To achieve immortality, I cultivate using Qi Luck

Chapter 926: Chapter 388 Jiangdong Issue_3 Chapter 926: Chapter 388 Jiangdong Issue_3 Therefore, there really weren’t any major conflicts between Chu State and Liang within the short term, within the recent decades, before the cold wave fully descended.

Previously, Lu Yuan hadn’t considered launching a Northern Expedition immediately after unifying Yangzhou.

His original plan was also to recuperate and observe the situation in the North slowly over several decades.

However, even though Liang knew that Chu would not immediately engage in conflict, it planned to pull Ning Country into an alliance with Jiangnan as a precaution, to establish a foothold in Yangzhou.

In the future, even if Chu wanted to take advantage of the situation when Liang was exhausted from battling other countries and launch a Northern Expedition against Liang,

Having Ning Country there could at least buy Liang some buffer time.

Not much was needed, just a delay of one or two years would suffice.

With one or two years’ time, Liang could slowly adjust its strategy and divert enough troops to the Southern Line for the defense against Chu.

This was Ning Country’s value and Liang’s strategy against Chu.

It was very conservative and also very compromising.

But this was the helplessness of a central empire.

Located in the heart of the world, surrounded by enemies on all sides, and each one so strong, what else could Liang do?

It was like Lu Yuan’s previous life’s Song Dynasty, occupying the richest lands in the world, but surrounded by powerful nations, none of which were easy to deal with.

Even worse was Liang’s situation.

Source: .com, updated on ƝοѵǤο.сᴑ

Because the neighboring states of Chu, Zhou, Wei, Zhao, Xu, and others, each one was very powerful, almost equal in strength to the Jin and Liao that the Song Dynasty faced, rather than the weaker and smaller states like the Western Xia, Dali, and Tibetan Empire.

Think about it.

Imagine the Song Dynasty facing five Liao or five Jin Kingdoms simultaneously, with these realms surrounding Song from all directions, each eyeing it with predatory intent, wishing nothing more than to breach its borders, break through its capital, and then divide and consume it.

Facing such a perilous environment, Liang could be said to be in constant crisis, always on the verge of collapse and extinction.

A single misstep could spell the danger of national demise.

In such a situation, choosing a cautious and conservative strategy was only logical and reasonable.

Nevertheless, even Liang’s conservative strategy was something Lu Yuan found difficult to accept.

“The matter of Ning Country must be resolved quickly, otherwise, if we really wait for them to grow strong with Liang’s support, the situation in Jiangdong might truly slip beyond my control,” he thought.

Lu Yuan took a deep breath, his concerns for the future situation in Jiangdong growing more intense.

Ziyun Dao’s allegiance was based on the premise that Chu held an absolute advantage and that Ning Country was doomed to perish in the future.

Therefore, in order to break away from Ning, which was a sinking ship, and to board the hopeful vessel of Chu for the future, they chose to defect to Chu and became a spy in Ning.

However, such an allegiance was merely a choice made out of desperation.

Even if Ziyun Dao joined Chu, it could only be one of the state religions and would never monopolize Chu’s faith.

But in Ning, with their dependence on Ziyun Dao and Ziyun Dao’s penetration, it was quite possible that they could eventually take full control of the country.

Perhaps one day, a real Dao Country could emerge in this world.

And Ziyun Dao had invested too much into Ning, the sunk cost was too great, would they really be willing to abandon everything and turn to Chu?

Now, with Liang’s help, Ning had hope for prolonged resistance against Chu, and its dynasty might continue.

As long as it could last for decades or a hundred years and wait until the poisonous fires from the South Pole spread to Yangzhou, even reluctant Chu would have no choice but to join hands with Ning to go north to Central State in search of a way to live.

Suddenly, Ning’s desperate situation would be revitalized.

With a revitalized Ning, naturally, Ziyun Dao would have no need to appease Chu humbly, to trade for that mere state religion status.

It was precisely because of this foreseeable interest in the future that Ziyun Dao, despite having allied with Chu and currently playing the role of a traitor, showed an unreliable hint of change.

Playing the role of a loyal vassal in Ning, assuming a stance of irreconcilable enmity with Chu—such acting might very well become reality.

By then, faced with a Ning propped up by Liang, eager to fight to the death against Chu, what would Lu Yuan do?

ƝονǤ0.ᴄօ

Directly take action himself and use Decapitation Tactics to eliminate them all?

After such a slaughter, how much magic power would he have to exhaust?

Similarly, how would the other Nine Provinces perceive Chu and Lu Yuan after seeing Ning’s fate?

Would they form an Alliance and launch a collective assault?

Or would they stubbornly resist, fragment, and engage with Lu Yuan in an unrelenting guerrilla warfare?

Either option was not what he wished to see.

Both would cause Lu Yuan to continuously exhaust his magic power, waste the precious Spiritual Energy he had left, and shorten his potential path to becoming an Immortal.

Moreover, they would turn the Nine Provinces into ruins, and even Chu might become a land of broken walls and rubble.

A desolate Nine Provinces was not what Lu Yuan wanted, nor could it provide him with enough Qi Luck.

“Therefore, the matter of Jiangdong cannot be delayed; it must be resolved as soon as possible,” Lu Yuan thought and immediately made up his mind, “Time to send a message to Xuan Chengzi, telling him to have Ziyun Dao’s Inborn, with their soldiers, defect back.

While Ning and Liang’s cooperation has not yet officially started, and before Ning gets fattened up, let’s dismantle Ning first.

Although it’s a bit hasty, and Chu hasn’t fully digested its gains, there’s no turning back from the bow string now.

I am curious to see, with half of the Coastal Aristocratic Family’s Inborn and half of their soldiers defecting to the enemy, what choice will they make in the end?” Li Yuan pondered.

Since the rise of Chu, especially after defeating Ning, Lu Yuan remembered the continuous correspondence from the Coastal Aristocratic Families.

Glancing at the defense map of Jiangdong secretly conveyed by Ziyun Dao and considering the few counties in Lingnan he had already decided to abandon, a smile appeared on his face.

If each family could obtain the fiefdom of half a county, ensuring their wealth and titles, it stands to reason that those Coastal Aristocratic Families accustomed to luxury, facing the inevitable, would not be willing to fight to the death, would they?

In this way, Chu might be able to incorporate the strength of the Coastal Aristocratic Families while relying on them to maintain rule in Lingnan.

Like with the Three Nations of the southwest, achieving submission without battle and perfectly resolving the Jiangdong issue.

“Let’s reply to a few letters first and proceed with probing,” Lu Yuan muttered to himself.