Chapter 508: Chapter 249: The End of an Era

“Not just that.”

At this time, Li Xian added another point: “Apart from Yue Country, after the Northern Expedition, Ninghai Country added 50,000 soldiers to its ranks, along with 50,000 county soldiers from local areas.

Moreover, this country has also established a militia system, having more than 100,000 militia members nationwide.

Adding these together, there are more than 200,000 troops in total.

In Southsea Country, though not following the examples of the Yue and Ninghai Countries, there are still nearly 20,000 palace guards and local county soldiers within the country.

Furthermore, the officials in this country are mostly former disciples of the Nanhai Sect, who came from powerful local martial artist families in South Sea Prefecture.

These groups have always wielded considerable power and resources locally, with the younger generations often practicing martial arts.

Thus, letting them lead an army into battle might be difficult.

However, if foreign enemies invaded Southsea Country, these martial aristocrats would be willing to fight to the death to defend their homeland and their interests.

At that time, mobilizing a local force of tens or even hundreds of thousands would not be a problem at all.

Moreover, these troops would come from their own fellow clansmen and relatives, and although they may not be well-versed in battlefield tactics, their cohesion and unity would not be lacking. As descendants of martial artist families, their bravery and strength would not be underestimated.

Southsea Country may seem weak in military power, with only tens of thousands of soldiers.

But in fact, they have concealed troops among the civilian population, making them difficult to conquer.

If the imperial court tried to eliminate these two countries without at least 200,000 soldiers and one or two Inborn Grandmasters as commanders, it would be impossible.”

Hmm.

Taking all of this into account, how many soldiers are involved in the rebellion of the three countries combined?

80,000 in Yue Country, more than 200,000 in Ninghai Country, and more than 200,000 in Southsea Country, totaling over 1.3 million troops.

Regardless of the quality of these troops—even if all of them were just village volunteers who could not fight in open battle—they could still be useful in defending a city, right?

Not to mention the fact that among these 1.3 million troops, there are over 300,000 elite soldiers.

Shen Qiu merely calculated the numbers in his heart, completely losing interest in whether to send troops to quell the rebellion or not.

“Alright, enough.”

This Jianwu Heavenly Son waved his hand, stopping the Minister of the Ministry of War, Li Xian, who tried to continue listing data to persuade him not to send troops: “I know that these three countries are hard to defeat, and I will not send any troops, so you don’t have to say anything more.”

Upon hearing this, Li Xian quickly bowed down and said, “Your Majesty, these three countries are not unbeatable, we just need time to wait. After ten or twenty years, when the four prefectures of Jiangdong have recuperated, the imperial court will definitely be able to eliminate them.”

After hearing this, Shen Qiu only nodded his head without enthusiasm, “I understand.”

Faced with rebellion but unable to raise a large army to suppress it, the cruel reality deeply hurt the newly enthroned Jianwu Heavenly Son.

At this time, he no longer wanted to manage such matters.

Seeing this, Li Xian did not know what else to say.

Fortunately, he had convinced the king for now, achieving his goal, and so he bowed once more, then retreated in silence.

Just like that.

In the face of the open upsurgence and independent rebellion of the Yue, South Sea, and Ninghai countries, the integrity of the new Ning Country was threatened and its national prestige was undermined.

The Jinling imperial court, which represented the Ning Country, did not respond at all.

This newly established Ning Country, which had only been founded for two months, assumed the ostrich’s pose, burying its head in the sand and pretending not to see anything.

When this attitude was reportedly communicated, countless people who were observing the Jinling imperial court’s stance were suddenly in an uproar.

Because everyone realized that the retreat of the Jinling imperial court and the retreat of the Ning Country meant one thing:

In the midst of such clamor, by the second year, the news from Yue Country pushed the waves even higher.

Dongting Prefecture’s Baling City—Yue King Lu Yuan, who had led his troops to garrison here for months, finally confirmed that the Jianwu Heavenly Son had indeed become an ostrich and would not send any troops after waiting for months without seeing any movement from the Jinling imperial court.

After announcing its independence from the Jinling imperial court’s tribute system, on the eighth day of the first month of the second year of Jianwu, Lu Yuan offered a sacrifice to the heavens outside Baling City.

Then, he announced the change of his country’s name to Chu, and his title remained King — the King of Chu.

After that, in the name of the King of Chu, Lu Yuan proclaimed the new era’s name as Shenwu, officially severing all ties with the Jinling imperial court.

Following close behind Yue Country, on the tenth day of the first month, Ninghai Country also changed its country’s name to the surname of the ruler Su Xuange, becoming Su Country. Its new era’s name was also changed— to Guangwu.

Yue and Ninghai countries had become part of history. The new chapters of Chu and Su countries had begun.

With the renaming and establishment of these two countries, the Jinling imperial court, represented by Ning Country, experienced their hegemony over the entire Yangzhou region collapsing.

The position of the Supreme Dominator of The World, inherited from the legitimate Yue dynasty, was lost by the newborn Ning Country, both in name and reality.

As for hegemony within the Yangzhou region, although it could barely be maintained,

If, as previously mentioned, the Hanzhong and Xichuan countries eventually separated and became independent from the Jinling imperial court,

And Jiuzhen Prefecture also declared its independence,

Once these peripheral vassal states became independent, Ning Country, left with only the four prefectures of Jiangdong, would transform from a once-dominant nation in the vast region of Yangzhou to a regional powerhouse in the eastern part of Yangzhou.

No one was sure when these two countries and one prefecture would become independent.

However, everyone knew that when these two countries and one prefecture declared their independence, it would mark the day that the Ning Country’s hegemony over Yangzhou would come to an end.