Chapter 10: Upgrade, Population?

Having made all the preparations, Li Xiang did not drag his feet at all and led his massive army out early.

For this expedition, Li Xiang himself served as the commander-in-chief, with the formidable generals Xing Tian and Xue Rengui under his command, and Wei Xiaokuan as his military strategist.

Before the sky had even turned bright, an imposing force of thirty thousand elite cavalry set off in a grand procession.

Although Li Xiang was inwardly reluctant to undertake this campaign, he did not delay his journey. In less than ten days, Li Xiang's army had already crossed into the territory of Jizhou.

White bones lie exposed across the plains,
For a thousand miles, not a single rooster crows.
Barely one in a hundred commoners survives,
The mere thought of it breaks one's heart.

This was Li Xiang's immediate impression upon entering Jizhou.

Tragic, utterly tragic. Jizhou had once been one of the wealthiest provinces in the entire Han Empire, but now, scenes of people exchanging their children to eat and using human bones for firewood were everywhere. In some places, the landscape was completely desolate for a thousand miles, devoid of any human habitation.

Upon witnessing this grim spectacle, Li Xiang fell silent. Perhaps not just now, but for a long time to come, scenes like this would likely play out across every province in the Han Empire.

Historical records of the late Eastern Han Dynasty show a population of over fifty million, yet after more than a century of Three Kingdoms warfare, the population plummeted to fewer than ten million.

It was not until the unification under the Eastern Jin Dynasty that the population finally ceased its continuous decline and began to recover. But good times did not last long; the subsequent Rebellion of the Five Barbarians once again dragged the people of the Central Plains into the flames of war.

At this thought, Li Xiang's heart grew even heavier.

It was impossible to tell how much time had passed—it felt like merely a split second, yet also as long as a lifetime.

Li Xiang had changed. From this moment on, a trace of cynicism vanished from his eyes, replaced by a profound sense of responsibility and mission.

Although he was still striving for hegemony driven by his own ambitions, there was now added to his heart a deep desire to save the future.

He wanted to defeat his potential rivals as quickly as possible and unify the realm with utmost speed, so as to preserve a glimmer of vitality for the Han people.

He hoped that one day, under his leadership, the sons of Han could defeat the northern barbarians; he hoped that because of his arrival, tragedies like the Rebellion of the Five Barbarians would never happen again.

"System, now that you have balanced and summoned so many founding emperors and peerless warlords, won't the chaos in this world be far more severe than in the original history? Can the population of the late Han era possibly sustain such devastation?" After a long silence, Li Xiang finally voiced the worry buried deep within his heart.

The devastation following a century of warfare in the Three Kingdoms period of history was already unimaginably horrific. Now, with the system balancing forth so many legendary talents of the ages, this Han Empire might truly be battered into absolute oblivion.

However, Li Xiang's question received no reply. Instead, much like the last time Yu Ji was summoned, a static buzzing sound echoed in his mind: *bzz, bzz, bzz*.

Li Xiang knew that something must have gone wrong with the system once again, though he had no way of knowing whether this turn of events would be a blessing or a curse.

Carrying this lingering uncertainty, Li Xiang continued to lead his army forward.

Upon entering Jizhou, Li Xiang no longer dared to be as relaxed and unconcerned as he had been in Bingzhou. As soon as they reached Wei Commandery in Jizhou, Li Xiang dispatched a vast number of scouts to fan out in all directions.

Military affairs were the foundation of the state—matters of life and death, the path to survival or destruction—and one could not afford to be negligent. With Yellow Turban rebels scattered everywhere across Jizhou, Li Xiang dared not lower his guard. History had shown how many generals lost battle after battle simply due to carelessness. The past was a guide for the future, and lessons learned must not be forgotten.

Fortunately, the main force of the Yellow Turbans was currently concentrated around the battlefield of Yecheng, while those in the other commanderies and counties of Jizhou were merely scattered remnants of little consequence.

The situation now differed from history. In the historical accounts, Lu Zhi had trapped Zhang Jiao's main Yellow Turban force within the city of Guangzong, gradually grinding down their strength.

Yet nowadays, the Yellow Turban forces had grown immensely, and instead, the imperial Han troops were constrained on all fronts. They could only rely on heavily fortified cities to resist the rebels, using the strength of these walls to offset the numerical disparity between the two sides.

Although the Han Empire still enjoyed the support of the aristocratic families, after months of intense warfare, Jizhou could now muster only one hundred thousand troops, many of whom were newly recruited soldiers hastily organized by these noble clans.

Even with reinforcements from Bingzhou and Youzhou, they would likely only be able to piece together a total force of one hundred sixty or seventy thousand. There might perhaps be some volunteer militias raised by local gentry, but the combat effectiveness of such men was hardly superior to that of the Yellow Turbans.

According to intelligence gathered by the Fushui House, after Zhang Jiao transferred a portion of the Yellow Turbans from Qingzhou, his troop strength had reached a terrifying six hundred thousand.

Of course, this was not even the most troublesome part. Because of the presence of Zhang Dingbian and Chiyou, with their keen strategic insight, they naturally could not fail to see the fatal flaw of the Yellow Turban army's low combat efficacy.

Consequently, the two of them had trained two hundred thousand elite troops respectively on the two battlefields of Jizhou and the Central Plains. Now, months later, these forces were already beginning to show formidable results.

The sole reason the imperial Han forces had been able to maintain a stalemate with the Yellow Turbans up to this point was largely because these two elite contingents of two hundred thousand soldiers had not yet entered the fray.

Nonetheless, the deterrent force of the thirty thousand elite cavalry led by Li Xiang remained formidable. At the very least, no blind stray bands of Yellow Turban rebels dared to come forward and provoke him.

While Li Xiang welcomed the peace and quiet, he still prudently refrained from recalling his scattered scouts, ordering his army to remain fully armored day and night, ever ready for combat.

Advancing at full speed under these conditions, Li Xiang and his forces finally approached Yecheng ten days later.

At the very moment Li Xiang drew near Yecheng, the system finally recovered.

"System, how are you? You didn't run into another glitch this time, did you?" The moment the system stirred, Li Xiang asked impatiently.

"Ding! Host, please rest assured. The system merely detected certain loopholes triggered by the host's previous inquiry, and thus underwent an upgrade. Congratulations to the host for obtaining the upgrade rewards: one Divine Weapon Card and one Fine Steed Card."

"Oh, system, since that's the case, what changes have been made to the system after this upgrade?" Li Xiang still cared deeply about system upgrades, knowing that each one typically brought additional minor features.

"Ding! Host, because this upgrade resolved loopholes originating from the host's queries, the adjustments are primarily focused on the population mechanics.
Following the upgrade, the annual population of every province within the Han Empire will directly increase by twenty thousand, and the population growth rate will be doubled.
Additionally, as the host, you may expend one hundred summoning points annually to further double this increased amount within the regions under your direct jurisdiction."

Hearing this, great joy surged in Li Xiang's heart. This system upgrade directly resolved the pressing crisis of the population plummeting due to the ravages of war.

Moreover, if he was willing to spend summoning points to double the growth, he could gain a decisive advantage over other warlords. In times of war, population was the most precious resource a warlord could possess.

And a cost of one hundred summoning points a year was hardly a heavy burden for Li Xiang.

"System, immediately spend one hundred summoning points for me to double this year's population growth in Bingzhou!" Li Xiang said excitedly.

"Ding! Congratulations, host. The population of Bingzhou will increase by four hundred thousand this year, and this year's population growth rate is tripled."

However, this particular benefit clearly favored provinces with already large populations. It seemed Bingzhou would have to seize this opportunity to attract as many refugees as possible.

Just as Li Xiang was preparing to exit the system, a minor detail suddenly struck him.

"System, what is the story behind these upgrade rewards?" Li Xiang asked with a deadpan expression.

"Ding! Due to the previous loopholes within the system, certain upgrade rewards had remained unissued. Furthermore, the system has undergone a total of three upgrades, rewarding the host with a total of three Divine Weapon Cards and three Fine Steed Cards," the system replied, carrying a faint hint of embarrassment.

This upgrade had delivered a rather pleasant surprise to Li Xiang, so he chose not to quibble further with the system. After claiming the rewards that were rightfully his, Li Xiang quietly withdrew from the system space.