Chapter 876: Medical Saint Zhang Zhongjing
Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 876 – Medical Saint Zhang Zhongjing
Just as Wang Zhaojun was hesitating, Ouyang Shuo spoke once more.
“Zhaojun, did you think about what you want to do in the future?”
“Ah?” Wang Zhaojun was stunned, and her face turned red; the script was not right. Luckily, she had been through many situations in her last life, so she quickly calmed down and respectfully said, “I was a court lady. If the king does not mind, I’m willing to be a court lady in the palace.”
Wang Zhaojun had no relatives in Shanhai City. As such, apart from entering the palace, she did not know what she could do. In ancient times, a girl’s beauty would often invite big trouble, especially girls that were as pretty as her.
Apart from inviting tragedy, beauties often had short lives.
With the protection of Mulan Yue in Zhen An Prefecture, she avoided a lot of problems. This was also the reason why she accepted Mulan Yue’s suggestion and came over to Shanhai City.
According to Mulan Yue, only the king could protect her.
When Ouyang Shuo heard that, he shook his head. He did not dare accept her as a court lady. Even though Song Jia was magnanimous, she probably could not accept such a beauty by his side.
“Do you like playing the pipa and singing?” Ouyang Shuo asked.
Wang Zhaojun was shocked. She did not know why the king was asking about that.
When Ouyang Shuo saw her reaction, he explained, “With your looks, it’s a waste of your talent. I have a good place, just that I do not know whether you are willing or not.”
He continued to describe the modern day singer job to her.
This time, not only Wang Zhaojun was stunned, but even Tsing Yi raised her head. Her eyes opened wide, and she looked at Ouyang Shuo like she was looking like at a monster.
The outside world always had rumors that one of the reasons why the Great Xia Dynasty could walk till today was because of Ouyang Shuo. His thinking was special and out of the box.
But this time, it was a little too far out of the box.
“Develop Wang Zhaojun into a star? To think he actually thought of that.” Tsing Yi tipped her hat to him for thinking of something like that.
Although she did not dare to believe it, Tsing Yi could not help but imagine the scene of Wang Zhaojun singing on stage. After having such a thought, she was actually looking forward to it.
“Then I’ll try?”
Wang Zhaojun did not know how to reject and could only give such an answer.
Ouyang Shuo knew that this matter could not be rushed, so he smiled as he said, “Great. As for the specifics, I’ll get the queen to explain them to you.”
“Yes my king!”
When Wang Zhaojun saw that, she took her leave. However, she did not know that from that moment on, her fate had taken an 180 degrees turn.
A superstar was slowly rising up.
Looking at Wang Zhaojun’s back view, Ouyang Shuo thought about Mulan Yue, who had recommended her. She had been a Governor for a year and a half, and she had done really well.
Along with her contribution of recommending Wang Zhaojun, Ouyang Shuo wanted to promote her to Provincial Governor of Morocco.
Morocco was alone outside, so the Provincial Governor he chose had to be someone he trusted. If one talked about trust, Mulan Yue was one of the people he trusted the most.
As for ability, they could follow the early Zhen An Prefecture and assign her some strong supporting staff. The truth proved that she was a really exceptional political talent.
In this year and a half, Zhen An Prefecture had been run really well, exceeding Ouyang Shuo’s expectations.
However, Morocco was located overseas, so he needed to seek her opinion. Thinking of which, he turned around and said to Tsing Yi, “Summon Zhen An Prefecture Governor Mulan Yue, ask her to set off and come back to the imperial city.” Zhen An Prefecture did not have a teleportation formation, so she could not reach Shanhai City immediately.
“Yes my king!”
A look of doubt appeared in Tsing Yi’s eyes, but she still nodded. Logically speaking, it was still the 5th month, so it should not be the time for Governor debriefs. It seemed like the king had other reasons for calling her back.
As the advisor of the Secret Documents Pavilion, Tsing Yi knew her place and knew what should be asked and what should not.
…
After sending away Wang Zhaojun, the second person Ouyang Shuo met was a general. The famous Fubo General Ma Yuan. He was the descendent of Zhao She and the ancestor of the Xiliang Five Ma.
Ma Yuan was a famous military person from the end of West Han to the starting years of East Han. He was one of the contributors to the establishment of East Han.
During the ending years of West Han, the world was in chaos, and Ma Yuan was the subordinate of Kui Xiao, gaining his trust. After which he, followed Liu Xiu and helped him unify the country.
After unifying the country, Ma Yuan was already really old but sought to continue, fighting the Qiang people in the west and stopping problems in the south. As a result of his merits, he was given the title of Xingxi Lord and was nicknamed by the people as Ma Fupo.
“I am General Ma Yuan, greetings to the king!”
The Ma Yuan that entered the wilderness was close to 50. Considering Zhao She, Zhao Kuo, and the Xiliang Five horses, a total of eight people of the Ma family had joined the Great Xia Dynasty.
The reason Ma Yuan came over was firstly because of Zhao She, Ma Chao, and others, who were working for the Great Xia Dynasty; they had kept in contact. Secondly, the Great Xia Dynasty had just established the country, so they naturally attracted many.
“General please rise!”
Ouyang Shuo was really respectful toward Ma Yuan, as he could be considered a crucial person in the Ma family. Moreover, Morocco was current reorganizing the military and needed such an experienced general.
In history, although Ma Yuan could not be considered a legendary general, he was still a great one.
Name: Ma Yuan (King Rank)
Dynasty: West Han End, East Han start
Identity: Great Xia Dynasty General
Occupation: Advanced General
Loyalty: 75
Command: 75
Force: 75
Intelligence: 68
Politics: 50
Specialty: Good General (raises troops’ attack strength by 15%, raises troops’ movement speed by 25%)
Cultivation method: Fubo Blade Technique
Equipment: Machete
Evaluation: Worked for the Imperial Court for 22 years, north to the desert, and south to the Riggers and oceans. Died because of military matters; he was worshipped by many.
Before coming to meet the king, Ma Yuan had already stayed in Shanhai City for a period of time and had interacted with members of the family. As such, he knew a few things about the Great Xia Dynasty.
After learning that the king personally went on an expedition and achieved a great victory, Ma Yuan knew that his chance to step up had arrived.
As expected, after a short chat, Ouyang Shuo hinted that in the upcoming military reorganization, he would place Ma Yuan as a Legion General.
At the end, Ouyang Shuo smiled, “I just do not know if general is willing to lead troops overseas?” Morocco was located alone overseas and was at a crucial location. As such, they definitely needed to station troops there to protect the land.
Ma Yuan often fought at the borders, so he did not mind, “I am willing!”
Ouyang Shuo nodded his head, “That’s great, rest up in the imperial city. Ma Teng, Ma Chao, Ma Xiu, the others, and the Guards Legion Corps generals have already returned. Go have a reunion with them and wait for the official appointed from the Privy Court.”
“Yes my king!”
After getting the order, Ma Yuan left. He too wanted to see Ma Chao and the rest.
…
After sending away Ma Yuan, Ouyang Shuo received the last historical person, who was also an old man. He was the famous Medical Saint, Zhang Zhongjing.
Zhang Zhongjing; he was also known as Zhang Ji. He was born in the East Han south Prefecture.
Zhang Zhongjing lived in the end of the East Han, which was a really chaotic time in Chinese history. Historical records had it that the East Han Huan Emperor had three major epidemics, while Emperor Ling had five. During Emperor Xian’s time, the epidemic was worse, and tens of thousands of people died.
Zhang Zhongjing’s family was originally a big one with 200 odd people.
Since the start of Jian An, in less than 10 years, 2/3rd of them died because of illness with 70% of them dying from typhoid.
Facing the epidemics, Zhang Zhongjing was really sad and angry. Hence, he decided to research typhoid fever to try to cure it.
During the Jian An period, Zhang Zhongjing went over various lands and personally witnessed the damage and effects that the various epidemics had on the people. He also used this chance to research typhoid fever and raise his experience and understanding of it.
After 10 years of hard work, he finally wrote a book known as Treatise of Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases. This was another influential medical book since the Yellow Emperor Internal Cultivation Technique.
The reason why Zhang Zhongjing was willing to come over had something to do with the game of the Great Xia Dynasty. More importantly, they were pushing out basic healthcare reforms, which attracted his attention.
Zhang Zhongjing was dedicated to medicine and did not care about being an official. Since he was from an aristocratic family, he inherited the family and was appointed as the Changsha Prefecture Governor during the Jian An period.
Even so, he did not forget about medicine. During ancient times, officials could not randomly enter houses and come close to the people. However, if he did not get close to them, how could he cure them, and how could his skills improve?
Hence, he thought of a way, which was to choose the 1st and 15th of each month to open the Yamen for sick people. He sat in the main hall and diagnosed all of them.
Name: Zhang Zhongjing (Saint Rank)
Title: Medical Saint
Dynasty: East Han
Identity: Great Xia Dynasty Doctor
Occupation: Special Physician
Loyalty: 70
Bone structure:20
Comprehension: 22
Charm: 12
Luck: 18
Specialty: Medical Saint (raises body qualities by 15%, reduces chance of people getting sick by 15%, raises medical studies breakthrough by 15%, raises familiarity of skills of physicians by 25%.)
Book: Treatise of Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases
Evaluation: Zhang Zhongjing, one of the most exceptional doctors in Chinese history. He wrote the famous book Treatise of Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases. He created the rules and principles of judging illnesses, which formed the foundations of Chinese medicine and the soul of Chinese medicine.
+ Add to my favorites
← Previous
All chapters
Next →
lightnovel.world
Chapter 877: Hundred Herb Garden
Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 877 – Hundred Herb Garden
After seeing Zhang Zhongjing, Ouyang Shuo had to consider his appointment.
Thinking about it, Ouyang Shuo said, “The position of head of the imperial medicine court is still empty. Would you be willing to take the positon?”
The head would manage the imperial medicine court. Under him would be the court judge, imperial physicians, and other related personnel. When they established the country, territory god physician Bianque was already appointed as the court judge of the imperial medicine court.
“Imperial medicine court?”
Zhang Zhongjing hesitated, as he wanted to work at the Medical Department.
Ouyang Shuo smiled as he knew why Zhang Zhongjing was hesitating, “I think you have a misunderstanding of the imperial medicine court. The organization does not belong to the royal family, and it’s the overall Yamen meant to control the entire dynasty Medical Department.”
The entire Xia Palace only had Ouyang Shuo, Song Jia, and Bing’er. Naturally, he did not need a private medical organization to treat him.
When he was setting up the organizational structure, Ouyang Shuo listed the imperial medicine court as the bureau of medicine.
However, he only called it as such.
The imperial medicine court originated from the Jin Dynasty, coming from the Song and Tang imperial medicine department, it was established into an organization. Its function was very different to the Tang Dynasty imperial medicine department and the Song Dynasty imperial medicine office.
The true imperial medicine court did not only serve the imperial family. In fact, it also was in charge of recruiting doctors, selecting them, sending them out, developing doctors, educating them, and the like.
After listening to the king’s explanation, Zhang Zhongjing understood; this matched what he wanted. He did not hesitate, “Thank you my king for your good grace.”
Ouyang Shuo nodded. With medicine Saint Zhang Zhongjing in charge of the imperial medicine court, the medical standards of the territory would rise another step up. Along with Zhang Zhongjing being appointed as the head of the court, a System Notification spread across the entire China region.
“System Notification: Physician representative figure Zhang Zhongjing has been appointed as the head of the imperial medicine court. Working for the Great Xia Dynasty, he has started taking disciples, meeting the three requirements for the school to move in. School of Medicine has moved into Shanhai City.”
…
“System Notification: School of Medicine has moved into Shanhai City, awarding the title of Land of Medicine as a reward, congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi!”
…
System Notification: With the School of Medicine moving into Shanhai City, the title of Land of Philosophers automatically covers the title of Land of Medicine, awarding Shanhai City with special building Hundred Herb Garden as a reward. Congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi!”
…
Before this, when the School of Business moved in, Gaia had awarded him the hidden building Silver Prayer House. This time, Gaia was not as generous and only gave him a special building.
Name: Hundred Herb Garden
Type: Special Building
Function: herbs in the garden grow at 400% rate
Specialty: raises attraction to physicians by 20%, raises dynasty reputation by 5%
Note: A herb garden to grow herbs. There’s a special formation underneath. With the spiritual energy nourishing the herbs, they are provided them with a perfect environment. Takes up 100 mu of land.
This garden was pretty much the dream of any doctor, and its value was comparable to hidden buildings. This Hundred Herb Garden was not comparable to the one that Mr. Luxun wrote about.
At this very moment, a System Notification sounded out by his ear.
“Congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi for obtaining a Hundred Herb Garden. Please choose where to build it. Friendly Reminder: must be no smaller than hundred mu.”
Ouyang Shuo thought about it. A hundred mu was not small, and there probably was not enough space within the inner city. Hence, he could only build it outside of the city. Ouyang Shuo chose a piece of land on the east outskirts to build the Hundred Herb Garden on.
“System Notification: Location chosen, spawning…”
Along with the System Notification, a white light shone on the east outskirts, and a hundred mu medicinal garden appeared.
Ouyang Shuo told Zhang Zhongjing about it; he was delighted and smiled, “Even the heavens are helping our dynasty. With this magical herb garden, we will have double the efficiency.”
“The garden will be managed by the imperial medicine court.” Ouyang Shuo smiled as he said.
Zhang Zhongjing replied, “I will not let you down!”
…
After sending Zhang Zhongjing away, it was already 4 PM. Finally, Ouyang Shuo had time to deal with the memorials. Along with the country being established, naturally more than just three historical people chose to move over. However, the others were not as famous, so the cabinet had already settled them.
Just as Ouyang Shuo completed his notes on the fifth memorial, someone looked for him; it was the Industrialization Director, Chen Bingguang.
“Greetings my king!”
Ouyang Shuo waved his hand, “Old Chen, please take a seat!”
When Tsing Yi saw that, she personally served tea.
Chen Bingguang came over because of the Shu Mountain Steel Corporation. With the lead of the industrialization, they had established the corporation and the headquarters were set at Steel City.
In Steel City, two large steel factories had been built. The branch of the No.7 Research Institute there would be in charge of researching and improving their steelmaking techniques.
Chen Bingguang suggested they move the mimicry flying device crafting base over. The future Steel City would not be a pure city of steel but a city of industrialization.
New cannons, new guns, steam engine, and other such technologies would slowly move to Steel City.
The Industrialization Department had already planned to build the first iron road to transport iron ore and coal to the steel factories.
At the same time, the ocean route from Steel City to Shanhai City was being opened up. The process would be completed in the 7th month. When that happened, the steel could be transported by sea over to Shanhai City.
The steel corporation that Ouyang Shuo had envisioned was slowly taking shape and becoming the engine of industrialization for the territory.
However, behind this prosperity, there were some problems.
Chen Bingguang came over because the Shu Mountain Steel Corporation was facing problems.
Although it was not fatal, it was not a small problem.
“My king, recently, our coal from West Chu has been attacked by an unknown squadron in the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea region, which has affected the coal transport. If this continues, this trading route will be totally cut off.”
The dynasty industrialization was at a crucial stage. The moment the coal supply could not keep up, it would be badly affected.
Currently, the dynasty not only had coal from Steel City, but there was also the coal from Minnan Province. From a long term standpoint, they needed to solve this problem.
Ouyang Shuo frowned, “Did you find out who it was?”
“According to the Navy Headquarters, there’s a high possibility that it’s the Yanhuang Alliance.”
Ouyang Shuo nodded; his guess was similar. After gaining Jack’s help, Di Chen, Zhan Lang, and the others had all started to build navies. Along with Xiong Ba, the three of them formed a line and controlled the ocean rights of the Yellow River and the Bohai Sea.
The Great Xia Dynasty ships transporting coal could not avoid their jurisdiction.
After Jack passed them the technique, Ouyang Shuo expected that a day like this would come. Not only did it affect the ship making industry profits of the Great Xia Dynasty, but it also gave them more opponents in the oceans.
Based on the Shipbuilding Division’s report, the effects were not limited to within the country, as even orders from ASEAN were affected.
Just like that, animosity between Jack and the Great Xia Dynasty was formed.
If he had a chance, Ouyang Shuo did not mind dealing with him. After taking down Morocco, as long as Ouyang Shuo wanted to, he had the chance to enter the American continent.
Of course, if Ouyang Shuo really wanted to go all out, he could seal the Gibraltar Straits and break the trade path between America and the Mediterranean.
The two of them were chess players playing against one another. Now, it was time to see who the better player was.
However, Ouyang Shuo did not expect that Di Chen and the others would be so anxious. Moreover, their methods were so despicable. Based on the intel from the Shanhai Guards, the navy squadrons of Handan City and Blood Red City had not been formed yet.
After the system update, Gaia slowed down the shipbuilding speed, which unavoidably impacted the local production. It was not easy to try and build a fully equipped navy.
The ones that were disturbing the Great Xia Dynasty coal ships were probably their squadron in the early stages. These squadrons were training in the region.
As for disturbing the ships, it was probably a secondary goal.
Be it Di Chen or Zhan Lang, with their family’s help, it was not hard for them to hire modern day navy generals, sailors, captains, and the like.
What they needed was a period of time to adapt.
Ouyang Shuo asked, “As for the specific damages, did the Industrialization Department tabulate it?”
Chen Bingguang nodded, “Yes. Weirdly, the ones most damaged were those from Stone City, and the attacks mostly happened in Bohai Sea. We basically did not face much resistance in Yellow Sea. Even King City’s Zhoushan Squadron did not care about our coal ships.”
A light shone in Ouyang Shuo’s eyes. This news proved the conjecture in his heart. He did not tell it to Chen Bingguang and simply said, “I understand, you can go now!”
“Yes my king!”
Chen Bingguang took his leave. Since the king now knew of the matter, he would have a way to solve it. This matter had exceeded the power of the Industrialization Department, which was why he would come over to report it.
After Chen Binggguang left, Ouyang Shuo looked at Tsing Yi and said, “Send a decree to Honglu Temple, ask them to send envoys to Handan City, Blood Red City, and Stone City. Tell them that if they continue, their merchant ships can forget about passing on the voyage trade route.”
Ouyang Shuo wanted to give them a warning. Some rules could not be broken and should not be broken. If not, it would not be good for anyone.
“Yes my king!”
+ Add to my favorites
← Previous
All chapters
Next →
lightnovel.world
Chapter 878: Fighting and Unity
Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 878 – Fighting and Unity
Apart from giving Di Chen and the others a clear warning, Ouyang Shuo was also considering other countermeasures.
A warning only solved the problem but not the root. When their navies were formed, the Great Xia Dynasty coal ships would still be threatened by them.
It seemed like he needed to increase the presence of the Shanhai Alliance in Bohai Sea.
Toward the Yellow River region, the Yizhou Squadron still has some influence, which was also why the Zhoushan Squadron did not try anything funny.
It seemed like Xiong Ba was not willing to have a head on conflict with the Great Xia Dynasty.
The key would be Bohai Sea. The Great Xia Dynasty’s navy was being spread thin, and the only way would be to help Stone City build a squadron.
Stone City’s territory had a Binhai Bay, which was a large-sized port that could store a huge squadron.
However, without the help of the Great Xia Dynasty, with the current situation of Stone City, they lacked the ability to build a decent squadron, much less face off against Handan Squadron.
Thinking of which, Ouyang Shuo raised his brush and wrote a letter to Wufu to ask for his opinion. If he did not have the resolve, Ouyang Shuo could not force him. If he was willing, the Great Xia Dynasty would start acting.
Stone City had coal. At most, they would just have to use coal as payment.
…
During dinner, Ouyang Shuo raised the matter of Wang Zhaojun. Song Jia’s reaction was the same as Tsing Yi’s. After a long while, she regained her senses, “You really dare to think.”
Ouyang Shuo asked, “Do you think it’s possible?”
Jokes were jokes, but when they were talking about serious matters, Song Jia would immediately focus, “We can try.”
“That’s great. I will not care about this matter anymore. I’ll leave it to you.”
Song Jia nodded.
…
The following few days were really calm.
5th month, 28th day, the Mediterranean Squadron finally acted.
Through a discussion, the Mediterranean Lords used Kalia as a middle woman to send a message to the Great Xia Dynasty – they were willing to discuss matters with regards to the Mediterranean Ocean.
When Ouyang Shuo got the news, he laughed but did not say anything.
The reactions of the Mediterranean Lords’ were as he had expected. Their relationship with America was not so strong, and they were just cooperating whilst being wary of one another.
Caesar and the others still defended against the Great Xia Dynasty like they would defend against a thief. However, no matter what, they did not want to give Jack a reason to step in.
As they say, it is easy to invite a god but hard to send him away.
Jack and the American Lords were not philanthropists. If they found a chance to enter the Mediterranean, it would not be good for the Mediterranean Lords.
In the Mediterranean, Caesar was the most active, pushing for the rights of the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, Henry was extremely low profile. However, that was what made people worry.
The Spanish Lords, with Casillas as their head, had once again fallen. As a result, they were busy tending to their wounds. Luckily, he was decisive, so the Invincible Squadron survived. On the other hand, the Greeks were busy trying to get close with Kalia. The other Lords had their own thoughts and the entire Mediterranean was a huge mess.
Outside the Mediterranean, there was also Portugal, England, Holland, and Germany; these parties were all looking on with interest.
Such a scenario was one that gave outsiders a good chance to enter. If they allowed a massive fish like Jack to enter at this moment, who knows how badly it would stir the situation.
Hence, during the Silver Hand internal meeting, the Europeans rejected the suggestion of Jack and the others to work together to suppress Morocco.
As a result, before the situation got totally out of hand, Caesar and the others chose to discuss and cooperate with the Great Xia Dynasty to try to reach a solution that both sides could accept.
Ouyang Shuo had seen through all of this. Naturally, he would not act arrogantly, so he accepted the request of the Mediterranean Lords.
To the Great Xia Dynasty, there were two reasons for taking down Morocco. First, they aimed to win a stable logistics base. Secondly, they wanted to ensure the smoothness of the voyage trade route.
The second goal was even more important than the first.
The ancestor had once said, “Unity is achieved by struggle and destroyed by compromise.”
Ouyang Shuo performed a series of work in the Mediterranean based on this theory. Disbanding the Mediterranean Alliance and ‘drawing the line’ with Atlantis was to advance through backing off.
Taking down Morocco was a struggle to earn the chips to ask for a compromise.
Think about it, if they did not take down Morocco, they would be unable to protect the interests of the Great Xia merchants on the voyage route with just one Jidian City.
At that time, the Great Xia Dynasty trading route would be under siege, and its position as an ocean overlord would be challenged.
Hence, if Ouyang Shuo continued to back off, he would lose all his chips.
However, the current situation was different. With Morocco Province as his shield, the Great Xia Dynasty had the ability to fight with any enemy. Of course, Ouyang Shuo was not a rash person. Unless he was forced to, he would not want both sides to be hurt.
The road to being an overlord was one of interests.
That morning, Ouyang Shuo announced a decree: Order Honglu Temple Deputy Zi Luolan as the ambassador, Business Department Xu Zhen Chang as the assistant, bring many officials from the Honglu Temple, Financial Court, and Privy Court to build a negotiation team to rush to Atlantis City to discuss with the Mediterranean Lords there.
The representative team, apart from officials, there were real life trading, negotiation, diplomacy, and European matters experts.
Before leaving, Zi Luolan looked for Ouyang Shuo.
As the ambassador, Zi Luolan naturally needed to know the king’s bottom line.
In the Imperial Reading Room, Ouyang Shuo took the time to meet Zi Luolan. She was still so alluring and beautiful.
He chose to send her as the ambassador because of two reasons. First, she was a player and had a natural advantage in discussions with Mediterranean Lords as compared to natives. Secondly, she was a diplomatic expert and was highly skilled.
Ouyang Shuo smiled, “Merchant ships of both sides can freely pass on the voyage path. Political and military elements will not interfere.”
Currently, Ouyang Shuo did not mind the ambitions of the various Mediterranean Lords. Instead, he simply hoped for the voyage trade route to run normally.
“As for what kind of trading terms you can get from them, it will depend on your hard work and ability. If you do well, I’ll give you great rewards.” Ouyang Shuo smiled and added.
Zi Luolan nodded. Although the king’s bottom line was not overbearing, and it also lessened the pressure on the shoulders of the negotiation squad, Zi Luolan was not relaxed.
The responsibility was simply too huge this time.
Furthermore, this was the first time Zi Luolan had taken up such a heavy task. Seeing Tsing Yi, Hong Yi, and the other sisters getting their places in the dynasty and shining bright, it would be a lie to say that she was not anxious.
This trip was a chance for Zi Luolan to prove herself.
Hence, before coming to see Ouyang Shuo, Zi Luolan had done a lot of preparation work, reading a lot of information and scrolls. Before leaving, she needed answers to some crucial questions so that she would be calmer during the negotiation.
Zi Luolan asked, “What if they require us to move our troops out of the Mediterranean?”
Undoubtedly, this was a sensitive topic.
Although the Mediterranean Lords agreed to discuss with the Great Xia Dynasty, they had expressed in their words that they were not willing to allow the Mediterranean Squadron to freely sail the Mediterranean Ocean.
To them, the strong Mediterranean Squadron posed a massive problem. If the Great Xia Dynasty did not retreat from the Mediterranean Ocean, the Lords would not be able to feel at ease.
Ouyang Shuo looked at Zi Luolan with praise. She had grabbed the crux of the problem. It seemed like appointing her as the ambassador was a correct choice.
“We can express solemnly in the final agreement that the Great Xia Dynasty will not interfere in the battles of the various Mediterranean countries. The Mediterranean Squadron would choose to retreat from the Mediterranean Ocean and sail in the Atlantic. At the same time, to show our good intentions, we are willing to rename it the Atlantic Squadron.” Ouyang Shuo said.
Zi Luolan stared at Ouyang Shuo. How was this showing kind intentions? It was obviously harboring even greater ambitions. The Atlantic Squadron sounded much mightier than the Mediterranean Squadron.
Of course, to the Mediterranean Lords, they could heave a sigh of relief after hearing this line.
“I understand.” Zi Luolan once again nodded her head and asked, “Do you have anything more for me?”
Ouyang Shuo said, “I predict that the Spanish will try to mess it up, so you must be prepared. Toward Spain, our attitude is neither to go against them nor work with them. Also, when you are in Atlantis, communicate more with Queen Kalia. She is an expert of the Mediterranean Ocean matters.”
Apart from Mediterranean Ocean matters, Kalia could also help to build bridges for the Great Xia Dynasty to try to recruit all the commoner Lords and neutral parties, which would help to reduce the level of resistance.
Hence, Kalia and her Atlantis City was a super contact. Regarding this matter, Ouyang Shuo had personally sent a letter to Kalia, asking for her help.
“Understood!”
Since most matters had already been said, Ouyang Shuo concluded, “That should be it. When the negotiation starts, we can keep in contact through letters. Remember, this negotiation must be smooth and swift. If they do not have sincerity, immediately stop the discussions without hesitation.”
Although the chances of the Mediterranean Ocean Lords turning on him were really low, Ouyang Shuo had made preparations for it. With Morocco Province and the teleportation formation, the Great Xia Dynasty would not be afraid of any challenge.
“Yes!”
+ Add to my favorites
← Previous
All chapters
Next →
lightnovel.world
Chapter 879: Bidding
Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 879 – Bidding
Last day of the 5th month, Zi Luolan led the Great Xia Dynasty negotiation squad and officially reached Atlantis, opening up a round of arduous negotiations.
Ouyang Shuo, who was in Shanhai City, was similarly really busy.
This morning, Tsing Yi handed him a document that listed the names of 20 guilds.
“This is?” Ouyang Shuo asked.
Tsing Yi said, “My king, this is the list of guilds in China who want to take the rights of the Satellite City in Rabat.”
Ever since the news of the Great Xia Dynasty conquering Morocco, the Satellite City outside of Rabat had interested numerous China guild leaders. Although China had nine imperial cities, the number of satellite cities was still too little, and there were too many guilds who did not manage to become guardians.
After learning that the Rabat Satellite City was an empty city, people were naturally attracted. In the game, the players did not bother about which region they were in because exploring the underground world was the same anywhere.
Hence, the Rabat Satellite City was really attractive to the guilds.
Since Ouyang Shuo’s return to Shanhai City, numerous guild leaders came over to visit him. However, they were all blocked outside the palace. Tsing Yi was in charge of meeting them.
Ouyang Shuo did not receive them. However, this was not out of arrogance.
Instead, it was only because out of the visiting guilds, there were many who used relationships, like guilds who were friends with Snow-War Rose, Qingfeng Pavilion, other related guilds, or classmates that knew Ouyang Shuo and Song Jia.
Till date, Ouyang Shuo’s identity had already become an open secret. Students who were left in the dark were shocked and excited upon learning of the matter. Trying to obtain some benefits from him was just a part of human nature.
Ouyang Shuo even saw the Liangshan Mercenary Guild on the list. It seemed like Ouyang Shuo’s gift of a sword had given Song Pu and the others unneeded thoughts.
To avoid suspicion, Ouyang Shuo did not see any of them.
Who knew that his actions would actually ignite the interests of the guild leaders? In their eyes, the king not meeting anyone was naturally to be fair; he would not be biased.
In a week, almost 20 guilds had met the set requirements. Today, all the guilds that were interested had basically handed over their applications.
Ouyang Shuo swept the list, and a lightbulb lit up in his head as he smiled, “Wishful thinking.”
“Is the king not ready to let a China region guild be the Guardian?” Tsing Yi did not understand.
Ouyang Shuo shook his head, “That naturally has to be done. However, which one to arrange or which to feel? Use what standards to judge? The Satellite City is huge, so we cannot be too nice to them.”
After experiencing the betrayal of Tingyu Floor and the rest, Ouyang Shuo was extremely wary of guilds. Who knows which one of these guilds were chess pieces of Silver Hand?
If the guild was not one that he trusted, Ouyang Shuo would not be at ease.
However, only Snow-War Rose and Blood Evil Mercenary Group could be considered allies of the Great Xia Dynasty, but they were both Guardian Guilds of their own Satellite Cities.
As for those friends and classmates, Ouyang Shuo did not trust them. If Ouyang Shuo still had any siblings or relatives, the matter would be easy to solve.
Using bloodline relations was an important method to maintain a rule.
Unfortunately, he did not.
“The king is saying?”
Ouyang Shuo thought about it, “Let the Shanhai Guards investigate and remove those who Silver Hand might infiltrate away. After that, let the remaining ones bid.”
The Guardian Guild would not pose much of a threat to Morocco Province, but he had to be wary against it.
Tsing Yi was stunned, thinking about it and saying, “The king wants to make it a bid?” After staying by Ouyang Shuo’s side for so long, Tsing Yi understood Ouyang Shuo’s thoughts.
“That’s right.” Ouyang Shuo smiled, “Those who reach the requirements for Guardian city would bid with three million and above mercenary fee, 5% and above guild control rights and also above 50% of the tax returns. Who gives out the best conditions will win the bid.”
“Understood!”
Tsing Yi knew that the king wanted to use this chance to earn a big amount.
Ouyang Shuo’s conscience was clear. Since he could not figure out who was not an enemy, he would simply give it to the highest bidder. He could use this money to make up for the expenses of attacking Morocco.
Restoring Rabat alone had cost Ouyang Shuo a million gold. Along with the military expenditure, war resources purchase, reparations, compensations, and military reorganization, three million gold was not enough.
Luckily, apart from this amount, after taking down Rabat, the large amounts of treasures and equipment he took from the palace was worth no less than two million.
Apart from that, Ouyang Shuo found a substitute doll and a King Ranked summoning talisman.
After such a huge war, the Great Xia Dynasty did not suffer a losing business.
Under the request of Song Jia, Ouyang Shuo kept the substitute doll by his side. According to her words, “You are the Xia King, so you cannot be so bold. You need to have protecting your life as the most important mission.”
Ouyang Shuo was helpless and had no choice but to accede to the request. In the Satellite City, Dida’s sneak attack let Ouyang Shuo realize that he had started to cherish his life.
Now, with the substitute doll, who knows whether it was good or bad?
This psychological problem was one that Ouyang Shuo needed to personally understand and break through.
As for the King Rank summoning talisman, Ouyang Shuo did not use it. Instead, he gave it to Gong Chengshi as thanks for his gift the previous time.
Without it, the Great Xia Dynasty road to country establishment would have faced more problems.
Ouyang Shuo hated owing people favors.
Ouyang Shuo said to Tsing Yi, “The bidding matter will be handled by the Industrialization Department. Let them amass some bidding experience.”
“Yes my king!”
Ouyang Shuo said, “Since we have mentioned the Satellite City, let’s deal with the Province migration matters.”
“Please give your instructions my king!”
Tsing Yi had already prepared the brush and ink to record down his instructions. The dynasty had many policies that Ouyang Shuo had casually voiced, but whatever he said needed to be recorded into memorials by the Secret Document Pavilion.
Hence, Tsing Yi was already used to recording at any moment.
Ouyang Shuo said, “The scale of players migrating there, apart from the Satellite City, will be temporarily set to one million and will mostly be work occupation players and casual players. Casa Blanca is really attractive for casual players, so we can relax the numbers there to around 600 thousand.”
Casa Blanca was a garden city and a holiday resort, so it had an undeniable attraction toward causal players. It was the best place to retire.
It seemed like even if the Great Xia Dynasty did not provide welfare packages, there would be elderly who would be willing to move over. Amongst the old people, there were numerous rich people and not all of them were poor.
The tourism industry of Casa Blanca was huge.
Speaking of which, he really needed to thank the previous Lord Caroline for running it so well.
“Apart from players, move 200 thousand natives from the provinces to migrate over. Similarly, move 200 thousand Moroccan natives over here.” Ouyang Shuo continued.
Cross migration was naturally to reduce the Arabic atmosphere there and try to totally merge it into the Great Xia Dynasty system.
Along with the specialty of the dynasty, the territories in Morocco would spawn Chinese refugees. They could totally remodel the province in a year or two.
When that happened, Morocco Province would pretty much be like any other province.
Of course, this cross migration had a price to pay. Not to mention other matters, but just the settling fees was huge, and the entire thing would probably cost another million gold.
Along with the player migration settling fees, the expenditure was even larger.
Ouyang Shuo thought about it, “Once the bidding is over, leave a million from the fee to be used to settle the migrants. The remaining shortfall will be solved by the Financial Court.”
Settling down Morocco Province would be really good for the finances of the dynasty.
Tsing Yi noted down his words one by one.
“Should we copy Xingzhou Prefecture and auction off the surrounding islands?” Tsing Yi suggested.
Ouyang Shuo shook his head, “No. Morocco is different from Xingzhou Prefecture, and there are no countries around that will interest the China region PK maniacs. Furthermore, those outer islands are built into military resource bases and will not be easy to auction off.”
“It would cost another sum to build a base.”
Ouyang Shuo smiled, “That’s unavoidable. Morocco Province is surrounded by enemies, so if we do not do that, we will not be able to feel at ease. I have done a rough calculation, and five million gold should be roughly enough to settle everything and push Morocco on the right path. If we are lacking in funds, why not let the Industrialization Department do better and squeeze out some more funds from the bidding?”
“I’ll let the Industrialization Department know the king’s intentions.”
Tsing Yi had witnessed the king’s greed; he would truly squeeze the guilds dry.
Ouyang Shuo nodded, “Let’s do it like that.”
In such a short half an hour, Ouyang Shuo had settled the rough plan going forward for Morocco Province.
…
6th month, 1st day, the Great Xia Dynasty announced the news of the bidding for the Rabat City Satellite City. Naturally, this matter raised many heated debates.
Some scolded the king for being black-hearted, while others were tempted.
Some smart guild leaders had already thought about the way Blood Shadow Alliance was formed. They could use a merger to compete in the bidding. Then they would have a greater advantage and a higher chance of winning.
+ Add to my favorites
← Previous
All chapters
Next →
lightnovel.world
Chapter 880: Gratitude and Love
Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 880 – Gratitude and Love
The China region that had just calmed down not long ago was stirred by the Great Xia Dynasty bidding and recruitment notices. As the person who caused all this commotion, Ouyang Shuo was not bothered.
That was because on the 6th month, 1st day, Zhen An Prefecture Governor Mulan Yue finally reached Shanhai City. Until she met Ouyang Shuo, she was still unsure of why she was summoned to the city.
“King Brother!”
Within the Imperial Reading Room, Mulan Yue bowed.
Out of all the officials in the dynasty, only Mulan Yue could call Ouyang Shuo in such a manner.
“Sit.” Ouyang Shuo smiled; he felt a lot of emotions when he looked at the young girl in front of him. In a short few years, that cute little girl had grown up and was shining bright.
Although the two of them did not meet up regularly, they were like siblings. Counting the time, Mulan Yue’s parents should have already left Mars and were on their way to Planet Hope.
After talking causally, Ouyang Shuo got to the topic, “Do you want a change in environment?”
Mulan Yue was stunned. Then she rolled her eyes and said, “King Brother wants me to work in the city? That’s great.” If she came to work in the city, she could see Ouyang Shuo often, so she naturally liked that.
Ever since she became the Zhen An Prefecture Governor, the Imperial Court had ruled that the officials could not leave their land for no reason. Hence, Mulan Yue had really little chance to return to Shanhai City.
It was not for no reason that Mulan Yue asked that.
As an experienced Governor, Mulan Yue was familiar with the matters of the Imperial Court. The Imperial Court was spreading that the cabinet was interested in having a swap in roles between officials in the court and working in the various lands.
Such a cross appointment was really beneficial to the dynasty. As for whether the actions of the cabinet were under the instructions of the king or not, outsiders would not know.
Ouyang Shuo smiled, “Your news is really fresh.” He paused and continued, “I summoned you here not to ask you to work in the city but because I hope you can be the Provincial Governor of Morocco. Are you willing to bear this worry for your brother?”
“Ah?” Mulan Yue’s eyes widened. She was not prepared for this at all. Only after a while did she hesitate and say, “I’m willing to work at Morocco, but I do not think I can become the Provincial Governor. Sister Bai Hua had not become a Provincial Governor yet.”
After hearing those words, Tsing Yi could not help but take a look at Ouyang Shuo.
Ouyang Shuo smiled, “Do not worry. Bai Hua has her own arrangements. Morocco Province is alone overseas, and I need someone I can trust there. I’ve thought about it, and you’re the most suitable person for the role.”
When Mulan Yue heard those words, a sweet smile appeared on her face. However, as she still lacked confidence, she said, “Let me think about it?”
Ouyang Shuo waved his hands resolutely, “What are you thinking about? Do not worry, I will not let you fight alone.”
“You should know Zhaoqing Prefecture Governor Du Sijing, right? I’m ready to make Du Sijing the Administration Director of Morocco Province. Apart from that, you can move over officials from Zhen An Prefecture that you want.”
To be able to bring people working with her over to a new appointment showed how much Ouyang Shuo doted on Mulan Yue.
Mulan Yue was filled with gratitude. She knew that Ouyang Shuo was purposely developing her. Thinking about that, she decided, “Since Brother trusts me, I’ll give it a shot.”
“Great, that’s the Yue Yue I know.”
“En.”
Mulan Yue nodded her head solemnly. She set her heart to running Morocco Province well and not letting down Ouyang Shuo.
Ouyang Shuo continued, “Pack up, you head for Morocco Province. I’ll let Jiang Shang accompany you. Rabat City and Shanhai City are connected, so I will allow you to come back when you’re free.”
“Thank you King Brother for your good grace.”
Mulan Yue got up and respectfully bowed.
…
That afternoon, under the accompaniment of Jiang Shang, Mulan Yue proceeded toward Morocco Province. At the same time, Mulan Yue and Du Sijing’s appointment decrees were spread to all the provinces through the relay.
Based on the Imperial Court official system, a Provincial Governor was listed as a primary Grade 3 official whilst a Prefecture Governor was a secondary grade 5 official. Mulan Yue was just promoted 5 ranks, so to say that she was sitting on a rocket was not an exaggeration.
All of a sudden, there were people who felt envious, some felt jealous, and some started making conspiracy theories. Even Bai Hua could not help but be affected in her heart.
Mulan Yue became the first Provincial Governor, jumping to become a superstar in the Imperial Court.
Luckily, Morocco was located overseas, so news was not clear. As a result, although there was uproar, it was not enough to cause many waves. If Mulan Yue was the Chuannan Province Provincial Governor, her appointment would not have passed.
At the very least, the cabinet would not approve it.
After sending Mulan Yue away, Ouyang Shuo immediately contacted Cabinet Deputy Kou Zhun, who was still in Morocco. He wrote that regarding the appointments of officials in Morocco to listen to the views of Mulan Yue.
For the two of them to discuss would be disrespectful for Mulan Yue as Provincial Governor. With Kou Zhun’s intelligence, he would definitely understand what Ouyang Shuo was getting at.
After arranging everything, it was already 3 PM.
Although it was still quite early, Ouyang Shuo was ready to go home. Today was children’s day. Although Bing’er had grown into a young teen, she was still at the age to celebrate this day.
Early in the morning, she had been bugging Ouyang Shuo. She told him that the city had a new food street, and she wanted Ouyang Shuo to play with her.
When Ouyang Shuo heard that, he had no reason to reject her request. Since entering the game, apart from the starting stages, Ouyang Shuo had been really busy and had really little time to accompany Bing’er. Hence, he felt really guilty.
As a result, Ouyang Shuo told Tsing Yi to reject all meetings for him. Today, he ended work early.
Returning to the back palace, Bing’er had long been waiting. Seeing Ouyang Shuo come back early, her face was covered with a wide smile.
Ouyang Shuo said, “Wait a while, I will go change.”
Since he was accompanying Bing’er to stroll the streets, Ouyang Shuo did not want to be too eye catching. Hence, he wanted to change into ordinary clothes. When the Personal Guards heard that, they naturally changed their attire as well.
Even Bing’er put on some disguises. If not, with her fame in the territory, she would be noticed immediately.
In a short while, the group left the Xia Palace.
Walking on the busy streets, Ouyang Shuo and his group looked like a prince bringing his sister and servants out for a walk. On the bustling streets, such a sight was common.
The food street that Bing’er had mentioned was located in the west city region, and it was not far away from the imperial city. Apparently, it was built by a player merchant and gathered hundreds of specialties north and south of the Great River.
One could even taste overseas delicacies here.
He truly was an exceptional person.
Shanhai City was really a diverse place, philosophers would debate, and it was a place with an open heart that accepted everyone and everything. Hence, many new trends appeared, breaking the old and creating the new time and time again.
Although it was the afternoon, the food street was already really busy. Allowed by the Shanhai City Yamen, carriages and horses were prohibited on the food street.
Be it officials or civilians, they could only walk on the street.
If this was placed in the system imperial city, such a thing would be impossible. However, in Shanhai City, be it the Yamen officials or the natives, they were all used to it.
Ouyang Shuo looked around. Everywhere was advertising various delicacies, Tianjing pancake, Beijing fried liver, Henan pepper spicy soup, Lingnan rice noodle, and more.
Such a scene led Ouyang Shuo to think back to when they went to buy New Year goodies years back. Although three years had passed, it was still like yesterday.
Bing’er was probably reminiscing the past, so she had asked Ouyang Shuo to come.
‘Little girl, you have really grown up.’ Ouyang Shuo thought in his heart.
It was a total coincidence. Just as Ouyang Shuo was reminiscing, two women dressed in swordsmen attire walked over with skewers in their hands.
Upon closer inspection, they were Ouyang Shuo’s classmates Meng Feifei and Tan Xiaoli. Three years ago, in the Jiaozhou New Year market, Ouyang Shuo had bumped into them while purchasing New Year goodies too.
What Ouyang Shuo did not know was that Meng Feifei, who was usually really quiet, would have times like this where she did not bother about her image. It seemed like the temptation of food was one that even girls could not block.
The two of them saw Ouyang Shuo and his group, and they immediately recognized him. Tan Xiaoli wanted to greet him, but before she could speak, Meng Feifei pinched her. It was obvious what kind of uproar would result if Ouyang Shuo’s identity was revealed.
Ouyang Shuo smiled, “What a coincidence, why don’t we sit together?” Whilst speaking, he pointed at a small noodle shop.
“Great!”
Meng Feifei replied. However, when she saw Ouyang Shuo looking at the skewer in her hand, she felt shy, hiding her hand behind her back.
‘What an easily shy girl.’
Whilst speaking, the group walked into the noodle shop.
“Welcome, would you like the main hall or the small room?” When the waiter of the shop saw the aura of Ouyang Shuo, he warmly welcomed them.
Ouyang Shuo said, “Give us the small room on the second floor.”
“Okay!”
The waiter’s face was covered with a wide smile as he led the way.
Ouyang Shuo was worried that if he sat in the main hall, he would be recognized.
Seeing Meng Feifei and Tan Xiaoli, Ouyang Shuo was really interested and wanted to talk to both of them. Since he obtained his high position, Ouyang Shuo had broken away from the masses for too long.
+ Add to my favorites
← Previous
All chapters
Next →
lightnovel.world
Chapter 881: Di Chen Concedes
Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 881 – Di Chen Concedes
On the 2nd floor room, Ouyang Shuo and his group sat.
The following Personal Guards sat outside the room and flawlessly guarded the room.
Unlike when they were on the bustling streets, Meng Feifei and Tan Xiaoli became careful when they entered the room. Although the man in front of them used to be their classmate, he was the king of the Great Xia Dynasty now.
Thinking back to the recent matter, where the other classmates were stopped outside the door when they wanted to ask him about guild matters, the two of them felt uneasy and did not know what to say. The atmosphere in the room instantly became a little awkward.
However, Bing’er was unafraid of the atmosphere and started to order her food.
Seeing which, Ouyang Shuo took the initiative to start a conversation, “Weren’t all of you training on the mountains? Why do you have the time to come down?” The two of them were core disciples of the sword sect and were one step away from becoming direct disciples.
Based on sect rules, core disciples could not leave the mountain without any reason.
Meng Feifei explained, “Elder Lin has ordered us to contact the sects and dojos in the city.”
As she said that, Meng Feifei felt a little embarrassed. After all, they were supposed to contact the sects and dojos, but they had come over to the food street instead. Originally, it was nothing wrong, but Song Jia was the sect leader. As such, saying this in front of Ouyang Shuo did not feel right.
Ouyang Shuo naturally would not mind all this, continuing, “How’s the Dongli Sword Sect like recently, it should be developing well, right?”
Ouyang Shuo rarely asked about sect matters.
Meng Feifei said proudly, “Yes, we have close to five thousand disciples. Especially after sect leader got the Guicang Sword Manual, the fame of the sect grew, and many people wanted to join.”
“You have so many disciples, do you have enough space?”
From what Ouyang Shuo remembered, the Dongli Sword Sect’s land was not that big.
Meng Feifei said, “We cannot fit on the mountain, so elder Lin suggested half a year ago to build a courtyard at the foot for junior disciples. Only senior disciples can move onto the mountains. Recently, the sect is preparing to open courtyards in other mountains for future needs.”
Ouyang Shuo was amazed. Lin Yue was running the sword sect really well.
Using this as a topic, the girls were not so scared anymore and raised up some interesting incidents.
Tan Xiaoli smiled, “Last month, our class gathered once in the game. Unfortunately, you were too busy and could not come.”
“Is that so?” Ouyang Shuo explained, “I was still overseas, so my men probably forgot to send the invitation over. Next time, if there’s a chance, I’ll invite everyone over to Shanhai City to play.”
Tan Xiaoli smiled, “That’s great. If you do, everyone will definitely come. During the last gathering, there were only half of the people.”
Ouyang Shuo nodded. After all, who knows how long this student friendship could last for?
After chatting for a while, these two ladies knew that Ouyang Shuo had a reason for coming over, so they found a reason to leave. Ouyang Shuo did not waste any more time and continued to accompany Bing’er to eat on the food street.
That small girl had a huge stomach, and she wanted to try any delicacy she came across. Even the Personal Guards got lucky and were able to eat to their full.
Although Bing’er was young, she was really good to the palace guards, court ladies, and maidservants. No wonder everyone in the palace doted on her.
Close to nighttime, they quietly went back to the palace, with no one recognizing them. During dinner, Bing’er, who had been eating for the whole afternoon, did not have any appetite, so she just drank a bowl of soup before returning to the palace to rest.
************
6th month, 2nd day, the envoys that went to Handan City, Blood Red City, and King City all returned one by one.
Facing the warning of Shanhai City, Di Chen yielded, but he tried to argue that the Handan City Squadron did so by mistake and did not recognize the flag of the Great Xia Dynasty.
Di Chen was not going to take any responsibility for it.
Ouyang Shuo did not care, as aristocratic people like Di Chen were always focused on interests first. As long as they did not try anything funny, Ouyang Shuo would not bother with tem.
Of course, Ouyang Shuo would not be tricked by Di Chen. When the Handan City Squadron formed and had the power to control the Bohai Sea, his attitude would definitely change.
It was Wufu’s reply a day ago that Ouyang Shuo really cared about.
In the letter, he said that if the Great Xia Dynasty helped them build a navy squadron, Stone City was willing to become their vassal state.
Wufu’s suggestion was not what Ouyang Shuo had expected, and he especially asked the Shanhai Guards to check why his attitude changed so much. His reply made it seem like he was facing big trouble.
Being a vassal state was not an honorable thing. Unless one was forced to, Lords would not take this path. Even if he were an ally, there probably was a hidden reason.
The intel from the Shanhai Guards shocked Ouyang Shuo.
In the 5th month, during the time Ouyang Shuo was overseas, Handan City had pressed down on Stone City at Zhangwu Prefecture, and it seemed like they were going to start a war.
All of a sudden, the gunpowder smell at Zhangwu Prefecture was really strong.
At the same time, the Handan City Squadron patrolled the Binhai Bay region, locking up the Stone City trade route.
Stone City also had a lot of unrest, and it seemed like it was caused by Di Chen.
Hence, Stone City was not having a good time recently.
With Handan City as a neighbor, it was a huge headache for Wufu, and he could not get any peace.
Looking at the intel, Ouyang Shuo understood Wufu’s thoughts. He was a smart person. From his viewpoint, rather than asking for help time and time again, why not just join them?
It seemed like the pressure Di Chen gave Stone City had demoralized Wufu.
If that was the case, Ouyang Shuo really needed to thank Di Chen. Stone City was the north castle of the alliance. Ouyang Shuo had wanted to improve their relationship, but it was hard to do so without hurting Wufu’s pride.
The Xunlong Dianxue matter made Ouyang Shuo much more careful when he treated allies.
Now that Wufu had taken the initiative to discuss the matter, Ouyang Shuo naturally welcomed it. After all, they were allies. Although they had signed an agreement, Ouyang Shuo would still give him some face.
The contents of the agreement were still being written up and would be announced soon.
Before which, Ouyang Shuo needed to settle the matter of how to help Stone City build the Binhai Squadron.
…
6th month, 3rd day morning, Xia Imperial Palace Wuying palace.
Within the main hall, Grand Council members, Navy Admiral Zheng He, Navy Headquarters Advisor Lu Su, Yashan Squadron Fleet Admiral Yu Dayou, Chief General Cai Mao, Industrialization Director Chen Bingguang, the Shipbuilding Secretary, and other related personnel had all gathered for the meeting.
The topic of discussion was how to help Stone City build the Binhai Squadron.
Ouyang Shuo sat at the helm and said loudly, “Admiral Zheng, voice the Navy Headquarters’ proposal.”
“Yes my king!”
Zheng He stepped out to answer, “My king, the Navy Headquarters will send a group of elite navy generals, captains, advanced sailors, and other personnel from the Yashan Squadron to form a teaching squad. It will be led by Cai Mao to go to Stone City to help them.”
Ouyang Shuo nodded. Looking at Cai Mo, who was standing behind Yu Dayou, he said, “General Cai is good at teaching, it’s a good choice.”
Cai Mao was the first historical navy general of the territory. Of course, Zheng He chose Cai Mao so as to raise his position to control the Zhou Yu led Wu navy generals.
The East Wu navy generals were common over all five squadrons. As the admiral, even if Zhou Yu and the others did not have any other thoughts, he had to develop people that could go up against them.
When Cai Mao heard that, he stepped out and bowed, “I will try my best to do it well.”
Ouyang Shuo nodded and looked toward Chen Bingguang, “Building the warships, cannons, handguns, and the like. How’s the preparation by the department?”
The coal transport ship matter had been settled, so Chen Bingguang was feeling really good, “Along with the Shu Mountain Steel Corporation getting on the right path, there will not be any problems with cannons and handguns. However, to gather a squadron amount of warships in a short amount of time is too hard.”
“Since the developmental success of the Z1 Type Warships, the shipyards have stopped building turreted warships and focused on building the Z1 Type Warships. Even the ASEAN orders have been rejected by the Shipbuilding Division. We only have 10 turreted warships left for the five squadrons to change.”
Ouyang Shuo said, “Since that’s the case, give them to Stone City as the training squadrons. During that time, if the five squadrons have a shortfall, use the chance to change into the Z1 Type Warship.”
“Yes my king.”
Chen Bingguang continued and said, “The Industrialization Department’s view is why not teach them how to fish instead of giving them the fish? Why not send them a group of advanced shipbuilders to build a large-sized shipyard there? Then it could meet the requirements of the Binhai Squadron and will not affect the building speed of the Z1 Type Warships. The only problem is that for just one shipyard to supply an entire squadron with warships, if would take half a year. Considering that the shipyard needs to be built, it would take even longer.”
“Half a year? That’s too long.”
Ouyang Shuo shook his head. If the entire squadron was formed up, the Binhai Squadron would need at least a year to get trained. Di Chen and the others would not give them such a long time.
Thinking of which, Ouyang Shuo looked at those seated, “Do you guys have any ideas?”
Seeing that, Lu Su stepped out and bowed, “My king, I think we can multitask. Apart from building a large=sized shipyard, our navy can quicken our elimination of turreted warships and pass them to the Binhai Squadron.”
+ Add to my favorites
← Previous
All chapters
Next →
lightnovel.world
Chapter 882: Farrah’s Revenge
Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 882 – Farrah’s Revenge
Ouyang Shuo did not immediately approve Lu Su’s suggestion because he had other plans.
Ouyang Shuo planned to use the first batch of Z1 Type Warships as the structure to build a personal squadron. It would be temporarily called the Emperor Squadron and was similar to the Guards Legion Corps of the army.
Country wars would be very prevalent in the future, so Ouyang Shuo would need to go out to sea often. As such, he would need a squadron that was always on alert.
Hence, the Emperor Squadron would not need to reach the five squadron full organization. Currently, one squadron was enough. However, the Emperor Squadron needed a strong marine force to replace the Guards Legion. Ouyang Shuo could not bring the Guards Legion Corps every time he went out to sea as that was really inconvenient.
During the voyage last year, the voyage squadron would be the predecessor of the Emperor Squadron. Luckily, the Nanjiang Squadron had already left Beihai Bay, so the Emperor Squadron could camp there.
Listening to the king’s plan, Zheng He expressed his support, “The king is the ruler of the country. Amongst the navy, we do need such a squadron to protect the King’s safety.”
Building the Emperor Squadron could raise the navy’s position in the military. As the admiral, Zheng He was naturally glad, so he was first to express his opinion.
“I agree!”
The officials present all nodded their heads in agreement. After all, the Emperor Squadron would only have one division, so it was not a huge burden on the dynasty.
Since that was the case, why would the officials oppose? It was a fact that the king often went out to sea so having such a squadron was protecting the dynasty’s face.
Ouyang Shuo nodded. Once again looking at Lu Su, “Of course, Zi Jing’s plan makes sense. In my opinion, let’s do it. The Emperor Squadron matter can be completed in the 10th month. The turreted warships can be passed over to the Binhai Squadron to form it up quickly.”
“Yes my king!”
Zheng He asked carefully, “Toward the choice of Fleet Admiral of the Emperor Squadron, does the king have any plans?”
Ouyang Shuo waved his hand, “Let the Navy Headquarters make a detailed organization plan, the squadron will be built by the headquarters. As for the choice of Fleet Admiral, let’s discuss that it in the future.”
Out of all the chief generals, there was none that Ouyang Shuo was especially delighted with.
“Yes my king!”
With the matter decided, the meeting was adjourned.
…
Not long after Ouyang Shuo returned to the Imperial Reading Room, the messenger from the Transmissions Division that was in charge of sending official documents hurried over.
“What’s with the panic?” Ouyang Shuo frowned.
The messenger held a letter in his hands, bowing, “My king, it’s an emergency letter from Friendship City mayor Gu Xiuwen; it’s an absolute emergency!”
“What?” Ouyang Shuo stood up.
Based on the system, unless it concerned a matter of life or death, officials could not send letters that were labeled as absolute emergency.
“Hand it over!”
“Yes my king!”
Ouyang Shuo took over the letter and opened it, and his face turned uglier and uglier. He did not expect for something to happen to Friendship City at such a time.
Chasing the root cause, one had to look back to the voyage last year.
In the 6th month, Ouyang Shuo had led the voyage squadron to Somalia and stopped in Berbera Port. That night, he had faced a carefully planned assassination.
Luckily, Ouyang Shuo managed to survive.
In Somalia, he led the voyage squadron and destroyed the three big pirate organizations there, exposing the identity of the guild leader, Farrah.
Using this contribution, Ouyang a Shuo obtained a reward from the Somalia King and was allowed to build Friendship City, giving the territory a foothold in the Gulf of Aden.
On the contrary, the loser of the battle, the traitor of Somalia, was forced to become the leader of the Sky Wolf Pirate Organization, hiding in the surrounding regions of the Gulf of Aden.
This hiding lasted for close to a year.
Who knew that under Farrah’s leadership, the Sky Wolf Pirate organization not only recovered, but they also swallowed the other two pirate organizations, becoming the biggest presence in the Gulf of Aden.
Moreover, Farrah was given the title of pirate king.
Ouyang Shuo did not expect that his mercy would actually come back to bite him.
Farrah naturally hated Ouyang Shuo to the core. Just this morning, the Sky Wolf Pirate Organisation had taken the chance that the 5th division of the Mediterranean Squadron was still in Jidian City to launch a sudden sneak attack on Friendship City.
With no defense, Courage Port instantly fell and many of the merchant ships were raided. Just as Gu Xiuwen sent the letter, 60 thousand pirates had killed their way into the city and were engaging in a massacre within it.
The capital of trade was in flames.
The Garrison Division of Friendship City was not enough and had already backed off into the inner city. They wanted to rely on the defenses to drag it out till reinforcements arrived.
Under such a situation, Gu xiuwen sent a letter of absolute emergency.
Weirdly, when the 5th division of the Mediterranean Squadron was in the Gulf of Aden, they never encountered the Sky Wolf Pirate Organization.
Pirates were the local snake. If they were determined to hide, no one could find them.
However, for them to not even leave a trace was just too unusual. Ouyang Shuo guessed that something was going on here, but this was not something he had time to consider now.
“Men!”
“Present!” Xu Chu walked over.
Ouyang Shuo’s face turned cold, but his heart was really calm. During these few years, what kind of situation had he not seen? He said, “Order the Boulder Legion 1st, 2nd, and 3rd divisions to gather at the teleportation formation, follow me to assist Friendship City.”
The Boulder Legion was the 1st legion of the Guards Legion Corps defending the Capital City, and it was a pure mountain barbarian heavy armored infantry legion.
“Yes my king!”
Fighting within the city was really suitable for the mountain barbarians.
Seeing that the Capital City had the 2nd and 3rd legion here, he could move the Boulder Legion. Furthermore, the Boulder Legion could not keep staying here and not fight wars as that would be a problem.
In less than half an hour, Ouyang Shuo, who was dressed in martial attire, rushed to the formation. Jia Xu, Tsing Yi, and the like did not follow as it was an emergency.
At the same time, the Divine Martial Guards and the three divisions of the Boulder Legion had arrived. They were led by deputy Legion General Shihu. His eyes were filled with killing intent. Not fighting for a long time had left a lot of pent up frustration in their hearts.
Seeing that, Ouyang Shuo nodded his head in satisfaction. From how quickly they gathered, although the army was defending the city, the soldiers did not relax and were ready to fight at any moment.
“Let’s go!”
Ouyang Shuo did not say anything extra and led the way into the teleportation formation.
A white light shone across and Ouyang Shuo appeared in Friendship City. The moment he walked out, he heard the killing noises from not far away. There were also the sounds of people screaming for help. The pirates were not a proper army and did not mind harming civilians.
Ouyang Shuo raised his head and looked out, only to see smoke bellowing from the port. Needless to say, the pirates had set fires.
Killing, burning, raiding, and pillaging; they truly enacted every evil.
Farrah vented all his hatred toward Ouyang Shuo onto Friendship City.
Friendship City was in big trouble this time.
Near the teleportation formation, Gu Xiuwen had led the officials and were waiting. Seeing the king, he bowed, “Greetings my king. The city has been attacked, and the outer city has fallen. I am sorry, my king.”
Ouyang Shuo waved his hand, “Now is not the time to talk about this. Let’s chase back the pirates first.”
“Yes!” Seeing that, Gu Xiuwen stepped aside.
Another half an hour passed, and the 40 thousand boulder legion troops finally teleported over. In such a short while, the Garrison Division faced grave danger. Luckily, the pirates had not broken through.
Logically speaking, the Garrison Division was not weak. For them to be in such a state showed that Farrah did have some skill since he managed to train the pirates to such a level.
Ouyang Shuo did not panic, “Shihu, bring your men over and teach them a lesson. Show them what happens if you try to mess with the Great Xia Dynasty.”
Although the teleportation formation was opened in Friendship City, it was not open to the outside world. Farrah probably did not know that reinforcements had arrived.
If not, even with his courage, he would not dare to sneak attack Friendship City.
“Yes my king!”
Ouyang Shuo followed and instructed, “Remember, do not rush in brainlessly. Send men to block each city gate and kill them after that. I want them to all fall here.”
In front of the Boulder Legion, no matter how well trained the pirates were, they were still too lousy. Ouyang Shuo wanted to be vicious this time. He did not mind the outer city getting destroyed as long as he managed to kill all these pirates.
“Do not worry king. If one pirate manages to leave, I’ll answer for it.”
Shihu led his men and left.
Ouyang Shuo looked toward Xu Chu, “Bring the Divine Martial Guards and make your way to the port. See if you can take down Farrah, best alive.”
Based on what Gu Xiuqing said, Farrah was really crafty and had not entered the city till now.
“Understood!” Xu Chu grinned, leading the three thousand Divine Martial Guards away.
In front of the Boulder Legion, the pirates were simply lousy. However, in front of the Divine Martial Guards, they were nothing at all. Hence Xu Chu was confident about doing as he wished amongst the enemy.
Just like that, only 200 Personal Guards remained on the spot.
After giving the orders, Ouyang Shuo looked at Gu Xiuwen and suddenly smiled, “Let’s go, bring me to the city Lord’s Manor.”
Gu Xiuwen was feeling really guilty. Compared to the king, he was not calm at all, but he kept his feelings and said respectfully, “My king, please!”
+ Add to my favorites
← Previous
All chapters
Next →
lightnovel.world
Chapter 883: Closing the Door and Hitting the Dog
Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 883 – Closing the Door and Hitting the Dog
Just as Ouyang Shuo and his group reached Friendship City, within the Somalia Imperial City Mogadishu, a conversation was taking place between the king and his officials.
The Somalia King was playing with a bunch of agate in his hand, and his eyes expressed an unclear intent as he said, “The Sky Wolf Pirate Organization should be in Friendship City now, right?”
The military affairs officials laughed, “The news that just came in said that they have reached the outer city.”
“Is that so? Farrah actually has some ability.” After pausing for a while, the king suddenly asked, “Has the reinforcements of the Great Xia arrived?”
“There’s temporarily no news, but with their reaction speed, they would definitely arrive on time.”
The Somalia King nodded, and the smile on his face grew thicker and thicker.
When the military affairs official saw that, he let out a sinister smile, “The king is wise, not telling Farrah about the Friendship City teleportation formation. This time, no matter if Sky Wolf Pirate Organization manages to crush Friendship City or if it’s the other way around, it will be beneficial to us.”
‘Hahaha!’ the Somalia King laughed out loud.
…
Friendship City, City Lord’s Manor.
Ouyang Shuo causally strolled into the manor, taking charge of the backlines while the frontlines fought an intense battle.
Friendship City was located in a basin and surrounded by mountains on three sides, while the remaining side faced the ocean. Shi Bao led the 3rd division of the Boulder Legion out of the south gate, one east and one west up north.
Rushing all the way, the smoothly took down both gates in half an hour.
Shi Bao left half of his forces to defend both city gates while the rest of his forces continued up north toward the north gate. While they passed Courage Port, they were finally noticed by the pirates.
Farrah was really cunning and also cherished his life. Even though they had already attacked into the outer city, close to 10 thousand pirates were still at the port, and they were ready to retreat at any moment.
As for Farrah, he did not even get off the ship and was still waiting at the port.
Seeing Shi Bao’s forces, the pirates still thought it was the Garrison Division, and they mocked, “Look at these people. Are they so afraid that they are trying to board a ship and escape?”
“It must be. What a bunch of cowards.”
“Let’s go brothers. Do not let them escape. The boss said we will wash Friendship City with blood today.”
“Wash Friendship City with blood!”
The pirates cheered as they surrounded them; they truly knew no fear.
When Xu Chu who was traveling alongside Shi Bao saw that, he grinned, “General Shi, go lock down the north city gate. Leave these random fishes to us.”
“Okay!”
Shi Bao was really clear about the strength of the Divine Martial Guards, so he led his troops to leave.
Xu Chu waved his machete forward and shouted out, “Kill!”
“Kill!”
The three thousand Divine Martial Guards all whipped out their T1 Type Tang Blades and charged forward.
At this moment, the pirates finally noticed that something was not right, and they muttered, “That’s not right, are they here to commit suicide?”
“Who cares; let’s just kill them first!”
“That’s right; let’s kill them!”
“Kill!”
The successive victories had gotten to the heads of the pirates, and their heads had swelled so much that they did not even know their own names.
In a short while, both sides clashed.
Right as they came into contact, the pirates were filled with regret and knew that they were kicking a steel wall. Compared to the Garrison Division, the enemy in front of them was just too brutal. With a swing of their blades, a head would often roll.
In terms of killing, they were much more brutal than the pirates.
On the contrary, their counterattacks seem comical, and their attacks that looked fierce often could not even get close to the enemy.
What they did not know was that every Divine Martial Guards soldier had exceptional skills and nimble bodies.
In less than half an hour, the 10 thousand pirates were crushed by the three thousand Divine Martial Guards.
Some smart ones had sneaked back to the port and got ready to leave.
The pirates were feeling depressed. On the other hand, Xu Chu was hesitating. Ending the random fishes was not much for them. What Xu Chu wanted was the big fish, the pirate leader.
Looking out, the entire port was filled with pirates, but they just could not find someone who looked like their leader. Seeing that some pirates were about to leave, Xu Chu got anxious.
Xu Chu turned his machete. Knocking with the back of his blade, he subdued a pirate and nearly knocked him out. Using his huge left hand to grip his collar, he demanded, “Speak, where’s your leader?”
That pirate was pitiful. Facing a menace like Xu Chu, he felt giddy. Being terrified by his loud voice, he did not dare to hesitate and quickly said, “He’s still on the ship.”
“What!”
Xu Chu was furious. He pushed with his left hand, forcing the pirate to sit on the ground. How would he dare to stay? He rolled to his feet and ran away.
He did not dare to stay in such a place.
Xu Chu did not bother about the small fish. Looking out at the ocean surface, he only saw merchant ships in flames and smoke bellowing. It seemed like they could not be saved.
On the shore, there were many merchants. Looking at their blazing ships, they felt like crying but no tears rolled down.
The most eye-catching thing on the ocean was the pirate ships.
In the middle of the ships, there was a giant sailing boat that was the most eye-catching. It was probably the pirate flagship. Helplessly, the Divine Martial Guards did not know how to sail, and there was nothing he could do about it.
The depressed Xu Chu could only turn his anger to the pirates on the shore.
…
While Xu Chu was looking out at the ocean, Farrah also noticed what was happening on the shore.
Through the telescope, he saw what was happening, and it sent a chill down his spine. His uneasiness grew more and more intense. Looking at the dressing of the Divine Martial Guards, his heart totally turned cold.
A year ago in Somalia, Farrah had seen the Divine Martial Guards, so he recognized them right away. For the Great Xia Dynasty’s Divine Martial Guards to appear here, the meaning was really obvious.
“**, we’ve been played.” Farrah was furious.
The Sky Wolf Pirate Organization was naturally the local snake in the water. However, on shore, it was different. With the cover of Friendship City, Farrah had no way to find out about the teleportation formation.
One small slipup would result in total defeat.
Farrah was a decisive person. He knew that he could not stay here; he had to leave. But thinking back to the hardships of the past year and the things he accumulated that were lost in a day, his heart bled.
“Friendship City, I will be back.”
Both of Farrah’s eyes were red as he gritted his teeth and ordered the pirates to leave. As for the matter with the Somalia royal family, he would deal with it after he escaped.
Xu Chu, who was on the shore, was focusing on what was happening on the ocean. Seeing the pirate flagship start sailing, he knew that he probably could not complete the king’s mission.
The pirates on shore were not stupid. Seeing their boss want to escape, they all wished they had four legs as they all ran faster than rabbits.
Unfortunately, they were not as lucky as Farrah.
With their leader escaping, the biggest contribution was gone. Xu Chu naturally needed to make up for it. If he let these small ones leave, he would not be called Xu Chu.
“Where are you going!”
Xu Chu led his men and charged to the side of the docks, turning around, “Anyone who dares to take a step will be killed!”
“Kill!”
Along with Xu Chu, the Divine Martial Guards spread out. Their killing aura was evident.
When the pirates saw that, their faces turned ashen white, and they knew that they had no way out. In truth, they were already terrified by the Divine Martial Guards. They exchanged glances and all surrendered.
“Spare us! Spare us!”
Speaking of which, pirates had no morals. As long as they could live, they would do anything.
“Hen!”
Although Xu Chu was disgusted, he was not going to kill a group of surrendered people. He ordered the Divine Martial Guards to round up the remaining five thousand.
When the merchants on the port saw the fierce pirates leave, all of them came out of hiding to thank the Divine Martial Guards.
Xu Chu could not accept it, “Do not thank us. Go see if the ships can be saved.”
“Yes general!”
The hearts of the merchants were feeling pained. After thanking them, they summoned their sailors to try to save the ships.
As the capital of trade, Friendship City was also one of the important points on the voyage trade route, and there were hundreds of merchant ships that would come to Courage Port.
This time, the merchants had suffered heavy losses because of the pirates. Apart from accepting it, the merchants could not find anyone to compensate them and could only blame their own luck.
…
By the time Xu Chu dealt with the pirates, Shi Bao and his troops had already locked up the north city gate.
With that, the four gates were locked up, and the pirates inside had no way out.
Shi Bao ordered, “Send the signal!”
“Yes general!”
‘Xiu!’ A red signal bullet rose up into the air.
When Shihu in the city saw that, he waved his message flag, “Push forward!”
“Kill!”
The 1st and 2nd divisions of the Boulder Legion were like beasts released from a cage as they fearlessly killed their way to the frontlines. All of the sudden, the pirates were caught off guard.
Under the charge of the Heavy Armored Mountain Barbarian Infantry Division, the pirates were forced back.
“What’s the situation? Where did the reinforcements come from?” The second leader in charge of the Sky Wolf Pirate Organization frowned and ordered, “Quickly inform the leader, the frontline situation has changed!”
“Yes!”
In less than 20 minutes, the pirate in charge of sending the message returned.
The second leader was furious, “Why are you back so fast?”
The messenger pirate stammered, “Sec- Second leader, it’s no good, the city gate is blocked.”
“What?”
The second leader felt his heart sink.
+ Add to my favorites
← Previous
All chapters
Next →
lightnovel.world
Chapter 884: Opening up a New Trade Route
Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 884 – Opening up a New Trade Route
The 60 thousand pirates that had made their way into Friendship City could not even last past the afternoon before they all surrendered.
During this battle, close to 30 thousand pirates were buried within the city. After the battle, the entire outer city was in tatters, corpses were strewn all over, and a thick blood stench spread through the streets and alleys. Even with the ocean breeze blowing, the smell still lingered.
Friendship City Mayor Gu Xiuwen took responsibility of clearing the city and calming down the people. He organized the extinguishing of the fires and calculated personnel and financial loss. Everything was done in an orderly manner.
The uneasy peoples’ sentiment had slowly calmed down.
In the manor, Ouyang Shuo was not happy despite the victory. First, they had only crushed pirates in the battle, and it was not something to be proud of. Secondly, Farrah had escaped once more. Thirdly, there was a huge scheme behind all of this; it was like a hand was controlling everything.
It was not a coincidence that Friendship City was attacked.
Although they forced back the pirates, this was a huge hit to the reputation of the capital of trade and the voyage trade route.
Along with the news spreading out, such negativity would spread around, and it would be hard to remove in a short while.
Think about it. If a territory could be attacked by pirates at any moment, would anyone dare to get their resources here? Facing such a chaotic trade route, how many merchants would dare to use it?
The answer was obvious.
The target of this sneak attack was obviously the trading roots of the Great Xia Dynasty.
That afternoon, Black Snake teleported over from Rabat and arrived at Friendship City. The order from Ouyang Shuo was simple, “Investigate who else participated in this.”
Based on his intuition, Ouyang Shuo felt that Somalia had someone helping Farrah.
“Yes my king!”
Black Snake did not dare to take this matter lightly, and he immediately gathered all his resources. He started with interrogating the pirates to try to find out who was the person behind this attack.
The second leader naturally became the heavy focus.
Only Ouyang Shuo knew that Farrah was the key person in the pirate organization, their spirit.
Hence, Ouyang Shuo ordered the Atlantic Squadron to arrange their 4th and 5th divisions to rush back to the Gulf of Aden to capture Farrah.
Only by taking down Farrah and totally wiping out the Sky Wolf Pirate Organization could he save the lost reputation of Friendship City and protect the prosperity of the trade route.
This time, Ouyang Shuo would not let him go.
Within the City Lord’s Manor, just as Ouyang Shuo was thinking about the Gulf of Aden matters, Xu Chu reported, “My king, the Major General of the Garrison Division would like to meet you.”
When Ouyang Shuo heard that, his brows jumped, and he said angrily, “He still has the face to see me? Send my orders, there’s no need to. Capture him and let the Military Law Division deal with him.”
During this battle, the Garrison Division had the geographical advantage and a city to defend. However, facing the attacks of 60 thousand pirates, they lost the outer city in just three hours.
Although the pirates were strong, the Garrison Division was too relaxed daily and the commanding was poor. If it were another Garrison Division, this would not have happened.
Under such circumstances, how could Ouyang Shuo not be furious?
“Yes my king!”
Xu Chu had rarely seen the king so furious, so he did not dare say more. He only felt empathy for the Major General. It was good if he did not come to greet the king. In such a case, the king might have given him chance. However, he had sent himself over, so no one could help him.
Due to the poor performance of the Friendship City Garrison Division, Ouyang Shuo thought about the other Garrison Divisions.
‘It seems like the Privy Court needs to have a huge test for all the Garrison Divisions.’ Ouyang Shuo thought to himself. Poor military standards were the biggest worry of a dynasty.
…
That night, Ouyang Shuo personally held a feast in the manor to welcome the merchants in Friendship City.
Being invited by the Xia King was a great fortune for the merchants.
Ouyang Shuo naturally did this to calm down the merchants. He wanted to try and lower the impact of the attacks on Friendship City trade. Originally, Gu Xiuwen could have done it, but there was a difference between him and Ouyang Shuo coming out.
In the huge banquet hall, Ouyang Shuo raised his cup, and the entire hall instantly quietened down. Ouyang Shuo looked around at the merchants, “The Imperial Court will not let this matter rest. The Atlantic Squadron has already set off and will reach the Gulf of Aden soon to destroy the pirates.”
“Xia King is wise!”
The merchants rejoiced. They often traveled through the Mediterranean, so they had learned of the name of the Atlantic Squadron. With this squadron, the Sky Wolf Pirate Organization would definitely fall.
Their unsettled hearts slowly calmed down.
Ouyang Shuo continued, “The Imperial Court has a responsibility to protect our land. Only because you trust us do you come over to dock. The losses cause by the pirates, we will pay for it all. Tomorrow, you can go to the Lord’s Manor to record your losses.”
“This….”
The merchants all exchanged glances. They did not expect that there would be such a good matter. Normally, even if the dynasty did not compensate them, the merchants would have nothing to say. Such a full compensation was pretty much unheard of.
“Thank you Xia King for your kindness!” The merchants were touched to tears. Although the voyage trading had huge profits, for one trip to be stolen, they would have lost all their assets.
The Imperial Court’s actions had saved the futures of many of them.
Ouyang Shuo nodded. He would rather spend some money to buy back their faith in him.
With such good news, the banquet was naturally a happy affair.
************
Ouyang Shuo bought their hearts, but he did not expect for bad news to spread again the next day.
The 4th and 5th divisions passing through the Mediterranean were faced with protests from the Mediterranean Lords, and it even affected the ongoing negotiations.
In their words, ‘Since the king has promised not to step into the Mediterranean, he should keep his promise. The Atlantic Squadron’s actions are undoubtedly a breaking of the agreement.”
“We doubt the Great Xia Dynasty’s sincerity.”
Helplessly, Zi Luolan could only seek help from Ouyang Shuo on how to deal with this matter.
When Ouyang Shuo got the news, he kept silent for a long while; this time, it was really his bad luck.
‘Only, isn’t the timing too much of a coincidence?’ Ouyang Shuo doubted whether the negotiation and the attack were related. It was not easy for Ouyang Shuo to come to a conclusion now.
Last night, Ouyang Shuo even promised the merchants that he would send the Atlantic Squadron over to wipe out the pirates. If he failed to keep the promise, it would be a huge slap to his face.
Facing such a situation, Ouyang Shuo turned his eyes to the southern point of the African continent. There was a place there known as the Cape of Good Hope.
Before the Suez Canal was opened up, Ouyang Shuo’s Asian trade route could only go from West Europe to West Africa, and then go south to the Cape of Good Hope toward Asia. The Cape of Good Hope became the only ocean trade route for Europeans toward the east.
After the Suez Canal was opened, although it affected this route, it was still an important trade route between Asia and Europe. Some huge ships could not pass the Suez Canal and had to take this path.
Speaking of the Cape of Good Hope, one had to mention the famous crusader’s eastern expedition.
During 1000 AD, Europe had started to change, and the Roman Catholics chased the Protestants out of the Middle East. The crusade started in 1096 and lasted for a total of 200 years.
The appearance of the European Army in the Middle East started the development of ocean trading.
Venice and other Italian merchants used this path to transport war resources and got rich from the war. At the same time, the crusader army returned to Europe with many of the middle-eastern products, which became hot commodities in Europe.
The trading gave rise to many rich European merchants.
The European nations continued to grow stronger and stronger. They set up their military and government, relying on trade tax alone to maintain the running of the two.
In the 15th century, the European countries were ready to explore the outside world.
The Portuguese were the first to act. In 1400, they wanted to control the spice trade with the east. They wanted to go past Venice and Arab to trade directly with the east.
If they could directly go toward Asia to buy these products, they would be able to greatly increase their profits.
The Portuguese explorers went to the west coast of the Africa continent and found a way from India to Asia. They came to the southwest point of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope.
Compared to the Suez Canal, this was not an ideal trading route.
This was because the Cape of Good Hope was located where the Indian Ocean warm current and the Antarctica cold weather met. The strong winds made massive waves. Apart from storms, there were also killer waves.
The fronts of these waves were like cliffs, while the backs were like gradual hills. In the winter season, there were also rotating waves. These two added together made the ocean situation really bad. There were also really strong shoreline currents. As such, when the waves and the currents met, it gave rise to a chaotic situation.
Hence, the Cape of Good Hope became one of the most dangerous ocean trade routes.
Ouyang Shuo planned for the Atlantic Squadron to go to the Cape of Good Hope and open up this route to reach Somalia because he had no other choice.
Destroying the Sky Wolf Pirate Organization concerned the reputation of the Great Xia Dynasty.
As the king of the Xia Dynasty, since he made a promise, he needed to keep it. If not, he would lose credit and losing credit was like losing control over your people.
+ Add to my favorites
← Previous
All chapters
Next →
lightnovel.world
Chapter 885: Land Sea Air Army Formation
Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 885 – Land Sea Air Army Formation
Ouyang Shuo’s choice to open up the Cape of Good Hope trading route now also had strength and interest considerations.
First, the seafaring specialty given by Mazu meant that the effect of the storms there would be really weak on the Great Xia Merchant ships. Moreover, it was summer now, so the ocean waves were much weaker.
Secondly, Ouyang Shuo wanted to use the Atlantic Squadron to open up a new trade route for the dynasty; this would ensure that if the Mediterranean messed up, they would have other choices.
Thirdly, Africa was hiding numerous riches, so it was worth taking the risk.
In history, from 1415, the Spanish had occupied Ceuta, and the European countries started their strong colonization of the African counties. It reached its peak in the 19th to 20th century with over 95% of Africa being split up while their resources were pillaged.
Colonizing Africa was not done for fun. Naturally, there were interest matters existing.
First, the vast African Continent could provide many agricultural zones and was the best spot for raw materials. Secondly, Africa had huge amounts of ores and was like an invisible storage.
South Africa, Zimbabwe, and other countries had many gold mines, Congo had diamonds, the magical Maldives, and the like were all worth exploring.
Of course, Ouyang Shuo did not support the way the Europeans colonized Africa. He wanted to use a more friendly method to work with them to achieve a win-win situation.
It was mentioned that the history between Egypt and some of the Mediterranean nations was not that deep, and they did not have the advanced western technology tree. However, they had a large population, so it was hard for them to advance in the game.
Their only joy was to fight between countries and races.
As such, the Great Xia Dynasty could lend them advanced agriculture technologies to borrow their labor and natural resources, creating a win-win situation.
If that really happened, it would become a huge project and could not be completed in a short while. During that time, he would probably have to compete with the European and American Lords.
The European and American Lord’s in the game would definitely not let go of Africa.
If Somalia’s Friendship City was the dynasty’s first step to entering the African continent, Morocco was an important step to influencing it. How to expand the Cape of Good Hope trade route was the key step to working with Africa.
Thinking about that, Ouyang Shuo immediately ordered Fleet Admiral Alvaro to personally lead the 4th and 5th division to go toward the Cape of Good Hope.
This trip was dangerous, so Ouyang Shuo could only be at ease with an experience navy general like Alvaro at the lead.
Ouyang Shuo really wanted to know how the Mediterranean Lords would feel after they learned that the Great Xia Dynasty had opened up a new trade route.
At that time, the only chip in their hands would cease to exist.
…
6th month, 5th day, Friendship City.
On this day, Military Affairs Minister and Grand Council Member Du Ruhui rushed over to Friendship City to report his intentions about the 290 thousand surrendered soldiers in Morocco.
The surrendered troops included 120 thousand surrendered soldiers and 170 thousand surrendered Guards Soldiers.
The Privy Court said that 10 thousand were not suitable to serve. As such, 280 thousand of them could be organized, which was enough for a full four legions.
They would first create the four Morocco Province Garrison Divisions, using up 54 thousand troops. For this, they mainly used the top troops from the territories.
Next would be the war fighting army housed in the province.
The reorganization plan given by the Privy Court lit up Ouyang Shuo’s eyes.
In the Lord’s Manor reading room, Du Ruhui reported, “The Privy Court suggests we create an independent Moroccan Legion to be in charge of defensive duties.”
The dynasty legion corps titles were set and Ouyang Shuo had done the planning before.
Apart from the current ones, there would be the Bear Legion Corps, Eagle Legion Corps and Palace Guards Legion Corps in the future.
Based on the standards that Ouyang Shuo set, without a new God General, these three new legion corps titles would not be used. Hence, the Privy Court was thinking of building independent legions outside of the legion corps system.
Du Ruhui continued, “The Moroccan legion will have four Infantry Divisions, one Cavalry Division, one subordinate regiment, one subordinate firearm squadron, one Flying Squad, one marine force, and one navy division; land, sea, and air altogether, a total of 100 thousand troops.”
Di Ruhui had spent much effort on such an organization.
If Morocco Province followed the other provinces and housed a legion corps, the army would be too huge and would drag the province down. However, if they only housed a normal War Fighting Legion, they would lack combat strength.
Equipping a firearm squadron was to go up against the western musketeers. Secondly, it was also because the dynasty industrialization had progressed, and they had the ability to produce enough handguns.
As for the Flying Squad, it had benefited from the territory industrialization.
Since he obtained the Mimicry Flying Device Crafting Technology from Atlantis, it had been researched by the No.7 Research Institute. The building base for the devices had already been planned for Steel City.
Wth such a land, sea, and air legion taking charge, Morocco would be totally safe.
Ouyang Shuo nodded his head with glee and said, “I largely agree with the Privy Court’s suggestion. There is only one point. As the organization is different, we can call it the Morocco Formation. In the military system, it will be between legion and a legion corps and will mainly be used for overseas forces.”
“The king is wise.” Du Ruhui was impressed.
“Toward the organization of the Morocco Formation, we do not need to rush it. With the Atlantic Squadron taking charge of the surrounding region, we can give the Morocco Formation navy division the Z1 Type Warships to prevent wastage of resources. The Privy Court and Navy Headquarters must discuss this matter well.”
“Do not worry my king!”
Du Ruhui being appointed in both the Privy Court and the Grand Council was like building a bridge, helping the coordination of various military organizations.
After handling the matter, Ouyang Shuo asked, “Do you have someone to recommend for the Lieutenant General?”
Du Ruhui bowed, “I think the king should make this decision.”
Ouyang Shuo thought about it, “Then let’s give the position to Shi Dakai!”
As the top general of the Taiping Army, Shi Dakai was familiar with firearms. Moreover, he had experience in both army and navy warfare.
To arrange such a person to take charge of the Morocco Formation was really suitable.
The formation position was higher than that of a legion. Shi Dakai being promoted not long after becoming a Legion General showed how much Ouyang Shuo liked him. Along with the uniqueness of an overseas formation, one would not be appointed unless Ouyang Shuo really trusted the person.
“The empty spot for 5th legion Legion General of the Tiger Legion will go to Xiao Chaogui. Announce Ma Yuan to be a Major General of the Morocco Formation.”
“Yes my king!”
Du Ruhui nodded solemnly; he was impressed and awed by the way the king used people.
Apart from the four Garrison Divisions and the Morocco Formation, there were still 126 thousand soldiers that needed to be organized. Based on the plan from the Privy Court, they would form a Guards Legion.
Of the three Guards Legions in the current Guards Legion Corps, the 1st legion sat in the Capital City, while the 2nd and 3rd legions were cavalry. They lacked an infantry legion to swap and take turns with the 1st legion.
The events of Friendship City made Ouyang Shuo change his mind.
Ouyang Shuo looked at Du Ruhui, “Follow the Morocco Formation standards to build the Somalia Formation to house in Friendship City.”
When Du Ruhui heard that, his heart shook. He felt that the king was building this formation not to defend the city but instead to teach a lesson to the crafty Somalia King.
As this was just a guess, he could not say it out loud.
Ouyang Shuo continued, “Move Di Qing from the Tiger Legion 2nd legion over to be the Lieutenant General. Fan Lihua from the 3rd legion will replace him. Hong Ying, who was the 3rd legion 3rd division Major General, will follow Fan Lihua over and become the Major General of the 1st division of the 2nd legion.”
Only Shi Wanshui, Di Qing, and Zhang Han, these three Emperor Rank generals, could become Lieutenant Generals. For the king to choose Di Qing and not Shi Wanshui, who he trusted the most, shocked Du Ruhui.
How would he know that Ouyang Shuo had other plans for this loyal general?
After Di Qing left, Fan Lihua would be the strongest general under Sun Bin.
Ouyang Shuo also used the chance to promote Hong Ying by half a rank.
Ouyang Shuo continued to reorganize, “Zhao She, who was the Major General of the 2nd legion 1st division, will be promoted to 3rd legion Legion General.”
Speaking of which, it was time for Zhao She to show his skills.
Du Ruhui nodded, recording down everything one by one.
The new round of military organization caused by the Battle of Morocco, although it did not affect the three legion corps, it affected the gates and appointments of the generals within.
+ Add to my favorites
← Previous
All chapters
Next →
lightnovel.world