You have truly caused me great suffering!

After the fall of Sunomata Castle, panic gripped the Taira clan's residence.

"Master, send someone to Kyoto."

"what happened?"

"They were intercepted and killed by the Jing army's navy."

The scouts and spies of the Great Jing Army were arguably the most elite group of the Jing Army.

If you want to deliver a message right under their noses, and you take the main road, who else would they kill but you?

Taira no Tadamori slumped on the prayer mat, still clutching a string of prayer beads in his hand, completely disoriented.

He was not an incompetent or cowardly person, but faced with such a formidable enemy, even after racking his brains, he could not think of any way out.

Moyu Castle was a defensive line he had carefully built, and he expected it to hold for one or two months.

Looking across the entire Japanese empire, few could breach Sunomata Castle, because he had previously set up three military camps there as a backup.

Then he recalled the cities he had seen along the way when he went to the Central Plains, cities that were high and moats were deep, towering into the clouds.

The Han Chinese in the Central Plains have been fighting for years, attacking and defending huge cities. It is true that their own Sunomata Castle is very strong in Japan, but what is it compared to them?
The Taira clan was in chaos, but their samurai were still clamoring for battle.

The envoys sent to Jingjun were unable to meet Guo Hao or any other military officers with real power.

The envoys heading to Kyoto were all intercepted and killed.

Taira no Tadamori had no way to surrender. Sitting on the prayer mat, he forced himself to stay alert, his mind tense but still trying to maintain the dignity of the head of the family.

He looked at Kobayakawa Kagetaka, whose face was covered in sweat, which he didn't even bother to wipe away, looking like a clumsy, timid, and short-tempered good-for-nothing...

When Taira no Tadashi died and his entire family was burned to the ground, he managed to survive by feigning death.

I don’t know if Jing Jun never intended to kill him.

Thinking of this, he felt like he had grasped a lifeline. Could this person be connected to Jing Jun?

At this point, Taira no longer cared whether he was a spy or not; as long as they could communicate, that was enough.

He looked at Kobayakawa and asked, "Why didn't they kill you when Masakazu died?"

Kobayakawa was speechless for a moment, pacing anxiously, and finally said, "I was beaten unconscious by them at that time, I really don't know anything about it."

Taira nods, his expression softening slightly. "Go to the Jing army camp and tell them that the Taira clan declares itself king today and breaks away from the control of the capital!"

In the face of death, they were no longer concerned about anything else.

Kobayakawa was terrified of the ruthless Jing Army, especially Wei Tao's squad, which left a deep shadow on him.

But he knew even better that if he didn't go, his life would be completely lost.

He kowtowed several times, displaying an air of righteous indignation and a loyal servant willing to die for his master.

As soon as he came out, Kobayakawa's legs went weak, and his face looked like he had lost his father.

Just then, a group of samurai arrived together and asked him, "Where is the patriarch?"

Kobayakawa pointed behind him, looking at their menacing approach, and asked, "What do you want with the head of the family?"

"None of your business!"

Although Kobayakawa was timid in front of Taira no Tadamori, these samurai were all his subordinates, and seeing their rudeness, he immediately became angry, "How dare you!"

The warriors looked at him with hostility and then surrounded him.

Although Kobayakawa was cowardly, that was only towards his superiors, not his subordinates. Seeing these beasts being so rude, he couldn't help but fly into a rage and cursed, "I am on orders from my patriarch to go to the Jing army camp to sue for peace. If you stop me and delay important matters, you'll lose your heads!"

"You're going to sue for peace?"

The samurai were immediately in an uproar.

"The Jing army killed my brothers and slaughtered the entire city of Moyu. You cowardly and incompetent man, how dare you sue for peace!"

Someone grabbed his robe from behind, and before Kobayakawa could even yell and curse, someone suddenly stabbed him in the chest with a knife.

The samurai gritted his teeth, his expression ferocious, and pulled out his sword, stabbing it into his lower abdomen again.

Blood splattered on his face. Kobayakawa looked on in disbelief and slowly slumped down, his eyes wide with terror, clearly dead beyond any doubt.

"Let's go see the patriarch!"

A group of samurai arrived at Taira no Tadamori's residence. Upon seeing Taira no Tadamori, they knelt on the ground without uttering a word.

Seeing the bloodstains on them, Taira no Tadamori frowned and asked, "What happened?"

“We killed the Han Chinese merchants in the city, and just now, Kobayakawa Kagetaka was about to surrender to the enemy camp, but we killed him too!”

Upon hearing this, Taira no Tadamori felt a chill rise from the soles of his feet, and when he looked at the samurai again, his eyes even held a hint of resentment.

He silently drew his sword, walked up to the samurai, and slashed at the neck of the man in front.

He then slashed down several more people, but his fear only grew stronger.

Finally, Taira no Tadamori, who had killed four samurai, collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted.

"It's over. It's all over."
-
Before taking action, Guo Hao had reminded the merchants at the Ping family mansion to retreat behind his main army.

However, the Ping family and Han merchants had been trading for decades. At that time, there was no Dingnan Army, and there was not even a person named Chen Shao.

Therefore, many merchants were dismissive, thinking that even if there was a war, the Ping clan would not touch them.

Moreover, in their view, there were no conflicts or interests between the two sides, so a fight should not break out.

Therefore, many merchants chose to remain in Ise Province, especially those who had been trading with the Heisei clan since the Song Dynasty.

Many of them owned houses in Ise Province, kept Japanese women, and some even had children.

They were the ones who were killed this time.

Because it was the samurai who fled alone, rather than the Taira clan carrying out a large-scale extermination, many merchants and sailors escaped.

After they arrived at the Jingjun camp, they told them about the Ping family's residence.

Guo Hao was not angry but pleased. Then he realized he shouldn't be like this, so he glared at him and cursed, "You're asking for death!"

No one knew whether he was cursing the merchants or the Japanese who had killed people.

But Guo Hao knew that this gave him even more reason to fight. In his view, he had already issued a warning, and these merchants, ignoring it, were courting death and deserved no sympathy. It was impossible for a soldier from the Northwest to sympathize with these merchants who were risking their lives for their money and completely disregarding his warnings.

Yuwen Xuzhong also realized that this matter was not simple.

He remained silent for a long time before saying, "This matter must be reported to His Majesty."

Guo Hao nodded.

Doctor Yuwen rarely speaks, but once he does, he deserves special attention. Everyone knows that he is a strategist, and was called a 'brain trust' by the officials of the previous dynasty.

It's well known that scholars often look down on each other. Earning the title of "strategist" from scholars is far more difficult than a warrior calling his comrade a "fierce general." It carries far greater weight.

Although it was said that a report would be submitted, Yuwen Xuzhong almost immediately guessed His Majesty's reaction.

His Majesty is an extremely protective person.

Yuwen Xuzhong was a very pragmatic man. He had already begun to consider whether to relocate people to this land or use it for other purposes once it became vacant.

At this time, on the neighboring Ryukyu Island, many Han Chinese had already settled down.

However, that only applies to a small number of fishermen and merchants. If a large-scale migration of the population is desired, then improved treatment and tax exemptions would be necessary.
Guo Hao ordered the entire army to set off and attack Suzuka Pass.

Before His Majesty's decree arrives, it would be best to arrest the entire Taira clan.
-
When granaries are full, the world is at peace.

Before winter arrived in the second year of Jianwu, a bumper harvest brought great peace of mind to the court and the people.

The next issue is how to prepare for winter.

Being well-fed and warm is just as important as being well-fed. People can freeze to death in any winter; this is determined by the productivity of the times.

Inside the bedroom of the Funing Palace, the underfloor heating had been turned on, and a warm current flowed through the room.

Chun Tao and Jin Le'er were tightly embracing each other, their hair spread out on the pillow, their loose hairpins askew. Both of them had their eyes closed, and their chests rose and fell slightly under the thin quilt, clearly fast asleep.

These two were the closest of friends, even closer than to their respective older sisters. They were also very similar in temperament, raised by Chen Shao to be innocent and carefree, occasionally revealing their childlike side, pure and sweet, often making him feel the bittersweetness of first love.

Chen Shaoze stood to the side, looking thoughtfully at the memorials from various places.

Cold weather was a major public concern in this era, not just in the Central Plains.

In fact, this was considered good in the Central Plains. In the northern deserts, a large portion of the population would freeze to death. As for cattle and sheep, they would also freeze to death on a large scale and become frozen food.

If not enough food is obtained, even more people will die.

Therefore, people in the northern deserts have absolutely no resistance to iron pots. Earthenware pots are prone to cracking, and leather containers are not fire-resistant, only iron pots are reliable.

Without an iron pot, you can't cook meat. In the northern desert, no one actually grills meat because if you do, all the oil will fall to the ground, which is a huge waste.

"In households with pots, the young and old can enjoy hot soup; those without pots can only eat frozen meat, which causes them to lose their teeth and suffer from abdominal pain."

The value of a pot is average in the Central Plains, but it is extremely precious in the desert, which is astonishing and unbelievable. Because the Central Plains prohibits the sale of ironware to the desert, a large iron pot can be exchanged for 30 sheep or 3 horses in the desert.

Therefore, in the Central Plains, regardless of who they traded with, they always had a trade surplus.

The arrival of cold weather was naturally a great boon for Yue Fei and Li Gang in the Hetao and Baidao regions.

Since the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the Central Plains has attached great importance to "spring campaigns" when waging war against the desert.

In late winter and early spring, livestock lose weight and become thin and weak after the cold winter; horses are unable to run long distances, which reduces the mobility advantage of the grassland troops.

Moreover, with female livestock giving birth and pregnant women giving birth in the spring, tribes are scattered across pastures, resulting in a disorganized military and difficulty in assembling troops.

If the grass fails to turn green and the pasture turns yellow, livestock will lack feed and have extremely low resistance. Burning grass can lead to large-scale famine.

Melted snow makes the ground muddy and soft, which is not conducive to cavalry assembly (but the Han army can overcome this by coordinating infantry and cavalry), and can counter nomadic raids.

Yue Fei submitted a memorial proposing a campaign in the spring of the following year, and the methods he described as impressive left Chen Shao in awe:
They planned to march into the northern desert the following spring, burn pastures, cut off livestock feed, and trigger a summer and autumn famine.

They abduct female livestock, depriving them of their reproductive capacity, which cannot be recovered in the short term;
Capture pregnant women to weaken population replenishment;

Poisoning the well spreads dysentery; the horses die first, and then the people follow.
Yue Fei was very strict in disciplining his troops, never harming the common people, and his land reclamation was also quite well-organized. But don't mistake him for a benevolent person; in fact, he was always ruthless towards his enemies.

Chen Shao certainly didn't have any saintly heart. The people on the border knew best how brutal the northern barbarians were when they invaded the south.

We are mortal enemies, so don't expect me to have any pity for you when I am powerful.

When the Central Plains were weak, the people in the North were not lenient at all. Chen Shao originally intended to solve this stubborn problem once and for all for his descendants.

Chen Shao approved the request, ordering the Hetao region to cooperate with Yue Fei in preparing for the spring campaign.

Chen Shao, the Tartar from the northern desert, didn't care, but he had to take care of his own people.

Feeling the warmth beneath his feet, he let out a long sigh, picked up his pen, and slowly wrote:

The edict urged people to burn coal to keep warm.
Disciples:

I have heard that the north wind is howling, and frost and snow cover the roads. The common people have no firewood, so their hands and feet are chapped, and some even collapse on the road. This is not a natural disaster, but a serious problem caused by the lack of firewood!
Coal, sourced from mountains and rivers, produces a fire twice as powerful as firewood, and is both inexpensive and durable. Therefore, the following order is hereby issued:

1. Open numerous coal mines.

In all prefectures and counties, where there are mountains containing coal, the people are permitted to form associations to mine it, and the officials will conduct surveys and exempt them from taxes for three years.

Second, to manufacture honeycomb briquettes for civilian use.

The Imperial Workshop was ordered to issue "honeycomb briquette" molds, made by mixing coal dust and loess, pressing them into cakes, and drilling holes like honeycomb holes. These briquettes burned without smoke and lasted a long time. Coal workshops were set up in each prefecture to teach the people how to make them.

3. Selling coal at a fair price.

The government stored coal and set up "Warm Winter Shops" in the city and suburbs, selling it for five coins per catty. The elderly, children, orphans, and the poor could buy it at half price by presenting a document from the village head.

IV. Logging is prohibited.

Effective immediately, logging and gathering of firewood within 300 li of the capital is prohibited; violators will be punished with thirty strokes of the cane—to protect the trees to nourish the soil and water, and to ensure the survival of the people by burning coal.

Fifth, encourage the rich to help the poor.

Wealthy households that possess more than a thousand catties of coal are required to donate two hundred catties to their neighbors, and the government will commend their gate with the inscription "Renyu" (meaning "benevolent and warm"). Those who conceal or fail to contribute coal will be fined double the amount of tax.

I urge you, my officials, to understand my heartfelt concern, so that widows and orphans may not suffer from the cold, and frozen bones may not lie abandoned in the wilderness.

The proclamation was made known both domestically and internationally.

October 20th, the second year of Jianwu

The Secretariat and Chancellery carried out the imperial edict. (End of this chapter)