Xiong Wuliang nodded lazily and cursed with a smile: "A bunch of bastards are just waiting to see my jokes, right?"
"Did the second and third sons just expect me to fall into the water?"
All the navy officers laughed and said with shy faces: "Your Majesty, you have wronged me... How dare we have such evil intentions?"
Xiong Wuliang laughed and noticed Siyi and Xiaobai were at a loss, so he waved his hand and ordered: "Everyone is gone, get to the shore as soon as possible."
All the sergeants promised in unison, and the banner with the word Chu on a yellow background and red characters fluttered in the wind. Some soldiers shouted loudly: "The Lord has an order - get to the shore as soon as possible!"
The navy officers quickly returned to their posts, while still winking at each other... My little master has a good temper, and he treats ordinary soldiers like them very kindly. He does not have the aloof appearance of ordinary nobles...
He can treat us soldiers as human beings, even as friends... In non-war times, he can still joke with his brothers, and he doesn't mind the occasional 'offenses' of the soldiers.
There is no other such lord in the world!
In the hearts of the vast majority of soldiers, having such a master is enough for the soldiers of the three armies to die for him!
…
The navy's large ships docked one after another, put down the small boats, and carried Xiong Wuliang and others to the shore... The riders on the shore had been waiting for a long time. When they saw Xiong Wuliang, they immediately saluted: "We will pay homage to the Lord!"
"Quyang Zuoyin just came to the Hou Mansion with Le Yi, saying that he wanted to serve the Lord..."
Xiong Wuliang: I’ll blanch it!
If you tell me this, I won’t be sleepy!
I don't know what method Zhao Hua used to convince Le Yi so quickly... Xiong Wuliang immediately jumped on the saddle and saddled horseback, leading a group of riders to run towards the Hou Mansion.
Kongliu Siyi and Xiaobai stood there, looking at each other... and scolding Xiong Wuliang in their hearts...
Okay, Xiong Wuliang, you are personable.
As expected of you!
…
Le Yi walked slowly in the study room of Quyanghou Mansion, with Zhao Hua accompanying him.
A moment later, Qu Yuan pushed the door open and saw Le Yi at first glance. He immediately raised his hands and saluted: "Qu Yuan, Quyang Yin, I have heard about the name of Lord Chang for a long time. It is really a blessing to see you today."
Le Yi did not dare to be negligent, and immediately stood up and returned the greeting: "Le Mou has heard of Qu Zi's name for a long time... I don't dare to praise Qu Zi too much."
Qu Yuan, as the former great Sima of Chu State, certainly had a great reputation.
The two of them chatted for a moment and sat down separately.
"Brother Le, what do you think of my great Chu?" Qu Yuan considered his words and then asked.
Le Yi thought for a moment, and then said slowly: "Le doesn't know much about Chu State... This Quyang City is extremely prosperous, not inferior to Jicheng City of Yan State."
"But other places in Chu State must be far inferior to the fiefdoms under the rule of Qu Yanghou."
Thinking back to the first time he wandered around Quyang City, Le Yi was shocked one after another by the prosperous Quyang City. Every novel thing almost blinded Le Yi's eyes.
The towering and majestic city wall is as strong as the most majestic and steep fortress in the Yan Kingdom.
There are many pedestrians on the street, and most of them are smiling, with a well-nourished and shiny face... which is significantly different from the tired dishes on the faces of lower-class citizens in other countries.
No wonder the army under Qu Yanghou was invincible.
Just looking at the physical fitness of these pedestrians, they far exceed those of the people from Jicheng... These Chu people are stocky and powerful, with shiny faces. If faced with those disheveled peasants from Yan State, it shouldn't be a problem to fight three of them one by one.
Even if ordinary farmers are like this, how will the army under Xiong Wuliang be treated? It was simply beyond Le Yi’s imagination!
Such a professional army with sufficient food and wages, coupled with top-notch weapons and armor - when faced with temporarily recruited garrison soldiers from various countries, it is easy to defeat ten of them one by one.
The street scene in Quyang City is even more prosperous - thanks to the prosperity of business brought by foreign merchants, there are countless restaurants and shops in the streets of Quyang City.
If this only made Le Yi look at him with suspicion, it shocked Le Yi's attention when he saw that ordinary farmers could often visit the wine shop.
Where did they get the money?
Are the people under the rule of Qu Yanghou so wealthy? Not only can I have a full stomach, but I can also afford to drink wine?
Oh My God!
Not to mention that the streets were full of foreign merchants speaking with different accents - Le Yi once presided over the reform in Yan State and was no stranger to political management. He knew that such a dense concentration of merchants represented astronomical amounts of tax revenue.
In a word - Qu Yanghou's fiefdom is extremely rich!
Of course, given the size of Chu State, Qu Yanghou's fiefdom was just an exception - if the entire Chu State was like this, it would have unified the world long ago.
According to Le Yi's understanding - although Chu State has a vast territory and a large population, it has many feudal lords from various factions. Under layers of exploitation, there is not even a single financial and human resource left at the disposal of the top leaders of Chu State.
Moreover, the power of the feudal lords in various places in Chu State was extremely great. Not only did they have the power of life and death in their own fiefdoms, they could even change the laws in their own fiefdoms.
Many feudal lords imposed excessive taxes to satisfy their own selfish desires, making the people under their rule miserable. Some Chu nobles even levied outrageous taxes of "ten nine" in their fiefdoms, forcing the Chu people to become homeless and even rebel.
Why doesn't King Chu come out and take charge?
Laughing to death.
Unless these princes commit serious crimes, the King of Chu has no right to change or deprive those princes of their fiefdoms and rights - whoever dares to touch the cakes of these princes, Wu Qi, who was shot to death by random arrows, is a lesson learned from the past!
This resulted in the fact that although Chu State had a vast territory and abundant resources, the power it could mobilize was extremely low.
If we talk about the Qin State, the King of Qin can mobilize 90% of its war potential with a single order.
In the Yan Kingdom after Le Yi presided over the reform, the King of Yan was also able to mobilize 60 to 70% of the country's strength in wartime.
As for Chu State...
One is that the country is on the verge of subjugation, and the other is that there are benefits to be gained by winning repeated battles... In addition to the above two extreme situations that allow the kings of various places to work hard to serve the King of Chu - in conventional wars, the King of Chu can at most It can mobilize 10% of the country's strength.
Therefore, the state of Chu is both strong and weak.
Le Yi smiled faintly and said to Qu Yuan: "Le Yi has little knowledge and dare not speak nonsense."
"If I have to express my opinion... In my opinion, Chu State has many disadvantages. Although it is vast and densely populated, it does not have the qualifications to dominate."
"Although the King of Chu dominates, he relies on Qu Yanghou's successive victories on the battlefield... But these victories are all based on the weak defeating the strong. How can there be a person in the world who can win every battle?"
"If one day Marquis Quyang fails... the myth of Chu's hegemony will naturally collapse!"
Qu Yuan clasped his hands and laughed. He seemed not to be angry because Le Yi belittled the state of Chu, but instead felt even more happy——
"Since Brother Le just mentioned the King of Chu... I dare to ask Brother Le, what is your impression of our King of Chu?"
…
