Feng Qingyue left and returned to Shu as an advisor to the Governor of Shu.
Pang Tong naturally stayed in Shanhai City. Together with Jia Xu and Chen Gong, he would assist the Chief Scholar Zhang Liang in formulating a five-year strategic plan for the Great Xia Dynasty.
This was a major task that Ouyang Shuo handed to the Cabinet of Advisors after meeting Zhang Liang.
Based on the time, it would be five years since Gaia returned from Ouyang Shuo's second voyage. Ouyang Shuo needed the opinion of the Cabinet of Advisors on how the Great Xia Dynasty would continue to ride the waves in the new year.
Ouyang Shuo looked forward to Zhang Liang's plan that would surprise him.
After sending Feng Qingyue off, Ouyang Shuo tore open the Emperor-ranked summoning talisman that Gaia had rewarded him with. A white beam of light flashed as a white-bearded elder with a ruddy face and long braided hair appeared in the imperial study.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!" The old man bowed.
"System Notification: Congratulations to player You Have Nothing to Wear for successfully recruiting the Emperor-level historical figure Li Hongzhang." Ouyang Shuo was stunned. He did not expect to recruit such a special talent.
[Name]: Li Hongzhang (Emperor-level)
[Dynasty]: Qing Dynasty
[Identity]: Great Xia Civil Official
[Occupation]: Civil Official
[Loyalty]: 80
[Commander]: 85 [Martial Power]: 50 [Intelligence]: 75 [Politics]: 88
[Specialties]: Literary and martial (Increases the dynasty's industrial efficiency by 15, increases the dynasty's administrative efficiency by 25, increases the dynasty's navy's combat power by 20)
[Works]: Entering the Capital
[Evaluation]: A famous official of the late Qing Dynasty, the founder of the Huai Army and the Beiyang Navy, one of the main leaders of the Westernization Movement. Together with Zeng Guofan, Zhang Zhidong and Zuo Zongtang, they were known as the "Four Great Officials of the Resurgence of China".
The evaluation of Li Hongzhang was mixed.
The Prime Minister of Japan, Ito Hirobumi, regarded him as "the only person in the Great Qing Dynasty who had the ability to compete with the world's great powers". The West even called Li Hongzhang, Bismarck and Grant the "Three Great Men of the Nineteenth Century".
But in modern China, Li Hongzhang, who was an extremely high official, was a "traitor" who was known to everyone. Almost all of the major unequal treaties in modern China's history were signed by Li Hongzhang. At that time, many people wanted to send Li Hongzhang to the eighteenth level of hell so that he would never be able to reincarnate, but such a crime was too heavy for Li Hongzhang.
Empress Dowager Cixi regarded him as "the man who recreated Heaven and Earth", while Li Hongzhang claimed to be the "laminator" of the thatched cottage of the Qing Dynasty. When the wind blew, no matter how skilled the paperhanger was, he could not save the thatched cottage from collapsing.
Observing Li Hongzhang's character, he might be able to glean a thing or two through a short story.
It was rumored that during the Ten Thousand Kingdom Games, the flags of the various countries would be raised along with the national anthem. However, when it was China's turn, only the Yellow Dragon Flag would be raised amidst the silence.
The dignified Qing Empire didn't even have a national anthem. The audience burst into mockery.
At this moment, an old man in his seventies, Li Hongzhang, stood up. Although his steps were not very steady, he walked resolutely to the Yellow Dragon Flag. He straightened his back as much as possible, and with a voice that was neither clear nor loud, he sang a song that he had been very familiar with since he was young — a folk song from his hometown of Anhui, "Jasmine Flower."
The clamor returned to silence. Only Li Hongzhang's voice reverberated in the stadium. When he finished singing, thunderous applause surged from all directions toward this old man who had risked his life to defend his country and the dignity of his people.
If Li Hongzhang had been born a hundred years earlier, he would definitely have become a famous Qing Dynasty official like Zhang Tingyu, leaving his name in the annals of history.
After consecutively recruiting Zhang Tingyu, Tian Wenjing, and the other civil officials of the Qing Dynasty, what Ouyang Shuo looked forward to the most were the Four Great Resurgence Ministers of the Late Qing Dynasty. If he could gather all four of them, it would undoubtedly become a story that would be well told.
After exchanging greetings, Ouyang Shuo considered how to arrange for Li Hongzhang. He was an all-rounder. He was skilled in military, governance, and diplomacy. He was also open-minded and far-sighted.
As the industrialization of the dynasty was on the right track, the ocean trade was flourishing day by day. Within the civil officials of the dynasty, a new trend of thought was quietly surging, constantly attacking the inherent godly level of the civil officials.
Li Hongzhang's arrival would be a suitable guide for this trend of thought. Even Ouyang Shuo was unable to change the traditional thinking of the civil officials in one fell swoop.
The trend of thought of the Westernization Movement at the end of the Qing Dynasty could be used as a transition.
After thinking for a long time, Ouyang Shuo decided to appoint Li Hongzhang as the Minister of the Navy. His first task was to be in charge of establishing a Grand Xia Navy Academy in Beihai City.
Since the development of the navy, there should be a specialized academy to nurture the talents of the navy.
To establish a modern navy academy, Li Hongzhang was undoubtedly a suitable choice. Ouyang Shuo directly allocated a million gold coins for the establishment of the Grand Xia Navy Academy.
Li Hongzhang happily accepted the order.
Just as Ouyang Shuo was receiving Li Hongzhang, a system announcement suddenly rang out.
"World Announcement: Congratulations to the player Jack Dawson of the United States for successfully establishing the Dawson Dynasty and becoming the second lord in the world to ascend to the throne. Special reward: 120,000 achievement points, 250,000 reputation points, a hidden structure [Statue of Liberty], and a special reward!"
… …
When the announcement came out, the entire world was shocked.
After the Grand Xia Dynasty, the second dynasty was finally born in the world. The establishment of the Dawson Dynasty, without a doubt, signaled the beginning of the global struggle. In the following period of time, most likely, more dynasties would be born.
One after another, the hegemons of the world were about to reveal their brilliance.
Even Ouyang Shuo felt a hint of urgency. The Grand Xia Dynasty's global expansion had to be accelerated.
… …
Russia region, St. Petersburg.
While the Grand Xia Dynasty was dominating the world and the free cities were shining in the Americas, Russia, which was located in the north of the Eurasian continent, was silent and had never appeared in the eyes of the players of the world.
As the country with the largest territory in the world, Russia spanned across Europe and Asia, bordering the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland to the northwest.
In fact, earth-shattering changes were taking place in this silent country every day.
A lord named Pushkin, like the blazing sun, rose from the plains of Eastern Europe, sweeping across the world and constantly expanding the territory of St. Petersburg.
Today, the entire plains of Eastern Europe belonged to St. Petersburg.
This was truly an incredible achievement. Russia's population distribution was extremely uneven. The western developed regions had an average of 52-77 people per square kilometer, with some places having 261 people per square kilometer. The northeastern tundra belt had less than one person per square kilometer.
Taking over the plains of Eastern Europe was equivalent to taking over 90% of Russia.
St. Petersburg was already very close to the establishment of a new dynasty. Pushkin had endured hardships in order to become the world's first dynasty, to step onto the world stage and shine.
Unfortunately, the China region had produced a freak like Ouyang Shuo.
It was one thing for the Grand Xia Dynasty to suddenly rise up. After all, they had won too many first places. Pushkin could still accept losing to the Grand Xia. Who would have thought that after Pushkin had been promoted to Duke and St. Petersburg had been promoted to the capital city, the Dawson Dynasty would suddenly be established?
This caused Pushkin to feel extremely depressed.
"Third place. No matter what, I can't miss it." Pushkin secretly made up his mind.
… …
England region, Alric Castle.
In reality, William and Jack Dawson were good friends. In the game, Alric Castle was the first European territory to engage in ocean trade with the Liberty City. The two had a close relationship.
When Jack held his ascension ceremony, William was one of the guests.
It wasn't that the two didn't have any differences. For example, their attitudes towards the Grand Xia Dynasty were very different. William had interacted with Ouyang Shuo before, and they followed the principle of business.
In terms of overall strategy, Alric Castle followed the unified arrangements of the [Silver Hand]. But this didn't hinder the ocean trade between Alric Castle and the Grand Xia Dynasty.
Jack was different. He was a firm believer in organization. He would rather do business with the weaker [Yan Huang Alliance] than deal with the Grand Xia Dynasty.
Ouyang Shuo was viewed as Jack's only opponent.
Since they were opponents, their ultimate goal was to 'defeat' him. As soon as the Dawson Dynasty was established, they had already conquered more than 80% of the American region.
In terms of territory, the Dawson Dynasty wasn't inferior to the Grand Xia Dynasty. Jack was extremely ambitious. He had long since set his sights beyond the American region to the Canadian region in the north and the Mexican region in the south.
In Jack's words, "First set a small goal, such as unifying South America."
Of course, this was just Jack bragging. Not to mention the other regions, just the Canadian region alone was larger than the entire American region. It was the second largest country in the world, second only to Russia.
Fortunately, Canada was sparsely populated. Its population density wasn't even half of Russia's, and the total number of players was only three million. Compared to the China region, the number of players in China was less than one-thirtieth of the number of players in China.
Therefore, even though Jack was bragging, it wasn't impossible for him to succeed.
Population in the game was also a type of dividend. Not only did it determine the number of soldiers in a city, it also determined the number of NPCs in a country. To a certain extent, it also determined the overall strength of a country.
This was very ironic, but it was the truth.
In this aspect, the Asian region had an absolute advantage. The total number of players in the China region was more than any of the continents in Europe, America, and Africa.
Of course, there were advantages and disadvantages. The Asian region would also be the region with the most intense struggle.
The only region that could compare to the Asian region was probably the European region. The European region was small, but it was the continent with the highest population density in the world. In addition, there were many countries. Wanting to unify Europe was basically wishful thinking.
On the contrary, because of the small population, it was easier for the American region to determine a regional overlord. Therefore, Jack's ambition to unify Northern America was not just wishful thinking.
Although the African region had similar conditions to the American region, it was destined to be unable to become a global protagonist.
In this aspect, William was very envious of Jack. The current Castle Avik had not even unified the English region, much less Europe.
After much effort, William was only able to unify the English region. There was still a long way to go before he could establish a country.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
