The question of King Wei is worth thinking about. After all, the current Wei State has captured large areas of territory after successive battles.
But after all, it was a newly acquired land, and the population resources in the territory could not be fully developed and utilized. The King of Wei could only continue to recruit soldiers and horses from the original territories, and at most add some old stories about Wei that he still missed. people, but after successive battles, these people were almost dead.
In today's Wei State, only 300,000 people can really fight, but they have to stay in the Guangrao territory of Wei State, and among those troops, there are still many soldiers whose morale is low and cannot bear to fight anymore.
"Well, I suggest that we leave 50,000 people in the counties that Hedong County has already occupied, select some important cities and county passes to stay, and abandon all other unimportant places!
As for the rest of the country, the most basic defense forces were left. Except for a few more counties and counties facing the direction of Qi State, all others were withdrawn and concentrated on the battlefield between Yu State and Qin State. They would join the coalition forces to resist Qin State. country. "After some careful consideration, the Prime Minister made this statement.
"What? Prime Minister, are you kidding me?" King Wei stood up from his throne in surprise, slapped his hands on the desk, and looked at the old man in front of him in surprise.
"That's right, Prime Minister, are you confused?" Dozens of ministers nearby were also talking about it, looking at the Prime Minister with surprised faces. Some even rude people were accusing him of being too old-sighted and unable to do things.
It’s no wonder they were so surprised and angry. In order to capture such a large territory, Wei State had already lost nearly 500,000 people.
With so many people, all still young and strong, it can be said that the burden on Wei is extremely heavy.
There is a situation that illustrates the problem. Before the war started, Wei State's original territory of more than one county had more than 1.5 million people, of which about 400,000 were young and strong men. All of them had been dragged to the battlefield and served as frontline cannon fodder.
Of course, it was impossible for these people alone to capture such a large territory and drive the Qin people into Hangu Pass step by step. Wei also recruited some soldiers and horses from the newly recovered places.
A large number of young and strong men were recruited, local production had completely come to a standstill, and there were even cases where people starved to death in large numbers.
Because all the military rations from the rear must support the front line, where will the military rations come from? Naturally, it was the local people's rations. Soldiers ruthlessly broke into their homes and plundered all their food. Even the crops for next spring were taken away.
After paying such a high price, the territory Wei obtained had to hand over half of its population to the hateful leader of the United Vertical Alliance.
The remaining people still have to recruit soldiers and horses to contribute to the continuous consumption of the Wei State. It can be said that under the territory now ruled by the Wei State, except for the original territory before the war, the people in all other newly recovered territories have no regard for Wei. The country is extremely resentful.
The originally expectant King Master turned into a cruel demon, raping men regardless of the target or the situation. As a result, everyone in the local family wears sackcloth and mourns, wives and children are separated, and families are broken up. How can they not hate it
If they had known about this situation earlier, I am afraid those people would rather still be under the rule of Qin and be treated harshly by Qin's laws than return to the homeland they once thought.
But now it's too late to say so much, and everything can't be turned back.
Qin will not forget the fact of their betrayal, and they are also afraid that Qin will liquidate them in turn, so they can only grit their teeth and follow Wei forward against their wishes.
The Wei State paid such a high price to obtain such a piece of land, but now, their prime minister proposed to give up the Hedong County that was about to be obtained.
They also deployed garrison troops from various places in the country who could not suppress local forces, risking the possibility of overthrowing at any time, and led large armies to support their joint commanders.
This is really unbelievable and cannot be accepted by these people.
Seeing the surprise and implicit accusations of the ministers and his own king, the old prime minister shook his head and said calmly:
"Your Majesty, everyone, you have to think about it. If the Yu Kingdom is defeated by the Qin Kingdom and the 350,000 troops standing in front of us disappear, then who will be able to resist the Qin Army that has completely freed up its hands?"
"Even if the Qin State defeated the Yu State, will he be better off after his victory? With an army of 950,000, if he has 500,000 left, he will be able to hold up the sky!" A political opponent of the old prime minister next to him said with a disapproving look.
"That's right, Lord Sikou is right. With 500,000 Qin troops, our Wei State now has 300,000 strong troops. To the south, Chu State also has an army. Plus Zhao State, can Qin State continue to be ruthless?" That one? An official from Lord Sikou's faction stood up and shouted support.
As soon as the two of them finished speaking, many ministers beside them nodded in agreement, whispering to each other, full of agreement.
Looking at the words of these people in front of them, many people in the camp aroused the approval, and even the King of Wei was interested. The old prime minister sneered a few times, and his dull throat made a bitter sound.
"We, the State of Wei, have 300,000 troops, but with the alliance broken, how many troops will be needed to suppress the newly recovered areas, and how many troops of our State of Wei will be able to send out to resist Qin? I'm afraid 100,000 is barely enough! As for the Zhao and Chu, don't they have to stay in the new place? How many troops and horses can they send to support our Wei State? How many tens of thousands? Or 100,000, what can they do?"
A series of questions burst out from the Prime Minister's mouth. He was full of emotions and angry. There was not a single person in the room who was far-sighted. They were all short-sighted people, blinded by the small benefit in front of them.
In fact, they didn't even think about it. If they hadn't encountered the 300,000-strong army that held back Qin's general Wang Jian, Qin's most elite troops that could maneuver at any time would have been trapped in Chenggao City County.
This gave other countries the opportunity to enter, and wantonly swallowed bite after bite of fat in places where Qin's troops were insufficient, weakening Qin's strength to this point.
Now if the Yu State is really defeated, the freed Qin State will have a mobile force of 500,000 to 800,000.
With such a huge army, even if Qin's troops were exhausted and worn out by the war, they could still destroy Wei at will.
"This is what I am thinking about. The Prime Minister is right. Our Kingdom of Wei is indeed inseparable from the Kingdom of Yu!" King Wei sighed, feeling exhausted. Only now did he truly realize that the current good situation of the Kingdom of Wei has actually changed. It is maintained in the hands of others.
(End of chapter)