Annexation

After a long silence, a third viewpoint emerged.

"Can't we just maintain the status quo? As long as we behave and pay our annual tribute as required, surely the Great Qian would have no reason to attack us!"

Lakhon shook his head and looked at the minister who had spoken.

"Have you ever thought about how many years our population can sustain this tribute? What if they increase the requirements every year? In another two years, I fear only the old, weak, sick, and disabled will be left in our entire country, and we won't even have soldiers left to hold a blade."

"His Majesty is right. Maintaining the status quo is tantamount to a slow death. Moreover, with the annual tribute constantly increasing, I fear the people will be unable to survive and will launch a rebellion."

"Could it be... could it be that the only path left for us is to surrender the entire country?"

"Sigh... it seems so. If we don't surrender, it's a dead end!"

"How about we send someone to Capital City to have an audience with the Great Qian Emperor and ask him to issue an order..."

Hearing this, Lakhon's eyelids twitched, and he directly rejected the proposal.

"Don't you know that while Commandery Duke Gao is a Commandery Duke of Great Qian in name, he is not actually controlled by the imperial court? If you bypass him to have an audience with the Great Qian Emperor, you are only provoking him."

Well, with all paths blocked, these people had no choice but to bite the bullet and agree to the first plan, though there were still many disagreements regarding the specific details.

As vested interest holders, they still hoped to retain as much of their wealth and status as possible, such as demanding a certain number of official positions, and wanting to keep a certain amount of land, tenant farmers, servants, and maids.

However, these demands were immediately retorted by Wu Xu.

"Everyone will be employed based on merit. All land must be sold to the government office at market price. Tenant farmers, servants, and maids must all be liberated; the government office can provide compensation based on a certain value. In the future, if you wish to keep servants and maids, you must hire them at market price. This is the bottom line, and there is no room for negotiation."

Kansu really wanted to debate Wu Xu and compare whose eloquence was better, but when he thought about the identity of the beautiful and domineering woman before him, he could only back down.

Passing through Location with a heavy heart, he saw the soldiers of the Zhongnan Circuit who were already ready for battle, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

"Such a powerful army is unstoppable, truly unstoppable!"

The accompanying captain nearby couldn't help but sneer.

"You are ignorant. This is just the Xuanjia Army of our Zhongnan Circuit. When you have the chance to see the Central Corps and Baier Soldiers under our lord, that is what you call truly unstoppable."

Kansu was stunned for a moment, then turned his head and looked at the captain escorting him with an expression of disbelief.

"Does the General mean that Commandery Duke Gao has even stronger armies under his command?"

The captain proudly began to introduce the Beiwei Army and the Xiaoguo Army.

"The entire Beiwei Army wears black full-body iron armor, and they wear iron face masks when they go into battle. For long-range attacks, they have powerful crossbows, and for close combat, they have armor-piercing spears and the Golden Gourd Mace. They can march thirty miles a day while armored. As for the Xiaoguo Army, they are even more formidable. Not only does each man have two horses, allowing them to come and go like the wind, but they also have specially made repeating crossbows that can fire ten arrows in ten breaths. Although there are only a thousand of them, tens of thousands of Toungoo troops were defeated by them."

Hearing this introduction, Kansu felt even more desperate deep down. The strong army he thought he knew was only average in their military, so how terrifying must the strong armies in their eyes be?

Even if they could block this army known as the Xuanjia Army, what about the elite troops that would come after?

"When I return, I must properly persuade my other colleagues to face reality."

No one expected that the words of a captain under the Zhongnan Circuit would actually accelerate the decision-making speed of the ministers of Lan Xang Kingdom.

After returning to Thanh Hoa, Kansu vividly described what he had seen.

"Our army doesn't even have a few sets of leather armor, but most of theirs are wearing leather armor, and even at the captain level, they have iron armor to protect themselves. And I heard this isn't even their elite force. Also, I have found out that they can build siege equipment taller than city walls, which can allow soldiers to climb onto the city walls without obstruction."

Everyone imagined the sense of oppression in their minds and couldn't help but shudder in unison.

In fact, none of them knew that what Kansu saw were also elites among the Xuanjia Army.

Because of the rapid expansion over these years, the armor rate of Gao Yuan's troops was rapidly declining. There was no help for it; making a set of armor was too slow.

Making leather armor wasn't just about cutting a few pieces of leather. According to the records in the Song Dynasty's "Military Preparation Strategy," making leather armor required cutting raw cowhide into armor pieces one and a half inches long and one inch wide.

Then, they were coated with raw tung oil, slightly roasted over a fire, sprinkled with iron filings, and then hammered into the cowhide with tools. After repeating this process, the cowhide armor pieces became as solid as iron plates.

Gao Yuan established two major armor-making workshops near Guchang County, one specializing in iron armor and the other in leather armor, supporting a large number of craftsmen.

However, even so, the production was extremely limited, not only because the number of craftsmen was limited, but also because raw materials were a huge problem. This was even with the premise that there were many wild beasts to hunt in Southeast Asia.

If it hadn't been for the large number of iron armors captured in the Battle of Bo Prefecture, he would never have been able to arm the Beiwei Army.

In short, this gap made the ministers of Lan Xang Kingdom feel an unprecedented sense of oppression, prompting them to give up some unrealistic fantasies.

The subsequent negotiations went very smoothly. Both sides soon reached an agreement on some details. Gao Yuan also showed some sincerity, promising to allow those without official positions to participate in the business of sun-drying salt from seawater and raising White Feather Chicken.

Now that the territory was getting larger and larger, with a population of over eight million under his rule, the salt consumed every day was also a terrifying figure.

Coupled with the fact that under Gao Yuan's rule, the people had long been accustomed to cheap and more delicious refined salt, the consumption of raw salt as a raw material was even more staggering.

This news caused many people to completely let go of their concerns and even began to actively promote the progress of the negotiations.

Time quickly arrived at November 20th of the second year of the new era name.

In Vientiane City, at the chief clerk's office hall, as Wu Xu and Kansu signed and stamped the agreement on behalf of both sides, Lan Xang Kingdom was officially incorporated into the Great Qian.

Among them, Tuo Rang and Shunhua were incorporated into the Annan Circuit, and the other three prefectures were incorporated into the Zhongnan Circuit.

The ministers of Lan Xang Kingdom and Lakhon went to Guchang, changed their names to Chinese names, with Lakhon becoming Wu Guiyi, working under Song Yong and responsible for diplomacy and diplomatic missions.

Three other officials were selected to serve as provincial inspectors, five served as County magistrates, and the rest took their money and went to various places to become wealthy squires.

Thus, Lan Xang Kingdom disappeared from the map. Gao Yuan gained over 400,000 in population, bringing the population under his rule to over 9 million, just a stone's throw away from the 10 million mark.

The Lan Xang Kingdom's army was selected and reorganized, with only over 2,000 people left, all transferred to the Pugan Circuit, and tens of thousands of Lan Xang Kingdom's people went along with them.

Although not a single soldier was moved, for this annexation, Gao Yuan still spent a large amount of money and food.

Military deterrence, migration of people, and resettlement of personnel—everything cost money, yet this Lan Xang Kingdom was dirt poor and had no profit to be made.

Looking at the bill sent by Wu Xu, Gao Yuan felt that his business deal seemed to have been a loss.

"Sigh, if I had known, I wouldn't have done any annexation. It would have been better to let them linger on and collect annual tribute every year!"

Seeing his deflated expression, several women laughed until they were trembling.

That night, the embarrassed and angry Gao Yuan taught Mu Qing, who had taken the lead in mocking him, a harsh lesson, defeating the woman until she threw away her armor and surrendered, only stopping when she cried out "Good man, husband."