Chapter 1024: Battle of Yashan

Chapter 1024 – Battle of Yashan

Gaia 5th year, 5th month, 15th day, Xia Palace.

On this day, Ouyang Shuo’s pair of children were born. Based on the suggestions of the Cabinet, the boy was named Ouyang Yu. Since he was born 10 minutes earlier, he became the older brother. On the other hand, the girl was called Ouyang Luo, who was the younger sister.

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The moment the news spread out, the officials all sent their congratulations.

Ouyang Shuo took this chance to announce the forgiving of crime. All Great Xia prisoners, as long as they did not commit one of the 10 deadly sins, would all be released to show the kindness of the king.

Wuji Hall.

Looking at the pair of white twins, Ouyang Shuo gave out a rare fatherly smile. His smile contained the nervousness of being a father and the joy of having children.

Be it Yu’er or Luo’er, they were both different from birth. Each one had a symbol on their right hand, one was a golden dragon, one was a fire phoenix.

When the court ladies saw that, they were all surprised beyond words.

The head court lady Zisu smiled, “The prince and the princess are dragons and phoenixes amongst men, born extraordinary.”

Ouyang Shuo smiled, “For the birth of my children, all the court ladies and maidservants have credit. Based on their grade, you will be awarded gifts.”

“Thank you king for the gifts!”

Zisu led the maidservants to thank him.

Ouyang Shuo waved his hand. Looking at his wife, who was lying on the bed, he smiled, “It has been hard on you, rest well. I’ll go to the front hall first and come back later.”

Song Jia gave out a warm smile, “Go get busy!”

…

Ouyang Shuo rushed to the front hal. Apart from accepting the congratulations, he also wanted to meet one person. This person was Hu Zongxian, who had rushed back from Hanoi to get his debrief.

10 days had passed since the Battle of Annan. Although the trauma from the war could not be wiped away, the chaos brought from it slowly calmed down.

As for how to rule the Annan Province, Hu Zongxian needed to personally report to Ouyang Shuo.

Apart from that, Hu Zongxian also brought a number of treasures. They were obtained from the imperial city treasury, and it even included the ones from Haiphong City.

Coincidentally, he made it in time for the birth of the king’s children, which was an auspicious sign. In the future period of time, each Provincial Governor would probably enter the city to congratulate the king.

The Cabinet would handle the tabulation of the goods, gold, and jewelry. Hu Zongxian Naturally, they did not bother Ouyang Shuo about the matter and presented him with two of the rarest items.

Thousand year ginseng (platinum): Top grade medicinal herb, can be used as a nourishing product.

Although the introduction was short, this was a truly rare item. Coincidentally, Song Jia had given birth and needed nourishment, so this ginseng came at the right time.

Diting Talisman: Can eavesdrops on the words of a specific position at a specific time.

Legends had it that Diting was the god beast under the care of Kṣitigarbha. Through listening, one could differentiate any living being, and it was good at listening to the thoughts of people.

This was pretty much an eavesdropping God Weapon that could be used at a crucial moment.

Putting away the two treasures from Hu Zongxian, Ouyang Shuo started to instruct him about the plan of Annan Province. The first thing he said excited Hu Zongxian, “Annan Province is only a transition, after taking down Zhenla and Nanzhang, they will be merged into one province known as the Hanoi Province.”

After pausing there, Ouyang Shuo said, “Zongxian, do well in Annan, do not let me down.” The meaning of his words was really obvious. The future Hanoi Provincial Governor belonged to Hu Zongxian.

If the three lands truly merged, Hanoi Province would, be it in terms of land size or strategic position, among the top three of all the provinces. The position of Hanoi Provincial Governor was naturally more important.

“I’ll work my heart out to thank you for your good grace!” Hu Zongxian nodded his head solemnly.

“Along with the tunnel between Annan and Yunnan, it’s the key to traffic between the mainland and ASEAN. You must pay attention to the cooperation with Yunnan Province and open up a merchant route.” Ouyang Shuo continued.

The tunnel linked Mengding Prefecture, and it stretched all the way to Gaoping Prefecture in Annan. As a result, this tunnel would be named the Menggao Tunnel. Be it Mengding Prefecture or Gaoping Prefecture, they were both mountain regions. To truly open up a free trade route would not be easy and would need large amounts of resources.

“In terms of finances, the Imperial Court will fully support you. Specific workings need the both of you to execute and work together.” Ouyang Shuo calmed Hu Zongxian down.

“Understood!”

Hu Zongxian showed no fear. He was a person who did what was asked of him, and he was not afraid of difficulties.

“Apart from that, Annan Province will play a role as a middleman to mediate the relationship between Great Xia and the ASEAN states, especially Johor and Siam. We must let them feel our sincerity and cannot let them join hands.”

Great Xia had no intentions to and could not possibly cause all the ASEAN states to bow down. If not, he would make enemies out of all of them.

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On this point, Ouyang Shuo made it clear with Hu Zongxian in case friction started by accident.

Hu Zongxian noted it down as he heard it.

Apart from the above three points, the others were small details that would be handled by the Cabinet. Taking a step back, even if something was not mentioned, Hu Zongxian would need to improvise.

…

In the following two days, Ouyang Shuo received a flood of congratulations. Some of them personally came to Shanhai City like Li Jing and Xie Siyun, while some sent representatives like Feng Qiuhuang.

Most of them sent letters over like Blood Romance.

Of course, amongst the group that congratulated him, some held other thoughts. The guild leaders of the large guilds were interested in the Annan Satellite City.

As usual, Great Xia sold the guardian rights to the highest bidder and earned a huge sum.

Apart from drawing in the Satellite City guild, Ouyang Shuo attracted a batch of adventure gamemode players to move into Annan, spreading the Han Chinese culture over and expanding their influence.

All in all, Shanhai City was bustling with activity during these past few days.

At that very moment, a System Notification broke out.

“System Notification: Congratulations player Di Chen for becoming the 2nd Lord in the China region to upgrade to Capital City, awarded 90 thousand merit points. Congratulations!”

…

“World Notification: Congratulations China region player Di Chen for becoming the 3rd Lord in the world to upgrade to Capital City, awarded with 100 thousand merit points and 150 thousand reputation points. Congratulations!”

…

The moment the notification spread out, Di Chen stole the spotlight.

In just 10 days, Di Chen had completed the Capital City upgrade mmission. Just as everyone was amazed at their speed, another notification sounded out, catching everyone off guard.

“System Notification: The China Region has given birth to its second Capital City, 9th Battle Map, Battle of Yashan, will start in three days. Friendly Reminder: This is not a forced Battle Map, so only those who have upgraded to Grade 3 Prefecture are qualified to join.”

…

It was already the 5th month, 17th day, and the country war month was about to arrive. Who knew that the Battle Map would suddenly be triggered? This change caught even Di Chen off guard.

“Gaia really does what it wants!”

Ouyang Shuo, who was welcoming visiting guests, shook his head helplessly.

For this battle specifically, there were many parts of contention. Strictly speaking, it was not a large scale or dazzling battle.

In some sense, there was nothing interesting about it.

Since that was the case, why would Gaia choose it as the most representative Battle of the Song Dynasty? After all, this concerned the passing down of Chinese civilization.

Battle of Yashan? Also known as the ocean Battle of Yashan, this battle happened in 1279 AD. The Song Dynasty army and the Mongol army had a large scale naval battle in Yashan. It was a rarely seen naval battle in ancient Chinese history.

As this battle directly concerned the survival of South Song, it was also the final battle between Song and Yuan.

The result was that the Yuan army won whilst being outnumbered. When South Song was wiped out, Lu Xiufu carried the young emperor Zhao Bing and jumped into the ocean to commit suicide. Many loyal officials died with them as well, along with 100 thousand troops and civilians.

After this battle, the Zhao Song Dynasty totally collapsed. At the same time, it meant that Yuan had unified China.

At this point, this was the first time China was conquered by the northern nomadic tribe.

The destruction of South Song was not a simple changing of dynasty but the wiping out of an entire country, signaling the end of ancient China. Some people felt that this battle signified the weakening and fall of Chinese civilization.

The Battle of Yashan caused Chinese civilization, which had survived for thousands of years, to stop. As a result, it had long and wide implications. The following Ming and Qing Dynasties also became largely different.

The destruction of the Song Dynasty caused their first try at changing from an agricultural society to a business society to fail. It was because the Song Dynasty tried this that their military power became weak.

Along with the destruction of South Song, the progress of China was halted. The once highly advanced economy, culture, technology, and the like were restricted by the emperor and the political structure and the like were all affect. The backward Mongol people of the Yuan Dynasty started to consolidate their power, closing borders and reducing trade. They started to focus on Neo-Confucianism. Following which, the Ming Dynasty that usurped them chose to seal themselves off.

Such a deep influence meant that the Battle of Yashan was destined for the history books.

It was not difficult to understand why Gaia chose this battle. Similarly, the Battle of Yashan could not be considered a legendary battle, so Gaia would probably have its own considerations.

Maybe the Battle of Yashan in the game would be a newly interpreted version.

As for what it was specifically, they would only know after the battle began. Before it started, it would only cause confusion for Lords like Ouyang Shuo, including the choice of camp and choice of troop type.

Maybe Gaia would set up enemy camps in this battle? Or similar to the Battle of Mobei, it would place all the Lords in the same camp?

Will the main battlefield be on land or will it be a naval battle like in history?

All these uncertain factors meant that this was destined to be a really interesting Battle Map.