Chapter 325 A strategy to attack the heart
Nanchang City, Palace of King Chu.

“Yuezhou is over!”

“Wuchang is finished!”

“Huguang is finished!”

Looking at the battle report in his hand, Wei Jiarui said “it’s over” three times in a row, scaring everyone present half to death.

“My Lord, the situation won’t be that bad.

We have already sent envoys to the Wu Kingdom to lobby. With the combined strength of our two families, we will surely be able to…”

Prime Minister Chang Junyi had not yet finished his words when he was shocked by the contents of the battle report handed over by Wei Jiarui and was speechless.

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

The defenders in Yuezhou City also suffered heavy losses in the process of supporting friendly forces.

The loss of 30,000 troops at once left both Wuchang and Yuezhou in an embarrassing situation of being short of troops.

Even if the envoys had persuaded the Wu high-ranking officials to agree to send troops to support the Huguang battlefield, it was too late.

No one would be so arrogant as to hope that the several thousand defenders in Wuchang City could stop Li Mu’s troops.

After a while, the faces of the ministers who had read the battle report became uglier than each other.

The core of Chu territory is Huguang. If the Chu State loses Chu territory, can it still be the Chu State?
Having lost the granary of Chu, they were simply unable to compete for the world.

It is true that Jiangxi and Zhejiang are both important financial and taxation centers, but that is the dividend of the times brought about by commercial trade.

Porcelain and silk were very popular commodities overseas, and large amounts of gold and silver flowed into the two places every year.

Due to the impact of the war, the domestic market was almost completely lost.

Overseas markets have also been hit.

Zhejiang merchants also suffered heavy losses in previous robberies, and those who survived also fled to Fujian.

Even if some maritime merchants continued to cooperate with them for profit, they still had to face the official navy active between Songjiang Prefecture and Fujian.

Small-scale smuggling is fine, but once the fleet becomes larger, it will be impossible to hide it from the Yu army navy.

The sea merchants depended on the local powerful families for their livelihood. These forces had just been robbed by the rebel army. In order to continue their families, they could make bets separately, but they would never truly support the State of Chu.

In order to avoid being punished by the imperial court later, many maritime merchants moved their business to Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian.

In fact, it was not only the sales end that was hit hard, but the production end was also affected by the war.

Although they seem to be important financial and taxation centers in the world, the utilization rate of the two places by the Chu State is very limited.

The main sources of fiscal revenue are still agricultural tax and population tax.

The industry and commerce are in a state of disrepair and will certainly not recover in a short period of time.

“Your Majesty, success and failure come at times, but you must not lose heart.

Even if Huguang is lost, we can still take it back.

If we want to seize the world, we will have to face Li sooner or later. It might not be a bad idea to have a decisive battle with him in Huguang!
The pseudo-dynasty is on the verge of collapse, and it is impossible for a few loyal people to turn the tide.

As long as we work together, we will be able to defeat this villain and create a great cause for the Great Chu!”

The Minister of Personnel Huang Shanyan spoke encouragingly.

The struggle for supremacy in troubled times is never smooth sailing.

Many founding emperors encountered setbacks during the process of starting a business.

The most important thing to be able to make it to the end is to have an indomitable will.

“Ha ha……”

“What Mr. Huang said is right. When God wants to give a man a great responsibility, he must first make his mind suffer, his muscles and bones tired, and his body hungry…

I, Wei Jiarui, was born in humble circumstances, rose from humble beginnings, served in the military all my life, and experienced countless hardships. How could I be defeated by such a small difficulty?

No matter how dangerous the situation is, is it as dangerous as when we started the uprising in Guangxi?
At that time, the future was extremely uncertain and I couldn’t see any future at all, but I still managed to pull through.

Now I have an army of one million, a territory spanning three provinces, tens of millions of people under my rule, and I have the help of all of you dear ministers.

A mere thief like Li thinks that I should be afraid of him. You are just dreaming.

Pass the order down, the whole army will march to Wuchang immediately, I will fight the thief Li to the death! “

Wei Jiarui said in a pretentious manner.

The more dangerous the situation is, the less the boss should panic.

The State of Chu could not afford the consequences of the fall of Huguang, so this battle was a battle that had to be fought.

If you are destined to fight, then just show your heroic side. The more confident the boss is, the more at ease the subordinates will be.

Wei Jiarui had no idea whether he could defeat Li Mu, but that didn’t stop him from bragging.

Being able to pull together such a team in troubled times, one third of the credit is due to the ability to brag and deceive people.

In the past few days, seven or eight out of ten of Wei Jiarui’s boasts have been realized, and the remaining ten or twelve are being gradually implemented.

The situation has developed to this point. As long as he wins the battle of Huguang, he will have taken another important step on the road to hegemony.

By then, not only will he be able to take back Huguang, but the remaining five provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Yunnan and Guizhou will also be in his pocket.

He controlled eight provinces, and half of the country was in his hands.

Gathering the general trend of the world, it is only natural to subsequently lead troops northward to seize the vast mountains and rivers.

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

Rebellion itself is a gamble. If you succeed, you will become a king, a prince, a general or a minister; if you fail, you will become a traitor.

Once you’re at this gambling table, there’s no chance of stopping.

……

Nanjing City.

“That useless Wei Jiarui is a hopeless case. He only knows how to appoint people based on personal connections and promotes anyone, no matter who they are.

Even when marching on their own territory, they were ambushed by the enemy.

What do local officials do for a living?
Are all the scouts in the army dead?

……”

Looking at the information in his hand, Fu Haoxuan couldn’t help but curse.

They all came from the Holy Land of White Lotus, and they were all three kings. He felt it was shameful that the Chu State had fought the war like this.

The issue of face is easy to resolve, the key is that in the fight against Dayu, Wu and Chu are important strategic allies.

Chu Jun’s performance was that of a complete pig teammate.

No one would feel good when they find out that their ally is a useless teammate and cannot be replaced.

“Your Majesty, King Wen once said: If one’s virtue does not match his position, there will be disaster.

The King of Chu did not have the Mandate of Heaven. The series of poor performances of the Chu army were actually the result of his unauthorized establishment of a country and proclaiming himself king.

……”

After all, it came from a religious regime, and the atmosphere of feudal superstition is extremely strong. When encountering problems, I can’t help but blame it on this. But compared with the past, it has made a lot of progress.

At least they know to use the “Book of Changes” as the theoretical basis, which is much more convincing than the previous “White Lotus Sutra of Salvation” and “Maitreya Sutra”.

It seems to be nonsense, but in fact it is for political correctness.

There can only be one emperor in the world. Starting from the moment Fu Haoxuan becomes emperor, everyone else must be a fake emperor.

If there is no evidence, we have to fabricate it.

Although Wei Jiarui was only a king, he established the State of Chu. This was an independent regime, not a prince in the Holy White Lotus State. The two were completely different in nature.

Politically, it is also necessary to denounce it.

In fact, the reason why Wu and Chu were able to unite was largely because Wei Jiarui did not proclaim himself emperor.

Otherwise, it would be very difficult for the two families to join forces if it involves a dispute over the legitimacy of imperial power.

“Well, the King of Chu has no destiny, we just need to know it ourselves.

Now we still need that idiot Wei Jiarui to hold back that villain Li Mu on the battlefield, so it is not appropriate to let the envoy from Chu know for the time being.

Next, let’s discuss how to turn the tide and save the current crisis!”

Fu Haoxuan said with a frown.

In the fight for the world, we cannot be reliant on scholarly ambitions.

As for the ally Chu, we must both restrict their growth and support them in fighting against Dayu.

If the situation gets too serious and Wei Jiarui sees no hope and simply chooses to give up, then the Wu State will also be in great trouble.

They had just established contact with the Shanxi merchants and wanted to purchase war horses from the northern barbarians in order to train a capable cavalry.

Now is the time when they need more time. Only with the support of Chu State in the south can they implement their plan with peace of mind.

If the State of Chu fell, they would have to face a dangerous situation with enemies on all sides in advance.

By then, the entire country’s strength will be forced to be invested in the war, and there will be no spare energy to form cavalry.

Without cavalry, the Northern Expedition could not be launched. After the army entered the Central Plains battlefield, it could only passively take the beating.

Firearms do have a considerable killing power against cavalry, but that is based on restricting the enemy’s movement space and making the enemy cavalry lose their mobility.

The generals of the government army are not stupid. Unless they encounter special circumstances, it is difficult to confine the enemy forces to a corner.

The current firearms technology does not have a good way to deal with the cavalry that can roam freely.

“Your Majesty is wise!”

“For strategic security reasons, we cannot let the Huguang region fall into the hands of the Pseudo-Dynasty.

I propose to send 100,000 troops to cooperate with the Chu army to launch a counterattack against the Huguang area and strive to drive the Yu army out of Huguang. “

Minister of War Fan Xiuwen proposed immediately.

To encourage the Chu State and the Yu Army to fight to the death, verbal encouragement alone is not enough, and practical actions are also required.

For the rebels, a hundred thousand troops were not a big number. They could easily gather hundreds of thousands of troops.

However, the situation in Wu State was different. Since entering Nanjing, Fu Haoxuan followed the advice of his subordinates, dismissed the old and weak under his command, and trained elite troops in the same way as Dayu.

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

The number of troops has been greatly reduced, but the overall combat effectiveness of the army has increased instead of decreased.

The old and weak who were laid off were not directly dismissed, but were instead used to establish military settlements to contribute to the restoration of production.

After the increase and decrease, the internal economic pressure of Wu State was greatly reduced. Even without plundering, the normal tax revenue of the government alone could maintain the operation of the country.

“Master Fan, you are aiding the enemy.

Although the State of Chu is our ally now, it is still a competitor in the fight for world domination.

It’s fine to support them in fighting against Yu’s army, but helping them take back Huguang would be too much.

Once our two families join forces to inflict heavy damage on Li Ni’s forces, the Chu State, which spans three provinces, will surely take advantage of the situation to annex Guangdong and Guangxi.

The remaining three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Fujian could not stop their advance. The end of Dayu’s rule in the south was a good thing, but it might not be the case that Chu would become stronger.

As for me, I would rather let the Chu army continue to fight with Li Ni’s army in Huguang and keep them evenly matched! “

Minister of Rites Hu Yuzhe immediately objected.

Where there are people, there will be disputes.

With the joining of many officials from the Yu Dynasty, the fine tradition of factional struggles in the Great Yu Dynasty was inevitably brought into the court of the Wu Kingdom.

However, now is the time to conquer the world, and internal conflicts are not yet intense. Fu Haoxuan can easily suppress these conflicts and does not take them seriously.

“Master Hu, you are exaggerating too much.

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

Even if the Chu State took back Huguang, it would not have the ability to plot against Guangdong and Guangxi, let alone sweep across the southern land.

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

For example: the Annanese and Burmese in the south, the western ones…”

Fan Xiuwen responded sharply.

The centipede insect is dead but not stiff.

In addition to the two capitals and thirteen provinces in the core areas, the Dayu Dynasty’s sphere of influence also extended to the Western Regions, Indochina, Southeast Asia and other regions.

Simply calculating the territorial area, the territories ruled by the Wei Suo and Xuanwei Si actually far exceeded the core territory.

However, most of these places are remotely located, with limited population, relatively backward economy and relatively low sense of existence.

Outside these territories, there are more than a hundred foreign countries, large and small.

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

With so many forces, there are always some who are restless. If we send someone to stir up trouble, the anti-Yu forces in the world can be +1+1+1…

I don’t know how much damage it can bring to Dayu, but at least the joining of these people can inspire the fighting spirit of the righteous army in the world against Dayu.

In troubled times, the struggle for hegemony involves not only military struggles but also political games.

Anti-Yu forces are everywhere, and they can influence people’s hearts the most. Once people in the world think that the Great Yu Dynasty has come to an end, then there is really nothing that can be done to save the situation.

If people’s hearts remain unchanged, the enemy can fight back even if we take over the capital, let alone Nanjing.

There are ready-made cases in history.

After the fall of the Western Han Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty rose again, and after the Eastern Han Dynasty there was the Later Han Dynasty.

The Tang Dynasty also had its capital captured six times and the emperor moved nine times.

As long as people’s hearts are united, everything is possible.

The plan proposed by Fan Xiuwen was to strengthen the anti-Yu forces as a secondary goal. He did not expect these forces to cause much harm to Dayu. It was more for the purpose of winning over the hearts and minds of the people.

Take advantage of the general trend and let the people of the world know that the Dayu Dynasty is about to collapse, and don’t be buried with this corrupt dynasty.

……

(End of this chapter)