Zhu Tiaozi wrote back to seek Yang Yan's opinion and asked how to deal with the matter. At present, Bozhou's handling of this matter is divided into two factions. The main militant faction believes that Luo Ru kills and exploits the people at will, which is an unpardonable crime. If their behavior of robbing and killing caravans is not punished, other tribes will inevitably follow suit, which will lead to the collapse of the Miao trade order. They must be made to compensate for their losses. If they do not comply, the army will suppress the territory. The Zhuhe faction believes that the Dong tribe is powerful and their roads are difficult to navigate, so sending out an army is a waste of money. It is not a problem for Luo Ru Pingzhai to hold on for a year and a half. Once the food and grass are insufficient, the crusade army will have to return without success. It is better to turn a blind eye to this matter, cut off all contact with the Dong tribe, and impose an economic blockade on them.
Yang Yan is a very smart person, and she knows that Zhu Tiaozi's letter is actually Bozhou asking for Ouyang Xuan's opinion. There are two advantages to handling the matter through private letters instead of official letters. First, it is afraid that Bozhou has already made a decision by the time the letters are exchanged. If there is a disagreement with the official opinion of the Perak Army, it will not disgrace the joint meeting. Second, Bozhou decided to retaliate by repaying others with their own deeds and retaliating with economic sanctions and other measures in the name of Nanyang Company. Luo Ru didn't say that the robbery was done by the mountain people, so it was natural for the Nanyang Company to repay the blood debt. "Tit for tooth" is in line with the custom of Miao territory and will not arouse the resentment of other tribes.
Ouyang Xuan thought about it while reading the letter. Zhu Tiaozi also included information about the Dong tribe at the end of the letter. The Dong tribe covers an area of hundreds of miles and has more than 200 large and small villages with a total of more than 50,000 people. There are more than 2,000 people in Luo's village where Luo Ru lives. It is the largest village in the tribe and is about 300 miles away from Bozhou City. Although Luo's mountain stronghold is not as dangerous as Hailongtun, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is easy to defend it with Luo Ru's more than two hundred barbarian soldiers. Zhu Tiaozi also mentioned that Luo Ru's robbery of the caravan did not receive public support, and even his steward Luo Sou opposed his behavior. Luo Sou was an upright and reputable man. He had repeatedly admonished Luo Ru for his illegal behavior, which made him quite unhappy. Luo Ru was completely offended by Luo Sou's advice this time, so he whipped him and drove him out of the village.
After reading this, a familiar name suddenly popped into Ouyang Xuan's mind: Luo Min! After thinking for a moment, he remembered who Luo Min was. During the Battle of Sandu Shui, a Miao soldier who followed him performed very eye-catchingly. He was particularly agile in climbing the city wall and throwing grenades very accurately. During the break between battles, Ouyang Xuan had a few chats with him, and learned from the half-baked Chinese that his name was Luo Min, and his father was the steward of a tribal leader in the Luodian Ghost Kingdom, named Luo Sou. When Ouyang Xuan heard this name, he was still laughing secretly at how weird the name was, and he was a little more impressed. At that moment, he ordered someone to go to the staff department to review Luo Min's files.
Ouyang Xuan pays special attention to refined management, both in production management and in military management. Unlike other Song soldiers who only had a simple roster, the Pili Army created a file for each soldier, recording in detail everything from height and appearance to place of origin and resume. Direct blood relatives such as parents were also recorded. Not long after, feedback from the file review came back. Luo Min, the soldier who taught the second battalion, was indeed the son of Luosou of the Dong tribe. At that moment, Ouyang Xuan sent a fast horse to cross the water three times, and quickly brought Luo Min to Chongqing Fucheng.
At this moment, Ouyang Xuan already had a plan to deal with Luo Ru's robbery of the caravan, so he told Yang Yan. His idea was for the Bozhou Army to send elites and the Perak Army's special company to pretend to be caravan guards and reach the border of the Dong tribe. Here the caravan turned back the way it came, and the soldiers from the elite Banshu and special forces companies broke into pieces and headed to Luo's mountain stronghold, using a surprise attack to bring Luo Ru to justice. As for the guides and insiders who led the way, they were Luo Sou and Luo Min. In view of Luosou's popularity among the tribe, Ouyang Xuan also suggested working with Bozhou to support him as the new leader.
Yang Yan nodded while listening, and from time to time she stretched out her hand to scratch Ouyang Xuan's nose, which puzzled him. Yang Yan laughed even more when she saw him looking around. It turned out that she was laughing at Ouyang Xuan, who usually looked like a gentleman and was loyal, but unexpectedly, he was full of cunning tricks and knew how to use benefits to seduce people. If the action is successful, Luo Ru will naturally no longer be the leader of the tribe. The vacant position will definitely make Luo Sou and Luo Min's father and son excited, and they will naturally try their best to help. As the leader, Luosou will naturally get closer to Bozhou and the Pili Army. This will not only provide the caravan with a more stable environment, but will also make it easier for the Pili Army to obtain the mineral resources of Dali.
Dali is extremely rich in mineral resources. In Ouyang Xuan's impression, there are not only Panzhihua's iron mines, Dongchuan's copper mines, but also Gejiu tin mines on this land. More than a hundred miles southwest of the Dong tribe is the boundary of the Dongchuan Governor's Palace of Dali Kingdom. The copper mines contained under this piece of land that Ouyang Xuan cherishes are extremely large. If they are collected, it will greatly promote the industrial production of the Thunderbolt Army, especially the problem of copper shortage in bullets will be easily solved. Due to technical limitations, Dali has only mined superficial copper mines, with low output and extremely high prices. What's even more terrible is that after the Mongolian army occupied the Dali Kingdom, they banned the export of copper, and the Perak Army couldn't buy it even if they wanted to.
After Luo Min arrived in Chongqing Fucheng, Ouyang Xuan personally summoned him, accompanied by Huang Dagen and Yang Bangxian, one of whom represented the Perak Army official and the other represented Bozhou. In fact, Luo Min would definitely believe what Ouyang Xuan said personally, but after all, this was not a private matter between Ouyang Xuan and Yang Yan, nor was it just a commercial matter for Nanyang Company, but a major matter related to the strategy of Bozhou and the Pili Army. Letting Huang Dagen and Yang Bangxian attend the meeting together was just to ensure the seriousness of the matter, and also to let Luo Min understand that the Perak Army and Bozhou would be his strong backing.
Ouyang Xuan told Luo Min that after punishing the culprits and accomplices of the robbery of the caravan, the Perak Army and Bozhou will assist them in stabilizing the situation and train a standing army of 300 people, whose weapons and equipment will be provided by the Perak Army. At the same time, it will increase support for its tribe and support its economic development, and its ranking will be second only to Banzhou. In addition to providing military support, the Perak Army will also send a technical management team including industry and mining, agricultural technology and commerce to guide its mining, iron smelting and manufacturing of agricultural tools and cold weapons. If conditions permit, the Pili Army will set up the first Confucius Institute in Miao territory in Luoshi Village, making it an education, science, culture and health center for surrounding tribes.
Luo Min was naturally grateful for Ouyang Xuan's promise. Although he had been in Chongqing Mansion for less than half a year, he was deeply touched. He knew in his heart that the main reason why the Perak Army was so powerful was not because the land was rich in products or the soldiers were strong, but because of the sharp firearms and advanced technology. And these all come down to education and scientific culture. He believed that with the help of the Perak Army, the people of his tribe would have enough to eat, wear warm clothes, and would no longer be bullied and harassed by the Wuman tribe.
The next day after the conversation, Luo Min took the caravan's speedboat back to Bozhou, accompanied by Yang Yan's bodyguards who had now been transferred to the caravan's bodyguards.
