The Rise of History’s Most Powerful Empire - Chapter 482

[Chapter 477 Games]

In fact, after the Ming Dynasty recaptured the six southern provinces, although it had recovered a little in terms of strength, at least its strategic depth had been expanded by more than half.

But the overall strength did not increase much, but declined.

The six southern provinces were just taken by Zhong Yu not long ago. Although Zhong Yu’s occupation process was relatively peaceful and there was no major war, the overall impact was still somewhat, and the economy and people’s livelihood of the six provinces suffered some damage.

When the Ming Dynasty sent a large army to recover the lost territory, the war was even fiercer. One wanted to take back the lost place, and the other wanted to delay time. The two sides did not hold back when they fought. How ruthless was it? how come.

In this process, it is common to forcibly assign strong soldiers to defend the city, or send cannon fodder to ride the mines, or even kill civilians directly and meaninglessly to vent.

Under such circumstances, the people of various places can be described as miserable. Not only are their lives not guaranteed at any time, but they also have to face high taxes due to the war. They are forced to break down their families and money, and they can only survive by selling their children and daughters. .

And this situation lasted for three whole years in the entire six southern provinces. The three-year period was very short, but that was for a dynasty or a cultivator.

For ordinary people, three years is not a short time, equivalent to 1/20 of their life.

Three years of military disasters, coupled with a period of natural disasters, because too many dead bodies were left untreated, resulting in epidemics, plagues were rampant everywhere, and the six southern provinces could be said to be a complete hell on earth.

By the time the Yuguo forces had completely withdrawn from the six southern provinces, and the Ming Dynasty had once again recaptured its southern territory, the land had become completely barren.

The six provinces originally had a combined population of more than 80 million, but now there are only 20 to 30 million people left. Except for some people killed and injured by war, more people died because of famine and plague.

The fertile fields were abandoned everywhere, the cities and towns were ruined, and the people had no food left in their homes. They were looking for food in the wilderness, and everything they thought they could or could not eat was eaten clean.

The Ming Dynasty took over such a mess, and for the sake of the righteousness of the court, it was impossible to ignore it and had to find a way to deal with it.

Therefore, the money and grain that was in short supply in the Ming Dynasty were slowly allocated to the south, and officials from all over the country embezzled a sum of money and then distributed it to the hungry people, slowly guiding them to restore the production economy, and gradually rebuild the southern six Province.

This is not a light job. It is expected that it will take at least 34 years of hard work to restore the stability of people’s livelihood in various places and stop mass exodus due to famine.

Under such circumstances, the Ming Dynasty’s crusade army, which numbered one million, was naturally difficult to maintain.

It’s not that the Ming Dynasty couldn’t form such a large army, but the money in the treasury was really difficult to support the relief of the six southern provinces, and it was necessary to maintain the army’s crusade.

So the princes of the court thought and thought, and after some discussion, they waved their pen.

This million-strong army left 400,000 troops as the garrison in the six southern provinces. On the one hand, they suppressed the scattered bandit army, and on the other hand, they were alert to the attacks of Han and Wei in the south. Since then, they have taken root in the six southern provinces.

Although the number of the remaining 600,000 troops is still large, the rear of the imperial court is barely able to maintain the expedition and crusade of 600,000 troops.

The foundation of Yuguo in the four eastern provinces is not comparable to that of the six southern provinces. Although it cannot be said to be deep, it is not like the situation where all the soldiers have defected.

Among the four eastern provinces, Dongjiang Province has the strongest foundation, because they were abandoned by the imperial court, and they are no longer the land of the imperial court in legal terms.

And Zhong Yu, as a rebel, rescued this piece of land from the hands of the Yellow Mountain Demon King, and saved the fate of these people being treated as food by those demons. He was born with such a halo.

Therefore, Dongjiang Province has the deepest foundation, and the soldiers recruited from here have the least sense of belonging to the court, and even have a trace of hatred.

As for the other three surrounding provinces, although it was said that it was not abandoned by the imperial court, nor was it affected by the cholera of the demon clan.

But they had seen what happened to Dongjiang Province with their own eyes. Although they didn’t say it, they still felt a little sadness.

During the days when the Huangshan Demon King was in chaos, the people in the surrounding provinces were very worried, for fear that when the Huangshan Demon King would bring troops to fight, the court would compromise if it was not good, and gave them to the Huangshan Demon King. as food.

In this atmosphere of thinking, when they heard the news that the Yellow Mountain Demon King was beheaded by a rebel army and all the demons were expelled and annihilated, the excitement in their hearts,

Couldn’t hide it on his face.

Therefore, they can’t be called the rule of Yuguo at all. Although they have certain feelings for the rule of the Ming Dynasty, they are basically in the same position.

Recruiting troops from these three provinces, although I can’t expect their morale to be high, but they won’t be defeated just after the battle, or even directly defect, I can barely believe it.

With this not so deep foundation, when Zhong Yu attacked the six southern provinces in the Ming Dynasty, he started a large-scale army expansion in the four eastern provinces.

The four eastern provinces are located in the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, with fertile land and a large population, gathering countless essences of the Ming Dynasty.

Recruiting troops and horses here, not only do you not have to worry about money and food, but it is very sufficient and can be squandered at will.

It is also because of the large population, from which a better source of troops can be obtained.

In this kind of situation with money and people, as soon as the recruitment order came out, 400,000 troops were immediately raised, and there were still a steady stream of people coming to join the army. I am afraid that Zhong Yu will be able to call up millions by the time the war begins. The army is not a problem.

With such a sufficient number of soldiers and horses, coupled with the loyalty of the soldiers and horses, it can be guaranteed that the Ming Dynasty wants to easily win the four eastern provinces, which can definitely be said to be wishful thinking.

The sweetness released before is enough, and it successfully caused the Ming Dynasty to relax its vigilance.

From the fact that there is no one above the sixth-order powerhouse at all, it can be seen from the battlefield that the Ming Dynasty is also quite afraid of the sixth-order powerhouse on the Yuguo side.

Obviously, the Ming Dynasty was completely immersed in the game where the low-level soldiers decided the ownership of the territory.

The powerhouses of the sixth to seventh ranks, the Ming Dynasty, were not the opponents of the Imperial Kingdom. Sending the eighth-rank powerhouses to take action would violate the rules, which would easily lead to hostility and sanctions from the eighth-rank masters of the surrounding countries.

Like the game where the bottom-level soldiers alone decide the outcome, not only Zhong Yu’s plan to delay time, but also the heart of the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

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