Chapter 316- Mulan Stronghold
Translator: TeamTWO
Editor: Nora
Gaia 2nd year 5th day, Mulan Yue visited Shanhai County.
Before she came, Mulan Yue had already told Ouyang Shuo beforehand. Hence, Ouyang Shuo had made strict preparations. All four directors were present, including Baiqi and Du Ruhui, who had rushed back from the city west camp.
Ouyang Shuo also invited some of the members of the Shanhai Alliance to witness this historical moment together.
Mulan County officially left the Shanhai Alliance. It canceled the ally contracts and became a part of Shanhai Territory. They will leave all decisions—both internal and external—to Shanhai Territory.
Mulan Yue and Ouyang Shuo signed a contract that changed their relationship from allies to superior and subordinate.
Mulan County’s name will be changed to Mulan City.
They will set up the Mulan House, which included Mulan City and its three subsidiary counties, with Mulan City as the governing area.
Ouyang Shuo used his position as the Lianzhou Marquis to officially appoint her as the prefect of Mulan House. He also gave the people in Mulan House director level authority.
Hence, be it in theory or in actuality, Mulan County was now a part of Shanhai Territory.
Apart from his plans for Mulan House, Ouyang Shuo also had plans for Mulan Yue.
Mulan Yue was a rank 1 earl. Apart from Ouyang Shuo, she was the second noble in the territory. Hence, apart from the prefect position, Mulan Yue would also receive a noble’s treatment.
The Lianzhou Marquis could change the position based on appointment, but the noble title would forever remain.
Ouyang Shuo made Mulan House Mulan Yue's permanent residence. Additionally, 20% of the house’s income would enter her account as her expenses.
Apart from that, the Construction Division would build an earl manor in Shanhai County and Mulan City to act as her accommodation.
Ouyang Shuo's arrangements ensured that Mulan Yue's interests weren't affected. When the game ended, she could obtain high amounts of achievement value.
Bai Hua and the others were dazzled; they all had their own thoughts.
"Wuyi really put in a lot of effort and money into this."
"That's right. I’m actually a little envious of her. She became a noble and does not need to care about administrative matters. She is enjoying a status similar to a lord; she's living like a god!"
"...."
"If the other small lord's learned of this contact, they will be so envious that they vomit blood. The difference is like night and day!"
"How is that the same? Yue Yue is a member of the Shanhai Alliance!"
"That's right; it can't be compared!"
"I think that's enough. Even if you all are sucking up to Little Yue Yue, you don't need to exaggerate it so much, right?"
"..."
It wasn’t only Bai Hua and the others. Even Mu Guiying and the old members from Mulan County relaxed after they saw their princess being treated so well. Their fear of being ostracised disappeared.
After the ceremony ended, the other members of the Shanhai Alliance all left.
Ouyang Shuo asked Mu Guiying to stay behind to discuss the matter of military organization. Mulan Yue left the meeting hall. She was now only a prefect, so she wasn't involved in military matters.
Mulan City, as an ex-grade 3 city, had a similar military organization to Shanhai County. The three subsidiary territories all had a city protection unit; this didn't need reorganization.
The main camp had four regiments, a total of 10 thousand people. They had one cavalry regiment, one sword-shield soldier regiment, and two archer regiments.
Ouyang Shuo wanted to recruit Mulan City's city protection regiment from the existing reserve forces. With these four regiments as a base, they would form up the 4th division of Shanhai County.
Mu Guiying would take up the role as the major general of the fourth division.
With that, the fourth division separated from the Mulan House; Baiqi and the Military Affairs Department would lead it. Similarly, the Lianzhou Lord would pay their salary.
The salary that Mulan Yue previously paid totally couldn't compare to Shanhai County’s salary. If one thought about it, the soldiers would gain an increased sense of belonging to Shanhai County.
This would also greatly benefit the reorganization of the Military Affairs Department.
After they formed the fourth division, Shanhai County would have four divisions that could take part in battles, which amounted to a total of 54 thousand men. Coincidentally, they could just form a legion.
Ouyang Shuo temporarily didn't have any plans to form a legion.
Be it in terms of military or administration, one needed to consider balance.
If they formed a legion, Baiqi was his only choice for General. Now, Baiqi didn't have an actual appointment. He mainly just needed to take charge of wartime commanding.
The moment he became the General, the situation would change. Baiqi would control all the forces, which will pose a huge challenge to Du Ruhui who Ouyang Shuo had just appointed.
Naturally, Ouyang Shuo wasn't afraid that Baiqi would betray him or something. However, he just needed to made a good environment for Du Ruhui.
He needed to wait until Du Ruhui had reestablished the prestige and position of the Military Affairs Department. Then, he could think about setting up the legion. At that time, a balance would be naturally reached.
Of course, be it Baiqi or Du Ruhui, they had to answer to Ouyang Shuo. He held the highest position in both military and administration. Everyone had to answer to him.
Returning to the topic.
The fourth division was a mix of infantry and cavalry. It was similar to the first division.
As for the base of the fourth division, it would be located at Zhennan Pass.
When he thought about Zhennan Pass, Ouyang Shuo had a headache.
The current pass was too small and at one side of the Basin. It was not suitable for investigating the situation of the enemies.
"Do any of you have any suggestions regarding the pass?" Ouyang Shuo asked.
The participants for this meeting, apart from Mu Guiying, were Baiqi and Du Ruhui.
Du Ruhui had just entered, so he wasn't familiar with the territory, especially in regards to the Zhennan Pass. So, he kept his silence and didn't voice out his opinion.
Baiqi had come a little earlier than Du Ruhui, but Zhennan Pass was under Mulan County's jurisdiction back then. As such, although he had heard of it, he didn't personally see it. Hence, he wouldn't voice his opinion.
Only Mu Guying could answer him.
She was very solemn; she naturally had the right to speak of Zhennan Pass. This was also the Marquis’ first test, so she had to show some skill.
She bowed toward Ouyang Shuo and cupped her fist toward Baiqi and Du Ruhui. Then, she said, “North of Zhennan Pass would be Xunzhou, where the Taiping Country uprising starts from. As expected, they will be our strongest enemy in the near future. Hence, before they have a firm footing, we must find a suitable spot in Xunzhou to set up a base. Only then can we advance and retreat as we wish."
"The current Zhennan Pass is old. If we place a large number of troops there, we cannot fend off the attack and defend Shanhai Prefecture. The pass is also too close to the Basin. To its north is a 100 meter long canyon. Out of it will be the Xunzhou area. I investigated before and found that the further north we went, the wider the canyon got. The exit is 100 meters wide. If the enemy builds a pass at the north exit, they could block off our route."
Ouyang Shuo nodded, everything had its pros and cons. Lianzhou Basin only needed to defend Zhennan Pass from external threats. Conversely, they could only use the pass to reach the outside world.
Mu Guiying continued, “My suggestion is to set up a large scale fortress at the north of the canyon. Then, we can station a large number of troops. Outside the fortress is all
plains, so we can attack Xunzhou at any time.”
Military fortress and a pass were two different concepts.
A pass had the function of collecting tax and acted as a passageway.
A military fortress was a small city. It had all the necessary facilities and had permanent defenses for long term defense.
A pass was easy to attack. On the other hand, attacking a military fortress was harder than ascending the heavens.
Her suggestion was similar to what Ouyang Shuo had in mind. He laughed, “Good, let's do it like that. The name of the fortress will be Mulan Stronghold. The Mulan House will be in charge of its design. The fourth division will be stationed there."
"Yes, my lord!"
After they set the direction, the Military Affairs Department handled the specific military organization. The various departments and divisions would work together on the design and construction. Ouyang Shuo didn't need to worry about that.
With the speed at which Taiping Country developed, there was definitely enough time to build the fortress.
Ouyang Shuo wanted to know what the forces of Taiping Country would feel when they waltz forward and saw such a gigantic fortress.
On the topic of Taiping Country, they should have made their move. Only thing was, which territory was the unlucky one that Hong Xiuquan first targeted.
Ouyang Shuo left the three of them to discuss, as he left the main hall and found Mulan Yue. He brought her to his reading room.
To tell the truth, Ouyang Shuo hadn’t expected her to make such a decision. For her to make this suggestion to him saved him that little bit of awkwardness.
This was why Ouyang Shuo felt a little closer to Mulan Yue.
The impression that she gave him was a little naive with a hint of annoyance.
But now, his view of her had totally changed.
On the surface, Mulan Yue was still clueless. As she followed him into the reading room, she looked around. She totally seemed like a curious little brat.
When he saw such a scene, Ouyang Shuo could only shake his head and sigh.
Toward Mulan Yue, Ouyang Shuo held high hopes. He hoped that her foresight wouldn't be restricted to Mulan House.
The future territory would be indescribably vast.
Ouyang Shuo hoped that she could fight forward and become a governor for him. A person who could help him defend an area.