Chapter 1104: A rage for beauty!

Ye Mingsheng, who had been squinting his eyes to enjoy the maid's massage, became interested after hearing Ye Cheng's words. He immediately opened his eyes and asked Ye Cheng:
"Oh? The whole city is full of grooms? What kind of saying is this..."

Seeing that Ye Mingsheng was interested in this, Ye Cheng organized his speech:

"There are quite a lot of people getting married in Yijing recently, so this is what people say!"

Although Ye Cheng's words were very subtle and euphemistic, and he seemed to be trying to brush this matter off, Ye Mingsheng was still keenly aware of the meaning behind Ye Cheng's words and said lightly:

"Is it because of the reward?"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng ask this, Ye Cheng hesitated for a moment, but still nodded somewhat awkwardly.

Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng didn't say anything else and fell into deep thought!
In the past few months, because the Fengwu Army successfully seized power and established the Yijing court, Ye Mingsheng also fulfilled his original promise and lavishly rewarded the ministers and soldiers who followed him in order to repay the loyalty and dedication of these meritorious officials!

The silver awarded alone exceeded 500,000 taels, not counting gold, silver, jewelry, collectibles, calligraphy and paintings, real estate, shops and other things. If all these things were converted, then the conservative estimate would be at least more than 1.5 million taels of silver····························

Fortunately, the Fengwu Army obtained a lot of spoils in the battle, otherwise, with such a scale of rewards, Ye Mingsheng’s Yijing court would probably have declared bankruptcy by now!

As the saying goes, men become bad when they have money, and these heroes of the Fengwu Army are not only rich, their social status has also been greatly improved, and they all hold high positions and important posts!

Therefore, driven by the goal of getting promoted and making money, they all began to look for women to satisfy their needs, which led to the phenomenon of concentrated marriages, which was jokingly called "the city is full of grooms" by the common people!
Even a relatively honest and loyal man like Gu Sansi had a mistress hidden in Yi Jing's mansion. Of course, he only found one, which was already very good!

For example, some members of the Ye clan felt that they were now royal relatives, so they believed that continuing the royal bloodline was the most important thing for the royal family. Therefore, they married eleven new women in one go. People teased them that they were bridegrooms every night, but they did not feel ashamed of it, but proud of it!

Of course, finding eleven women is an extreme case, but generally speaking, meritorious soldiers will marry two or three more women after they have money!
Ye Mingsheng had no good solution for these situations. After all, lust is the nature of many men. In addition, the current social concept is still very conservative. It is believed that the three major unfilial acts is not having descendants, and the worst one is not having descendants. It is believed that having many children means more blessings.

Therefore, Ye Mingsheng could only ask the Censorate to strictly control it to ensure that there would be no illegal situations such as bullying men and women, and plundering women...

Although these situations do not seem to be a big problem on the surface, Ye Mingsheng still has some deep-seated concerns about this. Although many men have died on the battlefield due to the war, resulting in a situation where there are more women than men in many places in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

But when the country becomes stable in the future, the ratio of men to women will surely gradually return to normal, and the powerful and wealthy will be able to marry without restrictions.

Then many men at the bottom of society will inevitably not be able to marry, which will cause social instability, although this situation can be regulated through brothels!
However, Ye Mingsheng still believed that it was necessary to limit the number of wives that the powerful and wealthy could marry. For example, a commoner without an official status could only marry one wife and two concubines even if he had a lot of money. A ninth-rank official could only marry one wife and three concubines.

If you marry more women than this number, you will be punished, with a fine or forced labor.
Although he had this idea, Ye Mingsheng had not yet thought of the specific measures. He still needed to communicate and discuss with Cui Shao, Gu Sansi and others to hear their opinions on this move.

Just as Ye Mingsheng was lying on the bed, thinking carefully and perfecting his policy, a guard came over quickly, took out a letter and presented it to Ye Mingsheng, bowing and saying respectfully:

"A letter from the Marshal's inner guard..."

Seeing this, Ye Cheng was very tactful and took the secret letter, then handed it to Ye Mingsheng.

Ye Mingsheng opened the envelope, took out the letter and glanced at it, his eyes couldn't help but slightly narrowed. After reading the contents of the secret letter, Ye Mingsheng casually handed it to Ye Cheng beside him.

Ye Cheng picked up the secret letter and read it, and immediately said in astonishment:
"Marshal, how dare Liu Baichuan be so bold? He forged your letter of appointment and wanted to kill people to silence them?"

"I think this person must be severely punished to serve as a warning to others! Otherwise, if those people in the Coordination Office are so audacious, others will definitely follow their example!"

Ye Mingsheng glanced at Ye Cheng who was filled with righteous indignation, and did not rush to make a decision. He pondered for a moment and asked again:
"I remember that a few days ago Liu Baichuan submitted a memorial saying that after Song Weijie's death, Rongcheng had been occupied by someone led by Hu Fei?"

Ye Cheng nodded and added:
"Liu Baichuan submitted this memorial a few days ago. Hu Fei is the general who suppresses bandits in the Sichuan-Shu Army. Liu Baichuan said that Hu Fei intends to surrender to the imperial court!"

"However, Liu Baichuan also said that Hu Fei was arrogant and ambitious. He did not really want to surrender to the court, but wanted to use the guise of surrendering to the court to get money and food support from the court to unify Sichuan and Shu, trying to become the second Song Weijie!"

“So in the memorial, Liu Baichuan expressed that he wanted to take advantage of the situation and use Hu Fei to tear apart the Sichuan-Shu Army and weaken its resistance…”

Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly when he heard this, and seeing that Ye Mingsheng did not express his opinion, Ye Cheng suggested again:
"Marshal, Liu Baichuan is very capable, but he is too bold. He even dared to forge your letter of appointment. If he continues like this, he might even want to do something outrageous in the future!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng glanced at Ye Cheng and asked with a half-smile:

"How did Liu Baichuan offend you? Why do you, Ye Cheng, want to kill him so much?"

Although Ye Mingsheng looked like he was joking when he said this with a smile on his face, it was like a bolt from the blue to Ye Cheng's ears!
Without any hesitation, Ye Cheng knelt on the ground and explained to Ye Mingsheng:

"Marshal, I have no personal grudge against Captain Liu. I just think he is too bold. I hope you will understand!"

After saying that, Ye Cheng kowtowed to Ye Mingsheng. Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng smiled and said:
"Ye Cheng, it was just a joke, there's no need to be like this. I understand you! Get up!"

Hearing this, Ye Cheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said to Ye Mingsheng:
"Thank you for your trust, Marshal!"

Ye Mingsheng smiled and nodded:
"The sauna room should be ready soon. Ye Chengni, ask the kitchen to prepare some food for me. I'll finish taking a shower and it's time to eat..." "Yes!"

After hearing the order, Ye Cheng bowed and left the room, then immediately passed on Ye Mingsheng's request. After doing this, Ye Cheng returned to his office, locked the door, and stayed alone in it.

Ye Cheng sat down on the chair with his eyes closed, looking annoyed. Thinking back to what had just happened, Ye Cheng couldn't help but slap himself hard in the face!

In order to make himself remember clearly and keep in mind the lesson of today to avoid possible troubles due to his mouth in the future, Ye Cheng slapped his face with extra force, leaving his five fingers clearly imprinted on his face, and half of his cheek was also very red and swollen!
Perhaps because he had been the head of the Imperial Guards Department for quite a long time, Ye Cheng had become a little careless. In addition, he was flattered by many high-ranking officials, so Ye Cheng also felt that he was a big shot. Therefore, he was not as cautious in his words as before, which led to the scene just now!
Ye Cheng was really angry about his own nonsense just now. As the director of the attendant department, his job should be to assist the Marshal in his work and help him solve some trivial matters, instead of providing advice to the Marshal and telling him how to do things!
And this is not the most frustrating thing. The most frustrating thing is that the Marshal seems to admire Liu Baichuan very much, but he himself can't even do the most basic observation of his words and expressions and still speaks shamelessly in front of the Marshal!

Although the Marshal did not punish me today, there is no doubt that what happened today is a warning to me. I must learn a lesson from it, put myself in the right position, and never make such a mistake again!

Otherwise, things probably wouldn't have ended like this. You know, as the director of the Guards' Department, there are countless people eyeing him with envy!
If there is any mistake or omission, Ye Cheng might have to pack up and leave the Attendant Department...

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East Island, Hakata

In the Hojo family's mansion, the current head of the Hojo family, Hojo Kawa, is receiving a distinguished guest.

Looking at the middle-aged man opposite him drinking tea, although he was old, he was still strong and sturdy, and he had an extraordinary demeanor. Hojo Kawa smiled and asked:

"Wang Sang, what do you think of our East Island's tea ceremony compared to your Great Zhou?"

Facing Beijo Chuan's question, Wang He said calmly:

"Not bad!"

Hojo Kawa, who was originally smiling, couldn't help but freeze when he heard this answer. It was obvious that the Daimyo of Higashijima was not satisfied with this answer.

Wang He didn't seem to care much about this. After taking another sip of tea, he looked at Beijo River and said:
"Master Hojo, I wonder what you think of my last proposal?"

Seeing that Wang He didn't exchange pleasantries with him and went straight to the point, Beijo Chuan narrowed his eyes and didn't directly answer Wang He's question, but asked Wang He:
"I wonder why Marshal Ye from your department is so interested in the affairs of our East Island?"

Wang He heard this and said in a calm tone:
“Lord Hojo, I have already answered your question last time. Our Marshal Ye has always attached great importance to commercial development. We hope to strengthen commercial ties with the countries surrounding Da Zhou so that people from all countries can share what they have and develop and progress together…”

Hojo Chuan smiled and praised:

"Marshal Ye is indeed a great hero in the world. He really has great ambitions. I really admire him!"

After briefly blowing Ye Mingsheng, Beijo Chuan suddenly changed the subject and said:

"Although Marshal Ye has great ambitions, I think he must have other reasons for supporting me!"

"Although Dongdao and Dazhou are separated by the sea, I have great respect for Marshal Ye, a great hero in the world, so I have been paying attention to Marshal Ye's movements. I heard that Marshal Ye has a wife whom I met in humble circumstances. It seems that her surname is Pei?"

"I wonder if there is such a thing as Wang Sang?"

Hearing what Beijo Chuan said, Wang He glanced at him coldly and said:
"It looks like Hojo-sama has done his homework!"

Upon hearing this, Beijo Chuan stroked his beard and said:
"Your department is well-known, I must think carefully before cooperating with you!"

Wang He snorted coldly and said:
"Lord Hojo, you're not the only one who wants what I have..."

Beijokawa smiled and said:

"Wang-san, I know you have talked to Watanabe-kun, but you should also be aware that the power of the Watanabe family alone is not enough to overthrow the Toyotomi shogunate. Your plan requires my participation!"

"Only with the participation of our Hojo family can the Toyotomi shogunate's rule over Higashima be overthrown!"

Listening to Beijo Chuan's words, Wang He smiled disdainfully and said:
"We are not very interested in overthrowing the Toyotomi shogunate. We just want Muto Masaaki's head!"

Although Kitajikawa looked a little surprised after hearing this, he was actually very happy in his heart, thinking that his guess was correct!
Ever since I learned that Akiyama Mori Hui had become the favorite concubine of Marshal Ye, and how much the powerful Marshal Ye loved Akiyama Mori Hui!
Hojo Kawa felt that Akiyama Morie was out for revenge. This woman wanted revenge on her father and her family!

The words of Wang He, the official from the Great Zhou Dynasty's General Coordination Office, in front of him undoubtedly confirmed his guess. What about promoting business development and strengthening business ties? These were all lies!

The real thing is to get Muto Masaaki’s head!

Ye Mingsheng, the man who is about to become the emperor of the Great Zhou, has decided to help his most beloved woman to complete her revenge. Isn't there a saying in the Great Zhou that one will risk one's life for the love of one's life?
Now it is obvious that Ye Mingsheng, the man who is about to become the emperor, is willing to risk his life for the woman he loves most!

(End of this chapter)