A family of loyal martyrs, starting with nine wives to continue the family line.

When Du Heng crushed a jade cup, all the advisors below the hall knelt down.

"A million new soldiers?"

He stared at the scout, his hands smeared with wine and blood:

"Did Wei Zhao really say that?"

The scout pressed his forehead to the ground, his voice trembling.

"Yes. Registration is underway simultaneously in the capital, Weinan, and Huangjincheng. I heard that more than 1.5 million people are willing to join the new military army. The military merit system has also been posted. Killing an enemy one rank will earn you three mu of land. Climbing the city wall, capturing the flag, and killing a general will earn you extra points."

Du Heng's eyelid twitched.

For each enemy soldier killed, three mu of land will be awarded.

In chaotic times, anyone can expand their army by conscripting men, issuing wooden guns, and feeding them a meal; that's how hundreds of thousands of people can be gathered.

But Wei Zhao didn't just put things together like that.

He gave it to Tian.

Fields are more poisonous than silver.

Silver is gone once it's spent, grain is gone once it's eaten, but land can be passed down to children and grandchildren.

Poor people are willing to risk their lives for just three acres of land.

"Pass on the order."

Du Heng threw the broken porcelain shards in his hand to the ground, blood dripping from between his fingers.

"The Huai River Alliance is expanding its army. All males aged 15 to 40 from the various water forts, salt fields, and wharves shall register and join the army. The royal palace will provide silver to pay one month's wages in advance."

The people below the hall suddenly looked up.

One of the staff members couldn't resist.

"Your Highness, is the Prince's residence disbursing funds?"

Du Heng stared at him and smiled.

"What, can't I leave?"

The man's face turned pale.

Du Heng was naturally reluctant to part with it before.

The silver in Huainan was his lifeblood.

Salt tax, ship tax, commercial tax—the taxes were scraped down layer by layer, ending up in the government treasury, just like they went into his stomach.

Making him use the money to support his troops would be more painful than cutting off a piece of his own flesh.

But if he doesn't cut off his flesh now, Wei Zhao will come and chop off his bones.

"Each person will receive two taels of silver upon entering the camp, and their monthly salary will remain the same."

After Du Heng finished speaking, he added:

"Anyone who dares to evade service will be beheaded. Anyone whose household harbors male servants will be implicated."

The advisor's lips moved, but he still didn't dare to offer any advice.

Du Heng could tell what they were thinking.

Two taels of silver may seem like a lot, but compared to Wei Zhao's three mu of land, it's far less.

The problem is that he can't give up the land. The land and salt fields in Huainan are all in his hands, in the hands of powerful families and local strongmen, and in the hands of the leaders of the water fortresses.

If the land is used to reward soldiers, the first to rebel will not be the common people, but their own people.

Du Heng felt increasingly frustrated.

Chenqiao.

After hearing the news, Han Dashan's fat face twitched for a long time before he finally kicked over the table in front of him.

"trick!"

His roar made the guards outside the tent shrink back.

"The Black Mountain Army is also recruiting! All able-bodied men in Bianzhou must contribute three men from every ten households; those who fail to do so will be treated as traitors!"

Old Zhou sat to the side, slowly twirling the short knife in his hand.

"You're giving it to Tian?"

Han Dashan glared at him.

"Give me land my ass! Where am I supposed to get that much land?"

Old Zhou sneered.

"Then why should the soldiers you recruit risk their lives for you?"

Han Dashan's face darkened.

That's an unpleasant thing to say.

It is accurate.

The Black Mountain Army was good at fighting because the veteran soldiers had followed them in plundering grain, sharing money, and killing people.

What about the newly recruited young and strong men?

They didn't come here to make money; they were driven here by knives.

Give them a bowl of porridge and a gun, and send them to fight Wei Zhao's meritorious soldiers to the death.

Han Dashan felt a toothache just thinking about it.

Not recruiting is even worse.

When news of Wei Zhao's million-strong new army spread, everyone in Chenqiao and Bianzhou was terrified.

The soldiers were afraid, the common people were afraid, and even the powerful and wealthy were afraid.

If he doesn't move, the people below will think that King Han has been frightened by the white-robed emperor.

Once people sense your fear, your banner begins to lose its luster.

"Summon them first."

Han Dashan gritted his teeth: "The provisions and wages will come from the Prince's mansion, with the local gentry contributing half. Anyone who doesn't contribute will have their property confiscated."

Old Zhou glanced at him.

"You're willing to use your personal savings too?"

Han Dashan cursed.

"Luo Shao couldn't bear to part with it; Wei Zhao was practically using his grave mound to cultivate land for military merit!"

No one laughed.

That's so true.

In Liangzhou, Qin Lie stared at a copy of the military merit system notice for a long time without saying a word.

In Hedong, Ma Chengyi incorporated all the able-bodied men from the mines into his camp, and after untying their chains, he immediately registered them as soldiers.

In Jingxiang, Xu Zhongmou spoke of benevolence and righteousness, but his men were secretly counting the able-bodied men along the grain transport route overnight.

In Anling, Xue Feng recruited soldiers under the banner of the former Wei imperial family. The notices were written in a flowery style, but all that was distributed was half a bushel of stale grain.

Lingnan and Donglai have also been affected.

The eight rebel kings were all in a panic.

They were so anxious, it was as if their tails had been singed by fire.

Guiping Daying.

Hua Jieyu laid out the intelligence reports from various places one by one on the table, her eyes crinkling slightly with a smile.

"Your Majesty, all the princes have followed your example and recruited soldiers."

Zhao Qiniang was not in the tent, but Liu Jingshuang, Huo Qingluan, and Xie Daoning were.

Wei Zhao had just finished reading Du Heng's secret report on expanding the army when he heard this sentence and burst out laughing.

"Learn from me?"

He threw the secret report onto the table.

"Do they even deserve it?"

Liu Jingshuang looked up at him.

"Du Heng has already started using his private treasury. The Prince of Huainan's mansion is disbursing silver, and the water fortresses and salt fields are forcibly conscripting able-bodied men. Han Dashan and Zhou Laodao are also expanding their armies, and most of the other rebel kings are doing the same."

Wei Zhao nodded.

"Good thing."

The flower, seemingly understanding words, raised an eyebrow.

"Good news?"

Wei Zhao leaned back in his chair, his smile still on his face, but his eyes were cold.

"The more they confess, the faster they die."

He now knows exactly what he wants.

It wasn't about heading south immediately, nor was it about grinding things out with Du Heng by the Huai River, nor was it about plunging headlong into Chenqiao to fight Han Dashan and Zhou Laodao head-on.

He wanted to get the military merit system going first.

It burned into the hearts of the people, into the tents of the rebel kings, and even made those who had initially wanted to wait and see tremble.

Now it seems the fire has already started.

The rebel kings panicked.

When people panic, they make rash moves.

Making reckless moves will only expose your neck.

Liu Jingshuang picked up a military report, her voice indifferent.

"His Majesty's new army is for the land, for military registration, and for the livelihood that the New Wu Dynasty has given them. Even if they are not yet elite, at least they know why they are taking up arms."

She paused, then tapped the words "forced conscription" with her fingertip.

"The rebel kings are different. They recruit young men who have been forced into labor. They give you two taels of silver today, and send you to your death tomorrow. That silver is still squeezed from the people. They use the money they've stolen to hire those who have been robbed to work for them."

As Liu Jingshuang finished speaking, a cold smile appeared on her lips.

"These kinds of soldiers can still shout when things are going well for the first time. But if they really run into Wei's army, they'll run faster than anyone else."

Wei Zhao listened with great satisfaction.

Liu Jingshuang's judgment of troops was always more accurate than his.

He understands the system, he understands people's hearts, and he also understands why the military merit system in history could drive people to become ruthless and vicious.

But once she landed in the army formation, Liu Jingshuang could tell whether a soldier was alive or not with just a few glances.

"It's not a matter of running fast," Huo Qingluan suddenly said.

She placed several wooden slips on the military map, pressing down on Huainan, Chenqiao, Liangzhou, and Hedong respectively.

"If they expand their army on a large scale, their supply lines will be disrupted first."

Wei Zhao looked at her.

Huo Qingluan doesn't like to talk nonsense, but her eyes light up when this topic comes up.

"New recruits need food, barracks, weapons, and training. The rebel king's original provisions were only enough to feed the old army. Now, with the sudden expansion of the army, there isn't enough food, so he'll impose additional taxes. After the taxes are imposed, local resentment will increase, and more people will desert. To prevent desertion, they'll send troops to guard the area. With more guards, there will be fewer soldiers available to go to the front lines."

She moved a wooden stick half an inch back from Huainan.

"Du Heng's navy is strong, but if he brings salt farmers and boatmen into his camp, the salt route will slow down. If the salt route slows down, there will be less silver. If there is less silver, he will plunder even more."

Another wooden stick landed on Chenqiao.

"Han Dashan and Zhou Laodao's combined forces already require a large amount of grain. If they expand their army further, the Chenqiao supply route will be severely hampered. At that point, we don't need to attack their main force; we can attack their supply convoys first, and they will fall into disarray on their own."

Wei Zhao's lips curled up little by little.

Correct.

That's what he wanted to hear.

The rebel kings thought that expanding their army could offset the million-strong new army of Xinwu, but they forgot that soldiers don't just appear out of thin air.

Every additional person means one more mouth to feed.

Without a military merit system, without land registers, and without the trust of the imperial court, all that existed was forced conscription and military pay—it was like putting a noose around one's own neck.

Xie Daoning sat to the side without saying a word.

She had just changed Wei Zhao's dressing, and there was a medicine box next to her.

Hearing this, he said softly, "There are also injuries and illnesses."

Wei Zhao looked at her.

Xie Daoning closed the medicine bottle, his voice gentle but without a trace of weakness.

"The new army was hastily assembled and is most afraid of disease. His Majesty ordered the separate camps in Huangjincheng, Weinan, and the capital to register, and medical tents, soup kitchens, clean water, and medicine for wounds were all sent along. But the rebel kings don't care about these things. They forcibly conscript young men and stuff them into the camps, where food and lodging are chaotic, and no one treats the wounded."

She looked up and her gaze fell on the waterway in Huainan.

"Especially in Huainan. The water fortress is damp, and many salt workers have old injuries. If tens of thousands more are brought in, things will go wrong within three to five days, but within ten days or so. Once an epidemic breaks out in the army, Du Heng will not dare to make a fuss and will only try to suppress it. If he can't suppress it, it will collapse."

Wei Zhao's smile gradually faded.

Xie Daoning spoke softly, but he understood.

War is not just about swords and guns. Disease, hunger, resentment, and flight can all kill.

If it weren't for someone like Xie Daoning keeping an eye on the medical sheds, the millions of refugees in Golden City would have already gone on the verge of exploding.

What about the rebel king?

How many of them would care about this?

They only treat people as numbers.

If 100,000 isn't enough, then 200,000 will do.

Two hundred thousand isn't enough, so we'll make it three hundred thousand.

But numbers can eat, get sick, and hate.

"So they're not last-hitting minions."

Wei Zhao tapped his fingers on the table.

"It's like planting a time bomb for yourself."