhang caught two cubs from somewhere and sent them to Jinling as auspicious omens.

Even someone like Zhang Shuye presented auspicious omens, which shows how popular and beloved Chen Shao was among his subjects.

Scholars genuinely believed that this was the true Son of Heaven, the model ruler of all time.

Jin Zhuer herself enjoys reading, but she doesn't particularly like teaching, and her guidance of the princess's education was very lax.

Upon hearing that she could go see the bamboo bear, she felt a surge of excitement.

Before long, Chen Shao, along with the Jin Le'er and Jin Zhu'er sisters, and a group of princes and princesses, excitedly went to see rare birds and animals.

Soon, the children were taken by the palace maids to various gardens to see the animals kept in cages.

Even at this time, the bamboo bear is still the most popular; its dazed appearance is indeed quite endearing.

Inside the garden, Jin Zhu'er also looked curiously at the machines.

Jin Laosan was an expert in this area, and she began to tell her younger sister with great pride.

In the midst of her enthusiastic praise, she suddenly glanced guiltily at Chen Shao and noticed that His Majesty was lost in thought.

Jin Le'er immediately stepped forward and said coquettishly, "Your Majesty, what are you thinking about? Why don't you watch it together?"

Chen Shao looked at the two sisters and found them quite interesting. The younger sister was precocious and liked to read traditional books, while the older sister was interested in crafts.

Chen Shao suddenly chuckled and asked with interest, "Just now, I was thinking about something. You know, when peaches are ripe, why do they fall to the ground instead of into the sky?"

The two sisters froze, standing motionless, their beautiful eyes showing an utterly innocent expression for a fleeting moment.

If anyone else had said that, they would probably have been scolded, but Chen Shao's status was different. After he finished speaking, Jin Le'er suddenly blushed and said excitedly, "I knew it! There must be a reason why the peach fell to the ground for no reason!"

"When I was little, I asked my older sisters, and they laughed at me!"

Now it was Chen Shao's turn to be stumped. He glanced at Jin Laosan and asked, "You really asked that when you were a kid?"

Jin Le'er nodded vigorously, "But back then they weren't peaches, they were apples from Hengshan Mountain."

"When that apple hit someone's head, it hurt just like someone threw it at them. Strangely, there was no one in the tree."

Chen Shao swallowed hard, thinking to himself that this Jin Laosan really did have some talent.

This is practically a mini-Newton of Yokoyama.
Jin Zhu'er was completely bewildered. She watched as the wise and powerful Emperor, whom everyone admired, and her third sister were seriously discussing why the peach had fallen to the ground.

The strange words His Majesty uttered, such as universal gravitation and the idea that we live on a planet, made her feel disoriented.

Chen Shao didn't care whether Jin Laosan could understand or not, and just poured all his knowledge from his previous life into her.

Life in the imperial harem, to put it nicely, was harmonious and leisurely; to put it bluntly, it was a life of idleness.

There's plenty of time for this girl to figure it out; it's normal if she can't.

If she ever gains some insight, Jin Laosan will be the first person to open her eyes and see the world.
In June, the weather in Nanjing was already unusually hot.

To avoid the same mistake as last year where a summer vacation resulted in people dying from the heat, Chen Shao did not give the officials a summer vacation, which disappointed them somewhat.

However, the imperial court issued an edict that from now on, officials could receive a summer allowance in June each year and a coal allowance in October each year.

Both sums of money were distributed according to rank, but the difference was not significant; even the lowest-ranking clerk received ten taels of silver.

This is a considerable amount of extra income.

Da Jing made money everywhere, and Chen Shao had no penchant for building wonders or palaces; he spent all his money on officials and common people.

Throughout history, there have been emperors like Emperor Wu of Han who indiscriminately exploited every social class, but there has never been an emperor who indiscriminately benefited every social class.

Dajing's practice of offering benefits to the people is truly unique.

If Emperor Huizong (Zhao Ji) saw the current state of the Jing Dynasty's finances, he would probably be green with envy.

Of course, given the extent of his misdeeds, the national treasury of the Great Jing Dynasty couldn't withstand his squandering.

Today at the Summer Palace, several staff members from the Institute of Artificial Intelligence are explaining to Chen Shao the performance of muskets on the Japanese battlefield.

When Chen Shao heard that they had also executed a group of powerful figures from Guandong and their families, he couldn't help but smile and praise them a few times.

Good steel should be used where it's needed most, and these dozens of lead bullets are a great contribution.

Intrigued by the story, Chen Shao picked up his flintlock pistol and fired a few shots.

Overall, the flintlock musket remains the most useless weapon on the battlefield, offering little advantage compared to other weapons that have been around for many years and used for hundreds of years.

Among new weapons, it is far less useful than artillery.

In order to test this weapon, Li Yanqi sometimes even had to increase the difficulty of the attack and force its use.

But Chen Shao felt it was all worthwhile; bows, horses, swords, and other weapons had reached their peak power after a thousand years.

The musket, however, is only just beginning; it has endless potential.

After putting down his gun, Chen Shao returned to his seat and read the reports sent back from the front.

Actually, the musket did have its moments of merit.

But this was on the battlefield in Japan, where samurai at most wore wooden armor.

When they fought against Yelü Dashi and Wanyan Balisu, their soldiers were all wearing armor.

The Khitans already possessed advanced casting techniques, and a shrewd person like Yelü Dashi would certainly not allow these techniques to go to waste.

And he will definitely try to learn from Da Jing.

When we launch our western expedition, the enemies we face will be far more powerful than those we face now.

"Your engineering department, after you return, must thoroughly improve the muskets based on these reports. Regardless of its current function, I firmly believe that you can build muskets that are more powerful, have a longer range, and are more stable."

"I reiterate my word: as long as there is merit, I will reward it." (End of Chapter)