The next morning, Ying You brought Second Baby to thank Ouyang Shuo.
"Cui Tianqi pays his respects to Master. Thank you for taking me in." Second Baby, who was now Cui Tianqi, respectfully kowtowed to Ouyang Shuo.
The growth of NPC children was slightly faster than in the real world. When Cui Tianqi first came to the territory, his skin was dark and his body was thin. Although he was already eleven or twelve years old, he looked less than eight because of malnutrition. Only half a year had passed, but because of the nutrition and the fact that he didn't need to do any manual labor, his body began to grow rapidly. Adding on the influence of the private school, the little monkey had already transformed into an elegant young man.
Ouyang Shuo was also filled with emotion, "Get up!" When Cui Tianqi got up, Ouyang Shuo continued, "Whether it is literature or martial arts, I will support it all. Since you have decided to learn martial arts, you must follow it to the end. You must learn and become someone useful to the territory. Only then will you live up to your grace, understand? "
"Understood!" Cui Tianqi solemnly said.
Ouyang Shuo nodded and happily said, "Go and pay your respects to your master!"
Cui Tianqi was about to pay his respects to Song Jia but was stopped by her hand. He couldn't help but be puzzled and didn't know what to do.
Song Jia turned to look at Ouyang Shuo and said, "Wuyi, before Tianqi becomes my disciple, I want to ask for someone from you, okay?" In formal situations, Song Jia liked to call Ouyang Shuo by his in-game name like Bai Hua and the others.
Ouyang Shuo was also puzzled, "Who?"
"Ban Xia!"
"You want Ban Xia to serve you?" Ouyang Shuo could only guess. These two days, Song Jia had been busy with the matters of the sect and hadn't had the time to recruit a maid. Ban Xia had been serving her all the time.
Song Jia shook her head and said, "I want to take Ban Xia as my personal disciple."
Ouyang Shuo frowned and immediately guessed what was going on. His expression changed and he said in a low voice, "Ban Xia!"
"Master!" Ban Xia immediately stepped forward and knelt in front of Ouyang Shuo with a terrified expression.
"Speak, what is going on?" Song Jia wouldn't take Ban Xia as a disciple for no reason. Ouyang Shuo was sure that Ban Xia must have begged Song Jia last night. Song Jia was softhearted and agreed because she was Ouyang Shuo's maid. Ouyang Shuo couldn't tolerate such unruly things happening in the mansion.
The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became heavy.
When Ban Xia saw Ouyang Shuo's anger, she became even more terrified. She was so scared that tears fell down. She kowtowed while crying and said: "This servant knows her mistake, please punish me, Master." Just as Ouyang Shuo had speculated, when Ban Xia heard that Ouyang Shuo had agreed to let Song Jia take Second Child as her disciple, she too had the thought of becoming his disciple.
Ban Xia's village was looted by a group of roving bandits. She only managed to escape by hiding in a haystack. That night, she saw her loved ones brutally killed by bandits with her own two eyes, and a seed of hatred had already been planted in her heart. She hoped that one day, she would be able to personally take revenge for her parents.
After arriving at Shanhai County, she was unexpectedly recruited into the Lord's Mansion by Ying You. Ban Xia had already given up on the idea of revenge. She wanted to live a peaceful life in the Lord's Mansion. Who would have thought that things would take such a turn? Song Jia came to the Lord's Mansion, opened the door, and accepted a disciple, once again aroused the hatred in Ban Xia's heart.
Ban Xia didn't dare to beg Ouyang Shuo for fear of rejection. Last night, she had told Song Jia about her past while she was serving Song Jia, begging her to be her disciple. Song Jia's heart softened. She saw that Ban Xia had good aptitude and agreed to let her plead with Ouyang Shuo.
Ouyang Shuo's face was gloomy. He was about to expel Ban Xia from the mansion. Fortunately, at this time, Ying Pomo stood up and advised, "Big Brother, seeing that Ban Xia is still young and insensible, please let her off this time."
"That's right, Big Brother, please forgive Ban Xia!" Qing 'er also pleaded.
In the end, even Zi Su stood up and knelt in front of Ouyang Shuo, "Lord, please have mercy."
Ban Xia was still young. Seeing so many people pleading for her, she didn't know what to do. She realized that she had made a big mistake and caused everyone to suffer for her. She felt uneasy and looked at Ouyang Shuo pitifully.
Ouyang Shuo sighed and said, "Ban Xia didn't abide by her duty and broke the rules of the mansion. From now on, she will be expelled from the mansion and regain her freedom. From now on, she is not allowed to use the name of the mansion to show off. Otherwise, she will not be forgiven. "Nothing could be accomplished without rules. Ouyang Shuo had to punish her. Otherwise, how could he lead the mansion?
"Thank you, Lord, for your kindness!" Ouyang Shuo's words were tantamount to tacitly acknowledging Ban Xia as Song Jia's disciple. Ban Xia was naturally grateful. But from now on, she had no fate with the mansion. She couldn't help but feel melancholy.
The storm dissipated just like that. Ban Xia and Cui Tianqi bowed to Song Jia and became her personal disciples. They were the future eldest senior sister and eldest senior brother of the Eastern Hedge Sword Faction with a promising future.
After accepting Ban Xia as a disciple, Song Jia didn't recruit any more maids. Ouyang Shuo also didn't have the intention to recruit another maid. Only Zi Su was left in the main courtyard.
…
On the 25th day of the eighth month of the first year of Gaia, Ouyang Shuo presided over a territorial government meeting.
Before the departments reported, Director of Culture and Education Xu Shuda took the lead and solemnly bowed to Ouyang Shuo. "Your Excellency, the Department of Culture and Education has a proposal. I hope Your Excellency can approve it."
"What proposal?"
"A few days ago, Your Excellency was conferred the title of Marquis of Lianzhou by the imperial court. According to the etiquette, a marquis should be addressed as Marquis. The titles such as Your Excellency or Lord should be abolished. Instead, they should be addressed as Marquis. The officials at all levels of the territory should also address themselves as subjects. The mansion of the lord should also be changed to Marquis Mansion of Lianzhou to show legitimacy. "Xu Shuda was standardizing the etiquette of the feudal lords.
Don't underestimate the change in the title. It actually represented a fundamental change in the nature of the territory. Before being conferred the title of Marquis, the lord was expanding the territory in the wilderness. His status wasn't recognized by the imperial court. After being conferred the title of Marquis, especially the title of Marquis conferred by the imperial court, it meant that the territory could be regarded as a feudal lord.
Originally, these should be implemented immediately after the conferment. Director of Culture and Education Xu Shuda was also aware of this problem. However, the second day after being conferred the title of Marquis, the territory was promoted. Then, Ouyang Shuo stayed in Luofeng County for three days. Xu Shuda thought about it and decided to bring it up at the government meeting at the end of the month.
"This subject agrees!" Fan Zhongyan immediately changed the way he addressed Ouyang Shuda. He no longer addressed himself as a subordinate. Instead, he addressed himself as a subject.
"This subject agrees!" Tian Wenjing echoed.
"This subject agrees!" Everyone in the meeting hall stood up and bowed.
Ouyang Shuo was expressionless. "Approved!" From today onwards, he was one step closer to being a loner.
After Xu Shuda left, Director of Examinations Qin Shijian stood up and said, "Reporting to Marquis, after the appearance of the brothel, the Examinations Office found that some officials were also mingling in the brothel. How should we deal with these officials? Marquis, please decide. "
The cold-faced Director Tian Wenjing suggested, "This subject suggests that we directly seal the brothel to prevent future troubles." Tian Wenjing didn't like the behavior of these scholars, so his method was extremely unyielding.
Ouyang Shuo shook his head. "This is not appropriate. The brothel is a place for scholars to spend their time. We can't stop eating because of choking, and we can't use violence to enforce the law. Otherwise, it will easily cause dissatisfaction among the common people. On the other hand, Director Qin's decision is correct. We absolutely can't allow territory officials to spend their time in this brothel. Otherwise, it will be improper. Pass down my decree. If they are investigated once, they will be fined three months' salary. If they are investigated twice, they will be kept in their posts. If they are investigated three times, they will be directly removed from their posts. "
Ouyang Shuo was also curious about the ancient brothel. He also wanted to explore it, but the conditions didn't allow it. As the lord, he had to set an example. He couldn't bring this decadent sound to the officialdom. After Song Jia came, she completely gave up on this idea.
"Yes!" Qin Shijian answered and left.
Tian Wenjing stepped forward again and bowed. "Reporting to Marquis, there is a new development in the mountain barbarians' affairs."
"Oh? Quickly tell me! "Ouyang Shuo was immediately interested.
"Recently, this subject has visited several mountain barbarian tribes and heard the same thing. According to the mountain barbarians, there is a huge bandit stronghold in the depths of the mountains. They often go down the mountain to plunder the mountain barbarian tribes, making them miserable. They heard that our Shanhai County has a large army. The leaders of the various tribes said that if we can help them get rid of the bandit stronghold, they are willing to cooperate with us and send elite soldiers to join the Shanhai County army. "
"Bandit stronghold?" Ouyang Shuo didn't understand. A normal stronghold shouldn't be enough to make Tian Wenjing so serious. With Shanhai County's military strength, was there any stronghold they couldn't take down?!
"Marquis, there is something you don't know. According to the mountain barbarians, the bandits are extremely cunning. They built their stronghold on a dangerous peak. There is only a small rugged path going up and down the mountain. It is easy to defend and hard to attack. The number of bandits is not small. Although there are no specific figures, there are definitely more than ten thousand of them. Therefore, it is not easy to take down this stronghold. "
Ouyang Shuo nodded. It was indeed not easy to take down such a stronghold. Although the Shanhai County army was not small, more than half of them were cavalry or navy. There were less than four thousand that could be used to attack a stronghold. Ouyang Shuo didn't have confidence in such a small number of people.
"First, contact the Military Intelligence Department. Let the mountain barbarians lead the way and find out the details of the bandit stronghold. Second, persuade the mountain barbarian tribes to send the mountain barbarian warriors to Shanhai County in advance to change their jobs and be incorporated into the newly established Third Brigade. I don't believe that we can't take down a stronghold with these two methods. "Ouyang Shuo made the decision.
"Yes!"
"Currently, the Third Brigade is still in the process of being established. After it is established, we still have to complete the mission of suppressing the bandits. Therefore, Chief Tian, you must coordinate with the Military Intelligence Department on the timetable of the operation. Don't let the mountain barbarian tribes think that Shanhai County is untrustworthy. If necessary, we can provide them with a batch of food free of charge to show our sincerity. " Ouyang Shuo was prepared to use the food card again. For these mountain barbarians, food was a life-saving straw. It was a tried and tested method.
"Understood. I will not disappoint the Marquis!" Tian Wenjing had been dealing with the mountain barbarians for a long time. Of course, he knew their weakness. With Ouyang Shuo's promise, he was even more confident that he could complete the mission. (To be continued.)
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