According to Huo San's report, during this period with the help of the Gongsun family, a local leader in Liaoyang, the development speed of the Zhenwu Army can be said to be very rapid.
At present, even if Ye Mingsheng's troops and horses are not included, the strength of the Zhenwu Army has expanded to more than 30,000 people. If Ye Mingsheng's troops and horses are included, the total strength of the Zhenwu Army can be said to have reached 40,000 people!
You must know that although the Liaoyang Army under Song Wenhui is said to be one hundred thousand, it is actually only about 70,000 to 80,000 people. After excluding those who eat empty pay, it may end up being only about 60,000 to 70,000 people.
Therefore, in terms of military strength, although the Liaoyang Army still maintains a military advantage over the Zhenwu Army, this advantage is not very great. The current Zhenwu Army is fully capable of fighting the Liaoyang Army head-on!
Regarding the rapid development of the Zhenwu Army, Song Wenhui, the governor of Liaoyang on one side, was also very vigilant. During this period, he had been deploying troops and generals around Changqing Mansion, where the Zhenwu Army was responsible for garrisoning, in the name of suppressing bandits. Deploying heavy troops, if it was not a defensive weapon, Song Wenhui might have taken action now because he was worried that the imperial army would attack the Zhenwu Army...
This really echoes Gu Sansi's evaluation of Song Wenhui. Although he was indecisive, he did not lack the courage to risk everything and give it a try.
If it continues like this, it may not even take a year, but half a year will be enough for Gu Sansi to be unable to bear it any longer.
Therefore, given the current tense situation, it was difficult for Ye Mingsheng not to think too much about Chen Dechang's letter. After pondering for a while, Ye Mingsheng wrote a reply to Chen Dechang. In the letter, Ye Mingsheng exaggerated his losses in this battle and cried out again. He applied for a batch of food and ordnance from Chen Dechang.
Although he knew that the conflict between Zhenwu Army and Song Wenhui was inevitable, Ye Mingsheng, who had just established a foothold in Fengzhou, still wanted to cool down Chen Dechang and let him continue to be patient, at least for a while. time·············
If there was a big fight now, even though Ye Mingsheng was in a remote place like Fengzhou, he would not be able to survive alone!
Then this war that affects the entire Liaoyang is bound to disrupt Ye Mingsheng's next economic development plan and farmland plan. This is something Ye Mingsheng must avoid happening as much as possible!
What Ye Mingsheng lacks most now is time. He needs time to integrate Fengzhou's resources. Come and allow yourself to develop firearms farming.
After sending his reply to Chen Dechang, Ye Mingsheng, who originally wanted to rest for a while, was forced to end his vacation early and began his long-planned plan to bring down Fengzhou Judge Liu Zhengxian. Fellow acquaintance Lu Jin went to his headquarters for questioning.
"How much food is left in the Fengzhou treasury now?" Seeing the arrival of the two men, Ye Mingsheng didn't waste any time and went straight to the point.
Upon hearing Ye Mingsheng's question, Lu Jin, as the judge in charge of criminal law, naturally looked at his nose, his nose at his mouth, and his mouth at his heart, and remained silent.
As a colleague, Liu Zhengxian hesitated in his eyes. He didn't know why Ye Mingsheng asked this, but his subconscious told him that it would definitely not be a good thing for these wolf-like warriors to ask about money and food. Therefore, He gritted his teeth and raised his hands and said:
"I'm telling you, sir, there are still 300 taels of silver and 800 shi of grain in the warehouse. If you need it, you can take them all..."
The change in Liu Zhengxian's expression did not escape Ye Mingsheng's eyes. He picked up the teacup and Ye Mingsheng took a sip of Tieguanyin in the cup, and then said:
"Master Liu, I have sent someone to the warehouse to check the accounts. I will give you another chance. I hope you will not make any mistakes!"
Although Ye Mingsheng's voice was calm, when it fell in Liu Zhengxian's ears, it made this Fengzhou official roly-poly tremble all over after being a fellow intellectual for ten years.
In the past two months, as the second-in-command in Fengzhou official circles, he can be said to have fully experienced the power of Ye Mingsheng's marching commander Shi Gu Sansi. At first, he was dissatisfied with Ye Mingsheng's desire to interfere in local government affairs as a military attache. The behavior is very disgusting, even contradictory.
However, under Gu Sansi's harsh methods, Liu Zhengxian finally had to give in and join Ye Mingsheng.
Although he was forced to take refuge with Ye Mingsheng due to the situation, Liu Zhengxian did not think that a vulgar warrior like Ye Mingsheng, who only knew how to fight, could govern Fengzhou well.
But this time, Ye Mingsheng was able to defeat the extremely cruel Khitan people and captured a thousand people. This made Liu Zhengxian, a native of Fengzhou, change his view of Ye Mingsheng a lot.
Feeling Ye Mingsheng's strong aura and knowing that he could no longer hide it, Liu Zhengxian could only helplessly say truthfully:
"Sir, there are still one thousand taels of silver and five thousand stones of grain left in the treasury..."
When Liu Zhengxian said this, a look of humiliation flashed in his eyes, and then with a pop, he knelt down in front of Ye Mingsheng and begged with tears in his eyes:
"Master General, the superiors have ignored Fengzhou since five years ago. Not a single tael of silver or a grain of grain has been transported. The people of Fengzhou are allowed to fend for themselves under the iron heel of the Khitans. These one thousand taels The silver and five thousand stones of grain are the people’s wealth and wealth accumulated bit by bit by the people of Fengzhou!”
"Fengzhou is prone to disasters. This money and food are for emergency use. Wherever there is a disaster, it will be used. If you use this money and food, if there is some disaster in Fengzhou, the whole place will be starved. There are corpses everywhere!"
After hearing what Liu Zhengxian said was so miserable, although Ye Mingsheng knew that Fengzhou was not rich now, he did not expect that the warehouse of the state government was so poor. One thousand taels of silver and five thousand stones of grain were only enough for his own army. What about the expenses for one or two months...
After helping Liu Zhengxian up from the ground, Ye Mingsheng said in a deep voice:
"Lord Liu, you are overly worried. Since this amount of money is an emergency fund for the Fengzhou government, I will not use it for other purposes. However, I also have a request. You must take good care of this money. Without me, No one can use the order lightly, and I will severely punish anyone who is corrupt, do you understand?"
Liu Zhengxian breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, bowed deeply to Ye Mingsheng, and said very firmly:
"On behalf of the people of Fengzhou, I would like to thank the Commander-in-Chief for your understanding. Sir, please rest assured that if I, Liu Zhengxian, take advantage of a few taels of this money and food, I will commit suicide and apologize. I will never bother you to take action!"
Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly when he heard this. According to the information presented by Huo San, Liu Zhengxian was born in a wealthy family, so his need for money is not particularly great. Although his ability is mediocre, he is still diligent.
And he cherishes his feathers very much and values his reputation. He is a rare honest official in the turbid officialdom of Zhou Dynasty...
