Half a month later, the study room of the Governor's Mansion
Ye Mingsheng was busy writing and giving instructions on the water conservancy project in Youyan, when he heard Ye Cheng's knock on the door... ····
Ye Mingsheng, who continued to give instructions, said without thinking too much:
"come in!"
Under Ye Mingsheng's order, Ye Cheng came to Ye Mingsheng holding a stack of memorials and said:
"I'm telling you, sir, the investigation results of the people involved in Zhao Sheng's case have been sent over!"
Ye Mingsheng suddenly became interested when he heard this. He took the memorial from Ye Cheng and started to read it. After a few seconds, a faint smile appeared on Ye Mingsheng's face and he said:
"Fifteen years in prison? This Zhang Chengzhong is a bit interesting!"
Ye Cheng also echoed the words and said:
"The result of Inspector Zhang's treatment of Gu Shoude this time was really unexpected. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. This really did not give him any face as a teacher!"
Ye Mingsheng waved his hand and said with a smile:
"Zhang Chengzhong would never dare to do this without Gu Zhongshi's instruction! This old guy Gu Zhongshi is so cruel that he would even give up his eldest son, even if he said he didn't want it, he would let him go! It really makes me look at him with admiration ah!"
Handing Gu Shoude to the Prosecutor's Office was a conspiracy set up by Ye Mingsheng, who wanted to test how important family ties were in Gu Zhongshi's eyes!
Now, Gu Zhongshi is indeed a veteran bureaucrat. He is truly unsympathetic, unjust and cold-blooded!
The answer given by Gu Zhongshi surprised Ye Mingsheng. However, Gu Zhongshi thought that he could protect himself and prevent himself from taking back power. He was too naive. After pondering for a while, Ye Mingsheng explained:
"Promote Zhang Chengzhong to the rank of inspector and ask him to go to Yuyang to further investigate Zhao Sheng's underground illegal property..."
After hearing Ye Mingsheng's instructions, Ye Cheng's eyes flashed with surprise, and he spoke cautiously:
"Sir, this Zhang Chengzhong is a student of Gu Zhongshi, a famous Gu Party member in the government!"
Ye Mingsheng said meaningfully after hearing this:
"I use him as a party-goer!"
Although he didn't understand the deep meaning of Ye Mingsheng's move, under Ye Mingsheng's order, Ye Cheng still nodded and said:
"I understand, sir, I'll do it right now!"
"When will Zhang Juning come?" Ye Mingsheng asked again:
Ye Cheng said directly:
"The appointment with Mr. Zhang was to meet at a later date. Mr. Zhang came half an hour early and is waiting outside now!"
After looking at the official document that he was about to approve, Ye Mingsheng nodded and said:
"Let him in!"
"yes!"
After a cup of tea, the Financial Secretary Zhang Juning, the God of Wealth of the Military Army, came to Ye Mingsheng. After seeing the ceremony, Ye Mingsheng straightforwardly asked:
"What is our current financial situation?"
Zhang Juning calmly raised his hands and replied:
"Commander Qi, we currently have 398,630 taels of silver, 103,000 jins of salt, 50,000 taels of cloth, and other miscellaneous materials in our warehouse, which is equivalent to eleven About 16,000 taels of silver! As for food, because the whole period of disaster relief and General Lin's attack on Jinzhong consumed a lot of food, there are only about 153,000 taels left in the warehouse... ············”
"But there is still one month left for the autumn harvest. According to the Chief Secretary's estimate, we can probably receive about 300,000 dan of grain. This basically guarantees that our granary can support us even if we encounter any emergencies. There will not be large-scale food shortages or starvation to death within the territory of Fengwu Army!" At this point, Zhang Juning's fat face could not help but show a proud look.
Youyan is adjacent to Qilu and Hebei and Henan, so the natural disasters encountered in these two places will naturally affect Youyan, causing a considerable negative impact on Youyan's grain output. However, due to the stable situation, tax reductions have been increased. With the enthusiasm of farmers and the large-scale promotion of fertilizers, agricultural equipment and livestock, these favorable factors not only offset the negative effects, but also brought Youyan's grain production to a higher level.
Listening to Zhang Juning's answer, Ye Mingsheng felt a lot more at ease. In today's troubled times, Ye Mingsheng is not afraid of anyone, but he is only afraid of not having food. Now that he has food in his hand, he doesn't panic!
"How's the autumn tax going?" Ye Mingsheng asked again:
According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, taxes should be paid to the national treasury in units of years. However, because Ye Mingsheng frequently launches wars with foreign countries, if the unit of time continues to be based on years, there will not be enough money to support foreign wars in a short period of time, so Ye Mingsheng So he changed the rules and allowed all places within the Fengwu Army to transport money to Yijing on a quarterly basis.
Under Ye Mingsheng's gaze, Zhang Juning said calmly:
"Let me tell you, Commander-in-Chief, in about ten days the autumn tax money from various places will be sent to Yijing one after another. According to the estimate report from the Chief Secretary, we will be able to receive about 350,000 taels of silver this time. ··················”
After getting the answer, Ye Mingsheng fell into thinking. The number given by Zhang Juning was about 10% more than his own prediction. In less than a year, it was very gratifying to achieve such results. It was enough to show that All colleagues in the Fengwu Army work together as one.
But this also made Ye Mingsheng's mind become active!
After thinking for a while, Ye Mingsheng first encouraged Zhang Juning's work achievements and asked him to strictly control the financial affairs of the Fengwu Army, continue to optimize the financial structure, and reduce non-essential expenditures. He mainly asked him to work together with the Chief Secretary to ensure good food, salt and When it comes to stabilizing the prices of basic daily necessities, there must be no sharp rises or falls.
As an old man who has followed Ye Mingsheng for many years, Zhang Juning blinked his eyes and seemed to realize something when he heard Ye Mingsheng's request and asked Ye Mingsheng tentatively:
"Sir, is our army going to fight again?"
In response to Zhang Juning's inquiry, Ye Mingsheng didn't say anything but looked at him calmly. Although Ye Mingsheng's eyes made his heart skip a beat, Zhang Juning still mustered up the courage to say:
"Sir, although we have accumulated some wealth during this period, our wealth is still too thin. Winter is coming soon. If there is a big natural disaster, it will be easily consumed!"
"If we send troops rashly at this time, if we can't win a quick battle and have no money and food, our army will easily fall into trouble. By then, there will be some natural disasters in the rear. I'm afraid... if If you can wait, it won’t take more than half a year. I guarantee that I can double our army’s food and money!”
Feeling Zhang Juning's worry, Ye Mingsheng calmly ordered:
"I will consider your ideas carefully and do your job well!"
Zhang Juning wanted to say something else, but under Ye Mingsheng's gaze, he could only close his mouth and bow and leave.
Looking at Zhang Juning's leaving figure, Ye Mingsheng slowly closed his eyes, leaned on the back of his chair and kept studying in his mind. What Zhang Juning just said was his previous thought, to accumulate food and slowly become king and people's livelihood, and rest for more than a year. time, completely complete the reform of Youyan, and then swallow up the Central Plains in one breath.
However, the current external environment not only makes Ye Mingsheng feel a sense of urgency, but also allows Ye Mingsheng to see opportunities!
Although the Coordination Office's sphere of influence has not yet expanded to the southern provinces, and the core information within the Southern Inspection Court has been obtained, through the actions of the Murong family and other noble families who betrayed the Southern Inspection Court, Ye Mingsheng was able to clearly realize that the Southern Inspection Court The imperial court is already in danger. In a matter of months or a year, Shangguan Hongyuan will take over Rongcheng and completely control the little emperor and Sichuan.
Don't look at the Luo'an court now led by Shangguan Hongyuan. They are very restrained in their own side and have strong strategic determination. Even if they sent troops to capture Jinzhong, they did not even give a shit and always maintained He tried his best to endure it, but Ye Mingsheng knew very well that this was just a temporary move by Shangguan Hongyuan to avoid a war between the two fronts...
As long as Shangguan Hongyuan, who aspires to unify the north in Rongcheng, is captured, the Fengwu Army will be regarded as a thorn in his side. It is only a matter of time before he attacks in a big way!
Therefore, from a time point of view, the Fengwu Army has no advantage. Ye Mingsheng was originally from the Forbidden Army. He knew very well how powerful the Zhou Forbidden Army under Shangguan Hongyuan was. Even if the Fengwu Army now has the advantage in firearms, he wants to be in front of them. Defeating the Custodes on the battlefield is a very difficult task.
Ten thousand steps back, even if they win, the Fengwu Army will surely suffer huge losses, and the war is likely to develop into a tug-of-war, a war of attrition!
Even if Liaoyang and Youyan complete the reform by then, and these two border provinces are used against Shangguan Hongyuan's Guanzhong, Yunbin, Sichuan and Shu, Ye Mingsheng does not think that the advantage will be here.
What's more, Shangguan Hongyuan also has the little emperor as his killer weapon. Although the Zhou Dynasty is declining these days, if Shangguan Hongyuan declares himself and the Fengwu Army as traitors in the name of the little emperor, it will not actually have much impact on his side. , but it was a big blow to morale and reputation.
Although Ye Mingsheng felt the pressure from Shangguan Hongyuan's eager gaze, he also saw opportunities in the Central Plains as he aspired to go south!
Ever since a large-scale peasant uprising broke out in the Central Plains, Ye Mingsheng has been very concerned about the direction of events in the Central Plains. He asked the Coordination Office to collect more information, and then asked the General Staff to combine this information to conduct a deeper analysis of the Henan Army's combat effectiveness. Analysis and research·················
Although these peasant uprisings did not completely overthrow Gao Zongchang's rule, they were wiped out by the Henan Army in less than three months. They did not bring more surprises to Ye Mingsheng, but they also allowed Ye Mingsheng to detect the Henan Army. The situation of being strong on the outside but weak on the inside can't help but make Ye Mingsheng feel a little bit anxious in his heart, and the improvement of the current financial situation also gives Ye Mingsheng the confidence to take action.
What makes Ye Mingsheng most interested is that the Coordination Office has detected Zhu Sanshan who is entrenched in the Yingcheng area. He has annihilated tens of thousands of Henan troops through the battle in Dayashan and has successfully attracted Gao Zongchang's attention. For his own defense, Gao Zongchang did not mobilize the 40,000 Henan troops on the front line in Yecheng, but he had ordered his eldest son Gao Dingshan to lead half of the Henan troops to Daya Mountain to annihilate Zhu Sanshan.
And this has resulted in the fact that Jiyu now has a heavy concentration of troops from the north and the south, and the hinterland is empty. As long as the Fengwu Army can quickly capture Yecheng, he can drive straight in to the Yujing City. According to the command and control office, According to the report, after most of the soldiers and horses were transferred to Gaoding Mountain to suppress the bandits, there are now only more than 10,000 people in Yujing City. As long as the Fengwu Army moves fast enough, they may be able to directly destroy Yujing, the political and economic center of Hebei Province, in one go. Take it down.
As a prince, Gao Zongchang, who occupied the Central Plains with the same violent conquests, was far less stable than Zhao Fuqu. After all, Zhao Fuqu still had a banner to fight against foreigners.
Under the rule of the Tiger of Northern Xinjiang, the Luobi people did not dare to invade the border easily and protected the security of the Zhou border. This made the people of Youyan, who had suffered from foreign invasion, have some respect for Zhao Fuqu in their hearts. , some people are so loyal to Zhao Fuqu that they are willing to sacrifice their lives for it...
The reputation of Gao Zongchang and his Gao family in Hebei and Henan is very poor. When people talk about the fat Gao Zongchang, they want to crush his bones and spread his ashes, eat his flesh and sleep on his skin, and vent their hatred.
Therefore, as long as Yujing is captured and Gao Zongchang is killed, the Gao family's basic position in Hebei and Henan will fall apart, and there will not be a situation like when Zhao Fuqu occupied the southern part of Youyan and faced off against Ye Mingsheng.
Of course, capturing Yujing in one go is the best situation. Assuming that development does not go so smoothly, as long as they can capture Yecheng and besiege Yujing before Gaodingshan returns for reinforcements, the Fengwu Army can wait and be annihilated under the city of Yujing. If Gaodingshan's troops are lost, Yujing will still be unable to defend it.
Realizing this, Ye Mingsheng's heart was filled with excitement, and he had the urge to put these things into practice immediately. However, Ye Mingsheng soon calmed down again. After thinking about it carefully again, Ye Mingsheng knocked on the table and next Ye Cheng, who was outside the second door, walked in and bowed to Ye Mingsheng and asked:
"Sir, what are your orders?"
"Go there in person and ask He Jingyun and Gu Sansi to put down what they are doing and come here!" Ye Mingsheng ordered in a deep voice:
Although he already had his own ideas, Ye Mingsheng still needed the help of his important ministers to brainstorm a better way.
Although he didn't know what Ye Mingsheng wanted to do, after hearing the meaning of Ye Mingsheng's words, Ye Cheng also realized the importance of the matter, and immediately nodded in his heart and said:
"I understand, sir, I'm going to go there right away..."
