As soon as the decree was issued, it caused waves in the territory.
There were people who were envious and jealous, and there were people who cheered excitedly...
The loudest cheers were none other than the Cui clan. The acquisition of Qing'er's clothing factory was already a huge profit in the business. Ying You's conferment even caused the Cui Clan to transform into a relative of the Imperial Family.
The Cui clan's merchant group was truly worthy of its name.
For the civil and military officials of the territory, the successive conferment of three princesses represented the prosperity of the Marquis clan. It was a great atmosphere of prosperity for the territory. Naturally, they were happy from the bottom of their hearts.
However, some commoners didn't think so.
As Ouyang Shuo's sister, Bing'er was the little princess of the territory. Naturally, no one would gossip about her conferment as the first princess of Xue Yue. However, it was different for Ying You and Qing'er, his two sworn sisters.
Everyone in the territory knew that Ying You and Qing'er were like other citizens. They were born as refugees. Marquis Jun treated them as his sworn sisters and accepted them into his mansion.
Thus, there were already people who were jealous and gossiped about them in secret. Now, the two of them had advanced a step and were conferment as princesses. It was equivalent to reaching the sky in a single bound.
Jealousy was inevitable.
However, the two of them had already become nobles and they couldn't casually comment on them.
Even Qing'er herself was a little uneasy when she was first conferred. It was Ouyang Shuo's words that made the two sisters feel at ease and accept it calmly.
For Ouyang Shuo, conferring princesses was first for the needs of the territory and second for his personal feelings.
In the eyes of others, Qing'er and Qing'er had climbed up a high branch. But who knew how much help and comfort the two sisters had brought to Ouyang Shuo? So what if there were some rumors?
...
The Spring Festival in Shanhai City was really lively.
On the 12th of February, which was the tenth day of the first month, a huge stone tablet was erected in the square of King City. The stone tablet was nine meters high, five meters wide and one meter thick. It stood in the middle of the square with a magnificent momentum.
Both sides of the stone tablet were densely engraved with tens of thousands of simple and unadorned small seal characters.
The words "Territory Code" were even more eye-catching.
Led by Wei Yang, the head of the Internal Affairs Bureau, the Law School, and experts from the real world, the 'Territory Code', which took several months to compile with dozens of additions and deletions, was finally approved and officially finalized.
This stone tablet was none other than the Codex Tablet.
The moment the Codex Stele was unveiled, it meant that the territory had officially entered the Codex Era.
More than ten thousand copies of the Territory Code had already been printed. According to the deployment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, all territorial government offices, prefectures, prefectures, counties, towns, and even villages must be equipped with at least two copies of the Territorial Code.
The heads of all levels of the Internal Affairs Division had one each.
The prefectural government's schools had to teach the 'Territory Code'.
According to Wei Yang's original words, he wanted the people of the territory to understand the 'Territory Code' within three months, follow the 'Territory Code', and respect the 'Territory Code'.
Within half a year, the concept of the law of generals was deeply ingrained in the hearts of the people.
In addition, in order to accurately interpret the essence of the Territory Code, the Law School of Southwest University China would also set up a special class to study the Territory Code.
The students of the first batch were the heads of the Internal Affairs Division.
All in all, in order to fully implement the 'Territory Code' in the territory, Wei Yang had formulated a complete set of supporting measures. It was definitely not an impromptu decision.
He was the most successful reformer in history, and he had a lot of experience in implementing laws.
The Spring Festival outside the territory was not peaceful either.
First, the exposure of Shanhai City's true colors caused a huge uproar in the forum.
Ouyang Shuo's popularity skyrocketed.
Only then did the players truly understand what it meant to have a foundation.
The world's number one lord was truly worthy of his name.
On the fifth day of the first month, Huitong Bank set up branches in the Nine Great Bank.
Huitong Bank's deposit interest rate was exactly the same as the Bank of the Four Seas. Even so, for Huitong Bank, it was already an improvement from the original foundation.
The foundation of the Bank of the Four Seas was not something that Huitong Bank could easily shake.
As for raising the deposit interest rate, Lord Chunshen and the rest wanted to, but they were powerless.
No one was a fool. The purpose of a bank was to make a profit. Once the deposit interest rate was raised again, they would be making a loss.
Even so, Huitong Bank could not be underestimated.
As for how to run a bank, the talents and resources of the great families were enough to beat the [Alliance of Shanhai]. With Lord Chunshen's interference, the Bank of the Four Seas held a large-scale recruitment fair after the New Year.
At the very least, it was not as successful as Meng Zhida had envisioned.
One had to know that the top talents in the bank were almost all members of the system. Di Chen and the rest had control over this group of people, and Ouyang Shuo could not shake them.
Helpless, Meng Zhida could only settle for the next best thing.
In addition, in order to attract customers, Huitong Bank also used their marketing methods in real life and copied them into the game.
For example, small gifts when opening an account.
After a few days, Huitong Bank had stabilized its position and was competing with the Bank of the Four Seas. If it was not for the sudden exposure of Shanhai City, they might have really been tricked by Huitong Bank.
Other than attracting small investors, Huitong Bank also learned from the Bank of the Four Seas and targeted their core customers at the guilds.
As expected, three of the top ten guilds, [Crisscrossing Sword Qi], [Eighteen Steeds of Swallow and Cloud], and [Embroidered Uniform Guard], all invested in Huitong Bank.
Other than that, a total of more than twenty large guilds in the Nine Great Royal Cities invested in Huitong Bank. Subsequently, the number of guilds that applied to invest in Huitong Bank reached thirty to forty.
It was reported that this time, the six great families came together, and even the elders of their families were involved. They used up all their connections and emotions to create such a stir.
Huitong Bank was very aggressive this time.
Ouyang Shuo didn't fall into disorder when facing this. He instructed Meng Zhida to not change three things. That was, the development strategy of the bank would not change, the high-standard conditions for equity participation would not change, and the strict conditions for lending would not change.
The battle between the two banks was destined to be a long one.
If they were led by the nose by Huitong Bank, they would easily fall into a disadvantage.
In terms of innate conditions, the Bank of the Four Seas was superior to Huitong Bank. As long as they fought steadily, they would not lose. What they were afraid of was that they would be too impatient and do something that would benefit them in the short term.
Ouyang Shuo wanted to fight steadily, but someone was not willing to give up.
After the New Year, a conspiracy against the Bank of the Four Seas had already been secretly set up. Once it succeeded, it would be enough to push the Bank of the Four Seas into an abyss of no return.
The 14th of February was the 12th of January.
After leaving Shanhai City for a month and a half, the Nanyang Navy's commander-in-chief, Zheng He, finally returned. This time, Zheng He inspected the three fleets' bases and did a thorough investigation of the Nanyang Navy.
The moment he returned, Zheng He submitted a plan for the expansion of the Nanyang Navy to Ouyang Shuo.
According to Zheng He's plan, the three fleets under the Nanyang Navy had to be at full strength in three years in Gaia.
"If not, we won't be able to dominate the oceans," Zheng He said.
Other than that, Zheng He also proposed practical and detailed reforms to the fleet's warship allocation, command system, formation methods, and other aspects.
Zheng He, who had sailed the Western Ocean seven times, was an expert in this area.
Needless to say, Shanhai City's shipbuilding and firearms technology came from the Ming Dynasty. To Zheng He, seeing the three fleets was like seeing his own fleet. There was no sense of unfamiliarity.
Therefore, Ouyang Shuo accepted all of Zheng He's reform suggestions. At the same time, he authorized Zheng He to carry out a drastic reform of the Nanyang Navy, allowing the navy to rise from the ashes.
At the same time, he instructed the military office to fully cooperate with Zheng He's reorganization plan.
As for the expansion of the fleet, Ouyang Shuo was the one who had doubts. He did not feel that the fleet was expanding too quickly. After all, Zheng He had given him three years for Gaia.
What Ouyang Shuo was worried about was where to find such a number of high-level sailors, navigators, and captains. Shanhai City could not nurture such people in a short period of time.
Other than that, Ouyang Shuo had another worry.
Since the establishment of the three fleets, there had not been a commander. If they really wanted to achieve full strength, they would have to recruit powerful naval generals. Where could he find one in such a short period of time?
Ouyang Shuo only hoped that he would gain something in the future sixth battle.
Zheng He had helped him solve one of the biggest problems. "Reporting to Marquis, I will make a trip to Quanzhou tomorrow morning to recruit relevant naval talents."
"Huh?" Ouyang Shuo was stunned.
"I have some connections in Quanzhou." Zheng He explained.
"I see."
Ouyang Shuo was enlightened. How could he forget that in history, Quanzhou was the most important transit station and departure point for Zheng He's voyages. In Quanzhou, Zheng He had extraordinary influence.
Especially in the fields of sailors and navigators, Zheng He was a god-like existence.
Once Zheng He appeared in Quanzhou, Ouyang Shuo could imagine how excited those people would be. Previously, the Military Affairs Office had been unable to recruit high-level talents no matter how hard they tried. Now, they would probably fight to come to Shanhai City.
Ouyang Shuo could not help but feel vexed. How could he forget about this?
"If that's the case, thank you, General. Feel free to tell me if you need anything." Ouyang Shuo said.
"I have no other requests." Zheng He was also confident.
Ouyang Shuo nodded and took out an item from his chest. It was the complete North Bay Treasure Map after fusion. He handed the treasure map to Zheng He and said, "Take a look at this."
Zheng He took a look and found it somewhat familiar.
As the commander of seven voyages, Zheng He was no stranger to the North Bay. In addition to this month of patrol, he had a clear understanding of the ocean in the game.
The first person Zheng He thought of was Annan. To obtain the treasure, conflict was inevitable.
"Marquis, what do you mean?" Zheng He asked uncertainly.
"I hope that I can obtain this treasure before the Great Voyage Plan is implemented. Just take it as an opportunity for the fleet to train in actual combat. How about it? "Ouyang Shuo said.
"I will not let you down!" Zheng He replied solemnly.
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