Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 881 – Di Chen Concedes
On the 2nd floor room, Ouyang Shuo and his group sat.
The following Personal Guards sat outside the room and flawlessly guarded the room.
Unlike when they were on the bustling streets, Meng Feifei and Tan Xiaoli became careful when they entered the room. Although the man in front of them used to be their classmate, he was the king of the Great Xia Dynasty now.
Thinking back to the recent matter, where the other classmates were stopped outside the door when they wanted to ask him about guild matters, the two of them felt uneasy and did not know what to say. The atmosphere in the room instantly became a little awkward.
However, Bing’er was unafraid of the atmosphere and started to order her food.
Seeing which, Ouyang Shuo took the initiative to start a conversation, “Weren’t all of you training on the mountains? Why do you have the time to come down?” The two of them were core disciples of the sword sect and were one step away from becoming direct disciples.
Based on sect rules, core disciples could not leave the mountain without any reason.
Meng Feifei explained, “Elder Lin has ordered us to contact the sects and dojos in the city.”
As she said that, Meng Feifei felt a little embarrassed. After all, they were supposed to contact the sects and dojos, but they had come over to the food street instead. Originally, it was nothing wrong, but Song Jia was the sect leader. As such, saying this in front of Ouyang Shuo did not feel right.
Ouyang Shuo naturally would not mind all this, continuing, “How’s the Dongli Sword Sect like recently, it should be developing well, right?”
Ouyang Shuo rarely asked about sect matters.
Meng Feifei said proudly, “Yes, we have close to five thousand disciples. Especially after sect leader got the Guicang Sword Manual, the fame of the sect grew, and many people wanted to join.”
“You have so many disciples, do you have enough space?”
From what Ouyang Shuo remembered, the Dongli Sword Sect’s land was not that big.
Meng Feifei said, “We cannot fit on the mountain, so elder Lin suggested half a year ago to build a courtyard at the foot for junior disciples. Only senior disciples can move onto the mountains. Recently, the sect is preparing to open courtyards in other mountains for future needs.”
Ouyang Shuo was amazed. Lin Yue was running the sword sect really well.
Using this as a topic, the girls were not so scared anymore and raised up some interesting incidents.
Tan Xiaoli smiled, “Last month, our class gathered once in the game. Unfortunately, you were too busy and could not come.”
“Is that so?” Ouyang Shuo explained, “I was still overseas, so my men probably forgot to send the invitation over. Next time, if there’s a chance, I’ll invite everyone over to Shanhai City to play.”
Tan Xiaoli smiled, “That’s great. If you do, everyone will definitely come. During the last gathering, there were only half of the people.”
Ouyang Shuo nodded. After all, who knows how long this student friendship could last for?
After chatting for a while, these two ladies knew that Ouyang Shuo had a reason for coming over, so they found a reason to leave. Ouyang Shuo did not waste any more time and continued to accompany Bing’er to eat on the food street.
That small girl had a huge stomach, and she wanted to try any delicacy she came across. Even the Personal Guards got lucky and were able to eat to their full.
Although Bing’er was young, she was really good to the palace guards, court ladies, and maidservants. No wonder everyone in the palace doted on her.
Close to nighttime, they quietly went back to the palace, with no one recognizing them. During dinner, Bing’er, who had been eating for the whole afternoon, did not have any appetite, so she just drank a bowl of soup before returning to the palace to rest.
************
6th month, 2nd day, the envoys that went to Handan City, Blood Red City, and King City all returned one by one.
Facing the warning of Shanhai City, Di Chen yielded, but he tried to argue that the Handan City Squadron did so by mistake and did not recognize the flag of the Great Xia Dynasty.
Di Chen was not going to take any responsibility for it.
Ouyang Shuo did not care, as aristocratic people like Di Chen were always focused on interests first. As long as they did not try anything funny, Ouyang Shuo would not bother with tem.
Of course, Ouyang Shuo would not be tricked by Di Chen. When the Handan City Squadron formed and had the power to control the Bohai Sea, his attitude would definitely change.
It was Wufu’s reply a day ago that Ouyang Shuo really cared about.
In the letter, he said that if the Great Xia Dynasty helped them build a navy squadron, Stone City was willing to become their vassal state.
Wufu’s suggestion was not what Ouyang Shuo had expected, and he especially asked the Shanhai Guards to check why his attitude changed so much. His reply made it seem like he was facing big trouble.
Being a vassal state was not an honorable thing. Unless one was forced to, Lords would not take this path. Even if he were an ally, there probably was a hidden reason.
The intel from the Shanhai Guards shocked Ouyang Shuo.
In the 5th month, during the time Ouyang Shuo was overseas, Handan City had pressed down on Stone City at Zhangwu Prefecture, and it seemed like they were going to start a war.
All of a sudden, the gunpowder smell at Zhangwu Prefecture was really strong.
At the same time, the Handan City Squadron patrolled the Binhai Bay region, locking up the Stone City trade route.
Stone City also had a lot of unrest, and it seemed like it was caused by Di Chen.
Hence, Stone City was not having a good time recently.
With Handan City as a neighbor, it was a huge headache for Wufu, and he could not get any peace.
Looking at the intel, Ouyang Shuo understood Wufu’s thoughts. He was a smart person. From his viewpoint, rather than asking for help time and time again, why not just join them?
It seemed like the pressure Di Chen gave Stone City had demoralized Wufu.
If that was the case, Ouyang Shuo really needed to thank Di Chen. Stone City was the north castle of the alliance. Ouyang Shuo had wanted to improve their relationship, but it was hard to do so without hurting Wufu’s pride.
The Xunlong Dianxue matter made Ouyang Shuo much more careful when he treated allies.
Now that Wufu had taken the initiative to discuss the matter, Ouyang Shuo naturally welcomed it. After all, they were allies. Although they had signed an agreement, Ouyang Shuo would still give him some face.
The contents of the agreement were still being written up and would be announced soon.
Before which, Ouyang Shuo needed to settle the matter of how to help Stone City build the Binhai Squadron.
…
6th month, 3rd day morning, Xia Imperial Palace Wuying palace.
Within the main hall, Grand Council members, Navy Admiral Zheng He, Navy Headquarters Advisor Lu Su, Yashan Squadron Fleet Admiral Yu Dayou, Chief General Cai Mao, Industrialization Director Chen Bingguang, the Shipbuilding Secretary, and other related personnel had all gathered for the meeting.
The topic of discussion was how to help Stone City build the Binhai Squadron.
Ouyang Shuo sat at the helm and said loudly, “Admiral Zheng, voice the Navy Headquarters’ proposal.”
“Yes my king!”
Zheng He stepped out to answer, “My king, the Navy Headquarters will send a group of elite navy generals, captains, advanced sailors, and other personnel from the Yashan Squadron to form a teaching squad. It will be led by Cai Mao to go to Stone City to help them.”
Ouyang Shuo nodded. Looking at Cai Mo, who was standing behind Yu Dayou, he said, “General Cai is good at teaching, it’s a good choice.”
Cai Mao was the first historical navy general of the territory. Of course, Zheng He chose Cai Mao so as to raise his position to control the Zhou Yu led Wu navy generals.
The East Wu navy generals were common over all five squadrons. As the admiral, even if Zhou Yu and the others did not have any other thoughts, he had to develop people that could go up against them.
When Cai Mao heard that, he stepped out and bowed, “I will try my best to do it well.”
Ouyang Shuo nodded and looked toward Chen Bingguang, “Building the warships, cannons, handguns, and the like. How’s the preparation by the department?”
The coal transport ship matter had been settled, so Chen Bingguang was feeling really good, “Along with the Shu Mountain Steel Corporation getting on the right path, there will not be any problems with cannons and handguns. However, to gather a squadron amount of warships in a short amount of time is too hard.”
“Since the developmental success of the Z1 Type Warships, the shipyards have stopped building turreted warships and focused on building the Z1 Type Warships. Even the ASEAN orders have been rejected by the Shipbuilding Division. We only have 10 turreted warships left for the five squadrons to change.”
Ouyang Shuo said, “Since that’s the case, give them to Stone City as the training squadrons. During that time, if the five squadrons have a shortfall, use the chance to change into the Z1 Type Warship.”
“Yes my king.”
Chen Bingguang continued and said, “The Industrialization Department’s view is why not teach them how to fish instead of giving them the fish? Why not send them a group of advanced shipbuilders to build a large-sized shipyard there? Then it could meet the requirements of the Binhai Squadron and will not affect the building speed of the Z1 Type Warships. The only problem is that for just one shipyard to supply an entire squadron with warships, if would take half a year. Considering that the shipyard needs to be built, it would take even longer.”
“Half a year? That’s too long.”
Ouyang Shuo shook his head. If the entire squadron was formed up, the Binhai Squadron would need at least a year to get trained. Di Chen and the others would not give them such a long time.
Thinking of which, Ouyang Shuo looked at those seated, “Do you guys have any ideas?”
Seeing that, Lu Su stepped out and bowed, “My king, I think we can multitask. Apart from building a large=sized shipyard, our navy can quicken our elimination of turreted warships and pass them to the Binhai Squadron.”