Chapter 724-Headquarters
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
Gaia 3rd year, 9th month, 6th day.
Three days had passed, and the work of the various organizations regarding Chengdu had come to an end. Although the matter was rushed and sudden, it did not cause too much chaos.
As the problems faded, the problematic noises disappeared too.
...
Nanjiang Governor-General House, Wuying Palace.
Wuying Palace was the side palace of the west side of the main palace, which was usually used for military meetings. This was because the main hall was too official and Ouyang Shuo was not used to discussing matters with the generals while being so high above.
The layout of the Wuying Palace was similar to that of the barracks tent so it fit Ouyang Shuo's tastes.
Zhou Yu, Lu Su, the Jiangdong Generals, Ma Teng, Strategist Jia Xu, Military Affairs Director Du Ruhui and Deputy Director Zhao Kuo, Nanyang Navy Admiral Zheng He, and the City Protection Legion Legion General had all arrived.
The fierce general Xu Chu stood beside Ouyang Shuo like an iron tower.
Long before the meeting, their appointments had already been approved by Ouyang Shuo.
Zhou Yu was appointed as the fleet general of the Beihai Bay Squadron and would take the job tomorrow. At the same time, Gan Ning was appointed as the chief general of the second squadron.
The first squadron chief general was Pei Donglai.
Zhou Tai was moved into the Jiaozhou Squadron, which was led by Shi Lang and became the chief general of the first squadron. Old General Huang Gai was moved to the Xingzhou squadron, which was led by Yanhuo Yaonie, acting as the deputy fleet admiral and chief general.
Huang Gai and Yanhuo Yaonie, one young and one old; it was truly suitable.
Lu Meng was moved into the Mediterranean Squadron, which was led by Alvaro and would become the deputy fleet admiral and chief general. With the help of a smart and courageous general like Lu Meng, Ouyang Shuo could totally be at ease with Alvaro.
Out of all the navy generals, probably only Lu Meng would be a good fit with this old fox. Lu Meng had the strength of non-stop learning and improvement, so learning navy tactics from Alvaro would help him a lot.
Hence, arranging him there was both to keep Alvaro in check and for Lu Meng to learn.
Adding in the Yashan Squadron chief general, the five squadrons all had at least a King Rank general in charge for the chief general role, finally breaking away from the awkward situation of lacking navy generals.
Of course, when compared to the stellar line up of the army, this was not much.
Out of the seven Jiangdong Navy generals, only Lu Su temporarily had not received an appointment.
Lu Su could be considered a strategist-type general. If one put him into the squadron that would be a waste of a treasure, so Ouyang Shuo really could not dare to do that. After discussing with Zheng He, he decided to move Lu Su to Zheng He's side.
It could be said to be truly exceedingly weird that the Nanyang Navy had not set up a headquarters to date.
Making use of this chance, Zheng He took the lead and Lu Su helped. At the same time, he moved a group of officials from the five squadrons, the Military Affairs Bureau, and the army military academy to build the headquarters.
The headquarters would not be built in Shanhai City but in Lion City in Xingzhou Prefecture.
The Nanyang Navy would cover the entire trade route and Lion City was in the middle of this trade route; it was an important chokepoint in the ocean. Building the headquarters there would make it easy to command the five squadrons.
At the same time, it was to make a strong indication to the world that the target of the Nanyang Navy was not within the country.
The construction of the headquarters would mean that the Nanyang Navy would break away from the control of the Military Affairs Bureau and officially separate, directly led by Ouyang Shuo.
The greater meaning was to reduce the number of battle commanding levels, giving Zheng He more authority to make battle commands more flexible and quicker.
The organizational structure of the Nanyang Navy would follow the structure of the Military Affairs Department, having a Combat Logistics Department, a Military Intelligence Division, a Military Law Division, a War Division, etc.
At the same time, the various military ports and the military used shipyards would be under the control of the headquarters. The Nanyang Navy would also slowly build up logistical supply systems and resource bases along the way.
After all of this was built up, they could finally be considered a complete navy.
...
After hearing the news about building the headquarters, Zhou Yu and the other navy generals were stunned.
During these past few days, they had been welcomed by surprise after surprise, causing them to exclaim in awe. Even Zhou Yu could not help but say that he was like a frog looking at the sky from a well.
Their loyalty stat had risen to the safe value of 70.
Zhou Yu did not expect that the first time he joined a military meeting he would be able to witness the charm and far-sightedness of the Monarch. Only insiders could understand the strategic meaning behind a navy building a navy headquarters.
To say that it was a groundbreaking matter was not an understatement.
Ouyang Shuo had totally broken the structure of the Nanyang Navy, giving them a wider platform to perform and allowing them to roam the vast oceans.
Such ambition was truly a sign of an emperor.
The ambition in Zhou Yu's heart rose once more.
Orginally, based on the Monarch's request, Lu Meng, Huang Gai, Gan Ning, and Zhou Tai needed to enter the army military academy to study for two months.
Zhou Yu and Lu Su could immediately take up their roles.
Now Zhou Yu had changed his mind and was prepared to study at the academy and would take up his role after he graduated.
This was the charm of Shanhai CIty.
Ouyang Shuo did not want a bunch of rule followers who could not proceed forward but rather a people who could truly help the territory grow.
Zheng He's growth had proven this point.
Ouyang Shuo was also looking forward to the day when Zhou Yu could upgrade to become a God Rank general. Ancient China lacked many elite navy generals but that did not mean that it lacked many good students.
"Since we lacked generals that could make long voyages, we have to develop our own." Ouyang Shuo said it like that.
Academy Principal Sun Wu was exceedingly supportive of this point.
Be it Sun Wu or Jiang Shang, after learning about how wide the world was, they all hoped that Shanhai City could become the leader that helped China rule the world.
Their way of thinking was totally different from the current state of thinking.
It seemed like all Saint Ranked people were like that.
Ouyang Shuo had heard that Kong Zi had ended his journey of learning through the wilderness and was looking for a place to consolidate his learning and make a series of changes to the Confucianism Books.
When Ouyang Shuo received the news, he immediately invited Kong Zi to the university to complete that magnificent mission. After all, the Xinan University had unique resources and the strong support of Ouyang Shuo.
When he received the letter, he directly accepted it and was on his way over.
Based on what he said, the changes he planned to make were going to be relevant for an extremely long time. When it was finished, Ouyang Shuo believed that it was going to cover the entire China in its glory and reign for thousands of years.
...
Apart from Zhou Yu and the other navy generals that needed to improve, the five Ma also need to learn for two months.
Their appointment was not confirmed yet.
Based on Ouyang Shuo's plans, when they attacked Yunnan City-State, the territory would definitely welcome a new round of expansion. At that time, he would naturally have a place to appoint Ma Teng and the others.
Not mentioning them, even if 10 more generals came over, he would have roles for all of them.
Their situations were similar to Zhou Yu. Originally, Ouyang Shuo cared about their face and did not put Ma Teng into the list to study.
Who knew that he would actually choose to do so himself? Hence, Ma Teng had become the oldest student since the army military academy was established.
Such spirit was truly commendable.
It was no wonder. After all, the learning spirit in Shanhai City was simply too thick.
In such an environment, as long as one was not the kind who stubbornly stuck to their own thoughts, they definitely would not give up such an opportunity.
The competition in Shanhai City was in truth far stronger than the competition in history that they had faced.
"If one wanted to stand out from so many excellent generals, one obviously needed to learn." This was the warning that Ma Teng had given to his three sons and nephew.
Out of all of them, the only one that did not go to study was Xu Chu.
Xu Chu had already replaced the dead Chen Dameng and was appointed as the Personal Guards Captain. Ouyang Shuo did not treat him badly, granting him the title of a Grade 5 General.
Similarly, while Wang Feng was recovering, Xu Chu would replace him as the commander of the Divine Martial Guards.
In truth, in the battle map, Wang Feng had requested to quit his job. Ouyang Shuo rejected it as he did not want to see Wang Feng give up.
After returning to Shanhai City, Wang Feng had once again requested to quit.
"Monarch, do not worry. I will definitely rest up well and learn a one arm technique before helping Monarch fight once more. However, the Divine Martial Guards cannot remain leaderless, so can Monarch agree to my request?" Wang Feng was really sincere.
When Ouyang Shuo heard these words, he could only agree.
Ouyang Shuo had not decided on the new commander of the Divine Martial Guards.
...
Wang Feng being injured, the saddest one was Qing'er.
Listening to her maid's words, after the maid went to visit her, Qing'er had cried for an entire night till her eyes swelled up.
The next day, Qing'er came to visit her big brother.
Ouyang Shuo was already prepared to be scolded by Qing'er, who knew that she would make a special request – she wanted him to choose a date for her marry Wang Feng.
After listening to her request, Ouyang Shuo was silent for a long while.
"Qing'er, have you thought it through?"
From an objective viewpoint, Wang Feng had lost an arm and was not a good fit. Although this was really cruel to him, standing from the viewpoint of a brother, Ouyang Shuo still needed to be clear.
"Big brother, I have thought it through, please bless our marriage." Qing'er was determined.
Ouyang Shuo looked at the sister in front of him, feeling more and more unfamiliar. When did she grow to such a stage and have such comprehension?
He would never get the answer.
"Since that's the case, I will let your sister in law organize this wedding," Ouyang Shuo said.
"Thank you big brother." Qing'er was delighted.
"But would Wang Feng agree?" Ouyang Shuo asked.
Ouyang Shuo understood Wang Feng, and he definitely would not accept the wedding under such circumstances.
Needless to say, the dignity and pride of a man would prevent him from doing so.
Qing'er's eyes froze; she had obviously thought about this point. When she met Wang Feng yesterday, she had probably knocked into a wall.
"I will make him agree." Qing'er was determined.
Ouyang Shuo was silent and did not say anything.