The World Online

”Lord, on this matter, you have to be firm.”

Seeing Caiyun Zinan acting a little hesitant, Zhang Liang instantly reminded him, his attitude resolute like iron.

Zhang Liang knew that if they were not able to complete the two strongholds in a short period of time, the rewards obtained from the battle would not last long.

”I understand.”

Caiyun Zinan nodded his head and smiled, ”Do not worry, Zi Fang. I will think of a way to convince them.” However, his smile was a little forced.

”Actually to you, this might be a good thing.” Zhang Liang continued, ”As long as you succeed in this, not only the Wannan City-State, even in both provinces, you will have a say. This will definitely aid and help you in future matters.”

When Caiyun Zinan heard that, his eyes lit up, and he excitedly said, ”Since Zi Fang has put it that way, even if I lose all my face, I’ll get this matter settled.”

In the end, anyone who had great potential would definitely have great ambition too.

Zhang Liang’s words had definitely struck the sweet spot with Caiyun Zinan.

If not, why would one say that Zhang Liang was the Strategy Saint. He could pinpoint the weakness of his Lord to come up with a different viewpoint to persuade him.

In comparison, Fan Zeng, who was born in the same generation, was worlds apart.

After the discussion, Caiyun Zinan turned and left.

Zhang Liang looked at the fading back view of Caiyun Zinan, as anxiety appeared in his eyes.

”In the end, was the plan too small-scaled?”

Within the hall, a sigh broke out.

……

That afternoon, the alliance army’s discussion had a breakthrough.

Who knows how Caiyun Zinan accomplished it, but in the end, they accepted Zhang Liang’s plan and gave up on splitting the spoils of war.

The gold that they obtained this time, apart from using it on the compensation money for the casualties, they spent the remaining on building the two strongholds to ensure the safety of Guilin Prefecture.

Apart from that, in regards to the number of troops, the various Lords had all come to a consensus.

Guilin Prefecture would maintain 150 thousand prepared troops, amongst which, one hundred thousand would come from Wannan City-State and fifty thousand from the Chuanbei Province. The overall commander of the troops would still be Li Mu.

This army would establish an unbreakable defense line with the two strongholds as its core.

As for the shortfall in terms of troops, a portion would come from the surrendered troops of the Taiping Country Army, while the various territories would contribute the rest.

To come to an agreement, Caiyun Zinan had no choice but to make way in terms of the appointment of officials in Guilin Prefecture. As the person who had started this war, in the end, his control of the Guilin Prefecture was minimal.

On the contrary, Gu Henxiao, who contributed General Li Mu, had the greatest speaking power in Guilin Prefecture. Even the choice of governor was suggested by him.

Although the various Lords did not barbarically try to split up the prefecture, they still did not give up on increasing their influence in the area. The cooperations and conflicts within were not something that could be described in a short while.

Luckily, Zhang Liang’s plan was basically fulfilled.

11th month, 24th day, Guiping Pass.

At around 3 PM in the afternoon, the two mountain barbarian independent divisions finally arrived at Guiping Pass.

Unfortunately, the huge war at the pass had already ended.

The mountain barbarian soldiers only saw a heavily damaged pass in tatters. In the deep forests outside of the pass, there were thousands of new gravestones, creating a truly eye-catching scene under the shine of the sunlight.

That afternoon, all the mountain barbarian warriors rushed to the cemetery to send off their dead comrades.

Under the setting sun, this scene seemed really heart wrenching and emotional.

Ouyang Shuo stood on the city wall, looking out at the distance for an entire afternoon, not moving in the slightest.

The soldiers felt that since yesterday when the Lord had found out that the five thousand mountain barbarian soldiers at Xuanwu Pass had all died, he had become really down and quiet. He often looked out afar, and no one knew what he was thinking about.

Such a scene also affected the moods of the soldiers in the pass. The entire pass was enveloped in a solemn atmosphere, one that was hard to climb out of.

Even the soldiers that had done well and made contributions did not approach the Lord as usual to receive their rewards.

When Pei Ju saw the situation, a flash of worry appeared in his eyes.

Logically speaking, as a leader, as a Lord, one should not expose their personal feelings, especially one’s weaker side to those under them. Such an act would be a huge blow to the might and prestige of the Lord.

Any action by Ouyang Shuo would be overly read by his men and cause chaos and worry.

This was where Pei Ju needed to step in to do his job.

Under the dim lights, there was nothing weird or unusual about Ouyang Shuo’s expression. In his hand was a blueprint, the building blueprints of Guiping Pass.

“Minister Pei Ju greets the Lord!”

Seeing that, Pei Ju bowed slightly.

“You came? Sit!”

Ouyang Shuo casually raised his head. His voice sounded stale and uninterested, lacking his usual aura.

“Lord….” Pei Ju spoke up then stopped.

Ouyang Shuo’s mood was bad but that did not mean his senses were not sharp. Finally, he noticed that this minister was not acting right. Putting it another way, he was acting really strange.

He placed down the blueprints and laughed, “What words do you want to say, just say it.”

“Then, I will be bold,” Pei Ju said.

“It’s fine.” Ouyang Shuo nodded.

“The dead are already gone. You need to put down the burden and look toward the future. Pick yourself up. A loss should not make you lose your soul to such an extent.”

Pei Ju’s words were really direct, so direct that it made Ouyang Shuo feel a little ashamed.

When Ouyang Shuo heard these words, he let out an awkward smile, “For these past two days, I’ve been thinking about a problem. There are somethings that are not as others think.”

“Lord, please elaborate!” Pei Ju nodded.

“Look at this!” Ouyang Shuo took up the blueprint once more, “During these two days, I’ve been thinking. The fall of Guilin Prefecture has already happened, so how can we make up for it?”

“Lord, what you’re saying is?”

In Pei Ju’s eyes, a light started to shine up.

“Build a stronghold!” Ouyang Shuo was determined, “With the Guiping Pass as the base, we will expand it into a stronghold comparable to the Mulan Stronghold.”

Ouyang Shuo’s thoughts were exactly the same as Zhang Liang’s.

“We are unable to make sure whether the enemy has the ambitions to enter Xunzhou Prefecture. No matter what we may think, Guiping Pass is our only barrier toward the north. This barrier was exchanged for by the blood of tens of thousands of soldiers, so we cannot afford to lose it.”

As he said that, Ouyang Shuo started to grow a little emotional.

“In a short period of time, I do not think we will have the ability to take back Guilin Prefecture.” In Ouyang Shuo’s eyes, sadness flashed across, “Which is all the more why we have to house troops in the north. The Leopard Legion, which was originally planned to be stationed at Guilin Prefecture, will now be temporarily housed here.”

“That works.” Pei Ju nodded his head.

“This stronghold, I would like you to be in charge of it, are you willing?” Ouyang Shuo asked.

“It’s exactly what I wanted.” Pei Ju nodded.

Based on Ouyang Shuo’s previous plan, Pei Ju was going to work in Guilin Prefecture. The sudden fall of Guilin Prefecture meant that he had lost his job, making his situation extremely awkward.

To Pei Ju, the fall of Guilin Prefecture made him feel ashamed, and it was a stain in his life.

Hence, Pei Ju had wanted to personally wipe off this stain. Taking charge of building the stronghold would be his first step to redeeming himself.

If Ouyang Shuo made him work at Shanhai City, he would have been unhappy about it.

One had to say that Ouyang Shuo’s eyes were really sharp, and he often found the right person for the job.

“The new stronghold, will it be called Guiping Stronghold?” Pei Ju asked.

“No.” Ouyang Shuo shook his head, as a cold glow appeared in his eyes “At Guilin Prefecture, at Guiping Pass, Shanhai City faced an unprecedented failure. The glory of the golden dragon flag was stained for the first time. Such a humiliation, how can I forget it in a day? Hence, let’s call the new stronghold the Withered Flower Stronghold to remember this huge lost. To take revenge, let’s reclaim the glory of this withered flower!”

“Withered Flower Stronghold.”

As Pei Ju spoke those words, the deep and heavy meaning behind it weighed on his heart.

“Since that’s the case, I suggest we build a huge humiliation stone steele in front of the pass to remind all the soldiers housed here to not forget about the humiliation of this day.”

The night was dark and the two of them had come to a consensus once again.

“I’ll leave now!”

Pei Ju looked out at the pitch black sky, getting up to leave.

“Pei Ju.” Just as Pei Ju walked out of the gate, Ouyang Shuo spoke, “Your reminder today is something I will remember deeply in my heart.”

When Pei Ju heard these words, he turned around and smiled, “For the Lord to think that way, I have no worries.”

The Lord and the minister looked at one another and laughed.

….

The next day, Han Xin’s troops smoothly arrived at Guiping Pass.

The three armies had finally met up in Guiping Pass.

Ouyang Shuo naturally had immense faith in Han Xin. Even Li Mu would face a lot of problems at the hands of Han Xin.

The arrival of Han Xin also signaled that it was time for Ouyang Shuo to leave.

Originally, Ouyang Shuo should have reached Tianjing City long ago. However, this abrupt change had delayed him by several days. Who knows what chain reaction this event would have on Tianjing City.

In a short amount of time, it would be impossible to take back Guilin Prefecture. Ouyang Shuo could only bear the pain and deal with the things at hand. On the same day, Ouyang Shuo spent the whole day discussing matters with Han Xin and Pei Ju.

On the second day, Gaia 2nd year, 11th month, 26th day.

The black-faced Ouyang Shuo led the mountain barbarian army back on their path to Tianjing City.