Chapter 156 External Export
The Ministry of War dealt with worn weapons in the following three ways: severely worn weapons were melted into molten iron and reforged by craftsmen. If the wear could be repaired, craftsmen would repair them and reuse them.

Both of these possibilities are always within the control of the Ministry of War, and Xu Zhaojie basically has no possibility to operate. Only with the third possibility of external output can Xu Zhaojie have room to operate.

There were foreign races outside the Zhou Dynasty and vassal states inside, but these foreign races and vassal states were not united. This undoubtedly gave the Zhou court room to form alliances.

Even if the officials of the Honglu Temple who are in charge of diplomatic meetings are highly skilled and eloquent, they cannot complete the court's foreign strategy just by talking. They still need to exchange interests to win over and divide external forces.

These benefits include but are not limited to food, weapons, etc. Although supervision and review are very strict, whenever there is a need for foreign strategy, the Zhou court will still sell or donate some of the military equipment and weapons.

The Liu family behind Liu Shilin, whom Ye Mingsheng met in Gongdu, had done something like this before. They helped the Great Zhou court sell some second-hand military weapons that were not badly worn out to some pro-Great Zhou local armed forces in Gongdu at that time.

Doing so not only strengthened the ties with these local armed forces, but also checked Li Jae-won, the king of Gongdu, who was wavering and constantly sitting on the fence between Luo Bi and Da Zhou at the time. Secondly, a lot of silver was obtained, which improved the not optimistic financial situation of the Da Zhou court. It can be said that it killed two birds with one stone!
If the Liu family can do this, then Xu Zhaojie can do it too, and then use some other tricks to get this batch of worn-out military equipment!
After thinking carefully, Ye Mingsheng felt that he was right. If Xu Zhaojie got this batch of worn-out military equipment into his own hands, he would most likely use the Ministry of War to export it. Apart from this, Ye Mingsheng really couldn't think of any other possibilities...
Now that he understood Xu Zhaojie's method, Ye Mingsheng immediately called Ye Tie in and instructed;
"Go to Li's mansion tomorrow and ask how the Ministry of War dealt with the worn-out weapons of the Xuanwu Army in the sixth year of Anhe. If possible, ask Lord Li to bring out the files!"

Although Ye Mingsheng was certain that Xu Zhaojie had most likely done it this way, he needed evidence. Without evidence, his judgment would be like building in the air and fishing for the moon in the water. Therefore, he needed Li Guangbin's help to confirm his judgment.

Ye Tie nodded first and agreed to the matter, then hesitated for a moment and asked Ye Mingsheng: "What should I say if Lord Li asks?"

Ye Mingsheng pondered for a moment after hearing this, and then said: "If he asks, just say that I don't have any clues yet, I just want to take a look at them all!"

"I understand!" Ye Tie said in a deep voice:
After thinking it over again and again, Ye Mingsheng instructed again: "Tomorrow, ask Ye Tie and Ye Kui to get ready and go out with me to do things."

Hearing that Ye Mingsheng was going to do something, Ye Tie hesitated, then asked tentatively: "Master, is it dangerous?"

"Don't worry, it's a small matter. The two of them are enough!" Ye Mingsheng said with a smile:

After receiving Ye Mingsheng's instructions, Ye Tie went to work with peace of mind. Before leaving, he picked up the files that Ye Mingsheng had just pushed off the desk in excitement, sorted them out, and put them back on the desk.

Although it was not physical labor, the mental thinking just now also made Ye Mingsheng feel a little tired...

Ye Tie's question just now can be said to have enlightened him and made him think more deeply. If what he thought was correct, Xu Zhaojie really obtained the batch of worn-out weapons by exporting weapons to the court. This means that Xu Zhaojie is most likely not operating alone. At least the person or force responsible for taking over this batch of worn-out weapons was bribed by Xu Zhaojie. In the case of not knowing who this force is, Ye Mingsheng thinks it is better to be careful and not reveal more information to Li Guangbin. God knows whether Li Guangbin has any connection with them.

Leaning on the armchair, he felt that since he had discovered Xu Zhaojie's way of playing the game, he should speed up the progress of things. Tomorrow he should go to Sanyuan Town outside Luoan City to find Xu Zhaojie's former concubine Yang.

Even though he got confirmation from Li Guangbin that his judgment was correct, he also knew who was responsible for the export of that batch of worn-out military equipment.

But these are not enough to prove that this batch of worn-out weapons has returned to Xu Zhaojie's hands!
If we want to find more valuable information, we have to start with Yang, Xu Zhaojie's favorite concubine back then...

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At noon the next day, Ye Mingsheng slowly opened his eyes and felt the warm sunlight coming through the window outside the bedroom. His face, which was still sleepy, was full of surprise.

After being stunned for a few seconds, Ye Mingsheng turned his head and looked at Pei Zhixiu, who was sleeping soundly with her head resting on his arm. He smiled bitterly and shook his head. He had planned to leave at the hour of Mao today in order to go and come back early.

But he was in a good mood after cracking Xu Zhaojie's secret last night, and he pulled Pei Zhixiu for some intense exercise.

I never thought I would sleep until now, but looking at the sun, it’s only 9 o’clock now, so it’s not too late.

Ye Mingsheng carefully pulled his numb arm out from under Pei Zhixiu's head. He didn't intend to disturb Pei Zhixiu who had been tormented by him all night and let her have a good rest. However, Pei Zhixiu's sleep was indeed a light one. As soon as Ye Mingsheng pulled out his arm, she was awakened and opened her eyes very sleepily.

"Sleep a little longer!" Ye Mingsheng scratched the delicate and upturned nose of the person beside him lovingly, and said gently;

Pei Zhixiu, who had just woken up, seemed to enjoy Ye Mingsheng's intimate behavior very much. However, seeing that Ye Mingsheng seemed to be going out, she tried hard to overcome her sleepiness, got up from the bed, and helped Ye Mingsheng put on his favorite black cotton robe.

“You are not allowed to spend the night outside...”

Pei Zhixiu, like a young wife, carefully arranged Ye Mingsheng's robe and whispered:

(End of this chapter)