The order regarding the recruitment of troops from various parts of the country was quickly implemented under Lu Yuan's forced order.
In fact, it is difficult to say that it is a forced order, because anyone with a discerning eye can see the bad situation surrounding Chu State now.
The nearby three kingdoms of Zhou, Liang, and Ning were all overlords of the world, or overlords of a state. The Su and Southwest Yi countries in the south are also enemies that can send hundreds of thousands of strong troops, and their strength is not weak.
Being next to such a powerful enemy and not having enough strength to protect oneself would make anyone feel uneasy.
Therefore, since Lu Yuan's conquest of the southwestern barbarians, as more and more troops were used on the front line, the loss of troops and horses was increasing. There were more and more discussions in the DPRK and Central Government regarding whether to recruit troops.
It's just that with the size of Chu State, it was already extremely difficult to support the original army of 240,000.
And now there are more than 100,000 troops on the two fronts, and all expenditures are more heavy than in peacetime.
Therefore, although there are many proposals, they have not been implemented due to financial problems.
It's better now.
With Lu Yuan, the King of Chu, pushing hard, some of the original resistance disappeared in an instant. Under the majesty of the founding monarch, the whole government began to work together to handle this matter seriously.
The number of soldiers recruited this time is 138,000, which is already more than half of the current total number of soldiers in the country.
An expansion of the military on this scale is not a big deal.
However, for the Chu State, which now has a population of more than 7 million, it is actually not that difficult to recruit such a number of soldiers.
What's more, the Chu State did not ask to raise these 138,000 people in just a few months, but divided them into several years.
We recruit 50,000 to 60,000 people every year, and they will be all recruited in two to three years.
With such a long time as a buffer, not only can more high-quality soldiers be selected, but also the financial pressure on the court will be less great, and there will be a gradual adaptation process.
However, despite this, for the sake of war, the recruitment and recruitment of troops this time will 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 here in Qianzhong County.
Because there were not many people in the country who were willing to come here to serve as county soldiers, Lu Yuan had ordered the recruitment of soldiers from among the exiled criminals and immigrants.
These criminals and immigrants have made their home here.
Regardless of whether they wanted to or not, it was impossible to escape with their family behind them, and in the end they had to accept the reality honestly.
After a year and a half of continuous exile of criminals and immigrants, the number of registered Chu people in the entire Qianzhong County now exceeds 120,000 households, with more than 600,000 people.
With such a large household population, the number of adult males has exceeded 150,000, leaving behind those naturalized barbarian women and children.
It doesn't take much effort to select soldiers from such a large number of bases. It is easy to raise the remaining 6,000 prefecture and county soldiers.
Not only to make up for the current shortage of prefecture and county soldiers in the eight prefectures, but also the 4,000 prefecture and county soldiers in the two prefectures of Huichuan Kingdom that are only on paper and have not yet been occupied, Qianzhong County has also begun to recruit and train in advance .
This war with the southwestern barbarians 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 one and a half years, Chu lost nearly 50,000 troops, spent tens of millions of taels of military pay, and countless other manpower and food.
It can be said that one big war almost wiped out Chu's three-year reserves.
If we continue to fight now, although it is not unsustainable, 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 survive, it will be impossible for Chu State to develop further due to the drag of this war.
Nowadays, all the countries around us are reforming and strengthening their countries, trying their best to enhance their national power and military strength, and become stronger year by year. Chu State has not made progress, which is already a kind of regression in itself.
It took Ning Guo six years to restore an army of 500,000. In another six years, the number of the army may become 800,000.
On the Zhou side, in the Northern Expedition seven years ago, although they lost nearly 300,000 soldiers and horses, they also lost one county.
But seven years have passed, and relying on the remaining seven counties, Zhou's lost troops and horses have long been recovered.
Even because of the successive wars with Wei State in the north, Zhou State has been expanding its army and preparing for war every year. Now it has 800,000 soldiers and horses, making it a veritable military power.
But it was also because of the constant war with Wei State.
Zhou State has to maintain an army of 300,000 troops in Northern Xinjiang for a long time every year. He Basheng, the general of Beizhu State who had fought against Lu Yuan before, has been frequently active in the battlefield of Northern Xinjiang in recent years and has made many achievements. .
Some famous achievements were circulated, and even Lu Yuan, who was far away in Yangzhou, often heard about them in the weekly report of the Imperial City Division.
Let him have more knowledge about this heroic general.
Not to mention Liang Guo.
This behemoth, which occupies ten counties in Qingzhou, has always maintained a standing army of millions, and has more than ten innate masters in the country. It has always been the most ambitious among the surrounding countries.
If Qianyue could perish so quickly, it would be impossible to recall Liang's southern expedition of 500,000 troops in the 28th year of Longqing.
Otherwise, if Liang had not held them back, hundreds of thousands of Yue's northern border elites, as well as several innate masters in the country, could have been mobilized long ago to participate in countering the rebellion. Lu Yuan and the others would have nothing to do with them.
So in a sense, Liang Guo can be regarded as a benefactor to Chu, Su, Nanhai and other countries.
It's just that neither side admits it, nor does it think it is enough.
However, after the reconciliation between Liang and Yue in the sixth year of Hongdao, the Liang State, which did not take advantage of much in the south, began to focus its main energy from south to north on some small countries in the northeastern region of Qingzhou.
Especially since five years ago, Liang State has sent another 500,000 troops to conquer the foreign countries in the northeast of Qingzhou.
Laiguo claims to have a household registration of one million, occupies two counties, has 300,000 soldiers, and has three innate masters. It can be regarded as a real big country in Qingzhou.
Judging from the apparent strength, it is actually stronger than the Chu State before the annexation of Qianzhong County.
But even such a big country still looks insignificant when faced with behemoths like Liang Guo.
The two countries had been at war for only one year, but the country had lost half of its county and suffered more than 100,000 troops.
…
During the most difficult period, even the capital was once under siege, and the country was almost in danger of collapse.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, Xuzhou, which was close to Laiguo, felt deeply uneasy when it saw its neighbor Laiguo being attacked by Liangguo, so it also sent 300,000 troops to help.
Just look at the name of Xu State. You can tell that if you dare to name your country after a state, how can you stand in the world without much strength?
This is also true. The Xu State is the overlord of Xuzhou and controls six counties. Although its strength is not as good as that of the Liang State, it barely reaches the level of the world's overlord.
Therefore, with his help, Laiguo could barely resist the invasion of Liangguo.
But after several years of fighting, even if the two countries worked together, they were still no match for Liang.
So far, one of the two counties in Laiguo has been lost, and even some small countries in the northeast of Qingzhou have been attacked and destroyed by Liang Guo.
If we include some scattered territories occupied by the Liang Kingdom in other directions, the territory that the Liang Kingdom really owns at this time is actually as wide as twelve counties, which is obviously more than the other hegemons in the world.
But perhaps it is precisely because of this that Xu State, which is located in the northeast of Liang State, Zhao State in the north, Zhou State in the west, and Ning State in the south, all the overlords of the world or the overlords of a state, cannot deal with Liang State.
Facing the hostility of so many powerful countries, the pressure on Liang's borders is actually very high. 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 powerful enemies looking around, Liang Guo's strength is enough to make people fearful.
Let’s not talk about the distance, let’s talk about Jiangxia County of Liang State, which is next to Baling City. The 100,000 Liang soldiers stationed there are not only used to deal with Zhou and Ning.
If there is demand and opportunity, the 100,000-strong army can march south and east at any time and attack Dongting County of Chu State.
It was surrounded by three powerful countries: Zhou, Liang, and Ning. Even if these three countries showed no signs of attacking Chu for the time being, how could Lu Yuan, the leader of Chu, really relax his vigilance because of this.
Ending the war against the southwestern barbarians as soon as possible, starting the development of Xichuan and Qianzhong counties as soon as possible, and accumulating strength as soon as possible are all urgent matters for him.
…
"So this year, we must not only solve the Great Changhe Kingdom and conquer the Huichuan Kingdom. We must also regain Xichuan County, completely subdue the Nanzhao Kingdom, and end these two wars. Then we must accumulate strength to deal with the challenges of the next big powers. "
In early March, in the palace hall, Lu Yuan put down the recruitment report that had just been sent from Qianzhong County, with a flash of determination in his eyes.
He did not have many doubts about ending these two wars and was full of confidence.
This confidence comes from one's own strength.
A monk who has condensed his Qi is equivalent to a grand master in the third realm of innateness. The powerful power in his hands is the source of all Lu Yuan's confidence.
Although it was not possible for him to directly attack the Da Changhe Kingdom and the Nanzhao Kingdom, he could still kill the two opposing innate masters with the force of thunder and frighten the enemy into submission with his absolute power.
And with this absolute deterrence of strength, as long as he is not dead, Xiao Xiao will not dare to make mistakes.
A Ziyun Dao can make Qian Yue at his peak give in and compromise.
…
Now that Lu Yuan has mastered the same power, he can also make those barbarians in the southwest fearful.
In this world where great power is concentrated in one body, even if one is in a state of chaos, personal force can still affect the rise and fall of a country or a state.
This is the charm of cultivating immortality.
The time is slowly approaching April.
As the date set by Lu Yuan for dispatching troops approached, Chu's preparations were gradually improved.
After two months of emergency recruitment, the county soldiers in Xichuan and Qianzhong counties were gradually completed. The six forbidden armies in the two counties have been replenished with new recruits sent from home.
It's just that two of the Forbidden Forces, because most of them are new soldiers, have greatly reduced their combat effectiveness. It will take two or three years of training before they can regain their combat effectiveness and become elite soldiers.
Lu Yuan had already made a decision to keep these two forbidden troops in Qianzhong County.
Although Qianzhong County is initially stable, there are still local rebellions of hundreds of people from time to time.
At the same time, there are also a large number of Yi tribes hiding in the mountains in the county. Their senses are not very good for the foreign Chu people, and they often go down the mountain to attack local villages and towns.
Although the above-mentioned rebellions and attacks were not large in scale, they could not affect Chu's rule over Qianzhong County.
But it is still a war, and the intensity is not very high. Although people will die, not too many people will die. It is just used to train new recruits.
Now the two forbidden armies have been dispersed to different places. Under the leadership of Lan Zhaoyun and Li Liang, they are conducting bandit suppression training on the north and south sides of Qianzhong County.
After more than a month, some success has been achieved. Thousands of rebels and barbarians in the local area have been wiped out, which has greatly trained the new soldiers.
The remaining two forbidden armies, mainly veterans, were also assembled and trained by Lu Yuan, preparing to be the main force accompanying him in this expedition.
With these 40,000 veterans following him, and with his extremely powerful force, even if there is an army of 100,000 people on the opposite side, he is confident that he can defeat it with one blow.
…
Just as various parts of the Chu Kingdom were busy with the new war, Lu Yuan was also busy with cultivation and government affairs, and took time to receive the envoys from the Nanhai Kingdom.
"The foreign minister pays homage to the King of Chu."
The envoy from Nanhai Kingdom is a prosperous middle-aged man who looks more like a businessman than an official.
In fact, that's exactly what happened.
Because the Nanhai Sect, the predecessor of the Nanhai Kingdom, was itself a large martial arts sect that relied on maritime trade and gradually prospered.
Within the Nanhai Sect, almost every elder's sect has a large amount of fleet industry and business income, otherwise how could they support tens of thousands of disciples in the sect.
For the Nanhai Sect, if you want to be a high-level person, you can be a little weak in martial arts, but you must not be bad at business.
Otherwise, you will have no money, and if you don’t have money, no one will follow you. If no one follows you, your right to speak will naturally be weak.
It should be noted that practicing martial arts also costs money, and it costs a lot of money.
"Get up."
Lu Yuan withdrew his gaze, and after feeling a little confident, he asked: "Why did the envoy come here this time?"
In mid-February, Nanhai Kingdom sent a messenger to inform the late king Yan Wangqiu of his passing. He also explained that the person who now succeeds to the throne of Nanhai is Yan Baiquan, the thirteenth son of the late king and Duke Xin.
…
Upon receiving the news at that time, Lu Yuan had already sent an envoy to the South China Sea to express his condolences.
Now, only one month has passed, and the Nanhai Kingdom has sent another envoy. The meaning is worth pondering.
The envoy from Nanhai below responded respectfully to the inquiry: "Back to your Majesty, the foreign ministers are here this time to renew their old friendship and establish an alliance with Da Chu on the orders of our King."
When Lu Yuan heard this, a smile of unknown meaning appeared on his face, and he said with great interest: "Really? Then I wonder how the King of Nanhai is going to reaffirm the old goodwill, and what kind of alliance does he want to make with Gu?"
As early as ten years ago, when they first formed an alliance with Yan Wangqiu and Su Xuange, the three families made an agreement that the latter two would support Lu Yuan, and Lu Yuan would provide the latter two with military protection.
The three families advance and retreat together to resist foreign enemies.
Since the signing of the covenant, despite all the disagreements between the three of them, they have always abided by the terms of the covenant without any compromise.
However, even in a tight alliance, there is a moment when it breaks down.
Previously, when the Chu and Su states became independent one after another and changed their respective names to Jianyuan, although the Nanhai Kingdom fulfilled its covenant, they followed together to fight against the Ning Kingdom.
But after the incident ended, Nanhai Kingdom did not change its name to Jianyuan. Instead, it still respected the Jianwu reign of Ning Kingdom and regarded the Jinling court as the orthodox one.
From then on, the first cracks appeared in the Three Kingdoms Alliance.
In the Three Kingdoms Covenant, the first violator also appeared.
Then in the fourth year of Shenwu, the Soviet Union was in civil strife, and the country was completely destroyed. It was unable to pay the two million taels of silver and one million shi of food to Lu Yuan.
But Su Xuange has already communicated this matter with Lu Yuan, and Lu Yuan has also agreed that Su can suspend assistance in recent years.
So strictly speaking, this cannot be regarded as a breach of contract, at least not a complete breach of contract.
But since then, the Three Kingdoms Alliance has actually been semi-substantial and has been broken.
Then came this year.
According to the provisions of the covenant, the Soviet Union and Nanhai countries must send aid money, food and materials to Chu State in the first month of each year.
But the timing was just a coincidence.
Just this year, in the first month of Yan Wangqiu's death, the aid money and food that was supposed to be sent by the Nanhai Kingdom were not sent to the Chu Kingdom.
Originally, it was considered that Yan Wangqiu had just died and the Nanhai Kingdom was in chaos without a backbone, so it was ignored for the time being. It was understandable that no one would take care of it.
But by mid-February last time, a new leader had been elected in Nanhai. It had been a month since the new leader took the throne, and the court had initially stabilized.
But when he went on an envoy to the Chu State and met with Lu Yuan, the envoy from the Nanhai State not only informed him of the death of Yan Wangqiu, but also the news of the new king's accession to the throne.
Not a word was mentioned about the covenant obligations that should have been fulfilled.
The three million taels of silver and two million stones of food that were supposed to be delivered were deliberately ignored as if they did not exist.
It was at this time, not long ago, that Lu Yuan received an urgent report from the Imperial City Division.
On February 27th this year, in the palace of Nanhai City, the newly appointed Nanhai King Yan Baiquan officially accepted the canonization from the envoy from Jinling. With the conferment of the Emperor Jianwu, he became a vassal state under the Ningguo system. .
Nanhai State became a vassal state of Ning State!
When the news came back, Lu Yuan felt betrayed.
You know, the Three Kingdoms Alliance had to pay a lot of money to finally break away from the tribute system of Jinling City and become an independent independent country.
Even after that, Yan Wangqiu continued to honor the title of Emperor Jinling, but he did not say that he was a vassal state of Ning State, and Nanhai State was still independent.
But now, Nanhai Kingdom, which finally became independent, has returned to the embrace of Ning Kingdom.
Where does this kind of behavior leave Chu and Su, who regard Ning as their enemy?
This is already a naked betrayal.
It's just that Chu and Su, who are currently involved in the war with the southwestern barbarians, don't have the energy to deal with this kind of betrayal.
But just because they haven't spoken out doesn't mean they agree with it by default.
At this time, Lu Yuan felt a little want to laugh when he saw the traitorous envoy from Nanhai Kingdom running over to him and seriously reaffirming his old friendship and signing an alliance.
At the same time, I am also a little curious, what does the other person want to say to me?
Hope it doesn't disappoint.
