Chapter 120 Shock!

Hearing "There are only more than 400 people left in Ye Mingsheng's army", Fang Jing's eyebrows subconsciously frowned. Although Ye Mingsheng was not his subordinate, because the two of them had close contacts, he knew very well that although Ye Mingsheng's battalion was a newly formed battalion and did not have a full complement of 3,000 people, it still had more than 1,000 people!

More than a thousand people went to the battle, but only more than four hundred people were left when they returned. This was more than 60% casualties. With so many casualties, they were arranged to return in advance. What did this mean? As a senior military officer of the Imperial Guards, Fang Jing knew it clearly. Thinking of this, he looked at Ye Mingsheng with a hint of worry in his eyes...

In this world, people still value the friendship between fellow townsmen, not to mention that the ancestors of the Ye family and the Fang family have some friendship, so Fang Jing has always been very caring towards Ye Mingsheng.

Therefore, when Fang Jing realized that Ye Mingsheng was likely to return defeated and would be questioned, he couldn't help but feel some worry for Ye Mingsheng.

Feeling the worry in Fang Jing's eyes, Ye Mingsheng was a little confused. He didn't know what was going on and didn't know that his words had touched Fang Jing.

Just when Fang Jing was considering his words and preparing to say something, the Fang family's housekeeper suddenly came over quietly and whispered in his ear. Although the housekeeper spoke in a low voice, Ye Mingsheng did not hear what they were talking about.

But he still saw Fang Jing's reaction. He was a little surprised at first, and then the look in his eyes when he looked at him became complicated. It was obvious that what the butler said to Fang Jing had something to do with him.

After the housekeeper finished speaking, he took his leave. Fang Jing took a deep look at Ye Mingsheng, then said with a wry smile: "Mingsheng, you really gave me a big problem..."

Hearing Fang Jing say this, Ye Mingsheng was undoubtedly even more confused. He came to Fang Jing today because he did have a big problem, which was how to transfer to the Zhenwu Army. But the problem was, he hadn't spoken to Fang Jing yet, and Fang Jing couldn't read his mind and understand what he was thinking, so what did he mean by this?
Seeing Ye Mingsheng looking somewhat confused, Fang Jing simply said:

"The Pearl Spring from Guiyunlou and the cakes from Puningfang, I'm afraid these things will cost Mingsheng several months of your salary. Tell me what's going on with you now. What did the Ministry of War and your Xuanwu Army say?"

"Your men have suffered so many casualties. I think it's impossible for me to get away with it, but I will do my best to negotiate for you!"

After hearing what Fang Jing said, Ye Mingsheng suddenly realized what Fang Jing was talking about, and he was a little moved. It was already very good not to kick someone when he was down in the officialdom. There were very few people like Fang Jing who thought he was in trouble and still wanted to help him.

"Thank you, Uncle Fang, for your kindness. However, I came back this time not because I was punished for the defeat. The reason why my troops suffered such heavy casualties was because we attacked Liujing by surprise, and then were surrounded and fought by tens of thousands of Gongdu troops in Liujing for several days. On the way back to China, we were attacked by Japanese pirates, so there are only so many people left..." Ye Mingsheng spread his hands and said helplessly:

Although Ye Mingsheng spoke briefly and glossed over many details, Fang Jing, who had read the military report, naturally understood the difficulties involved. He looked a little shocked and said with some disbelief:
"The part of Xuanwu Army that launched a surprise attack on Liujing mentioned in the battle report, is it you, Mingsheng?"

Facing Fang Jing's gaze, Ye Mingsheng nodded, and then explained again: "I was guarding Ruishan County, the palace capital, at the time. It was the transportation hub connecting the north and south of the palace capital, and it was also the closest troop to Liujing, so this matter naturally fell on me..."

After hearing Ye Mingsheng's explanation, Fang Jing's shocked expression eased a little, but he still looked a little unbelieving. He had read the battle report from the Ministry of War. A battalion of soldiers, lightly armed and simple, traveled hundreds of miles and not only attacked and broke through the enemy's capital at night.

They also successfully blocked the counterattack of the Gongdu army which was several times larger than their own, and successfully held out until the arrival of reinforcements, laying a solid foundation for the later sweep of Gongdu by the Great Zhou army.

There is no doubt that this is definitely the operation of a famous general and will be recorded in history!
The battle report from the Ministry of War not only caused quite a stir among the imperial guards, but it was also rumored that the Prime Minister Shangguan Hongyuan personally praised him for his good command and bravery.

Because the battle report did not mention who commanded the operation, the imperial guards were now discussing who this brave general was. Some even boldly speculated that it was Xu Zhaojie, the commander of the Xuanwu Army, who personally commanded the operation.

Fang Jing was naturally very curious about the commander of the Imperial Guards who commanded this operation. In his impression, the Xuanwu Imperial Guards were similar to the Hujie Imperial Guards, except for the commander Xu Zhaojie who was very capable, the others did not seem to have such amazing abilities...
He never expected that the person he had thought about over and over again would be his fellow villager Ye Mingsheng. He had known Ye Mingsheng for quite some time, and Fang Jing knew very well what Ye Mingsheng was capable of.

In his opinion, Ye Mingsheng was undoubtedly at a lower-middle level among the military officers of the imperial guards in terms of both personal bravery and ability to command battles.

The eight words "good command" and "brave courage" praised by Shangguan Hongyuan were completely unrelated, otherwise he would not have thought that Ye Mingsheng had returned in defeat with heavy casualties and would be held accountable by the Ministry of War...

Seeing Fang Jing's face full of disbelief, Ye Mingsheng, who knew what Fang Jing was thinking, smiled bitterly. This matter involved the court's party struggles, the contest between the Prime Minister Shangguan Hongyuan and the noble families. It was really difficult for him to explain anything to Fang Jing.

Although it was still a little hard to believe, Fang Jing, who was familiar with Ye Mingsheng's character, knew that although Ye Mingsheng did not have much ability, he was not a person who liked to brag.

Moreover, the truth of this matter will be revealed after a while when the Xuanwu Army returns to the capital and rewards are given out. If you try to take credit for it now, it will be very embarrassing to be slapped in the face when the time comes.

Therefore, Fang Jing did not doubt the truthfulness of what Ye Mingsheng said. When his mind gradually calmed down, Fang Jing asked Ye Mingsheng again with some doubts:
"You really gave me a big surprise. But since you didn't return in defeat, why did Mingsheng bring such an expensive gift to see me? Don't tell me that you have nothing to do with me..."

(End of this chapter)