As for the contraction of the defense zone in the homeland, Lu Yuan had been contemplating this idea since he had drawn troops from the Yuzhou Camp back to the homeland for reinforcement.
But previously, he was preoccupied with the Northern Expedition and temporarily had no time to attend to this, only able to conceive plans in his mind and slowly make preparations.
Now that the Northern Expedition had ended and the winter season for recuperation had arrived, he finally had some free time to make adjustments and handle the situation.
The abandonment of the territories of the eight prefectures in the southwest and Lingnan was just the first step.
By consolidating the above-mentioned regions, Chu State could potentially save about 1.15 million county soldiers, as well as 4.6 million people working on military agricultural colonies, and seven Inborn Grandmasters.
Of course, these were theoretical figures.