July and August are the hottest seasons in western Sichuan and also the rainy season. It was early August in the alternating climate of scorching sun and heavy rain. In the past month, Ouyang Xuan's worries about the Sichuan Army's attack and Cao Zhizhou's surrender to the enemy did not appear. It was both humid and hot at this time, and the autumn grain harvest was still a month away. It was basically impossible for the Mongolian army to make any big moves, which made Ouyang Xuan feel at ease a lot. The Perak Army currently has insufficient weapons and ammunition and is really not suitable for large-scale war. Especially in artillery production, although the arsenal's production has reached the design capacity, it has only replenished the early losses in recent times. If the needs of each brigade are to be met, it will still take several months.
To say that this person really couldn't be idle, Ouyang Xuan couldn't help but think of Yang Yan after the pressure eased. Miss Yang's figure would appear in his mind without any warning, so that during this period of time, a silly smile would often appear on his face, leaving people around him baffled. They only thought that Brother Xuan was unpredictable. Only Lu Dezhi, who had just returned from Banzhou, saw the mystery. At that moment, he suggested to Ouyang Xuan that he first send people to Bozhou to send betrothal gifts to set a wedding date, and then marry Miss Yang after the autumn harvest. Lu Dezhi was usually slow-tempered, but after seeing his proposal, Ouyang Xuan was silent but smiling. Knowing that he had agreed, he couldn't hold back his joy and rushed to make preparations.
Shortly after Lu Dezhi followed Yang Yan to Bozhou, Yang Wen also led his troops back to Bozhou. The Boshu Army had been out on the field for several months, suffering a lot of personnel losses and putting great pressure on the supply of food and grass. As soon as the Mongolian army surrounding Diaoyu City retreated, Yang Wen said goodbye to Lu Wende and hurried back to Bozhou on the pretext of returning to Bozhou to fight against the Dali barbarians who were harassing the border. At present, although the Wuliang Hetai tribe did not lead the Mongolian army to attack Bozhou, they continued to induce and drive barbarians of various ethnic groups in Dali to harass Bozhou without interruption.
Yang Wen and Lu De were similar in age. They both read poetry and books, and they hit it off immediately. He heard Lu De's general Ouyang Xuan praise him wildly, but he just said it was just a matter of family. So she quietly asked Yang Yan what she thought of Ouyang Xuan, and asked about the key points of marriage. Yang Yan, who was usually fearless, blushed with embarrassment and whispered: "It all depends on daddy." He laughed. His daughter has a natural personality and knows that she is extremely satisfied with this marriage. Yang Yan is now twenty years old and is an old girl in this generation. If you had already decided on your own marriage, why would you still have so many worries? Speaking of the gray hair on his head, most of it was due to worries about her marriage.
Although he had never met Ouyang Xuan, his daughter had no objection. Yang Wen naturally felt relieved and immediately entered into an engagement with Lu Dezhi. In this world, Ouyang Xuan was alone without a father or a mother, so Lu Dezhi felt at ease as he represented his elders, and the batch of firearms he sent naturally became the first batch of betrothal gifts. After Yang Wen saw the power of these firearms, especially the power of the two heavy fortress cannons, he was overjoyed. This marriage not only satisfied his daughter, but also settled a worry for him. It also meant that Bozhou would be blessed with firearms in the future and would not be afraid of the Mongolian army and the barbarians they drove.
In addition to the good news about her marriage to Yang Yan, two other pieces of good news also came one after another. The first one is that Brother Meng is really dead. After Huang Dagen and his party arrived at Diaoyu City, they learned from Wang Jian and Zhang Jue that the two heavy fortress cannons sent by the Pili Army played an important role in the battle of Diaoyu City. They not only blasted away the Mongolian army attacking the city. The flesh and blood were rotten, and even Wang Dechen was shot to death. The defenders used artillery to hit the observation tower where Meng Ge Khan was standing. It is unknown whether it hit Meng Ge, but the Mongolian army began to retreat after a few days. Later, news of Meng Ge's death came out, saying that he was injured by artillery wind and died on the way to retreat. For this reason, his son Asotai slaughtered all the people on the retreating route, and tens of thousands of innocent people died.
Ouyang Xuan knew the significance of Meng Ge's death. Mongolia's vacant Great Khan position has attracted the covetousness of various Mongolian kings and will lead to internal strife. Meng Ge has three brothers from the same father and mother, namely Kublai Khan, Hulagu and Ali Bu Ge. They were all the sons of Tuo Lei and his first wife, Luhotheni. After receiving the news of Meng Ge's death, Kublai Khan first launched an attack on the Southern Song Dynasty and won many times. Then he led the army to turn around and return north. After Kaiping, he held the Khuritai Conference in Kaiping. With the support of some clan kings, he ascended the throne and became the new Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. A month later, Brother Alibu also held a Khuritai Conference in Helin. He also received the support of some clan kings and ascended the throne to proclaim himself Khan. After that, the two fought many times for the position of Great Khan of the Mongol Empire until Ali Buge was defeated and surrendered four years later.
The death of Meng Ge led to the complete division of the Mongol Empire. In addition to the Yuan Empire established by Kublai Khan, the Mongol Empire also had four independent khanates. This resulted in the various factions of the Mongol Empire being divided and governed, no longer united, and they were suspicious of each other and wary of each other. The Yuan Empire newly established by Kublai Khan had many internal and external enemies and was focused on managing its own territory for several years. Naturally, it was unable to launch a large-scale southern invasion. This will give the Southern Song Dynasty a valuable breathing space, and the Pili Army will also gain a valuable period of development.
Zhang Jue also told Huang Dagen that the short musket given by the Perak Army saved his life. In May, the Mongolian army attacked fiercely and even broke into the Huguo Gate. Once the Huguo Gate falls into the hands of the Mongolian army, Diaoyu City will be in danger. In the battle for Huguomen, Zhang Jue led the defenders into a bitter battle with the Mongolian dead soldiers, and was almost killed several times by the Mongolian scimitar. Exhausted, a Mongolian centurion knocked his sword out of his hand and fell to the ground. Just as the enemy was slashing at him with a grin, he felt the musket stuck at his waist. Just when Qian Jun fired, he blasted the Mongolian centurion's head to pieces with one shot. As soon as the centurion died, the Mongolian army's offensive came to a halt, but the morale of the defenders was greatly boosted, and the offensive and defensive positions changed in the blink of an eye. After a few rounds, the defenders killed the Mongolian army out of the gate to protect the country.
The second good news is that Ouyang Xuan was promoted to the deputy envoy of Chengdu to appease, and he also served as the military commander of Yongkang. This imperial appointment was brought by a messenger from Jiading Prefecture. In the letter, Yu Xing first congratulated him, and then said that if you want to drink water, don't forget the well digger. He hinted that Ouyang Xuan should know how to honor his recommendation. He also asked roundly about him, Lu Wende, Jia Sidao and other local dignitaries and the court. What is the origin of important ministers and noble people? Ouyang Xuan read Yu Xing's letter and knew that the messenger team had arrived in Lin'an successfully. The imperial court has a post station, and the official appointment documents are naturally much faster than the messenger team and Li Kaipeng's reply letters. He knew that this appointment was the result of Li Kaipeng's operation, and he must have spent a lot of money. This Yu Xing was so thick-skinned that he didn't take "no reward for no merit" seriously at all. Instead, he shamelessly wanted to extort more money from Ouyang Xuan.
It is said that the deputy envoy of Chengdu's pacification can nominally control the prefectures and counties on Chengdu Fu Road, but currently most of Chengdu Fu Road is still occupied by the Mongolian army. Except for the Perak Army, Yazhou and Lizhou, the rest of the areas are in ruins. What's especially terrible is that Chengdu's deputy pacification envoy also has the responsibility of pacifying the Yi and Fan tribes and preventing them from disturbing the border or even rebelling, which is really thankless. In fact, the imperial court established the position of deputy envoy to appease Chengdu precisely to handle Yibo affairs in western Sichuan.
In the eyes of Yu Xing and other officials, this position is really like a useless position. There is no meat to eat, but there is flavor to discard it. However, this official position is very important to the Pili Army. It means that Ouyang Xuan has the authority to manage the affairs of the Yi and Tibetan people on the Sichuan border. He can handle the affairs of Jisizhou such as Diao and Yan that were originally managed by Yazhou. It also means that Cao Zhizhou We no longer dare to openly obstruct the activities of the Perak Army caravan in the Yifan area. Ouyang Xuan is now his superior, albeit only in name.
