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Chapter 154 - 154: 125: Decline of National Power_3

Leveraging war, the consecutive annals of the elite army were enlisted in the country, constantly launching Southern Expeditions against Yue Country and releasing various contradictions of the relocation to the outside world.

As a result, the war between the two countries grew longer and larger.

Liang maintained a large army of five hundred thousand on the southern front for years.

Yue Country had no choice but to follow suit.

Although the number of troops in use was smaller due to defense reasons, it remained at more than three hundred thousand for years.

As the Northern Border war had become an open wound for Yue Country, incessantly draining its vitality, the dynasty gradually fell into a state of weakness.

However, things were not much better for Liang Country either.

Liang and Yue’s national power were basically equivalent.

If supporting an army of three hundred thousand was somewhat difficult for Yue Country, how could Liang Country be in any better situation?

In recent years, the intensity of the battles on the borderlands of both countries has gradually diminished, with an implicit trend toward rests.

According to the consensus within and outside the Yue State court, the

Northern Border wars may come to an end after one or two more years.

However, before the end, Yue Country would still need to persevere and endure these tough times.

This first major problem would have to be eradicated over time.

Yue Country’s second major affliction was the war with Jinghai Country.

“However, Jinghai Country has been defeated and is on the verge of losing its national destiny, let alone posing a threat. This problem can be considered as settled.” Cui Changqing said.

Lu Yuan agreed.

Jinghai was a small country, with a population of only a few million. In just three years, its elite troops had suffered a devastating loss of 150,000 men, leaving it severely damaged.

Even though they could not destroy this country, due to this disastrous defeat, it would be impossible for them to recover their vitality for the next twenty to thirty years.

They would not be a threat any longer.

“But according to this, two of the three major problems facing Yue Country have been resolved. Liang Country is gradually losing steam to support a large-scale war, and in one or two years, the war will come to a halt. Jinghai has already been defeated and may become a Jinghai Prefecture of Yue Country at any time.”

Calculating this in his mind, Lu Yuan was startled, “In that case, with two of the three major problems resolved, most of the trouble faced by the Yue State court has been eliminated.

Without these external hindrances, wouldn’t that mean the dynasty could continue to exist?”

He still remembered his previous assessment that the dynasty would not last more than a few years whenever he saw how chaotic Da Yue was. But somehow now, it displayed some signs of rejuvenation.

Was he going to be proven wrong?

While he was thinking about this, Cui Changqing continued, “Both Liang and Yue countries pose little threat. However, the rebellion in Xichuan Prefecture within our country has grown even more popular.

Half a month ago, a report from the Prefecture of Xichuan arrived. The thirty thousand troops sent from our Dongting Prefecture to quell the rebellion were defeated by the rebels.

The rebelling Qiang people had even colluded with the barbarians of the highlands, and when their forces combined, the rebel troops had caught the anti-rebellion army off guard.

At present, more than half of the army has been lost, and the remaining ten thousand-plus troops have retreated to the prefecture city, besieged there with only a few thousand local forces.

The exterior rebel troops have already taken control of seven prefectures, and everything west of the prefecture city has been occupied by the bandits. Only the three regions east of Dongting remain under the government’s control.

The rebel head Li Xiong has even proclaimed himself as the Heavenly Son, establishing Shu State with an Elite Army of two hundred thousand men, making them a severe threat in the Western Region.”

At this point, the Prefect’s face turned ashen with anger in his eyes, clearly infuriated to the extreme.

As expected.

As a government official, hearing about someone rebelling and occupying most of the land and even declaring himself emperor within the government-controlled territory naturally angered him.

Even Lu Yuan was a bit surprised.

‘It seems my judgment was correct. Jinghai Country has been defeated, but a Shu State has appeared as well. Moreover, the southern prefectures Yulin and Southsea have been devastated by the invasions of the Jinghai Country war.

Due to the civilian uprising a few years ago, Jian’an Prefecture has also become ruins.

The northern Guangling Prefecture has reportedly become white land due to the war with Liang Country.

Plus, you can also count Xichuan Prefecture in the west, which I estimate is also struggling after years of fighting.

Considering all this, only three of Yue Country’s eight prefectures, Yuzhang, Dongting, and Linhai Prefectures, are in slightly better conditions and can provide tax revenue.

At present, the three armies of the imperial court receive their provisions solely from these three prefectures.’

Upon further calculation, Lu Yuan realized that the beaten-down Yue Country was indeed doomed.

This dynasty would not last much longer.

However, he still had some doubts, as Jinghai Country was defeated and Xichuan Prefecture had become Shu State. These matters were far away from the prefectures and hundreds or even thousands of miles away from Shaoyang Prefecture. What did they have to do with them?

With this confusion in mind, he asked, “Lord Cui, is this the only information you have for me today? Or is there something else?”

Cui Changqing nodded, “Nowadays, the country is in decline and the rebellious Shu Thieves in Xichuan have grown rampant. I have a feeling that even the city of Xichuan cannot hold for much longer.

However, after years of war and chaos, the court is out of money and provisions.

Even if they intended to summon troops to suppress the rebellion now, there would be no army to call on and no money to distribute.

Thus, His Majesty had no choice but to issue an edict ordering local prefectures and counties to recruit their own local militias to defend their homeland and repel enemy invasions.”

When he mentioned this, the Prefect paused, seemingly aware of the consequences that would inevitably follow once the edict was issued.

Given the current national situation, however, he was powerless to do anything and had no choice but to continue, “So, I thought, shouldn’t we take this opportunity to recruit 600 men and fill up the vacancy in our prefecture’s security force?

Don’t worry about the money and provisions; I will arrange for that.

Over the past year or so, I have implemented local reforms to rectify local revenue accumulations, which are now sufficient to support the military provisions.”

When someone offered Lu Yuan Army Leader funding to recruit soldiers, he naturally had no objection, and said, “As long as the money keeps up, within a month, I can recruit a thousand men. After half a year of training, they can become battle-ready troops.”

He spoke with confidence.

Lu Yuan had some experience with training soldiers.

All he needed to do was recruit good soldiers, ensure military provisions, and then lead the troops to suppress bandits a few times to turn them into elite troops.

That was precisely how he had trained the current 400 -men unit.

All he needed to do now was replicate the process..