Chapter 538 Stele of Shame

"My lord, you must be tough on this matter."

Seeing that Caiyun Zhinan hesitated, Zhang Liang immediately persuaded him with a firm attitude.

Zhang Liang knew very well that once the two fortresses could not be completed in a short period of time, all the previous achievements would be rootless and difficult to last.

"I see."

Caiyun Zhinan nodded, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Zifang, I will try to convince everyone." But there was some reluctance in the smile.

"Actually, this is a good thing for my lord." Seeing this, Zhang Liang said with relief: "My lord, as long as you facilitate this, not only in [Shunan city-state], but also in the borders of the two major provinces, all Having a certain prestige will be of great help to future actions."

Caiyun Zhinan's eyes lit up when he heard the words, and he said excitedly: "Since you say that, Zifang, even if you don't want to lose your face, I will handle this matter properly."

After all, the deeper the city, the greater the potential ambition.

Zhang Liang's words did not hit Caiyun Zhinan's key point.

Otherwise, how can I say that Zhang Liang is seeking a saint? ! He can put forward different views on the character and weakness of the lord, so as to achieve the purpose of persuading the lord to accept advice.

In comparison, there is a world of difference between Fan Zeng and Zhang Liangyi in the same era.

After the discussion, Caiyun Zhinan turned and left.

Zhang Liang looked at the back of Caiyun Zhinan going away, a trace of melancholy flashed in his eyes.

"After all, is the layout too small?"

In the hall, there was a muffled sigh.

...

In the afternoon of the same day, the coalition talks had a breakthrough.

I don't know how Caiyunzhinan works. All in all, the lords generally accepted Zhang Liang's plan and gave up the attempt to divide up the spoils.

The gold coins collected in this battle, except for the distribution of pensions for the fallen soldiers, will all be used to build two fortresses to ensure the safety of Guilin County.

In addition, the lords have also reached an agreement on the number of garrisons.

Guilin County will maintain a standing army of 150,000, of which [Shunan city-state] will send a total of 100,000 troops, and the northern Sichuan Province will send 50,000 troops. Li Mu will still be the commander in chief.

The army will build an indestructible line of defense with the two fortresses as the core.

As for the shortage of soldiers, part of them will be supplemented by soldiers from the Taiping Army; the shortage will be shared among the territories.

In order to reach this agreement, Caiyunzhinan had to make a lot of concessions in the appointment of officials in Guilin County. As the initiator of this battle, Caiyun City has almost zero control over Guilin County.

Correspondingly, Gu Henxiao will have the greatest say in Guilin County because of his contribution to General Li Mu. Even the candidates for the sheriff were nominated by Gu Henxiao.

Although the lords did not savagely carve up Guilin County, they did not give up their influence on Guilin County. The transactions and entanglements involved are not clear for a while.

Fortunately, Zhang Liang's plan was basically implemented.

***********

On November 24th, Guiping Pass.

At about 3:00 noon, two independent divisions of mountain barbarians finally arrived at Guiping Pass.

It's a pity that the war in the pass has long since ended.

What the mountain barbarians saw was only a ravaged and dilapidated pass, and thousands of newly added tombstones in the deep forest outside the pass, which were really dazzling under the sunlight.

In the afternoon of that day, all the mountain barbarian warriors rushed to the cemetery to see off their comrades who died in battle.

At sunset, this scene is particularly shocking.

Ouyang Shuo stood on the top of the city, looking into the distance, and he didn't move for the whole afternoon.

The soldiers felt that after hearing the news that all the five thousand mountain barbarians in Xuanwuguan had died in battle yesterday, Junhou became silent all of a sudden, and often looked into the distance alone, wondering what he was thinking.

Such scenes also affected the mood of the soldiers in the pass, and the whole pass was immersed in a dignified atmosphere, unable to extricate themselves.

Even the soldiers who have done meritorious service have not been rewarded by the princes as usual.

When Pei Ju saw this, a trace of worry flashed in his eyes.

Logically speaking, as a superior, one should not show one's emotions, especially the weak side, to his subordinates. Such behavior will be a heavy blow to the prestige of the superior.

Because for the soldiers, the king is an omnipotent existence.

Any trace of Ouyang Shuo's anomaly will be overly interpreted by his subordinates, causing a crisis of trust.

Not to mention, is such a long period of "blues".

That night, Pei Ju finally couldn't bear it anymore and rushed to Ouyang Shuo's study, ready to persuade him.

For Pei Ju, this was his duty.

Under the dim light, there was nothing unusual about Ouyang Shuo's expression. In his hand, he was flipping through a set of blueprints, which were the architectural blueprints of Guiping Pass.

"Veteran Pei Ju, pay homage to the Lord!"

Seeing this, Pei Ju bowed slightly to salute.

"Here you come? Sit!"

Ouyang Shuo raised his head casually, his voice was flat and tasteless, without his usual aggressiveness.

"Your Majesty..." Pei Ju hesitated to speak.

Ouyang Shuo is in a bad mood, but it doesn't mean his perception is not sharp. Finally, he found that the veteran's state tonight was not quite right, or in other words, something was very wrong.

He put down the drawing and said with a smile: "If Mr. Pei has anything to say, you might as well just say it."

"Then, the old minister will be daring." Pei Ju said.

"But it doesn't matter." Ouyang Shuo nodded.

"The dead have passed away, and the prince should let go of his burden, focus on the future, cheer up, and become an example for the whole army. A defeat should not make the prince fall so far."

Pei Ju's words were indeed a bit straightforward, which made Ouyang Shuo a little ashamed.

When Ouyang Shuo heard this, a wry smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, "I already know what Pei Gong means. It's just that some things may not be as everyone imagined."

"I would like to hear the details!" Pei Ju nodded.

"Look!" Ouyang Shuo picked up the blueprint again, and said, "I've been thinking about a problem for the past two days. The fall of Guilin County has become an established fact. The question now is, how can we make up for it?"

"What does the Lord mean?"

A gleam of light gradually flashed in Pei Ju's eyes.

"Build a fortress!" Ouyang Shuo said decisively, "Based on Guiping Pass, expand a large fortress that can rival Mulan Fortress."

Ouyang Shuo's thoughts were exactly the same as Zhang Liang's.

"We can't tell whether the enemy still has the ambition to enter Xunzhou County. And no matter what we think, Guiping Pass has become the only barrier in the north of the territory. This barrier is tens of thousands of soldiers, with blood and sacrifices In exchange, nothing can be lost.”

At this point, Ouyang Shuo's mood fluctuated again.

"In a short period of time, we may not be able to take back Guilin County." Ouyang Shuo's eyes flashed a trace of melancholy, and he continued: "That's exactly the case, we need to garrison troops in the north of the territory. The Leopard Army led by Han Xin, since Unable to be stationed in Guilin County, let them lay a foundation in this new fortress for the time being."

"It's possible." Pei Ju nodded in agreement.

"I would like to hand over the construction of this fortress to you. I wonder if you would like it?" Ouyang Shuo asked.

"It's exactly what the old minister wants." Pei Ju nodded.

According to Ouyang Shuo's appointment, Pei Ju was originally going to take up his post in Guilin County. The sudden fall of Guilin County made this old minister "unemployed" all of a sudden, and his situation became embarrassing.

For Pei Ju, the fall of Guilin County was also his shame and stain.

Therefore, Pei Ju had long thought about erasing this stain himself. Wasn't being in charge of building the fortress the first step in his practice?

If he was really asked to work in Shanhai City, Pei Ju felt that he would be a little unhappy.

It has to be said that Ouyang Shuo has a unique vision when it comes to employing people, and he often hits the nail on the head.

"Is the new fortress called Guiping Fortress?" Pei Ju asked.

"No." Ouyang Shuo shook his head, a gleam of coldness flashed in his eyes, and his voice was low: "In Guilin County, before Guiping Pass, Shanhai City suffered an unprecedented setback. The glory of the Golden Dragon Banner was tarnished for the first time. How can we forget the great shame and humiliation in one day? Therefore, the new fortress should be called the withered fortress to commemorate this great defeat. If you want to avenge your revenge, let’s pick up this withered glory again!"

"Wither Fortress."

Pei Ju chewed on these four words, feeling their heavy weight.

"Since this is the case, the old minister suggests that we should engrave a huge stele of shame just before the withered fortress, so as to remind the soldiers stationed in the fortress not to forget the shame of today."

"Pei Gong's suggestion is good, let's do it like this." Ouyang Shuo nodded in agreement.

It was late at night, and the monarch and his ministers reached an agreement again.

"The old minister resigns!"

Pei Ju glanced at the pitch black night outside the window, got up and said goodbye.

"Pei Gong." Just as Pei Ju was about to walk out of the gate, Ouyang Shuo's voice came from behind, "Pei Gong's vigilance today, Wuyi will always remember it in his heart."

Hearing this, Pei Ju turned around and smiled slightly: "If the prince can realize this, the old minister will have no worries."

The two monarchs and ministers looked at each other and smiled.

************

The next day, Han Xin led the Leopard Army and successfully arrived at Guiping Pass.

The three-way troops finally joined forces at Guiping Pass.

For Han Xin, Ouyang Shuo naturally trusted him immensely. Even if the leading general on the opposite side is Li Mu, a famous general of the Warring States Period, in Han Xin's hands, he might not be able to please him.

The arrival of Han Xin meant that it was time for Ouyang Shuo to leave.

Originally, Ouyang Shuo should have arrived in Tianjing City a long time ago, but was delayed for several days because of this accident. I don't know what kind of chain reaction this accident will have on Tianjing City.

Seeing that there was no hope of regaining Guilin County in a short period of time, Ouyang Shuo could only endure the pain and deal with the matter at hand. On that day, Ouyang Shuo had a secret conversation with Han Xin and Pei Ju for a whole day.

The next day, November 26th, Year Two of Gaia.

Ouyang Shuo led the Shanman army, with a dark face, and set foot on the road to Tianjing City again.