Chapter 397 More money is needed!
Dongning City, Governor's Mansion.

Ye Mingsheng was in the room reviewing the memorials submitted by his subordinates. Now that the political situation had stabilized, the livelihood issues of various prefectures and counties were placed on Ye Mingsheng's desk. The disaster-stricken areas needed disaster relief, and the areas not affected by the disaster wanted to dredge rivers, build bridges and repair roads. Every place needed money.

Ye Mingsheng now wished he could break one tael of silver into two to spend. According to the statistics of his subordinates, if he wanted to meet the requirements of various prefectures and counties, he would need at least 500,000 taels of silver. After Ye Mingsheng completed the reward for all the merits of the Fengwu Army, the maximum amount of silver in the account would not exceed 100,000 taels...
This requires Ye Mingsheng to make choices among the applications from various prefectures and counties, and to do the important things first to save the lives of the people, and to delay other things as long as possible.

After Ye Mingsheng allocated disaster relief funds to several counties affected by the floods and exempted several counties affected by the wind from taxes for half a year, Qi Dechao walked into the study with a stack of memorials and reported to him:

"Your Excellency! Tan Zheng, Cui Hong, Liu Renchuan and others all submitted petitions yesterday to decline your promotion!"

Upon hearing the news, Ye Mingsheng became a little interested and took out a few memorials at random to have a look. In the memorials, these members of the Cui Party found various excuses, such as physical discomfort and lack of talent, to reject Ye Mingsheng's previous order to promote them.

After taking a look, Ye Mingsheng put down the memorial and asked Qi Dechao:
"What does the Coordination Office say?"

"Director Wang sent a message this morning saying that Cui Shao wrote a personal letter to the Yun family and the Gongsun family respectively, and then wrote letters to the members of Cui's party separately, and gave each of them a big red envelope to appease their hearts!" Qi Dechao said truthfully
Ye Mingsheng smiled and said, "Big red envelope? How big is it?"

"Five thousand taels of silver each!"

Hearing this figure, Ye Mingsheng, who was short of silver, couldn't help but feel a little envious. He appointed eleven members of the Cui Party, five thousand taels each, which was fifty-five thousand taels. He was a little desperately short of silver, but old fellow Cui Shao casually spent more than fifty thousand taels of silver. These noble families were really wealthy...

To be honest, the refusal of the Cui party members was within Ye Mingsheng's expectations. After all, Cui Shao had a very high prestige in the Cui family. His words were law and he was able to calm the situation. With his prestige, he suppressed the matter and then gave these Cui party members some compensation, which was enough to deal with the situation.

"What's the reaction from the Gongsun family and the Yun family?" Ye Mingsheng continued to ask Qi Dechao:
"After hearing about our appointment of members of Cui's party, these two families were ready to send people to meet you, but after receiving the secret letter from Cui Shao, they stopped their activities and there was no movement!" Qi Dechao introduced:
Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but reveal a half-smile on his face. The expressions of these two people changed really quickly. They could go to Sichuan to learn how to change faces...
Looking at Ye Mingsheng's smile, Qi Dechao couldn't help but suggest:

"Sir, the Cui family is shameless. Why should we give them these lucrative positions? Why don't we give these positions to the Yun family and the Gongsun family? These two families were severely damaged in the previous turmoil. They don't have as much confidence as the Cui family!"

Hearing Qi Dechao's suggestion, Ye Mingsheng raised his head, looked at him with appreciation and said:

"Yes, you have used your brain this time! But if you do this, it will create too much discord. The two families are already wondering whether I am trying to sow discord or whether I really have some shady deal with the Cui family!"

"And this is exactly what I want. I want Cui Shao to be unable to explain himself, and the Yun family and Gongsun family to not dare to get too close to the Cui family. If you do what you want, the Gongsun family and the Yun family will realize that I am really trying to sow discord, and then they will have no worries and will cooperate more closely with the Cui family."

Qi Dechao suddenly understood what was going on and said sincerely:
"Your Excellency is right, I didn't think it through enough..."

"It's okay. Send the order not to allow Tan Zheng. If Cui Hong and the others refuse, they can take up their posts immediately!" Ye Mingsheng smiled and ordered:
Cui Shao could ask them to refuse, but the dominant power was in his hands. He could also give orders not to let them refuse. The Yun family and the Gongsun family, who had just been reassured, would be worried again, wondering if Cui Shao and I were playing a double game, playing the role of the two families. Cui Shao thought that by spending some money and blood, his plan would be exposed, but he was wishful thinking!
After receiving Ye Mingsheng's order, Qi Dechao gave a thumbs up and flattered Ye Mingsheng:

"Your Excellency's move is really brilliant. If these Cui party members refuse, Your Excellency will have an excuse to disobey your orders and not execute them!"

After hearing Qi Dechao's explanation of the second meaning of his plan, Ye Mingsheng nodded with satisfaction. After staying with him for a while, this young man Qi Dechao finally made some progress, which was worth his efforts in training him.

"What are your plans for the afternoon?"

After throwing the processed memorial to Qi Dechao, Ye Mingsheng asked casually:
As his secretary, Qi Dechao was in charge of his daily official schedule. He was responsible for making a schedule for Ye Mingsheng's meetings, official duties, and military arrangements for inspecting prefectures and counties, so as to assist Ye Mingsheng in doing his job better...

In response to Ye Mingsheng's question, Qi Dechao said without hesitation:
"Master Gu Sansi is coming to see you, Master. He has arranged it for you at 2:15 pm!"

Hearing that it was Gu Sansi who was looking for him, Ye Mingsheng became a little interested and continued to ask:

"Did he say anything about it?"

"It seems to be related to the imperial envoy. It seems that Youyan Governor Zhao Fuqu has also sent someone to accompany Gao Chen!"

Hearing this, a fleeting gleam of light flashed in Ye Mingsheng's eyes. Ever since he took control of Liaoyang, he wanted to fulfill his promise to Gu Sansi and let Gu Sansi return to the ranks of civil servants. Gu Sansi originally wanted to be sent to other places to be a prefect, but Ye Mingsheng was reluctant to let go of this rare talent under his command, so he persuaded Gu Sansi to stay in the center with kind words.

He was assigned a fifth-rank position as Liaoyang councilor. Although the position was not very high, Ye Mingsheng gave Gu Sansi a lot of real power, such as diplomacy, military farming, and the management of the reserve army.

Although Ye Mingsheng had arranged for Murong Yuliang to be responsible for the reception and negotiations for the arrival of the imperial envoy Gao Chen this time, Ye Mingsheng did not trust Murong Yuliang enough, so he arranged for Gu Sansi to assist in the negotiations. It seemed that when Gu Sansi came to report this time, there seemed to be some new results in the negotiations.

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After a simple meal of braised pork and cabbage soup, Ye Mingsheng, who had stayed in the study room all morning, finally took some time out to exercise in the back garden of the mansion. After jogging two laps, Ye Mingsheng felt a little itchy, so he practiced the Bajiquan that Huo Xiaoli taught him. It was a shame that he had been busy with government and military affairs during this period of time and had little time for exercise. Not only did he gain a few pounds of fat, but he also neglected Bajiquan.

After punching and sweating, Ye Mingsheng, who was in good shape, looked at the time and saw that it was almost time, so he wiped the sweat off his face and prepared to go meet Gu Sansi.

After a stick of incense, Gu Sansi came to Ye Mingsheng in the study. Having followed Ye Mingsheng for a long time, he knew Ye Mingsheng's character. After greeting each other, Gu Sansi and Ye Mingsheng did not waste each other's time and went straight to the point.

"My lord, after Imperial Envoy Gao Chen heard about the powerful Weiyuan and Polu guns of our Fengwu Army, he has been asking me about these two types of firearms in a roundabout way these past few days..."

After hearing what Gu Sansi said, Ye Mingsheng probably had an idea in his mind, but for safety reasons he still asked Gu Sansi;
"What do you think Gao Chen meant by this?"

Gu San said without thinking: "He wants to bring back the craftsmen and technology for making firearms!"

Hearing that Gu Sansi confirmed his guess, Ye Mingsheng's expression became somewhat amused. If Gao Chen just wanted firearms, then in addition to the red cannon, whether he wanted the Po Lu gun or the Weiyuan gun, Ye Mingsheng could give him two for free. But if it was about the technology... he would have to pay extra!

Ye Mingsheng also wanted to keep these two types of firearms secret, but his reason also made him understand that as standard weapons equipped by the Fengwu Army, there were thousands of these two types of firearms in the Fengwu Army. With such a large number, as long as the other party put in enough effort, it would not be a big problem to secretly get one.

What's more, when two armies are fighting hand-to-hand on the battlefield, it is very easy for someone to take away your standard weapon. Just like when Yuan Song's troops were trapped under the city of Dongning by the Zhenwu Army, the Zhenwu Army took away a lot of their weapons from the hands of the fallen soldiers.

Although the Weiyuan Porcupine is much more advanced than the bird gun in terms of technology, it is still a matchlock gun in essence, and the technical difficulty is not very great. Therefore, as long as the Zhenwu Army finds a few capable firearms craftsmen, it is only a matter of time to copy the Weiyuan Porcupine.

Although there are no major technical barriers, to be honest, Ye Mingsheng is not very worried about the threat posed to him by the Weiyuan Gun and the Pulu Gun produced by others, because one or two, or even dozens of such firearms, do not actually play a big role in large-scale combat.

If you want to bring out the full power of these two firearms, you need to equip them on a large scale. However, a new problem arises here. The fact that you can imitate the Weiyuan Cannon and the Po Lu Cannon does not mean that you have the ability to mass-produce them...
If you want to produce firearms in batches and on a large scale, you must first have sufficient means of production, high-quality iron ore, and advanced forging technology to ensure the texture and toughness of the steel body of the gun barrel. In addition, you must have a large number of skilled craftsmen who are fully motivated to work day and night.

Even if you can meet the human, material and technical requirements, you should not forget that the most important thing about a firearm is gunpowder. Without gunpowder, a firearm is just a fire stick. The formula of the new gunpowder is strictly confidential to Ye Mingsheng. Only Ye Mingsheng and a few technical leaders in the artisan camp know it.

Even if the opponent is really powerful and can meet all the above conditions, Ye Mingsheng is not afraid. He has never thought that he can gain the advantage in firearms once and for all just by relying on the firearms currently equipped by the Fengwu Army.

With the help of Ye Mingsheng, the Artisan Camp has now begun to study the technology of flintlock rifles, and the speed of research and development is very fast. According to the report given to Ye Mingsheng by the Artisan Camp, they will be able to produce a prototype by the end of the year at the earliest, or early next year at the latest...
By the time you are still using the matchlock rifle, Ye Mingsheng will have already used the flintlock rifle, and he will always be one step ahead of you in terms of equipment.

Moreover, in terms of production speed, under the leadership of Ye Mingsheng, the artisan camp has begun assembly line operations. Each person is only responsible for a part of the parts, which are finally assembled by a dedicated person. Compared with the traditional production model of one craftsman building a firearm, the production efficiency of the artisan camp has been greatly improved.

With the two major advantages of technology and efficiency, Ye Mingsheng is already invincible even if those potential opponents are really omnipotent.

Therefore, Ye Mingsheng did not mind using his almost outdated firearms technology to exchange for some silver to ease Liaoyang's financial situation and continue to support the Artisan Camp's research on flintlock rifles. So after pondering for a while, Ye Mingsheng asked Gu Sansi:
"How much silver can Gao Chen give?"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng's question, Gu Sansi felt a little strange. When Ye Mingsheng was puzzled, he shook his head and said:

"Gao Chen doesn't seem to have any budget, and he keeps emphasizing to me your loyalty to the imperial court during the southern tour. It seems that he wants us to give it to him for free..."

Ye Mingsheng was immediately disappointed when he heard this. No wonder Gao Chen pretended to be drunk at the welcoming banquet to test his attitude. It turned out that he was waiting for him to get his firearms technology for free. This guy was so naive after living half his life that he actually believed what he said.

He didn't even think about how, if he was really so loyal to a teenager, would he be able to fight his way out of Liaoyang, through the mountains of sand and sea of ​​blood?

Looking at Ye Mingsheng's disappointed expression, Gu Sansi continued:

"Sir, Gao Chen has no money, but someone has money!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng felt hopeful again and asked:

"Is there anyone else who also wants the technology of the Weiyuan Gun and the Polu Gun?"

"Yes, sir! Gao Chen passed through Youyan on his way here. When Zhao Fuqu provided protection for Gao Chen along the way, he also sent his brother-in-law Hu Jian to talk to us about firearms. Youyan is too close to us. When we fought the Zhenwu Army before, Zhao Fuqu was also paying attention in secret and knew that our firearms were powerful!" Gu Sansi explained:

(End of this chapter)