Chapter 559: The Northwest is Truly Great

Chapter 559: The Northwest is Truly Great

His instructions to Mo Zhongyuan were to eliminate the emperor and nobles of the southern region and enslave the commoners permanently, ensuring they could never rise again.

Although Nan Yu's actions were brutal, for the sake of long-term stability, he had to preemptively eliminate potential threats.

The fact that Nan Yu and Mo Jiuya could become close confidants indicates that they shared many similar views.

Mo Jiuya was also not the type to slaughter indiscriminately, but he felt no compassion for the southern region.

Similarly, every man in the Mo family held such deep animosity toward the southern region.

The barbarians, however, were different. They did not engage in such devious practices, so the common people were still innocent.

Their main reason for attacking Great Shun was simply to feed themselves.

Even on the rare occasions when their attacks on Great Shun had hidden agendas, it was stemming from their rulers' greed.

The barbarians indeed needed to be subdued and formally integrated into Great Shun's territory, but no leadership would remain among them.

Henceforth, there would be no barbarian nation in the world.

Of course, the task of incorporating the barbarians into Great Shun's territory was entrusted to Mo Jiuya for management.

When Nan Yu promptly agreed to grant the Northwest as his fiefdom, he had such hidden intentions.

In fact, Nan Yu was unaware that this perfectly matched He Zhiran's plans.

Originally, she had planned to have Mo Jiuya lease a plot of land for agriculture after pacifying the barbarians.

This was not a spur-of-the-moment idea of He Zhiran's; it was well known that the barbarian territories were infertile, with most areas being grasslands.

In theory, the barbarians could have chosen to sustain themselves through agriculture, but the livestock they raised had no viable market, so they eventually gave up on the notion.

However, He Zhiran was not worried about the market for livestock.

In her hands, no matter how much livestock there was, it could be sold.

For example, the hotpot that was highly cherished in her past life was a delicacy primarily made of beef and lamb.

There were also roasted whole lamb, dried beef jerky, and even cooked beef dishes.

In short, He Zhiran had numerous methods to cook beef and lamb. With these methods, would there be any worry about the market?

Just the day before, Minister He, long-awaited by the He family, finally arrived in the Northwest with Uncle Feng.

He Zhiran brought out several copper hotpots that she had recently asked Hu Cong to craft and purchased some charcoal from the villagers.

On one hand, it was to entertain her father who had traveled from afar, and on the other, she wanted her family to taste authentic charcoal hotpot.

Although she had organized such meals before, the utensils were not professional, and many seasonings had issues with exposure to light, so it was more of a makeshift affair.

Today was different. In the autumn, Yu'er had already made several jars of leek flower paste according to her instructions.

Recently, He Zhiran had also taught her family to make tofu and then ferment it into fermented bean curd.

The sesame harvested from their own land was ground into sesame oil and sesame paste.

In addition, He Zhiran had specifically purchased a book on homemade seasonings from the Taobao Mall and made soy sauce and oyster sauce according to its contents.

The vegetables in the family greenhouses have been ripening in succession, offering everything needed for a hotpot feast.

Recently, He Zhiran personally visited the fishing village, buying up a large quantity of seafood to craft fish and shrimp balls.

Thus, today's hotpot feast is the culmination of He Zhiran's extensive preparations.

Minister He is aware that the Mo Family brothers have been preoccupied with the expedition and haven't yet had the chance to establish their fief.

With the Mo Family brothers' expedition nearing late autumn, it's already too late to construct a princely residence or anything of the sort.

Besides, before departing the Imperial City, he hadn't heard of any court funds being allocated for the Prince of the West to build a mansion.

This isn't surprising, given the empty national treasury and the simultaneous attacks from the southern border and the barbarians.

He had seen the empty treasury firsthand, and luckily, the new emperor uncovered a vast fortune in the traitor Xue's vaults; otherwise, even the war expenses might have gone uncovered.

Even then, after allocating these funds to the military, they were still tight, leaving no financial means to grant the Prince of the West a mansion.

Given that the Mo family was exiled from the capital with their property seized by the court, leaving them destitute, even though he and his wife sent some travel funds to their daughter, it must be a struggle for such a large family to get by.

Mo Jiuya is likely to go down in history as the poorest prince.

Thus, Minister He plans to assist his son-in-law, even if it's just a small effort, as a token of his paternal care.

This is the actual reason he's delayed his journey to the Northwest.

To fetch more silver for the He family's estates, shops, and properties, Minister He became very particular, selling only at satisfactory prices and willing to hold out for better offers.

So, when he arrived in Xiling Village with the satisfactory banknotes, he discovered the Mo family wasn't living in hardship at all!

It was outright luxurious!

He and Mrs. He initially shared the same thought, that the Mo family was so lavish as to use glass for windows...

Thankfully, his wife clarified these matters for him.

Simultaneously, Minister He realized why his wife and son were reluctant to leave the Northwest.

Frequent visits with He Zhiran were one thing, but they were also drawn to this lifestyle.

Mo Jiuya tasked Hu Cong with building a courtyard house, and Hu Cong, even if it meant setting aside other duties, didn't want to delay the project for the Mo family, who had acknowledged his skills.

Thus, he constructed the courtyard house for He Zhiran's family at an incredible pace.

The courtyard house mirrored the Mo family's not just in style, but also in its interior furnishings and decor.

When Minister He opened the door yesterday, he was greeted by a wave of warmth, assuming many charcoal basins were ablaze in the room.

Yet, upon searching, he found not a single charcoal basin.

Mrs. He beamed with pride when speaking of this spring-like warmth in the room.

She proudly informed her husband that this was a unique heating system their daughter and son-in-law had developed, known as underfloor heating.

Not only is it safer than using charcoal basins, but it's also incredibly cozy, with the temperature adjustable to one's preference.

This once again broadened Minister He's horizons. Guided by Mrs. He, he walked barefoot on the floor, feeling a warmth akin to their usual hot water bottles.

It's marvelous, the Northwest is truly marvelous!

This is Minister He's genuine sentiment after arriving in the Northwest, particularly with his delightful grandchildren, which utterly melted his grandfatherly heart.

And yesterday afternoon, his in-law Mo Qing personally showed him around, and he was amazed to see green vegetables thriving in winter.

What's more, the varieties of vegetables were entirely new to him.

He also observed the once formidable old Duke skillfully cultivating these green vegetables.