Chapter 482: Chapter 240: Triumphal Return_2

Translator: 549690339

These people were all strong men who, even if they couldn’t become soldiers, would still be competent farmers and laborers if brought back.

Although Xichuan and Hanzhong countries had already been established, and there was a previous agreement that they could form alliances with each other and Changsha to jointly resist Zhou Country and even guard against the court.

However, after the incident with Qiao Kangquan in Hanzhong, Lu Yuan was still on guard.

No matter whether it was him or Jihui, they were both originally in control of the Guangling and Linhai prefectures, which were at the core of the court. It would be impossible for Lu Yuan to believe that their relationship with the court was shallow.

Therefore, to take their words seriously would be foolish.

So after much thought, Lu Yuan felt that it was necessary to weaken them further.

The best way to do so was, of course, by relocating their people.

There are still 60,000 militia, and when counting their families, that amounts to 60,000 households, or 300,000 people.

Relocating these 300,000 people would cause a cliff-like decline in population in Xichuan, which had already been severely affected by war.

By then, apart from the Wushan, Linjiang, and Yuzhong prefectures that were under Lu Yuan’s control, the remaining seven prefectures in Xichuan would probably have only 600,000 to 700,000 people left.

Averaging less than 100,000 people per prefecture, it was truly a miserable situation.

As for whether Jihui and Qiao Kangquan would be dissatisfied with Lu Yuan’s actions?

Having realized that he couldn’t fully trust them or form a reliable alliance with them, Lu Yuan no longer cared about their feelings.

Even if he went through with his plan and Qiao Kangquan refused to exchange territories, what would happen?

The agreement had already been made earlier, and Lu Yuan still occupied Wushan, Linjiang, and Yuzhong prefectures.

Under these circumstances, what choice did Qiao Kangquan have but to complete the transaction with Lu Yuan?

The only thing the other party could do was to honor their promise and then establish their own country in Hanzhong Prefecture.

Otherwise, they could simply fight it out on the battlefield.

Although the Zhou army had withdrawn, 200,000 troops from Liang still lingered in Jiangxia Prefecture.

With this external force present, Lu Yuan was not afraid of the court’s forces at this moment.

Worst case scenario, a battle would be fought to determine the victor.

However, it was most likely that Jihui and Qiao Kangquan would swallow their anger and accept the reality.

While Zhou Qing relocated the families of the militia in the rear, Lu Yuan, at Nan-zheng city, began relocating the people of Nanzheng Prefecture several days after Lan Cai’er led her forces to take over Xiangyang City.

His agreement with Zhou Country was to exchange cities.

However, the agreement did not include exchanging people.

It was up to the Zhou people in Xiangyang Prefecture to decide whether they wanted to hand over their population.

As for Nanzheng Prefecture, Lu Yuan had never said that he would hand over the people here.

He Ba-sheng was right.

There were 100,000 households and 500,000 to 600,000 people in Nanzheng Prefecture. Although more than half had already been relocated, the remaining 200,000 to 300,000 people were still a huge number.

Leaving these people behind would only strengthen the Zhou forces, enabling them to support more troops and logistics, and pose a threat to Hanzhong Country.

The newly established Hanzhong Country did not have much strength to withstand such pressure.

Once Hanzhong Country couldn’t hold on, Changsha, which bordered Hanzhong Country, would have to face the pressure of the Zhou forces directly, wouldn’t it?

Therefore, whether to weaken Zhou Country’s strength in Hanzhong Prefecture or to help Hanzhong Country defend this side, relocating the people of Nanzheng Prefecture was always the right choice for Lu Yuan.

Time passed slowly, and by mid-October, in the midst of busyness, everything was in place.

On October 12, Lu Yuan finally received news from Xiangyang Prefecture. Lan Cai’er had successfully taken Xiangyang City from the Zhou people’s hands.

Upon receiving the news, he wasted no time and sent someone to notify the Zhou army left behind in Hanzhong Prefecture. Several days later, a 50,000-strong Zhou army arrived at Nanzheng City.

Lu Yuan gladly handed over the city defense and, leaving behind an empty city, led his troops out of Nanzheng City.

After nearly a month of relocation, nearly 200,000 people were moved out of the nearly 300,000 remaining in Nanzheng Prefecture.

As for the people left behind, not a single one remained in Nanzheng City, which had now become a ghost town.

Needless to say, the cursing of the Zhou people and their criticisms of Lu Yuan’s decision were to be expected.

All these, as long as they weren’t said in his face, were as good as non-existent.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Having already gained sufficient benefits, Lu Yuan led the last 50,000 elite troops to garrison at the three prefectures in the south of Hanzhong Prefecture.

The reason he still stayed in Hanzhong Prefecture was that Qiao Kangquan hadn’t established his kingdom yet, and the imperial edict from the Yue State court had not arrived, so neither of them had the authority to do so.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long.

By the end of October, Qiao Kangquan and the court messenger arrived together at the Nanjiang Prefecture in Hanzhong.

When they met again, Qiao Kangquan looked at Lu Yuan with a forced smile on his face.

Not only him, but the court messenger who came with him also shared the same expression.

It’s easy to understand why.

After the exchange between Lu Yuan and Zhou Country, Nanzheng City and Xiangyang City had successfully traded hands.

With such a prefecture-level city, Lu Yuan’s foundation in Xiangyang Prefecture was now completely secure.

On the contrary, it was the court that was now caught between Lu Yuan’s forces in Xiangyang and Baling cities, putting pressure on Jingmen, Jingshan, and Jingling prefectures under its control.