Chapter 480-Zhenhai City
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
After sending Xiao He away, Ouyang Shuo met another person, Hefu.
After learning that Jade Buddha County had fallen, South Alliance not only removed him from his role as alliance leader, they even kicked him out. The current Hefu was truly a lonely person.
The only thing of value would be the control over Jade Buddha County.
After learning that Tianshuang County had fallen, Ouyang Shuo was eager to find another city in the center of Lingnan Province.
In the end, Ouyang Shuo had set his sights on Jade Buddha County. Apart from the fact that he needed it during the war, its harbor was another attractive factor.
Coincidentally, Jiaozhou Harbor was located between Beihai Harbor and Quanzhou Harbor, so it could act as a transit point for goods.
Be it merchant ships or warships, they could only carry a limited amount of freshwater and food. If they brought too much, it would affect the number of other goods they could carry.
Hence, during a routine naval journey, people would choose to stop at a few harbors along the way.
The position of Jiaozhou Harbor was special.
With Jiaozhou Harbor, Ouyang Shuo's plan to transport goods through the sea from Quanzhou could become a reality.
This was also the reason why Ouyang Shuo had ordered Zhao Kuo to not destroy the stone steele.
The bright sunlight shone into the courtyard, as the blooming flowers bloomed emitted a vibrant vilatality.
Hefu, who the guards escorted, was looking really down. His face now had a beard, and he looked defeated. He did not have the aura of a Lord or the prestige from before.
Maybe because he was not used to the light, but Hefu used his hand to shade his forehead, as he squinted his eyes.
Ouyang Shuo stood in the corridor. He looked at Hefu, who walked step by step towards him. If you lost, you became a prisoner. Today's outcome could serve as a lesson for others.
"Lord Hefu, I've long been looking for you!" Ouyang Shuo greeted.
When Hefu heard these words, he raised his head and looked at Ouyang Shuo, as his mouth turned into a self-deprecating smile. With a hoarse voice, he said, "I am a fallen man. Lord Wuyi is joking!"
The man in front of him was the Lord that destroyed his dreams and ambitions.
Weirdly enough, the current Hefu did not feel any anger or regret. It was like all his moments had disappeared the moment he lost.
The man in front of him was of similar age, but he stood at the pinnacle of the game. There was also a moment that he himself was one step away from approaching such a position.
That small distance had resulted in the current difference between night and day.
This displayed the luck and misfortune of life.
Thinking about this point, Hefu felt more and more desperate. He only wanted to use the last of his chips to exchange for some money. Then, he would find an imperial city to seclude himself.
The two opponents stood facing one another, not saying anything.
"Please!"
In the end, Ouyang Shuo broke the silence and led Hefu into the reading room. Toward this person and such an opponent, Ouyang Shuo still held a great deal of respect for him.
Hefu did not mind, nodding his head and walking in. He sat on his own and said tiredly, "Lord Wuyi, what terms do you have. Please state them!"
His voice contained a mix of his sense of failure and his exhaustion.
When Ouyang Shuo heard this, he knew that the words he had prepared would not come into play. He smiled slightly, "Lord Hefu is frank. Since that's the case, I will not beat around the bush. I have twenty thousand gold here; hand over Jade Buddha County over to me."
"Fifty thousand!"
This time, Hefu's voice was resolute.
Ouyang Shuo frowned; this was a bit of a ripoff. However, he had to admit that the actual value of the county was not twenty thousand.
But the problem was that the current Jade Buddha County was already in his hands. Ouyang Shuo was only buying the teleportation formation.
"Thirty thousand gold, no more bargaining. Lord Hefu, you should know that you do not have much bargaining room." In the end, Ouyang Shuo decided to give in slightly and add in an extra ten thousand gold.
Thirty thousand gold was enough to let Hefu live as he wished. If he did a little business, he could easily become rich.
Silence, a long, long silence.
Hefu closed his mouth. He did not even speak a word, as he had a final internal struggle.
Even so, Ouyang Shuo's attitude remained unchanging. At this time, sympathy had left his body, and there was only coldness and rationality left.
A difference of twenty thousand gold was enough to let Shanhai City do many things.
In the financial profits of the 8th month, apart from the funds needed for the education and medical revolutions, Ouyang Shuo needed ten thousand gold to fund the Shanhai Guards.
Hence, the amount of money on hand was not enough for him to spend thoughtlessly.
He had already spent a considerable sum of money when he formed the Black Snake Guards. Now, to create the Shanhai Guards, which stood at a level higher, the amount of funds would naturally reach an even more terrifying number.
After all, to develop and maintain a bunch of spies was not an easy matter.
The Battle of Zhaoqing and the changes in Wulong County were enough to prove the value of intel. Ouyang Shuo's investment into the Black Snake Guards had not gone to waste; his investment had bore fruit.
Just as Ouyang Shuo started to feel a little impatient, Hefu finally let go.
"I agree!"
Hefu raised his head and looked at Ouyang Shuo, “Who should I let it go to?"
"Song Wen!"
"Song Wen?"
Hefu felt a little surprised. It was a person who had lost to him.
"That's right!"
Amongst Lord gamemode players, there were not many people he trusted. Apart from Song Wen, there were none left. As a result, Ouyang Shuo had much such plans when Tianshuang County fell.
Moreover, this was a sort of the compensation from Ouyang Shuo to Song Wen.
"Okay!"
Although Hefu felt that it was strange, he did not care much. He immediately opened the territory interface and chose to hand over control.
"System Notification: Player Hefu, will you hand over control of your territory?"
"Yes!"
"System Notification: Please set player to take control. Friendly Reminder: the set person's occupation must be a Lord."
"Song Wen!"
"System Notification: Searching for Song Wen…."
"System Notification: Player meets the requirements. Will you hand over control?"
"Yes!"
"System Notification: Control has been handed over. Automatically removing the position of the Jade Buddha County Lord."
At this point, Jade Buddha County had a new Lord.
Hefu took the thirty thousand gold and left through the Wulong City teleportation formation. After that, Ouyang Shuo did not hear any news related to him.
Initially, the Black Snake Guards wanted to follow him and assassinate him once as revenge.
However, Ouyang Shuo did not agree for a simple reason. In Tianshuang County, Hefu had displayed some goodwill actions toward the Four Seas Bank that Ouyang Shuo wished to repay.
After Hefu handed over control of the territory, Song Wen went to find Ouyang Shuo.
Before this, Song Wen did not know that Ouyang Shuo had any plans. Then, he suddenly receives this notification, which made him feel astonished and very touched.
He did not expect that after losing Tianshuang County, he would be given the even better Jade Buddha County.
Although both were territories, Song Wen knew that they were fundamentally different.
Tianshuang County was the private territory of the Song Family, so they could decide everything.
Jade Buddha County was different, as it belonged to Shanhai Territory, to Ouyang Shuo. To put it bluntly, Song Wen was just a high-level employee.
He was not a Lord of a territory but a city. His identity was similar to Mulan Yue’s. Moreover, he did not hand over a territory, so he had a lower position than her.
When the two of them met, the atmosphere was also exceedingly awkward.
The last time they met was at the Shanhai Alliance gathering. Even during the Battle of Julu, the two rarely talked.
During the meeting, as Song Wen was the son of the Song Family, he had the power to talk to Ouyang Shuo equally as friends.
But now, as times had changed, the situation had also changed. Their identities and roles had changed completely.
Now, when Song Wen met Ouyang Shuo, he felt the need to lower himself. Song Wen himself knew that he needed to reevaluate this person in front of him. He would have to change the way he acted.
The current Ouyang Shuo was his master.
Since Song Wen came to him, Ouyang Shuo decided to describe his plans for Jade Buddha County.
Jade Buddha County was renamed as Zhenhai City.
Ouyang Shuo changed the name because Jade Buddha County had the mark of Hefu's name.
Song Wen would become the mayor of Zhen An City.
Apart from that, he did not receive land or rank like Mulan Yue. Members of the Song Family could not move over and had to stay in Shanhai City.
This was a warning from Ouyang Shuo.
The day that Song Wen’s accomplishments satisfied Ouyang Shuo, he would grant the former rank and land.
Apart from that, as the mayor, he was only in charge of administrative matters. As for military affairs, Ouyang Shuo had other plans.
Apart from forming a Garrison Division, Ouyang Shuo was ready to create another naval division. Temporarily, they would just call it the Jiaozhou Squadron Dirt Division.
As for the captain, Ouyang Shuo chose Yanhuo Yaonie.
Although in the attack of Jade Buddha County, the two squadrons did not have the chance to show off, Yanhuo Yaonie had already met the mark to receive a promotion.
This time, Yanhuo Yaonie had obtained a stage to show off his talents. Whether he was able to lead the Jiaozhou Squadron 1st division and guard Zhenhai City was Ouyang Shuo's test for him.