Chapter 373 Trust and Checks and Balances!
Wang Xuecheng had been gone for an hour, but Ye Mingsheng was still thinking about the news he brought.

The more Ye Mingsheng thought about it, the more he felt that this matter was not as simple as it seemed. This matter was very tricky. If it was not handled properly, it would easily lead to a series of chain reactions and even affect the trust between the Fengzhou Army and the Cui Family!
Recently, Ye Mingsheng has been stepping up preparations for his marriage with An Miaoyi, striving to bring An Miaoyi home as soon as possible...

Ye Mingsheng did this in the face of a great war, not because he was greedy for An Miaoyi's beauty and wanted to kiss this beauty whose fame spread throughout the Great Zhou.

A gentleman loves a beautiful lady. Although Ye is lustful, he is not greedy. He is not so lustful that he lets his little head control his big head.

The reason why he wanted to marry An Miaoyi as soon as possible was because marrying An Miaoyi itself was a political event, a political symbol of the alliance between Ye Mingsheng and the Cui family, and could better tie the Cui family to his chariot.

Ye Mingsheng now orders the front-line troops to build defensive fortifications and prepare to clear the fields, but he has not discussed this matter with Cui Shao until now. The reason for this is that on the one hand, the matter is of great importance and he needs to talk to Cui Shao face to face.

On the other hand, Ye Mingsheng also wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of his marriage with An Miaoyi to negotiate with Cui Shao. Then he could use reason, emotion, and benefits to get things done.

But now the Zhenwu Army's plan to attack Guangning Prefecture has disrupted Ye Mingsheng's plan!
If Huo San and Wang Xuecheng confirmed that this information was true, what should Ye Mingsheng do?

According to normal logic, Ye Mingsheng should report this information to the Cui family so that they can prepare early...
But then the problem arises!
Ye Mingsheng conveyed this news to the Cui family, but will the Cui family believe this news?
Would the Cui family be willing to believe that the Zhenwu Army would rather give up Dongning Prefecture, which it had captured at the cost of tens of thousands of lives, than attack their Guangning Prefecture?
In addition, there is one most crucial point in the whole matter!
During the reign of Song Wenhui, although he nominally ruled Guangning Prefecture, in reality the government and army of Guangning Prefecture had been severely infiltrated by the Cui family. It would be more accurate to say that they were Cui family's soldiers and generals rather than Song Wenhui's men.

Song Wenhui was also very clear about this, so as a countermeasure he secretly recruited Wang Laogunzi, who was located in Erlang Mountain in the heart of Guangning Prefecture. This bandit threatened the safety of the Cui family. After Ye Mingsheng wiped out Wang Laogunzi, without this poisonous thorn threat, the Cui family could be said to have monopolized power in Guangning Prefecture and continued to expand their strength in secret...

At the beginning of the war with the Zhenwu Army, Song Wenhui wanted to transfer the 10,000 Liaoyang troops stationed in Guangning Prefecture and send them to Changqing Prefecture to deal with the Zhenwu Army.

However, these troops, which had already been bought by the Cui family, did not bother Song Wenhui at all with the hints and support of the Cui family. They found various excuses to stay in Guangning Prefecture without moving.

This incident made Song Wenhui furious, but at that time the Zhenwu Army was facing a powerful enemy and he could not lose his composure. In addition, the Cui family gave Song Wenhui a sum of money and food as compensation, so Song Wenhui had no choice but to accept it and give up transferring the Liaoyang Army from Guangning Prefecture.

As the war dragged on, the Cui family began to expand their army and train local militia in order to protect themselves. According to the information given to Ye Mingsheng by the General Coordination Office, the Cui family's military strength in Guangning Prefecture has increased from the initial 10,000 to the current 30,000...
Although there are a lot of people, Guangning Prefecture has been peaceful for a long time under the influence of the Cui family and has not encountered a war for a long time. In addition, there are no generals who are good at fighting. Therefore, Ye Mingsheng has a big question mark about the combat effectiveness of this army!
At least in Ye Mingsheng's own opinion, the Cui family's troops could not even wipe out a bandit named Wang Laogun, who was not worthy of being shown in the public eye. They had wasted countless manpower and resources, and still let the bandit live happily on Erlang Mountain. If it weren't for his little trick, Cui Shao might still be giving him a headache now!

With such worrying combat power, if the Zhenwu Army puts all its efforts into attacking Guangning Prefecture, even if the Cui family will not be defeated, they will definitely not be able to hold on for long. Ye Mingsheng certainly cannot sit idly by and watch the Cui family's defeat. He is still counting on the Cui family to give him a blood transfusion, so sending troops to help is inevitable...
At this point, the key issue arises: when will Ye Mingsheng send troops?

Should we send troops to garrison Guangning Prefecture in advance, or wait until the Zhenwu Army attacks Guangning Prefecture before sending troops to provide support?
Due to his doubts about the combat effectiveness of the Cui family's troops, in order to prevent the passive situation caused by the Cui family's collapse after the fierce attack of the Zhenwu Army, Ye Mingsheng must have hoped to take precautions in advance and sent troops to Guangning Prefecture in advance.

Although Ye Mingsheng's actions were well-intentioned, would the Cui family understand Ye Mingsheng's good intentions?

Would they think that Ye Mingsheng made up such an excuse with the purpose of sending troops into Guangning Prefecture with the ulterior motive of taking over Guangning Prefecture by taking advantage of this opportunity?

And it just so happens that Ye Mingsheng is now preparing to discuss the issue of money and grain with the Cui family, so this is undoubtedly more suggestive and makes people can't help but imagine...

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng helplessly discovered that if he were a member of the Cui family, he would definitely be more careful when it comes to issues concerning the survival of the family.

The essence of this situation is actually a trust issue!
The reason why there is cooperation between the Fengzhou Army and the Cui family now is not because they have many common interests and can strive for common goals, but because they now have a common enemy, the Zhenwu Army. In fact, there is a lack of deep mutual trust between the Fengzhou Army and the Cui family.

Realizing this, Ye Mingsheng also felt a bit of a headache. Trust is not something that can be established overnight.

Based on Ye Mingsheng's understanding of the Cui family, he was sure that if he informed the Cui family of the news of the Zhenwu Army's large-scale invasion of Guangning Prefecture and proposed to send troops to Guangning Prefecture for joint defense.

Then it will definitely be rejected by the Cui family. Not only that, it will also arouse the Cui family's vigilance and have an adverse impact on the future cooperation between the two parties...

If he did not send troops to Guangning Prefecture, Ye Mingsheng would have to bear the risk of the Cui family collapsing after the Zhenwu Army attacked Guangning Prefecture. To be honest, this was something Ye Mingsheng did not want to see. The Cui family had granaries in various counties of Guangning Prefecture. Even if the Fengzhou Army reacted quickly, they would be able to send troops to Guangning Prefecture to intervene at the first opportunity.

But after all, they were the last to act, so they were definitely a step behind. Before the Fengzhou Army arrived, the Zhenwu Army would definitely be able to obtain some money and food from Guangning Prefecture to alleviate their own financial and logistical problems. This was undoubtedly not conducive to Ye Mingsheng's overall strategy of defending the city and fighting a war of attrition with the Zhenwu Army.

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In Fengzhou City, a few wisps of green smoke were curling up from the incense burner in the prefectural governor's study, and Murong and his daughter were sitting opposite each other.

Looking at her father who was sipping tea silently, Murong Qingwu asked helplessly:

"Dad, are you really going to accept Ye Mingsheng's invitation to become the prefect of Lelang?"

Listening to his daughter's question, Murong Yuliang slowly put the tea in the cup into his mouth, then put down the cup and looked at Murong Qingwu and asked calmly:

"Qingwu, do you have any opinion?"

Murong Qingwu frowned and said, "Ye Mingsheng wants to use the Cui family, but also wants to guard against them. He asked you to be the governor of Lelang this time because he thinks he can destroy the Zhenwu Army and take control of Liaoyang. Therefore, he wants to use your reputation and the reputation of our Murong family to help him fight against and check the Cui family and prevent them from dominating the government of Liaoyang in the future."

"It's obvious that Ye Mingsheng wants to use you as a pawn. Why should you let him manipulate you to compete with the Cui family? The Cui family has been operating in Liaoyang for decades, and the forces of all parties are intertwined. Moreover, Cui Shao, the Liaoyang Censor, is also a smiling tiger who eats people without leaving any bones."

After hearing his daughter's insightful analysis, Murong Yuliang looked at Murong Qingwu with a hint of regret and emotion in his eyes. How great it would be if Qingwu was not a girl...

Thinking of this, Murong Yuliang suddenly felt a little disappointed with his sons. They were all brothers from the same mother, and he had put all his efforts into teaching them by words and deeds, but it turned out that each of them lacked political sensitivity and political acumen. It was no problem for them to become minor officials relying on the family's influence, but if they wanted to enter the cabinet and become prime ministers, they had no chance at all.

Murong Yuliang shook his head, put aside the emotion in his heart, and asked Murong Qingwu seriously:

"Qingwu, are you still holding a grudge against Ye Mingsheng because of the porridge distribution incident?"

Murong Qingwu's eyes revealed some complicated emotions when she heard this. She had pretended to be her cousin Murong Lianyun and distributed porridge in Fengzhou City. She thought she was doing some good deeds to benefit the people of Liming, but she ended up being taught a lesson by Ye Mingsheng. This proud daughter of a top family had tasted the feeling of being bullied! "

Murong Qingwu, who was treated like this for the first time since she was born, undoubtedly felt a little disgusted with Ye Mingsheng. In her eyes, Ye Mingsheng was an image of a warrior who did not care about the people, was rude, domineering, and arbitrary.

Although she was born into the Murong family, one of the top aristocratic families in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and had lived a life of luxury since childhood, the well-read Murong Qingwu did not become a fairy who was detached from the world.

Instead, under the influence of his father Murong Yuliang, he cared deeply about the suffering of the lower-class people and hoped to do his part for the people's livelihood. This was why Murong Qingwu privately distributed porridge in Fengzhou...

In her interactions with the common people, Murong Qingwu encountered a Ye Mingsheng who was completely opposite to her impression!

In the eyes of these grassroots people, Ye Mingsheng can be said to be the best person in the world. He eliminated banditry, repelled foreign races, protected peace in the area, rectified the administration of officials, investigated corruption, favoritism and abuse of power, and protected judicial fairness and justice.
In addition, he also reduced some complicated taxes, cracked down on land annexation, and alleviated the living burden of the lower-class people. Therefore, almost everyone asked by Murong Qingwu praised Ye Mingsheng's greatness. Some people even specially asked for longevity tablets for Ye Mingsheng, praying every day that Ye Mingsheng would live a long life.

Although her opinion of Ye Mingsheng had changed a little, Murong Qingwu still felt disgusted with Ye Mingsheng when she thought of his domineering attitude of having everything under control and his self-righteousness.

Seeing that his daughter was silent, Murong Yuliang reminded her earnestly:

“We are under Ye Mingsheng’s rule. Since we cannot change Ye Mingsheng, we need to change ourselves in order to survive…”

Although her father's words sounded a little uncomfortable, Murong Qingwu nodded slightly to indicate that she understood out of concern for Murong Yuliang.

Seeing this, Murong Yuliang continued to smile and said:

"Although I don't know where Ye Mingsheng got the confidence to defeat the Zhenwu Army and take control of Liaoyang, if he can really do this, then I, Murong Yuliang, would be fine even if he uses me as a pawn to compete with the Cui family."

After carefully pondering Murong Yuliang's words, Murong Qingwu continued to ask with some doubt:
"Dad, do you really think Ye Mingsheng can defeat the Zhenwu Army?"

Hearing this question, Murong Yuliang's expression gradually became serious. After pondering for a moment, he nodded to Murong Qingwu.

"Why?" Murong Qingwu asked puzzledly:

Murong Qingwu, who had lived in Luoan for a long time, had heard countless stories about Wang Muzhi's glorious battles when she was young. Therefore, in her eyes, even if Ye Mingsheng had some skills, he was no match for Wang Muzhi.

And the Fengzhou Army that Ye Mingsheng cobbled together would not be a match for the Zhenwu Army that Prime Minister Shangguan Hongyuan had worked so hard to build. If nothing unexpected happened, Ye Mingsheng would be the next Song Wenhui, and his fate might even be ten or a hundred times more miserable than Song Wenhui's...

Under Murong Qingwu's puzzled gaze, Murong Yuliang said concisely:
"time!"

After he finished speaking, looking at Murong Qingwu's more puzzled eyes, Murong Yuliang explained in detail:

"Ye Mingsheng has a huge advantage in terms of time. He can afford to drag out this war. He can reorganize his territory step by step and restore order in the prefectures and counties. But the Zhenwu Army can't afford to drag it out. They must defeat Ye Mingsheng as soon as possible and gather the troops in Liaoyang to enter the pass!"

"Ye Mingsheng is a typical strong man. He is tough and overbearing, and his word is final in the army. But he is not stupid. He knows very well that with his and his men's military talents, it is difficult to defeat Wang Muzhi and the Zhenwu Army head-on, so he will definitely drag the war out as long as possible. As long as Wang Muzhi cannot defeat him, he will have won!"

"Your uncle wrote to me a few days ago. The situation in Luoan will have a result within a month, and the Zhenwu Army will enter the pass within two months!"

"If Ye Mingsheng remains undefeated within two months, Liaoyang will be his!"

(End of this chapter)