In the blink of an eye, in October, the grain from the alpine areas such as Liuliba and Qiongzhou has been stored in the granary, and the colors of the forests have become colorful, while the rootless mountains and plains below the mountains are still full of green. In addition to dealing with important military and political matters, Ouyang Xuan still uses his free time to conduct experiments with researchers. As soon as Li Shuang finished his grain storage, he began to organize people to plough the land by hand, preparing to sow crops such as winter wheat and broad beans. Lu Dezhi was busy receiving a caravan, and he didn't need to take care of the business affairs at all, but this caravan was from Banzhou, so he naturally couldn't slack off.

Ran Zhong handed Yang Yan's handwritten letter to Ouyang Xuan, and seeing his stupid smile after seeing the letter, he found an excuse to discuss things with Lu Dezhi, and turned around. In addition to coming to do business, one of the most important things he had when he came this time was the wedding of Ouyang Xuan and Yang Yan. Lu Dezhi and Yang Wen once agreed that since they had made a marriage contract, they only needed the Thunderbolt Army to send someone to take Yang Yan over, which was also according to the usual practice. It's just that Ouyang Xuan felt that he should go to marry in person to show his sincerity, and he hadn't seen his father-in-law yet, so he should worship in person. In addition, he also wanted to personally visit the place where Moutai wine was produced in the future, so as to improve the southward strategy of the Perak army.

Ouyang Xuan proposed that he would go to Banzhou and hold a wedding in Yang's Mansion. This proposal made Ran Zhong extremely surprised, because it not only meant that Ouyang Xuan had a deep affection for Miss Yang, but also meant that the Perak Army respected Banzhou. However, this also made Lu Dezhi quite displeased, and he shook his head in a hurry. In his opinion, the Thunderbolt Army is marrying a daughter-in-law, not a daughter-in-law, and Ouyang Xuan is like a wealthy person in doing so. In fact, Ouyang Xuan didn't have the consciousness of male inferiority and female dignity in his mind at all, let alone the so-called customs and conventions, and even more hated red tape. He just felt that it was more convenient and trouble-free for him to do so.

Seeing that Ouyang Xuan insisted on his opinion, Lu Dezhi had no choice but to give up. Although he represented Ouyang Xuan's elders in the marriage, he was not Ouyang Xuan's parents. Although Brother Xuan'er has always acted out of common sense, he is often correct. At that moment, he also scolded a few words, and then discussed with Ran Zhong in another place. "In business", the sale of the Banzhou caravan this time, the Thunderbolt Army naturally had someone to negotiate according to the previous contract. Since the wedding is scheduled to be held in Banzhou, there is naturally no need to worry about matters related to the wedding. The only thing that Lu Dezhi and Ran Zhong talked about was the dowry.

Some time ago, when Rudezhi went to Banshu to negotiate the marriage contract, the first dowry he brought with him included two heavy guns, ten light guns, 100 muskets, and a batch of grenades and mines. Although these firearms were basically old-fashioned firearms, they were far more powerful than those equipped by the Mongol and Song armies, and were worth a lot of money even at the price they were sold to their allies. In addition, in the name of protecting Yang Yan, the Perak Army equipped its guards with the latest firearms of the Perak Army, and the unit price of these weapons is even more staggering. Yang Wen could see Ouyang Xuan's sincerity from these firearms, and he knew the strength of the Thunderbolt Army. According to the meaning of his conversation with Rude, there was no need for a second dowry at all. It's just that Lu Dezhi insisted on giving the second batch of dowry gifts, and the reason is: Miss Yang is married to Brother Xuan's media, and she must be handled according to etiquette, and she must not be sloppy.

The second batch of bridal gifts was still managed by Rude, and there were five heavy fortress guns, twenty light field guns, 200 muskets and ammunition, as well as 1,000 grenades and 200 mines. Unlike the first firearms, these are all of the latest type, and most of them are even freshly produced. These weapons were enough to equip a field battalion and a garrison battalion of the Thunderbolt Army, and their value was so high that Ouyang Xuan felt pain in his flesh. However, after Lu Dezhi explained the reasonableness of this expenditure, everyone was also relieved. After Yang Wen received the first batch of dowry gifts, he gave back sixty ponies and forty buffaloes, as well as a large amount of tung oil, pig bristles, lacquer and other materials, and even four thousand taels of silver. These return gifts are calculated at market value, although they are far less valuable than the dowry, but at least they can keep the arsenal from losing money. The second batch of dowry gifts will be sent out, and Banzhou will inevitably return the gift, according to Lu Dezhi's understanding of Yang Wen, he will definitely not let his son-in-law suffer too much.

"If you want to take it first, you must give it first," Rudezhi added. As soon as these words came out, everyone looked at him again, and they all joked that he also learned from Brother Xuan'er's belly and turned into a calculating old fox. Lu Dezhi didn't care about the ridicule of everyone, and continued to explain with a smile: "The Miaojiang region where Banzhou is located is rich in silver, although this silver is not of much use in western Sichuan, it can be sent to Liuqiu Company as capital. Lu Dezhi's words reminded everyone that in the past, only valuable physical objects such as grain, minerals, and industrial products were valued, but it was not easy to transport them over long distances, and it was even more inconvenient to use them as equivalent commodities. In the future, it is necessary to establish a monetary system based on gold and silver in order to promote the prosperity of commerce and trade.

When Ouyang Xuan set off for Banzhou, it was already late October. As a matchmaker and a representative of the elders, of course, Lu Dezhi went with him, accompanied by Li Jiaozi, who was in charge of commerce and trade, and Cao Ergou's wife, Qian Yanmei. The accompanying escorts were a special company and a naval company led by Dong Huqin, and Huang Dagen was ready to send a naval battalion to escort him, but was rejected by Ouyang Xuan. By the time the river had receded, and in some places it was possible to swim across the river, so the Mongol cavalry began to frequently harass the border. Yu Zhu took a thousand elites to Ezhou, and the garrison brigade also sent a large number of soldiers as caravan escorts, and the new supplementary troops had not yet formed combat effectiveness. In particular, the naval brigade currently has only two combat battalions, and one battalion is being trained. If Ouyang Xuan took another combat battalion, it would inevitably seriously weaken the Thunderbolt Army's ability to defend against the Mongol invasion.

With only one naval company and one special company to Banzhou, Ouyang Xuan had enough confidence. Chongqing Mansion set off to Banzhou are all waterways, you can go straight down to Fuzhou, and then go up to Fushui to reach Banzhou, along the way through Meizhou, Jiading, Xuzhou, Luzhou, Chongqing, these local waterways are under the control of the Song army, the Mongolian army has completely withdrawn from the river. As for the water bandits, they naturally did not dare to brush the tiger's beard. After all, on this trip to Banzhou, the Thunderbolt army and the returning Banzhou caravan had a total of more than 100 ships, and there were about 300 escorts.

Ran Zhong sent someone back to Banzhou earlier, first, to inform Yang Fu of the itinerary. The Yang family, as the master of Banzhou, naturally has to do a grand marriage. Yang Wen especially doted on Yang Yan, regarded it as a pearl in his palm, and had already notified the marriage of his baby daughter to the leaders of the major families in the surrounding Zhenzhou and Sizhou and the barbarians of the various tribes of the Luo Ghost Country, and the wedding had been prepared for a long time, just waiting for Ouyang Xuan to come to complete the marriage. The second is to send someone to respond. Although the boat can sail to Banshu Castle, once at the pier, it is still necessary to walk a little overland to reach the castle where the Yang Mansion is located. Although the Yang family had deep roots in Banzhou and its surroundings, they were still dissatisfied with them, and the Mongols frequently invaded or drove barbarian soldiers to harass them. In order to prevent accidents, the location of the Yang Mansion is not in Banzhou City, but in a castle that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. To deliver the bulky artillery to the castle, it would take hundreds of strong men and cattle and horses. Of course, it is even more safe to go to the Banzhou territory, not to mention that the special company led by Dong Hu is not a vegetarian, and no one dares to attack Yang Wen's son-in-law at the Banzhou territory.