Qinzheng Hall.
After learning that the Battle of Dongjun broke out, Lu Yuan immediately summoned a group of his ministers to discuss the matter.
"Let's talk about it. Zhao Liang is fighting. How should I, the great Chu, respond?"
After Lu Yuan briefly explained the news from Qingzhou in the north, he looked at everyone and asked aloud.
Below, Zhou Qing, the leader of the military generals, and Sun Siwen, the leader of the civil servants, each led the civil and military officials of the Chu State, listening solemnly.
Upon hearing the inquiry at this time, everyone looked at each other, and finally Zhou Qing stood up and said: "Your Majesty, I think Zhao Liang is at war, so I, the Chu State, don't need to take any more care, just wait and see what happens.
I used to sit in northern Xinjiang for many years, and were neighbors to Xiangyang of the former Zhou State and Jiangxia of the Liang State.
In the past ten years, although there has been no major war with the two, there have occasionally been some minor conflicts.
These two countries fought against our great Chu. In the early stage, Zhou's soldiers were very strong. In a head-on confrontation, they could often defeat our great Chu's soldiers.
But in the later period, due to heavy fighting, most of the elite soldiers of the Zhou people were transferred, and a large number of old and weak soldiers were forcibly recruited into the army. The soldiers gradually began to be mixed.
At the same time, because all the men went to join the army, there was a shortage of labor in the Zhou Kingdom. Therefore, production was insufficient, resulting in a shortage of military supplies. Therefore, it was difficult for soldiers to receive adequate training, and their skills were naturally rudimentary.
In the end, the Zhou State, once known as one of the top three hegemons and extremely powerful, was destroyed by the Wei State in continuous wars due to the rapid decline of its army's combat power. "
Zhou Qing first gave an example of the perished state of Zhou, and then changed the topic and said: "The state of Zhou was weakened due to war, and later destroyed due to the weakened soldiers. This was the reason for its collapse.
However, Liang State has been relatively stable over the years.
Although there have been some battles with the Wei State in recent years, even if millions of soldiers were sent, the Liang State would not lose its skin.
Therefore, for decades, our Chu State and Liang State have been unable to gain any advantage on the border.
The soldiers of the Liang Kingdom have always been the best in the world, and the best soldiers in the world are no more than this.
Its troops and horses are not damaged, and its soldiers are not weak. Although the three kingdoms of Wei, Zhao, and Xu are attacking now, Liang may have a hard time winning a great victory, but there will be no problem in defending the country and protecting the border.
From what I can see, within fifteen years, there will be no winner or loser in this battle between the four kingdoms. "
Zhou Qing talked eloquently and gave his own inference.
He knew that his master asked Zhao Liang what the purpose of the war was. This was not asking whether the Chu State wanted to add insult to injury and attack Liang together with the three kingdoms of Wei, Zhao and Xu.
But he is asking, can Liang Guo hold on, and does Chu State want to help?
Yes, protecting Liang State is the current primary strategy of Chu State.
The reason is naturally that Qingzhou in the north cannot be divided and can only be unified by one force.
Only in this way can we create a situation where the winner takes all and the loser gets nothing.
Only then can the conflicts and disputes between the four countries reach the most intense level and become completely irresolvable.
Now the situation in Kyushu is actually very clear.
The ten states outside Zhongzhou will instinctively move closer to Zhongzhou in order to survive as the four poles of the world change.
In the end, all the forces in Kyushu gathered in Zhongzhou, where they fought for the final right to survive.
And they want to gain a chance of survival in this future world of great war, and then seize the hegemony of Zhongzhou in the future.
Then the existing forces can only occupy enough territory in Zhongzhou before the disaster completely strikes, and accumulate the strongest forces to form an absolute advantage over other forces.
There is no doubt that Liang Guo is in such an absolutely advantageous position at this time.
Therefore, in order to ensure that our advantage can be maintained until the disaster completely breaks out.
This force that has unified Qingzhou and occupies half of Zhongzhou will naturally use everything for its own interests to block the entry of others who want to share their cake.
This is what Liang Guo is doing.
The west is suppressing the Wei State and wants to drive it out of Zhongzhou; the north is stationed along the river with heavy troops to prevent Zhao and Xu from going south.
In the south, on the Yangtze River, Chu Guoxu and Chu Guoxu were on guard while cooperating, walking on a tightrope.
To the east is the Zheng State of Yuzhou, who are in the same boat. There is no need to be too wary of each other, and it can involve less energy.
Therefore, it can be seen from the above arrangement that Liang Guo tried his best to protect his own interests.
Similarly, Zhao Xuwei and other countries who have not eaten the cake yet, or feel that they have eaten too little cake, are naturally unwilling to be eliminated in advance in this competition for Zhongzhou.
In order to survive, the three countries will work hard to advance towards Zhongzhou and instinctively attack the two countries that block their penetration.
One wants to maintain his own interests and keep the cake; the other wants to compete for interests and share the cake.
Before this balanced situation was broken, the four kingdoms of Zhao, Xu, Wei and Liang were naturally in hostility. Because of the involvement of interests, they could never be reconciled.
That's why the two kingdoms of Wei and Liang now have millions of troops stationed in Henan and Nanyang, and they have been fighting for several years.
Zhao's million-strong army invaded Liang Guodong County, and wars rose on both sides.
Xu State is north of the river, ready to move in at any time.
Everything is at work here.
It is precisely because of interests that the four countries consume each other, just like China, which has perished, slowly losing its own blood bit by bit.
But this situation is not irreversible.
It is not impossible for the four countries to reconcile.
The premise for this change is that Liang Guo loses its current absolute advantage and loses its position of dominating Qingzhou.
The three kingdoms of Wei, Zhao and Xu successfully occupied Zhongzhou and were willing to work together to share the future cake equally, putting the four parties in the same position.
Qingzhou has sixteen counties, plus the two counties of Yongzhou and Nanyang in Henan Province. If we only look at the nearby areas, there is already half of Zhongzhou on the chessboard, a total of eighteen counties.
Wei Guo ate two of the cakes from these eighteen counties and barely got an admission ticket.
Liang Guo ate sixteen and took almost all the benefits to himself.
Zhao Xu Erguo was excluded and wanted to share the cake together, but was blocked by Liang Guo, who had vested interests.
At first glance, the share of the eighteen counties seems to be competed by four chess players at this time, and even counting Chu State, it is divided by five chess players. The quota is very rare and simply not enough.
But is this really the case?
Based on the topics Lu Yuan discussed with Sun Siwen some time ago, the population of the Chu State in the future will soon rise to more than 100 million. By then, on average, a county in the Chu State will have a population of more than 10 million.
Even large and wealthy counties that produce a lot of grain can easily feed 20 to 30 million people if fully developed.
Zhongzhou, as the area that has been developed by the Kyushu people for the longest time, not only has the best local infrastructure, but also has mostly plain land, with water networks crisscrossing it, making it an absolute food-producing land.
In a territory like this, it is not difficult for a county to feed not only 10 million people, but also 20, 30, 30 or 40 million people.
Calculated based on this theoretical extreme development, in fact, if the eighteen counties in the western part of Zhongzhou that the five countries are currently competing for are divided equally, an average country can get three or four counties.
Based on the median of 20 million people supported by one county, even three counties are enough to support a population of more than 60 million, or even 70 or 80 million.
And if it is divided into four counties, it is possible to feed hundreds of millions of people.
The carrying capacity of various lands in Kyushu today is actually very strong.
The main reason why the population in various countries is sparse now is due to years of wars, various natural disasters and plagues, and the underdevelopment of production technology in the past.
Today, in the land of Kyushu, after thousands of years of war, countless small countries have annexed each other, gradually forming the current situation where big countries are juxtaposed.
Within each state, partial unity was formed, a large number of technologies were invented and adopted due to the war, and the people had a stable living environment, so the population began to slowly explode.
However, this outbreak is just a sign and has not exceeded Zhongzhou’s carrying limit.
So the cake is still enough.
So what is the population of each country today?
The latest population of Chu State is 45 million.
As for Liang State, its population more than ten years ago was 60 million. Now, after more than ten years of development, the population has reached 80 million.
The population of Wei State more than ten years ago was more than 30 million. Later, he annexed Zhou State and gained a population of tens of millions. It also gradually accepted some barbarians who moved from the north to the south, and the population gradually reached about 50 million.
Zhao State originally had only more than 20 million people. Over the past ten years, it has been recuperating and recuperating, and at the same time it has also accepted some barbarians who migrated south. Now its population has reached 30 million.
The Xu State is the weakest, but because it already had 20 million people, through its own reproduction and the recruitment of barbarians, it has a population of almost 25 million.
Well, judging from the above population data, if you want to resettle the Chu State, you only need three counties in Zhongzhou.
Liang Guo only needed four counties.
Wei also only needs three counties.
The two counties of Zhao and Xu are sufficient.
When all the five countries were added together, only fourteen counties were allocated. In the end, there were four more counties, which could provide more powerful people with an extra share of the cake.
Therefore, even if there are only eighteen counties, as long as the five countries can reach a consensus, it is enough for them to divide it together.
So in the end, if this plan is followed and each country can occupy three or four counties, then the current sharp conflicts between the countries will be alleviated in an instant.
Until then.
Everyone huddled in their own territory, guarding the territory of three or four counties, and lived a peaceful life.
Everyone has similar strength. If any country wants to destroy other countries, it cannot be done easily.
Even if it can be done, other nearby countries will not sit idly by.
It creates a situation where if you dare to destroy the country, I will come together to beat you.
Just like the Warring States Period in Lu Yuan's previous life.
With the strength foundation of each country, they can also restrain each other and maintain a new balance of power by joining together vertically and horizontally.
In the end, when the strength of one party accumulates to a state that is enough to break the balance, it will then sweep across the six countries and unify Zhongzhou.
This situation seems to be quite good, taking into account the interests of all parties.
But, is this really in the interests of Chu?
Is it really in line with Lu Yuan's wishes?
Huddled in a small area of three or four counties, struggling for time with other countries, waiting for the day when the balance of the situation is broken.
Although this kind of hardship is definitely beneficial to him.
After all, no one can beat me when it comes to longevity.
It will take more than a hundred years, or at most hundreds of years.
As long as the innate strength of each country is eliminated, the Chu State, which has only innate combat power left, will naturally be able to sweep through other countries and easily win the final victory.
But it's not necessary, it's really not necessary.
If something can be done early, why bother doing it hundreds of years later?
It's not a good thing to be a coward.
First support Liang Guo, and let the overlord of Zhongzhou fight with other people who want to share the cake, leaving them with bloody heads and exhaustion.
In the end, Chu State will enter the field with absolute strength. Wouldn't it be better to just sweep them away?
Therefore, it was based on this starting point that a few years ago, when the Zhou Kingdom withdrew, Lu Yuan and a group of important ministers from the Chu Kingdom made a major plan to support the Liang Kingdom and consume Wei, Zhao, Xu and other countries after discussions. .
This is why, after Lu Yuan heard that Zhao Liang was starting a war and realized that the three northern kingdoms and the Liang Kingdom had officially fought, he immediately summoned his ministers for discussion.
It's not that the Chu State wants to add insult to injury, but it is worried that the Liang State cannot withstand the siege of the Three Kingdoms and will be defeated early and have to divide Zhongzhou equally with the other three kingdoms. That would not be in the interests of the Chu State.
"Your Majesty, I heard that the Liang State has 80 million people. The country has cultivated 1.2 billion acres of fertile land, but the army it supports is only 4 million."
At this time, Prime Minister Sun Siwen also reminded him.
When Lu Yuan heard this, he suddenly realized.
Indeed, with Liang's population of 80 million, the current support for four million troops is only 20 people supporting one person, which is far from the limit.
If we take the more mainstream view at that time, it is to ensure that the quality of the soldiers is qualified and the ratio of soldiers to civilians produced in the rear is calculated, that is, one soldier per three households.
The real limit of Liang's military strength was an army of about 5.2 million.
Now there are only 4 million soldiers and horses, and the other side still has 1.2 million reserve soldiers, which can be recruited at any time, and it is guaranteed that the quality and combat effectiveness of these soldiers will not decrease.
On the southern front, the Liang State only stationed 800,000 troops on the border with Chu State. On the eastern border with Zheng, the overlord of Yuzhou, there were only 400,000 troops stationed.
In addition to the southern and eastern fronts, Liang Guo could mobilize four million troops to fight Wei, Zhao and Xu.
On the other hand, for Wei, Zhao and Xu, the total population of these three countries combined is 100 million.
Theoretically, the number of qualified soldiers and horses that can be recruited is about 7 million, which is enough than the 2 million people of Liang State.
But in the north, these three countries all faced tens of millions of barbarians migrating south from the northern regions, or people from enemy countries in the north of their own states.
In order to defend against these enemies, which of the three countries would not be able to deploy millions of troops to its north and at the same time leave enough reserve forces at home to deal with sudden changes and turmoil at any time?
So it seems that the strength of the Three Kingdoms Alliance is far greater than that of the Liang Kingdom.
But after deducting the troops and horses they used to defend their country.
In fact, the troops and horses that can be mobilized and used on the front line are actually similar to those of Liang State, with about four million people on both sides.
But Liang Guo is one force, Wei, Zhao and Xu are three forces. Just one unified aspect is the fatal weakness of the Three Kingdoms Alliance.
From this aspect, Liang Guo still has a certain advantage.
Therefore, at the beginning of the war, the two camps were basically evenly matched, and there was little hope of a winner.
Even if Liang Guo loses in the subsequent battles and gradually loses the enemy, he will not be defeated all at once.
At that time, the Zhou Dynasty was in such a miserable state. It was surrounded by all sides one after another, and all its elite soldiers were lost in the long war.
In the end, we relied on a bunch of old and weak soldiers to survive for another ten years.
The foundation of Liang State is stronger than that of Zhou State. Even if all five million elite soldiers are lost and the remaining 80 million people are mobilized to the maximum extent, they can still pull out five million people.
Moreover, Liang State has many plains and water networks, a lot of fertile farmland, and abundant grain production. The 1.2 billion acres of fertile farmland can support such an army.
It will not fall into a state of famine like the late Zhou Dynasty.
Even if this is not enough, with Liang and Chu's current relationship, Chu can take the initiative to withdraw its border troops and relieve Liang's pressure on the southern border.
The 800,000 troops and horses stationed by Liang Guo along the Yangtze River can be mobilized and transferred to fight in the north.
To go even more extreme, it is not impossible for the Chu State to learn from the original Liang State, use it as a northern barrier, and support the Liang State just like the Liang State supported the Zhou State.
Of course, the above are only theoretical methods.
In actual circumstances, things may not come to this point.
After all, it is not that easy for the three kingdoms of Wei, Zhao and Xu to consume all the five million elites and five million weaklings of Liang State and destroy the overlord of Qingzhou.
Maybe before these three countries defeated Liang, it itself was exhausted due to the invasion of barbarians from the north and endless wars from the south.
Why can't I hold on for a long time and die prematurely?
Or maybe Liang Guo chose to compromise after losing five million elites and was willing to give up its territory and share Zhongzhou with the Three Kingdoms.
Then they might unite and turn around to fight against Chu.
Things change and cause and effect are uncertain.
Anything can happen, and Lu Yuan is not the god who dominates everything and can make everything develop according to his wishes.
But at this time, after Zhou Qing and Sun Siwen's explanations, one thing can be confirmed.
That is, even if faced with the siege of the Three Kingdoms, with the strength of the Liang State, it would be no problem to resist for more than ten years without losing.
As long as this can be confirmed, it is enough.
As for what happened more than ten years later, times have changed and the world has gone through a lot of vicissitudes. It is unclear what the situation will be like at that time.
No matter how capable they are, the kings and ministers of Chu State cannot predict this far.
It can only be said that we have to adapt to circumstances.
"In this case, I, the Great Chu, will continue to sit back and watch the battle between Wei, Zhao, Xu and Liang without intervening."
After Lu Yuan felt confident, he looked at the ministers and made the following decision. Then he thought about it and added: "But for Liang Guo's grain trade, we can increase our efforts and supply more grain to the other side, and the price can be cheaper."
It is said that he does not intervene directly, but it is inevitable to act in favor of someone based on his own subjective intention.
At this time, in terms of food, we should give Liang some help to reduce the pressure on the other party's military food. That's it.
