Chapter 327

Nanchang City, Chu Prince's Palace.

"Yuezhou is finished!"

"Wuchang is finished!"

"Huguang is finished!"

Looking at the battle report in his hand, Wei Wang Weijiarui said "finished" three times in a row, scaring everyone present half to death.

"Your Highness, the situation will not be that bad.

We have already sent envoys to the Wu State to lobby; with the combined strength of our two houses, we will certainly..."

Before Chancellor Chang Junyi could finish his sentence, he was stunned into silence by the contents of the battle report handed over by Wei Wang Weijiarui.

The army rushing to reinforce Yuezhou was ambushed by imperial troops on the way, and only one or two out of ten escaped back to Wuchang.

The garrison in Yuezhou City also suffered heavy casualties in the process of meeting up with friendly forces.

Losing thirty thousand troops all at once left both Wuchang and Yuezhou in a predicament of empty military strength.

Even if the envoy had already persuaded the high command of the Wu State to agree to send troops to reinforce the Huguang battlefield, it was already too late in terms of time.

No one would be arrogant enough to hope that the few thousand defenders in Wuchang City could block the military force of Li Mu's troops.

After a while, the ministers who had finished reading the battle report had faces that were uglier than the last.

The core of the Chu region is Huguang; if the Chu State loses the Chu region, can it still be the Chu State?

Having lost the granary of the Chu State, they are fundamentally unable to compete for the world.

It is true that Jiangxi and Zhejiang are key areas for finance and taxation, but that is the era's dividend brought by commercial trade.

Porcelain and silk are hot commodities overseas, and a large amount of gold and silver flows into the two places every year.

Affected by the war, the domestic market has been almost entirely lost.

The overseas market has also been impacted.

In the previous looting, the Zhejiang sea merchants also suffered heavy losses, and those who survived fled to Fujian.

Even if there are sea merchants who continue to cooperate with them for the sake of profit, they still have to face the imperial navy active between Songjiang Prefecture and Fujian.

Small-scale smuggling is fine, but once the fleet size grows, it cannot be hidden from the Yu navy.

Sea merchants live by attaching themselves to local great clans; these forces have just been looted by the rebel army, and for the sake of clan continuity, they may hedge their bets, but they can never sincerely support the Chu State.

To avoid the imperial court settling scores after the autumn, many sea merchants have transferred their businesses to Liangguang and Fujian.

In fact, it is not just the sales end that has suffered heavy losses; the production end has also been affected by the war.

Although it appears to be a key area for the world's finance and taxation, the Chu State's utilization rate of the two places is very limited.

The main fiscal revenue is still agricultural tax and poll tax.

Industry and commerce are waiting to be revived and certainly cannot recover in a short time.

"Your Highness, success and failure come in cycles; do not lose heart.

If Huguang is lost, we can take it back again.

To seize the world, we will have to face the rebel Li sooner or later. Deciding the battle with him in Huguang may not necessarily be a bad thing!

The pseudo-dynasty's mansion is about to collapse; it is certainly not something that a few foolishly loyal people can turn around.

As long as we work together, we will certainly be able to defeat this rebel and create a great cause belonging to the Great Chu!"

Minister of Personnel Huang Shanyan spoke up to encourage him.

Competing for hegemony in troubled times has never been smooth sailing.

In the process of starting a business, there have been many founding emperors who encountered setbacks.

To be able to make it to the end, the most important thing is to possess an indomitable will.

"Haha..."

"What Minister Huang says is correct; when Heaven is about to bestow a great responsibility upon a person, it must first suffer their heart and mind, labor their muscles and bones, and starve their body and skin...

I, Wei Wang Weijiarui, was born in humble circumstances, rose from the grassroots, and have spent my whole life in the saddle, tasting countless hardships; how could I be defeated by this little difficulty?

No matter how dangerous the situation is, is it as dangerous as when we raised our army in Among Guangxi back then?

At that time, the future was completely confused, and I couldn't see any future at all, yet I still pulled through.

Now, sitting on a million-strong army, with territory spanning three provinces, tens of millions of people under my rule, and the assistance of all you ministers.

A mere rebel Li wants to make this Prince afraid; it is simply a dream.

Pass the order down: the entire army is to advance to Wuchang immediately; this Prince wants to fight a decisive battle to the death with the rebel Li!"

Wei Wang Weijiarui said with feigned boldness.

The more dangerous the situation, the less the leader can afford to panic.

The Chu State cannot afford the consequences of Huguang falling, so this battle is a must-fight.

Since a confrontation is destined, one might as well show a heroic side. The more confident the leader is, the more at ease the subordinates will be.

Whether he can defeat Li Mu, Wei Wang Weijiarui has no bottom in his heart, but that does not affect his bragging.

Being able to pull together such a team from troubled times, one-third of the credit comes from being able to bluff.

In the past days, seven or eight out of ten of the boasts Wei Wang Weijiarui made have been realized, and the remaining one or two are gradually being implemented.

With the situation developing to this point, as long as he wins the Battle of Huguang, he will take another important step on the road to hegemony.

At that time, not only will he be able to take back Huguang, but the remaining five provinces of Liangguang, Fujian, and Yunnan-Guizhou will also be in his pocket.

Sitting on the land of eight provinces, half of the country will be in his hands.

Gathering the momentum of the world, subsequently leading troops north to seize the vast mountains and rivers is also a matter of course.

The Prince of Chu made up his mind, and the originally panicked crowd gradually calmed down.

Rebellion itself is a high-stakes gamble; succeed and you are a prince or general, fail and you are a rebel.

Once you get on this gambling table, there is no chance to withdraw.

Nanjingcheng.

"That trash Wei Wang Weijiarui is truly mud that cannot be plastered onto a wall. He only knows how to appoint people based on favoritism all day long; no matter what kind of stray cat or dog it is, he dares to promote them.

Marching on his own turf, he could actually be ambushed by the enemy.

What are the local officials doing?

Are the scouts in the army dead?

..."

Looking at the intelligence in his hand, Fu Pingnan Fu Haoxuan couldn't help but curse loudly.

Everyone came out of the White Lotus Holy Kingdom and were the three kings listed together. With the Chu State fighting the war like this, he felt ashamed.

The issue of face is easy to talk about, but the key is that in the issue of opposing the Great Dayu, the Wu Chu States are important strategic allies.

The performance of the Chu army is a proper "pig teammate."

No one would feel good when they learn that their ally is a pig teammate and cannot be replaced.

"Your Majesty, King Wen once said: Virtue does not match the position, there must be lingering disasters.

The Prince of Chu does not have the mandate of Heaven, and the series of clumsy performances by the Chu army are actually the consequences of his unauthorized founding of a nation and claiming the title of Prince.

..."

After all, they came out of a religious regime, and the atmosphere of feudal superstition is not ordinarily thick. When encountering problems, they always can't help but attribute it to this.

However, compared to before, it has improved a lot.

At the very least, they know to use the "Book of Changes" as a theoretical basis, which is much more convincing than the previous "White Lotus Scripture of Salvation," "Maitreya Scripture of Descent,"...

It looks like nonsense, but in reality, it is for political correctness.

There can only be one emperor in the world; from the moment Fu Pingnan Fu Haoxuan claimed the title of Emperor, everyone else must be a pseudo-emperor.

Even without evidence, they have to fabricate evidence.

Although Wei Wang Weijiarui only claimed the title of Prince, he established the Chu State. This is an independent regime, not a prince in the White Lotus Holy Kingdom; the nature of the two is completely different.

Politically, it also needs to be disparaged.

In fact, the reason Wu Chu could unite was largely because Wei Wang Weijiarui did not claim the title of Emperor.

Otherwise, involving the struggle for imperial legitimacy, it would be very difficult for the two houses to join forces.

"Alright, the fact that the Prince of Chu does not have the mandate of Heaven is something we know ourselves.

Now we still need that idiot Wei Wang Weijiarui to drag down the rebel Li on the battlefield; it is not appropriate to let the Chu envoy know for the time being.

Next, let's discuss how to turn the tide and save the current crisis!"

Fu Pingnan Fu Haoxuan said with a frown.

Competing for the world cannot be done with the spirit of a scholar.

Regarding the ally of the Chu State, one must both limit them from growing bigger and support them in opposing the Great Dayu.

If they mess around too much and Wei Wang Weijiarui sees no hope and chooses to give up, then the Wu State will also be in great trouble.

They have just established a connection with the Shanxi merchants, wanting to purchase warhorses from the Northern Barbarians and train a cavalry that can fight.

Now is the time when they need time; with the Chu State holding the line in the south, they can implement their plan with peace of mind.

If the Chu State falls, they will have to face the sinister situation of being surrounded by enemies on all sides ahead of time.

At that time, the strength of the whole country will be forced to be invested in the war, and there will be no spare energy to form a cavalry.

Without cavalry in hand, the Northern Expedition cannot be fought. After the army enters the Central Plains battlefield, it can only be passively beaten.

Firearms do have considerable lethality against cavalry, but that is based on limiting the enemy's range of activity and making the enemy's cavalry lose mobility.

Imperial generals are not stupid; unless they encounter special circumstances, it is difficult to limit the enemy to a corner.

Current firearm technology actually has no good way to deal with cavalry that can roam freely.

"Your Majesty is wise!"

"Out of consideration for strategic security, we also cannot let the Huguang region fall into the hands of the pseudo-dynasty.

I propose sending 100,000 troops to cooperate with the Chu army to launch a counterattack on the Huguang region, striving to drive the Yu army out of the Huguang land."

Minister of War Fan Yu Xiuwen immediately proposed.

To incite the Chu State to fight to the death with the Yu army, verbal encouragement is not enough; one must also take practical action.

For the rebel army, 100,000 troops is not a big number. Pulling together hundreds of thousands of troops is like playing.

However, the situation in the Wu State is different; since entering Nanjing, Fu Pingnan Fu Haoxuan has listened to his subordinates' suggestions, disbanded the old and weak under his command, and imitated the Great Dayu to train elites.

The number of troops under his command dropped from over a million at its peak to over 300,000.

The number of troops decreased significantly, but the comprehensive combat effectiveness of the army increased instead of decreasing.

The disbanded old and weak were not directly dismissed but were engaged in military farming, contributing strength to the restoration of production.

After one increase and one decrease, the internal economic pressure of the Wu State was greatly reduced. Even without relying on looting, the government's normal tax revenue can maintain the country's operation.

"Minister Fan, you are aiding the enemy.

Although the Chu State is our ally now, on the road to competing for the world, they are ultimately still competitors.

It is fine to support them in fighting the Yu army, but helping them take back Huguang is going too far.

Once our two houses join forces to severely damage Li Ni's troops, the Chu State, which spans three provinces, will inevitably take advantage of the situation to annex Liangguang.

The remaining three provinces of Yunnan-Guizhou and Fujian will not be able to block their military force. It is a good thing that the Great Dayu's rule in the south is ended, but it may not be a good thing for the Chu State to grow bigger.

In my humble opinion, it is better to let the Chu army continue to fight with Li Ni's troops in Huguang and let them maintain a balance of power!"

Minister of Rites Hu Hu Yuzhe immediately opposed.

Where there are people, there will be disputes.

With the joining of many Great Dayu officials, the fine tradition of Great Dayu party strife was inevitably brought into the Wu State court.

However, now is the time to fight for the world, and internal contradictions are not yet intense. Fu Pingnan Fu Haoxuan could easily suppress these conflicts, so he didn't take it to heart.

"Minister Hu, you are being too alarmist.

If Li Ni were easy to deal with, he would have been wiped out long ago. This rebel is a die-hard loyalist of the pseudo-dynasty and will never be easily defeated because of one failure.

Even if the Chu State recovers Huguang, they do not have the ability to plot for Liangguang, let alone sweep across the southern land.

Besides supporting the Chu State, we also need to win over more anti-Yu forces.

For example: the Annan people and Burmese people further south, and those in the west..."

Fan Yu Xiuwen countered tit-for-tat.

A centipede dies but does not stiffen.

Besides the two capitals and thirteen provinces in the core area, the Great Dayu Dynasty's sphere of influence also extended deep into the Western Regions, the Indochina Peninsula, Southeast Asia, and other regions.

Simply calculating the land area, these territories ruled by the Guard Commander and Regional Military Commissioner actually far exceeded the core territory.

It is just that these places are mostly in remote locations, the population in the area is limited, the economy is relatively backward, and their sense of presence is relatively reduced.

Outside these territories, there are more than a hundred barbarian states of all sizes.

When the Great Dayu was strong, these barbarian states were obedient little brothers. Now that the Great Dayu has fallen into decline, the little brothers have become restless.

With so many forces, there are always a few restless ones. Send people to incite them, and the world's anti-Yu forces can still +1+1+1...

I don't know how much damage it can bring to the Great Dayu, but at the very least, the addition of these people can inspire the anti-Yu fighting spirit of the rebel army in the world.

Competing for hegemony in troubled times, besides military struggle, there is also political maneuvering.

With anti-Yu forces everywhere, it is most able to influence people's hearts. Once the people of the world believe that the Great Dayu Dynasty is coming to an end, that is when it is truly beyond help.

If people's hearts have not changed, let alone capturing Nanjingcheng, even if they took the capital, the enemy could still fight back.

History has ready-made cases.

After the Western Han Dynasty fell, the Eastern Han Dynasty rose again, and after the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was the Ji Han.

The Great Tang Dynasty also had its capital captured six times and the Son of Heaven moved nine times.

As long as people's hearts do not scatter, everything is possible.

The plan proposed by Fan Yu Xiuwen, strengthening the anti-Yu forces is secondary; he did not hope that these forces could cause much damage to the Great Dayu, but more for the sake of attacking the heart.

With the help of the momentum, let the people of the world know that the Great Dayu Dynasty is about to collapse, and do not be buried with this corrupt dynasty.

(End of chapter)