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Chapter 984: Chapter 408: Chu Emperor, a Military Immortal too Chapter 984: Chapter 408: Chu Emperor, a Military Immortal too Yuzhou, Xinzheng City.

Within the Zheng Kingdom’s imperial palace, Emperor Zheng Lian received news that Chu and Liang were confronting each other in Yangxia County and Jiaodong County and could engage in battle at any moment.

He immediately summoned a group of ministers.

“Good, very good!”

In the study, Zheng Lian’s face showed excitement as he paced back and forth.

“Chu State and Liang going to war, the borders of Yuqing engulfed in flames.

As long as Chu’s million-strong army is not wiped out, Liang shall never dream of invading our Zheng Kingdom again.”

“Your servant congratulates Your Majesty!

With Chu State as our shield, our great Zheng’s western borders will henceforth be without worry.”

“Chu State entering the trap is all thanks to His Majesty’s schemes.

We had our doubts before, but now we truly feel ashamed.”

“Of course, His Majesty is the Heavenly Son, with extraordinary intellect—how could we mere mortals compare?”

In the room, a group of Zheng Lian’s close ministers began to sing his praises astutely.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Lian couldn’t help but feel somewhat elated.

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However, at this moment, Zheng Chan, the royal uncle and holder of power, frowned and said, “Your Majesty, with Chu and Liang at war, leading disaster eastward, it is indeed a joy for our great Zheng.

But Chu’s camp commander in Yangxia, Huang Xuan, has sent people to Xinzheng in the past few days, pressuring us to deliver ten million bushels of grain and fodder.

Chu’s army is insatiable and truly difficult to deal with.”

Someone beside him asked, “Didn’t we already provide them with half a year’s supplies and provisions for their million-strong army?

Why is Chu’s army still asking for grain?”

Previously, Zheng envoy Li Hu, to persuade Chu State to accept Zheng Kingdom’s terms, agreed to Lu Yuan’s request for Zheng Kingdom to provide initial supplies and provisions for the Chu army stationed in Yangxia County.

That is the consumption for half a year of a million-strong army.

This batch of supplies roughly included five million bushels of grain and fodder, ten million arrows, one hundred thousand bowstrings, ten thousand sets of armor, two hundred thousand each of swords, spears, sabers, and halberds, as well as ten million silver tales as reward money.

Honestly, this expenditure was already quite large, almost one-third of Zheng Kingdom’s treasury at that time.

Not everyone is Chu, resting and rekindling for thirty years, with overflowing treasuries, and so much money and grain they can’t spend it all.

Like other states in the Nine Provinces, Zheng had been waging wars for over a decade, or even decades, and its remaining wealth was meager, not affluent.

Allocating these supplies was already like cutting flesh from their bones.

However, faced with the formidable pressure from Liang, the monarch and ministers of Zheng Kingdom, for the safety of the western borders, still gritted their teeth and bore this expenditure.

But now it seems, less than a month has passed, with Chu and Liang still in a standoff, the war not yet begun, and Chu’s army is already crying poverty and turning to us for a shakedown?

Zheng Chan said, “Your Majesty, Chu’s army excuses that they have conscripted fifty thousand civilian workers in Yangxia County.

To ensure these workers and their families have enough to eat, they need our country to provide another ten million bushels of grain.

That Huang Xuan also said those workers and citizens of Yangxia County are also our Zheng people.

As the lord of the Zheng people, Your Majesty surely wouldn’t ignore the livelihood of your own subjects, right?”

Zheng Lian’s expression soured slightly, “Initially, when Zheng wanted to relocate these citizens, Chu State was unwilling.

Now, they are using these excuses and citizens to coerce us—it’s infuriating!”

In the beginning, when Zheng Kingdom spoke of ceding Yangxia County, they meant only the land, not including the citizens atop it.

After all, the current situation of Zheng Kingdom is quite precarious, with only seven counties left and a population of about twenty million.

Now about to lose one more county, the territory will shrink even further.

Despite being a border region, Yangxia County has a population of two to two million three hundred thousand, which already accounts for one-ninth of the total population.

To send so many people to Chu State at once, Zheng Kingdom was naturally reluctant.

But Chu’s demands were clear-cut: they wanted not only the land but also the people.

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Otherwise, with a million Chu soldiers arriving in Yangxia County, they would be greeted by desolation, with not a soul to be seen for thousands of miles.

In such a place, what would they eat or drink, or use?

So, the people of this county simply couldn’t be relocated; they had to stay to serve the million-strong Chu army.

Honestly, this was quite reasonable and necessary to supply the consumption of the million Chu soldiers.

Therefore, after deliberation, the monarch and ministers of Zheng, grinding their teeth, eventually agreed to this decision.

But who could have imagined that their concession at the time would become an excuse for Chu’s army to come demanding more?

“The Chu people are truly the epitome of shamelessness.

This autumn, Yangxia County had a bountiful harvest, they could collect up to four million bushels of grain by taxing the county alone.

Including what we gave them, even with the additional consumption of fifty thousand conscripted civilian workers, it would be enough for a year’s sustenance.”

Zheng Kingdom’s Grand Minister of Agriculture, in charge of finances, indignantly said, “Now they’re asking for more grain, when we ourselves don’t have enough; how could there be surplus to give them?”

Zheng Chan sighed, “But those Chu people threaten that if they don’t receive the grain and fodder, they will withdraw their troops and let the Liang forces come through.

Our bringing in Chu State has seriously offended Liang.

If Liang truly comes, then our great Zheng may face the peril of destruction.”

The Grand Minister of Agriculture snorted coldly, “Yangxia County is such prime territory; if the Chu were really willing to give it up, they wouldn’t have come in the first place.”

Zheng Chan shook his head, “Although that’s true, we still rely on Chu State and should not offend them too greatly for now.”

“Enough.”

Zheng Lian interrupted the quarrel and then asked, “Holder of power, I remember Chu State being wealthy, always first in the world.

They’ve been at peace for thirty years, with overflowing treasuries; they should not be in need of money and grain, so why would they resort to such tactics to demand grain from our Zheng Kingdom?”

Zheng Chan gave a bitter smile, “Your Majesty, although Chu State is affluent, there are reports that south of Yangzhou, subterranean fires have erupted.

Many of the Barbarians, forced by these fires, have begun to migrate north in frenzy.