Chapter 96 The young man buried in the clouds Chapter 92 The postman galloped forward on his horse and headed straight for the palace. Soon, this battle report was in the hands of the emperor. Xu Guo captured two cities in three days and deployed 100,000 troops in Jiaozhou. It seemed that he was preparing to take over the fourteen southwest states in one go. "What on earth do the Southwest Army do for food?!" Emperor Qu suddenly threw the battle report to the ground. Important ministers of the DPRK went to the palace overnight to discuss countermeasures. Among the four kingdoms, Qu State is the most warlike and good at fighting, and has the largest land area. Not long ago, Xu State joined forces with Qu State to destroy Xiao Chen State, and it can be regarded as the "little brother" who followed Qu State to drink soup. No one could have imagined that just a few months later, they would actually send troops to Qu State! Qu State financed its wars with war, and did not increase taxes on the people. It even provided more subsidies to the families of soldiers who died in the war. In the short term, it did not cause any harm. However, over the past few decades, the territory expanded rapidly, and the newly included areas were It has not been truly digested, the borders have been lengthened, the population has dropped sharply, and many shortcomings are gradually being revealed.
In the past few decades, Qu State has experienced several cliff drops in population due to wars. However, as long as it is given a few years to recuperate, the population will soon increase sharply. Just looking at the number, you may think there is no problem. However, once you go to the countryside If you take a walk, you will find that most of the fields are occupied by women. Those newly born babies take at least more than ten years to grow up. Once they grow up, they are quickly recruited into the army to continue fighting. After several consecutive waves, the population problem is like a chronic disease that may break out at any time. Isn't it possible that no one in the Qu Kingdom has seen this clearly? Not really. Many officials repeatedly submitted remonstrances, but they were refuted and ostracized. Some scribes once wrote angrily, "How can you be safe if you are in a hurry? The bones of a young man are buried in the clouds." (Note ①) It's a pity that the people at the bottom are the ones who suffer in the war, but the upper class doesn't know how many people make a fortune from the war. With such a group of people in the court, and a militaristic emperor, even 800 cows can't be brought back. Furthermore, even the Qu people, who are warlike at heart, can't stand the continuous wars, let alone the people of other countries. The people who were newly included in the territory simply could not stand the endless wars, and could not accept the fate of their sons and daughters being born in the battlefield. There were small resistance forces among the people in many places, but because they were afraid of the war power of Qu State, they could not form a climate. , if something goes wrong in Qu State, the consequences can be imagined. While the monarchs and ministers of the Qu State were reveling in the destruction of the Xiao Chen State, the Xu State brazenly challenged the authority of the overlord after a long period of accumulation. Chen Jizhi, the left prime minister, could not help but stand up and say something fair on behalf of the Southwest Army: "The Southwest Army was the main force in destroying the Xiao Chen Kingdom this time. Tens of thousands of soldiers were killed in the battle. Not even one of the generals was left alive, and their vitality was severely damaged. Moreover, the Xiao Chen Kingdom There are still remnants there, and the pressure on the Southwest Army is huge, which may be why Xu took the opportunity to attack the city." The cost of destroying the Xiao Chen Kingdom was very high. It was not an exaggeration when the left prime minister said that "not even one out of ten" would have been taken. Otherwise, Lu Pingzhang, a general of the Northwest Army, would not have been captured and taken over, and Xiao Hongfan, a woman, would not have been allowed to take over. Xiao Jiajun. Emperor Qu calmed down and lost his temper: "The troops in the southwest are insufficient. According to the ministers, where should we mobilize troops to support us?" Some ministers suggested: "It is better to dispatch the northwest army..." Before he finished speaking, he was hurriedly interrupted: "No! Your Majesty, the main northwest army is stationed at the junction of the three countries and must not be moved. The remaining troops guarding the border between our country and Dachen Kingdom must not be moved without permission!" The Northwest Army was the Xiao Family Army, but obviously no minister dared to call it the "Xiao Family Army" in front of the emperor without risking his life. The place where the Xiao Jiajun was stationed was at the junction of Dachen State, Lu Chang State and Qu State. Lu Chang State and Qu State were blocked by mountains, making it difficult for them to use troops against each other. However, the two countries had not never fought wars in history. The land of Luchang Kingdom is mostly covered with mountains and forests, making it difficult to plant crops on a large scale. Obviously, it is not so willing to settle in a corner. The previous monarch invested a lot of manpower and material resources in the name of commerce to open a road "out of the mountains", and the pass is at the junction of the three countries. The State of Chen and the State of Qu border on each other, and there is a long border in the middle. There is no natural barrier to stop them. Once a war breaks out, it will definitely be a war. What's more, the Big Chen State and the Little Chen State were inextricably linked. Although they were at war with each other in the past, they were from the same family. Who knows if they would go to war under the banner of revenge. Originally it was just a sudden sneak attack by Xu State, but after analyzing it this way, they turned out to be in such a critical situation.
Emperor Qu also knew that what the courtier said was reasonable, but he still said angrily: "This can't be moved, and that can't be moved. Is it possible that we need a water diverter?" There is a sea to the east of Qu State, so most of the navy stationed in the east. If the navy is not good enough, then the only option is to use the imperial army. After some discussion, it was finally decided to mobilize soldiers from several cities close to the battlefield to form an army and rush to Jiaozhou to resist Xu's attack. So the question is, who will be the leader of this army? "General Xiao just left, so he probably hasn't gone far yet. Why don't you order her to go..." "Absolutely not!" "Absolutely not!" For a moment, half of the people in the court jumped out to object. Note 1: The poetry writer is myself O(∩_∩)O haha.