Excluding the training of provincial, prefectural, and county (prefecture) regiments, the 450,000 well-trained and well-equipped regular troops, especially the "Flying Dragon Army," which had 150,000 (105,000 army, 45,000 navy, and marines) and was almost entirely equipped with firearms, seemed a bit too large and a bit of a military force for the Later Zhou regime, which only owned 12 provinces and had a population of only about 25 million.

However, under the overall arrangement and deliberate guidance of the crossing team, the Later Zhou regime made great progress in the field of industry and commerce while ensuring sufficient production of grain and other crops, among which the industry and commerce in the core areas such as Beiping, Kaifeng, and Taiyuan that were stable and developed earlier were even more vigorous and remarkable, making the Later Zhou economy grow by leaps and bounds and the fiscal revenue increased significantly. With sufficient food as the foundation, the rapid development of industry and commerce as the pillar, coupled with the continuous progress of the crossing team in science and technology, the social production efficiency was effectively improved, so that the Later Zhou court had enough manpower, material resources, and financial resources to support this huge armed force.

Second, as the Zhou army fought in the east and west, and in the south and north, the territory controlled by the Later Zhou regime became larger and larger, and the population increased, and a certain number of troops were also needed to defend it. Especially in the early days of the empire, although the hostile forces of all sides have been defeated, their remnants are still there, and in order to prevent their resurgence, it is still necessary to send troops to suppress them. Therefore, from this point of view, it is very necessary to maintain a strong armed force at this stage.

Third, although the Later Zhou court has controlled the Central Plains and the north and south of the Great River, there are still Southern Han, Khitan, Dali, Western Regions and other separatist forces and foreign regimes, and the Later Zhou court is still far from recovering the homeland of the Han and Tang dynasties, and the gentry and people still have a long way to go, during which they have to go through several major battles and even vicious battles, and having a strong armed force is also the basis and premise for completing this series of wars.

Therefore, until the restoration of the homeland of the Han and Tang dynasties is completed—at least the defeat of the Khitan, the recovery of the Southern Han Dynasty, Dali, and the restoration of the Silk Road—the size of the Zhou army will not change much, at most, it will gradually increase the number of the "Flying Dragon Army" to replace the central "security army". As for whether or not to carry out disarmament after the reunification of the world, it will need to be decided according to the situation at that time. After all, unified dynasties like the Han, Tang, Ming, and Qing dynasties, when their countries were strong, all had hundreds of thousands or even millions of soldiers, otherwise it would be difficult to control such a huge territory.

With such a large army, it is natural that it needs to be useful in order to demonstrate its role. Therefore, after completing the adjustment of the local military and political institutions, the eyes of the crossing team and even the entire Later Zhou court turned to the south, staring at Liu Gang, who was still there behind closed doors as the emperor, and his small court of the Southern Han Dynasty.

Although compared to the Later Zhou, the Southern Han was just a small country in a corner of peace, and compared with the powerful Zhou army, the Southern Han army was even more vulnerable to a rabble. But after all, this is a war to destroy the country, and it is to deprive the monarchs and ministers of the Southern Han Dynasty of their vested interests, and the other party always has to resist stubbornly and struggle to the death. What's more, the crossing team has always been prudent in doing things, and will never fight uncertain battles. Even if the other party is indeed a soft persimmon or a sick chicken, the crossing team will use a strong King Kong finger to pinch and slaughter with a knife. Therefore, when the enlarged meeting of the crossing team committee officially decided to launch the battle to destroy the Southern Han Dynasty and formulated the relevant battle plan, and then the Zhou court also reached an agreement on this matter, the first to act was not the "Flying Dragon Army" and the "Security Army", but the convoy transporting grain, grass and various military supplies. Hundreds of convoys and tens of thousands of vehicles will spend months transporting the supplies needed to destroy the Southern Han to designated storage sites near the starting point of the attack for the use of the army.

Just when the crossing team and the Later Zhou court were intensively preparing for the destruction of the Southern Han, there was good news one after another, which made the Later Zhou monarchs and ministers who were already eager to try the battle to destroy the Southern Han even more emotional.

On the 20th day of the 10th lunar month of the fifth year of Jianlong, that is, the third day after the Later Zhou court made the decision to destroy the Southern Han Dynasty, a piece of music from the newly established Jiangxi Provincial Political Division was sent to Wang Kunjun. However, the content of the chapter is gratifying - the new political envoy of Jiangxi Province reported that Chen Hongjin, the envoy of the Qingyuan Army, the Quanzhang Observation Envoy, and the Taifu of the Inspection School, wanted to enter Beijing to meet him, and planned to return to Zhou and formally merge the Qingyuan Army into the Great Zhou. Now, Chen Hongjin and a group of civil and military officials of the Qingyuan Army have arrived in Nanchang, and they will leave for Beijing only after the imperial court agrees to their request.

For this kind of self-aware local separatist forces that can judge the situation and assess the situation, whether it is the crossing team or the Later Zhou court, they are very welcome. Therefore, after receiving the recital, Wang Kunjun immediately convened a committee meeting to discuss it, and finally decided to accept Chen Hongjin's invitation, and he must be given a high-standard reception.

So, the next day, the Zhou court issued an order, on the one hand, ordered the Jiangxi political secretary to receive Chen Hongjin with the gift of the national prince, and sent people to escort his party to the north. On the other hand, the political departments of Anhui and Henan provinces along the way were ordered to transfer and greet them with the same high-standard courtesy. At the same time, according to the arrangement of the crossing team, the Later Zhou Dynasty also appointed the founding uncle, the commander of the Sibu army in front of the palace, the general Zuo Xiaowei, and the defense envoy Wang Feng of Ruzhou as the leading envoy, and went out for 300 miles to greet Chen Hongjin and his party in the Guide Mansion. After Chen Hongjin and his entourage arrived in Kaifeng, the founding marquis, the inspector Taifu, Tongping Zhangshi, the golden purple Guanglu doctor, and Zhang Weixin, the secretary of the ministry, will also lead some nobles and ministers of the central court to greet them outside the city.

Such a high-standard reception courtesy moved Chen Hongjin and a group of former Qingyuan Army civil and military officials, and repeatedly urged the officials in charge of receiving and escorting them to speed up their journey north, so that they could enter Beijing as soon as possible to face St. Shane'en. As a result, the journey, which should have been completed in a month and a half according to the itinerary, took less than a month, and Chen Hongjin and others had already come to the foot of Kaifeng City.

On the first day of the twelfth month of the fifth lunar calendar of Jianlong, Zhang Weixin led more than 100 nobles and ministers of the Zhou court to greet Chen Hongjin and his party five miles south of Kaifeng City. On the same day, important officials of the imperial court, including Wang Kunjun, Xu Shao'an, Li Junwu, and other important officials who actually controlled the power of the Later Zhou Dynasty, also held a banquet in the Song State Mansion to entertain Chen Hongjin and his party.

On the second day, on the second day of the twelfth month of the fifth lunar calendar of Jianlong, the little emperor Chai Zongxun of the Later Zhou Dynasty summoned Chen Hongjin and his party. Chen Hongjin went to the "Nadi Surface", and Chai Zongxun gave a banquet and reward, announcing that Chen Hongjin was crowned as the Duke of Qiguo, the envoy of the Wuning Army, and the Tongping Zhangshi, and his brothers, nephews and other relatives were also awarded various honorary official positions such as defense envoys and regimental training envoys, and were rewarded with a large number of silver coins, silk silks and food estates. Subsequently, the Later Zhou court sent a large number of civil and military officials to the Qingyuan army to assist those who remained there, and Chen Hongzi's eldest son Chen Wenxian and second son, Chen Wenhao, who had been appointed as the prefect of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, were jointly governed - three months later, Chen Wenxian and Chen Wenhao would be returned to Beijing by edict, and the Zhangzhou and Quanzhou prefectures would be completely managed by officials appointed by the imperial court. So far, since the beginning of the Fifth Dynasty, with the change of the local shape, the two prefectures of Quan, Zhang, and the 14 counties under their jurisdiction, which have been in a state of secession and semi-independence, with a total of 151,978 households and nearly one million people, have been officially included in the territory of the Later Zhou Dynasty.

The news that Chen Hongjin led a group of civil and military officials to Kaifeng and return to Zhou immediately caused a lot of reaction in the surrounding areas. Among them, the most affected and the most obvious reaction was Wu Yueguo, who was closer to the Later Zhou Dynasty than the Qing Yuan army, and their king Qian Yu.

It stands to reason that whether it is their own strength or their previous relationship with the Later Zhou, as well as their status in the hearts of the Later Zhou monarchs, Wu Yueguo and their king Qian Yu are much stronger, closer and more important than the Qing Yuanjun and Chen Hongjin. Especially at the beginning of the fourth year of Jianlong, after a long period of difficult negotiations, Wu Yueguo finally accepted the request of the Later Zhou Dynasty and agreed that the latter would lease a piece of land in the northeast of Xiuzhou and southeast of Suzhou, near the mouth of the Yangtze River, in order to build a shipbuilding base and a port for his navy to dock and rest after training in the south, and the Later Zhou court gave Wu Yueguo even more preferential treatment. Not only did they often issue awards and rewards, but they also gave many preferential policies to the merchants of Wu Yueguo who went to Houzhou, especially Beiping Mansion to do business, so that they made a lot of money and indirectly enhanced the national strength of Wu Yueguo. In the case that the general trend of the world is very clear, and there is no suspense in the future of the world, Qian Yu, the king of Wuyue, should have taken advantage of the situation, taking the opportunity of the preferential treatment of the Later Zhou court, and taking the initiative to return to Zhou, and won the best result for himself, but also for Wu Yue's civil and military generals and gentry and the common people.

But Qian Yu was very conservative on this issue, and even a little stubborn, only knowing that he blindly served the Central Plains court as the right one, and always made pilgrimages and paid tribute, but he was unwilling to give up the power in his hands, and he was unwilling to destroy the so-called ancestral inheritance in his own hands. As a result, on the one hand, he was extremely deferential to the Later Zhou court, but on the other hand, he argued with the Later Zhou court on issues such as the establishment of shipbuilding bases and ports, so that the relevant negotiations lasted for nearly two years before the two sides finally reached an agreement. Although the Later Zhou court praised its eventual agreement to lease the land, and gave many rewards and awards, in fact, such a long and difficult negotiation also made the Later Zhou court, especially Zhang Weixin, Xu Shao'an, and other time-travelers who presided over the relevant negotiations behind the scenes, not very satisfied. So much so that every time Wu Yueguo sent an envoy to the court, these important ministers who controlled the political power of the Later Zhou Dynasty always had a lukewarm attitude towards the envoys, far less close than before and after the destruction of the Southern Tang Dynasty. Such an obvious change, but Qian Yu did not find it, and still stubbornly adhered to his principle of being a vassal and not accepting land, and little by little consumed his favor in the Later Zhou Dynasty and in the hearts of the crossing team since he helped destroy the Southern Tang Dynasty reach its peak.

Now, Chen Hongjin took the initiative to return to Zhou, and while pushing Wu Yueguo almost to the same level as the Southern Han Dynasty who did not listen to the orders of the Central Plains Imperial Court at all, he also put Qian Yu on the same level as the incompetent and arrogant Liu Gang. In other words, although today's Qian Yu is not a rebellious rebellious minister and thief like Liu Gang, he is not much better. If he doesn't repent and doesn't take action, I'm afraid that it won't be long before he will follow in the footsteps of Meng Chang and Li Yu, and be escorted by Zhou Jun to Kaifeng to apologize.

In the face of such a situation, even if Qian Yu is reluctant and unwilling, there is only one way to go for Chen Hongjin. So, just a month after getting the news that Chen Hong had entered the land and returned to Zhou, Qian Yu also had to pay homage to his grandfather Qian Hao's mausoleum, and wept bitterly in front of his grandfather's spiritual seat, blaming himself for "not being filial, not being able to keep sacrifices, and not being able to die in Sheji", after taking all the money and treasures of the small court of Wu Yueguo, with his wife and children, and with his own civil and military generals, he left Hangzhou, and went to Kaifeng step by step.

Although the land offered was much larger than that of the Qingyuan army, although the people under his rule were far more numerous than the Qingyuan army, although the Wuyue region was also far more prosperous than the Zhangquan region, and although the time of entering Beijing was only less than two months later than Chen Hongjin. But as the so-called "one step is wrong, one step is wrong", Qian Yu, who lost the opportunity, could not catch up with Chen Hongjin, who was one step ahead of him, no matter what. Although the Later Zhou court was also very satisfied and appreciative of his request to "return to Zhou", there was already Chen Hongjin, an example that could be promoted, and the value of Qian Yu's "returning to Zhou" behavior was inevitably greatly reduced. Therefore, although the other party was a king recognized by himself, the decree given by the Later Zhou court to the provinces, prefectures, and counties along the way only required that they be received according to the courtesy of the county king; Although an envoy was still sent to greet him, the candidate for the envoy was changed from Wang Feng, one of the brothers of the "Qingyuan" and the founder of the country, to a waiter of the Ministry of Rites who did not belong to the Beiping system, and the distance from the greeting was reduced from 300 li to 150 li; Although there are still dozens of ministers of the imperial court waiting outside Kaifeng City, the leader has changed from Zhang Weixin, one of the brothers of "Qingyuan", who is the founding marquis and second only to Wang Kunjun in the court, to the sixth master who is one higher than Zhang Weixin in the ranking of the brothers in the "Qingyuan", but only the title of the founding prince and the official position of the right servant of the household department.

Therefore, when Qian Yu and his entourage arrived in Kaifeng and were accompanied by You Yuan and other ministers into the city, the king of Wuyue not only did not feel relieved, but was worried and uneasy. And when he found out that there was only Zhang Weixin who held a banquet to entertain his party, and Wang Kunjun, Xu Shao'an, Li Junwu and other other leaders of the "Qingyuan" brothers were not present, the worries and apprehensions in his heart became more and more serious. It wasn't until the next day that he went to the palace to face the monarch and saw Chai Zongxun, the little emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty, as well as Wang Kunjun and Xu Shao'an and other important ministers who accompanied him, and was crowned Queen Xu by Chai Zongxun, that Qian Yu's heart that had been hanging was slightly relaxed. After receiving the decree and thanking him, he returned to the palace newly given to him by the imperial court without delay to be a peaceful prince who had no quarrel with the world.

On the twenty-fifth day of the first month of the sixth year of Jianlong, the Later Zhou court issued an order to dismiss the military states of Wu Yue and implement the provincial, government and county systems instead. The northern part of Wuyue Kingdom was Zhejiang Province, and the southern part of Wuyue Kingdom, Zhang, Quan, and some prefectures and counties in the southeastern part of Jiangxi Province were Fujian Province, and a large number of civil and military officials were sent to accept it. So far, since the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Wuyue region has been in a state of secession and independence, 14 prefectures, 1 army, 86 counties, more than 556,600 households, and nearly 4 million people have been officially included in the territory of the Later Zhou Dynasty.