Chapter 143 How to recruit soldiers? (Thanks to the book friend Mo Shaobao for the reward)

Looking at the silent Ye Mingsheng, Chen Dechang, who had already quoted the price, was not in a hurry for the young man to give an answer immediately. He gave Ye Mingsheng enough time to think.

After thinking for half a cup of tea, Ye Mingsheng raised his head, ended his thoughts, looked at Chen Dechang, and said with a bow:
"I am honored to be valued by you, sir. I will do my best to strengthen the army and serve you, sir!"

After getting Ye Mingsheng's answer, Chen Dechang nodded with satisfaction. After finishing the business, Ye Mingsheng wanted to say goodbye and leave, but Chen Dechang kept him in the mansion and had a simple meal before letting him leave.

In the evening, after returning to his own yard, Ye Mingsheng closed the door of his study and ordered others not to disturb him.

Ye Mingsheng found the Liaoyang map from the few books in his room, wiped the dust off it, and spread it out on the desk.

Looking at the vast territory of Liaoyang on the map, Ye Mingsheng fell into deep thought. Chen Dechang asking him to recruit soldiers was something he had expected and there was nothing surprising about it. Even his initial statement of recruiting 5,000 soldiers was not something he said casually, but a calculation he made after careful consideration.

The matter of recruiting soldiers in Liaoyang was not difficult in itself. The real difficulty was how to deal with Song Wenhui's various tactics, both overt and covert, during the recruitment process.
Song Wenhui's first move would definitely be to secretly issue orders not to allow the local aristocratic families in Liaoyang to help the Zhenwu Army. Without the help of these local tyrants, the recruitment work would definitely be greatly affected!

Therefore, Ye Mingsheng's original plan was to start recruiting soldiers from Fengshan County, where his hometown was. Although the Ye family was not a prominent family, they were still considered a powerful landlord in Fengshan County.

Fengshan County is located in the hinterland of Liaoyang, has fertile land and good public security, so it is also a wealthy county in Liaoyang. Although it will definitely be obstructed by Song Wenhui, it is not difficult to use Fengshan County as a base and recruit some refugees from several surrounding counties and towns to form a team of 5,000 people.

According to the Ministry of War's plan, the total strength of the Zhenwu Army was only 30,000 men, and 5,000 men was already one-sixth of its strength. Therefore, Ye Mingsheng thought that his promise to provide 5,000 men was already a generous gift to Chen Dechang!

But Ye Mingsheng never expected that Chen Dechang's appetite was much bigger than he imagined, and he actually wanted him to help recruit 10,000 soldiers!
To recruit 5,000 soldiers, although he also has to deal with Song Wenhui's methods, Song Wenhui's attention will definitely be on the Gongsun family, who mainly helps the Zhenwu Army recruit soldiers. He will not have so much energy to come to Fengshan County to deal with him. He can hide in Fengshan County and develop quietly...

To recruit 10,000 soldiers would be one-third of the Zhenwu Army's strength. Fengshan County does not have that many soldiers, so Ye Mingsheng would have to go out of Fengshan County to recruit soldiers. This would be impossible to do secretly, and he would definitely be regarded as a thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh by Song Wenhui. The corresponding risks would be greatly increased. Therefore, after learning of Chen Dechang's idea, Ye Mingsheng wanted to reject it without hesitation.

But the price offered by Chen Dechang is indeed very tempting!

Ye Mingsheng didn't really care about the fifth-rank official position. What he really envied was the organization of the three battalions!
The initial size of the Zhenwu Army was only 30,000 people, so Ye Mingsheng had expected that he could initially get one-tenth of the troops, that is, 3,000 people, which was already very good. However, Chen Dechang asked for three battalions, which was at least 5,000 people, more than half of what Ye Mingsheng expected.

You know, organization is a good thing. With it, Ye Mingsheng can openly ask Chen Dechang for a series of benefits such as salary, food, weapons, etc., and use the logistical support of the court to support his own armed forces!

Therefore, after carefully considering the pros and cons, Ye Mingsheng made a choice and decided to bite the bullet and give it a try!
The 5,000 soldiers envisioned were Ye Mingsheng's base. Now he needed to find another 5,000 to meet the "target" set by Chen Dechang.

Recruiting another 5,000 soldiers is easier said than done, but it is very difficult to do.

The reason why Ye Mingsheng was confident that he could recruit 5,000 soldiers was because his hometown was in Fengshan County, and the Ye family was a local tyrant. However, as a local tyrant, the influence of the Ye family only stopped at Fengshan County, and it could not even radiate to several surrounding counties and towns. Recruiting 5,000 soldiers within this range could be said to be close to the limit...
If you want to recruit 5,000 soldiers, you must expand the scope to the surrounding counties and towns. But how easy is it to recruit soldiers on someone else's territory?

Ye Mingsheng thought about it and found that there was only one way that could allow him to complete Chen Dechang’s task, and that was - the Cui family!
The Cui family is the most powerful and influential aristocratic family in Liaoyang. Even Song Wenhui, who is known as the local emperor of Liaoyang, has to be wary of them. Therefore, as long as the Cui family nods, the remaining 5,000 people will not be a big problem!

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng's eyes couldn't help but become three points more complicated. Everyone knew that his mother, Cui, was from the Cui family of Liaoyang.

But in fact, in his memory, his mother's family has always been a taboo in Cui's heart. Cui basically never mentioned it, and the Ye family and the Cui family did not have much contact on weekdays.

Ye Mingsheng only knew that he had a third uncle in the Cui family. As for this third uncle's name or what he did, he knew nothing.

In such a situation, to be honest, even Ye Mingsheng himself was a little unsure before, whether the Cui family would recognize him as a relative...
After all, wealthy families like the Cui family have been deeply rooted in Liaoyang for hundreds of years. They may not have many other things, but they have too many relatives. If you randomly pick a noble family in Liaoyang and count back thirty to fifty years, they may be related to the Cui family!

But the past is the past, and the present is the present. He, Ye, was previously a small commander of the seventh rank, and was nothing in front of the behemoth Cui family.

But now, Ye is at least a fifth-rank General Huwei of the Zhenwu Army and the fourth most important person in the Zhenwu Army. Although he is still far from having an equal dialogue with the Cui family, as the saying goes, one should look at the Buddha's face rather than the monk's. Even if it is just because of his tiger skin, the Cui family has to meet him and be polite.

However, no matter what he saw, Ye Mingsheng had no idea whether he could persuade the Cui family to support the Zhenwu Army!
(End of this chapter)