After inspecting the three newly formed divisions, Ouyang Shuo was on his way back.
At this point, the military and political affairs of Leizhou County had been smoothed out, and Ouyang Shuo no longer needed to personally oversee it.
The next day, Ouyang Shuo left Thunder Mountain City and returned to Shanhai City on a warship from the Black Soil Port.
The Black Soil Port was the port where the Imperial Guard Division first landed. Compared to a month ago, this place had become a huge construction site, and it was very lively.
In the future, this place would be built into a large port that would connect the North Sea Port and the two counties. The sea route between the North Sea Port and the Black Soil Port was also an important passage for the Lian Prefecture to control Leizhou County.
Although Leizhou County was isolated from the territory, with this sea route, it was very convenient to travel between the two places. Even if it was an ordinary merchant ship, it would only take four days to arrive.
At the same time, Haian City and Yanluo City would each build a port. Haian City's port was mainly used to connect Leizhou County and the future Qiongzhou County.
Yanluo City's port was connected to Jiaozhou County and even the royal city of Quanzhou.
With the establishment of Leizhou County, the construction of the sea trade route in Shanhai Territory was entering a period of rapid development. Due to the geographical characteristics of Lianzhou County, the sea trade would also be the most important communication window for Shanhai City.
On the 9th of July, Ouyang Shuo returned to Shanhai City.
Along with him were the Imperial Guard Division and the four division chiefs.
With the complete structure of Leizhou County, the four division chiefs naturally had to retire. After leaving Shanhai City for a month, the backlog of government affairs in the Marquis's Mansion was enough to give them a headache.
After returning to Shanhai City, Ouyang Shuo began to carry out a major reform of the territory's structure.
What followed was naturally a series of personnel appointments and removals.
With the establishment of Leizhou County, and the foreseeable Qiongzhou County and Zhaoqing County. Ouyang Shuo believed that the time was ripe to upgrade the Lian Prefecture Marquis's Mansion.
The first one was to formally establish the Lian Prefecture Yamen and separate it from the Lian Prefecture Marquis's Mansion. Wei Ran did not disappoint and was appointed as the governor of Lianzhou County by Ouyang Shuo.
The county seat of Lianzhou County was chosen in Blessed City, which was still under construction.
As the future capital, Shanhai City was officially separated from Lianzhou County and became an independent administrative division, occupying a special position in the territory.
There were two reasons as to why Lian Zhou County was located in Blessed City.
Firstly, Blessed City was located at the center of Lian Zhou County and radiated in all directions.
Secondly, he could use the status of the prefectural office to promote the development of Blessed City.
Wei Ran's decision to move to the right and leave Shanhai City would not only help to eliminate the rumors about him and Bai Qi, but it would also be good news for the development of Lianzhou County.
After the official establishment of Lianzhou County, the Lianzhou County Garrison Division would also be established to be responsible for the daily defense of Lianzhou County. As for the current City Guard Division, they were only responsible for the defense of Shanhai City.
The establishment of the Lianzhou County Garrison Division was equivalent to the complete liberation of the Dragon Xiang Legion. The First Division of the Dragonxiang Legion, which was originally in charge of the defense of Lianzhou County, would be stationed in the Mulan Fortress after the handover.
The soldiers of the Garrison Division, Ouyang Shuo, aimed at the future prisoners of war in Zhaoqing County.
Therefore, the Lianzhou County Garrison Division would only be officially established after Zhaoqing County was conquered. Ouyang Shuo chose Hu Yibiao as the commander of the Garrison Division.
Hu Yibiao was previously the commander of the Fourth Brigade of the Dragonxiang Legion's Third Division. Like Zhao Yan, he was also a fierce general on the battlefield, and he was a veteran trained by Shanhai City.
Although this group of veteran generals could not be qualified to be the commander of a field army, they were qualified to be the commander of the Garrison Division. This was also Ouyang Shuo's last care for this group of veteran generals.
After Shanhai City became independent, the chief executive officer was specially appointed as the [Shanhai Commander].
For the first [Shanhai Commander], Ouyang Shuo chose the newly appointed magistrate of Duanren Prefecture, Zang Wenzhong.
Zang Wenzhong's open-minded way of governing and his identity as an outsider were the main reasons why he stood out.
The Gushan County Magistrate, Lei Fan, replaced Zang Wenzhong and moved to the right as the magistrate of Duanren Prefecture.
Lei Fan had always been an official that Ouyang Shuo thought highly of. In the battle of Lianzhou, he even displayed outstanding talent. Using this opportunity, Ouyang Shuo naturally wanted to promote him.
At the same time, Ouyang Shuo officially appointed Tian Wenjing as the County Guard of Qiongzhou County.
At this point, the Lianzhou Marquis Mansion officially ruled over three counties.
In the future, there would be more counties under the jurisdiction of the Lianzhou Marquis Mansion. As for whether there would be a structure for the counties and above, it would probably take a few years before there would be a conclusion.
At present, the biggest problem was that the Lianzhou Marquis Mansion's rule over the territories was somewhat illegitimate.
According to the setting of the game, the territory of the Lianzhou Marquis Mansion should be limited to fifty thousand square kilometers. However, the actual territory ruled by the Shanhai Territory was fifteen to sixteen times the limited area.
In his previous life, Di Chen and the others also encountered the same problem.
The only solution was to ask the imperial court for an official position, such as a military governor, military governor, or protector general. Then, in the name of the military governor, military governor, or protector general, they could exercise jurisdiction over the territories that they actually occupied.
There was no doubt that Ouyang Shuo needed such an official position.
Of course, such an important official position was not free.
One of the conditions was to pay tribute to the imperial court every year, which was also known as the annual tribute. Not only that, without a certain degree of reputation, even if the lord wanted to pay tribute, the imperial court might not accept it.
The imperial court that Ouyang Shuo chose was naturally the imperial court of Great Li.
After all, his title of Marquis of Lianzhou was conferred by the imperial court of Great Li.
After making his decision, Ouyang Shuo chose an envoy to go to Great Li on his behalf to meet the current emperor, explain the reason, and ask for an official position.
According to Ouyang Shuo, the ideal official position was the Southern Border Protectorate, and then he would establish the Southern Border Protectorate.
One had to admit that his appetite was too big.
"Governor" referred to everything, "Protector" referred to the guardianship of the troops, and "Protector" referred to the "Chief Guardian". It was the highest official in a region. The Southern Border Protectorate was the Chief Guardian of the southern region.
The Southern Border, the territory it encompassed was unimaginably vast.
Ouyang Shuo's intention was to settle everything in one go. Before the official establishment of the country, he would use the structure of the "Southern Border Protectorate" to avoid frequent changes and chaos in government affairs.
In his previous life, Di Chen and the others all sought the position of military governor of a region, such as the Xuanhua Military Governor, the Jing Military Governor, and so on. They would first establish the military governor's office, and then slowly get promoted.
They were not like Ouyang Shuo, who wanted to reach the sky in a single step.
The imperial court of Great Li probably did not have the authority to confer such a position. It had to be approved by the imperial court of Quanzhou, which was also located in the south.
This was even more difficult.
Fortunately, Shanhai City still had some relations with the imperial court of Quanzhou. Especially with the help of Mazu, the relationship between the two cities became closer. Even the plaque of Mazu Temple was bestowed by the imperial court of Quanzhou.
This was also the source of Ouyang Shuo's confidence.
If not for these favorable factors, Ouyang Shuo would not have such wishful thinking.
The next step was to decide on the candidate for the envoy.
It was different from the power struggle in the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period. The competition between lords in the wilderness was either one or the other, and the ultimate goal was to destroy the other party.
Therefore, the role of a diplomatic envoy in the territory was not as important as it was in history. Shanhai City didn't even have a professional envoy, much less a specialized department.
Thinking of this, Ouyang Shuo felt a headache coming on.
Helpless, he could only seek the opinions of the four chiefs.
"Who do you think is suitable to be the envoy?"
The four chiefs looked at each other and did not know how to answer for a moment.
Needless to say, the finance chief Cui Yingyou, as a woman, was fine in the territory. With Ouyang Shuo's protection, no one dared to say anything. But if she were to go to the imperial court, she probably would not even be able to see the emperor.
Administrative chief Fan Zhongyan? No.
Fan Zhongyan was upright and outspoken. If it was an equivalent envoy, he would naturally be a suitable candidate to show the dignity of the territory. But this trip was for private activities and to seek an official position. This kind of shady business, Fan Zhongyan naturally could not do.
The remaining two were Du Ruhui and Wei Yang.
With no other choice, Ouyang Shuo directly decided to send Du Ruhui and Cui Yingyou to Dali.
Du Ruhui, as the main envoy, was mainly responsible for meeting the emperor, explaining the reason, and coordinating the relations. Cui Yingyou, as the deputy envoy, used the Cui family's influence in Dali to move around.
Wei Yang and Jing Jian were sent to Quanzhou.
Ouyang Shuo knew that Jing Jian had been an envoy in Qin before and had a certain amount of experience.
After choosing the envoy, the next step was to prepare the list of gifts.
Apart from preparing the gifts for the ministers, the most important thing was to draw up the annual tribute.
In order to obtain the position of Southern Border Protector-General, Ouyang Shuo had put in a lot of effort this time.
He had personally decided that Shanhai City would each offer 20,000 gold coins, 10,000 bolts of colorful silk, 50 catties of white tea, 100 strings of pearls, and 2,000 jars of Three Flower Wine to Dali and Quanzhou.
The total value of the tribute was more than 100,000 gold coins.
Ouyang Shuo knew that only these special products of the territory could move the heart of the current emperor. It was better not to take out ordinary goods to embarrass himself.
Among the lords of the world, only Ouyang Shuo could take out such a large sum.
As soon as he said this, the four chiefs all sucked in a breath of cold air.
Fortunately, the four of them were not ordinary people and had foresight. When Ouyang Shuo proposed the idea of establishing the Southern Border Protectorate, the four of them immediately understood the significance of this to the territory.
It could be said that if it really succeeded, it would be a landmark for the development of the Shanhai territory.
It would not be inferior to occupying Leizhou County.
Du Ruhui and Wei Yang both stepped forward and bowed. They said solemnly, "Please rest assured, Marquis. This humble subject will not disappoint Marquis!"
Indeed, with such a large annual tribute as a foundation, the chances of success were very high.
It was precisely because of this that the two of them were so confident.
Ouyang Shuo nodded and did not say anything.
The next day, the two envoy groups set off with gifts and gift lists. (To be continued.)
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