You have truly caused me great suffering!

The mountains are high and the roads are long and treacherous.

There was no television or radio in this era.

The Big News was the only source of information for many people regarding the situation.

Fast horses traveling between post stations spread the latest news far and wide, arriving in a little over a month at the latest.

Even if trapped in a small town in the southwest where barbarians lived together, one could still learn about the direction of the imperial court through the Grand Gazette.

Therefore, it has always been a favorite among scholars and officials.

The imperial court could also publicize its decrees through the Grand Gazette, which meant that the central government and local authorities had a direct communication channel, eliminating the need for layers of government offices to relay messages.

This will undoubtedly make the information gap between the upper and lower levels more accurate.

Therefore, the announcement of the Jianwu Military Merit Reform immediately caused a stir among the people.

A bright path to advancement suddenly appeared before the world.

This temptation is indescribable.

Some ideas in this world are deeply ingrained and are difficult to change no matter how the world changes or how much the world changes.

But some things can be changed with just one sentence.

For example, the idea that "good men don't become soldiers and good iron isn't used for nails," which had been painstakingly suppressed by the Song Dynasty for 120 years, crumbled overnight.

The veteran of the Dingnan Army, who was already living a comfortable life and had become a small landlord in the most prosperous part of the Central Plains, suddenly received many more honors and benefits.

How do you think they will educate their children? Will the people in the surrounding area be inspired to do the same?

June of the eighth year of Jianwu.

The army conscripted from India once again ceased hostilities due to the heat, retreating to cool mountain camps and seizing local water sources.

Then, the revenge battalion was dispatched to attack the cities and villages controlled by the Chola Dynasty.

The army that was conquering Western Liao was using the tactics proposed by Yue Fei to continuously weaken Yelü Dashi's power on the grasslands, forcing him to flee south or surrender.

Meanwhile, the Central Plains was engulfed in a massive recruitment drive. This recruitment was different from previous ones, with the selection criteria being somewhat overly stringent.

The former Song Dynasty liked to exile criminals to the frontier to serve as soldiers, recruit refugees as soldiers, and pacify mountain bandits and outlaws as soldiers.

Many soldiers had gold tattoos on their cheeks.

Now, the Great Jing is recruiting soldiers, as long as the family members are good people whose families have no bad records in the government register within three generations.

Applicants must be physically strong and undergo rigorous screening; those with hidden illnesses, disabilities, or timidity will not be accepted.

They do not accept only sons from families with only one child.

It was somewhat similar to Guo Rong's selection of the best soldiers in the land to serve as the Imperial Guard in Bianliang, but the process was even more rigorous.

Back then, Guo Rong selected the strongest and most capable soldiers from various regions who had been passed down from the Five Dynasties period to form the Imperial Guard, whose combat power could be said to be the pinnacle of field warfare.

Zhao Kuangyin was able to usurp the throne because he happened to be in a key position during this selection process.

This resulted in many of the Imperial Guards being selected by him.

Later, Guo Rong had already intended to replace him, but unfortunately, he died young. If he had been given another year or two, and had made his plans in place, even if he had died, he could probably have passed on the legacy.

Sometimes, the way of Heaven is just that ruthless.

This recruitment drive was conducted simultaneously on various fronts, and it was scheduled for the days leading up to the busy farming season.

After the selections were made and the quotas were confirmed, the selected soldiers would assemble only after the autumn harvest was finished.

From then on, he became a professional soldier, and of course, he received a generous salary to support his family.

It should be noted that the young and middle-aged people who are selected are the breadwinners and pillars of their respective families.

They need to maintain sufficient fighting power to deter everyone on the Great Jing frontier and suppress the tribes that have already been conquered.

Because of the hot weather, the imperial procession arrived at Zhongshan Summer Palace in late May, ahead of schedule.

This place is very close to the imperial city, and officials frequently travel between the summer palace and the imperial city, resulting in a constant flow of carriages on the road.

Standing atop the small building in the mountains, watching Lü Yihao's departing figure as he descended the mountain with a satisfied expression, Chen Shao twitched the corners of his mouth.

Having been emperor for so many years, he concluded that the relationship between emperors and ministers was actually very similar to that between men and women.

The emperor is the male, and the ministers are the female; as long as you are successful enough and your career is powerful enough.

Then your flaws become your strengths. Your bad temper is seen as masculinity, and your lack of concern for her is seen as ambition.
But if you don't have a career, she'll keep picking on you.

The achievements of the Great Jing Dynasty cannot be erased, so in the eyes of the ministers, Chen Shao is a perfect sage ruler.

If he hadn't achieved these accomplishments, Chen Shao's actions would have been met with fierce criticism from the ministers.

Even if you go on a killing spree, you can't completely stop them or shut them up.

They would also feel that they were dying for their country out of loyalty and righteousness.

Putting aside everything else, the fact that he was recognized as a craftsman is enough to give the civil service a reason to criticize him harshly.

However, these policies were successfully implemented in the Great Jing Dynasty. The reason for this was that Chen Shao had destroyed the Western bandits and Northern barbarians, opened up the vast Xinjiang region, and suppressed the barbarians and the wilderness.

He lived the life that all the Central Plains empires had dreamed of.

As a minister in this era, if you want to cause trouble for the emperor, you not only have to consider your own life and fortune, but also how future generations will judge you.

If you encounter a weak and incompetent emperor, criticizing him will likely earn you lasting fame.

The more severe the punishment he gives you, the more noble and virtuous you will be in your future lives.

But the founding emperor of the Great Jing Dynasty was different. If you criticized him, you might end up being infamous for eternity.

There is absolutely no benefit to it at present.

Only a fool would do such a thing... Among the scholars who could rise to the point of meeting the emperor, there wasn't a single fool.

Downstairs, the engineering students are setting up their latest water pump, which, to be honest, isn't much of a breakthrough.

The progress of the steam engine has now reached a bottleneck, and Chen Shao has not urged it even once.

He waited quietly, because he knew that there was no point in rushing things.

If you let things take their natural course and have your own guidance, you'll be able to achieve it sooner or later.

Moreover, this time it will definitely start in the Central Plains.

As long as you live well and maintain consistency in government policies, you will see that day come.

Looking at the boundless landscape in the distance, with its beautiful scenery, Chen Shao recalled his experiences during his tour of the country.

I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to see a train again, to be the first one to appear in Dajing.

If one day I grow old, will I still be able to take a train and take one last look at this magnificent land?

Thinking of this, Chen Shao felt inexplicably sad, mainly due to his fear of old age and death.

Although he is still young, he feels somewhat distressed whenever he thinks about this.

Perhaps this is a common problem among emperors, or perhaps it's a common problem among people in general.

Thinking of this, Chen Shao turned around, intending to have a chat with Xiao Ting to ease his mind.

Chen Shao now holds Xiao Ting in high esteem. This woman is amazing; he never expected her to actually become a disciple.

Not only does she look younger and younger, but she also exudes a unique charm in every gesture. No wonder people like her can succeed at anything.

Her experiences always reminded Chen Shao of Tao Zhugong Fan Li.

Being able to take things on and let them go, making immense wealth as easy as picking something out of a bag, and being able to relinquish it with a calm and composed mind.

In Chen Shao's heart, there are three people who were his strongest support during his rise to power.

One of them was Han Shizhong, who helped him win many crucial battles in the early stages. Without Han Shizhong, everything would have been in vain.

Secondly, Wei Li helped him establish a bureaucratic system after he had just acquired a territory, enabling him to truly rule the Youyan area and thus gain a foothold.

Third is Xiao Ting. The importance of the caravan goes without saying; it runs through the entire entrepreneurial history of the Dingnan Army.

Because Xiao Ting always lived in the Summer Palace and never came down the mountain, she designed and built her own courtyard.

The buildings outside remain the same, but once inside her courtyard halfway up the mountain, there are three small buildings combined into one, simple and unadorned, yet dignified and elegant.

Although the building occupies a small area, it exudes a grand presence at first glance, appearing both orderly and open.

The maids in the courtyard were all dressed in blue Taoist robes, but they did not have the same Taoist heart as Xiao Ting. They were obviously very attentive and happy to see Chen Shao.

Chen Shao glanced at it and thought to himself, "People who cultivate the Dao do have pretty good taste."

Despite its symmetrical and orderly design, it doesn't feel rigid at all. Especially between the two small buildings, a small flying bridge spans the air, its graceful arc resembling a rainbow after the rain. The various lively layouts blend seamlessly with the grand main structure, without any sense of artificiality.

Chen Shao couldn't help but take a few more glances.

Several maids had already surrounded Xiao Ting as she came out to greet them.

Even if you continue your spiritual practice, this is still your man, and he's also the emperor; no one dares to neglect him.

After all, in the Central Plains, even Guanyin Bodhisattva had to avoid using the taboo name of Li Shimin and was changed to Guanyin Bodhisattva.

Chen Shao smiled and helped her up. The two went upstairs together. The four exquisitely carved palace doors were wide open, and the maids rolled up the gauze curtains to keep out mosquitoes.

The two followed the stairs and soon arrived at the top of the pavilion in front.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone through the branches and leaves of the mountains, bathing the buildings in a golden light.

The distant Qingxi River ripples with light, and the emerald lotus leaves in the lake sway in the wind. Although nestled in the mountains, the scenery is expansive and even more breathtaking than that of Tangshan.

Chen Shao couldn't help but feel a surge of infatuation.

Beautiful scenery, like beautiful women, can sometimes bring him joy and delight.

The top floor of the front building is fitted with vermilion railings, forming a viewing platform. Behind the platform is a covered bridge that connects to the door of the rear building, resembling a flying rainbow.

The two sat in the sunset, and Xiao Ting poured him a cup of tea, saying with a smile, "Your Majesty, please try it. This is something I made myself."

Chen Shao took a sip; it tasted slightly bitter with a sweet aftertaste, and it was indeed very delicious.

In Chen Shao's mind, people can do anything when cultivating the Tao, as long as they don't refine elixirs.

Moreover, Taoist priests are skilled at everything except refining elixirs.

After drinking a cup of tea, Chen Shao finally revealed the purpose of his visit, saying only that he was lamenting how quickly time flies.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Ting was stunned first.

She glanced at Chen Shao and said incredulously, "How could Your Majesty be old?"

what?
Chen Shao looked at her in confusion; both of them felt that the other was the enlightened one.

However, both of them were cunning people, so instead of revealing their true intentions, they both chose not to talk about it further.

Now that things have come to this, both of them are preoccupied with their own thoughts, and the only way to ease the awkwardness is through a dual cultivation session.
-
Time passes slowly in the mountains.

July arrived in the blink of an eye.

The war in India had been suspended for a long time, and the large-scale recruitment of soldiers in the Central Plains had been basically completed.

The western front had now advanced to the vicinity of the Caspian Sea.

Yelü Dashi sent another messenger to the capital with a letter seeking peace, hoping that Chen Shao would cease his western expedition.

He will send three princes to the Central Plains as hostages.

Chen Shao remained as polite as ever, replying that as long as he was willing to come to Jinling, he would still retain his royal title.

At this time, the main opponent of the western expeditionary army was no longer Yelü Dashi.

Instead, they were local Turkic tribes.

Whether they were subordinate to Yelü Dashi or previously belonged to Khwarazm, they all had a high degree of autonomy.

However, after the Great Jing arrived, he became an unprecedentedly domineering ruler who refused to be restrained or controlled.

So, led by their chieftain, they began attacking officials of the Great Jing, plundering supplies along the way, and even retaliating against the local people who had already submitted.

A terrifying atmosphere permeated the mountains and forests, and many people dared not go out anymore.

The county system was naturally incompatible with these tribes, and the only solution was to suppress them with violence.

Xun Wang Jinling, who was in charge of the western expedition and held the authority to command all military affairs, finally revealed the ruthlessness he had shown when he and Chen Shao wiped out the Hengshan Qiang people who refused to come down from the mountain.

He ordered Wang De, the commander of the Tatar cavalry in southern Mongolia, to search the mountains and seas and hunt down all disobedient tribes.

This time, there was no such thing as laying the wheels flat; it was a matter of killing anyone on sight.

They didn't even give them another chance to surrender.

Just like when the Karakhanid Khans invaded Khotan, they used absolute coercion.

Jin Ling was essentially copying their methods from back then. This land used to be inhabited by Buddhists, but they've assimilated it in just over a hundred years.

After conquering Khotan around 1006 AD, the Karakhanid Dynasty implemented a systematic campaign of "anti-Buddhism" and forced Islamization against this Buddhist kingdom that had lasted for a thousand years.

According to a war song recorded in the 11th-century "Dictionary of Turkic Languages," "We demolished the Buddhist temples and defecated on the Buddha statues," destroying symbols of faith in an extremely blasphemous manner.

The last king of Khotan, Yuchi, and his entire clan were executed, and the royal family was destroyed.

Those soldiers and civilians who refused to surrender were hunted down, and the remnants retreated into the Kunlun Mountains to continue guerrilla resistance for decades, but were still besieged and suppressed.

Their methods were extremely cruel; they stripped the wives and daughters of the nobles of Khotan who refused to surrender naked and paraded them through the streets, where they were wantonly insulted.

After killing someone, they would desecrate the corpse in extremely cruel ways.

The result was the interruption of civilization, and they were completely assimilated by them. In a sense, they succeeded.

After all, in the era before Chen Shaolai, there were still people on this land who shared the same beliefs as them.

King Xun Jinling was usually very kind, and because he was also big and fat, he looked harmless.

But those who know his past know how ruthless he can be.

All those who were in front of him and Chen Shaolu disappeared completely, just like the five tribes of Hengshan, including Qingduo and Suluo, back then.

This bloody suppression actually began long ago; Jin Ling was already doing this after Yue Fei fought his way to Talas.

Of course, he first gave them a chance and then subdued many tribes.

Jin Ling had no intention of going to the front lines to claim credit; his military achievements were like experience points gained from leveling up a max-level account—completely useless.

He intends to completely conquer this land and incorporate it into the grand scheme of things. (End of Chapter)