Because he went to bed too late the night before, it was already three o'clock in the morning when Ouyang Xuan got up the next day. When he came to the office after washing, someone came to inform him that a messenger was waiting for him. Ouyang Xuan had no choice but to eat something in a hurry and then went to the living room. In the living room, Xia Dagen was seen talking to the messenger.
The messenger came from Chongqing, and he brought a letter from Lu Wende with the seal of the Sichuan Zhizhi Department. In the letter, Lu Wende first congratulated him on his promotion to the deputy envoy of Chengdu, and also mentioned that he and other important officials in the imperial court were very optimistic about Ouyang Xuan. It was because of his promotion and support that Ouyang Xuan was not lost to everyone. Then he changed the topic and boasted that under his leadership, the Diaoyu City defenders killed Meng Ge and forced the Mongolian army to retreat to the north. Now he will lead the army to the Jinghu front line to assist Ezhou. He heard Yu Xing's introduction, saying that the Yongkang Army, also known as the Pili Army, was brave and good at fighting, especially the navy army, which had the advantage of firearms. Now is the time for the imperial court to use troops, and the Yongkang Army should also send troops to the Ezhou front line to assist in the battle.
Lu Wende also stated in the letter that Yu Xing repeatedly praised Ouyang Xuan in front of him for winning the hearts of the army and the people, being brave and good at fighting, and managing the government well. After driving away the Mongols from Chongqing Mansion and Qiongzhou, he recruited refugees to develop salt industry. Iron, now we have enough money and food, and our soldiers are well equipped. Yu Xing believed that these two prefectures (prefectures) should return to normal governance, and petitioned many times to re-appoint officials in these two prefectures (prefectures) and counties, and to restore the Salt and Iron Supervisor in Qiongzhou. As for Ouyang Xuan, just focus on Yongkang Army's affairs. However, he considered that the Sichuan Army was still powerful and still eyeing Chongqing Mansion and Qiongzhou, so it was not advisable to act too hastily.
When Ouyang Xuan read Lu Wende's letter at the military and political meeting, the venue was in an uproar. Many people immediately greeted Yu Xing's female relatives, and the one who scolded him the most was Cao Ergou. A series of obscene words were like a rapid-fire cannon. Like shotguns, they came out of its mouth continuously. Ouyang Xuan glanced at him, and he was shocked to realize that this was a meeting place, and he suddenly stopped talking. Li Shuang's eyes were full of anger, and he hit the arm guard of the chair with his palm angrily. Even Lu Dezhi, the best-mannered man, shook his head repeatedly and said: "Yu Xing is not worthy of being the son of man, he is not worthy of being the son of man"!
Everyone really couldn't figure it out. The Pili Army sent Yu Xing gold, silver, money and gifts, a share of Baizhang County's tax revenue, grenades and other firearms and cannon-making technology, and also sent the Meizhou City captured from the Mongolian Army. Even after returning it, he still wouldn't let go of the Pili Army. In fact, Yu Xing did this because he wanted greater benefits. His greedy nature was no longer satisfied with the things he gave, but wanted everything from the Thunderbolt Army. If the Pili Army is compared to a hen that lays golden eggs, Yu Xing not only wants the eggs, but also wants to take the hen as his own. If you really can't get it, then kill the hens and eat the meat.
This is why Yu Xing is vicious. In front of Lu Wende, he boasted about Ouyang Xuan vigorously. It seemed like he was praising him, but he was actually flattering him. He encouraged Lu Wende to send the Perak Army to fight on the distant Jinghu front line, which was actually a series of plans. First, the tigers were moved away from the mountains, and the elite Perak troops were transferred out of the imperial court's righteousness. Then there is the use of borrowed knives to kill people. The transfer of the elite Perak Army will inevitably make Liu Heima want to seize the opportunity and use the hands of the Mongols to destroy or weaken the Perak Army. In the end, he sat on the mountain and watched the tiger fight. After the Perak Army and the Sichuan Mongolian Army fought with each other and both sides suffered losses, he then reaped the benefits. As for whether the people suffered or whether it would harm the great cause of resisting Mongolia, it was not a question he considered at all.
As for the proposal to reassign officials to Qiongzhou and Chongqing Prefecture and restore the Salt and Iron Supervision, it is even more of a plan to remove salary from the bottom of the cauldron. The former is to completely push the Perak Army out of the two states (prefectures) and return to the mountainous area. The Yongkang military area is mostly mountainous. Although it is rich in forests and minerals, it is lacking in grain and salt. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is poor compared to the fertilizers in the plains. More importantly, the Pili Army did not collect grain from the people. In addition to industry and mining, the source of funding was commercial and trade taxes, of which Qiongzhou's salt industry accounted for a considerable proportion. At present, the Pili Army's finances are already stretched thin. If they lose these two places again, they will be unable to maintain daily operations, and they will have no financial resources to deal with the Mongolian invasion.
After scolding, we still have to discuss how to reply to Lu Wende. Regarding the request to send troops to Ezhou, to everyone's surprise, Ouyang Xuan was the first to agree. Just when everyone was surprised, he slowly explained the reason. It turned out that Ouyang Xuan sent Li Kaipeng to Lin'an, thinking that Liuqiu Company needed to establish a firm foothold first and then slowly develop and grow. If we want to expand overseas, it will take a long time. Unexpectedly, after talking with the two people yesterday, we learned that Liuqiu Company has reached a considerable scale and the development and construction of Liuqiu needs to be put on the agenda. On the one hand, if Liuqiu Company continues to grow and develop, it will inevitably attract the attention of all parties, and its overseas development strategy will also be affected. On the other hand, Ouyang Xuan believes that there will be no major breakthroughs in Pili Army technology in the short term, and it will not be the same as Pili Army technology. The Mongolian army will also face a long-term confrontation, so it needs to break through from outside the Shu region.
In Ouyang Xuan's view, the future strategic direction of the Pili Army will be in three directions. The first direction is to continue to attack the Sichuan Army and even recapture Chengdu. The war cost a lot of money, and a lot of financial resources had to be invested in the construction of the newly recovered lost land. With the current population and economy of the Perak Army, it was really too much. Moreover, even if the entire western Sichuan is recaptured, the Perak Army will still be trapped in the Sichuan Basin, and it will still be extremely difficult to obtain industrial and technological resources for development. The second direction is to join forces with Bozhou after marrying Yang Yan to gradually open up the sea exit to Qinzhou via Luoshi Ghost Country and Luodian Ghost Country. The road in this direction is difficult to navigate and is densely populated by tribes. To achieve a smooth road, a lot of resources will be invested, and it will not be possible in the short term. The third direction is Liuqiu. Although it seems far away, it can be reached in less than a month from Chongqing Mansion due to the waterway. In fact, it is the easiest to achieve.
Although Liuqiu Company now has a certain strength, it is obviously not enough to go to the island for large-scale development and construction. Putting aside the cannibalism, even the hundreds of pirates in Keelung Port are a huge obstacle to the development of the business. Ouyang Xuan knew that Li Kaipeng's task was extremely arduous, so after the Mongolian army retreated from Chongqing, he asked Boss Qian to bring personnel, money and materials to support him. Boss Qian was asked to lead only a hundred people. On the one hand, he underestimated the development of Liuqiu Company. On the other hand, he was afraid that the scale would be too large, which would arouse the vigilance of the officials along the way, and even attract pressure from the imperial court, which would detain personnel and materials. Now that Lu Wende has written an official document requesting to send troops to Ezhou, it is the time for the Pili Army to cross the sea and take advantage of the opportunity to go to sea.
After Ouyang Xuan finished speaking, everyone nodded. The members of the joint meeting all knew about the overseas strategy, and Ouyang Xuan had explained it many times, but everyone thought it was a matter of the Year of the Monkey and the Horse. A large number of personnel were about to be sent to distant overseas countries, which made everyone lose their minds for a while. Ouyang Xuan was not polite and directly came up with the plan he had been thinking about for a long time. His plan was to lead the team with Yu Zhu, accompanied by Liao Nilu and Xia Dagen. There was a navy battalion under his command, and a mixed battalion consisting of a special company, a field company and three garrison companies, with a total strength of 1,000 people. Another 500 craftsmen, managers, doctors, teachers and other personnel will go together in the name of logistics personnel, and will also carry a large number of machines, tools and key materials with them.
Regarding the plan proposed by Ouyang Xuan, although everyone felt that the investment in manpower and materials was too much at once and the risk was too great, seeing his calm face and firm eyes, they all voted for it based on the idea that "Brother Xuan can never go wrong" Yes vote.
