Chapter 90 – Incorporation
Translator: TeamTWO
Editor: Jun
In the refugee camp meeting hall, after both sides greeted one another, they got into the topic.
Ouyang Shuo did not want to beat around the bush, and said directly, "The few of you are talents. It's uncommon to also be so similar and also have such a caring heart for the citizens. I'm not talented and smart enough, so I invite all of you and your residents to join Shanhai Town and develop together; I don't know what you think about that?"
"Sire's good intentions we accept. Please let me ask something disrespectful, if we join Shanhai Town, what kind of treatment will we get?" The one who asked was Elder Xu.
Ouyang Shuo nodded his head and laughed. "Even if you didn't ask, I also would have had to explain it to all of you. A month ago, Shanhai Town had already completed privatization. Every resident was given a basic benefit package which included 100 units of grain, 20 units of meat, a piece of leather and a set of basic clothing as well as 20 silver, so enough for 3 months."
"If the residents of the camp join Shanhai Town, they can, according to their specialties, find their own job. Those that are willing to be farmers, the government will assign them land and give them free farming tools. Those willing to fish can rent boats to fish out at sea. Those that are willing to work, the territory has quarries, mines and logging camps. Apart from that, the territory has built many different workshops, factories, and shops. All these places need talented people. Taking a step back, those without specialties can find a job in construction."
"Hence, as long as you are willing to join Shanhai Town, you wouldn’t have to worry about not being able to find a job and feeding your family. As long as you are willing to work, it is natural that you will have a house and food. As for all of you here, the political departments and military systems welcome your addition anytime."
Ge Hongliang and Xuzhen's eyes brightened. They were infected by what Ouyang Shuo had described, their expressions visibly shaken. If it were true, then it was definitely better than staying in such an old and rundown camp.
As a general, Sun Tengjiao was not moved and said loudly, "This general has something to ask!"
"Please speak, general!" Ouyang Shuo smiled and said. He could tell that Ge Hongliang acted as the good cop and Xu Zhenchang and Sun Tengjiao acted as the bad cops. The questions that he didn't want to ask would be asked by those 2.
If we join Shanhai Town, how will sire deal with our troops?" Sun Tengjiao directly asked the sensitive question of military arrangement.
"How is the current situation with the military?" Ouyang Shuo did not rush to answer and instead asked.
Sun Tengjiao nodded as he felt the sincerity behind Ouyang Shuo's words. If Ouyang Shuo didn't ask and gave an answer, he would not have believed him. "The camp has a squad of 150 people. Because we lacked horses, we are mainly infantry. But they are all trained in archery and horse riding so as long as they get a war horse, they will be passable cavalry."
As for the troops that he trained, Sun Tengjiao was extremely confident in them. Lin Yi, who was sitting opposite him snickered, obviously not believing in his words.
Ouyang Shuo nodded. "Your units, I naturally believe you. How about this? I'll give you a cavalry squadron while the remaining 50 men will be reserve troops. When the time is right, they will then be changed to operational troops, how about that?"
The reserve troops was just Ouyang Shuo's best attempt to prevent a bad situation. Shanhai Town did not have a reserve army. Sun Tengjiao knew himself that Ouyang Shuo's other answer would have been to let the 150 people be a squadron, kicking out the remaining ones.
Taking into account the injured and those whose body conditions dropped due to lack of nutrition, they could just barely meet 100. Hence, Sun Tengjiao didn't try to ask for more and instead quietly accepted it.
After Ouyang Shuo replied both people's questions, he turned around to Ge Hongliang to wait for his opinion.
Ge Hongliang and Sun Tengjiao exchanged glances and he smiled. "Sire is so sincere and kind, we are struggling to keep warm and full in the wilderness, fighting for our lives every day. To get sire's help is our good fortune. I thank sire on behalf of the 1500 residents in the camp for sire's helping hand."
"Great, with all your help, it's as if we’re adding wings to a tiger." Ouyang Shuo laughed.
After they both came to an agreement, Ouyang Shuo took the chance to look at all 3 of their stats.
Name: Ge Hongliang (Gold)
Identity: Shanhai Town resident
Occupation: Strategist
Loyalty: 75
Command: 35
Force: 15
Intelligence: 55
Politics: 60
Specialty: Devise Strategies (Raise troops combat power by 5%), Tactical Proficiency (Raise troops movement speed by 10%)
Evaluation: Born as a scholar, highly intelligent, able to come up with strategies and highly loyal
As expected, Ge Hongliang was a typical strategist, and he was one who inclined towards the military, giving it two incredibly strong buffs.
Name: Xu Zhenchang (Silver)
Identity: Shanhai Town resident
Occupation: Civil Servant (juren)
Loyalty: 75
Command: 15
Force: 12
Intelligence: 40
Politics: 50
Specialty: Detailed (Raise territory tax income by 5%)
Evaluation: Passed the imperial examinations, Careful personality, Morally upright, Experienced in politics, A rare government affairs talent.
Elder Xu was certainly a good surprise. Not only was he a silver rank talent, but he also had a lot of experience.
Name: Sun Tengjiao (Silver)
Identity: Shanhai Town resident
Occupation: Basic Rank General
Loyalty: 75
Command: 35
Force: 35
Intelligence: 20
Politics: 20
Cultivation method: Army Lance Law (6 stances)
Equipment: Exquisite Horse Lance
Evaluation: Military-born, born with god-level strength, good at using horse lance
Sun Tengjiao did not seem simple. The horse lance was the strongest armor piercing weapon during the cold weapons era, extremely hard to grasp, and to perfect it, it needed a lot of training.
The three of them were talents that Shanhai Town lacked desperately, making Ouyang Shuo delighted. The migration of the refugees would need a lot of work, but these things were naturally Ge Hongliang’s concern.
It was already late, thus Ouyang Shuo didn’t stay any further in the refugee camp. He left San Gouzi there to coordinate, and brought the rest of the cavalry back to Shanhai Town.
The addition of 1,500 people was something that Shanhai Town needed to prepare for. Luckily Shanhai Town wasn’t like the old Shanhai Village. The Material Reserves Department had sufficient resources to build the houses for all these people. Ouyang Shuo also planned to send 400 of them to Qiushui Village to help it reach grade 1 town.
3rd month, 15th day
The refugees started to migrate into Shanhai Town, walking slowly forwards. Ouyang Shuo specially arranged the first cavalry squadron to protect their safety.
At 11 AM in the morning, Ouyang Shuo led the various officials to Shanhai Town and waited at the gates of the town for Ge Hongliang. The town walls and its secondary facilities had already been built.
As the main gate of Shanhai Town, the north gate opened to reveal a brick tower, majestic-looking and filled with many lifestyle facilities. Apart from water and food resources, it also stored large amounts of hot oil, rolling wood, etc., including war resources. On top of the tower stationed a squad of infantry as well as two archers.
In front of the tower had many Shanhai Town flags stuck into it. The flags were designed by Ouyang Shuo; the blue background was split with gold into two. The top was a volcano, spurting out hot magma where a golden dragon wrapped around it, looking fierce and majestic.
The doorway below the tower was 6 meters wide, and on top of it was carved the words “Shanhai”. The two huge wooden doors were encapsulated with thick layers of metal, and metal spikes were hammered into it, making it look like a beast. At each of the sides was also a secondary passageway, 4 metres wide and 5 meters high. Under normal circumstances, the main door was usually closed and visitors would use the secondary doorways.
Not far away from the secondary doorways were two trenches. The trenches were two levels, the upper one had 6 arrow holes and the bottom one had 5. Each arrow hole area had an arced top which could be opened and closed. The trenches also had a tunnel with 3 arrow holes in it facing the friendship river. This aided them in killing people who were invading. The trenches were mixed as one into the town walls, ensuring the safety of the soldiers that hid inside.
At the front of the village doors was a huge wooden suspension bridge which extended all the way to the opposite side of the 8 meter wide river. As the friendship river was only one meter away from the wall, the suspension bridge, which was 6 meters wide and 9 meters long worked via pulley devices attached to the walls and could be pulled up and let down by will. Apart from war time, under normal circumstances it would be placed down. To ensure that if there was a war and the suspension bridge could be raised, every week it would be tested.
When the refugees saw such a majestic wall, their mouths were agape. Compared to this wall, the camp that they’d stayed in was pretty much a backward tribe. With such a strong wall protecting them, they instantly felt more calm and safe. Their displeasure at having needed to migrate had subsided. The leaders looked at each other. Their tough days were finally over.
Ge Hongliang was shocked. It wasn’t that he hadn’t seen such high walls before. In truth, compared to the imperial capital, this wall wasn’t anything.
What amazed him was that Shanhai Town, which was only at the town stage, had the ability to build such a strong and stable structure. One could tell from this how far-sighted the lord was.