Chapter 15 Beating
Ye Mingsheng didn't have time to care about their grievances and love. He pondered for a while, and then looked again at Chen Yannian, the person he relied on the most.

Feeling Ye Mingsheng's gaze, Chen Yannian did not keep the secret and said directly: "This group of bandits called Heishanfeng are indeed different from ordinary bandits!"

"But please rest assured, Commander! Although our scouts have detected that this bandit group called Black Mountain Wind has expanded to about 2,000 people and is equipped with armor, bows and crossbows, and firearms, according to him, the number of these equipment of the Black Mountain Wind bandits is not large."

"Although these bandits are all young and strong, they are basically farmers who have just put down their hoes. They are still a long way from becoming soldiers! Apart from this, there is no sign that these bandits have any connection with the Luobei people or the Japanese pirates."

Hearing Chen Yannian's words, Ye Mingsheng finally felt relieved. After pondering for a while, he spoke;
"The mission assigned to us by the higher-ups is to protect the grain route from the Luochuan Road granary to the army. It is not our responsibility to wipe out the bandits. The Black Mountain Wind incident involves the leakage of firearms, which is a serious matter. I will report this to the higher-ups. How to deal with it will all be decided by them!"

"Master Chen, continue to send scouts to closely monitor the Black Mountain Wind group on Dahu Mountain. If they make any move, report to me immediately."

"Yes, sir!" Chen Yannian nodded seriously after receiving the order.

Wang Xian and Lin Huaiwu were obviously disappointed with Ye Mingsheng's order, but since Ye Mingsheng, as the chief officer, had already made the decision, the two of them, as subordinates, could only nod and agree...

After dealing with the most important matter, Ye Mingsheng then shifted his attention to Kong Ruian, who was silent on the side. What they had just talked about was the enemy situation, so it was naturally not his turn as a grain inspector to speak.

After a pause, Ye Mingsheng asked Kong Ruian, "Have the five crouching tiger cannons and thirty three-barreled guns that the commander ordered to be allocated to us last month been delivered?"

Although Kong Ruian's official title is the money and grain officer, since Ye Mingsheng's battalion was formed, it has been lacking a marching officer to manage the logistics work. Therefore, Kong Ruian is now called the money and grain officer, but in fact he is doing the work of the officer. He is not only responsible for the transportation of food, but also for the storage of military equipment, the payment of military pay, cooking and all other miscellaneous tasks...
Compared to Chen Yannian's formality, Kong Ruian, who was a close friend of Ye Mingsheng for many years, was not so restrained and said directly, "It arrived yesterday. There is no problem with the stuff. However, when it was delivered, 30% of the gunpowder was damp and could not be used."

Ye Mingsheng frowned slightly when he heard this. The level of development of productivity in this world is roughly equivalent to that of the late Ming Dynasty. Although firearms have already appeared, they are still subject to many restrictions. In particular, the gunpowder may become damp due to weather conditions, which is simply hard to guard against. As long as it rains or snows, the gunpowder will definitely be unusable.

"Alright! This is the only way. The remaining gunpowder must be kept intact!" Ye Mingsheng said to Kong Ruian helplessly:

"Please rest assured, sir, I will take care of it!" Kong Ruian replied with a smile. After that, he seemed to remember something and asked Ye Mingsheng, "How do you plan to distribute this batch of firearms, sir?"

As soon as Kong Xiangyu said this, the three sentries in the tent, Chen Yannian, Wang Xian, and Lin Huaiwu, all looked at Ye Mingsheng, who was sitting in the main seat. The desire in their eyes was beyond words. Ye Mingsheng, who had already made up his mind, said lightly: "Master Chen and Master Wang, you two can discuss the distribution of this batch of firearms."

Wang Xian and Chen Yannian were naturally overjoyed by Ye Mingsheng's decision and thanked him repeatedly. Lin Huaiwu, who got nothing, did not object, but his disappointment was evident on his face. After dealing with the two matters, Ye Mingsheng dealt with some other things in the account, and then ended today's meeting and asked the generals to return to their respective departments.

After all the generals left, Ye Mingsheng, who was sitting in the big tent, closed his eyes and thought for a while, then slowly said: "Find Lin Huaiwu for me!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Tie, who was standing aside, immediately took the order and left. A moment later, he brought Lin Huaiwu, who had just returned to the headquarters, back to the central military tent.

"Sir, are you looking for me?"

Looking at Ye Mingsheng sitting in his seat, Lin Huaiwu, who had just returned, said with some confusion that he had thought about it for a long time on the way here, but still couldn't figure out why Ye Mingsheng would look for him alone.

Hearing his question, Ye Mingsheng, who had closed his eyes, opened them, took a deep look at Lin Huaiwu in front of him, and then said calmly: "How are the firearms equipped in your place?"

Although Ye Mingsheng's tone was the same as always, Lin Huaiwu was not a fool. Combining the current situation, he suddenly realized what Ye Mingsheng was thinking. Without taking off his armor, he knelt in front of Ye Mingsheng with a clang, and said in fear and trepidation:

"Sir, even if I have the courage of heaven, I would not dare to do such a thing. When we came to Ruishan County, we only had five crouching tiger cannons, fifty three-barreled guns, and ten fire dragon arrows."

"We have been fighting with Luo Beigou for such a long time, and a lot of firearms have been damaged. Now we can only use three tiger squat cannons and twenty-one three-barreled guns. The fire dragon arrows are all gone. These are all known. Even the damaged ones are with Kong Ruian. You can ask him and you will know everything. There is no way I can spread these things!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng walked up to him and personally helped Lin Huaiwu, who was kneeling on the ground, up. Then he said, "Huaiwu, you are worrying too much. I naturally know what kind of person you are. How could I doubt you?"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng say this, Lin Huaiwu, whose back was already soaked with cold sweat, immediately breathed a sigh of relief and bowed deeply to Ye Mingsheng.

"I gave you all the firearms that the commander issued last time. The two of them have been complaining to me and have said a lot of gossip, so I can only let you down temporarily this time!" Ye Mingsheng patted Lin Huaiwu's shoulder and said gently;
Upon hearing this, Lin Huaiwu, who had just been frightened by Ye Mingsheng, said without hesitation: "The distribution of firearms is entirely up to your Excellency. I dare not complain!"

At this point, Lin Huaiwu paused, then whispered: "I can understand your difficulties!"

(End of this chapter)