Since Ouyang Xuan and Yang Yan like each other, the next step will be much easier. It's just that this matter is so important that a joint military and political meeting must be held to discuss it. The meeting was hosted by Li Shuang. Ouyang Xuan did not attend, but applied for recusal. Everyone didn't take it seriously, they just thought he was shy. Ouyang Xuan answered everyone half seriously and half jokingly that the marriage with Bozhou not only involves feelings, but also involves interests, so it is better for him not to participate. This military and political joint meeting was extremely special in the subsequent history of the Perak Army, not only because it was one of the very few military and political joint meetings that Ouyang Xuan did not participate in, but also from this meeting on, the Perak Army formed a formal avoidance system.
In view of the high possibility that the Perak Army and the Bozhou Army will marry and form a strong alliance, the military-political joint meeting decided to implement preferential treatment for Bozhou. According to Li Shuang, this is called strategic investment. Influenced by Ouyang Xuan, the Pili Army was different not only in terms of weights, measures and place names. For example, the Pili Army used meters and centimeters instead of feet and feet for length, and used hours and minutes instead of hours for timekeeping. For example, Ouyang Xuan often calls Bozhou Zunyi. Over time, the top brass of the Perak Army learned a lot of Ouyang Xuan's terms, such as strategy, tactics, system, system, etc.
There are several concessions to Bozhou. The first is to provide weapons and equipment for Miss Yang's escort according to the standards of field brigade infantry. This was brought up by Cao Ergou. He learned from his wife Qian Yaomei that the more than 30 people who came to Bozhou this time were Yang Yan's exclusive guards. Cao Ergou's reasons are very good. When Miss Yang returns to Bozhou, Brother Xuan will definitely miss her all the time. In order to prevent him from worrying about Miss Yang's safety, it is necessary to equip his guards with the latest firearms. According to Cao Ergou's proposal, the Pili Army will equip each of Yang Yan's more than 30 guards with a new breech-loaded musket, a matching three-bladed military bayonet, 100 rounds of copper-cased ammunition and five new grenades. There are four light crouching tiger cannons.
The second item is to donate two heavy old fortress guns, ten light old fortress guns and 50 rounds of supporting ammunition to the Bozhou Army, as well as 1,000 old grenades, 200 new grenades, 100 old muskets, and landmines. Fifty. This is what Ru Dezhi means. As a traditional scholar, Lu De still felt that "the orders of his parents and the words of the matchmaker" were very reasonable. Although Yang Wen intends to marry Ouyang Xuan, he has not agreed now and has to send some firearms to win his favor. These things can also be regarded as expressing Pilijun's sincerity for this marriage, and can even be regarded as part of the betrothal gift paid in advance.
The third item is to assist Boshu in mining. Banzhou is rich in minerals and has no shortage of manpower. What it lacks are advanced tools and technology for mining. The Perak Army is currently extremely efficient, not only because of the use of gunpowder, but more importantly, the use of quite a few mature technologies. Of course, the production of these technologies was obtained by the lives and blood of the prisoners of war who worked in the mines. Li Shuang's proposal is actually a win-win choice. For Bozhou, it can obtain a lot of wealth from the mine, and the Pili Army can also obtain stable strategic resources. Speaking of which, Li Shuanghou was a dark and sophisticated man. Regarding the mining, he added that he could send someone to prepare it first and then start it after the two of them got married. It’s a classic example of “no rabbit, no hawk”.
Li Shuang's additional explanation calmed everyone down. Yes, you are handing over too many benefits before you get married. How to make it happen? Lu Dezhi and Boss Qian who were present were prepared to make suggestions. For example, Lu Dezhi wanted Bozhou to send people to the Pili Army's county school and state school to study. Boss Qian considered that the Bozhou Navy was weak and could be sent by the Pili Army fleet. When the goods arrived, I immediately stopped talking and decided to discuss it after the wedding was held.
Everyone quickly reached a consensus on how to respond to Bozhou. The meeting decided that Lu Dezhi and Qian Laosan would lead the Perak Army mission and follow Yang Yan to Bozhou. On the one hand, they were going to find out what was going on. If Bozhou had no objections, Ouyang Xuan would go to propose marriage. On the other hand, it is to discuss the details of further cooperation between the two parties. Since the Mongolian army was still besieging Diaoyu City, the Perak Army navy first escorted the mission and firearms to Luzhou, and then disembarked and took the land route to Bozhou. The escort force was a company of the special brigade. As for the land transportation of fortress guns and other firearms, the horse gangs in Banshu were responsible for it. Just after the meeting was held, Ran Zhong had sent people back to Bozhou to prepare for the transportation.
It was early July when Yang Yan and her party returned to Bozhou. Ouyang Xuan did not go to the dock to see him off, but Li Shuang came forward. Also seeing her off was Qian Yimei. During this time, she and Yang Yan became close friends. In fact, Ouyang Xuan rushed to the guest house last night and first entertained everyone in Bozhou as a way to practice for them. After the meal, he chatted with Yang Yan alone for a long time. Although they had made an appointment, Ouyang Xuan would go to Bozhou to propose marriage when the time was right, but both of them knew that in this troubled world with frequent wars, it was impossible to confirm the time of their next meeting. It's just that you have to endure the pain of thinking about it.
The reason why Ouyang Xuan did not go to see him off was, on the one hand, because according to the principle of reciprocity, Li Shuang's appearance had given Bozhou a great deal of face, and on the other hand, he was afraid of exposing his relationship with Yang Yan prematurely. Although his love affair with Yang Yan was not a secret among the top brass of the Perak Army, ordinary soldiers and civilians did not know about it. As the headquarters of the Thunderbolt Army, Chongqing Mansion must have spies from various forces, and the dock personnel are even more mixed. The premature marriage of Ouyang Xuan and Yang Yan is definitely not a good thing for the Pili Army. Because many forces are unwilling to see the marriage between the two parties.
For the Mongolian army, the brave and fierce Bozhou Army was already a headache for them. These short and capable soldiers are hard-working and fearless of life and death. They are first-class mountain warriors. If they use the Thunderbolt Army's firearms, it will definitely be a nightmare. Yu Xing, Cao Zhizhou and others are absolutely unwilling to see a marriage between the two parties, because such a strong alliance will definitely squeeze their right to speak and restructure the political sphere of influence in central Sichuan. In fact, even the court in Lin'an did not want to see the marriage between the two parties. Since the rise of the Bozhou Yang family in the late Tang Dynasty, it has been a de facto independent kingdom, but it has not publicly proclaimed itself king. With the support of Bozhou, the Perak Army, which listens to the tune but not the propaganda, will be even more difficult to subdue in the future.
Because the Pengshan Water Battle completely crippled the Mongolian navy in western Sichuan, and the water bandits were wiped out by the navy brigade, Lequan'an only sent a navy company to escort Yang Yan and the Perak Army delegation back to Bozhou this time. In fact, the escort force this time is very powerful. There are more than 200 elite soldiers in the navy company and the special company alone. If you include Yang Yan and Lu De's guards, plus the accompanying caravan guards, the number is sufficient. There were as many as three hundred people and more than thirty ships, large and small.
Before the boat sailed to Jiading, it was a smooth journey. On the way from Jiading to Xuzhou, he encountered trouble. The Perak Army only focused its defense attention on the Mongolian army and the water bandits, but unexpectedly almost clashed with Yu Xing's water army. After the Perak Army took control of Pengshan City, the Mongolian navy was unable to go south at all, so Yu Xing deployed his navy on the waterway from Jiading to Chongqing. "The upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked." Yu Xing and his son exploited passing merchants very hard. These navy soldiers also followed the same example. They took advantage of the chaos of the war to plunder property, and framed those who refused to resist as spies of the Mongolian army. , kill and silence.
