Bitter winter in the twelfth lunar month, with wind and snow enveloping the sky.
Extreme cold compels the people across the Nine Provinces to stay indoors for warmth, unless absolutely necessary.
The activity of all living beings on Earth also reaches its lowest at this time.
And the nations of the Nine Provinces, after the mutiny at Xian An in Liang, have fallen into a deep silence, with no other significant events occurring.
Under the protection of severe cold, everyone begins to hibernate and conserve.
Chu State starts to get busy.
Now, it's November, the time when the annual Winter Tax is collected.
After two years of Great Wars, each involving over ten million people, the expenditure of money and grain has flowed out ceaselessly, like running water that cannot be stopped.
Originally, Lu Yuan had estimated that he had enough savings to wage wars for several years, but when he truly began to spend money, he found he had been somewhat optimistic.
