Chapter 487: Panic in the five towns, the beginning of withdrawal from the alliance, Tan Rou

【It is easy to invite a god but hard to send him away】

Upon hearing this, the expressions of Shangguan Yang and Yang Fa instantly became extremely ugly.

Just because these seven words from Qin Feng perfectly expressed the biggest pain point of the Jin Shan and Beishuo towns today.

The year before last, which was the 134th year of the Mo Ao calendar, in May, the Chui Shan rift occurred. Does Da Xia became the ultimate winner. With the power of the four towns, it forcibly facilitated the alliance of the nine towns and officially finalized the alliance treaty in Chui Shan Zhencheng on the third day of June of the same year.

The five most important articles in the alliance treaty were: jointly serving the leader, flags in the same boat, strengthening people and troops, jointly resisting outside vassal states, and the alliance oath being eternal.

At that time, the reason why the five towns agreed to sign the alliance treaty was, firstly, they were wary of the power of Does Da Xia at that time; secondly, because the terms of the alliance treaty were really not too excessive, and even from a long-term perspective, they were beneficial to the five towns.

But looking back now, they were all pits!

For example, the first article, jointly serving the leader, contains a sentence: regarding all matters involving outside territories, all eight towns must obey the leader's orders. This seems reasonable, but it did not set a specific standard for matters involving outside territories. In the past two years, Does Da Xia has occasionally used this as an excuse to point fingers at the affairs of the five towns;

Take the third article, strengthening people and troops, for example. To enhance the overall strength of the nine towns, Does Da Xia proposed two specific measures: first, sharing of resource areas, where advanced hunting teams holding alliance tokens can freely enter and exit the resource areas of each town; second, Does Da Xia opened Wan Bao branch buildings in all town cities, taking out the high-quality cultivation resources produced by Does Da Xia to share with the people of the southern foothills.

These two articles should have been no problem, but the mistake was that there was no clear limit on the number of advanced hunting teams in each town when the alliance treaty was signed.

In the first month, Does Da Xia was not too excessive. A total of only 900 alliance hunting tokens were issued, with each of the nine towns receiving 100. This was equivalent to each town having only 100 advanced hunting teams that could freely collect, hunt, and explore without regional restrictions.

But in the second month, Does Da Xia suddenly proposed two clear standards for the alliance's advanced hunting teams in the name of the leader: first, the number of people must be more than 20; second, the cultivation level of the team members must be at least Frost-Resistant level.

These two standards were not too excessive, and they could indeed increase output and reduce the casualty rate. Moreover, the five towns could basically do it. Although they had many complaints in their hearts, they finally accepted it.

But I never expected that setting standards was just Does Da Xia's first move.

Once the third month arrived, the second move came.

Does Da Xia suddenly began to issue a large number of alliance hunting tokens and announced at the same time that any hunting team that met these two standards could apply freely.

Of course, it was impossible for each town to have only 100 advanced hunting teams. The original 100 alliance hunting tokens issued to each town were already in short supply. So, as soon as Does Da Xia announced this news, the advanced hunting teams under the five towns immediately began to reorganize in large numbers according to the standards and then went to apply for alliance hunting tokens.

It is not strange at all that such a phenomenon appeared.

Teams holding alliance hunting tokens that can freely enter and exit all resource areas in the southern foothills, compared to teams that can only operate in a fixed area, the daily hunting, gathering, and even exploration income of the two are simply worlds apart.

The 100 alliance hunting tokens originally issued were already fought over in each town city. The first batch to get them were basically households with connections and strong hunting teams. Those who did not get them were already holding back anger in their hearts.

So, one can imagine the mood of the people below when the news that Does Da Xia was going to issue more alliance hunting tokens spread.

The high-level officials of each town had actually noticed that something was wrong at this time. Does Da Xia had been moving east for more than four years, especially after the opening of the Hong Sect port, each town basically understood Does Da Xia's strength.

They all knew that if the alliance hunting tokens were not limited in quantity, the five towns would definitely suffer a big loss. So the five towns united to oppose it, demanding to limit the number of additional alliance hunting tokens issued, and that subsequent additional issues should be shared equally.

The trap appeared here!

"When the alliance treaty was signed, it was very clear that opening the resource areas of the southern foothills was to strengthen people and troops and enhance the overall strength of the nine towns. Now the leader issuing more hunting tokens is to achieve this goal. The standards for applying for hunting tokens are the same for all nine towns, including Does Da Xia. What is inappropriate? Do you mean that Does Da Xia's strength is too strong, so it must accommodate you?

This Director puts his words here: either no hunting tokens will be issued, and the status quo will be maintained, or all will be opened. You choose for yourselves!"

This was Xia Chuan's original words at the time, and these words spread throughout the entire southern foothills area in less than three days.

Instantly, the five towns were boiling, and the people were excited. Facing the surging public opinion, how could the leaders and high-level officials of the five towns dare to continue to oppose it?

Thus, the unlimited issuance of alliance hunting tokens began.

Since then, the nightmare of the five towns has truly begun.

Just at the end of the year before last, the alliance hunting tokens were issued to a total of 3,000. The three northern towns plus Yang Qu and Long Gu each had only 200-plus; Chui Shan, Jiang Xia, and Mu Yin each had 300-plus; the remaining 1,000-plus hunting tokens were all in Does Da Xia.

And as of this month, the total number of alliance hunting tokens has exceeded 6,000. Does Da Xia alone accounts for more than half. Combined with the latest news obtained by the five towns, the three Mu Yin towns had long ago secretly merged into Does Da Xia. In other words, the teams holding hunting tokens in Does Da Xia actually account for more than two-thirds of the total.

Hunting tokens are just a means. The key is that those teams holding hunting tokens can freely enter and exit all resource areas under the five towns to collect and hunt. Thus, a large number of cold beast spiritual plants and various precious resources continuously flowed into Does Da Xia in this way.

The five towns also benefited, of course, but how could the three hundred-plus advanced teams under their respective commands compare with Does Da Xia?

Thanks to these continuously issued hunting tokens, Does Da Xia's new products have emerged one after another in the past two years, and new types of cultivation resources have been put on the shelves of the Wan Bao Building one after another. The development speed can be described as changing with each passing day.

Although the five towns have made progress, they cannot be mentioned in the same breath as Does Da Xia.

Speaking of the Wan Bao branch buildings, the leaders of the five towns originally thought that after the Wan Bao branch buildings were opened in their own town cities, they could directly buy Does Da Xia's cultivation resources, saving the trouble of going to Hong Sect City, which could not only reduce the transportation costs of the Chamber of Commerce but also avoid the loss of population to the outside.

But as a result, the Wan Bao branch buildings in each town city only did business with scattered people.

In other words, the business of the Chamber of Commerce still had to continue in Hong Sect City, while the Wan Bao branch buildings in the town cities only received individuals, and slightly precious cultivation resources were still supplied in limited quantities.

The most poisonous thing is that Does Da Xia set the price of materials at the Wan Bao Building headquarters in Hong Sect City to be 20% cheaper than in each town city.

Therefore, whether it was reducing costs or reducing population loss, the five towns did not succeed in these two wishful thinking.

On the contrary, in the past two years, Does Da Xia has continuously infiltrated and even incited rebellion in the five town cities through the Wan Bao branch buildings, and the five towns can be said to be annoyed.

Of course, they also made many countermeasures in the middle, but in the end, without exception, they all failed under Does Da Xia's terrifying financial and material resources.

In the end, they had no choice but to call a halt to the Wan Bao branch buildings again.

Don't say it, Does Da Xia really complied with the requirements of the five major leaders and directly closed the Wan Bao buildings in the five towns.

But the result was the same as when the alliance hunting tokens were issued. The five towns were instantly boiling with public grievances. Some ran to Hong Sect City to settle down, and some simply turned to Does Da Xia directly. The high-level officials of the five towns were panicked when they saw this.

Thus, the Wan Bao branch buildings, which had only been closed for ten days, were reopened at the request of the leaders of the five towns.

Just the two alliance treaty articles of jointly serving the leader and strengthening people and troops had already made the five towns so overwhelmed, and the remaining detailed articles in the alliance treaty totaled dozens.

Under the situation where Does Da Xia continuously took aggressive offensives in the name of the alliance, one can imagine the situation of the five towns in the past two years.

But then again, among the terms of the alliance treaty at that time, the most poisonous ones were the second article, flags in the same boat, and the fourth article, jointly resisting outside vassal states.

These two articles were carried out in tandem. The specific content of the second article was that each town would send Frost-Resistant-level people to jointly form an alliance army; the specific content of the fourth article was to designate the Beishuo Dongchuan jurisdiction and the Jin Shan Yinhe Valley jurisdiction as areas for joint alliance governance, handed over to the alliance army to be stationed, because these two areas were the entrances and exits of the Chen Cang and Cai Qiu vassal states to the southern foothills area.

When it first started the year before last, the alliance army had a total of only 30,000. Does Da Xia contributed one-third, which was 10,000 people; the three northern towns each contributed more than 3,000, totaling 10,000; the last 10,000, the remaining five towns each contributed 2,000.

According to this formation method, although Does Da Xia soldiers accounted for the majority of the alliance army, they were not enough to form an overwhelming advantage, so the five towns did not take it seriously.

But the situation changed from April last year!

The reason still lies with Cai Qiu and Chen Cang. After the two vassal states learned about the situation of the nine-town alliance, in April last year, they each sent fifteen Xianyang-level experts south, and their intentions were self-evident.

The problem is that the two major jurisdictions of Dongchuan and Yinhe Valley were already areas for joint alliance governance. So many Xianyang-level experts coming with great fanfare were discovered by the coalition forces on both sides for the first time.

The reason why the nine towns formed an alliance was to resist the invasion of outside vassal states. How could they let so many Xianyang-level experts from the two vassal states come in?

The alliance army commander-in-chief of Jin Yang City, Xiang Fuhai, and the alliance army commander-in-chief of Dongchuan City, Mu Longhe, each led 15,000 alliance troops to directly block the people from the two vassal states.

Both sides directly took action. Although the people from the two vassal states were all Xianyang-level experts, after all, only fifteen came. Even if it was an ordinary army of 15,000 Frost-Resistant-level people, they could not win, not to mention that Does Da Xia also equipped the alliance army with two major weapons: the Divine Machine Crossbow and the Golden Body Pill.

The battle situation in the two areas was surprisingly similar. Both paid a casualty price of about 20% and severely damaged more than five Xianyang-level experts from the two vassal states.

In fact, if it weren't for Yang Zun and Shangguan Yang receiving the news and rushing over to persuade both sides to stop, in the end, some of the Xianyang-level experts from the two vassal states would likely have lost their lives.

Although both sides stopped at that time, it could be considered that they had completely formed a grudge.

The Xianyang-level experts from the two vassal states were all people with eyes higher than the top, and they looked down on the people of the nine towns in the southern foothills. Having suffered such a big loss, they were naturally unwilling to give up; Yang Zun and Shangguan Yang ran over from a long distance, not to help but to persuade peace, violating the treaty signed at the beginning of the alliance. As for Does Da Xia's subsequent reaction, it goes without saying.

Don't say it, after rescuing the Xianyang-level experts from the two vassal states, Yang Zun and Shangguan Yang were relatively uneasy for a period of time afterward. After all, they violated the contract first, and they were worried that Xia Hong would use this to make trouble.

But after waiting for two or three days in a row, Does Da Xia did not have any measures. The two thought that Xia Hong was afraid of Chen Cang and Cai Qiu, and gradually they were not so uneasy.

But as this matter spread rapidly in the southern foothills area and continued to ferment, the situation changed completely.

The behavior of Beishuo and Jin Shan towns violating the purpose of the alliance, let alone what the high-level officials of each family thought, the people were almost without exception full of scolding, accusing the leaders of the two towns of turning their elbows outward.

Public opinion, Does Da Xia's means, followed closely!

Xia Chuan did not pursue the matter of the Xianyang-level experts from the two vassal states, but directly summoned the leaders of the five towns to Chui Shan Zhencheng in the name of the leader Xia Hong, using this great battle as a reason, proposing that the vassal state was powerful, the alliance must expand its army, and it must continue to increase troops in Dongchuan and Jin Yang cities to prevent such things from happening again.

Of course, the five towns were unwilling, especially after a year, they found that the Frost-Resistant-level soldiers they sent to the alliance army had been incited by Does Da Xia to bring their families away from the town city, so they dared not send people again.

But no matter how unwilling they were, they could not withstand the timing of Does Da Xia's proposal to increase troops at this moment. Yang Zun and Shangguan Yang had ghosts in their hearts, and it was the time when public grievances were boiling. The two did not even dare to refuse; Jin Yang belonged to Jin Shan Town, and Dongchuan belonged to Beishuo Town. They had nothing to do with Wu Chuan, Yang Qu, and Long Gu, so the three towns naturally had no need to oppose it.

So facing Does Da Xia's demand to increase troops, the attitude of the five families was very clear in the end: they did not oppose it, but it was impossible to send people, and they could not send people.

Unexpectedly, Xia Chuan did not continue to entangle with them, saying that since the five towns could not send people, this increase in troops would be done by the four towns of Does Da Xia, Jiang Xia, Mu Yin, and Chui Shan.

In June of the same year, Does Da Xia increased troops by 2,000, and the five towns did not care;

In August, Does Da Xia increased troops by 2,000, and the five towns still did not care;

In October, Does Da Xia increased troops by another 5,000, and the leaders of the five towns began to feel that something was wrong, but they did not stop it;

In December, Does Da Xia increased troops by another 3,000, calculating that the total strength of the alliance army in the two places reached 42,000, while Does Da Xia already accounted for nearly 30,000. The leaders of the five towns suddenly woke up. Does Da Xia was using the name of expanding the alliance army to do the act of the dove occupying the magpie's nest. The five families hurriedly united in a panic, trying to stop Does Da Xia's troop increase behavior.

However, it was already too late to react at this time!

Xia Chuan pretended to agree to them in December last year, but from the beginning of this year, Does Da Xia continued to increase troops to the two places through the method of alliance hunting tokens.

Those advanced hunting teams held alliance tokens and first entered Beishuo and Jin Shan towns in the name of hunting, and then entered Dongchuan City and Jin Yang Village. In just half a year, the total strength of Jin Yang and Dongchuan was about to break through to 50,000.

In August of this year, Does Da Xia was even more excessive.

The Director of the Ministry of Military Affairs, Yu Wen Tao, led an army of 10,000 from Chui Shan Zhencheng, marched north directly, passed through the territories of Yang Qu and Long Gu, left 5,000 troops when arriving at Jin Shan, and then led 5,000 troops north through Wu Chuan Town, finally arriving at Dongchuan City in Beishuo.

Yu Wen Tao marched swaggeringly the whole way, without any scruples, and did not communicate with the leaders of the five towns along the entire march, and did not even avoid the direction of the town cities. ===== CHAPTER 488 =====