Chapter 429 The Last Straw
February is a good day for the people to start spring ploughing. They originally wanted to wait until after the spring ploughing before leading the army to continue attacking Pingzhou. However, the scouts they sent out reported that Pingzhou, Taizhou and Binzhou were almost empty because of the disasters and wars in the past two years. The court did not properly resettle the people who survived by chance, and they didn't even have seeds for spring ploughing.

Therefore, Wei Chengyi directly ordered the army to march out. Because they had already sent out wise generals, and there were few troops stationed in Pingzhou, and most of the government officials had fled, the people took the initiative to open the city gates and warmly welcomed them in. They easily took Pingzhou without any soldiers, and it only took a few days.

"There are too few people in Pingzhou, and a lot of land is uncultivated."

In the hall of Pingzhou government office, Yan Junling rubbed his brows in pain. In other places, there were many people and little land, so there was not enough to go around. But in Pingzhou, there was more land than people, so there was no way to start spring ploughing smoothly.

"Um···"

Shen Xiangwan, who was sitting in the main seat, pondered for a while before saying, "Bring all the captured soldiers to Pingzhou to farm. We must finish farming all the land in the shortest possible time. In addition, when the land can no longer be used to grow anything in the second half of the year, transfer civilians from other states to Pingzhou. This place is in the central region of Tianqi Country, with good climate conditions and fertile land. We cannot let it go to waste."

It is impossible for those captured soldiers to be directly incorporated into the Wei army. Instead of leaving them alone for training in the rear, it is better to let them play a role. As for moving people from other prefectures to fill Pingzhou, this is not a trivial matter either. It requires long-term planning and it would be just right to arrange it in the second half of the year.

"Ah."

Yan Junling did not object, and the others nodded in agreement. There was simply too much land in Pingzhou, and it would be a shame to just leave it there without planting anything. In the final analysis, it was all the dog emperor's fault. If he had been a little more kind and benevolent, the huge Pingzhou would not have been so empty.

The desolation of Pingzhou not only made Shen Xiangwan and his wife feel heavy-hearted, but also made all the officials who came with Yan Junling sigh. In order to restore Pingzhou's vitality as soon as possible, they brought nearly 200,000 captured soldiers to Pingzhou as quickly as possible, and farming was carried out in full swing. Seeing that those idle lands without people were planted with crops one after another, everyone, including the surviving people in Pingzhou, smiled.

While they were busy re-establishing Pingzhou, the East Border Army led by Chu Liang was also expanding rapidly. Within a few days after the beginning of the year, they captured two prefectures one after another. Compared with Shen Xiangwan and his wife, the East Border Army had a deeper foundation. Chu Liang only needed to attack the city, and there were special people in charge of matters such as re-establishing the system, so he didn't need to worry about it at all.

Seeing that Wei Chengyi and his wife and Chu Liang had already conquered half of the country, the emperor became anxious and no longer cared about the border issue. He actually withdrew 200,000 troops from the 300,000 troops guarding the southern border and asked Wanqi Shan's two sons to lead them to Zhenzhou to try to resist Chu Liang's offensive. Wanqi Shan himself also withdrew 200,000 troops from the 300,000 troops guarding the northern border to Quanzhou to prevent Wei Chengyi and his wife from continuing to capture more cities.

All the emperor's attention was on Wei Chengyi and his wife and Chu Liang. He had no time to care about other rebellious forces. Various groups of people proclaimed themselves kings on the spot, and some even proclaimed themselves emperors. At most, they only occupied one state.

"The emperor is considering Wanqishan and his son as his lifeline?"

After receiving the news from the imperial city, Shen Xiangwan could not help but curl her lips. It was not that she was arrogant and looked down on others, but the Li royal family had lost the support of the people and the situation was hopeless. Not to mention Wanqi Shan and his sons, even if immortals and gods came down to earth, it would be difficult to save the situation. At most, they could only delay the speed of destruction for a few days.

"Then we will directly defeat his lifeline."

Wei Chengyi's words were confident and domineering, and all the officials and generals present nodded in agreement. Wanqishan and his son were indeed good at fighting, but which of the generals present had not experienced many battles? How could they lose to them? In addition, their equipment was stronger, their morale was stronger, and they even had more troops than them. It was not so easy to stop them.

"They only have 200,000 people, but we have an army of 400,000. Isn't that too much of a bully?" Looking at them back and forth, Shen Xiangwan said with a smile on his face, and suddenly said something ambiguous.

Bullying?
Everyone's forehead darkened. The garrisons in those cities they had captured before were only around 20,000 at most. Wasn't that even more bullying?
"Oh? What suggestions do you have?"

Without paying attention to his subordinates' reactions, Wei Chengyi turned directly to Shen Xiangwan. Based on his understanding of her, she must have some other ideas.

"I do have a small suggestion."

Facing the doubtful gazes of the crowd, Shen Xiangwan smiled slightly, and after a moment he slowly said: "With our equipment and morale, even if we are fighting against the same 200,000 people, it is no different from bullying them. No matter who their commander is, I think the dog emperor has no more troops to dispatch. Why don't we act separately, leaving 200,000 people to wait for Wanqi Shan to lead the Northern Border Army to arrive, and then send two commanders to lead 100,000 people to attack from the left and right sides respectively, quickly occupy the surrounding prefectures, and finally surround the imperial city together with Chu Liang, so that the dog emperor can't escape, and can only stay in the palace and wait for death."

As for those forces that declared themselves kings, it was fine if they were not stopped. Anyone who stood in the way would be crushed. Sooner or later, they would be dealt with. This was also to prevent the dog emperor from evacuating the palace and living among the people. As long as all his escape routes were blocked, the dog emperor would not be able to escape from the imperial city. How many dirty things had he done to them over the years? She had recorded them all.

"can."

After a moment's thought, Wei Chengyi agreed to her suggestion. He glanced at the generals below one by one, as if he was preparing to appoint their officers.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to lead an army of 100,000 to attack the provincial capital on the left wing."

Seeing this, General Peng was startled and hurriedly stood up to ask for battle. This rare opportunity must not be missed by that brat Qingying.

"Your Majesty, I am also willing to lead an army of 100,000 to attack the Youyi Prefecture."

"Your Majesty, I will fight you!"

General Chen followed closely behind, and the other generals did not dare to hesitate any longer, and they all clasped their fists and asked to fight. At this time, they would not talk about comradeship, they just wanted to fight for the mission first.

Seeing this, Shen Xiangwan couldn't help but laugh, but she didn't make any more comments. Deploying troops was Wei Chengyi's strong point, and she only needed to assist him and give him advice when appropriate. As for Yan Junling and others, they all had bitter smiles on their faces. Shen Xiangwan's suggestion was good, but it greatly increased their burden. Not to mention the dispatch of materials, just the issue of their placement of the state capital was enough to make them feel overwhelmed.

【End of this chapter】