Chapter 1025: Xiang Yan's Wisdom
During this time, the situation in China has been changing.
First, Daxia unexpectedly captured Annan, which excited the people of the country and caused greater anxiety in ASEAN. Especially Nanzhang and Chenla, which border on Annan, are even more terrified, for fear that one day Daxia will wield a butcher's knife against them and set off a new round of national war.
Then the [Yanhuang League] captured Western Chu, the overlord Xiang Yu fell, and the comet shot through the sun, which aroused heated discussions among the people of the country. Then there was Di Chen's sudden promotion to Duke, and the scene was like nothing else.
At this moment, it suddenly broke out on the forum that Xiang Yan, Yu Ji and others appeared in Shanhai City, and the scene of the scene was constantly reversed, making the players dazzled and hooked.
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Shanhai City, Summer Palace.
"Meet Your Majesty!"
After settling down the fainting Concubine Yu, Xiang Yan and her entourage, led by Tsing Yi, a scholar of the Miwen Pavilion, came to see her.
When saluting, Xiang Yan, Xiang Liang, and Xiang Bo still looked as usual, at least on the surface, there was nothing unusual; the junior Xiang Zhuang looked a little unnatural, and he was also very stiff when saluting.
It's no wonder that a few days ago, they were still the royal family of Xichu, aloof. In a blink of an eye, the country was ruined and the family was destroyed, and they became a group of wandering and downcast people.
With such a huge drop, not everyone can turn the corner right away.
When Ouyang Shuo saw it, he didn't take it seriously, and said, "Western Chu is an ally of Great Xia, and Overlord Xiang Yu is also someone I respect. I am deeply saddened by what happened to Xi Chu, and I ask everyone to express their condolences."
Xiang Yan and the others listened with a gloomy expression, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern. This time, the Xiang clan was able to survive the enemy's chieftain, thanks to the king's gift. The Xiang clan is deeply grateful and must serve the country faithfully."
Now that the matter has developed to this point, Xiang Yan and others can only recognize the reality, and dare not have any other thoughts. Not to mention that Xiang Yu, the soul of the family, is dead, even if Xiang Yu is not dead, there is no place for the Xiang clan to stand in the wilderness right now.
A comeback is just an extravagant hope.
Today's wilderness is no longer the wilderness of a few years ago. The conquests between the lords are coming to an end, and the big cake of the wilderness has been completely divided, and there is no place for others to step in.
Hearing Xiang Yan's words of allegiance, Ouyang Shuo nodded in satisfaction. If the Xiang clan is really ignorant and still holds the high profile of the royal family in the past, although Ouyang Shuo will not expel them, at most he will protect them for life. These people will never be reused.
Ouyang Shuo was not stingy about setting the titles of monarch and minister, and gave Xiang Yan, the head of the Xiang family, a four-way house in the city on the spot, as the Xiang family's gateway in Shanhai City.
As early as when Shanhai City was being planned, the Construction Department, according to Ouyang Shuo's request, built a series of official residences near the Wangcheng for future rewards to ministers.
Whenever a historical talent came to vote, whether it was a civil servant or a military general, or a poet such as Li Bai, Ouyang Shuo would be given a house to show the greatness of the king's grace.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Xiang Yan thanked her, feeling relieved.
The current Shanhai City has long been as prosperous as the Wangcheng, and even surpassed the Wangcheng in some places. Except for the land reserved for the imperial use, there is no open space in the city.
Naturally, the Xiang family is not short of money, but it is extremely difficult to buy a house that matches their status in Shanhai City.
A house in a prime location cannot be bought even if you have money.
Daxia is full of vigor, and all the officials in the court, Chinese and military are also working hard, and there are very few people who are convicted and demoted. Naturally, unlike the capitals in history, there will be no mansions of criminal officials left behind.
The only way is through Ouyang Shuo's reward.
After thanking him, Xiang Yan was very considerate and presented two treasures to Ouyang Shuo. Although he left in a hurry when he escaped from Pengcheng, all the real treasures of Xichu were taken away by Xiang Yan and others.
Ouyang Shuo didn't refuse, just nodded and accepted.
Since then, the meeting between the monarch and his ministers has come to an end. As for the position arrangement for Xiang Yan and others, we have to wait until the new round of army reorganization.
During the conversation just now, both Xiang Yan and Xiang Zhuang expressed their intention to serve in the army, but Xiang Liang and Xiang Bo were not very enthusiastic. They probably wanted to stay free and concentrate on family affairs.
Ouyang Shuo didn't mind either, Xiang Yan alone was enough.
Especially Xiang Bo, even if he wanted to become an official in Daxia, Ouyang Shuo was still not very happy. This "legendary figure" who rescued Liu Bang at the Hongmen Banquet, after the establishment of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang thanked Xiang Bo for his rescue at the Hongmen Banquet, gave Liu the surname, and named him Marquis of Sheyang.
To this kind of person, Ouyang Shuo really disdained him.
As for the other members of the Xiang clan, whether they join the army or become officials, they only need to follow the normal procedures, and there is no need for Ouyang Shuo to personally arrange them.
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Seeing off Xiang Yan and his party, Ouyang Shuo was full of emotion, Xiang Yu was still Xiang Yu after all, even if he had heirs to worry about, he still didn't want to belong to others, unwilling to live under others.
There are two items on the case table, which are the "meeting gifts" from Xiang Yan.
Ouyang Shuo's attitude is crucial for the Xiang clan to gain a foothold in Daxia. Although Xiang Yan is a fierce general, he has lived most of his life after all, so he understands the worldly ways.
The two items presented are the two most precious treasures of the Xiang clan.
[Golden Armor Talisman] (Purple Gold): After use, it can form a body-protecting golden light outside the body, exempt from all physical attacks, last for half an hour, and affect 5,000 people.
[Jiangdong Warriors Summoning Card] (Purple Gold): A one-time consumable. After use, 10,000 Jiangdong Warriors can be summoned to assist in the battle, which lasts for twelve hours.
Proper use of the two treasures can indeed exert miraculous effects, so Ouyang Shuo put them in his storage bag.
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In the next few days, as the situation in Annan gradually stabilized, except for the Longxiang Army who was ordered to guard Annan, the rest of the expeditionary forces returned to their respective stations one after another.
The Flying Bear Army is quite special. It will withdraw from the border tunnel to Yunnan Province, and then go all the way north to move its station to Qiang County in Shudi. There, Li Jing, the commander of the Flying Bear Army, had been waiting for a long time.
That tunnel will also continue to widen and become an important link connecting Annan Province with the mainland.
In the first battle in Annan, a total of 480,000 imperial troops were captured, and 150,000 soldiers from the territory of Haiphong City were captured. After excluding the wounded and other unqualified soldiers, there were still 57 prisoners of war waiting to be reorganized.
Although the battle results were fruitful, the expeditionary force also suffered a lot of casualties. Including the navy, in the Annan War, the Great Xia Expeditionary Force lost a total of 150,000 people, which was the largest battle loss in history.
Calculated, after the various ministries have replenished the vacancies, the actual number of prisoners of war that can be reorganized is about 420,000.
How to reorganize this huge army of prisoners of war has become the top priority of the Privy Council. Ouyang Shuo needs to make up his own mind and formulate a charter in advance.
The principle of army reorganization is to look at the designation gap, and the second is to look at the strategic positioning.
Among the armies right now, the Imperial Guard Army still has one legion gap, and the Flying Bear Army has three legion gaps. The other group armies are all fully formed.
As for the strategic positioning, it is whether to set up the Annan Corps.
Ouyang Shuo thought about it for a few days, and finally decided on this army reorganization plan. Except for filling up the three legions of the Feixiong Army, the gap in the Imperial Guard will not be filled for the time being.
All the armies suffered losses in this battle, and the newly recruited soldiers weakened the combat power of the armies to a certain extent. Therefore, it is not appropriate to go to war at this time and deploy elite soldiers to form the Imperial Guard Corps.
Ouyang Shuo assigned the remaining three legions to the Annan Corps.
Ouyang Shuo has his own intentions in doing this. If he wants to control ASEAN, it is not enough to just take down Annan. Next, Ouyang Shuo plans to continue westward and take down Nanzhang and Chenla in one fell swoop.
This is also the reason why Ouyang Shuo asked Longxiang Army to transfer its headquarters to Annan Province.
Compared with Annan's 8 million players, Chenla has only 1.2 million players, and Nanzhang has only 600,000 players. The two countries combined are less than a quarter of Annan's.
In this way, with Bai Qi sitting in the town, the Longxiang Army and the Annan Corps alone are enough to wipe out the two countries, and there is no need to send troops from the base camp for reinforcements.
The cost of transporting troops by sea is still very high.
At this time, the benefits of taking Annan emerged. With the bridgehead of Annan Province, whether it is troop deployment or logistics supplies, it can be solved in Annan without the need for an expedition.
This alone can save military expenditures of millions of gold coins.
In addition to the reorganization of the army, Ouyang Shuo also ordered to set up the Southwest War Zone. The commander of the war zone was concurrently held by Bai Qi, the commander of the Longxiang Army, and the Longxiang Army and the Annan Corps.
In this way, a layout and adjustment is completed on the structure, and Bai Qi is given greater military power, which can be regarded as a reward for Bai Qi's battle against Annan.
After finalizing the army reorganization plan, a series of appointments and dismissals of generals will follow.
The imperial edict appointed Xiang Yan as the commander of the Third Army of the Flying Bear Army. As a famous general of the Chu Kingdom, Xiang Yan was appointed as the head of the army right after he arrived, and there was no objection.
Song Wu, the former head of the First Division of the Third Army of the Huben Army, was promoted to the head of the Fourth Army of the Flying Bear Army. Song Wu stayed at the post of division head for several years, Ouyang Shuo thought twice and decided to promote him.
This can be regarded as a comfort to the Song family.
Lei Jingtian, the former head of the First Division of the First Army of the Imperial Guard, was promoted to the head of the Fifth Army of the Flying Bear Army. Lei Jingtian has already been promoted to a king-level military general, becoming another heroic general of the barbarians after Shi Hu.
This promotion is not only because Lei Jingtian is worthy of a great responsibility, but also because Ouyang Shuo is taking care of the Shanman clan.
Xue Rengui, who was temporarily appointed as the deputy commander of the third army regiment of the Imperial Guard, directly skipped the regiment commander and was promoted to the commander of the Annan Corps, ushering in a big leap.
Pei Xingjian, a famous general of the Tang Dynasty who also served in the Imperial Guard, was promoted to the head of the First Army of the Annan Corps.
Annan's general Li Li was appointed as the commander of the Second Army of the Annan Corps.
This arrangement, apart from Li Li's own ability, is also to appease the Annan people and prisoners of war, and to show Da Xia's policy of treating all ethnic groups equally.
Xiang Zhuang, Xiang Yu's cousin, was appointed as the commander of the Third Army of the Annan Corps.
In historical records, Xiang Zhuang's reputation is not obvious, except for showing his face at the Hongmen Banquet, he is basically an invisible person at other times, and his ability to lead troops is not very outstanding.
Xiang Zhuang was appointed as the head of the legion because of Ouyang Shuo's care for the Xiang family.