"It seems that many of your military camps are new recruits." Gu Xu commented while observing the surroundings.
Wherever he looked, many young men of similar age to him, or even younger, were fidgeting with the weapons in their hands under the reprimands of the officers.
"When my father was still the Duke of Yan, the Qi court ordered us to reduce the size of the standing army in the north many times," Zhao Yan replied, with obvious worry on her brows. "When my father raised the flag to rebel, , and many soldiers fled to Daqi. For this reason, we had to recruit new soldiers on a large scale to supplement the number of troops."
"What about the practitioners?" Gu Xu asked.
He knew that in this world with extraordinary power, it would be difficult for these mortal soldiers without cultivation to play a decisive role in the battle. They play more auxiliary roles such as service, support, defense and alert.
Practitioners, especially those at a high level, are the key to victory.
"Practitioners," Zhao Yan sighed softly, "there are even more who are leaving. As soon as my father announced his independence, the number of practitioners in the army immediately decreased by 20%; after I inherited the throne, there were more Lost 20%.
"Currently on the Yan-Qi border, in addition to the space blockade set up by the Da Qi Dynasty to arrest you, there is also the 'iron wall' recently set up by Da Yan. Neither the Qi people nor the Yan people are allowed to pass through without authorization... We really We cannot afford any more casualties.”
Gu Xu listened silently and did not respond immediately.
He understands the choices of these practitioners.
Compared with the cold and barren Dayan, Daqi has a vast territory, a prosperous economy, and many powerful people. It also has Emperor Tianxing who holds the "Tai'a Sword" as its greatest support.
In their eyes, nature is the party with a better chance of winning.
In addition, hundreds of years have passed since the first Duke of Yan surrendered to Emperor Taizu of Qi. During this period, the concept of national borders has gradually faded. There have been countless population movements, trade exchanges, intermarriages, etc. between the north and the south. Many people in the north have long forgotten the "glory of Yan" and regard themselves as part of the Qi State. elements.
If the Fire Temple had not served as a spiritual link, maintaining the Yan people's sense of belonging and cohesion for a long time, I am afraid that the entire Great Yan would have been naturalized long ago.
"Then your material supply... can you still keep up?" Gu Xu thought for a while and asked.
"It's also very difficult," Zhao Yan frowned slightly and replied, "On the day my father announced that he would be king, Princess Zhaoning ordered to cut off the trade between Da Qi and Dayan. Over the years, we have refined many pills Resources, such as cold twigs, ten thousand year old vines, Yin Shen flowers, water cloud fruits, etc., are all dependent on supplies from the south.
"Although Dayan can also start to cultivate these things on its own, the cost is much more expensive in comparison, and it is difficult to meet the massive needs of practitioners within the territory in a short period of time.
"The Department of Internal Affairs has already defaulted on the elixir rations for many monks for their daily practice."
After Gu Xu heard her narration, he felt more and more that Dayan's independence was an irrational decision.
But the key problem is that Zhao Changying misjudged Emperor Tianxing's strength.
If Zhao Changying succeeded in killing Emperor Tianxing with the Mangshan Ghost King on the day of the "Luoshui Conference", then the entire Daqi Dynasty would undoubtedly fall into chaos.
Among the princes and daughters of Emperor Tianxing, the eldest prince Xiao Shangyuan, who has the highest level of cultivation, is only at the fifth level, which is obviously not enough to suppress all the forces in the country.
At that time, Zhao Changying, who is in the eighth realm, only needs to raise his arms and make a call, and whether it is voluntary or involuntary, there will definitely be a crowd of responders from all over the world.
To take a step back, even if Emperor Tianxing is not dead, as long as Zhao Changying retains his strength and retreats, he can still separate himself and become the backbone of Dayan - after all, Emperor Tianxing cannot use the power of the Heavenly Tribulation without restriction and leaves. After Luo Jing City, it is no longer possible to freely use the power of the "Tianlong Formation".
Instead of putting a country with an unstable foundation on Zhao Yan's young shoulders like now.
"Have you ever thought about how Dayan will go in the future?" After a brief silence, Gu Xu looked at Zhao Yan and asked seriously, "Although I rescued your father today, it is impossible for him to recover immediately. The cultivation level at the peak stage can only be 60 to 70% of what it used to be at most, and it is a blessing to be able to exert the strength of a saint. These problems faced by Dayan will probably exist for a long time."
Zhao Yan turned her head and looked at the solemn look in his eyes.
Unconsciously, she seemed to have returned to a thousand years ago and turned into the 28-year-old girl who always looked up to her master in her previous life.
"Isn't it enough to just work with Master?" She smiled and said softly, "As long as Master overthrows the Daqi Dynasty, won't all these problems be solved?"
"Now under my command, there are Luochuan in the eighth realm and Xu Man, the master of Jiange Pavilion in the seventh realm." Gu Xu looked at the sky in the distance and calmly told his next plan, "There are Qing people scattered all over the wilderness. The members of Ming' include thousands of cavalry in the northwest grassland and three shamans on the holy mountain. If I use all my means, I may be able to have the strength to barely fight against the strong saint.
"In a few days, we will fight the first battle of the offensive on the northwest border of Daqi. If nothing unexpected happens, we should be able to capture one or two cities to serve as our base for the next period of time.
"If possible, I hope you can send Da Yan's army to conduct some harassment and feint attacks in the Yan-Qi border area to distract the attention of the Da Qi court. In this way, we can reduce some pressure on the execution of our plan. .”
Zhao Yan listened carefully to his narrative.
She couldn't help but remember that not long ago, Gu Xu escaped from Luojing alone. He was cornered by the Hedong commander Zhu Qiuyi and other pursuers sent by the Daqi court, and almost died.
However, at this moment, two of Daqi's "Five Saints" are working for Gu Xu; those rebellious prairie people have also been brought under his command through unknown means; let alone hiding in the market , but the "Qingming" organization secretly affects the current situation of Daqi.
Gu Xu's power is no longer what it used to be.
Faintly, he seemed to have the qualifications to sit at the table and play against the Qi Dynasty.
"Of course that's no problem," Zhao Yan tilted her head and leaned on his shoulder, "You go and muddy the water in the west, so that the Qi court will be in a hurry, and I can live a more relaxed life.
"But have you thought about when our wedding will be held?
"Should we hold it now and take this opportunity to announce our alliance to the entire Dayan, or should we wait a little longer -"
"——Let me lay down a piece of territory first," Gu Xu said, "Luochuan thinks that I need a new national title as a banner to rally everyone. But I haven't thought of a suitable one yet——"
"Today is the summer solstice, why not just call it 'Xia'!" Zhao Yan said in a joking tone, "I don't want to be the thankless King of Yan anymore. I might as well be an idle prince who just eats and waits for death - Of course, he is Duke Yan of Daxia, not Daqi. When the sky falls, Master will carry it for me first."
"Xia..." Gu Xu silently recited this word in his mind, feeling a little dazed for a moment.
(End of chapter)
