Chapter 554: Chapter 264: Establishment of the Alliance_2

We will muster a hundred thousand troops to jointly march west to fight the Yi People.

By then, our Su and Chu states will form an alliance under the Erhai Lake.”

Erhai Lake is located in Dali State, which is in the middle of the three great barbarian states in the southwest.

Choosing to convene in this location, Su Xuange clearly knew that the Da Changhe State alone would not satisfy the appetites of the Su and Chu states.

At the same time, his main target was focused on Dali State.

As for the Da Changhe Country, which borders Chu State to a greater extent, he selectively left it to the other party.

It has to be said that as an ambitious person, Su Xuange had some understanding of Lu Yuan’s thoughts.

Thus, the joint plan to send troops to Southwest Yi and the division of each side’s interests and directions were settled.

However, after completing this arrangement, Su Xuange expressed dissatisfaction as the Chu State messenger was about to return: “Our Su and Chu states are allies. Every year, my country sends money and food to Chu State, never ceasing. It can be said that we have done our best in terms of benevolence and righteousness.

But now, when my country is in rebellion, the border areas are actively harboring my country’s refugees and rebels.

Is that what allies should do?

When the messenger returns, I hope he will convey to the King of Chu that if he does not want to harm the harmony of our two families, he should send back these refugees.

In this way, both our families will be at peace, and not let these small gains breed disputes.

Moreover, due to the current rebellion, no prefecture or county in my country has been unaffected, and the taxes and levies for the past two years have been greatly reduced.

In the next two years, they will be difficult to recover as well.

Therefore, I am afraid that assistance to Chu State in the next few years is not possible.

I hope the messenger will convey this to the King of Chu, so as to avoid any misunderstandings.”

Over the past six months, with the rebellion in Su State, a large number of people who were not willing to participate in the rebellion and sought to escape the war chose to flee to Chu State in the northern prefectures of Su State.

After Guangchang Road was pacified, a large number of local people who had participated in the rebellion were afraid of being held accountable by the court, so they chose to drag their families and flee to Chu State.

The combination of the two waves of refugees, along with the casualties of the war, directly reduced the population in the three northern prefectures of Su State by more than half.

The loss of three to four hundred thousand people accounted for over 10% of Su State’s original population.

Facing this huge loss, Su Xuange was naturally heartbroken.

As for those who had fled to Chu State, they could indeed be chased back.

Although he did not know how many people had fled to Chu State,

There could be at least a hundred thousand, right?

If these hundred thousand people were brought back, it would somewhat restore some vitality to the local area.

Therefore, at this point, taking advantage of Chu State’s invitation to form an alliance, Su Xuange timely raised his dissatisfaction and demands.

…

“The meat I have eaten, yet he wants me to spit it back out. This Su Xuange still has such delusions at this time.”

After the messenger returned to Chu State and truthfully conveyed Su Xuange’s opinions and requests, Lu Yuan could not help but laugh.

To be honest, Chu State had not been involved in this Su State rebellion. They only received some refugees at the border and already saw substantial benefits.

Contrary to Su Xuange’s speculation, the number of refugees received by Chu State was not hundred thousand, but as many as two hundred and thirty thousand.

With so many people, Lu Yuan naturally could not return them.

In fact, he had long planned for the arrangement of these refugees.

Now, isn’t the plan to conquer the Da Changhe State?

Chu State would naturally have to invest resources in governing the land that had been taken, which was so vast and rich.

Setting up prefectures and counties is a must, as is registering citizens.

But in these newly captured prefectures and counties, it can’t be filled solely with the original Yi people, so that the local customs remain unchanged, right?

If so, how long would it take for stability to be achieved in this area?

Thus, immigration is necessary, and it is essential for the descendants of the Three Emperors who have been immersed in the royal culture to move to these newly occupied territories, change their customs, and help assimilate the original Yi people.

But within Chu State,

People who had migrated from Zhou Country and Xichuan County had just settled down and found their footing locally.

They were about to pay taxes and provide a continuous source of income for Chu State’s great cause.

At this critical moment, Lu Yuan can’t force these immigrants to move again and develop that wilderness.

Similarly, it is not appropriate to move the original people of Chu State.

Forcing movement may very well provoke unrest.

So at this time, finding new immigrants becomes a problem.

Just at this juncture,

When Su State faces internal strife, it delivers 230,000 refugees to Chu State. Isn’t that what Heaven intended?

Although 230,000 people are not many, they are still equivalent to the population of a prefecture. In the newly developed prefectures and counties of the Da Changhe State, this population can be divided among each prefecture, with each prefecture having 10,000 to 20,000 people.

Although this number of people is not large, it is enough to be the initial seed of assimilation, helping the court to gain a foothold there.

Therefore, Lu Yuan naturally could not return these refugees, who had great potential utilit

However, as he expects Su Xuange to join him in the alliance against the Yi people, it is currently inappropriate to refuse the other party’s dissatisfaction and demands outright.

So after some thought, Lu Yuan finally issued a decree: “Order local officials to select 10,000 people from among the refugees from Su State and send them back to Su State.”