Chapter 760 Trade Protectionism

Early the next morning, Ouyang Shuo and his party set off again.

On November 13th, arrived at Wither Fortress.

Ouyang Shuo specially rushed to Guilin County this time, half of which was for the Fortress of Withering. The battle of guarding the pass a year ago became an indelible disgrace to Ouyang Shuo's career as a lord.

After the war, under Pei Ju's suggestion, a stele of shame was erected in front of the fortress.

Now that Guilin County has taken back, it is time to turn the page.

Knowing Junshang's itinerary, the mountain barbarians of the First Division of the Leopard Army's First Corps returned from Guiping Pass ahead of schedule and rushed to the Fortress of Withering to gather to welcome Junshang.

Accompanying him was Han Xin, the commander of the Leopard Army, and even Zhang Han ran back specially.

On this day in the Withering Fortress, the usually sunny weather suddenly turned gloomy, with no ray of sunshine to be seen. Dark clouds cover the top, and there is a sense of chilling between the sky and the earth.

In the sultry weather, there was a sudden evil wind, which was extremely cold.

In front of the stele of shame, Ouyang Shuo stood alone, behind him was a group of soldiers headed by Han Xin and Zhang Han, covering a large area. Every Shanman warrior stood upright, like a javelin, with a solemn expression.

The sky and the earth are long, as if the focus of the entire landscape is on Ouyang Shuo. At this moment, Ouyang Shuo condensed a force that could shake the world.

Even the gust of wind miraculously spared Ouyang Shuo's side.

When Han Xin and others saw it, their eyes were full of awe, and they bowed unconsciously, not daring to compete with the young man in front of them. In Han Xin's memory, he has never seen this kind of power even in Gaozu Liu Bang.

If Di Chen and the others were present at this time, they would probably be terrified. They don't understand until now, what kind of strength is supporting Ouyang Shuo, a commoner boy, to stride forward with Shanhai City on his weak shoulders, thus creating the biggest miracle in China, and even in the world.

Let the name of mountains and seas shock the world.

And this inner strength was exactly what Dichen and the others really lacked. If they don't understand this point, they will never be able to keep up with the pace of Shanhai City, and can only be a poor spoiler.

Han Xin looked up at the sky, saw that the time had come, and ordered: "Fire!"

A P1 cannon was parked in front of the stele of shame, and it was ordered to ignite immediately. With a loud noise, the black shells shot out of the air, smashing the stele of shame to pieces with a bang.

The strong wind blew past, blowing up bursts of stone chips, floating into the air, and the shame of the past completely disappeared.

"Let's go!"

Ouyang Shuo turned around and led the way to the other side of the hill.

Rows of stone monuments are erected on the grassy hillside, and the end can't be seen at a glance. Those were the mountain barbarian warriors who died in the battle of guarding the pass. They continued to guard the wither fortress like the most loyal guards.

There was a new grave on the left side of the hillside. It was the soldiers who died in the battle with Li Mu this time. It was a huge area, extremely dazzling, and very tragic.

Witnessed by Ouyang Shuo, a monument was erected on the top of the mountain to commemorate these brave fighters. The monument was erected after a year, which can be regarded as an explanation to the soldiers who died in battle.

Their sacrifices were not in vain!

Ouyang Shuo held a bouquet of dried osmanthus flowers, and solemnly placed them in front of the monument. This sweet-scented osmanthus flower is not ordinary, it is the sweet-scented osmanthus flower that he broke specially when passing through Wuzhou County and passing through Mowang Slope.

The Demon God Chi You was buried in the Demon King Slope, which is now the holy land of the Shanman clan. Last year's wilderness was full of chills, and the sweet-scented osmanthus on Mowangpo withered overnight.

This year is different, the sweet-scented osmanthus blooms exceptionally lush and bright.

"My sons, rest in peace!"

As Ouyang Shuo said, he bowed slowly.

"salute!"

With a swipe, the soldiers who followed behind Ouyang Shuo saluted.

Tears flashed faintly in the eyes of some soldiers because of their excitement.

The scene of your majesty bowing will forever be engraved in the hearts of the Shanman soldiers and cannot be erased. In ancient times, it was unimaginable for a king to bow to the fallen soldiers.

This kind of shock, people who were not of that era, could not understand at all.

In the afternoon of that day, Ouyang Shuo set off for the next stop, leaving the withering fortress. But everything he did today will be deeply remembered by the mountain barbarians and the entire army.

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

November 16, Guilin County, Bushan City.

Before Ouyang Shuo and his party arrived at Suobu Mountain City in Guilin County, the officials dispatched by the Southern Border Protectorate had already arrived ahead of time, and the team was led by Zhang Tingyu, the Director of Civil Affairs.

Naturally, Zhang Tingyu presided over the government affairs of Guilin County for the time being.

Under Zhang Tingyu's management, when Ouyang Shuo arrived in Guilin County, the riots in the prefectures and counties due to the handover had basically subsided, and the people's hearts were initially settled. The government offices in Guilin County, including Bushan City, have all been rebuilt according to the structure of Shanhai City.

Next is a break-in period.

Even the Guilin County Garrison Division was formed under the auspices of Han Xin. Half of the soldiers were exchanged from the garrison division of Xunzhou County, and half were recruited locally in Guilin County.

Han Xin is not only the commander of the Leopard Army, but also the commander of the Southern Sichuan War Zone. The garrison divisions of the four southern Sichuan counties are all under his jurisdiction. Therefore, except for the routine intervention of the General Administration of Military Affairs, Ouyang Shuo did not participate in the establishment of the Guilin County Garrison Division from the beginning to the end.

Even the candidates for the head of the garrison division were recommended by Han Xin.

Now that the positions of the four commanders in the army have been established, Ouyang Shuo still needs to delegate this bit of power. He can't give the generals a famous name without a corresponding status, right?

That's no nonsense!

What Ouyang Shuo needs to do is to improve the mechanism and strengthen supervision. In history, there are many lords who finally tasted the bitter fruit because they were unwilling to delegate power, did not dare to employ people, and were stingy with rewards, such as Xiang Yu, the overlord of Chu.

Even the Three Kingdoms that just ended, Lu Bu can be regarded as one of these princes.

In addition to the garrison division, the Leopard Tao Army has also undergone a round of partial adjustments.

In the Battle of Xuanwuguan, the Second Army captured more than 15,000 prisoners of war. Because Yan Liang avoided fighting, the number of deaths in the Second Army was almost negligible.

In the battle of Guipingguan, because of Li Mu's decisive withdrawal of troops, coupled with the obstruction of traps, there were basically no prisoners of war. On the contrary, more than 6,000 people from the First Legion were killed in battle, and most of them were mountain barbarians.

Although the scale of the mountain barbarians in the territory is already relatively large, it is still a bit difficult to gather these soldiers in a short period of time. In desperation, the General Administration of Military Affairs decided to use 15,000 prisoners of war to form an independent division after consulting Ouyang Shuo's opinion, and temporarily put it under the command of the Baotao Army.

The eliminated soldiers just happened to be incorporated into the garrison division.

As for the casualties of the mountain barbarians of the First Corps of the Leopard Tao Army, it counts as much as can be supplemented at present. The gaps that cannot be filled will be left empty for the time being, and unified arrangements will be made after the end of the Yunnan War.

Ouyang Shuo has always preferred the ace divisions like the Shanman Heavy Infantry Division.

…………

Guilin County's military and political affairs have achieved a smooth transition, so there is no need for Ouyang Shuo to worry about it. At most, he did a routine soothing act when passing through Bushan City.

If they really wanted to intervene, it would be difficult for Zhang Tingyu and Han Xin to do so.

Therefore, after only staying in Bushan City for one day, Ouyang Shuo set off again non-stop, and went to the border of Guilin County together with Fan Li, the Director of Finance who had been waiting in Bushan City for a long time.

Ouyang Shuo rushed to Guilin County to sign a trade agreement with [North Sichuan City-State] and [Shunan City-State]. Because of the wide-ranging implications and unusual significance, it is necessary for him, the emperor, to attend in person.

On the other side of the city-state, the officials of Ximen and the two lords of Caiyunzhinan were also represented.

In this way, it can be regarded as the first time that the Big Three met seriously.

It's strange to say that in the battle of Chibi that just ended, Ximen Daguanren and Caiyun Zhinan just stumbled Shanhai City, and it's only been two months since they were about to shake hands and discuss cooperation.

Things are impermanent!

In other words, the wilderness has no permanent friends, let alone permanent enemies.

The place where the agreement was signed was chosen at the junction of the three major provinces of Southern Sichuan Province, Northern Sichuan Province, and Southern Shonen Province, an unnamed town called Sanjiang Town.

By the time the agreement is signed, this place may be known as the wilderness.

On the way to Sanjiang Town, Fan Li made a general report, and asked Ouyang Shuo to finalize the main terms of the trade agreement signed this time.

The trading partners of Shanhai City, to put it more closely, include Lingxi City, which has been annexed, and in China, there are also Stone City, Xunlong City, and the Western Chu regime that is under negotiation.

Farther away, there are ASEAN countries such as Ni, Johor, and Siam. A little further away is Somalia in Africa, France and Atlantis in the Mediterranean, and finally England.

These trading partners jointly built the ocean trade channel of Shanhai City, supported the vigorous maritime trade of Shanhai City, and brought huge wealth to Shanhai City.

Therefore, when it comes to signing trade agreements, Shanhai City is an expert.

It's just that [Northern Sichuan City-state] is different from [Shonan City-state], and some special treatment is required. The opinions of the General Administration of Finance are roughly two.

One, tariffs.

Compared with other trading partners, the two city-states collect 10% more tariffs. Tariffs are an important source of Shanhai City's financial revenue, and the General Administration of Finance will obviously not soften its heart towards the two major city-states.

As a result of Fan Li's repression, according to the opinion of the Department of Commerce, 20% was finally mentioned.

Second, the list of export commodities.

According to different partners, Shanhai City has specific targets when establishing the list of import and export commodities. For the two major city-states, this kind of targeting is naturally more stringent.

The opinion of the General Administration of Finance is that basically only the two major city-states are allowed to use the ocean trade channel to sell the special products of the two places. As for other products that conflict with Shanhai City's products, all exports are prohibited.

For imports, there are not too strict restrictions.

This is also to ensure that Shanhai City's own industry will not be impacted by the two major city-state markets, which can be regarded as a relatively primitive "trade protection".