TO ACHIEVE IMMORTALITY, I CULTIVATE USING QI LUCK

Chapter 908: Chapter 382: Counterbalancing Helong, Disintegrating the Southwest_3 Chapter 908: Chapter 382: Counterbalancing Helong, Disintegrating the Southwest_3 Even though Huang Xin and Qing Hezi had just emerged and were previously unknown, their relationship with Lu Yuan meant that Huang Xin would have no trouble taking control of the three western prefectures.

After the enfeoffment of Huang Xin was completed and the Letter of Tiger Symbol was transferred, along with the bestowal of the baton, Lu Yuan sent this Avatar off to take up his post in Hanzhong Prefecture.

Upon appointing Huang Xin, Lu Yuan did not continue to indulge in the landscape’s harem and lead a dissolute life again.

Instead, he took advantage of the time dedicated to reorganizing government affairs to make some more arrangements.

Now that he had created two Avatars, with Huang Xin appointed, naturally he could not let Qing Hezi remain idle.

So, looking at the Mountain and River Map of Great Chu and focusing particularly on the missing corner of Yangzhou in the southwest, he made his decision.

He appointed Qing Hezi as the Governor-General of the Southwest, with full authority over the military and government affairs of one prefecture and three nations, including oversight of the military in the Tonghai and Yulin prefectures, responsible for the subjugation of the remaining defiant nations in the southwest and for expanding the territory of Great Chu.

Hmm, the target for this Avatar was the Southwest, Lingnan, and the three nations of Nanzhao, Dali, and Song, which were still outside the Chu State system.

Now within Yangzhou, besides the two prefectures of Jiangdong occupied by Ning Country, it was only these three areas of the Southwest and Lingnan that were not under Chu State’s jurisdiction.

Although Lu Yuan wasn’t very interested in the remote lands of these three nations, the future of the Nine Provinces lies in Central State after all.

But that did not prevent him from smoothly subjugating these three nations and incorporating them into the Chu State system.

“The three nations of the Southwest, when combined, are strong and robust.

But the military forces of the three prefectures and three nations of the Southwest and Lingnan might be insufficient.

I’ll allocate two more Forbidden armies from the Pengli main camp to serve as your personal troops to bolster your might,”

Source: AllNovelFull.com, updated on ƝονǤօ.ᴄᴑ

said Lu Yuan, deeply pondering over the Mountain and River Map and the intelligence reports of the southwestern nations while looking at his Avatar, Qing Hezi, in the study.

Nanzhao, Dali, and Song Country each have over two million people and can field one hundred thousand elite troops.

By drafting civilian workers, they could cobble together an army of six to seven hundred thousand.

It’s not impossible.

As for Inborn Grandmasters, in recent years, owing to the pressure from Chu State, both Nanzhao and Dali have accelerated their cultivation of talent, tapping into their ressources.

Consequently, both nations have added an Inborn in recent years.

Therefore, within Nanzhao Country, the secular have two Inborns and one High Priest.

Inside Dali Country there are three secular Inborns and one High Priest.

Song Country also has one Inborn.

These three nations combined have about the land of six prefectures, seven million people, can field three hundred thousand elite troops and civilian workers totaling five to six hundred thousand, and they have eight Inborns.

It can be said that, were it not for the fact that they are divided into different factions and split into three, if combined together, they could be regarded as a small hegemonic state.

However, now that Chu State is preparing to take action against these three nations, with the external pressure forcing them, it’s uncertain whether they will unite like the Snow Plains Nomads did, driven by the pressure for survival.

If that happens, the forces from the three prefectures and three nations adjacent to the Southwest and Lingnan might indeed be insufficient.

After all, the combined forces of Chu State in the three prefectures of Qianzhong, Tonghai, and Yulin—being the Forbidden army, the county soldiers, and the prefectures and counties soldiers—are only about two hundred thousand in total.

Including Qing Hezi, they have only four Inborn Grandmasters.

As for the three vassal countries of Jianchuan, Chilih, and Kunhai, with their narrow lands and few people, they can muster a maximum of one hundred thousand elite troops combined.

Yet they can provide three Inborn Grandmasters.

Therefore, the total military forces Chu State can mobilize in the Southwest and Lingnan include about three hundred thousand regular elite troops and around seven Inborn Grandmasters.

Such strength is not significantly superior to the three countries of Nanzhao, Dali, and Song.

In light of this, it was very necessary to strengthen the local forces from the central side.

However, Lu Yuan’s own military resources were also limited; he could only support Qing Hezi with two Forbidden armies, totalling forty thousand men.

But with the elite nature of Chu’s army, these forty thousand troops would be a substantial aid.

“Whether they submit and pay tribute, becoming vassal states like Kunhai and Chilih, or we directly annihilate them and establish prefectures and counties, both are acceptable.”

Lu Yuan added a few more words to his own Avatar, Qing Hezi.

He had no strong attachment to the southwestern region.

As long as they formally respected Great Chu, were obedient to Great Chu’s military dispatches, and integrated their Qi Luck with that of Great Chu, serving him, that was sufficient.

Lu Yuan only wanted the nominal recognition and Qi Luck, along with the tribute of money and grain from those vassal states.

He was not insistent on the destruction of these nations.

Therefore, if these three nations could readily submit, then keeping three dogs was not an issue.

Moreover, by doing so, if the national fortunes of these three countries could be guaranteed, Chu State might not necessarily have to resort to military action.

They could directly leverage the rising national power of Great Chu and the military threat to make the three nations submit and dissolve their unity.

If it’s possible to avoid war, it’s better not to fight.

The three nations of the Southwest were not soft persimmons that one could mold at will.

Chu State had just decided to recover and recuperate; if possible, Lu Yuan did not want to spend money and grain to start a war of annihilation involving hundreds of thousands of people.

Of course, if the three nations of the Southwest were really determined to resist stubbornly, Lu Yuan would not retreat.

The troops of the three prefectures and three nations under Qing Hezi’s jurisdiction were prepared for those rebels.

In the future, Chu State was set to deploy troops northward to compete for Central State.

This grand plan was bound to gather all the manpower and resources of Jiangnan to support the Northern Expedition.

At that time, Lu Yuan would not tolerate having several large forces to his rear that were outside his control and independent of Great Chu.

The three nations of the Southwest must either submit or be destroyed; there was no third option.

“I understand,”

responded Qing Hezi, nodding his head.

As an Avatar, his consciousness originated from Lu Yuan; their minds were one and the same, so he could naturally comprehend the intentions of his original self.

And precisely because he was an Avatar, he was the best assistant to implement the policies of the original, ensuring that Lu Yuan’s ideas, once put into effect at lower levels, would not deviate or go awry.

“Go ahead,”

Lu Yuan said, waving his hand.

Between the original body and the Avatar, there was unity, so there was no need for such cumbersome formalities.

Seeing that his original had nothing else to say, Qing Hezi didn’t linger and left straight away.

ƝονǤօ.ƈᴑ

Watching his departing figure, Lu Yuan fell into deep thought for a moment.

If nothing unexpected happened,

this year, that is, the whole twelfth year of Shenwu Era, the focus of Great Chu, in addition to the planned assimilation project, would revolve around the War of Helong and the Second War of Conquerors.

“Let’s hope everything goes smoothly,”

Lu Yuan mused to himself.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!