Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"That's right. Do you remember what I said back then about the differences in civilization between cavalry and infantry?"

In battles between armies during the era of cold weapons, aside from a small number of elite special forces, and disregarding other factors, among infantry units...

In open field battles on plains, generally speaking, opponents of cavalry tend to suffer more defeats than victories; this is an objective factor.

Cavalry's high mobility is something infantry can never match. When infantry faces cavalry, the only way to resist is to form a defensive formation and prevent the cavalry from breaking through.

Even so, this only ensures that the infantry will not be defeated in battles against cavalry.

It is virtually impossible for infantry to annihilate cavalry on a large scale.

However, infantry can transform rapidly in the shortest amount of time as tactics and equipment are updated, a characteristic that cavalry does not possess.

For example, the entire Great Chu state now is armed with rifles and equipped with artillery, enabling them to continuously fire at long range.

They could completely suppress cavalry charges and harassments, but the limits of cavalry capabilities are limited.

Even though the Solon cavalry are now equipped with advanced rifles, their only real advantage over infantry is mobility.

All other aspects have been completely overwhelmed by the infantry formations.

Another key issue is that the training period and cost for cavalry are enormous.

One cavalryman can be worth twenty soldiers; in a war of attrition, they simply cannot compete with infantry.

Not to mention that with the significant reduction in technical and tactical costs, the production, training, and recruitment of infantry have become mass-produced and streamlined.

Given the current situation of our Great Chu, if a large-scale war were to break out, we would be short of troops at the front lines.

Tens of thousands of infantrymen skilled in using firearms can be trained and deployed to the battlefield in as little as a week, a significant advantage that cavalry lacks.

When massive numbers of infantry are deployed to the battlefield in organized units, the survival space for cavalry will naturally be greatly compressed.

This is the biggest difference in the choices made by civilizations. Returning to the Wu Zhao Kingdom, its military system was extremely distorted and fragmented.

It is a typical infantry-based civilization. If a conscription system were implemented,

That large population was enough for him to assemble a massive infantry force in the shortest amount of time, a force so large that it would suffocate my Great Chu.

Even if they were to fight with only cold weapons, my Chu state would still have a great deal of trouble against them.

But they chose a cavalry civilization centered on elites, with...

The core of the defense force consisted of a small number of elite warriors and cavalrymen from surrendered vassal tribes.

Furthermore, using a large number of local government troops as cannon fodder was an act of rebellion against the Heavenly Gang.

This is extremely rare in the world, and it is also the fundamental reason why the scale of war in the Wu Zhao Kingdom cannot be sustained when it encounters conflict.

In the battles of Wu Zhao mentioned earlier, elite troops were the vanguard in 90% of the main battlefront.

The role of ordinary local government troops was merely to provide logistics and bolster morale.

Thus, the following scene unfolded: Wu Zhao's army, which clearly possessed hundreds of thousands of soldiers,

On the battlefields of Jiang State, they often found themselves surrounded by thousands of people, locked in a desperate battle.

According to the war record that Ban Dingyuan obtained from the Jiang Kingdom's envoy, the warriors of Wu Zhao Kingdom were incredibly brave and invincible.

A team of a hundred or so people can often exert a tremendous sense of pressure on my group of several hundred.

However, the morale of the Wu Zhao Kingdom's government troops was low, and they didn't even know basic military formations. They would often collapse without a fight when they were only a few miles apart.

Moreover, if the war goes against them, the warriors and cavalry of Wu Zhao Kingdom will fight to the death, but the local government troops will flee in droves.

Often, a single troop from the Jiang Kingdom could easily scatter the tens of thousands of government troops of the Wu Zhao Kingdom in a surprise attack.

They didn't resemble an army; rather, they looked like a group of untrained refugees, completely incomparable to those martial arts armies.

It's like two extreme divisions that shouldn't exist on the same battlefield in the first place.

After listening to Shen Lang's words, Jiang Mengxuan sighed: "In the end, Wu Zhao Kingdom was still going in the wrong direction. But after all these years, hasn't Wu Zhao Kingdom realized this shortcoming?"

Shen Lang shook his head: "Actually, Li Hong probably already knew that Wu Zhao Kingdom's military policy had huge problems, but he still chose to continue to maintain the elite force strategy. I think there are two main considerations."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Jiang Mengxuan's jade-like feet began to rub against Shen Lang's lower abdomen.

Shen Lang felt a chill run down his spine and immediately gripped her delicate foot tightly to stop her from making things difficult for him.

Jiang Mengxuan gave him a coquettish look and said softly, "Go on, I'm listening."

Shen Lang began to rub Jiang Mengxuan's feet back and forth, causing her jade cheeks to flush red.

"Firstly, the military system, which has been entrenched for hundreds of years, will inevitably encounter obstacles from all sides if it is to be reformed. Although Li Hong is the most capable emperor in the history of Wu Zhao Kingdom,

However, it wouldn't be good to offend so many powerful figures at once, especially since the military reforms, which revolved around infantry, would inevitably affect the interests of the old guard. Li Hong wasn't psychologically prepared to fight against the entire military group.

Jiang Mengxuan's feet were unbearably itchy. She forcefully pulled her delicate feet away from Shen Lang's clutches, biting her lower lip with her pearly teeth. She gave Shen Lang a resentful look and continued:

"Then how did I become one?"

"They are completely different. The national conditions of Chu and Wu Zhao are vastly different."

The military reforms in the State of Chu were carried out while minimizing damage to the interests of powerful clans.

Moreover, the treatment of soldiers in the North and South is generally the same, and any changes would only benefit them.

Therefore, once the military is reformed, the resistance is naturally much smaller.

Furthermore, the military reforms will not affect the economic interests gained by the aristocratic families.

On the contrary, they can gain more benefits from each war, so what reason is there not to support it?

"The Wu Zhao Kingdom abolished the system of recommendation by aristocratic families by using the imperial examination system early on."

The power of aristocratic families was completely stripped away by the royal family. For those powerful and wealthy individuals, what did change have to do with them? Why should they change?

Without the strong support of powerful families, Li Hong would have to face the potential mutiny within the army alone, a scenario he absolutely did not want to see.

The difference in treatment between elite troops and regular soldiers is more than tenfold. Aside from the elite units, the military pay of local soldiers has remained low since the founding of the Wu Zhao dynasty.

They only received their full pay for a short period of three years; the rest were delayed every year, and to this day they have never received a full paycheck.

Over time, the conflict between elite and ordinary soldiers had long been brewing, with the elite soldiers possessing a natural sense of superiority over the ordinary soldiers.

They inherently felt that others were of lowly birth and unworthy to be compared to themselves.

Under such circumstances, how could they possibly support Li Hong's military reforms, which would render their own superiority meaningless?

Jiang Mengxuan nodded, put her feet back on Shen Lang's knees, and gave him a look that said "Don't be silly."

"What about the second one?"

"Secondly, the cost was much higher than Li Hong had expected."

Jiang Mengxuan looked incredulous: "The fiscal revenue of Wu Zhao Kingdom is quite considerable. I have seen the relevant reports. It has an annual income of at least 20 million taels of gold."

Shen Lang shook his head: "The cost here doesn't just refer to the expenses for improving the military's benefits and equipment, but also the consequences that Li Hong needs to bear."

How was the Wu Zhao Kingdom established? Li Hong's ancestors were once retainers of the Ming Zhao Kingdom, and he himself was of foreign ethnicity. He rose up in rebellion during the internal strife in Ming Zhao.

They ascended the throne once again, stepping on the blood of hundreds of millions of people in the Mingzhao Kingdom. Their ascension to the throne was already highly controversial, and if they were to elevate the status of local officials and soldiers...

After rigorous training to become a qualified army, will they one day remember the hardships suffered by their predecessors and rise up in rebellion to overthrow them?

This is also what Li Hong fears most. Although hundreds of years have passed and many grudges have been gradually forgotten by the world,

But who can guarantee that this hatred won't be reopened one day, causing the entire Wu Zhao Kingdom to fall apart?