Chapter 759 - Trade Protectionism

The next morning, Ouyang Shuo and his group set off once again.

On the 11th month, 13th day, they reached Withered Flower Stronghold.

A large part of why Ouyang Shuo rushed back to Guilin Prefecture was because of Withered Flower Stronghold. A year ago, the defeat here became a humiliation that could not be wiped away in his journey as a Lord.

After the battle, Pei Mo recommended they build a stone plaque here to remind them of the disgrace.

Now that Guilin Prefecture had been taken back, it was time to reopen this page.

When they learned of the Monarch's itinerary, the soldiers from the 1st division of the 1st legion of the Leopard Legion Corps made the trip back from Guiping Pass to welcome the Lord.

Along with them was also the marshal of the Leopard Legion Corps, Han Xin. Even Zhang Han had specially returned.

On this day, the usually sunny day became really gloomy and dark. The dark clouds covered the skies, filling the land with a solemn killing intent.

The blistering heat suddenly became unusually chill.

In front of the stone plaque, Ouyang Shuo stood upright. Behind him were Han Xin, Zhang Han, and the other soldiers. Each one of the mountain barbarians stood straight like a pencil, their expressions extremely solemn.

It was totally silent as if the focus of the entire land was on Ouyang Shuo. At this moment, Ouyang Shuo's body gathered a power that could shock the heavens.

Even the winds miraculously blew around Ouyang Shuo.

When Han Xin and the others saw this, their eyes were filled with worship and respect as they could not help but bow. From Han Xin's memory, even Liu Bang did not have such a power.

If Di Chen and the others were there, their hair would probably stand on their ends. Till now, they still did not understand what kind of power supported a normal young man like Ouyang Shuo, allowing him to carry Shanhai City forward and create a huge miracle.

Letting the name of Shanhai City shock the world.

And this innate power was what Di Chen and the others lacked. If they did not understand this, they would never be able to keep up with Shanhai City or even chase up to them.

Han Xin looked up at the sky. Seeing that the time was right, he ordered, "Fire!"

In front of the stone plaque was one P1 Type Cannon. When the order to fire was given, a black cannon ball shot out, smashing the stone plaque into pieces.

As the wind blew across, the dust from the shattered stone plaque was picked up and flew into the air.

"Let's go!"

Ouyang Shuo turned around, taking the lead to move to the other side of the mountain.

On the greenish mountain slope, there were rows and rows of tombstones. These were the tombs of the mountain barbarian warriors who died during that battle; they were the most loyal soldiers that had continued to guard the Withered Flower Stronghold.

On the left of the hill there were new tombs; this time, they were those who died in the battle against Li Mu. It was another huge cluster, truly eye-catching and tragic.

With Ouyang Shuo as the witness, a memorial stone was erected here to remember the brave warriors.

Their sacrifice was not in vain!

Ouyang Shuo held onto an osmanthus flower before placing them solemnly in front of the memorial stone. This osmanthus flower was not ordinary, and it was one he had especially picked when he passed devil's slope.

The devil Chiyou was buried on devil's slope. Till this day, it was still a holy land for the mountain barbarian race. Last year, under the solemn atmosphere and killing of the wilderness, the osmanthus flowers on devil's peak had all withered.

This year was different. They all bloomed brightly.

"Brothers, Rest in peace!"

Ouyang Shuo said as he gave a deep bow.

"Bow!"

The soldiers behind Ouyang Shuo all bowed in unison.

These soldiers had tears in their eyes due to all the emotion.

The sight of the Lord bowing would forever be etched in their hearts. In the olden times, it was unimaginable for a Monarch to bow to fallen soldiers.

The shocking part of all of this was not something a person not from that time could understand.

That afternoon, Ouyang Shuo set off and left Withered Flower Stronghold. But everything he did today would be firmly remembered by the mountain barbarian race, by every soldier in the army.

11th month, 16th day, Guilin Prefecture, Bushan City.

Before Ouyang Shuo arrived in the governing area of Guilin Prefecture, the officials sent there had already arrived, and they were led by Official Ruling Department Director Zhang Tingyu.

Naturally, the administrative matters of Guilin Prefecture would temporarily be chaired by Zhang Tingyu.

With him present, the chaos from the handover of the Houses was basically calmed down. The various Yamens, including Bushan City, had already been restructured based on the Shanhai City structure.

The transitional period would follow.

Even the Garrison Division was formed by Han Xin. Half the members were from the Xunzhou Garrison Division while the other half was recruited locally.

Han Xin was not only the marshal of the Leopard Corp but the commander of the Chuannan War Zone. The four prefectures of Chuannan Province were all under his jurisdiction. Hence, regarding building the Guilin Prefecture Garrison Division, apart from the Military Affairs Bureau interfering, Ouyang Shuo did not do anything from the start.

Han Xin was even the one who recommended the person to be Major General.

Since he had confirmed the positions of the four marshals in the territory, this power was something Ouyang Shuo had to put down. He could not give them such a bright name but no power with it, right?

That would be preposterous!

What Ouyang Shuo needed to do was just perfect the system and increase surveillance. In history, many Lords tasted defeat because they were not willing to give up power, like Chu Overlord Xiang Yu.

Even during the Three Kingdoms Period that had just ended, Lu Bu could be considered a similar Lord.

Apart from the Garrison Division, the Leopard Legion Corps was also adjusted and reorganized.

During the Battle of Xuanwu Pass, the 2nd legion had captured a total of five thousand people. As Yan Liang did not want to fight, the 2nd legion basically had little to no casualties.

During the Battle of Guiping, due to Li Mu's decision to retreat and the traps blocking their way, there were basically no prisoners. The 1st legion, on the other hand, had six thousand soldiers that died, and they were all mountain barbarians.

Although there were already a lot of mountain barbarians in the army, recruiting them in such a short time was an extremely tough task. Helplessly, the Military Affairs Bureau sought Ouyang Shuo's advice and decided to use five thousand prisoners to form an independent division.

The remaining prisoners were simply sent to the Garrison Division.

As for the casualties to the mountain barbarians, they would try to fill in as many as they could. As for the numbers that could not be filled, they would just be left empty and arranged after the Battle of Yunnan ended.

Ouyang Shuo would rather lack members than lower the quality when dealing with such an elite division.

...

The military and administrative matters of Guilin Prefecture were handled really smoothly and there was nothing for Ouyang Shuo to worry about. At most, he just needed to calm down the people along the way to Bushan City.

If he really needed to interfere, it would look bad for Zhang Tingyu and Han Xin.

Hence, Ouyang Shuo just spent a day in Bushan City before setting off. He met up with Financial Director Fan Li and moved toward the Guilin Prefecture border.

The reason he rushed here was to sign the trade deal with the two City-States. As it involved too many interests, he needed to personally take charge of it.

On the sides of the City-States, West Gate Big Official and Caiyun Zinan were similarly the representatives.

With that, this was the first time the three giants met.

It was weird talking about it. Just two month ago, during the Battle of Red Cliff, both of them had tried to sabotage Shanhai City. Just two months later, they needed to shake hands and cooperate.

Life was just so weird.

If not, why would one say that in the wilderness, there were no people who were forever enemies or forever friends?

The signing location was chosen to be an area where the three provinces connected in a small town known as Sanjiang Town.

When the agreement was signed, this place was going to be famous all around.

On the way to Sanjing Town, Fan Li reported the main terms of the trade to gain Ouyang Shuo's approval.

Shanhai City had many trade partners. Nearer to home, there was Consonance City that already merged with them, Stone City, Xunlong City, and also the West Chu Regime.

Furthermore away, there was Johor, Siam, and other ASEAN countries. Even further there was Somalia, France, Atlantis, and finally England.

These trading partners helped form Shanhai City's voyage trading network and helped make sea trading prosperous.

Hence, in terms of signing trade agreements, Shanhai City was the expert.

However, the two City-States were different, and they had special terms. The Financial Bureau had summarized the matter into three main clauses.

First, tax.

Compared to the other allies, in terms of border tax, they had to pay more. The tax was an important source of revenue for Shanhai City. Naturally, the Financial Bureau would not be soft-hearted.

In the end, based on what the Industry Division said, it was raised to 20%.

Secondly, records of trading products.

Shanhai City had different restrictions on import and export goods based on different partners. Hence, toward the two City-States, the restrictions were stricter.

The Financial Bureau basically only allowed them to sell their own territory specialties through the trade channel. As for products that were in conflict with Shanhai City, their exportation would be banned.

As for imports, it was not too strict.

This was only to protect Shanhai City's own industries such that it would not be impacted by the two City-States, so this could not be considered a really primitive 'protectionism' strategy.

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