The instructions given to Mo Chongyuan by Nan Yu were to kill all the emperors, nobles of the Southern Xiang region, and enslave the common people, denying them any chance of rebellion.
Although Nan Yu's approach was ruthless, for the sake of lasting peace and stability, he had to nip potential dangers in the bud.
Nan Yu and Mo Jiuye became intimate friends, indicating that their thoughts aligned in many ways.
Like Mo Jiuye, Nan Yu was not someone who would indiscriminately kill the innocent, but he could not feel any pity towards the Southern Xiang region.
Similarly, every single man of the Mo family harbored deep resentment towards the Southern Xiang to this extent.
However, the situation with the Barbarians was different. The Barbarians did not practice such crooked ways, so those common people were quite innocent.
Their main reason for attacking Da Shun was to fill their bellies.
Even when their attacks were occasionally motivated by impure intentions, it was due to the greed of their rulers.
The Barbarians had to be conquered and officially incorporated into the territory of Da Shun, but they would not be left with any rulers.
Henceforth, there would be no nation called the Barbarians in this world.
Of course, the task of governing the Barbarian territories absorbed into Da Shun would be directly assigned to Mo Jiuye by Nan Yu.
When he had so readily agreed to grant the northwest as Mo Jiuye's fief, Nan Yu had harbored this ulterior motive.
Unbeknownst to Nan Yu, this completely aligned with He Zhiran's wishes.
Initially, she had planned to find a way for Mo Jiuye to rent a plot of land in the Barbarian territories for livestock farming after pacifying the region.
This was not a whim of He Zhiran's - it was common knowledge that the Barbarian lands were barren, with most areas being grasslands.
Logically, the Barbarians could have chosen animal husbandry as their livelihood, but they could not find a market for the cattle and sheep they raised, so they gradually abandoned this idea.
However, He Zhiran did not need to worry about the market for cattle and sheep.
In her hands, no matter how many cattle and sheep, she could sell them all.
Take the beloved hotpot from her previous life, for example - it was a delicacy made primarily of beef and mutton.
There were also roasted whole lamb, wind-dried beef jerky, and even cooked beef dishes.
In short, He Zhiran had countless ways to consume beef and mutton. With all these methods of consuming cattle and sheep, how could she worry about a lack of market?
Just the other day, the long-awaited Minister Hao finally arrived in the northwest with Uncle Feng.
He Zhiran took out a few copper hotpots that she had recently asked Hu Cong to make, and also purchased some charcoal from the villagers.
On one hand, this was to welcome her father-in-law who had traveled from afar, but she also wanted her family to experience an authentic charcoal hotpot.
Although she had previously prepared this way of eating, at that time, apart from the unprofessional cookware, there were also issues with the visible light exposure of many condiments, so it could only be considered a makeshift effort.
Today was different. In autumn, Yu'er had already made several jars of garlic chili sauce according to He Zhiran's instructions.
Recently, He Zhiran had also taught the family to make tofu, from which they produced fermented bean curd.
The sesame seeds harvested from their own land were ground into sesame oil and sesame paste.
In addition, He Zhiran had specially purchased a book about homemade condiments from the Taobao Mall and followed its instructions to make soy sauce and oyster sauce.
Furthermore, various vegetables from their greenhouse had gradually matured, so they had an abundance of vegetables for hotpot.
Not long ago, He Zhiran had personally visited a fishing village and purchased a large quantity of seafood to make fish balls and shrimp balls.
So, this hotpot feast was the culmination of He Zhiran's long preparations.
Minister Hao knew that the men of the Mo family were recently busy with military campaigns, so they had not yet had time to build their fiefdom.
Especially since the Mo brothers had set out for their campaign in late autumn, there was no time left to construct a residence suitable for a prince.
Moreover, before leaving the capital, he had not heard of the court allocating funds for the Prince of Zhenxi to build a residence.
This was understandable - the national treasury was depleted, and they were also facing attacks from the Southern Xiang and the Barbarians.
He had personally witnessed the empty national treasury. Fortunately, the new emperor had discovered a large sum of wealth in the treacherous Xue's storehouses; otherwise, they might not have had enough funds to cover the expenses of this war.
Even with these funds allocated to the military, they were still strapped for cash and had no means to provide for the construction of the Prince of Zhenxi's residence.
Considering that the Mo family had been stripped of their possessions by the court when they were exiled from the capital, they were essentially penniless. Even though Minister Hao and Madam He had provided their daughter with some savings, it was surely a struggle for such a large household to make ends meet.
It was estimated that Mo Jiuye would be one of the poorest princes in history.
Thus, Minister Hao had intended to help his son-in-law, even if it was a meager contribution, as a gesture of goodwill from a father-in-law.
This was also the real reason for his delayed arrival in the northwest.
To gather a satisfactory amount of silver for Mo Jiuye, Minister Hao had become increasingly frugal, selling the He family's manors, shops, and properties only at prices he deemed acceptable, and waiting patiently for better offers if the prices were unsatisfactory.
However, upon arriving at Xi Ling Village with the silver he had painstakingly accumulated, he realized that the Mo family was far from impoverished - they were living extravagantly!
They had even used glazed tiles as windows, just like Minister Hao and Madam He had initially imagined...
Fortunately, Madam He explained these matters to him.
At the same time, Minister Hao also understood why his wife and son had come to the northwest and did not want to leave.
Apart from being able to frequently see He Zhiran, they were also captivated by this simple lifestyle.
Mo Jiuye had instructed Hu Cong to construct a courtyard residence, and Hu Cong, out of gratitude towards the Mo family who had shown him kindness, did not want to delay this task even at the cost of putting aside other work.
As a result, the courtyard residence he built for He Zhiran's family was completed at an astonishing pace.
Not only was the architectural style identical to the Mo family's residences, but even the interior furnishings were the same.
When Minister Hao had pushed open the door yesterday, he was greeted by a wave of warmth, initially thinking that numerous braziers must have been burning inside the rooms.
However, after searching all around, he could not find a single brazier.
Madam He proudly explained to Minister Hao that this warmth was due to a unique heating method developed by their daughter and son-in-law, called "floor heating."
Not only was it safer than using braziers in the rooms, but it was also incredibly warm, and the temperature could be adjusted as desired.
This once again broadened Minister Hao's horizons. Under Madam He's guidance, he walked barefoot on the floor, and the warmth felt like embracing a hot water bottle.
Truly wonderful, the northwest was truly wonderful!
This was Minister Hao's genuine sentiment after arriving in the northwest, especially with his adorable grandchildren, who melted his heart as a grandfather.
Moreover, yesterday afternoon, his son-in-law Mo Qing had personally taken him for a tour of the surroundings, where he saw lush, green vegetables growing in the winter.
And the varieties of these vegetables were ones he had never seen before.
He even witnessed the once formidable Duke, deftly tending to these leafy greens.
