Baling, Royal Palace.
After discussing the Northern Expedition with Sun Siwen and Zhou Qing, Lu Yuan handed over the matter to them, and he began to work overtime to make a clone of the Yellow Turban Warriors.
This matter was not difficult for Lu Yuan.
Now he has the ability to condense three qi. After thirty years of cultivation, he has become extremely proficient in the magic power of condensing two qi to turn beans into soldiers.
Now, with just one thought, Lu Yuan could enlighten dozens of Yellow Turban warriors with a wave of his hand.
The materials are also readily available.
When the divine blood mutants were slaughtered in the early years, the Chu State obtained countless materials from hundreds of divine blood mutants, enough to refine hundreds of clones.
The only problem was that the ability to enlighten fifty-six clones at once consumed a lot of Lu Yuan's mana, almost draining half of his mana.
This is half of the mana of a monk who condenses three qi. After it is exhausted, he still doesn’t know how much spiritual energy he has to breathe out to make up for it!
But then again.
If half of the mana can be used to exchange Chu State for fifty-six clones that can be used for a long time and can be absolutely trusted, which is equivalent to the second level of innateness, and use this to capture half of Zhongzhou.
Then this deal is not too bad.
Especially for the current Lu Yuan, since he broke through the condensation of the three qi, the luck provided by the Yangzhou land he currently only occupies is gradually unable to meet his own cultivation needs.
A monk who has condensed three qi has almost ten times as much demand for spiritual energy as a monk who has condensed two qi, and it will continue to rise as his cultivation improves.
However, the luck provided by the unified Yangzhou and the spiritual energy of the sky that can be leveraged are only enough to meet the cultivation needs of a monk who condenses the two qi.
When it comes to condensing the three qi, this bit of luck and spiritual energy is far from enough.
Although with the in-depth development of Yangzhou, the population continues to multiply and the luck provided is also increasing.
But this improvement is far less than the progress of Lu Yuan's cultivation.
Today, he absorbs and breathes out the spiritual energy every day, only reaching about 10% of his own cultivation limit.
After meditating for a day, the improvement in cultivation and mana is not even as good as that of an ordinary monk in the same realm but who has not practiced the method of luck.
He had spent his life practicing Taiping Taoism, which had brought him eight or nine times the speed of cultivation. However, due to the lack of spiritual energy, it had not been able to exert its due effect at all.
According to the current speed of cultivation when he was in a state of severe spiritual energy starvation, Lu Yuan calculated a little and found that it would take at least one hundred, twenty or thirty years for him to break through and condense the four energies with a single Yangzhou.
This is so slow, we have to wait until the year of the monkey and the horse and the moon.
And based on the current situation in Kyushu, it is very difficult to see whether Yangzhou can survive for thirty years.
Let alone more than a hundred years later.
Therefore, Lu Yuan actively promoted the Northern Expedition this time because this kind of young spirit had had enough hardships. In order to improve the cultivation environment, he had to launch external expansion.
“When the lands of Liang and Wei are captured, Chu’s territory will be doubled and its population will more than double.
With these, my cultivation speed should be able to increase to about 30% of my maximum spiritual energy breathing speed.
Although he is still in a state of spiritual energy hunger, it is still about three times that of ordinary monks of the same realm.
With this progress, it should be possible to complete the accumulation and break through to the state of condensing the four qi within thirty years before the fall of Yangzhou. "
In the palace, Lu Yuan was thinking in his mind as he waved his hand and spread out a golden light.
Dots of golden light floated and fell on the rows of materials placed in front of them. The golden light suddenly turned into runes, enlightening the materials one by one, and the burly yellow scarf warriors stood up.
They lined up and walked to a corner of the hall, where a larger number of yellow scarf warriors were already standing in silence.
Counting carefully, there are exactly fifty-six.
"You should report to the Privy Council immediately. After receiving your title, go to the camp and familiarize yourself with the troops you will lead in advance."
Lu Yuan looked at the many clones of the Yellow Turban Warriors he had created and gave orders.
He created these clones just to take over the entire army with just an order and a letter of appointment.
Marching and fighting, commanding the troops and horses, are simply impossible to do with just one person.
If you want to command an army smoothly and freely, in addition to a wise commander, you must also have a large number of qualified low-, medium-, and high-level officers to cooperate. Let these people obey your orders and manage their direct subordinates well. Everyone, only then can the commander control the army like an arm and a finger.
Therefore, after creating the clones, Lu Yuan also asked them to go to the grassroots level to get familiar with the soldiers and generals assigned to them, understand the abilities of these people, and work with each other to train the soldiers and horses of that group.
As for Lu Yuan himself, there is no need for such trouble.
According to the previous discussion with Zhou Qing, the Northern Expedition will be divided into five major camps and sixty troops.
The commanders of these camps and various troops were the clones of Lu Yuan himself.
Controlling one's own avatar requires understanding and familiarity.
How capable they are, how can they not be clear about their own body, which is endowed with everything?
What's more, with Lu Yuan's current cultivation level, even if he and his clone are thousands of miles apart, they can still communicate through spiritual connection, achieve instant communication, and even transmit the images they see to each other, as if they were there in person.
Under such circumstances, it was not easy for Lu Yuan to command the five major camps and sixty troops.
It's just like playing a computer game. Even though the fog vision is turned on, it's still God's vision.
As long as he is the main body and has a thought, his own troops can be mobilized immediately like a game character and make real-time adjustments according to changes in the situation.
It is precisely because there are so many benefits between the main body and the clones that Lu Yuan has to refine so many clones before the war begins, even if he spends a lot of mana.
This is not just for coveting the combat power of the clone, but also for the instant messaging function.
"yes!"
After hearing the instructions, many clones nodded, then turned around and walked out of the hall, swarming away.
Looking at their backs, Lu Yuan couldn't help but nodded with satisfaction.
Let me ask, with such a huge advantage and the ability to crush the opponent, why can't I win this war?
The overall situation for this Northern Expedition has been decided at this moment.
…
Yongzhou, Guannei County, Chang'an.
Twenty-five years ago, Master Wang expelled the previous Zhou Dynasty and took control of the pass. This former imperial capital of Yongzhou naturally became the capital of the Wei Kingdom.
Because the city is well-equipped with palaces and palaces, and the Guannai County where the capital is located is also a rich and grain-producing county, which is enough to supply hundreds of officials and a large number of forbidden troops.
Therefore, even if Wang Shi later captured Henan and Nanyang counties in Zhongzhou, the imperial court did not move the capital there, but left it to the immigrants who continued to migrate from Yanzhou.
The imperial court itself led a large number of soldiers and horses to garrison in Shuofang and Guannei counties to resist the barbarians who were constantly migrating from the grasslands and the Western Regions.
It means that the emperor guards the gate of the country.
As we all know, any important border town is the place where troops are deployed. Naturally, the economy and people's livelihood will not be much better.
Chang'an is no exception.
Since the meeting last week, when Shuofang, Helong and other places were lost, the Guannei County where Chang'an is located no longer has a barrier, and Chang'an City has become a frontline.
From that moment on, beacon fires were seen every month near Chang'an.
To this day, although Shuofang County in the north still exists, it can shield the north of the capital.
But the two counties of Helong in the west were still confiscated, so the west of the capital was still a smooth road without any obstructions.
The barbarians coming from the west had no choice but to cross the steep and difficult Longshan Mountains and fight against the majestic passes.
Still prefer to follow the plain river and rush straight to Guannei County, which has no natural obstacles and is extremely wealthy.
Therefore, even though the Wei State had stationed millions of troops on the western border of Guannei County all year round, small groups of barbarians from the Western Regions would still attack and approach Chang'an City from time to time, causing a lot of trouble.
Because the place where we live is always under threat.
In addition, most of the people living in Shuofang and Guannei counties were relatives of the Forbidden Army, and the people's customs were martial.
In the end, the people of the two counties were able to wield swords, guns, and archery, regardless of men or women. It can be said that all the people were soldiers.
Wu Feng was even more powerful than the migrating barbarians.
This is also true. Those barbarian rangers who broke through the western border defense line and approached the hinterland of the pass often did not wait to go deeper. Halfway through the journey, the villagers spontaneously organized themselves to solve the problem directly, and there was no big trouble at all.
Today, autumn is beginning to dawn, and the grass and trees are slightly yellow. A group of cavalry composed of Wei country people are skillfully arranged in formation, like a tiger driving away a wolf, chasing and killing a group of more than ten barbarian herdsmen coming from the west. ride.
The battle only lasted for a moment, and ended with most of the barbarian herdsmen dead and wounded, and the rest fled in despair.
However, the victorious Wei Guoxiang did not give up, and continued to chase and keep up with him. It seemed that he would not give up until he killed all the barbarian herdsmen.
However, they did not pursue them for too long, because from the south, a team of several hundred people came up to them.
Some of the Wei cavalry who were guarding the outside saw this situation and rode up directly to help the villagers and easily killed the herdsmen.
Among the teams coming from the south, Han Shun and Huang Yun, who were escorted by Wei soldiers and horses, witnessed this scene with their own eyes and couldn't help but feel slightly shocked.
"Master, this is already the outskirts of Chang'an, and it's only three hundred miles away from the imperial capital of Wei, right?" Han Shun couldn't help but turn his head and looked at Huang Yun next to him and asked.
As one of Lu Yuan's five direct disciples, Han Shun was one of his own who could be trusted, so he was reused after he broke through Xiantian.
In recent years, at the local level, he has successively served as defense envoy and general manager of various counties; at the central level, he has also served as general of the Forbidden Army and deputy privy envoy. His military rank was also promoted to General Zuo, ranking first in rank, and he was granted the title of Marquis.
It can be said that Han Shun was the most powerful figure in the military in Chu State, second only to Zhou Qing, the general.
However, despite his high position and power, Han Shun still did not dare to show any slightness to Huang Yun beside him, but was extremely humble and respectful.
This is not only because Huang Yun is the real protector of the country, and like himself, he is ranked first.
It's even more because the other party is the clone of his master, which is equivalent to being in front of Emperor Chu.
No matter how arrogant Han Shun is, he would not dare to stab himself in front of his mentor and monarch!
That's not crazy, that's stupid.
Therefore, in Chu State, the real people of the green and yellow series are already a semi-open secret to all the senior officials.
Most of the senior military and political leaders knew that this was the emperor's clone, and no one dared to be rude.
In front of them, they were all respectful and humble.
"Indeed, we have arrived at Lanyu County, which is under the jurisdiction of Jingzhaoyin of Wei State, where the capital is located."
When Huang Yun heard the inquiry, he nodded slightly, and then said with emotion: "I didn't expect that such an absolute heartland could be approached by barbarians. It seems that the dangers in Wei's western border are far more serious than imagined. .”
Han Shun agreed: "The Wei people's border troubles are so serious that they endanger the capital. It seems that our mission this time may be able to complete the mission easily."
At the beginning, Lu Yuan made a plan to unite with the Wei State and send troops to wipe out the grassland barbarians and foreign tribes in the Western Regions, so as to mobilize Wei's troops and horses to the Chu State.
After that, it was natural to send people to Wei State to accomplish this matter.
Huang Yun and Han Shun were the chief and deputy envoys of the Chu State mission.
At the same time, the two were also generals of the Hanzhong Army who were responsible for cooperating with the Wei State and going out to sweep away the barbarians. They each commanded a group of soldiers and horses, or took orders in the army camp.
Well, judging from the responsibilities of the two people, it is not difficult to guess that their mission to Wei this time was with some special missions.
For example, spy on the intelligence of Wei State, observe the opponent's true and false situation, and prepare for the army to attack Guanzhong in the coming year.
After all, in addition to the task of drawing out Wei's main force, the Hanzhong Army also had the important task of attacking Guanzhong and preventing Wei's troops from returning to Henan and Nanyang.
It is not that simple to complete this task.
"It's easy to lure the Wei people out, but it's not easy to block them."
Huang Yun looked at Wei Xiangyong who had killed all the barbarian knights in the distance and was happily disposing of the corpses and collecting trophies. His eyes were worried: "Wei people have 1.5 million soldiers and horses in Guan Nei and Shuofang. There are more than ten Innate, already extremely strong.
But now I see that the people of Wei State are also fighting bravely, and their martial arts is far superior to that of Chu.
If a war really breaks out, and the five million Wei people in Guanzhong and Shuofang counties are so brave, it is probably easy to gather a million troops, and all of them will have a certain fighting strength.
So that's 2.5 million troops. "
At the end, Huang Yun's tone couldn't help but become lower.
Han Shun was also silent.
The Hanzhong Army Corps they belonged to had a strength of 200,000 soldiers and 800,000 civilian warriors, which together amounted to a million people.
This strength seems strong, but compared to Wei's strength in Guannei and Shuofang, it is far inferior.
The gap between the two sides is almost four to five times.
"Wei people may not all be so brave. Maybe we can call those brave cavalrymen and ask them a few questions." After being silent, Han Shun suggested.
Huang Yun said: "Okay, you go and call someone over."
Han Shun nodded, then turned to find the escorting Wei officials to discuss the matter with them.
After talking to Wei Guan for a few words, the other party didn't push back. Perhaps he just wanted to show off his force, so he summoned the villagers.
After a while, the villagers who were cleaning the trophies in the distance were brought over.
"The villain Zhu Xiang has met the noble man."
Perhaps because it was their first time meeting a high official, the villagers who were brought here were a little cautious and carefully saluted Huang Yun and the others.
Huang Yun looked at the man named Zhu Xiang in front of him. He was tall and strong, with strong qi and blood and strong internal strength. He had obviously practiced martial arts.
It's just that he is a bit older, his temples are gray, and he looks like he is in his fifties or sixties, already very old.
Perhaps it was precisely because of this that the other party was able to escape military service and was not drafted into the army.
"Get up, I don't need to be polite."
Huang Yun raised his hand slightly, signaling Zhu Xiang to get up, and then said: "I just saw my father-in-law leading people to kill the barbarian rangers. He was so brave and brave. I couldn't help but be surprised, so I asked someone to bring my father-in-law for questioning."
After explaining something first, he continued: "May I ask, my father-in-law, are there many warriors like you in the countryside?"
Zhu Xiang raised his head and replied cautiously: "Back to you, noble man, the little people are very simple and do not dare to show their courage in front of the nobles. However, there are many farmers in the countryside who have practiced one or two tricks like the little people.
Basically, after the young man reaches the age of eleven or twelve, he will learn some self-protection skills under the leadership of the elders in the village.
So all the country men here are good at swords, guns and archery. Even women can play with a bow and can always hit one or two out of ten arrows. "
In the world of Kyushu, those nobles and nobles not only mean good birth.
In this world of extraordinary saints, birth also means strong military force, just like those Linhai aristocratic families in Yangzhou, who are not both civil and military, and have advanced cultivation.
Under this current situation, when ordinary people at the bottom face high-level nobles, even if they want to play a blood-splattered drama, it has become a luxury.
Therefore, a low-level warrior like Zhu Xiang really did not dare to show his courage in the face of a nobleman like Huang Yun who looked like a big shot at first sight.
"Is this so..."
Huang Yun paused, and then looked at some villagers waiting in the distance, looking curiously and nervously at this place. Most of them were young people and old people.
It was these people who had just killed a group of barbarian knights and fled.
He looked at it twice and then asked: "I see that your fellow countrymen all have the heads of the barbarians killed on their bodies. They specially cut off the heads, but what's the explanation?"
Zhu Xiang answered honestly: "There was a notice in the county earlier that anyone who brings the heads of invading barbarians to the county government can receive fifty kilograms of rice with their heads. This time we took thirteen barbarian heads, which can be exchanged for six It’s half as much rice as a stone.”
"I see."
Huang Yun nodded, and then said: "Thank you for clearing up the confusion, old man. Go down and receive some rewards, and then you can leave."
"Thank you, sir!"
Zhu Xiang looked happy when he heard that there was a reward. After thanking him, he hurriedly left.
After he left, Huang Yun looked at Han Shun beside him and asked, "General Han, how are you doing?"
The latter's face was solemn: "The Wei people are indeed difficult to deal with. If all the people there are Zhu Xiang and others, this battle will be difficult."
Huang Yun sighed softly: "No matter what, let's go see Emperor Wei first. Whether it is sending more troops or other plans, we must first transfer Wei soldiers out of the country."
The conversation between the two ended here.
Amidst the sparkling sound of carriages and horses, the team continued towards Chang'an.
