Chapter 291: Chapter 175: Planning for the Future_3
Translator: 549690339
That’s why, Ge Shouguan Ming, who led the army of 100,000 imperial soldiers, was the last batch of war army that the court could put together after selling everything.
It is impossible to form a new large army within three or five years, or even within ten years.
On the one hand, there is no silver, and on the other hand, there are no more eligible soldiers to be found.
The court’s nine counties, Jianan, Southsea, Yulin, Jiuzhen, Dongting, Xichuan, and Guangling, are either trapped by bandits, engulfed in war, or newly attached, resulting in heavy casualties, local production disruption, and inability to provide soldiers and money.
That is why the only place that can still provide money and food for the court now is its core territory, Linhai County and Yuzhang Prefecture.
These two counties have provided seven or eight hundred thousand soldiers and countless supplies for the court, helping maintain the current situation.
Despite the heavy bloodshed, these two jurisdictions, as wealthy as they may be, would struggle to provide any more soldiers and money.
Once the local area regains its composure, and a new generation grows up, the court will be unable to form a larger army.
It is precisely because the conventional forces cannot change the situation that the six sects and seven families began to think of the ten Grandmasters.
They plan to crush the enemy with high-end combat power and turn the situation around.
For this reason, they are willing to cut out the lands of the two counties to accommodate the Innate Grandmasters of Jianghu.
For the court to negotiate with the Grandmasters of Jianghu and win them over, it would take at least two or three years.
After all, they are all part of the Jianghu, and they are part of the Innate Sect, which has its own foundation.
Even if the court does not give them half a county’s land, they still have their influence and interests in the local area as usual. Some powerful Innate Sects may have even more influence than the Poison Sect in Dongting County.
Do you still dare to touch their cake?
Are you not afraid that these Jianghu sects will immediately rise up and reenact the rebellion of the Poison Sect?
That’s why these people have enough bargaining chips and may not actually be interested in what the court has to offer.
A mere half a county’s land may not necessarily be of much interest.
Only White Phoenix Temple, an Innate Sect in the core area of Linhai County, constantly squeezed by these aristocratic families, struggled to breathe, would eagerly respond to the court’s relocation offer.
Other Innate Sects may not be so easy to talk to under such conditions.
Otherwise, ever since the court announced its intention to win over the Innate Sects, a year has passed.
In one year, besides White Phoenix Temple, there has been no movement from other Innate Sects, has there?
This is simply because other people are not so easily fooled.
It is also the reason why Yang Jing came forward when he saw Lu Yuan’s potential to break through Innate, and took the initiative to pull him into the plan of the Ten Grandmasters.
It’s not that other Jianghu Grandmasters have their own businesses and look down on the court, so they have no choice but to choose Lu Yuan, an up-and-coming, yet-to-be-Innate stock.
It’s all about realism.
All of the above are what Lu Yuan slowly figured out on his way back.
Based on these interests, some of his original strategies against the court have also changed.
Since the court is more demanding of him now, and the deterrent power has naturally been greatly reduced after seeing the other side’s bluff, the conditions he originally promised when he was intimidated by Yang Jing naturally need to be changed.
For example, the fiefdom could be changed from Jiuzhen County to Dongting County, and the land of the fiefdom could be increased from the original Five Prefectures’ lands to one or two more prefectures, or even directly occupying an entire county.
After obtaining the Taiping Dao Book, Lu Yuan felt that, whether for his own cultivation, or his strength after becoming a cultivator, he was now in a position to ask for more.
So, that’s why he said all this.
Sun Siwen, of course, did not know what was going on in Lu Yuan’s heart, nor did he know that his good friend had already reached a cooperation agreement with the court and had the idea of establishing a fiefdom.
However, after listening to Lu Yuan’s analysis, he slowly shifted his focus from the limited vision of one prefecture to the whole county, and even the whole country, and naturally realized the crisis.
Therefore, after careful consideration, Sun Siwen nodded and said: “To quell the rebellion and repel the enemy, it is indeed not a short-term effort, but a long-term one.”
Lu Yuan agreed and said: “It will take countless years to defeat the bandits, and it cannot be achieved without them. During such a long period, agricultural production in the counties will inevitably be affected, and food shortages are not far away.
At that time, if there is no food and fodder to support the people, even if the local area is peaceful, turmoil will inevitably rise again.
Moreover, in order to cope with the bandit forces and assist the court in quelling the rebellion, I intend to expand the army by another 20,000 and form a 50,000-strong force to cope with the changing situation. This also requires food and fodder support.
Therefore, we should buy food outside the province without hesitation.
If there is not enough silver, you can get it from me at any time.
I still have three million silver taels of assets in my hands. Even if I give you one million taels, there will still be two million silver taels left. No matter how we squander it, it will be enough for a year.
After a year, I will have a way to earn new silver.”
Now that he has switched to another line of thought, the original conservative strategy is naturally no longer viable.
Although there is still the Immortal Destiny Jade Piece as the bottom line, which can still be cultivated to the worst when breaking through Innate, How much immortal spirit is in the jade piece is still an unknown.
To be on the safe side, achieving the conditions of a million people, worshiping the Heavenly Pillars, and attracting heavenly and earthly spiritual energy cannot be abandoned.
So Lu Yuan has already decided to expand his army by 50,000, and then lead his troops to attack the three prefectures of Yangshan, Jiuyi, and Lingling in the south of Dongting County, which are occupied by the Miao people.
Although these three prefectures are mostly mountainous and very poor, they have a total population of seven or eight hundred thousand. Even if the Miao people are removed, there are still three or four million native Yue people.
If this place can be captured, together with Luyang and Shaoyang, they can almost make up a million people, meeting the minimum conditions for the worship of the Heavenly Pillar.
Moreover, through the expansion of external territories, Lu Yuan can also expand his territory, obtain more food and money, and raise more soldiers.
The land of the two prefectures cannot support a 50,000-strong army. But five prefectures’ lands might not be impossible.
Therefore, external expansion has become an unchangeable established strategy for Lu Yuan since obtaining the Taiping Dao Book.
Seeing his friend’s statement like this, and buying food is indeed not a bad thing, Sun Siwen nodded at this time and said, “It can be done. Yuzhang Prefecture still has a lot of food, I can try to buy more. I can’t guarantee that there will be a lot, but two or three hundred thousand stones can be guaranteed.”
Lu Yuan smiled and said: “Then I will leave it to Brother Sun.”
With that, the strategy for Lu Yuan’s camp for the next few years has been settled..