Chapter 1284 Unexpected!

On October 1st, in the golden autumn of October, Ye Mingsheng's convoy arrived at Xiangcheng, the northernmost city of Jingchu. The prefect, Tongpan and other officials of various levels in Xiangcheng had already made a series of preparations under the notification of the Censorate to enhance the security of the entire city.

Ye Mingsheng originally wanted to stay in an inn in Xiangcheng. After all, Xiangcheng was already the northernmost part of Jingchu. A few dozen miles further north was Jiyu. Zhao Wanxian and others in Jiyu were already prepared for the reception. So according to the original plan, Ye Mingsheng would only take a temporary rest in Xiangcheng for one day, and then go to Jiyu to inspect Zhao Wanxian's work in Jiyu in recent times.

Therefore, if Ye Mingsheng was only staying for one day, it didn't matter if he stayed in an inn. Even if the conditions of the inn were not good, Ye Mingsheng could overcome it.

However, man proposes, God disposes. In the past ten days or so, there have been several consecutive heavy rains in Hebei and Henan, which has caused floods in southern Hebei and Henan. Hundreds of thousands of people in several prefectures and counties have been affected by the floods.
Originally, the most important task of Hebei and Henan in recent times was to receive Ye Mingsheng, so now the governor of Hebei and Henan is facing a dilemma. They don’t know whether Ye Mingsheng will arrive in Hebei and Henan as planned, or whether he will be delayed because of the flood!
As the saying goes, power is only accountable to its source, so many G members in Hebei and Henan thought that just in case, they should make preparations according to the normal plan of Ye Mingsheng's visit to Hebei and Henan, and focus the main energy of the governor on welcoming Ye Mingsheng, to ensure that the activities of entertaining Ye Mingsheng are foolproof without any mistakes...
Under such circumstances, Zhao Wanxian, as the governor of Hebei and Henan, scolded all the staff of the Hebei and Henan Provincial Government, and then, against all odds, put the work of disaster rescue at the top of the agenda, mobilizing the manpower and material resources of the entire Provincial Government, the Censorate, and the government offices of various prefectures and counties to deal with the flood!

After making this decision, Zhao Wanxian also wrote a letter to Ye Mingsheng personally. In the letter, he said that the floods in Hebei and Henan were of great concern to the people. If Ye Mingsheng came to Hebei and Henan at this time, it would inevitably distract the attention of the staff of Hebei and Henan and affect the response to the floods.

Therefore, Zhao Wanxian earnestly requested Ye Mingsheng to stay in Jingchu for a period of time so that government offices of all levels in Hebei and Henan could concentrate on dealing with the flood. When the flood receded, he, Zhao Wanxian, would go to Xinzhou in person to welcome Ye Mingsheng!
Zhao Wanxian's move can be said to be very bold, and many people even think that it is disrespectful, but Ye Mingsheng really appreciates Zhao Wanxian's behavior. After hearing about the flood situation in Hebei and Henan, Ye Mingsheng originally planned to go to Hebei and Henan to support Zhao Wanxian and ensure that Zhao Wanxian could control the manpower and material resources of Liaoyang at will!

But since Zhao Wanxian has now made it clear that he doesn't need it, Ye Mingsheng will not take the initiative to offend others, so he agreed to Zhao Wanxian's request to delay his trip to Hebei and Henan.

Although the trip to Hebei and Henan was delayed, Ye Mingsheng's convoy was almost reaching Xiangcheng, so it was impossible for Ye Mingsheng to return to Hanyang at this time. Ye Mingsheng could only change the original plan and stay in Xiangcheng for a dozen more days.

Originally, during Song Haibo's preliminary investigation in Xiangcheng, he thought that the conditions of the inns in Xiangcheng were not good, and even the best inn could not meet Ye Mingsheng's accommodation needs. However, because Ye Mingsheng only planned to stay in Xiangcheng for one day, it didn't matter if he insisted...
But since he is going to live here for more than ten days, the situation is different. Ye Mingsheng, who is used to a life of luxury, finds it difficult to overcome such a long period of time. For this reason, Song Haibo, under the coordination of the prefect of Xiangcheng and others, asked a wealthy businessman named Zhao in Xiangcheng to lend his mansion to Ye Mingsheng for a period of time. Ye Mingsheng paid him a rent of thirty taels of silver a day.

Because this mansion was very nice, the environment, decoration, and especially the elegant back garden all satisfied Ye Mingsheng, so he originally planned to pay a rent of one hundred taels of silver a day.

But this wealthy businessman surnamed Zhao refused to take the money no matter what. He even said that it was a blessing for him, Zhao, in his ten lifetimes to be able to live in his house, and that Ye Mingsheng's arrival brought honor to his family. The most exaggerated thing was that he also said that he would be punished by God if he accepted the money from Marshal Ye.

Ye Mingsheng was speechless after hearing what he said, but he was unwilling to take advantage of him, so he finally gave him thirty taels of silver a day.

At this time, Ye Mingsheng, who had been traveling all morning, sat on the armchair, enjoying a moment of peace. At this time, Song Haibo came over and asked:
"Marshal, it's noon now. What would you like to eat?"

Ye Mingsheng said without hesitation:

"Are there any specialties here?"

Song Haibo thought for a moment and said:
"My Lord, the donkey meat noodles in Xiangcheng are said to be very good!"

"Donkey meat noodles?" Ye Mingsheng was a little curious when he heard it.

“Yes, donkey meat noodles! The special food here used to be beef noodles, but because it was forbidden to kill cows without permission, beef was replaced by donkey meat. It is said that the donkey meat noodles here have a unique flavor…”

Hearing this, Ye Mingsheng nodded and ordered:

"Then have a bowl of this donkey meat noodles, and a few simple side dishes!"

"understand!"

After giving instructions to Song Haibo, Ye Mingsheng continued to sit on the armchair with his eyes closed to rest. Although there was a flood in Hebei and Henan, it did not affect Ye Mingsheng's appetite. After all, the Great Zhou was so large that natural disasters occurred almost every day. If Ye Mingsheng was affected by this, he would not have to eat every day.

What's more, Ye Mingsheng didn't eat more than a dozen dishes. He didn't feel any psychological burden with a bowl of donkey meat noodles and a few side dishes.

After resting for about half an hour, Ye Mingsheng's lunch was ready, and Ye Mingsheng began to eat it. In this era, cattle are important tools for production and life, so in order to ensure the production of food, Ye Mingsheng also prohibited the unauthorized slaughter of oxen. If you want to kill a cattle, you must get permission from the local government office.

This resulted in very little beef on the market, but as the leader of the Yijing court, Ye Mingsheng still had some privileges, so he had eaten beef noodles many times, such as braised beef noodles, spicy beef noodles, and braised beef noodles. Ye Mingsheng had eaten many kinds, but this was the first time he had eaten donkey meat noodles!

Although it was his first time to eat it, Ye Mingsheng still had a very good experience with this donkey meat noodle. The donkey meat was delicate, tender and fragrant, not so smelly, and not as greasy as pork. Overall, it was fresh and chewy, and tasted better than Ye Mingsheng expected...

After finishing his meal, Ye Mingsheng had almost rested and officially started working. At this time, Song Haibo came to Ye Mingsheng with a memorial.

"Marshal, this is a memorial sent by the Hebei-Henan Provincial Government an hour ago!"

After receiving the memorial, Ye Mingsheng read it carefully. This memorial was not written by Zhao Wanxian to Ye Mingsheng. At present, Zhao Wanxian, as the governor, has gone to the front line of the disaster and personally commanded the flood prevention and control work. Therefore, this memorial was written by Zhang Feiyu, the deputy governor of Hebei and Henan, to Ye Mingsheng.

Zhang Feiyu told Ye Mingsheng that although the flood in Hebei and Henan affected several prefectures and counties in the southern part of Hebei and Henan, the area was very large. However, in the past few years, under the leadership of the Hebei and Henan Provincial Government and government offices at all levels, some new dams were built in various parts of Hebei and Henan, and the existing dams and other water conservancy facilities were repaired.
Therefore, these dams played a role in this flood. Therefore, generally speaking, the impact of the disaster in most places is still controllable, and there is not much risk. At present, only the situation in Xinzhou is relatively dangerous, and the city of Xinzhou is at risk of being flooded. At present, the Hebei-Henan Provincial Government and Xinzhou Prefecture are making preparations for both situations.
On the one hand, young and middle-aged people were organized to reinforce the embankments and dig canals for flood discharge to prevent floods from invading the city of Xinzhou as much as possible. On the other hand, the elderly, the weak, women and children were organized to go to high places to avoid casualties after the worst possible event.

Although he did not know the specific situation of the flood in southern Hebei and Henan, Ye Mingsheng looked at the countermeasures in this memorial. He felt that the work of the Hebei-Henan Provincial Government was very good and there was nothing wrong with it.
After a moment's silence, Ye Mingsheng asked Song Haibo, "How many troops does Jingchu have?"

Song Haibo thought for a moment and replied:

"Marshal, at present, Hebei and Henan do not have a regular army. There are only more than 10,000 reserve troops and militia!"

Ye Mingsheng said without hesitation:
"Give the command of these troops to Zhao Wanxian, and let him coordinate the flood control. Also, ask the court to dispatch a batch of tents and other disaster relief supplies!"

"Yes!"

After receiving the order, Song Haibo immediately went to draft an edict in the name of Ye Mingsheng. Shortly after Song Haibo left, a man in gray came to Ye Mingsheng.

Seeing the appearance of the man in gray, Ye Mingsheng raised his eyebrows and asked:
"Something happened to Yi Jing?"

The man in gray nodded and said:
"Report to the commander-in-chief, Cui Zibo has passed away!"

Ye Mingsheng was not surprised at all by the news. A few months ago, Ye Mingsheng received news that Cui Zibo was seriously ill and his condition was very dangerous. He would probably not survive this year. Now the accuracy of this news has been undoubtedly confirmed!
"When the news of Cui Zibo's death reached the Ye Mansion, the old lady wanted to go to the Cui Mansion to visit Cui Shao, but was stopped by the eldest lady!"

Upon hearing the news, Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly. Honestly, in Ye Mingsheng's opinion, Cui Zibo had it all his own fault. As the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, you must consider the reputation of the court. Even if you are really lustful, you have many ways to solve it. Why are you so hungry that you go to that kind of place?

You go to that kind of place and don't pay attention to safety. People provide you with sheep intestine fish bubble for you to use, but you don't use it. You are simply asking for death··············
It wouldn't be a big deal if you were courting death, but you also caused the Yijing court to be ridiculed by the people. If Cui Zibo was not Cui Shao's son, Ye Mingsheng would have brought him to justice long ago. It was for Cui Shao's sake that Ye Mingsheng only suspended him from his post!
Ye Mingsheng believes that Cui Zibo's death is a good result. After all, as long as Cui Zibo lives, the public's heated discussion on this matter will continue.

Ye Mingsheng was speechless about his mother's decision to go to Cui Mansion for a visit, but he could understand it to some extent. After all, Cui Zibo was Cui Shao's eldest son, and Ye Cui's nephew. Even if it was for the purpose of comforting Cui Shao, it was understandable that his mother wanted to go to Cui Mansion for a visit.

Although he understood it, Ye Mingsheng still admired An Miaoyi's action of stopping Ye Cui. After all, if his mother really went there, there would be a lot of rumors among the people. At other times, Ye Mingsheng would not care, as he was not afraid of bites from too many lice. But now he was about to become emperor, and this result was a critical moment, so Ye Mingsheng still cared about public opinion!

Ye Mingsheng always believed that although An Miaoyi had some problems, like doing some small tricks and fighting for power with others, this woman was not confused when it came to major issues, otherwise Ye Mingsheng would not have kept her until now.

"Apart from this matter, is there anything else?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, the man in gray said without hesitation:
"The killer of the Murong family killed an important subordinate of the eldest lady named Wang Rui. The eldest lady was very angry about this and asked the two masters Liu Ningzhuang and Shanhe to help find..."

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng asked back:
"Who is this Wang Rui? Why did Murong Qingwu want to kill him?"

"This Wang Rui was originally a retired soldier from the Flying Tiger Battalion. Later, he was kicked out of the army after drinking alcohol and violating military discipline. Later, he was introduced to the Madam. Because of his good skills, quick mind, and ruthless methods, he was highly praised by the Madam. He gradually became the Madam's trusted subordinate and handled many things for her!"

"We are currently investigating why Madam Murong wanted to kill Wang Rui, but according to our investigation, Wang Rui was involved in a military case and played a key role in it!"

Hearing the gray-clothed man say this, Ye Mingsheng also became interested and asked:
"Can you tell me more about it?"

"Someone has hidden the captured spoils and violated etiquette! We are investigating who it is!"

Ye Mingsheng hesitated for a moment and asked:

"So now you suspect Murong Qingwu is related to this person? So you sent a killer to kill this person and silence him?"

The man in gray nodded without hesitation and said:
"Because it involves Madam Murong, we dare not investigate it easily, so I came to ask for your instructions this time!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly and directly instructed:

"Get to the bottom of it! Don't worry about anything!"

After saying that, seeing the gray-clothed man's serious expression when he mentioned the Murong family's killer, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but smile and asked:

"You are so serious. Are the killers of the Murong family very powerful?"

In response to Ye Mingsheng's question, the man in gray nodded and said in a deep voice:
“They are all good players…”

(End of this chapter)