The order on the conscription of troops in various parts of the country was quickly carried out under Lu Yuan's strong order.

In fact, it is not easy to say that it is a forced order, because the bad situation around Chu State can be seen by anyone with a discerning eye.

The nearby three kingdoms of Zhou, Liang, and Ning are all overlords of the world, or overlords of a state. The Soviet Union and the southwestern Yi countries in the south are also enemies that can produce hundreds of thousands of strong soldiers, and their strength is not weak.

With such a strong enemy as a neighbor, there is not enough strength to protect oneself, and no one is at ease in their hearts.

Therefore, since Lu Yuan's expedition to the southwest, with more and more places to use troops on the front line, the loss of soldiers and horses has become greater and greater. In the rear, there was more and more discussion about whether or not to conscript.

It's just that because of the size of the Chu State, it is already extremely difficult to raise the original 240,000 army.

At present, more than 100,000 troops are employed on the two fronts, and various expenses are more onerous than in peacetime.

Therefore, although there are many proposals, they have not been implemented due to financial problems.

That's a good time.

With Lu Yuan, the king of Chu, pushing it out, some of the original resistance disappeared in an instant. Under the majesty of the founding monarch, the whole court began to work together to handle this matter seriously.

The number of conscripts is 138,000, which is more than half of the total number of soldiers and horses in the country.

An expansion of this scale is not insignificant.

However, for the Chu State, which now has a population of more than seven million, it is not very difficult to recruit this number of soldiers.

What's more, these 138,000 people, the Chu State did not ask for them to be raised in just a few months, but divided them into several years.

Fifty or sixty thousand people are recruited every year, and the recruitment will be completed in two or three years.

Having such a long time as a buffer can not only select more high-quality soldiers, but also make the financial pressure on the imperial court less great, and there is a gradual adaptation process.

It's just that even so, for the sake of the war, this time to recruit and replenish troops, we still give priority to the two counties of Xichuan and Qianzhong, which are on the front line, to ensure the stability of these two places.

Just like this side of Qianzhong County.

Because there are not many people in the country who are willing to come here to serve as county soldiers, Lu Yuan has ordered to recruit soldiers from among the exiled sinners and immigrants.

These sinners and immigrants have made their home here.

Whether they want to or not, but in the case of dragging their families and mouths, it is impossible to escape, and in the end they have to accept the reality honestly.

After a year and a half of continuous exile and immigration, there are now more than 120,000 households of Chu people in the entire Qianzhong County, with more than 600,000 people.

With such a large number of households, and abandoning those naturalized women and children, the number of adult males has exceeded 150,000.

It didn't take much effort to select the source of troops from so many bases, and it was easy to recruit the remaining 6,000 county soldiers.

It's not even just to make up for the shortage of prefecture and county soldiers in the eight prefectures at the moment, even the 4,000 prefecture and county soldiers in the two prefectures of Huichuan Kingdom, which are only on paper and have not yet been occupied, have also begun to recruit and train in advance on the side of Qianzhong County.

This war with the Southwest Yi has been going on for too long.

…

From July of the fourth year of Shenwu to February of the sixth year of Shenwu, the war has lasted for a year and a half.

In a year and a half, the state of Chu lost nearly 50,000 soldiers, spent tens of millions of taels of military salaries, and the rest of the manpower, grain and grass were countless.

It can be said that a big war almost wiped out the three years of reserves of the Chu State.

If you continue to fight now, although it is not unsupportable, after all, with the wealth harvested from Qianzhong County, 50 million taels of silver can last for a long time.

But even if it can hold on, dragged down by this war, if the Chu State wants to develop further, it is impossible.

And now, when the surrounding countries are changing their laws and powers, trying their best to enhance their national strength and military strength, and becoming stronger every year. The fact that the state of Chu did not make progress was already a kind of regression in itself.

It took six years for Ning Guo to restore an army of 500,000. In another six years, the number of the army may be 800,000.

On the Zhou side, in the Northern Expedition seven years ago, although nearly 300,000 soldiers and horses were lost, a county was also lost.

But seven years have passed, relying on the remaining seven counties, the soldiers and horses lost by the Zhou State have long been recovered.

Even because of the continuous war with the Wei State in the north, the Zhou State has been expanding its armaments every year, and now it has reached 800,000 soldiers and horses, which is a veritable military power.

However, it is also because of the perennial war with the Wei State.

The Zhou State had to maintain a long-term army of 300,000 troops in the northern Xinjiang every year, and the general of the Northern Pillar State, He Basheng, who had fought with Lu Yuan before, has been frequently active in the northern Xinjiang battlefield in recent years and has made a lot of achievements.

Some famous achievements have been circulated, that is, even Lu Yuan, who is far away in Yangzhou, has often heard of it in the weekly report of the Imperial City Division.

made it more aware of this great general.

As for Liang Guo, not to mention.

This behemoth, which occupies the ten counties of Qingzhou, has always maintained a standing army of one million, and there are more than ten innate grandmasters in the country, and it has always been the most ambitious among the surrounding countries.

Qianyue could perish so quickly, and it was impossible to find the southern expedition of 500,000 troops of the Liang State in the twenty-eighth year of Longqing.

Otherwise, if he hadn't been dragged down by the Liang State, the hundreds of thousands of elites in the Northern Xinjiang of the Yue Kingdom, as well as several innate masters in the country, would have been drawn out to participate in the counterinsurgency, and there would be nothing to do with Lu Yuan and them.

So in a sense, Liang can also be regarded as a benefactor of Chu, Su, Nanhai and other countries.

It's just that both sides don't admit it, and they don't think it's it.

However, after the reconciliation of Liang Yue in the sixth year of Hongdao, the Liang State, which did not take much advantage in the south, began to focus on some small countries in the northeast of Qingzhou from the south to the north.

Especially since five years ago, Liang sent another 500,000 troops to conquer the coming countries in the northeast of Qingzhou.

Coming to the country is known as a million households, according to the land of two counties, with 300,000 male soldiers, and there are three congenital grandmasters in the country, which is a real big country in Qingzhou.

Judging from the strength on the surface, it is actually stronger than the Chu State before the annexation of Qianzhong County.

But even such a big country, in the face of a behemoth like Liang State, it still seems insignificant.

It has only been a year since the two countries exchanged troops, and when they came to the country, they lost half of their land and lost more than 100,000 soldiers.

…

In the most difficult time, even the national capital was besieged for a time, and he almost had the worry of losing the country.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, Xuzhou Xuguo, which was close to Laiguo, was deeply disturbed when he saw his neighbor Laiguo being attacked by Liang, so he also sent 300,000 troops to help.

Just look at the name of Xu Guo, dare to name the country after the state, how can you stand in the world without any strength.

In fact, Xu Guo is the overlord of Xuzhou, and although his strength is not as good as that of Liang, he has barely reached the level of the overlord of the world.

Therefore, with its help, Laiguo barely resisted the invasion of Liang.

But after several years of fighting, even if the two countries work together, they are still not Liang's opponents.

So far, one of the two counties in the country has been lost, and even some small countries in the northeast of Qingzhou have been destroyed by the Liang State.

If you count some of the scattered territories occupied by the Liang State in the rest of the parties, the territory that the Liang State really owns at this time is actually as wide as the twelve counties, which has already surpassed the other world overlords.

However, perhaps it is precisely because of this that the Xu State in the northeast of the Liang State, the Zhao State in the north, the Zhou State in the west, and the Ning State in the south, these overlords of the world or the overlords of a state are not dealing with the Liang State.

Facing the hostility of so many powerful countries, the border pressure of Liang is actually very great, and the long-term standing army of millions is precisely to deal with these enemies.

But being able to slowly expand its territory with so many strong enemies looking around, the strength of the Liang State is strong enough to make people fearful.

Not to mention the distance, let's just say that the Jiangxia County of Liang is next to Baling City, and the 100,000 Liang soldiers stationed there are not only used to deal with Zhou and Ning.

If there is a need and opportunity, the 100,000 army can also move south and east at any time to attack Dongting County in Chu State.

The surrounding area is surrounded by the three powerful countries of Zhou, Liang, and Ning, even if these three countries do not show signs of attacking the Chu State for the time being, but as the lord of the Chu State, how can Lu Yuan, as the lord of the Chu State, really relax his vigilance because of this.

It is urgent for him to end the war against Southwest Yi as soon as possible, to start the development of Xichuan and Qianzhong counties as soon as possible, and to accumulate strength as soon as possible.

……

"So this year, it is not only necessary to solve the Great Chowa Country, but also to lay down the land of the Aikawa Country. It is also necessary to recover Xichuan County, completely subdue the Nanzhao Kingdom, and end these two wars. Then build up the strength to meet the next great power challenges. ”

At the beginning of March, in the main hall of the palace, Lu Yuan put down the recruitment report that had just been sent from Qianzhong County, and a touch of firmness flashed in his eyes.

He didn't have too many doubts about ending these two battles, and his heart was full of confidence.

This confidence comes from its own strength.

The cultivator who condensed his qi was equivalent to the great grandmaster of the innate third realm, and the powerful power in his hands was the source of all Lu Yuan's confidence.

Although it is not easy for him to directly destroy the Great Changhe Kingdom and the Nanzhao Kingdom, he can still do it by killing the two innate grandmasters of the other party with the power of thunder, and deterring the enemy with absolute power and making him submit.

And with this absolute strength deterrent, as long as he doesn't die, Xiao Xiao won't dare to make a mistake.

A Purple Cloud Dao can make the former Yue at his peak retreat and compromise.

…

Now that Lu Yuan has the same power, he can also make those southwestern lords fearful.

In this world where great power is gathered in one, even if you are in the end of the law, the force of an individual can still affect the rise and fall of a country and a state.

This is the charm of cultivating immortals.

The time is slowly approaching April.

As Lu Yuan's date for sending troops approached, the preparations of the Chu State were gradually improved.

After two months of emergency recruitment, the county government and county soldiers of Xichuan and Qianzhong counties gradually completed their construction. The six forbidden armies in the two counties were also reinstated with a steady stream of recruits from the country.

It's just that there are two forbidden armies, because most of them are new soldiers, their combat strength has dropped greatly, and they still need to train for two or three years before they can recover their combat strength and become elite soldiers.

In this regard, Lu Yuan had already made a decision to leave the two forbidden armies in Qianzhong County.

Although Qianzhong County is initially stable, there are still rebellions of hundreds of people from time to time.

At the same time, among the mountains in the county, there are also a large number of Yiren tribes. They are not very good for the senses of the foreign Chu people, and they will often go down the mountain to attack local villages and towns.

Although the scale of these rebellion attacks was not large, it could not affect the rule of Chu over Qianzhong County.

But it's also a war anyway, and the intensity is not great, although it will kill people, but it won't die too many people, which is just used to hone recruits.

Now these two forbidden armies have been dispersed to the localities, and under the leadership of Lan Zhaoyun and Li Liang, they are conducting training to suppress bandits on the north and south sides of Qianzhong County respectively.

After more than a month, it has achieved some results, clearing out thousands of local traitors and razors, and training those recruits very much.

The remaining two forbidden armies, mainly veterans, were also assembled and trained by Lu Yuan, preparing to be the main force of the expedition with him this time.

With these 40,000 veterans following, coupled with his own strong force, even if there are 100,000 troops on the opposite side, he is confident that he can break it with one blow.

……

Just as the various parts of the Chu State were busy with the new war, Lu Yuan was also busy with cultivation and government affairs, and took the time to meet with the envoy of the South China Sea Kingdom.

"The foreign minister pays a visit to the king of Chu."

The envoy of the South China Sea Kingdom was a wealthy middle-aged man, who looked more like a merchant than a quackman and an official.

In fact, it is exactly what it is.

Because the predecessor of the South China Sea Country, the Nanhai faction, itself is a great faction that relies on maritime trade and gradually prospers.

In the Nanhai Sect, almost every vein elder sect has a large number of fleet industries and trade income, otherwise how can it afford to raise tens of thousands of disciples in the sect.

For the Nanhai faction, if you want to be a high-level, you can be a little worse in martial arts, but you definitely can't not be in business.

Otherwise, there will be no money, and if there is no money, no one will follow you, and no one will follow you, and the right to speak will naturally be weak.

It is important to know that martial arts training also costs money, and it costs a lot of money.

"Get up."

Lu Yuan retracted his gaze, and after a little bottom in his heart, he asked, "Why did the envoy come this time?" ”

In mid-February, the Nanhai Kingdom sent a messenger to inform the former king of Yan Wangqiu's death. And explained that the successor to the throne of the South China Sea is the thirteenth son of the first king, Yan Baiquan, the prince of Xinguo.

…

At that time, after receiving this news, Lu Yuan had already sent an envoy to the South China Sea to express his condolences.

Now, only a month has passed, and the South China Sea has sent envoys again, and the meaning of this is worth pondering.

The envoy of the South China Sea below, in the face of the inquiry, replied respectfully: "Back to the king, the foreign ministers came this time to reaffirm the old friendship with Da Chu and make an alliance on the orders of my king. ”

When Lu Yuan heard this, a smile of incomprehensibility appeared on his face, and he said with interest: "Really? I wonder how the King of the South Sea is going to reaffirm the old friendship, and what kind of covenant he wants to make with Lone? ”

As early as ten years ago, when the alliance with Yan Wangqiu and Su Xuange was first made, the three of them made an agreement, and the latter two funded Lu Yuan, and Lu Yuan provided military protection for the latter two.

The three of them advance and retreat together to defend against foreign enemies.

Since the conclusion of the covenant, despite all the disagreements between the three of them, they have always complied with the implementation of the terms of the covenant without any discount.

However, in the close covenant, there will be a moment of breakage.

In the past, when the states of Chu and Su became independent one after another and changed their names to Jianyuan, although the Nanhai State fulfilled its covenant and fought against the Ning State together.

But after the incident ended, Nanhai Kingdom did not change its name to Jianyuan together, but still respected the Jianwu year name of Ningguo, and took the Jinling court as the orthodoxy.

Since then, the first crack has appeared between the Triple Alliance.

In the Triple Pact, the first violator also appeared.

Then in the fourth year of Shenwu, the Soviet Union was in turmoil, and the country was destroyed, and it was unable to pay the two million taels of silver and one million stone of grain that were aided to Lu Yuan.

But Su Xuange has already communicated with Lu Yuan about this matter, and Lu Yuan has also agreed that Su Guo can suspend assistance in recent years.

So in the strict sense of the word, this can't be considered a breach of contract either, at least not a complete breach of contract.

But since then, the Triple Pact has actually been semi-substantial and has been shattered.

And then it's this year.

According to the provisions of the covenant, the two countries of the Soviet Union and the South China Sea should send money, food, and materials to the state of Chu in the first month of each year.

But the timing was a coincidence.

Just this year, in the first month of Yan Wangqiu's death, the aid money and grain that the Nanhai State should have sent did not send to the Chu State.

Originally, considering that Yan Wangqiu had just died, the South China Sea Country was in a mess, and there was no backbone, so I ignored this matter for the time being, and it was understandable that no one would do it.

But by the middle of February last time, a new lord had been elected in the South China Sea, and it had been a month since the new lord ascended the throne, and the court had initially stabilized.

But when he went to Chu State and met Lu Yuan on that occasion, the envoy of Nanhai State not only informed Yan Wangqiu of the news of his death, but also the news of the new king's accession to the throne.

There is not a single word about the obligations of the covenant that should have been fulfilled.

The three million taels of silver and two million stone grains that were supposed to be sent were deliberately ignored as if they did not exist.

And it was at this time, not long ago, that Lu Yuan received an urgent report from the Imperial City Division.

On February 27 of this year, in the palace of the king of Nanhai City, Yan Baiquan, the new king of the South China Sea, officially accepted the canonization of the envoy from Jinling, and became a vassal state under the Ningguo system under the grant of the emperor of Jianwu.

Nanhai Kingdom has become a vassal state of Ning Kingdom!

When the news came back, Lu Yuan only felt betrayed.

You must know that at the beginning, they paid a lot of costs to finally break away from the tributary system of Jinling City and become an independent *** country.

Even after that, Yan Wangqiu continued to respect the era name of the Son of Heaven of Jinling, but he did not say that he was a vassal state of the Ning State, and the Nanhai Kingdom was still independent.

But now, the South China Sea Kingdom, which was finally independent, has returned to the embrace of Ningguo.

This kind of behavior, for the Chu State and the Su State, which regard the Ning State as an enemy country, where do they go?

This is already a blatant betrayal.

It's just that for this kind of betrayal, the Chu State and the Su State, which are now caught in the war in the Southwest Yi, don't have the energy to care about it.

But just because they didn't speak out doesn't mean that they have already agreed to acquiesce.

At this time, seeing the messenger of the betrayer of the South China Sea Kingdom running over and reaffirming the old friendship and making an alliance with him in a serious manner, Lu Yuan only felt a little like laughing.

At the same time, I was a little curious, what did the other party want to say to me?

Hopefully it will not disappoint.