In the reception room of the Protectorate of the Southern Border sat a middle-aged scholar in a red robe with a Han sword hanging at his waist. This person's forehead was full, and the ground was round. Even in his middle age, he was still a handsome man with outstanding temperament.
He was Xun Yu, Cao Cao's first strategist.
It had been more than half a year since the end of the Battle of Chibi and the generals of the three kingdoms had appeared in the wilderness. Xun Yu had come to the wilderness to seek a position in the imperial court in Luoyang.
After all, Emperor Wu of Han represented the legitimate Han family. Unfortunately, the officials and generals who followed Emperor Wu had formed their own system. Xun Yu was not put in an important position in Luoyang, so he was depressed.
When Shanhai City was promoted to the capital, Xun Yu thought of Xu Chu, Jia Xu, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Chun, and other generals and strategists in Cao Cao's camp. He gritted his teeth and left Luoyang to become an official in Shanhai City.
That was why the previous scene happened.
When Ouyang Shuo met Xun Yu, it was a scene of harmony between the ruler and his subject.
Ouyang Shuo was familiar with Xun Yu, a genius of the three kingdoms.
In his early years, Xun Yu was known as the "Talent of the King's Assistant." He was filial and incorruptible and was appointed as the Palace Guard. Later, he returned to his hometown and led his clan to Jizhou. He was treated as an honored guest by Yuan Shao.
Later, Xun Yu joined Cao Cao and was promoted to the position of Minister of Defense. He was given the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Years Pavilion. Because he was the Minister of Defense and handled military affairs for more than ten years, he was respectfully called "Lord Xun." Later, he was hated by Cao Cao for opposing the title of Duke of Wei and was transferred away from the central government. He died of depression in Shouchun at the age of 50.
In terms of strategy, Xun Yu worked out a blueprint and military route for Cao Cao to unify the north, including "deeply rooted to control the world" and "welcoming the Emperor".
In terms of tactics, Xun Yu protected the three cities of Yanzhou in the face of Lü Bu's rebellion. He plotted against Yuan Shao at Guandu and attacked Jingzhou by surprise.
In terms of politics, Xun Yu recommended Zhong Yao, Xun You, Chen Qun, Du Xi, Xi Zhicai, and Guo Jia to Cao Cao. They were the core members of Ru Ying's group and controlled the political and economic construction of Cao Cao's camp for a long time.
Xun Yu made many achievements in planning, plotting, supporting Kuang Bi, and Juren. Cao Cao called him. Unfortunately, Xun Yu was obsessed with the Han dynasty and eventually parted ways with the ambitious Cao Cao. He died of depression.
[Name]: Xun Yu (God-level)
[Dynasty]: Late Eastern Han Dynasty
[Identity]: Shanhai City Counselor
[Profession]: Superior Tactician
[Loyalty]: 70 points
[Commander]: 75 [Strength]: 40 [Intelligence]: 97 [Politics]: 85
[Specialty]: King's Talent (Increases strategy success rate by 55%, increases talent attraction rate by 25%, increases efficiency by 25%, increases governance level by 20%)
[Evaluation]: Xun Yu of Yingchuan, a tool of Wang Zuo, has accumulated virtue and has no regrets at a young age. He has been troubled by the world and is loyal to rule the country. A corporal will not be tired from sitting. In the Tai Pavilion, he wouldn't be bothered by his personal desires.
Although Xun Yu was a strategist, he wasn't just a strategist. In fact, he was quite a capable civil official. Ouyang Shuo already had Jia Xu and Chen Gong by his side. It was better to use Xun Yu as a civil official.
…
Xun Yu's arrival made Ouyang Shuo's arrangement of personnel in the four counties of Minnan Province much smoother. On the 22nd of March, the Protectorate of Nanjiang issued a series of appointments and removals.
Di Renjie was appointed as the Deputy Director of the Internal Affairs Bureau and was in charge of the Disciplinary Department and the Supervisory Office. At the same time, Jing Jian was removed from his position as the Director of the Supervisory Office and was sent to the Minnan Province to be the County Governor of Shaowu County.
Jing Jian's sudden departure was somewhat out of the expectations of Xiao He and the others. They could not fathom his intentions. In history, Jing Jian had been a military general before he became a civil official and became Wei Yang's right-hand man.
During his time as the Director of the Supervisory Office, Jing Jian's performance wasn't very outstanding. He seemed to only listen to Wei Yang's orders and lost sight of Ouyang Shuo's original intention of setting up the Supervisory Office. This made Ouyang Shuo somewhat unhappy.
Di Renjie's arrival just happened to balance out Wei Yang's presence in the Internal Affairs Bureau.
It was reasonable for Ouyang Shuo to take the opportunity to transfer Jing Jian out of the Internal Affairs Bureau. Of course, Ouyang Shuo didn't mistreat Jing Jian. Jing Jian was transferred to be the County Governor of Shaowu County and was even promoted by half a rank.
Shaowu County was adjacent to the Jiangnan Province and belonged to the border area. Having Jing Jian, a military official, as the County Governor was also conducive to stabilizing the border. It could be said to be killing two birds with one stone.
He appointed Xun Yu as the County Governor of Fuyong County, Baili Nanfeng as the County Governor of Tingzhou, and Fang Xiaoru as the County Governor of Longyan County.
Fuyong County was the most central county in the Minnan Province and was also the frontline against Overlord City. With Xun Yu, a top-notch strategist, in charge, Ouyang Shuo could be at ease.
When necessary, Xun Yu could give advice to the troops guarding Fuyong County.
Thus, there were two "special" County Governors, a strategist and a military general, at the border of the Minnan Province. It could be seen that Ouyang Shuo was not at ease with Overlord City.
In the future, Shanhai City was going to expand, and Ouyang Shuo didn't want Xiong Ba and the others to cause any trouble. If it wasn't for the fact that he was worried that the Yan Huang Alliance and the Silver Hand would fight back, Ouyang Shuo had the heart to take over the Jiangnan Province.
The County Governor of Tingzhou, Baili Nanfeng, was a player. He was the most important chess piece that the Shanhai Guards had planted around them. Ouyang Shuo abided by his previous promise and let him govern a county.
Baili Nanfeng was a utilitarian, or rather, an egoist. He wasn't a die-hard loyalist, and he also had the "stain" of betraying his previous master, the Dragon Seeking Acupoint.
Fortunately, Tingzhou County was located in the Minnan Province, far away from the Dragon Seeking City and the ocean. Ouyang Shuo wasn't worried that Baili Nanfeng would cause any trouble. Not to mention, the Shanhai Guards were keeping an eye on him.
Ouyang Shuo believed that Baili Nanfeng was a tactful person. People who benefited from their own interests were usually clear-headed. As long as Shanhai City didn't have any problems, Baili Nanfeng wouldn't have any ideas.
Apart from Baili Nanfeng, the first ten lords of the Minnan Province who had cooperated with Shanhai City also received generous rewards. All of them were appointed as prefects. Of course, their positions weren't in the Minnan Province.
As for the six lords who surrendered later, some of them were appointed as prefects, while others could only become county magistrates. Whether they could be promoted or not depended on their abilities.
For these lords, if they could be promoted to prefects one day, it would be worth it.
This time, a large number of lords were appointed as prefects instead of "forcing" them to become merchants. One reason was that Ouyang Shuo had become more confident, and the other was that Shanhai City's system was becoming more complete.
The current Shanhai City could accommodate "oddities" and withstand the impact.
The prefect of Longyan County, Fang Xiaoru, was the only famous civil official among the sixteen territories in the Minnan Province. Ouyang Shuo naturally made the best use of his talent and arranged for Fang Xiaoru to continue serving in Longyan County.
[Name]: Fang Xiaoru (King Level)
[Title]: Mr. Academic
[Dynasty]: Ming Dynasty
[Identity]: Prefect of Longyan County
[Occupation]: Civil Official
[Loyalty]: 70
[Commander]: 45 [Martial Power]: 30 [Intelligence]: 75 [Politics]: 80
[Specialties]: Academic (Increases the territory's education level by 30, the territory's integrity level by 20, the territory's culture level by 25)
[Works]: Xun Zhi Zhai Collection
[Remarks]: Xiaoru has been astute since he was young. His eyes are bright, and he has read a lot every day. Because of his great literary talent, the villagers call him Little Han Zi.
Fang Xiaoru's courtesy name was Xizhi. He was a senior adviser to Zhu Di, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Yao Guangxiao called him a "scholar's seed." Later, because he refused to draft an imperial edict for Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan, he was killed by Zhu Di.
Fang Xiaoru was a martyr in history. Mr. Hu Shi once commented, "After Fang Xiaoru was killed, there were no more political thinkers in the Ming Dynasty for 200 years."
With the appointment of the four prefects, the Minnan Province immediately ended its military control and began to slowly get on the right track.
March 23rd, Longxun City.
After delineating the four prefects, Ouyang Shuo came to Longxun City, accompanied by Du Ruhui. The first was to send Xun Yu, Jing Jian, and Bai Nanfeng to their posts. The second was to discuss a new round of army reorganization.
Because the battle went smoothly, neither side suffered any losses when the imperial guards attacked the Longxun Army.
Even in the battle of Longxun City, the imperial guards and the city guards didn't put up much resistance, because the difference in strength was too great!
Similarly, the other three counties didn't have any exciting battles.
This created a 'blissful' problem. Post-war statistics showed that nearly three hundred thousand soldiers needed to be reorganized. It far exceeded Ouyang Shuo's expectations.
Ouyang Shuo originally believed that it would be pretty good if the four counties could reorganize three armies. In reality, it was more than enough to reorganize four armies.
Among the three armies, the Dragon Stallion Army and the Leopard Army currently had four field armies, while the Brave Tiger Army had three. They were just short of four armies from the full five armies.
Ouyang Shuo gritted his teeth and endured the objections of the finance department. He planned on expanding the three armies to their full strength in one go.
It wasn't that Ouyang Shuo wanted to be militaristic. Firstly, the soldiers that were to be reorganized were regular soldiers from his territory. Ouyang Shuo couldn't possibly let these precious soldiers retire, right?
Secondly, with the territory being promoted to a capital city, the population growth would enter the fast lane. It wouldn't take long for the ratio of soldiers to civilians to reach a safe value.
Thirdly, Gaia happened to reward him with three million gold coins. With this amount of money, the military expansion wouldn't have any substantial impact on the territory's finances.
Furthermore, the conquest of Minnan Province didn't cause any damage to the territory. Only by stabilizing the hearts of the people could he quickly get back on the right track. There was no need for the protectorate to provide additional financial aid.
Only then did Fan Li agree to this round of army reorganization and approved the military budget.
Before coming to Longxun City, Ouyang Shuo had already decided on four army commanders.
The commander of the Dragon Stallion Army's fifth army was Shi Dakai, the best general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
The commander of the Leopard Army's fifth army was the famous general of the Sui Dynasty, Zhang Xutuo. Zhang Xutuo didn't make it in time for the previous army reorganization, so Ouyang Shuo naturally wouldn't forget this fierce general.
The commander of the Brave Tiger Army's fourth army was Qin Qiong, while the commander of the fifth army was the young general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Li Xiucheng.
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