Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 874 – Target, Atlantic
In the few days after taking down Morocco, Ouyang Shuo received a number of special letters.
The first letter was from Kalia who congratulated the Great Xia Dynasty for totally gaining a stable footing in the Mediterranean Ocean. This was great news to Atlantis City too.
Kalia played a huge role in Ouyang Shuo taking down Morocco. When Morocco got on the right path, Ouyang Shuo would give them a massive gift.
Next would be a letter from Henry. The contents were really short, and it was just a line congratulating him.
Through the short letter, Ouyang Shuo could see through the conflicted heart of Henry. Ouyang Shuo wanted to see how Henry would choose between territory and organizational interests.
Everyone was selfish.
Right now, Ouyang Shuo needed to wait patiently.
Lastly, there was a letter from Pedro who showed intentions of getting into his good books. Long ago, when Ouyang Shuo arrived in the Mediterranean, Black Snake Guards were ordered to come into contact with this Portuguese Lord.
In Ouyang Shuo’s eyes, Spain and Portugal were huge enemies. As they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, so the Great Xia Dynasty had a reason to work with Faro City.
Who knew that Pedro would be so careful? He actually rejected the olive stretched out by them. Pedro only made a decision after the Morocco battle ended.
Even so, Ouyang Shuo could not confirm whether the current Pedro had totally leaned toward the Great Xia Dynasty or not. Who knows if he might actually change his mind?
Ouyang Shuo judged that Pedro was a selfish person. He was someone who would work with whoever gave him the greatest interests.
Ouyang Shuo could not do anything about this. He could not exactly scold a Lord for being careful.
However, there were many ways the current Great Xia Dynasty and Faro City could work together. Morocco and Portugal’s locations were like a mirror.
In the future matters of the Atlantic, they might need to closely work together.
As for the lack of news from the other Lords in the Mediterranean, Ouyang Shuo believed that they would not wait and do nothing.
Kalia mentioned in her letter that some Lords had held secret meetings.
In management, there was a theory that the more people making a decision, the more the final decision would lean toward being stable. The discussions of the Mediterranean Lords were leaning toward such a situation.
Hence, Ouyang Shuo predicted that they would still have to yield to the Great Xia Dynasty in the end. The Great Xia Dynasty held control of the Gibraltar Straits, which did not only concern the trading between east and west.
To them, the most important use of the Gibraltar Straits was to allow them to travel to the other European and American countries.
Getting out of Gibraltar Straits, one could head north toward England or west toward America.
To the Mediterranean Lords, trading with America was much more important than the trade with the eastern countries.
Now, their lifeline was in the hands of the Great Xia Dynasty. Apart from yielding, they had no other choice.
Of course, the Mediterranean Lords also had chips in their hand. For example, the voyage trading route had to go past the Mediterranean.
Once both sides totally flipped on one another, the Mediterranean Lords would not be able to trade with the Americas while the Great Xia Dynasty voyage trading would also be affected.
Hence, if that really happened, both sides would be negatively affected.
In the end, the outcome they could have depended on whose chips was more important.
…
5th month, 25th day, the Guards Legion Corps and Ouyang Shuo returned to Shanhai City.
On the square not far from the teleportation formation, Jiang Shang had brought the officials. Upon seeing Ouyang Shuo walk out of the formation, he immediately bowed, “Congratulations king for your victorious return!”
A smooth victory was the best news for a country that had just been established. The king going himself also made it more exciting.
“Please rise officials!”
Ouyang Shuo handled them before heading back to the back palace.
Since he had returned to Shanhai City, Ouyang Shuo probably could not rest. Whilst the officials had not approached him, Ouyang Shuo went back to the back palace to take a rest.
Furthermore, during this expedition, Ouyang Shuo had especially gotten gifts for Song Jia and Bing’er and needed to send the gifts to them.
Bing’er was still having classes at the moment, so she was not in the palace. On the other hand, Song Jia, this queen, was currently training in the Guicang Sword manual.
Ouyang Shuo had trained in the killing sword for so long, so he had a discerning eye for sword skills. Looking at her strokes, she had reached the 2nd level of the sword manual.
It seemed like during this period of time, she had been practicing diligently and had not dropped her cultivation.
“Wuyi, you are back!”
Probably feeling Ouyang Shuo’s gaze, Song Jia finally noticed him, and her face revealed an uncontainable joy.
They had not met for a month.
Ouyang Shuo smiled, “Your sword technique is getting better and better.”
Although he had become king, without outsiders present, Ouyang Shuo obviously did not call Song Jia his queen.
“Of course.” In front of Ouyang Shuo, Song Jia did not need to be humble, “You do not know how much effort I have placed into the sword manual. It’s really too complex and just catching a glimpse of it was hard.”
Ouyang Shuo nodded. The two of them chatted as they walked to the nearby pavilion. A maidservant had prepared tea and cake and was awaiting them.
The court lady standing behind Song Jia was her personal one. Seeing the queen laugh and smile so happily, she smiled too. The queen was only so relaxed when she saw the king.
Usually, when the queen managed the back palace, she was really strict and hard for one to get close to.
What about the king?
At this moment, he dropped from a ruler to a normal man who doted on his wife.
Such a scene was one that only personal court ladies could witness.
Ouyang Shuo was used to treating Song Jia like that, causally talking like no one around. As they spoke, they talked about the Jiangshan Beauty that was released not long ago.
“Wuyi, try guess the box office sales of Jiangshan Beauty?” Song Jia could not hide her excitement.
Ouyang Shuo remembered that around 20 million people viewed it in the past life. Apart from Gaia’s cut, they had earned two million in revenue and one million in profit.
It was much different in this life.
Ouyang Shuo calculated in his heart, “Three million?”
Out of 100 million China region players, 30 million viewers was already the max. After all, no matter how explosive the movie was, it would not be able to bring everyone to the cinema.
Song Jia shook her head.
“It did not reach three million? That’s normal.” Ouyang Shuo consoled.
Song Jia burst out laughing and raised four fingers. She smiled and said, “Four million.”
“What? That’s impossible!”
Ouyang Shuo was stunned. What kind of concept was 40 million viewers? Excluding the infants and the elderly, such a number meant that half of China region had gone to watch it.
That was practically impossible.
“How did you all do it?”
Ouyang Shuo was really curious. Even though the production of Jiangshan Beauty in this life was great, it should not be able achieve such results.
Song Jia smiled, “That article you wrote was of great help. Also, not long after the movie was released, the country was established. After learning that the Mountain and Sea Entertainment Holdings had invested in it, with so many recommendations, more and more people watched the movie. Based on the data by Gaia, at least two million players have watched it twice or more times.”
Ouyang Shuo understood; it was no wonder.
Such a miracle was created with many factors in play; it could not be replicated.
Consequently, with just one Jiangshan Beauty, the Mountain and Sea Entertainment Holdings had obtained two million gold of profit. In this life, the production got better, so the costs would naturally be higher.
Ouyang Shuo shook his head and exclaimed, “You all are snatching money.”
Song Jia was in a good mood as she laughed, “Not only that. Gaia has agreed to release it to the world in the 6th month. Gaia has its own translation system, and we did not even need to translate it ourselves.”
“….”
Ouyang Shuo was impressed. In the last life, there were no movies released worldwide. That was the case even in the 5th year. It seemed like the craze over Jiangshan Beauty had changed that.
That was the global market, a tempting prospect.
Although there were cultural differences, conservatively speaking, they could still get four million viewers. Not for other reasons, but simply that Chinese culture was still really welcomed in Asia.
Based on what Song Jia said, the success of Jiangshan Beauty had motivated the movie scene giants, so they signed a contract with the Mountain and Sea Entertainment Holdings.
Apart from Huo Qubing, which was already filmed, they were planning to film two more. The source of funds came from the profits of Jiangshan Beauty.
As long as Huo Qubing’s sales were good, the holdings would be in a positive cycle.
The entire China region was already impressed by the success of Jiangshan Beauty. Now, more and more rich people moved; they wanted to invest in the movie industry.
Only then did they realize that more than 80% of the experienced people were under the Mountain and Sea Entertainment Holdings.
It was not that no one thought about poaching. However, everyone knew who stood behind the holdings.
With such a backer, who would even try?
Hence, the actors would rather stay in the holdings and be an extra than jump over. There was nothing the rich people could do, and they could only search for the remaining 20%.