Chapter 800 – Shu Mountain Iron Corporation
The unexpected fall of Black Iron City signaled that the Battle of Shu Lands had entered a whole new stage. Of the troops that Swordsman City had housed in Jiangyang Prefecture, apart from the 2nd legion that was gathered in Protruding Dragon Pass, only the City Protection Division and the Guards Division were left.
Apart from that would be the local defense troops.
With that, after Black Iron City fell, Swordsman City had basically no troops left that they could deploy.
This made Feng Qingyue, who had just taken over the territory, feel extremely awkward. She realized that along with the fall of Black Iron City, Shanhai City would not be pleased with the offer that they had made.
The intelligent Feng Qingyue had thought even further ahead.
The iron ore base of Black Iron City was of normal importance to Swordsman City, but it was a total treasure to Shanhai City that had the steelmaking technology.
Since Shanhai City had taken down Black Iron City, they definitely would not be willing to spit it out.
Just as she had guessed, even without this matter, Ouyang Shuo would have found a way in the future to take down Black Iron City.
To Shanhai City, one Black Iron City was as valuable as an entire prefecture.
1st month, 23rd day, Black Iron City.
Because of the massacre that happened last night, the people in the city could not fall asleep.
When the cold morning sun once again shone down on the territory, this city that no attention one paid attention to had a new leader.
During the massacre last night, Shihu led the five thousand elite troops to not only take over the city Lord’s Manor but to also crush the City Protection Division.
The entire city was now tightly under their control.
The massacre last night was not just limited to soldier versus soldier action.
After the mountain barbarians took control, the spies of the three intel organizations that were hidden there started to move, using the night to complete brilliant assassinations.
Anyone in the city that prevented Shanhai City from taking over was killed. Although not many people were assassinated by them, it caused the entire city to be paralyzed.
If one were to use a comparison, Shihu performed a massacre while the intel organizations performed precise surgery. Those who deserved to die were all killed, and those who did not deserve to die all survived.
Within a night, Black Iron City had changed completely.
After Shihu took control, his first order was to cut off the grain provisions to Protruding Dragon Pass. Hence, it instantly placed all the soldiers there in a tight spot. … On the noon of the 23rd, the news that Black Iron City had fallen spread to the Protruding Dragon Pass.
When the Legion General in charge of the 2nd legion heard this news, he was astonished. This Legion General could be considered famous; he was the Shu country general, Wei Yan.
After Liu Bei entered Chengdu, all the generals in Shu Han, apart from Guan Yu and Zhang Fei who died in the battle, all followed him and joined the imperial side. They all took up roles in the Chengdu Guards Army.
After Swordsman City came into contact with the Shu Han Regime, to show their closeness, Liu Bei allowed Feng Qingyang to select a general. The one he chose was Wei Yan.
Wei Yan was also known as Wenchang, and he was a famous Shu country general during the Three Kingdoms Era; this general was regarded highly by Liu Bei.
As he had accumulated many contributions, Liu Bei appointed him as Ya Men general. After taking down Hanzhong, he was promoted to Hanzhong Governor and became a general of an entire region.
He protected Hanzhong for close to 10 years before following Zhuge Liang to conquer the north. During that period, he had requested many times for Zhuge Liang to give him ten thousand troops to attack Guanzhong but was denied. Hence, he was unhappy because he felt that he was unable to show his talent.
This was also one of the reasons why he was willing to move to Swordsman City.
In his eyes, rather than working under Zhuge Liang, why not take a step back? Reality showed that his decision had merit. The moment he came to Swordsman City, he was appointed as the Legion General of the 2nd legion.
However, he did not expect his first battle to be such a mess.
With his way out being broken, Wei Yan did not dare take matters into his own hands and immediately sought for Feng Qingyang’s instructions. Should he defend, try to take back Black Iron City, or retreat?
However, at this time, Swordsman City was under Feng Xiaotian, and his memorial was buried under a mountain of books.
Helplessly, Wei Yan could only fight to the death.
He held on, bracing both the attacks from the skies and the relentless assault of the Mountain Barbarian Division.
If it were not for Wei Yan leading them, they might have already lost Protruding Dragon Pass.
Even so, the 2nd legion still suffered heavy casualties.
During the night, Wei Yan once again wrote another memorial to request for the Lord to make a decision. If not, he could only act based on the situation. Truthfully, he wanted to retreat.
Luckily, Feng Qingyue had taken over the next day and saw Wei Yan’s memorial.
That saved the Swordsman City 2nd legion.
1st month, 24th day, Swordsman City.
Feng Qingyue looked at the intel placed in front of her. She ordered Wei Yan to let the 2nd legion defend the pass while she requested to meet the Shanhai City envoy.
City Lord’s Manor.
“So Swordsman City is willing to return our Guards Legion Corps prisoners and also compensate us with 800 thousand gold for pillaging Dongchuan Prefecture?” The envoy sent out by the Honglu Temple said slowly; his face was not as anxious as before.
It was obvious that the news of Black Iron City falling had spread to his ears.
Feng Qingyue suppressed the anger in her heart and nodded, “That’s right. We accept the two terms listed by Shanhai Monarch and request that it is executed immediately. We would like your troops to retreat from Black Iron City.”
“I understand your request. I’ll immediately convey this to the Governor-General House for the Monarch to give further instructions.”
The leader of the envoy only agreed to pass on the word and did not reply to the retreating of troops matter.
‘At such a time, only an idiot would retreat.’
Feng Qingyue sighed; she knew that things were not so simple and said helplessly, “Then I hope for a quick reply. A day’s delay would mean more sacrifices for both sides.”
“Do not worry. I’ll take my leave first.”
Looking at the fading back view of the envoy leader, Feng Qingyue’s brows were locked, “I hope your appetite is not too huge.”
Just at this moment, a black-clothed man entered the hall.
Feng Qingyue asked him, “Did Chengdu give us a reply?”
“Shu Han Prime Minister Zhuge replied that the regime would not allow Shanhai City’s arrogant behavior. As long as we make the request, their reinforcements can arrive at any time.”
Based on system rules, the Imperial City Army could not proactively attack Lords in the wilderness. The only exception would be if a Lord requests for protection and was willing to become a vassal of the imperial city.
To the wilderness Lords, the moment they requested for imperial city protection, they would have no way out. The moment they became a vassal, they would be a vassal forever.
Hence, unless one had no other choice, no one would be willing to request for protection from the imperial city.
There was one more matter – the player could not apply for protection from all of the nine imperial cities. Only those with emperors and regimes present like Xianyang, Luoyang, and Chengdu would accept applications.
They would only accept territories that were within their province.
Feng Qingyue did not feel relieved, tiredly waving her hand, “I got it; you can leave!”
“Yes!”
Feng Qingyue was obviously clear about the ambitions of the Shu Han Emperor. They really wished that Swordsman City would request for help. If that happened, they could take the chance to occupy Shu Lands.
Hence, Feng Qingyue would only do so if she had no other choice.
The same day, Shanhai City.
During the afternoon, the memorial from the envoy had reached Ouyang Shuo’s table.
After meeting Huo Qubing in Consonance City, Ouyang Shuo did not stay there and immediately returned to Shanhai City instead. Since the Lunar New Year was about to arrive, even if there was a hugely important matter, he needed to be in Shanhai City at this moment as the Lord.
To the people, this time held an important meaning and could not be taken lightly.
Ouyang Shuo even pushed back the tour of Yunnan till after the Lunar New Year.
Ouyang Shuo did not have any doubts that the Guards Legion Corps could take down Black Iron City. With Huo Qubing’s ability, if he could not even accomplish such a simple task, how could he be worthy of being considered a God General?
Reality proved that he had done a beautiful job.
To tell the truth, Ouyang Shuo did not harbor much greed toward Swordsman City or even the entire Shu Lands at the moment.
From the start, he was clear that the biggest opponent to Shanhai City in the Shu Lands was the Shu Han Empire.
Shanhai City did not have the ability to challenge the imperial city, so it could not force Swordsman City into too desperate of a position.
If a dog was anxious, it would even jump over the wall.
As for when he would fight with the Shu Han Empire, he would consider it after establishing the country.
The most important thing right now would be to calm down the aftereffects of the Nanjiang war and integrate the Yunnan Province into their rule to prepare to establish the country.
Thinking of which, Ouyang Shuo raised his brush and noted on the memorial:
“The original two terms are unchanged, only adding one more. The land near Black Iron City will be given to Shanhai City, and both sides will not invade the territories of one another.”
Ouyang Shuo wanted to learn from how the steel giants in real life worked, to consolidate all the factories, coal factories, and other related facilities to form a giant steel corporation, forming a foundation for the territory industrialization.
Black Iron City, which produced iron ore and did not lack coal, was undoubtedly a good choice. Ouyang Shuo chose to name the corporation Shu Mountain Steel Corporation.
Even the Black Iron City City Magistrate died under Shihu’s axe.
