You have truly caused me great suffering!

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Shao returned to the capital to visit his aunt.

The nobles in the city who heard the news also rushed over to join in the fun, but they were all driven back by Chen Shao's guards.

With more people, it will be much more difficult for His Majesty to protect them.

His imperial carriage went directly into the inner quarters, where the family of five disembarked.

Chen Shao brought the Empress, the Imperial Noble Consort, the Crown Prince, and the Princess with him this time.

Chen Yuexian, who greeted them at the door, smiled brightly and hugged the little princess, showing her great affection.

Chen Haohao, however, peeked out to look for her several female companions.

The women also stepped forward to greet Li Shishi. Chen Shao smiled and said, "This is a family banquet today, so there's no need for formalities. Everyone, please don't stand on ceremony."

They surrounded Zhong Lingxi and Li Shishi as they walked into the inner courtyard.

Chen Guanglie led Chen Shao into the inner room, and together with Chen Shao, helped Chen Yuexian sit down. Only the three of them were in the room.

"Brother Shao, you've been doing well these past few years, you've gotten younger and younger."

Chen Shao said with a smile, "It's all thanks to Shishi. I don't think my aunt looks old at all."

The three chatted idly in the room for a long time without feeling bored.

After lunch, Chen Shao, having nothing else to do, decided to take his cousin to visit the homes of various senior officials in the city.

The first place we visited was the Zhong residence.

Because Old Zhong's health was failing, Young Zhong also specially resigned as the Pacification Commissioner of Longyou and rushed back to the capital.

Upon hearing the news of Chen Shao and Chen Guanglie's arrival, the Zhong family immediately sprang into action, with incense burning and cleaning being carried out, and all the men of the household coming to the door to greet them.

But then they saw a group of guards riding up from afar, and the Chen brothers were also on horseback.

After dismounting, Chen Shao tossed his riding whip to a guard, exchanged a few pleasantries with Xiao Zhong, and then headed into the mansion.

When I saw Lao Zhong again, he was already incredibly old, with cloudy eyes and a vacant gaze.

With his thin body leaning against the daybed and a blanket covering his legs, Chen Shao couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

This is a true veteran who has spent his entire life on the battlefield. Old Zhong went to the battlefield at the age of twelve. Historically, he fought until his death, but now, thanks to the Dingnan Army, he didn't die of anger at the hands of the Song court and officials, and has lived to this day.

"Old Master Zhong, I am Chen Shao."

Old Zhong's eyes widened slightly, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth. After a moment of silence, he suddenly said, "Chen Chen Shao."

"It's me, old general."

Chen Shao held his withered hand. Such a scene, where the emperor and his subject were in harmony, was very touching. Everyone in the hall shed tears, and Xiao Zhong also burst into tears.

Old Zhong's hand, which was being held, trembled slightly as he said:

"You little thief, you've ruined my aunt's reputation. I'll cut you piece by piece."

Xiao Zhong immediately started coughing violently; one shouldn't speak carelessly about what happened after the surgery.

"My brother is having hysteria, Your Majesty, please don't be offended," Xiao Zhong quickly said loudly, hoping to remind his brother.

His memory is distorted, or he has forgotten many things. He talks nonsense, whatever comes to mind.

Most people's memories are probably stuck in the time when they first captured Yinzhou.

Chen Guanglie, standing behind Chen Shao, was shaking his shoulders, clearly about to burst out laughing.

After being interrupted, Old Zhong closed his eyes again and began to snore softly.

Chen Shao was somewhat embarrassed, but he chuckled and said, "The old general's memory is confused, so you must take good care of him."

The Zhong family members quickly accepted the order and expressed their gratitude, praising Chen Shao in an attempt to cover up what had just happened.

Everyone pretended not to hear.

After this incident, Chen Shao could not stay at Zhong's residence any longer and hurriedly left for Cai Jing's residence.

As soon as they arrived at the door, they saw Song's personal maid, who was exchanging some information with Cai Xing.

Upon seeing the Emperor's arrival, Cai Xing abandoned her and went to greet him. Song's maidservant, upon seeing Chen Shao, also quickly nodded, indicating that Song was at the residence.

Chen Shao suddenly felt a little guilty. Although he hadn't ruined Cai Jing's aunt's reputation, he had slept with two of his daughters-in-law.

Fortunately, he was thick-skinned, and Cai Jing was not senile; this guy was getting more and more cunning with age.

In the guest hall, Cai Xing and his brothers had all arrived; most of them were Chen Shao's confidants.

During the Dingnan Army period, someone who could enter the tent and serve as a confidential secretary was no longer just an ordinary confidant, but a confidant among confidants.

It was around that time that Cai Jing truly began to trust and accept Chen Shao.

Cai Jing looked very happy today.

He knew better than anyone the achievements of the imperial court in recent years. As long as the prosperity of the Great Jing Dynasty continued, his reputation in future history would be completely cleared.

After all, he was the first scholar-official in the Song Dynasty to donate 500,000 mu of fertile land; he also proposed the implementation of a progressive tax system to restrict land annexation.

He never imagined that after a lifetime of being a scoundrel, he would end up like this.

He was prepared to become a great traitor and be cursed by posterity.

After Chen Shao sat down, he talked with Cai Jing for a long time, mostly about governing the country.

The current governing team is actually quite good.

Yuwen Xuzhong honed his skills for decades, never giving up on improving himself even during the darkest times of the Song Dynasty and when Emperor Huizong was at his most tyrannical.

He actively participated in all government affairs, even when his position was too low to be accepted, he would still offer advice and analyze national policies.

They were referred to as advisors by the Qingliu faction.

Even Liang Shicheng sometimes had to seek his advice.

Liu Jizu comes from a business background, which is both his weakness and his strength, depending on which angle you look at it from.

Chen Shao's new policies were mostly related to trade. As a prime minister with a merchant background, he was often able to see things from a commercial perspective.

Zhang Run and Cai Xing are both outstanding and promising players.

The six ministers each demonstrated their abilities, performing exceptionally well in their respective areas of expertise.

As for the upcoming generational transition, he was no longer worried, as his new imperial examination system would select a large number of professionals.

Therefore, Chen Shao did not show any fear when facing someone like Cai Jing, and spoke eloquently and logically.

By the time they left the Cai residence, it was already dusk; winter days are very short.

Back at the Prince's Mansion, after a lively dinner, Chen Shao was so happy that he said, "I won't go back tonight, I'll stay a few more days!"

It is extremely rare in the world for an emperor, empress, and imperial concubine to live together in the residence of a subject.

But no one objected.

When it came time to assign rooms that night, Li Shishi wanted a room to herself.

She naturally wouldn't object to serving Chen Shao with others, but she wouldn't dare to do it with Zhong Lingxi.

After all, she is the Empress.

But the drunken Chen Shao insisted on sleeping together.

This man is often quite domineering when he's drunk, and Li Shishi naturally knew this, so she could only silently follow them to the room.

Li Shishi glanced at Zhong Lingxi and noticed that the empress's cheeks were flushed after drinking, and her eyes were filled with a slight smile as she continued to observe the room's furnishings with great interest.

She sometimes envied the women from wealthy families; they were calm and carefree, without so many ulterior motives, and lived a relaxed and comfortable life.

They may have never been looked down upon or heard harsh words since birth.

Having become empress and then encountering an emperor like the young master, she didn't need to scheme and plot to consolidate her position; she was secure and at peace.

After washing up and getting into bed, Zhong Lingxi looked at Li Shishi's figure by candlelight; the smooth curves surprised her.

Because Li Shishi usually wore loose clothes to conceal her figure. Huanhuan mumbled something under her breath, and Li Shishi felt increasingly uncomfortable.

Fortunately, Chen Shao quickly embraced them, and they chatted about their nighttime conversation.

Chen Shao discovered something: the parents of ancient times didn't pay as much attention to their children as parents of later generations.

They rarely brought up the topic of princes or princesses.

They were only talking about their own affairs.

On the contrary, Chen Shao was very satisfied with the Crown Prince and found all the princesses to be incredibly cute, so he couldn't help but mention their amusing stories.

Thinking of Maode and her son, and the baby in her belly, Chen Shao reminded himself to send some things over tomorrow.

Embraced on either side, surrounded by warm fragrance, the three of them spoke softer and softer until no one knew who had fallen asleep first.

The night was quiet and peaceful.
-
The rebellion in Xijing was provoked by the Great Jing.

Da Jing was already very familiar with this move, and his stretching technique was now highly refined.

The Jing army stationed throughout Goryeo remained completely still, not even leaving their barracks, letting them do as they pleased.

After a brief period of probing, the people of Xijing were overjoyed and launched a series of attacks.

Yu Yingbi repeatedly submitted memorials, detailing the tyranny of the Goryeo Dynasty and its exploitation and oppression of the local people.

They said they were forced to rebel.

If Kim Bu-sik and others are willing to return power to His Majesty, they are willing to plead guilty.

Chen Shao did not reply, but he also did not reprimand him.

As a result, the rebellion quickly grew in size and influence.

Kim Boo-seok and others had no choice but to return to Korea ahead of schedule to organize troops to quell the rebellion.

Since the Jing army entered Goryeo, Goryeo's military preparedness has become ridiculously lax. Many battalions are paid without actually serving, and a battalion with a strength of two thousand men cannot even muster a single hundred-man squad.

Kim Boo-sik was aware of these things, but he needed to balance the power of all parties and dared not get too involved.

Just like the Song Dynasty's Imperial Guards, which became too powerful to be controlled.

A catalyst is needed to solve this persistent problem.

Kim Boo-sik thinks things are pretty good right now.

He wanted to use the pretext of suppressing the rebellion to reorganize the army, but little did he know that the various military leaders were also preparing to take this opportunity to strengthen their own power.

Kim Bu-sik, who was still at sea at that moment, had no idea what was happening in Goryeo.

After Cui Shunting unexpectedly became an accomplice of Xijing, the powerful figures in Xijing who had previously looked down on him realized his strength.

He not only spent a lot of money, but also acquired a lot of weapons and armor.

This also elevated his status.

At this time, the internal conflicts in Goryeo had reached an irreconcilable point.

Dynasties like these, after two or three hundred years of rule, are actually utterly corrupt.

Although the Xijing Rebellion was suppressed by Kim Bu-seok in history, the conflict between the nobles of Gaegyeong (the capital) and the local powerful families was not resolved. Instead, it laid the groundwork for future military coups (such as the Gengyin Rebellion in 1170).

Wu Chen launched the "Gengyin Rebellion," deposed the king, and ushered in an era of military dictatorship.

The fifth day of the first month of the sixth year of Jianwu.

Upon returning to the Hot Spring Palace, Chen Shao immediately saw the report delivered by Cui Shunting.

Looking at the date, Chen Shao was somewhat surprised; this fellow had taken ten days to send the report from Goryeo to Nanjing.
After reading it, Chen Shao gained a deeper understanding of the chaos in Xijing.

After closing the report, Chen Shao went over the matter in his mind with his eyes closed.

The powerful clans monopolized the central government, while local strongmen dominated the regions, creating irreconcilable contradictions.

Goryeo has reached a very dangerous point; with just a light step, this dilapidated house will collapse.

To be honest, even at the end of the Song Dynasty, the situation was better than theirs.

The report sent by Guangyuantang was also about Goryeo. After comparing the two, Chen Shao found that this Cui Shunting was really quite good.

His report contained neither exaggeration nor concealment, and was basically consistent with the intelligence from Guangyuantang.

In some details, it explains things even more clearly than Guangyuantang.

Chen Shao liked to see these kinds of reports.

He doesn't need too much personal bias involved; if there is, he'll have to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

He only needs the most accurate intelligence, and then his own team will formulate the plan.

The central government of the Great Jing possesses rich war experience, unmatched by any small country.

Because they have been fighting for ten years, without a single year of rest.

If we start counting from Chen Shao, ever since his aunt bought him the minor official position of "Grain Transport Commissioner," he has been constantly fighting.

It hasn't stopped for a whole year.
I thought that after the founding of the nation, things would become peaceful, but wars have only increased.

Especially in the southern wilderness.

It's estimated that it will take seven or eight years to finish.

Moreover, Jing Jun seems to have the word "fortress" in his bones, building wherever he goes.

There was no way around it; this fortified village tactic truly amazed Chen Shao at the very beginning.

The fortified village strategy was the guiding principle of Chen Shao's military career; all his ideas about warfare would unconsciously lean towards it.

War is inherently a very dangerous thing. Once a war breaks out, unless it is a complete crushing defeat, no one can guarantee victory.

But the fortress warfare tactic is different. As long as my national strength is greater than yours, I can slowly wear you down through this tactic.

The war in the Southern Wilderness today is nothing more than a larger-scale fortress war.

Once an island is occupied, ports and cities will be built, and the advance will be steady until the southern wilderness is completely devoured.

The combined national strength of all the kingdoms in the Southern Wilderness is no match for that of the capital region of the Great Jing Dynasty.

If the Great Jing were to employ the traditional war of concentrating its forces to attack their homeland and head straight for their capital, it would be a mistake.

So whether it's Jianyili or Zhenla, they can take advantage of the favorable timing and location to gain certain opportunities.

Storms at sea, long supply lines, high temperatures and humidity, mosquitoes and malaria were all their weapons in defeating the Jing army.

They are truly at a loss when faced with this tactic.

Are we supposed to fight back island by island?

As long as we don't fight back, they'll eventually push their way to our doorstep.

Chen Shao picked up his pen and listed all the wars to be prepared for in the new year:

pioneering in the South China Sea;

Devouring Japan;
Reinforcements were sent to Ili;

Observing Goryeo;

Goryeo and Western Liao were merely preparations for action.

However, Chen Shao was determined to acquire both the Southern Wilderness and the Eastern Seas.

After Japan conquered Iwami, Tsukushi, and Ise provinces, the remaining powerful clans of the Kanto region were simply not worth mentioning.

The only tricky part is that the local terrain is indeed very difficult to traverse, like something a dog chewed up.

Moreover, these Japanese don't build roads. (End of Chapter)