Chapter Thirty: The New Compilation of Hu Wu (Part 2)

  Ouyang Shi walked over, smiling at Yang Yingqi and said: "You just figured it out?"

  Yang Yingqi asked: "How come you're just arriving? Is there any obstruction on the Liao Jing side?"

  Ouyang Shi shook his head and said, "No. Actually, I've been away from Liao Jing for some time now. For over a month, I've been running to the seaside."

  "By the sea?"

  Ouyang Shidao said: "I met a merchant in the capital of Liao - this person was an acquaintance of mine from my time in Donghai, so I inquired about some family matters."

  "So you just ran away? Didn't you get in touch with your family?"

  Ouyang Yi smiled and said, "I only met with a steward of my family. I had him deliver a letter to my uncle, telling him about our recent situation. Ying Qi, do you think we can extend our power all the way to the coast?"

  Yang Yingqi pondered, "Now that we are on good terms with the Jurchen people, perhaps we can communicate with the Donghai Jurchens. However, that is not a long-term solution. If we want to develop our power at sea, we must expand our influence to the Liaodong Peninsula."

  Ouyang Si got excited for a moment, then shook his head and said: "To the south of Huanglong Mansion is where the essence of Daliao lies. To get Liaodong would be like cutting off a limb from Daliao. I'm afraid it won't be that easy."

  Cao Guangyi also said: "Recently we have been winning battle after battle, first because we are fighting away from home, secondly because the terrain is familiar and we have the geographical advantage, thirdly it is also due to the Liao State's repeated mistakes. But if the Liao people wake up and come out with an able leader, the situation will be greatly different. The Khitan army has hundreds of thousands of armor, while our Jurchen army, including us, has only about 20,000 men. They can afford to lose tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of lives, but if we Jurchens are not careful, we will immediately fall into a desperate situation."

  Yang Yingqi snorted and said, "A capable person! If the current Liao ruler could distinguish between capable people and mediocre ones, loyal ministers and treacherous ones, would we have ended up in this situation? A large building usually doesn't collapse because it's pushed by outsiders, but because its internal pillars are eaten away by insects until they're full of holes! The Liao ruler has been on the throne for over a decade, and as the saying goes, 'accumulated weight is hard to return', do you think he can suddenly have a great awakening like a Zen master?"

  Cao Guangyi let out a deep sigh upon hearing this. His sigh was not for the Khitan, but for the Great Song!

  Time flies, and it's already February. When Abaoji led his troops back to the meeting in Ning, the Han villages had basically stabilized.

  Zhe Yan Chong, accompanied by his wife and children, came to greet Abaoji. Abaoji asked Wanyan Hu: "Is the tiger cub you gave birth to strong and healthy?" Because of this sentence from Abaoji, Zhe Yan Chong's eldest son got a nickname, called "Zhe Xiao Hu".

  Wanyan Hu replied: "Great! In ten years, I'll be able to go to battle with you, Uncle!"

  Agu Da heard this and burst out laughing.

  In the following days, Liao and Jin entered a brief period of peace. Yang Yingqi and Yang Pu managed economic affairs, while Cao Xiao and others were in charge of military training. Yang Kaiyuan and Aluwen served as deputies to Di and Cao. Cao Guangyi had a good family background, and over the past two years, he had traveled thousands of miles to fight wars, verifying his learning through actual combat, and with the help of good friends who advised him, his military skills became more refined. Xiao Tienu led troops like a tiger driving wolves, without Cao Guangyi's strict rules, but was able to inspire the natural bravery of those barbarians. Yang Kaiyuan and Aluwen assisted on the side, and their endurance also improved day by day.

  During this period, the two young men who were most idle were Zhao Yanxun and Yang Yingqi. Zhao Yanxun spent his whole day playing with his wife and children, not caring about Han affairs at all. Yang Yingqi claimed to be in charge of internal affairs of the Han department, but in fact, he handed over all trivial matters to Yang Pu, and every day he went fishing with Wan Yan Zongxian and other young children.

  Two months later, two Ou Yang clansmen came to Huining after traveling over mountains and rivers. The Ou Yang clan's shipbuilding skills were extremely exquisite, but unfortunately they had no large base of operations and lacked political power support, so their development was greatly restricted for many years. Therefore, when they heard about Ou Yang's situation, they became very interested.

  Ouyang Yi led his clansmen to meet Yang Yingqi. Yang Yingqi had heard from Ouyang Yi that the current head of the Ouyang family was his paternal uncle, Ouyang Ji. The two men before him were Ouyang Ji's younger brother, Ouyang Tong, and Ouyang Yi's paternal cousin, Ouyang Yun. The Ouyang family had initially approached the Han with a mindset of "coming to assist and mutually utilizing each other", but after Ouyang Tong and Ouyang Yun landed, they heard about the Jin army's military might along the way and gradually developed a sense of reverence. When they arrived at the Han village and met Ouyang Yi, the two men no longer dared to use their status as uncle and cousin to pressure him.

  Ouyang Yi pointed at Yang Yingqi and said, "This is the 'behind-the-scenes mastermind' of our Han department, General Yang Yingqi. The Emperor of Great Jin listens to my words and follows my advice, and I listen to General Yang's words and follow his advice. Whatever you need, you can go through him."

  Yang Yingqi glanced at Ouyang Yi, only to see that there was not a hint of a smile on his face. He thought to himself: "These two are Ouyang's clansmen, but the way he speaks, it's clear that his relationship with me, his sworn brother, is closer than his relationship with them. It seems that there's some subtlety between him and the Ouyang family... Could it be that he was ostracized by his own clan in the past?"

  Everyone who met Yang Yingqi for the first time had almost only one reaction, which was shock! Ouyang and Ouyang Yun were astonished after hearing Ouyang Yi's introduction: this young man is only fourteen or fifteen years old, surrounded by children even younger than him, how can such a person be the behind-the-scenes figure who influences the fate of Liao and Jin? It's unbelievable no matter what!

  Yang Yingqi saw the two men's eyes and immediately understood what they were thinking. He didn't say much, picked up a fishing rod and drew a rough map of the sea and land on the sandy beach by the river. Ou Yang uncle and nephew both thought to themselves: "What is this?"

  Ouyang Ze saw the shape of the Korean Peninsula, Liaodong Peninsula and Shandong Peninsula, and exclaimed: "Is this a map of the East Sea?"

  Yang Yingqi said lightly, "Such a simple pattern can't be considered a sea chart, it's just an idea. It's not possible to draw too many details on this sandy ground." Pointing at the Japanese archipelago, he asked, "Have you been to Japan?"

  Ouyang Jie and Ouyang Yun both nodded.

  Yang Yingqi asked again: "Has Liu Qiu gone?"

  The two nodded again.

  Yang Yingqi erased the map and drew another one of the coast of Nanyang. Pointing to the Southeast Peninsula, he asked: "Have you been to Champa? Have you been to Sanfoqi?"

  Ouyang Yun shook his head, while Ouyang Jian saw Yang Yingqi in the northern inland border and knew these two places. He looked at Ouyang Shi and said: "Don't look at me, it wasn't me who told him. The things he knows are more than Third Uncle." The Third Uncle that Ouyang Shi referred to was the patriarch of the Ouyang family, Ouyang Ji.

  Yang Yingqi knew more about overseas affairs than Ouyang Zhi, and even if Ouyang was beaten to death, he wouldn't believe it. He simply replied honestly: "I've been to Champa, but not to Srivijaya, I went there when I was the head of the household."

  Yang Yingqi said: "How far have you gone as a family?"

  Ou Yang Jie Dao said, "That's just San Fo Qi." San Fo Qi was far away overseas, thousands of miles away, and at that time it was already a very distant place. The Ou Yang family was quite proud of their own overseas experience because of this.

  Yang Yingqi said, "If you've only been to Sanfoqi, then it's unlikely you've been to Pugan or Tianzhu. As for Dashi, there's no need to mention it."

  Ouyang Jie exclaimed: "You also know that the sea route can reach Tianzhu and Dashi!"

  Yang Yingqi said, "Of course I know." As he spoke, he erased the map of Nanhai and drew a simple map of the coast of the Indian Ocean. He also discussed with him some products of Tianzhu and Dashi, all of which were roughly correct.

  Ouyang Jie listened to Yang Yingqi's words and found that they coincided with some rumors he had heard, and was secretly shocked in his heart: "It seems that this sea chart is not something he fabricated out of thin air. These things are probably unknown even to Ouyang Shi! This person is so young, yet he knows more than us! Ouyang Shi said he was a behind-the-scenes figure of the Jurchen people, it seems true!"

  He was lost in thought when Yang Yingqi suddenly asked: "You two uncle and nephew, can you build a river boat?"