Chapter 186: Preliminary Determination

Bai Lian on the side handed Ouyang a bowl of water and said, "The adult seems to be convincing himself. ”

Ouyang asked, "Did I convince you?" ”

"Bai Lian didn't doubt when the adults would do something wrong." Bai Lian asked: "But Bai Lian feels that she is a superior person, so she doesn't have to worry about this." ”

Ouyang smiled bitterly: "Turn back, I have to go to Wang Wenqing of Guangde Palace to explain." ”

Bai Lian said: "Otherwise." My lord, now the overall situation here has been decided, there is Lord Li in the text, and General Han in the military. Shall we simply go back to Beijing to pay the decree? ”

Ouyang shook his head: "Either you don't do it, or if you want to do it, you have to be beautiful." The strategy for the surrounding ethnic groups, the pacification of the people under the rule, and the direction of long-term development. It is also necessary to establish Taoist temples and formulate laws. ”

"Legal?"

"It's the law." Ouyang explained: "It is necessary to stipulate that the people are allowed to have their own beliefs and respect each other for people of all faiths, including the Taoism that we want to build here. Second, protect the basic interests of the local military and civilians from being infringed upon. There are many, many things to do. The people here are different from the Central Plains, as long as there is food to eat in the Central Plains, everyone is the same. The people here have more demands, more complex thoughts, and fanaticism for religion, if I leave, Master Li will not be able to deal with it, and in the end I can only end up with corpses all over the field again. Only by making the prototype can the people below follow the steps. Once the local people agree to our rule, even if Great Qin and Great Food jointly attack us in the future, we will have a five-point chance of winning. Only when the local area is stable and can fully supply the logistics of the army can we not often look at the face of Persia. ”

Due to the language barrier, Da Shi and Da Qin and the Persians didn't know about Ouyang's small actions at all. On the third day, the Crusaders began to withdraw from the Strait of Marmara to the west. The three parties were busy informing the Song army, and the Song army told them that most of the people who had evacuated were family members, and there were some noble knights. Constantinople and the surrounding area were still home to the main forces of the Crusaders. Since the Strait of Marmara was also an area of control of the Crusaders. How many people were evacuated, everyone really doesn't know.

All sides had evil intentions, and the three sides of Constantinople, which had gathered heavy troops, unanimously demanded that the Song army take the lead attack. After all, according to the agreement, this place will be occupied by the Song army in the future, and it is appropriate to contribute, and this alliance is dominated by the Song army. There was no reason why the Song army should not fight the hardest first battle. Song Jun prevaricated for a long time, and finally reluctantly accepted the fact that he was the main attacker.

In the early morning of the sixth day, the sound of artillery fire and explosions in Constantinople could be heard dozens of miles away. From a distance, the city was full of fires and smoke. The shouts of killing shook the sky. No one doubts that the fiercest battle is going on inside, and not a unilateral organized extermination***.

The battle lasted for a day and a night, and finally ended when the main general and the Chincha led the guards into the battle. Song Jun quickly announced to the envoys of the three parties. According to statistics, the annihilation of the crusaders amounted to 63,000 people. This news was immediately brought back to their main forces by the messengers. A few days later, Da Shi and Da Qin did not invite the Song army to fight again, but fought for the territory around Constantinople with all their might, which also led to two skirmishes with more than 1,000 dead and wounded.

In the following month, a curfew was imposed on Constantinople, including all cities under its jurisdiction, while major civil engineering began in the main city. By the time the curfew ended, many Han Chinese were already living in the cities. To the relief of many people, neither the Crusaders nor the Song Army destroyed the sacred church, and the Song Army supported and encouraged the faithful to go to the church. This made the Great Qin Resistance forces more satisfied. Because Song Jun respected their beliefs very much.

The jewels and gold of the gold chamber were all demolished, leaving only the relatively simple stone door and stone chairs. Ouyang hereby announced to all the residents under his jurisdiction that Constantinople had officially changed its name to Yuzhou. and issued the currency of the Song Dynasty. The basic rule is that one tael of gold is exchanged for ten taels of silver. Local residents can exchange their original currency, and jewelry, gold, and spices are all marked with name codes and allowed to be exchanged. The Han people responded to this policy, but the local residents responded very little.

Just when everyone thought that Ouyang would use some drastic methods, Ouyang didn't, but issued the law of Yuzhou. It stipulates the rights and obligations of residents within the jurisdiction of Yucheng. Most of them are borrowed from modern law. After researching it, the local residents agreed with the law. Ouyang used a referendum, and ninety-five percent of the residents agreed with the passage of the law, while half of the people who opposed it were Han Chinese.

Li Gang said: "Lord Ou, the circulation of Song coins is very bad now. ”

"It's okay." Ouyang said: "This can only be done slowly, and the copper coins we bring are indeed not enough." I have already asked people to inform China to bring the banknotes to be issued next year to Yuzhou for experimentation. Master Li, at present, it is production and construction, and only with them can society be stable. Pastures, barley, cotton, grapes and other fruits should be supported. I have asked people to bring a message to the Yangping Chamber of Commerce, so that someone who is interested in the development can be sent to investigate. However, for the time being, there will be no strong merchants entering. For the time being, our government still has to dominate most of the industries. The local fishing industry can develop and develop, and it is a joke to die of poverty in front of the sea. ”

Zhang San came in and reported by the door: "My lord, General Han asks to see you." ”

"Please!"

Li Gang saw that he wanted to talk about military matters, so he took his leave: "The details will be arranged by the subordinates and others." By the way, the second batch of silk caravans has already departed from the country. General Han. ”

"Master Lee." After looking at each other on both sides, Li Gang went out, and Han Shizhong sat down and said: "My lord, I just received the holy decree, and the emperor is very satisfied with the current development, but I hope that we will reduce part of the army and return to the northwest." This route is too long, and the logistics to be used are huge. ”

The forbidden army in Yuzhou was about 80,000 people, and the army that maintained this Daoxiang was 320,000. At present, Yuzhou is not able to supply the army locally, and all materials have to be transported from the country, and the project is really huge. Ouyang asked: "General Han, according to the worst-case plan, there is a city rebellion in Yuzhou, and Da Qin and Da Shi have intentions against Yuzhou at the same time, in this case, how many troops are needed to ensure the safety of Yuzhou." ”

"If it is the main city and main road of Yuzhou, 10,000 is enough. But if you want to take care of other counties, you need at least 50,000 elites. ”

Ouyang Dao: "The 80,000 Han people in this main city are actually 80,000 troops. Weapons can also be used in battle. I saw this, and asked the forbidden army who would like to stay, and whoever stayed. If there are more than 10,000 people willing to stay here, then there are only 10,000 garrisons on the surface. When it is stabilized, the local population is called up for military service, and this problem can be solved. "One of the obligations stipulated in the law of Ouyang's compulsory military system is that young men who have reached the age of eighteen can be conscripted to serve in the army. The length of service is four years, and after four years, if both parties are willing to be converted into volunteers, the salary is increased. This is a way out for young people.

Han Shizhong nodded: "There is another thing, due to the frequent movements of the Northwest Army, the people of Western Xia are ready to move after knowing that the elite of the Northwest Army are on an expedition. Therefore, in the near future, General Mo and General Liu may have to return to the Northwest Provincial Garrison. Even if the adults are late, they will have to return to the Great Song Dynasty sooner or later. I wonder what arrangements the adults have for the local Jiedu envoys and pacification divisions? ”

Although Yuzhou belongs to the Northwest Military Road, Ouyang Yi has already been separated into a separate road. Therefore, no matter how small the fly is, it is also necessary to set up civil and military ***. Now most of them are people with rights and interests, and the northwest is initially decided, and Li Gang will stay for a long time. Not to mention Han and Liu. Now that the strategic objective has been achieved, preparations must be made for the evacuation of the Silk Road after the capture of a Silk Road transit point here.

"The day before yesterday, I chatted with General Zhang Lan for a while." Ouyang Dao: "General Zhang is willing to stay in Yuzhou, and I am ready to let him marry the daughter of the head of the influential Orthodox Church and become an envoy of the festival." What do you think? ”

"General Zhang is General Liu's favorite general, and Han can't be the master even though he is the main officer. However, the Lord is a minister, and he acts cheaply. If General Zhang has no opinion, it can be said that he is a very suitable candidate to stay in Yuzhou. Han Shizhong said: "The people here are complicated, domestic support is difficult, if something really happens, if there is no civil official, it can only be completed by General Zhang alone." The festival envoy and pacification envoy, I'm afraid General Zhang can't provoke it. ”

Ouyang Dao: "In fact, in terms of cultural governance, as long as it is implemented in accordance with the law. When it comes to the law, I'm afraid there is no more suitable person than the Yangping Servant. It's just that the official was suddenly promoted to the fourth grade, which is really unreasonable. Officials can only be appointed from within the country. The civil officials here still have to take care of military affairs, so they must choose a person who can be civil and martial. ”

Han Shizhong smiled bitterly: "My lord, you know all the officials in this court, how can there be any officials who can be civil and martial." This is a place of poverty and troubles, and who wants to come? ”

"I do know that a few years ago, there was a jinshi named Li Guang, who sent Zhikaihua County Commander, which was quite famous. I have a friendship with Lord Li Gang, and this person is also Lord Li Gang's *** to me. said that this person is very capable, and has no family for the time being. He has a grudge with Wang Hao, and Wang Hao has long said that he will kill him. If you put it here, it can be said that you will kill two birds with one stone. ”

Han Shizhong said with a smile: "My lord, who is not a faction, right?" ”

"The same cannot be said. This Li Guang is still more willing to contact businessmen. The main service of the Silk Road was the Song merchants. Therefore, it is more appropriate to have a pro-business and law-respecting person here. ”

Han Shizhong said: "It turns out that the adults are all calculated, and the last general is Meng Lang." However, looking at this year, the end will be able to go back to the Song Dynasty for the New Year's Festival. I'm afraid I won't be able to go back for the time being. ”

Ouyang smiled bitterly: "I didn't think it would take a year as soon as I came out." "It's August, but it's two months to get back to the Northwest Road. Han Shizhong will not be able to go on the road until September if he wants to go, and he will either go in December or spring. Ouyang had actually planned to start the road in spring. I was in a hurry, I didn't pay attention to the desert style, and I was in a hurry. Nor did they enjoy the rare exotic customs. This publicly-funded tour always can't toss itself in vain. As for Yangping, Gan Xin has been appointed as the acting magistrate of the county, and he has made up for his fame, so there is nothing to worry about.

Ouyang knew that with his departure, this military route would become a commercial road, and Song's support for Yuzhou would gradually decrease, and if Yuzhou could not be self-sufficient as soon as possible now, I am afraid that it would be difficult to gain a foothold in the future. The simplest thing is that the supply of gunpowder will not work. Ouyang's gunpowder formula is powerful enough, but the storage conditions are too poor. Even if you try your best, two years is already the maximum period, and if you go down, gunpowder will not be usable. And if the firearms that deter the Quartet cannot be used, it will greatly reduce its strength.

But it is obviously unrealistic to open a military factory in Yuzhou, and the cost of large-scale transportation by land is high, there are many difficulties, and there are many natural disasters, how to solve it? Ouyang thought of the sea route and used the sea route to supply Yuzhou. But this sea route is not simple, three routes, the northern route is out of the Bering Strait, to the Mediterranean. The southern route is a detour from southern Africa to the Mediterranean, and the eastern route is eastward across the American mainland. In this way, the sea route is very difficult than the land route.

Ouyang called Zhang Liang and said at the beginning that this was a troublesome situation: "The Song army may be isolated here, and even unable to use firearms, and the country will only be able to supply once every few years at most in the future." Are you prepared? ”

Zhang Liang replied briskly: "Back to my lord, before there are no firearms, it is not that our Northwest Forbidden Army does not know how to use knives. Besides, the adults also said that it will take four or two thousand catties in this place. Good at taking advantage of the contradictions between various ethnic groups. It's not all brute force. ”

"Well, remember, although the Orthodox Church is attacked by Catholicism, they still have a great conflict of faith with Islam. When Li Guang takes office, I am going to arrange an Islamic wife for him. Don't worry, you can marry a little wife. But you have to remember that both of you are non-believers, and you can't even believe in the Tao or the Buddha. I think it won't be long before the Tianzhu people will open a temple here, and it will be further complicated at that time. ”

Zhang Liang patted his chest and said: "Don't worry, my lord, the end will be one day, and this place will be called Yuzhou one day." ”

Next is diplomacy, Yuzhou and Persia are still in the honeymoon period, and the relationship with Daqin and Dashi is not bad. However, the Great Qin of the Orthodox Church and the Great Food of Islam are in constant conflict. Fortunately, the countries on both sides have been hit hard, so there will be no war at the moment.

After Ouyang's unremitting efforts, the Quartet sat down at the peace table. And a Yuzhou statement was issued. The statement said that Persia and Dashi would return some of the land to Daqin, on the condition that Daqin acknowledged that the unreturned land belonged to the two countries. The Quartet demarcated the border. In the event of a war between the two sides, the other two sides will assess and jointly strike at malicious provocateurs.

The proclamation also stipulates that pagan religions must be permitted to preach in other countries.

It is also important that a commercial trading area will be opened in a medium-sized city in Yuzhou, and no country will be allowed to attack and loot caravans under any pretext.

In addition, Song will withdraw most of his troops this year, which is perceived as a threat to all sides. In addition, the Song side will support the trade of the three parties to the Song Dynasty. Song would look for businessmen in the country to help build high-quality paper mills, printing houses, and ceramic factories in the tripartite countries.

The only person who really has an opinion on the establishment of Yuzhou can only be the Great Qin family, but this family is the weakest among the four parties, coupled with the attitude of the highest military attache here marrying the woman of the Great Qin nobles and the support of the bishop, so it is still acceptable for the time being. Ouyang estimated that as soon as this arrangement was made, the war would start, and it would be after Zhang Liang's death.

Zhang Lan's wedding was held in September before Han and Liu left with their troops. Since the declaration was signed not long ago, all parties sent people to attend the wedding. The wedding process is a traditional Chinese wedding, with a small amount of Western elements. On the same day, Ouyang was appointed as the envoy of the Yuzhou Festival on the spot.

A few days later, Han Shizhong led his troops to return east. Only 8,000 forbidden troops remained. Of the 8,000, only 3,000 volunteered to stay. Unlike the Xiang Army, the nature of the Xiang Army is a bit like that of a state-hired buyout laborer, with tattoos on his face. They are willing to recover, marry and have children in the local area. The treatment of the forbidden army was much better, and in the end, everyone was asked to draw lots before they were selected to stay. However, Ouyang was also generous, and divided all the gold and gems dug up in the Golden Council Hall equally among the 8,000 people, and promised that after returning to the Song Dynasty, he would distribute the money and goods worth 500,000 yuan to everyone, and all the families would be exempt from taxes for 30 years. The conditions were so generous that the forbidden troops who stayed behind were overjoyed.

In October, Li Guang arrived under escort. This person has no complaints and has been exiled here. The next day he had already begun to understand the people's situation and familiarize himself with the local laws. And soon began to learn the local language. Although Ouyang stipulated that the Chinese language could not be lost, as a local governor, it was necessary to be proficient in the language.

In December, Li Guang succeeded Ouyang and began to govern. Since taking office, he has lived up to expectations. Be fair and respect folk customs. Compared to Ouyang, it is not inferior. The locals were relieved. In the second half of the year, Li Guang got married. This marriage was not easy, and Ouyang had a headache between Da Shi and Persia for a long time. In the end, Persia was more sincere and married a sixteen-year-old beautiful and gentle princess to solve the matter. And Persia made such a big blood, the natural purpose is not all here, but hopes to start contacts with the Song Dynasty. Ouyang naturally welcomed.

In January, Ouyang was ready to return to the Song Dynasty, and gifts were sent from all sides. There are gems, there are war knives, and there are two Persian dancers. Persia has been in contact with the Central Plains since the Northern Wei Dynasty. It can be traced back to the period of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. The envoys came and went dozens of times, leaving pearls, mahouts, and the most precious silver coins of the royal family. There were also tribes who fled to the Central Plains of the Tang Dynasty and asked for the restoration of the country. The Tang Dynasty sent troops to send him back to Afghanistan and set up the Persian Governorate. It was calm before, but as soon as the Tang army withdrew, the Governorate was destroyed by the Arabs. 650-1290 is the Islamic period in Persia, although Ouyang in this era of Persian ethnic groups, but there are few wars, have a good impression of the Central Plains. However, due to the barrier of Western Xia, the two sides have not communicated. This is an opportunity for the two countries to re-establish diplomatic and friendly relations.

As for the Persian dancer given to Ouyang, she was actually the daughter of a declining tribe who had been temporarily trained. Thanks to his dedication to these two daughters, the tribe was able to survive. After Ouyang knew the complicated situation, he still decided to accept this pair. The status of women in the modern Arab world is even lower than that of the Central Plains after Zhu Xi, and the use of low-cost women, together with relationships, is a means that Persia has always used. Naturally, Ouyang is not exempt from vulgarity. It's just that they don't know that Ouyang confiscated the gifts, and did the same. I won't be too polite to you if I receive a gift. He is a typical person who is not soft-handed, and if he gives it, he doesn't give it.

Ouyang was not in a hurry to return to Song, but asked the guards to send gifts and dancers back with some people. He took Zhang San, Li Si and Bai Lian, together with eight internal guards and the remaining six hundred forbidden army guards, and slowly returned.