Chapter 154 Concubine Yang
According to the laws of the Great Zhou, matters related to military equipment are absolutely a big deal. As long as there is a real problem, even if Xu Zhaojie cannot be knocked to the ground in one go, he can definitely injure his bones and seriously damage his vitality.

Realizing this, Ye Mingsheng began his investigation using this as a breakthrough. On the one hand, he hoped to obtain information from Li Guangbin about the weapons surrendered by the Xuanwu Army from the Ministry of War.

On the other hand, Ye Mingsheng still remembered that Xu Zhaojie had a favorite concubine named Yang at that time. When he went out to suppress bandits and peasant uprisings, he always took her with him to indulge in sensual pleasures...

When the original owner was reporting military affairs to Xu Zhaojie, he had seen this Yang several times, and she had stayed in Xu Zhaojie's military tent many times.

However, it is said that Yang was later framed and scratched on the forehead by a cat because of jealousy in the backyard of Xu's mansion, leaving a scar on her face. In addition, there was never a shortage of women around Xu Zhaojie.

Therefore, after getting tired of Yang, Xu Zhaojie gave her to one of his trusted commanders, Sun Jiale.

Sun Jiale was also a short-lived man. He died in a battle not long after. His wife then drove Yang out, and Yang disappeared afterwards.

In order to confirm his belief that there was something fishy about those weapons, Ye Mingsheng was eager to get some information from the people around Xu Zhaojie's confidants. And this Yang was the one Ye Mingsheng thought was the best and most suitable target!

The old soldier guarding the warehouse that Ye Mingsheng sent Ye Tie to find today was one of Sun Jiale’s personal soldiers back then. Because he and Yang were from the same hometown, they had a close relationship. Thinking that Yang might know something about Yang’s whereabouts, Ye Mingsheng sent Ye Tie to get some information from him. Unexpectedly, he was not disappointed...
"Master, when are we going to act?" Seeing Ye Mingsheng gradually coming back to his senses from his contemplation, Ye Tie immediately asked:
Ye Mingsheng waved his hand and said calmly: "Don't worry, wait until you go to Li Guangbin tomorrow and get the files from the Ministry of War."

In order to deal with Xu Zhaojie, Li Guangbin worked very hard. Ye Mingsheng originally planned to give him five days, but Li Guangbin promised to take action today and let Ye Mingsheng get the files of the Ministry of War that recorded the military equipment of the Xuanwu Army in three days.

･････････
･････････
Three days later, early in the morning, Ye Mingsheng sent Ye Tie to Li's house to get the files. However, to his surprise, Chen Yannian's invitation arrived at his house before the files.

Chen Yannian's eldest son Chen Yuze, who was sent to deliver the invitation, said that Chen Yannian wanted to invite Ye Mingsheng to dinner in five days in order to repay Ye Mingsheng's kindness in recommending him.

Ye Mingsheng, who was now busy with how to deal with Xu Zhaojie, had no interest in having dinner with Chen Yannian. Just when he was about to decline, he heard Chen Yuze hint that the dinner was just an excuse, and actually Chen Yannian wanted to repay him by introducing him to some capable people to go to Liaoyang to assist him.

Ye Mingsheng, who was planning to expand his team, became interested when he heard this, and naturally changed his tone and agreed to the matter.

The recommendation of Chen Yannian was just to repay the old man Chen Yannian for his help in the palace, but he never thought that he would bring him such an unexpected surprise.

Although Chen Yannian was not a high-ranking official, he had been in the imperial guards for decades and had met many people. If he was considered capable, then he must be capable. Ye Mingsheng was looking forward to it. About an hour after Chen Yuze left, Ye Tie returned to the courtyard with the files Ye Mingsheng wanted.

Holding these military files, Ye Mingsheng locked himself in the study and ordered everyone in the courtyard that no one could disturb him in the study without his permission.

Sitting on the armchair, Ye Mingsheng flipped through the yellowed files and gradually became excited.

Although these files are not important secrets such as the Ministry of War’s combat deployment against the Golden Horde and other enemies, and the garrison map of troops in the northern border, according to the laws of the Great Zhou, these files are also secrets of the Ministry of War and must not be leaked.

It was because Mr. Li Guangbin was so capable that he was able to get these things. Otherwise, Ye Mingsheng would be in trouble this time...
Ye Mingsheng silently read the records in the file word by word in his mind, but he didn't seem to find what he wanted to see. His brows gradually furrowed.

After a moment, Ye Mingsheng leaned back in the armchair and lowered his head to think. The contents recorded in the file were completely different from what he had expected.

In Ye Mingsheng's opinion, judging from Xu Zhaojie's various actions, he, who holds military power, is definitely harboring evil intentions!
Based on this view, in Ye Mingsheng's previous assumption, the reason why the Xuanwu Army had a problem with strict management of worn weapons was mostly because Xu Zhaojie, as the commander, wanted to hide the weapons privately, and quietly hide those weapons and armaments that were not seriously worn or even only slightly worn, waiting for the opportunity to take them out and use them!

Given the current situation in the Great Zhou, military weapons are undoubtedly a very sensitive issue!

Except for those separatist vassal states that occupied one side and were out of control, Shangguan Hongyuan, as the prime minister, severely cracked down on all the noble families under his rule. Anyone who privately manufactured weapons would be punished with death.

In addition to strictly observing the red line, in order to fundamentally prevent the noble families with ulterior motives from privately manufacturing weapons, Shangguan Hongyuan also started from the source and firmly controlled the iron mines under his jurisdiction, not allowing any iron ore to flow into the hands of the noble families...
Xu Zhaojie, who harbors evil intentions, will secretly accumulate strength as his first step to cope with possible changes in the court in the future.

After all, he only has 30,000 Xuanwu troops under his command, and under the prestige of Shangguan Hongyuan, these 30,000 people may not necessarily follow him. Therefore, if he wants to do something, he must prepare manpower, weapons, and food!

Under Shangguan Hongyuan's strict control, it was already very difficult to secretly manufacture military equipment and weapons. In addition to the great risk of secretly manufacturing military equipment and weapons, the quality of secretly manufactured military equipment and weapons was also difficult to control.

Ordnance weapons include things like knives, guns, armor, bows and crossbows, and firearms, but this does not mean that ordinary knives, guns, armor, bows and crossbows, and firearms are ordnance. Ordnance has standards and quality requirements!
(End of this chapter)