You have truly caused me great suffering!

Xiao could not wait until the New Year, so he bid farewell to Chen Shao and took a group of his men to Mizhou, Shandong.

Those she took away were all elites from the caravan.

With Chen Shao's full support, she is determined to make a big splash in this maritime trade venture.

The tense atmosphere that once threatened to draw swords has disappeared in Shandong today.

The Dingnan Army is currently stationed in Mizhou, and many local gentry are also secretly contacting Qu Duan.

These are things that no one can stop.

Just look at the gentry in Hedong who refuse to leave.

Qu Duan accepted all offers, clearly intending to establish a foothold in Shandong, train a navy, and then cross the river north to attack the bandits.

Zhang Shuye, who had originally been at odds with Qu Duan and refused to back down, remained silent as he looked at the imperial edict.

You say you're doing all this for the Song Dynasty, so you can't just ignore the imperial edict from the Song emperor.

Zhang Shuye sighed.

In fact, when the Jin army marched south and the emperor abdicated, he once had hope for the court.

At that time, when Li Gang was in power, he promoted several of them to train troops for the Song Dynasty.

Zhang Shuye thought to himself that he had been frustrated and unsuccessful in the past, but now that he had gained the trust of the emperor and received funding from the court.

Back then, we were full of vigor and recruited brave men from Shandong. After a little training, they were sent to the battlefield.

In just three short years, the official who had once unconditionally supported his group no longer trusted them.

But can we really blame the officials?

It seems unlikely.

It was precisely because of the poor performance of these people against the Jin army that the emperor became so reliant on the Dingnan Army.

It was nearing the New Year, and several children were playing and making noise in the courtyard, which came from the window.

Zhang Shuye then came to his senses, walked to the window, and looked at his three sons in the courtyard.

Looking down at the imperial edict again, Zhang Shuye suddenly smiled with relief.

Why bother?
He and Zhang Xiaochun were close friends. Zhang Xiaochun wrote to him several times to persuade him, and Zhang Shuye's heart was wavering.

In fact, at this point, everyone can see the general trend, and it seems that destiny will ultimately fall on the shoulders of the Prince of Dai.

Zhang Shuye had previously thought that if the Prince of Dai were to take his final step, it would likely provoke a backlash from loyal and righteous people throughout the land.

If I follow him, will I be recorded in history as a traitor?
However, after so long, the Prince of Dai did not show any domineering side or engage in factionalism and suppression of dissent.

He was too lazy to even go to Bianliang to eliminate his rivals.

Apart from personally leading expeditions to Youyan to secure career advancement for his subordinates, Chen Shao remained in Hedong.

Looking at the actions of the Prince of Dai, one can see that he had always been dedicated to driving out the Tartars.

Under his strategic planning, both the Western Xia and the Jurchen were defeated.

Now that the Emperor has sided with the Prince of Dai, this is the most important thing, as it seems that a path without bloodshed and death has been found.

After carefully putting away the imperial edict, he stepped outside.

The servant who was playing with the young master quickly stamped his foot and stepped forward to wait for orders.

"Prepare some gifts, I'm going to Michigan!"
-

Taiyuan Prefecture.

Wu Jie, accompanied by some military officers from Xiping Prefecture, came to pay his respects to Chen Shao and celebrate the New Year.

I'd also like to give a brief report on the situation in the Northwest this year.

Chen Shao met these military officers in the main hall of the Prince's Mansion.

Having not seen the Prince of Dai for several years, these military officers all stepped forward to pay their respects, their attitude extremely warm and excited, which made Chen Shao somewhat embarrassed. He had left them in the Northwest for so many years, without ever returning even once.

No matter what, the Northwest is where I started my life.

These past few years have been spent fighting the Jurchen Tartars, leaving no time for rest.

Chen Shao asked with a smile, "How is everything in Xiping Prefecture?"

At this moment, Wu Jie stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, everything in the Northwest is as usual. This year's imperial examinations have yielded many talented individuals."

In this era, the imperial examination was still a relatively fair means of selecting officials. Although Wu Jie was a military general, he was surprisingly adept at doing these things.

Because he understands a principle: respect for talent.

Being able to listen to others' advice and having the ability to judge right from wrong already puts you ahead of the vast majority of people.

Wu Jie also wanted to come to the Central Plains to participate in the war, but since the Prince of Dai had entrusted him with such a heavy responsibility, Wu Jie was grateful for his recognition.

Determined to govern the Northwest well, he has been studying and seeking advice day and night, and has already shown signs of becoming quite accomplished in both literary and military arts.

Chen Shao listened to him speak eloquently about politics and couldn't help but nod repeatedly.

"With your dedication, I have no worries!"

The Northwest was where Chen Shao raised horses and where his soldiers were sourced, making it the foundation of the Dingnan Army.

There has been a saying since ancient times that the horses of Liangzhou were unstoppable throughout the world.

Chen Shao asked Wu Jie to pay close attention to the caravan, since Xiao Shi had left and she would naturally take care of the caravan's affairs. However, Chen Shao was worried that no one else could manage such a large caravan.

Upon hearing this, Wu Jie looked troubled and said, "The Guangyuantang caravan is not under the control of the local government. I think they have their own team, and they should be able to operate even without Madam Xiao."

Chen Shao nodded, then thought of Xiao's shrewdness and capability, realizing that he might indeed be worrying unnecessarily.

"Is there any fighting in the Northwest this year?"

Wu Jie laughed and said, "Back in the days of the pseudo-Xia dynasty, most of the wars in the northwest were between the Song and Xia dynasties. Occasionally, there were barbarians such as the Tubo, Tatars, and Uyghurs, but they were just minor ailments."

However, Xia's troops were tied down by the Song army and couldn't spare any resources to deal with them.

Now that the pseudo-Xia dynasty has been destroyed, we naturally will not go to war with the Song dynasty. If those barbarians were to come again, they would be no match for our army.

At this point, Wu Jie calmly said, "This spring, the Tubo invaded our territory. The agricultural protection team killed 5,000 Tubo people and captured 13,000, who were then used as slaves at the Liangzhou horse farm."

"This summer, the Uyghurs rebelled, but the rebellion was quelled by the Ganzhou troops, who killed two thousand rebels."

"The autumn harvest was the most lively time. The Tatars and Tibetans invaded the border together, but they were all repelled by our cavalry. We pursued them to their tribes and wiped out three Tatar tribes and five Tibetan tribes."

Despite being seen as a barbarian state by the Song Dynasty, the Western Xia, along with the surrounding Tibetans, Tatars, and Uyghurs, were considered by the Western Xia rulers and their ministers to be a bunch of reckless beggars.

When they're starving to death, they'll come and steal from them.

However, the Tangut people are ruthless and have a vengeful nature, so they always seek revenge.

These people thought that the new arrivals would be more benevolent after the fall of Western Xia, but they didn't expect that this group would be even more ruthless.

They would often chase after and wipe out an entire tribe, leaving only the children, who would then be castrated and sold into slavery by caravans in Arabia.

These barbarians really did run into the line of fire.

The soldiers from Youzhou who remained in the northwest were already harboring resentment because they couldn't earn any military merits.

When they started fighting, it was more like they were venting their anger.

Their Dingnan Army is currently at its peak, and its military might is unmatched.

Just like the Jurchens before they encountered the Dingnan Army.

Moreover, the number of horses in the Dingnan Army far exceeded that of the Jurchens, making it arguably the most powerful army in the world at that time.

This means you can't even escape. (End of Chapter)