Chapter 1023 Take advantage of the situation!

Nurjiang thought that he had the advantage in troops and horses together with Ibugel, and that he could defeat Jamukha. However, Jamukha felt that although he was at a disadvantage in terms of the number of troops and horses, his troops were more powerful. Even if Nurjiang and Ibugel joined forces, he would not be at all inferior and thought that he could still do it...

Honestly speaking, Ye Mingsheng was somewhat troubled by the attitudes of both sides. He knew that it would be difficult to get both sides to stop fighting.

According to the news sent by the Foreign Affairs Bureau, after knowing that he would attend the Pingshanquan meeting on the Ulan Grassland on August 31, Nurjiang directly stated that he would arrive early and intended to come to Jinzhong to meet Ye Mingsheng directly on August 25!
In order to win over the Fengwu Army, Nurjiang has always been willing to give the Fengwu Army whatever it wants and behaved very submissively. There is no doubt that he had only one purpose in wanting to meet Ye Mingsheng in advance, which was to try to win the support of the Fengwu Army to fight against Jamukha.

Ye Mingsheng knew very well that in order to win his support, Nurjiang would agree to all his conditions. If he asked him to be his filial son, Nurjiang would probably not hesitate at all and would kneel down and call him dad!

But does it make sense to do this?

Ye Mingsheng had dealt with these grassland barbarians too many times and was very clear about their evil ambitions. Before Jamukha became the Khan, in order to win the support of the Fengwu Army, he was as submissive as Nurjiang today...
But what is the result now? After becoming the Great Khan, Jamukha did not even take his time, but wanted to be the master of his own house and get rid of the control of the Fengwu Army!

Ye Mingsheng himself did not trust these grassland barbarians very much. Now with the precedent of Jamukha, Ye Mingsheng's trust in them has been reduced a lot!
So no matter what promises Nurjiang made, Ye Mingsheng would not believe him. Ye Mingsheng's ultimate goal was to maintain the existing political balance!

Only in the current situation where multiple forces coexist and no one can do anything to anyone else, can the Fengwu Army have the opportunity and ability to interfere with the direction of Luobi’s internal affairs!
Now if only Nurjiang wants to fight, it would be easy to deal with. After all, Nurjiang needs the support of Ibugel to defeat Jamukha. He cannot defeat Jamukha alone, and Ibugel does not really want to fight at the moment!

Therefore, as long as Ibugel does not support him, Nurjiang will definitely stop and will not have any thoughts of fighting anymore!
But unfortunately, now it's not only Nurjiang who wants to fight. In order to get rid of the control of the Fengwu Army and completely get rid of Nurjiang, Jamukha and Ibugel also want to fight. And his determination to fight is even stronger than Nurjiang!
So in order to avoid this war, Ye Mingsheng must make Jamukha realize that if he is determined to start a war, he will solve the problem with blood and fire!
Then not only will he not realize his wish, but will be pushed into the abyss of destruction, and the only thing he can get is failure····························

Just when Ye Mingsheng was silently planning all this in his mind, suddenly his attendant Ye Cheng came over and handed a secret letter to Ye Mingsheng, saying solemnly:
"Urgent intelligence sent by the secret agent of the Central Coordination Office from the Golden Horde!"

Ye Mingsheng was a little surprised to hear this, and then he quickly checked the content of the secret letter. There was not much content in the secret letter, only a few lines of words. Esidogan mobilized a tiger division of 18,000 people in batches in the name of hunting.

Although there were not many words in the secret letter, it made Ye Mingsheng fall into deep thought.
Since the last disastrous defeat, the Golden Horde has disappeared for some time. In the past, they would harass the area around Yongliang, but since the last disastrous defeat, they have completely stayed away from the Yongliang area.

The Fengwu Army is now focusing its main energy on unifying the Great Zhou, so it currently has neither the will nor the ability to launch a long-distance raid across the grassland to attack the Golden Horde's capital, Lesa!
Therefore, Ye Mingsheng let the Golden Horde go for the time being. However, the disastrous defeat in the south this time also caused great turmoil within the Golden Horde. The prestige of Khan Asdogan also dropped to the lowest point. Some nobles of the Golden Horde also demanded that Asdogan be held responsible for the defeat...

However, Eskoy still defended his dignity as the Great Khan with the powerful fighting power of his Tiger Division, and reached a consensus with Asu, another big boss in the Golden Horde. He managed to barely maintain the stability within the Golden Horde and prevent a civil war from breaking out!

Fortunately, at this time, Luobi was also preoccupied with his own internal affairs. He had originally planned to retake the Western Elunqin steppe, but now because of the tense internal situation, he had no time to take care of the Western Elunqin steppe. Otherwise, the Golden Horde might not be able to defend the lush and rich Western Elunqin steppe!
According to Ye Mingsheng, as a nomadic country, the Golden Horde was indeed very fond of hunting, and they usually gathered troops for large-scale hunting!
However, on the eve of his alliance, the Golden Horde suddenly held a large-scale hunting event and mobilized a tiger division of 18,000 troops in batches. It was hard for Ye Mingsheng not to think too much.

At this time, the attendant Ye Cheng also saw Ye Mingsheng's doubts and suggested to Ye Mingsheng:

"Marshal, do you want to order General Ye Dong's Ninth Division and General Chen Chuanwu's Tenth Division to speed up and reach Jinyang?"

Upon hearing the news, Ye Mingsheng fell into deep thought. This time, he left Guo Zhiping and the Second Army in Guanzhong, and he led the Third Army's Third Division, Fourth Division, Ninth Division, Tenth Division, Thirteenth Division, and Fourteenth Division back to Yijing...
However, Ye Mingsheng led the Third Army and the Royal Guard Battalion to advance in order to attend the meeting, while the following four divisions fell behind and dealt with various matters related to the relocation of the capital.
And now Ye Cheng's words undoubtedly showed his worry that Esidogan pretended to mobilize the army in the name of hunting, but actually he wanted to launch a surprise attack on the alliance. If this was true, it would be no joke if a Cuman Tiger Division of 18,000 troops suddenly attacked them!

Ye Mingsheng did not directly answer Ye Cheng's suggestion, but asked:

"What's going on with Zhamuhe and Nurjiang now?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, Ye Cheng thought for a moment and said:
"It's still the same as before. According to Gao Shen's letter, Jamukha has not yet decided whether to attend the meeting!"

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng fell into deep thought. Although he could not be sure whether Esidoan really wanted to attack him, but assuming that Esidoan really did so, Ye Mingsheng felt that he would not do it alone. He would definitely find a helper to accomplish this task together!

After all, he is protected by the entire Third Army. Although a sneak attack by his Tiger Division alone may cause trouble for him, it will still be very difficult to kill him!
And Asdogan was also very clear that if he couldn't get rid of him, he would be in big trouble. The Golden Horde, which had already suffered a crushing defeat and was seriously injured, would find it difficult to bear his anger...
Therefore, Ye Mingsheng felt that if he were Esdogan, he would definitely set up a tight net to kill with one blow. So if he really thought so, then he would most likely have a collaborator. But who is willing to kill him now?

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng's eyes flashed with murderous intent. Although there was no conclusive evidence yet, his intuition told Ye Mingsheng that someone regarded him as prey!
After thinking for a while, Ye Mingsheng ordered:
"Tell the Coordination Office to pay special attention to the movements of Jamukha, Nurjiang, Ibugel and their troops. If they make any unusual movements, report back immediately!"

After saying that, Ye Mingsheng stood up and walked to the sand table. After carefully examining the sand table for a while, Ye Mingsheng focused his eyes on two coordinates and then instructed Ye Cheng:
"Let the Ninth Division take the Ganpaoling Road and quietly move to the vicinity of Dali Lake. Let the Tenth Division take the Luershan Road and move to the vicinity of Yanzigang. The deadline is seven days!"

Seeing Ye Mingsheng's deployment, Ye Cheng's eyes suddenly lit up and said:
"Sir, are you trying to turn the tables?"

Ye Mingsheng said in a deep voice:
“The blood debt that Aisiduoan committed in Yunbing has not been repaid yet. Last time I wanted to keep this guy, but he ran away too fast. Now if he dares to come again, I will never let him slip away from me…”

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East Island, Naniwa

A young man who looked like a down-and-out samurai came to the door of a pub called Zuiyue. He carefully looked at the black moon logo on the sign, narrowed his eyes slightly, then straightened his clothes and walked into the pub.

Because it was not mealtime, there were not too many people in the pub at this time, with only two or three tables. So when the young man walked in, the waiter in charge of welcoming guests immediately came to greet him. At the waiter's invitation, the young man came to a private room, and then the waiter asked with a smile:
"Welcome, what would you like to eat? Our tempura and sushi are very famous in this street."

After looking around the store, the young man said calmly:
"I want a bowl of white rice, a string of secret Yakitori lanterns, and an octopus tempura!"

Hearing the young man's request, the waiter was stunned for a moment and said:
"Sir, we have rice and octopus tempura, but we don't sell yakitori, let alone any secret yakitori lanterns?"

The young man didn't care about the waiter's answer and continued:

"Go ask your boss, this is his specialty..."

The waiter wanted to say something after hearing this, but unexpectedly the young man snorted coldly and put one hand on the hilt of the samurai sword at his waist.

Seeing this, the waiter was also a little scared. He didn't dare to say anything. He immediately bowed and walked quickly to the kitchen.
About half an incense stick later, a somewhat plump middle-aged man came over with a tray. He smiled and placed the octopus tempura, white rice and yakitori that the young man had ordered on the dining table.

"Dear guest, this is the meal you requested. Please enjoy it slowly!"

The young man nodded and was about to start eating. At this time, the middle-aged man smiled and said:
"I am the owner of this izakaya, my name is Ishihara Keijiro, may I know your name, sir?"

The young man ate his rice while speaking in a somewhat unclear voice:

"My name is Yuzuru Aoi!"

Ishihara Keijiro nodded with a smile and said:
"I haven't made Yakiniku for many years. I wonder how you knew that we have Yakiniku?"

Yuzuru Aoi wiped his mouth, then turned to Keijiro Ishihara and said:
"When I was a kid in my hometown of Changzhou, I ate the secret yakitori made by Ishihara Dongjia!"

Hearing this, Ishihara Keijiro was stunned for a moment before suddenly realizing what was going on and speaking loudly:

“So you are Yuzuru? I haven’t seen you for such a long time. You’ve grown so big…”

After saying this, Ishihara Keijiro took out half of the jade pendant from his arms. Seeing this, Aoi Yuzuru also solemnly took out half of the jade pendant. The two put the jade pendants together, and seeing that they were exactly the same, they both understood that the other was one of them.

"What's the mission from the higher-ups?" Ishihara Keijiro lowered his voice and asked Aoi Yuzuru first:

Aoi Yuzuru said in a deep voice:

"Any information about Mutou Masaaki?"

After hearing this, Ishihara Keijiro was stunned for a moment and then asked seriously:
"Muto Masaaki, one of the five big bosses?"

Yuzuru Aoi did not answer, but nodded slightly under Ishihara's gaze.

Seeing this, Ishihara Keijiro thought for a moment and said:
"Muto Masaaki is the most trusted minister of the new Taiko Toyotomi Hidetada, but he has always been a recluse, so there is not much information about him!"

"But I sent back a piece of intelligence before. Japan decided to invade Silla Baekje again and use it as a base to attack the royal capital. The person who implemented this strategy is most likely Muto Masaaki. He has been discussing this matter with several daimyo recently!"

Aoi Yuzuru said in a deep voice:

"You have been ordered by your superiors to do your best to collect information about Muto Masaaki and provide me with a house and 300 kan of money!"

Upon hearing this request, Ishihara Keijiro swallowed his saliva, hesitated for a moment and asked:

"The amount is huge. I need some time! And can I know what you are going to do?"

Yuzuru Aoi said coldly:
“You must complete the preparations within five days. As for the rest, it’s not your place to know…”

(End of this chapter)