Chapter 187: The Outbreak of War

Shu.

Yizhou.

Since ancient times, it has been the Land of Abundance of Huaxia, a place suitable for living.

The term "Land of Abundance" originated from what Su Qin said when he went to the Qin State to lobby for the Vertical Alliance.

"Your Majesty's kingdom has the advantages of Bashu and Hanzhong in the west, the utility of Huliao and Daima in the north, the barriers of Wushan and Qianzhong in the south, and the fortifications of Yao and Han in the east. The fields are fertile, the people are prosperous, there are ten thousand war chariots, a million soldiers ready for battle, a thousand miles of fertile land, and abundant reserves. The terrain is strategically favorable; this is what is called a Land of Abundance, the most powerful kingdom under heaven."

After Li Bing built Dujiangyan, the Yizhou plain became a thousand miles of fertile land, known as the Land Sea. In times of drought, water was diverted to irrigate; in times of rain, the sluice gates were closed. Thus, it was recorded that water and drought followed human will, there was no famine, and there were no lean years; the world called it the Land of Abundance.

The land is fertile, and the population is numerous.

Coupled with natural barriers and dangerous terrain to block large armies, the land of Chuan Shu has almost become a country unto itself within this Longyan Dynasty, and it is very comfortable.

Yizhou City is also famous for its wealth.

This day.

The city is exceptionally lively.

"Is Pei Yanran coming to give a lecture?"

"Walk faster, if we are any later, it will be too late!"

"Is it worth it?"

"Worth it? Heh, Pei Yanran is known as the Pearl of the Land of Abundance, her literary talent is brilliant, and her beauty is enough to topple cities and states; is this something a common mortal like you can understand?"

People scrambled to reach Yizhou Academy; no matter how hot the weather was, they did not care, all just to catch a glimpse of Pei Yanran's grace.

Countless scholars and wealthy young masters were all craning their necks in anticipation.

At this moment.

In the highest building of the Yizhou Prefect's office, a middle-aged man wearing a brown robe looked indifferently at the bustle in the city.

This person is the Prince of Shu of this Yizhou, Xie Mao!

"Your Highness, a mere Yinzhou actually wants to marry Pei Yanran off there, this..."

The Strategist beside him sighed.

The Prince of Shu laughed heartily: "Old Huang, even with this, they might not necessarily be able to marry her!"

Old Huang beat his chest and stamped his feet: "This, this, this, this is outrageous!"

A sharp glint flashed in the Prince of Shu's eyes, and he said with a serious face: "If it were before, I wouldn't have believed that a mere Yinzhou, a tiny place, could actually take away a Regional Commander. But this has truly happened. Old Huang, do you know what this means?"

Old Huang, named Huang Yan, is a Strategist who has followed the Prince of Shu for decades.

He smiled bitterly: "Yinzhou is adjacent to the Western Regions, and the Emperor is on his deathbed, wanting to expand the territory by an inch before he passes away..."

The Prince of Shu nodded with a smile: "The ninth Regional Commander has broken the balance of the entire dynasty, and all the Feudatory Kings want to become in-laws with him. Because this Regional Commander is the Gold Medal of immunity given by the Emperor himself!"

Old Huang was shocked.

The Prince of Shu laughed heartily: "I hear that General Qin of Yinzhou is very fond of Sikong Jing of Hanzhong. Old Huang, what do you think of this gift list?"

He threw out a gift list and said coldly.

Old Huang took it and looked, his expression changing instantly: "Your Highness, you must not let them form an alliance through marriage!"

Such a large sum, all of it is military equipment.

This would cause the balance between Hanzhong and Yizhou to be broken instantly.

The Prince of Shu said: "Old Huang, do you think this Governor Liu of Yinzhou really wants to marry into Hanzhong?"

Old Huang was stunned, then his eyes suddenly lit up: "Your Highness means, his intention is Hanzhong?"

The Prince of Shu smiled coldly: "The bigger the gift he sends, the bigger his heart, and the greater his schemes. He knows my personality, that I won't watch Hanzhong rise; he really is a kid who is good at observing the human heart!"

Old Huang was covered in cold sweat: "Your Highness, then, should we ignore it?"

"No!"

The Prince of Shu suddenly said: "Why ignore it?"

He chuckled: "Not only will I not ignore it, I will also cooperate with this kid!"

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes: "The Emperor wants to expand the territory, could it be that I don't? My three hundred thousand troops, are they to be trifled with? Since Governor Liu wants to play, we will accompany him to the end!"

Sure enough.

Just as Qingyang Shuo had plotted.

A single gift list immediately made Hanzhong and Shu unable to sit still at the same time.

Qin Zhangfeng rejected the talented woman of Shu but sent an unprecedentedly large gift to Sikong Jing of Hanzhong.

This made the Prince of Shu feel humiliated, and he flew into a rage. This Feudatory King, who had always been known for his fiery temper, counted his troops that very month and began to stir.

Yizhou had always held Hanzhong down; in border frictions, it was always Hanzhong that lowered its head to admit fault, and various reparations would settle the matter.

But if the strength of Yinzhou were added, could Yizhou still maintain this high-pressure stance? The Prince of Shu certainly did not want to see such a situation arise.

The fuse.

Appeared half a month later.

The Prince of Shu used the excuse that a caravan from his own princely estate had disappeared when it entered Wudu City within the borders of Hanzhong. He suspected that the caravan had been looted and slaughtered by the Hanzhong Army in Wudu.

The Prince of Shu personally led his troops, and within three days, he arrived at the gates of Wudu City, clamoring for people.

The Prefect of Wudu, Sun Xiang, was pacing around in a panic.

The garrison of Wudu was no more than thirty thousand, but Yizhou had dispatched an army of two hundred thousand. Did they really come to look for a "caravan"? The key was, who the hell knew where this non-existent caravan was!

The Prince of Shu gave Wudu three days; if Wudu could not produce the people, he would enter the city to look for them himself.

"Prefect, what should we do!"

"Prefect, the Prince of Yong has ordered to hold the city gates at all costs!"

Sun Xiang spat out a mouthful of old blood: "Hold at all costs?"

"You want me to use fifty thousand to defend against two hundred thousand?"

"Let him come!"

"My lord, watch your words!"

Listening to the war drums shaking the heavens and the cries of battle outside the city, Sun Xiang's legs had long since turned to jelly; he spat and said, "The trouble was caused by the Prince of Yong himself, what does it have to do with us?"

"That damned merchant caravan doesn't even exist! Who in the world doesn't know that the Prince of Shu is determined to obstruct the marriage of Sikong Jing!"

"Then we..."

Sun Xiang wore a look of concern for the country and the people, sighed deeply, and stood up straight: "As the Prefect of Wudu, I must first think of the common people in the city; if we can avoid war, we shall avoid it. I hope future generations will not heap insults upon me, Sun Xiang! Three days from now, open the gates to welcome the Prince of Shu!"

The crowd looked on with black lines on their faces.

If you are going to surrender, just surrender; why make it sound so righteous and awe-inspiring?

"What are you saying? That turtle-grandson Sun Xiang has surrendered?"

In Hanzhong, the Prince of Yong jumped up the moment he received the news.

"Your Highness, the Shu Army is coming with fierce momentum; they are unstoppable!"

"Your Highness, what should we do?"

Wudu is the gateway to Hanzhong; once this city is lost, the road for the Prince of Shu's great army to Hanzhong will be wide open.

The Prince of Yong sighed gloomily, then gave a cold laugh.

Looking at this bunch of good-for-nothings under his command, he didn't even have the desire to speak. Over these years, he knew that Hanzhong was located in a vital position, so he had always walked on thin ice, trying his best not to offend anyone. He even employed a group of useless people just to avoid giving the impression that Hanzhong was rich and powerful, or that he had ulterior motives. He had thought that by guarding against the imperial court above and the Feudatory Kings below, he could be a carefree prince and spare the common people the suffering of war...

He had not expected this.

Over in Yinzhou, a single gift list had caused the situation to change drastically in an instant.

"A sin, this is a sin."

The Prince of Yong stood up abruptly and shouted coldly: "Prepare for war!"

The crowd was shocked and one after another exclaimed that it could not be done.

The Prince of Yong glared coldly at this group of useless people and said coldly: "The Shu Army has two hundred thousand, and my Hanzhong Army also has two hundred thousand; why can we not fight? If we surrender, we will be doomed forever. If we resist, the imperial court will give us an explanation! Prepare for war; those who disobey the order will be executed without mercy!"

Everyone was as silent as cicadas in winter.

This prince, who usually indulged in wine and women, had suddenly become so imposing.

But immediately...

They also reacted.

That's right, only by holding out would the imperial court give them an explanation!

It was not as if there were no frictions between the Feudatory Kings of the Longyan Dynasty. But for such large-scale wars, the imperial court would always intervene—yet it would never intervene excessively; why?

The old Emperor also liked to see these Feudatory Kings fighting each other.

Only in this way could the strength of these Feudatory Kings be consumed, preventing any one family from becoming too powerful.

This was the characteristic of the Feudal System.

However...

There was one rule.

Fighting was allowed.

But after you fought, you had to leave. What the imperial court absolutely did not allow was the annexation of others' land!

You could plunder, plunder gold and silver, plunder grain and fodder, or even plunder the population; all of that was fine.

However, annexing all of someone else's land was absolutely forbidden.

This was also the tacit understanding between the Feudatory Kings.

Therefore, even though the Qingzhou of the Prince of Wei was strong, its territory was actually the same size as Yizhou. It was just that its population was several times that of Yizhou.

In short, one sentence.

The world was not yet in chaos; the imperial court would not agree to anyone wanting to swallow someone else's territory!

Even for Wudu, which the Prince of Shu had already occupied, he would have to return it to the Prince of Yong when the time came.

Therefore.

Under these circumstances, wars between Feudatory Kings would always keep a cost in mind.

For defense, one must fight to the death.

For attacking a city, there was no need.

Because it was not worth it!

Therefore.

You could understand it as the Prince of Shu starting this dispute just to show off his power and threaten you: Sikong Jing is not allowed to marry into Yinzhou, otherwise, we will not withdraw our troops!

When the troops reached the city walls, the Prince of Yong would have to personally come out of the city to acknowledge the matter, pay reparations, apologize, and so on...

Who would have thought.

The Prince of Yong was also enraged at this moment.

Hanzhong is a dignified place; is it a place for your Shu Army to come and stroll around?

Resist!

With the order given, the entire army of two hundred thousand was mobilized.