Zhou Jiyun, a general who once made great contributions to Qi State, has to be said to be the most tragic figure in the world. He was missed by two emperors.

Min Ruoying wanted to completely recapture the six eastern counties in order to erase the humiliation he suffered several years ago, boost the morale of the people in the country, re-establish the royal majesty, gather people's hearts, and seek to work hard to govern and recreate the old glory of the Great Chu.

Cao Tiancheng wanted to erase this army controlled by the wealthy families from this world, clearing out the biggest obstacle for domestic political reform, and causing the wealthy families in the country to lose their greatest reliance.

In this way, Zhou Jiyun, who was sandwiched in the middle, seemed particularly sad. From the moment he was in high spirits to the moment he was huddled in Kunling County and struggled to support him, it has only been several years.

In the Wanzhou battle, Zhou's troops suffered heavy losses, half of the 100,000 troops under Zhou's troops were lost, and half of the six eastern counties were taken away by Bian Wushuang in just a few months. If Bian Wushuang had not had other plans, his situation would be even worse now.

It was precisely because Bian Wushuang let him go without a breaking his horse that he had time to re-arrange, shrink his troops, and preserve the remaining strength. But even so, he could not defend the remaining huge territory. In the next six months, he shrank his troops bit by bit and finally completely gave up the six eastern counties. Now he holds them firmly in his hands. This is the largest county governor among the six eastern counties, and the most populous and richest county governor.

The form he faced was quite dangerous. The Chu army on the opposite side was eyeing Bian Wushuang's command, but he could only fight alone. Qi State had to support him, and now he would not take any damage and stab him in the back. He would be thankful for his military rations, supplies, and weapons. After he retreated to Wanzhou, the supply of military rations, supplies, and weapons was completely cut off, and he could not get any support from the Qi State court.

After June, the situation became increasingly dangerous. A Longxiang Army entered Luzhou. At this moment, even the various support provided by the wealthy families in China to his troops through caravans was cut off. Now, only through smuggling and other means can we get some urgently needed materials from the country. But for an army of tens of thousands of people, it is undoubtedly a drop in the bucket.

Now, he relies on Kunling County to supply his tens of thousands of troops. A large part of the reason why he can support it until now is that he has a good deputy, Yue Kaishan, the governor of Kunling County. This man, who has served as the governor of Kunling County since Zhou Jiyun conquered the six eastern counties. After several years of hard work, the economy and people's livelihood of Kunling County have recovered extremely quickly.

Kunling County is now more like a small warlord trapped between Chu and Qi. The power that wants to swallow him is much stronger than him, but because of various political forces, he has not attacked him for a while. Once one side gets rid of these bonds and can attack him without any scruples, then with Kunling County's current strength, it will not be able to resist it for long.

"Jiyun, let's dismiss the army another 10,000." Yue Kaishan stared at Zhou Jiyun opposite and said. He was deeply entangled in his eyes and had a pale face. In the past two years, he had almost exhausted all his efforts for Kunling County. He was as thin as a clothes rack.

"How to dismiss the army at the moment of the enemy? I am still worried about not having enough troops and am considering conscription!" Zhou Jiyun was stunned and opposed without hesitation. "Kaishan, you also know that since Luo Liang arrived in Jinghu, the Chu army's offensive against us has suddenly strengthened. It seems that Bian Wushuang can't withstand the pressure of the Chu court. Our current troops are not only guarding against them, but also staring at Luzhou. It is not enough."

Yue Kaishan sighed: "Jiyun, do you still understand today? Whether we can exist or not does not depend on how many troops we have, but on the political game. Even if you recruit soldiers, how much can we recruit? How much can we support?"

Zhou Jiyun lowered his eyelids and said for a while: "Didn't you tell me a few days ago that this year will be a great harvest?"

"There will be a great harvest, but so what? Now we are the only one in Kunling County. This place was Chu after all, after all, and the Chu people accounted for the vast majority. With our retreat step by step, the Chu people here have become restless. I need more people to ensure agricultural production, ensure the output of various workshops, and stabilize the forms in various places. You should also understand that some things cannot be settled by forcibly suppressing. Sometimes, the more suppressed the worse things are."

"Although there is no worries about food this year, our tax revenue is declining. Chu and Qi have strengthened the blockade on us. In addition to food, our Kunling County can also help ourselves. No matter what it is, it is extremely short of other things. The army is just a consumed monster. Now you still maintain the scale of 50,000 troops, which is completely unnecessary. The amount of the army is not a necessary reason for us to continue to exist. If there is not enough manpower, we will collapse from the inside first."

Zhou Jiyun let out a long sigh. He believed in Yue Kaishan's judgment, because in recent years, without Yue Kaishan's hard support and management, he was afraid that he would have collapsed long ago.

"How about sacking five thousand people first? I guess the Chu people will soon launch a new round of attacks. After this battle, I will add five thousand people to you." Zhou Jiyun said.

Yue Kaishan nodded, "Then let it be! Is there no news from China yet?"

Zhou Jiyun shook his head: "To be honest, I don't really think much about their plans this time. I have served in His Royal Highness for many years. In order to replace him one day, I can say that I have not let him go to know him in any detail. This is a person who regards the existence and strength of Qi as more important than his own life. In order to make Qi have an unquestionable leader, he is willing to give up everything he has and become a leisurely prince. Such willingness would definitely not be possible if I had done so. It is almost impossible to destroy His Majesty the Emperor through him."

"It's up to people." Yue Kaishan gritted his teeth and said, "You are right. His Highness the Prince is indeed such a person, but if he sees the current Emperor's strategy, it will only lead Qi into the endless abyss? Will he take the world as his responsibility? Jiyun, I think our actions in China are still too small now, and we should move more and more intensely."

Zhou Jiyun was shocked.

"It is not enough to just one Bozhou. Those people in the country want to threaten the court, but are still restricted. They have reached a life-and-death juncture. There are still many things there. Only by letting the country smoke rise, can the court see our true power. Now they want to be bitches and set up archways. How can such a good thing happen in the world? Once the emperor has finished setting up a blow to Bozhou and destroy Bozhou, we will cut off our arms again. At that time, there was an example of Bozhou in front, and if other places want to get up again, they will hesitate. Now Bozhou is in a strong position, and it is a good time!"

"Once you do this, the loss will be too great!" Zhou Jiyun sighed.

"Loss?" Yue Kaishan sneered, "Are you still unable to lose the little bit of the benefits you are now? You are afraid that the fight will mess up the place and each family will not be able to make a lot of money? You really only need money but don't have your life. Now you can't bear to give up money, so let's sacrifice your life in the future!"

"I can't take charge of the family affairs. You know, the people in charge are all the presbyterian churches formed by various families." Zhou Jiyun said: "Besides, everything is still good in Bozhou now, and the intervention of Mingren can make them last longer."

"Cao Yun entered Ming, you and I understand what he was doing. Once they reached an agreement, Bozhou would be in danger." Yue Kaishan said: "I know that the Presbyterian Church had some contact with Ming State, and the Ming people also wanted to use Cao Yun to mess up Qi State, but how can we take the initiative in such a thing? Why do we have to make such a turnaround? Let's move first and force Cao Yun, isn't it more direct? We must understand that the reason why the Ming people contacted us was just to use us. Once they could get more benefits from the court, it would be easy to give up us."

"The news that has been passed is still very optimistic." Zhou Jiyun said: "The emperor has become suspicious of Cao Yun. News came from the palace that Cao Tiancheng even smashed his study. Tian Fen was imprisoned, and Cao Yun was suspicious again. Now we are no longer as passive as before!"

"Jiyun, you are the only foreign armed force in the family now, and the court is most afraid of. If you say that, you are very powerful to the Elders. So what if you threaten them? Now they have not helped us much and you don't need to rush to them anymore. If they don't move, we will definitely be the one who will happen first. You must understand that if the emperor doesn't take us down, we will not move them first. We are already standing on the edge of the blade and will be crushed to pieces if we are accidentally."

"I understand this, and I will show them my attitude." Zhou Jiyun nodded.

"Just be sure, I'll leave first, give me the five thousand people as soon as possible, and the next is the autumn harvest. I need a large number of people." Yue Kaishan said.

"You go and do your business, open the mountain, pay attention to your health. Your body has become weaker and weaker over the past year. I can't do you here." Zhou Jiyun looked at the other party's thin body and couldn't help but say.

"Don't worry, I can't die!" Yue Kaishan showed a smile on his pale face, bowed his hand, and left straight away.

Zhou Jiyun looked at his back and was speechless.

A voice suddenly came from behind, "There is one thing that this person said is right, that is, the existence of Kunling County is more about political games than military competitions. However, if you want everyone to raise the flag to rebel in the country and respond to Bozhou, you are just talking nonsense."

Zhou Jiyun did not look back, "Elder Wu, I think he made sense. I don't think Cao Yun would really betray the emperor."
Chapter completed!