Chapter 576 - Chapter 576: Chapter 271: Southern Daoist Temple_3

Chapter 576: Chapter 271: Southern Daoist Temple_3

By that time, the burden on the local people would further increase.

The entire financial situation of Su Country was mired in this vicious cycle.

However, if Su Xuange wanted to cut down the army, he dared not.

It was not easy to put down the rebellion, absorb the elites from those rebels into the army, and strictly control them. If you cut down their army now and send them back to the local area, those people would lose their livelihood and income. What do you think they would do?

It would be good if they just turned to banditry in the mountains.

For those who are more daring, is it not possible that they would kill officials and gather people and rebel, seizing cities again?

By then, Su Country would have to go through another rebellion.

It is precisely for this reason that, even though he knew he could no longer afford the financial burden, Su Xuange had to grit his teeth and accept those rebels.

Once the people were brought in, their income problem had to be solved.

Otherwise, the large-scale rebellion of the army would be even more terrifying than the local rebellion.

‘How difficult.’

Su Xuange sighed in his heart and then turned his head to ask, “Where has the front army reached?”

The personal guard at his side immediately replied, “Your Majesty, the front army has reached Longcheng County.”

“Longcheng County…” Su Xuange recalled the location of this county and nodded slightly, “Order the army to speed up, reach Longcheng sooner, and join up with the entire army. The Lonely King will conquer the southwestern Yi people before the end of the year.”

“Yes!”

The personal guard, after hearing the order, immediately rode his horse to the front and back of the team to convey the command.

Soon, the speed of the army increased again.

Seeing this scene, Su Xuange couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction.

Marching against the southwestern Yi people was his solution to his financial difficulties.

Leading the army to fight the Yi people, if they win, they can plunder the Yi people and occupy their land to ease their financial difficulties. If they lose, they can also reduce the number of their own troops and achieve the purpose of cutting the army by proxy in disguise.

Whether they win or lose, it will not be a loss for him or for Su Country.

It is only because of the great financial pressure that Su Xuange, who has just quelled the domestic rebellion, is eager to lead the army to the north and prepare to fight against the southwestern Yi people.

It’s not that he doesn’t want to recuperate, but that he has no choice.

“How did everything turn out like this?”

Su Xuange looked up at the sky, his eyes filled with confusion and unwillingness.

That Lu Yuan in the north, who is called an ally but is actually a great enemy in the future, has been expanding his army, and Chu State has not had any problems. Why is it that he, in Su Country, has turned his own expansion into such a mess now?

Su Xuange, who was born in the martial arts world and has been dealing with martial arts and Jianghu all his life, could not figure out this problem in his heart.

Just as he was puzzled, a messenger on a fast horse from the north sped towards him.

“Report–”

After being checked by a personal guard, the messenger was let through, directly dismounted and knelt down, presenting a secret letter, “Your Majesty, there is an urgent message from Chu State in the north.”

“Chu State?” Hearing this name, Su Xuange frowned, took the letter, and opened it to read.

His eyes swept across the secret letter, and when he finished reading its content, his hand suddenly paused, crumpling the paper, but he seemed unaware of it, only staring fixedly at a line of words.

Grand General of Chu, Zhou Qing has broken through Innate, the whole country is now celebrating.

In just a short line of words, the news contained within it shook people’s hearts and minds.

“Zhou Qing… Innate…”

Su Xuange recalled the brave general who had been behind Lu Yuan during the Northern Expedition several years ago.

That man was so young, so full of vitality, and so radiant.

Was he, who should have been a junior, now also breaking through Innate as well?

And with him, Chu State now had three grandmasters.

“How thick the heavens favor Chu, how thin they favor my Su Country.”

Su Xuange swayed, gritted his teeth, and exhaled with this thought.

He looked to the north, where golden sunlight was pouring down from the sky, and felt that looking at Chu State was so dazzling and sickening.

“Give the order to speed up the march!” Su Xuange said.

“Your Majesty, the order to speed up the march has just been given.” A personal guard at his side reminded him.

“Then give the order again, and have them speed up even more.” Su Xuange suddenly turned his head and looked at the personal guard who had spoken, his eyes icy cold.

“Yes, yes!” The personal guard, frightened by his stare, trembled and replied before running away like an escapee to convey the order.

Su Xuange watched this scene, his eyes growing colder and colder.

Chu State now had another Innate level expert, which, to him and to Su Country, was not just an issue of their neighboring country’s strength becoming stronger.

It also meant that in the future, whatever Su Country wanted to do, they would be under the pressure and interference of Chu State.

With such a strong country in the north, whatever he wanted to do would always be under threat.

And if Chu State’s strength became even stronger, who could guarantee that after the battle with the southwestern Yi people, the ambitious Lu Yuan would not set his sights on Lingnan?

A tremendous sense of oppression and crisis enveloped Su Xuange, prompting him to desperately want to make some changes to respond to the changing situation.

‘Chu State is expanding too fast. They already occupy three provinces now, and this year they have fought the southwestern Yi people, and I heard they have been winning multiple times, seizing large areas of land.

If Su Country does not hurry up and get stronger, catching up with Chu’s pace, I’m afraid that in the future, when the strength of the two countries becomes even more disparate, we will face the danger of extinction.’

The Lonely King will not allow this to happen.

Conquering the southwestern Yi people must be done before the end of the year; Su Country has no more time.’

Su Xuange gritted his teeth, filled with fear and anxiety, looked at the army that was running faster and faster because of the two consecutive military orders, and then turned his gaze to the south.

“As for Wei’er, he has also broken through the first-class level. He should also be urged to practice the Nine Rivers Sword Technique as soon as possible. Lu Yuan’s first disciple can break through the Innate level, and my son, Su Xuange, must not lag behind.”

Stimulated by Zhou Qing’s breakthrough, Su Xuange, who had originally planned to slowly cultivate his son, now decided to speed up the pace as well.

There was only one innate expert in Su Country, and their strength was still too weak.

At least two were needed.

Only in this way could they have one person to sit in the country and stabilize the local areas, and the other person to fight outside with peace of mind.

At this point, his expedition was actually somewhat risky.

“Why is the world so hard?”

Su Xuange couldn’t help but sigh again in pain.