The next morning, Ouyang Shuo and his party set off once more.
On the thirteenth day of the eleventh month, they arrived at the Withered Fortress.
Ouyang Shuo had come to Guilin Commandery partly for the sake of the Withered Fortress. The battle a year ago had become an indelible humiliation in Ouyang Shuo's life as a lord.
After the battle, Pei Ju had suggested erecting a stone tablet of shame in front of the fortress.
Now that Guilin Commandery had been taken back, it was time to turn the page.
After learning of the lord's schedule, the barbarian soldiers of the Leopard Army's first division had returned from Guiping Pass and gathered at the Withered Fortress to welcome the lord's arrival.
The commander of the Leopard Army, Han Xin, had accompanied them. Even Zhang Han had come back.
On this day, the usually sunny weather in the Withered Fortress had suddenly turned gloomy. Not a single ray of sunlight could be seen. Dark clouds covered the sky, and the air was filled with an austere killing intent.
In the hot and humid weather, a sudden gust of wind blew.
Ouyang Shuo stood alone in front of the stone tablet of shame. Behind him was a group of soldiers led by Han Xin and Zhang Han. Every barbarian soldier stood straight like a javelin, their expressions solemn.
Heaven and Earth were unhurried, and it was as if the focus of all the mountains, rivers, and earth was gathered on Ouyang Shuo. At this moment, Ouyang Shuo's body was filled with a power that could shake the world.
Even the gust of wind mysteriously bypassed Ouyang Shuo's body.
When Han Xin and the others saw this, their eyes were filled with reverence. They subconsciously bowed down, not daring to compete with the young man in front of them. In Han Xin's memory, he had never seen this kind of power, not even from his great ancestor Liu Bang.
If Di Chen and the others were here, they would probably be horrified. Even now, they still couldn't understand what kind of power supported a commoner like Ouyang Shuo to carry Shanhai City forward with such a weak and frail body, thus creating the greatest miracle in the China region, and perhaps even the entire world.
He made the name of Shanhai City resound throughout the world.
And this kind of inner power was precisely what Di Chen and the others lacked. If they didn't understand this, they would never be able to keep up with Shanhai City's pace. They could only be pitiful troublemakers.
Han Xin looked up at the sky and seeing that the time had come, he ordered, "Fire!"
There was a P1 Cannon parked in front of the Stone of Shame. Upon receiving the order, it ignited immediately. With a loud bang, the black cannon shell shot through the air and shattered the Stone of Shame.
A strong wind blew past, blowing up stone fragments into the air. The humiliation of the past completely vanished.
"Let's go!"
Ouyang Shuo turned around and led the way to the hill on the other side.
On the green grassy hillside, there were rows of stone tablets that stretched as far as the eye could see. These were the barbarian soldiers who had died during the battle. They were like the most loyal guards, continuing to guard the withering stronghold.
There were new graves on the left side of the hillside. They were the graves of the soldiers who had died in the battle with Li Mu. Once again, there was a large number of graves, which were extremely dazzling and tragic.
Under Ouyang Shuo's witness, a monument was erected at the top of the mountain to commemorate these brave warriors. The monument was erected after a year, and it could be considered as an explanation to the soldiers who had died in battle.
Their sacrifice was not in vain!
Ouyang Shuo held a bunch of dried osmanthus flowers and placed them in front of the monument with a solemn expression. These osmanthus flowers were not ordinary. They were specially picked when he passed through Wuzhou County and passed by Demon King's Slope.
Demon God Chi You was buried in Demon King's Slope. Now, it was the holy land of the mountain barbarians. Last year, the wilderness was filled with desolation. The osmanthus flowers on Demon King's Slope withered overnight.
This year was different. The osmanthus flowers were abnormally lush and bright.
"My sons, rest in peace!"
Ouyang Shuo said and slowly bowed.
"Salute!"
With a swoosh, the soldiers behind Ouyang Shuo bowed in unison.
Some of the soldiers were so emotional that tears faintly flashed in their eyes.
The scene of the ruler bowing would forever be engraved in the hearts of the mountain barbarian soldiers. It would never be erased. In ancient times, a ruler bowing to a soldier who had died in battle was simply unimaginable.
This kind of shock could not be understood by people who were not from that era.
That afternoon, Ouyang Shuo set off for the next stop and left the withering stronghold. However, everything he did today would definitely be deeply engraved in the minds of the mountain barbarians and the entire army.
November 16th, Guilin County, Bushan City.
Before Ouyang Shuo's party arrived at Bushan City, the officials dispatched from the Southern Border Protectorate had already arrived. Moreover, they were personally led by Chief of Appointments Zhang Tingyu.
Naturally, Guilin County's government affairs were temporarily managed by Zhang Tingyu.
Under Zhang Tingyu's supervision, by the time Ouyang Shuo arrived at Guilin County, the chaos caused by the handover of power in the various prefectures and counties had basically been settled. The various government offices in Guilin County, including Bushan City, had already been rebuilt according to the structure of Shanhai City.
What followed was a period of breaking in.
Even the Guilin County Garrison Division had been established under Han Xin's leadership. Half of the soldiers had been exchanged with the Xunzhou Garrison Division, while the other half had been recruited from Guilin County.
Han Xin was not only the commander of the Leopard Troop, but also the commander of the Southern Sichuan War Zone. The garrison divisions of the four counties of Southern Sichuan were all under his jurisdiction. For this reason, besides the routine intervention of the General of Military Affairs, Ouyang Shuo had never participated in the establishment of the Guilin Garrison Division.
Even the commander of the Garrison Division was recommended by Han Xin.
Since the positions of the four commanders in the army had been established, Ouyang Shuo still had to delegate this bit of power. He couldn't give the Divine Generals a resounding title without corresponding status, could he?
That would be nonsense!
All Ouyang Shuo needed to do was to perfect the mechanism and strengthen supervision. In history, there were many rulers who were unwilling to delegate power, dared not use people, and were stingy with rewards, but ultimately tasted bitter consequences. For example, Xiang Yu, the Overlord of Chu.
Even in the Three Kingdoms that had just ended, Lu Bu could be considered one of these feudal lords.
In addition to the Garrison Division, the Leopard Troop had also undergone a round of local adjustments.
In the battle of Xuanwu Pass, the Second Army had captured more than 15,000 people. Because Yan Liang avoided the battle, the Second Army's casualties were almost negligible.
In the battle of Guiping Pass, because of Li Mu's decisive retreat and the obstruction of the traps, there were basically no prisoners of war. But the First Army had a total of more than 6,000 people killed, and most of them were Mountain Barbarian soldiers.
Although the territory of the Mountain Barbarians was relatively large, it was still somewhat difficult to gather these soldiers in a short period of time. In desperation, after consulting Ouyang Shuo's opinion, the General Administration of Military Affairs decided to use 15,000 prisoners of war to reorganize an independent division, temporarily under the command of the Leopard Troop.
The eliminated soldiers just happened to be incorporated into the Garrison Division.
As for the casualties of the Leopard Troop's First Army, at present, as much as they could be replenished would be the most. The gaps that really couldn't be filled would be temporarily left empty, and after the Yunnan War ended, then unified arrangements would be made.
For an ace division like the Mountain Barbarian Heavy Infantry Division, Ouyang Shuo had always preferred to have nothing than substandard troops.
… …
The military and political affairs of Guilin County had achieved a smooth transition, so Ouyang Shuo naturally didn't need to worry about it. At most, when he passed through Bushan City, he carried out a routine action to appease the people's hearts.
If he really wanted to intervene, Zhang Tingyu and Han Xin would be in a difficult situation.
Therefore, after only staying in Bushan City for a day, Ouyang Shuo set off again without stopping. He went to the border of Guilin County with Fan Li, who had been waiting in Bushan City for a long time.
Ouyang Shuo rushed to Guilin County to sign the trade agreement with [North Sichuan City-State] and [South Hunan City-State]. Because it involved a lot of people and the significance was not ordinary, he needed to personally attend.
On the side of the city-state, High Official Ximen and the two lords of South of Rosy Clouds were also the representatives.
As such, it could be considered as the first serious meeting of the three big shots.
It was strange that in the Battle of Red Cliff, High Official Ximen and South of Rosy Clouds had just made things difficult for Shanhai City. Only two months had passed, and they wanted to shake hands and talk about cooperation.
The affairs of the world were unpredictable!
Otherwise, why would it be said that there were no eternal friends in the wilderness, and even more so, there were no eternal enemies.
The place to sign the agreement was chosen to be at the junction of South Sichuan Province, North Sichuan Province, and South Hunan Province, a nameless small town called Three Rivers Town.
After the agreement was signed, this place would most likely be famous in the wilderness.
On the way to Three Rivers Town, Fan Li roughly reported the main terms of the trade agreement to be signed, and asked Ouyang Shuo to make a final decision.
In the near future, Shanhai City's trading partners included Lingxi City, which had already been annexed, Wanshi City, Dragon Seeking City, and the West Chu regime that was currently negotiating.
In the far future, there were Thailand, Johor, Siam, and other ASEAN countries. Further away, there was Somalia in Africa, France, Atlantis, and so on in the Mediterranean Sea. Finally, there was England.
These trading partners together built the ocean trade route of Shanhai City, supported the booming maritime trade of Shanhai City, and brought huge wealth to Shanhai City.
Therefore, when it came to signing trade agreements, Shanhai City was an expert.
It was just that North Sichuan City was different from South Hunan City, and some special treatment was needed. There were roughly three suggestions from the General Administration of Finance.
First, tariffs.
Compared to other trading partners, tariffs were levied on the two city-states by 10%. Tariffs were an important source of revenue for Shanhai City. Obviously, the General Administration of Finance would not be soft-hearted towards the two city-states.
This was also the result of Fan Li's pressure. According to the Department of Commerce's suggestion, the final tariff was raised to 20%.
Second, export goods list.
According to the different partners, Shanhai City's import and export goods list was targeted. For the two city-states, this kind of targeting was naturally more stringent.
The General Administration of Finance's opinion was that only the two city-states were allowed to use the ocean trade channel to sell the specialties of both places. As for other goods that conflicted with Shanhai City's products, they were all banned from export.
As for imports, there were not too many strict restrictions.
This was also to ensure that Shanhai City's own industry would not be affected by the market of the two city-states. It could be considered a more primitive "trade protection".
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