Chapter 400: Military parade is coming soon!

"Sir, Yun Hanjie from the Yun family and Zhao Yu from the Gongsun family have already arrived in Dongning City. Both families hope to meet you immediately..." Qi Dechao walked into Ye Mingsheng's study and reported the latest news to Ye Mingsheng.

Ye Mingsheng, who was writing furiously on the memorial, nodded slightly and said calmly:

"The Yun family and the Gongsun family can no longer sit still!"

At this point, Ye Mingsheng seemed to have discovered something, and said with some doubt:
I know Yun Hanjie from the Yun family, but who is this Zhao Yu? Why did the Gongsun family send him here? "

In response to Ye Mingsheng's doubts, Qi Dechao immediately explained:
"Your Excellency, this Zhao Yu is the son-in-law of the Gongsun family. He married Gongsun Huan's biological sister and is very trusted by Gongsun Huan. Currently, he is mainly responsible for the Gongsun family's commercial trade in Changqing Prefecture and collecting land rent."

Qi Dechao's introduction gave Ye Mingsheng some understanding of Zhao Yu. After pondering for a moment, Ye Mingsheng instructed Qi Dechao:

"Is there any situation at the Cui family?"

Qi Dechao thought for a moment and said:

"The Coordination Office said there is news that Cui Shao plans to come to Dongning to meet with the adults, but the accuracy of this news has yet to be confirmed..."

A sneer appeared on Ye Mingsheng's lips when he heard this. This old fox Cui Shao was really tolerant. He ignored the rejection of those members of Cui's party and insisted on promoting them and letting them touch the interests of the Gongsun and Yun families. He just wanted to provoke conflicts among the three families and cause suspicion among them.

Now, in order to be on the safe side and protect the family interests, the Gongsun family and the Yun family have sent people to talk to him. Most of his goals have been achieved, but the Cui family is still like a stone in a pit, smelly and hard, and only this kind of groundless news, which is difficult to distinguish between true and false, is coming out.

Seeing the sneer on Ye Mingsheng's face, Qi Dechao guessed Ye Mingsheng's intentions and asked cautiously:
"Sir, do you want to ask the Coordination Office to confirm this news?"

"Whatever, Cui Shao can come if he wants to, and forget it if he doesn't want to!"

After saying this, Ye Mingsheng calmly ordered:
"Let Yun Hanjie and Zhao Yu wait for a while. The most important thing right now is the military parade. Other things can be postponed!"

After the words fell, Ye Mingsheng seemed to recall something and asked:
"By the way, did Huo San and his team catch the thief named Liu Baoshan that Ye Kui reported to them before?"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng's question, Qi Dechao considered his words before beginning to speak:
"Deputy Director Wang of the Coordination Office sent a message yesterday saying that Director Huo personally led a team to launch a siege on Liu Baoshan. The gang assigned to Liu Baoshan by the Supervision Department has basically been captured. Ten enemies were killed and two were captured. Only Liu Baoshan escaped. Currently, the Coordination Office is still continuing to hunt down Liu Baoshan..."

Listening to Qi Dechao's words, Ye Mingsheng said unsatisfactorily:
"There are still five days before the military parade. No matter what the Coordination Office does, we must get rid of Liu Baoshan before the parade begins. We must not let Liu Baoshan pose even the slightest threat to the parade!"

Ye Mingsheng attached great importance to this victory parade. It was an action he had been planning for a long time to demonstrate his strength to the gentry and people of Liaoyang to stabilize the people's hearts, and to show off his military power and muscles to the noble families. He wanted to use this as an opportunity to formally launch his disarmament plan and kick off a series of reforms in Liaoyang.

Shen Jianzhong naturally had a premonition of Ye Mingsheng's intention, so he sent Liu Baoshan to cause trouble.

Ye Mingsheng must not let their conspiracy succeed. If Liu Baoshan kills a few officials during the ceremony, it will be a disgrace to the Fengwu Army and Ye Mingsheng. Not only will the military parade fail to calm the people and show off military power, but it will increase public panic and cause social instability.
Hearing Ye Mingsheng's serious tone, Qi Dechao also became serious and said quickly:
"Sir, I'll go to the Coordination Office right now to urge them!"

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Maochengzi Town is 50 miles outside Dongning City.

The originally peaceful villages and towns were now in a state of panic. All entrances and exits of the town had been blocked by fully armed Fengwu Army soldiers, and no one was allowed to enter or leave. In addition, a large number of black-clad guards from the Coordination Office were also searching house to house.

At this time, Huo San was in Mao's Restaurant in the center of the town. Although he was drinking and eating peanuts, his expression was full of solemnity. He did not have the relaxation and leisure that he normally had when drinking in a pub.

Although he did not know the latest instructions just given by Ye Mingsheng at this time, he was also aware of the importance of the victory parade to the Fengwu Army, which made him feel the seriousness of the development of the situation. As a local tyrant in Liaoyang, Huo San had heard of the name of Liu Baoshan, the top killer "King Yama" of the Supervisory Office in his early years.

This time, after learning from an insider in the Supervisory Department that Shen Jianzhong had recruited Liu Baoshan, who had retired, to lead a group of capable personnel to disrupt the Victory Parade, Huo San immediately became alert and immediately started a plan to encircle and suppress them, wanting to eliminate them before they entered Dongning City and ensure the safety of the Victory Parade...

The plan went very smoothly. With the cooperation of the Supervisory Department's insider, Liu Baoshan and twelve of his men came to Maochengzi Town. Huo San carefully designed a trap for them. Seeing the arrival of the prey, Huo San was delighted and immediately closed the net. Under the layers of siege by the Fengwu Army soldiers and the Coordination Office action team, the dozen or so assassins from the Supervisory Department were either killed or captured. However, the only pity was that Liu Baoshan was much more powerful than Huo San had imagined. Even though he was hit in the arm by the Weiyuan gun, he still hacked to death more than a dozen soldiers and got rid of the pursuit.

Upon discovering this situation, Huo San felt a little relieved despite being angry. Fortunately, he was well prepared just in case and had blocked all the roads in and out of Maochengzi Town early on.

If he had not blocked the roads in and out, once Liu Baoshan escaped, the consequences would be disastrous. If Liu Baoshan really killed a few officials at the Victory Parade, Huo San could imagine that the furious Ye Mingsheng would definitely chop off his head.

Although Liu Baoshan has not been caught yet, Huo San is sure that Liu Baoshan cannot run far and should still be hiding in the town!

Although no one knew where Liu Baoshan was hiding in that town, it was not a big deal for Huo San. Maochengzi was a small town with only 500 households and about 3,000 people. It was not a big place.

After coordinating with the military, Huo San has mobilized thousands of soldiers to Maochengzi Town. One thousand soldiers are conducting a carpet search, and they are determined to kill Liu Baoshan even if they have to dig three feet deep into the ground!

Liu Baoshan is great! He is awesome! But no matter how great and awesome he is, he is still a human being!

As the saying goes, two fists cannot beat four hands, and a good tiger cannot fight against a pack of wolves. There are more than a thousand people on his side, and the urine of one of them is enough to drown Liu Baoshan!
Huo San swallowed the wine mouthful by mouthful with peanuts, and soon he finished the whole pot of wine. Just when he was about to ask the waiter to bring another pot of wine, his trusted subordinate, the captain of the action team, Thompson, came over and reported:

"Director, several gentry in this town are clamoring to see you. They say that we are blocking the road and not letting the villagers go out, which is delaying their tending to the crops..."

Hearing this, Huo San, who was already in a bad mood, waved his hand impatiently and said:
"Let them all get out! How can their crops compare to Liu Baoshan's? If we can't catch Liu Baoshan, our whole coordination office will be in trouble!"

"Understood, sir! I'll go and drive them away right away!" Thomson nodded and was about to take action, but he had just taken two steps when he heard Huo San behind him calling him and admonishing him:
"Forget it, our commander-in-chief still values ​​the lives of these poor Koreans. If they file a complaint, they will at least be scolded. Just tell them to count the losses in the past two days and we will report them to the Coordination Office!"

"Yes!" Townsend took the order and left.

Looking at the departing Thomson, Huo San, who was a little tipsy, asked the waiter for some wine and couldn't help but sigh:
“What he brewed is that the governor loves the people like his own children, and the Fengwu Army has strict military discipline. If it were in the past when Song Wenhui was the governor, it would be considered good if the soldiers did not plunder property when they entered the village. Now they dare to complain about blocking the road...”

As soon as he finished speaking, Huo San felt a fierce gust of wind coming towards his neck. The speed of the gust of wind was so fast that he had no time to think. However, the muscle memory formed by his years of martial arts training made Huo San subconsciously twist his body and roll over. Although this was a bit embarrassing, Huo San narrowly avoided the gust of wind.

Huo San, who was lying on the ground, was awakened from his drunken state by the shock. He looked up and saw a middle-aged man with a solid build and a simple and honest face in front of him. Who else could this man be but Liu Baoshan?

Seeing Huo San dodge his attack, Liu Baoshan's eyes showed a trace of regret. If his arm had not been injured by the musket, slowing down his attack speed, that knife strike just now would have been enough to knock Huo San out!
After fighting his way out of the dragnet set by the Coordination Office, Liu Baoshan wanted to seize the opportunity to escape from Maochengzi Town. However, he soon discovered that all the roads in and out of the town were guarded by Fengwu Army soldiers, and a large number of soldiers entered the village to search...

Seeing this scene, Liu Baoshan's hope of escaping was completely shattered. Unwilling to surrender, he immediately came up with a new idea, which was to capture the leader first, catch the leader of this gang, and then hold this person hostage. With the hostage in hand, his chances of escaping would be greatly increased.

Having made up his mind, Liu Baoshan began to act. He first confirmed that Huo San was in the restaurant in the center of the town, then he killed the guards and sneaked into the restaurant. Now was his best chance to take action. If he missed it, he would undoubtedly be dead!
Seeing Liu Baoshan coming to him, Huo San was stunned at first. Although he didn't know why Liu Baoshan came to him, he didn't care about it at this time. He immediately shouted:

"Someone come quickly! Liu Baoshan is here!"

Although Huo San had been learning martial arts with Huo Xiaoli since he was a child and was very confident in his kung fu, he also knew his own limitations. He was no match for Liu Baoshan at all, so after shouting, he turned around and wanted to escape. He had finally followed Ye Mingsheng and his life was bright, but he didn't want to die here...
Huo San wanted to run away, but how could Liu Baoshan let him do as he wished?
It happened so quickly that Liu Baoshan flipped over and landed directly in front of Huo San, blocking his escape route. Huo San looked pale when he saw Liu Baoshan in front of him. But at this moment, hurried footsteps were heard outside. Hearing the footsteps, Huo San, knowing that his reinforcements were coming soon, became calm and excited.

Although he felt that he was no match for Liu Baoshan, Huo San had practiced martial arts for many years and was a direct disciple of the grandmaster Huo Xiaoli. It should not be a problem for him to last a few rounds against Liu Baoshan. As long as he could hold out for this period of time, a large number of troops would arrive and Liu Baoshan would end up dying tragically under the swords.

Liu Baoshan, who also heard the footsteps, reacted completely differently from Huo San. Knowing that time was running out, he didn't dare to waste any more time and immediately launched a series of palm strikes at Huo San. This move seemed simple but was very powerful. At this time, Liu Baoshan completely gave up on defense, and put on a fierce posture, ready to either capture Huo San alive or die with Huo San!
Seeing Liu Baoshan, who was desperate and like a madman, Huo San, who felt extremely bitter, could only be fully alert and deal with it.

However, after only receiving two palms, Liu Baoshan's surging internal energy shocked Huo San. His internal organs were dislocated and the pain was unbearable. A trace of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. He had no strength to resist anymore. He could only watch helplessly as Liu Baoshan's big hand was about to grab his neck and capture him alive...
At this critical moment, a man rushed out from behind. It was Thompson, the captain of the action team under Huo San. He jumped high and slashed at the back of Liu Baoshan's head. If Liu Baoshan insisted on capturing Huo San alive and did not turn around to deal with it or escape sideways, then his head would not be able to avoid Thompson's knife!

Liu Baoshan had no choice but to let Huo San go and dodged Thompson's fatal blow by leaning sideways. Thompson, holding a steel knife, stood in front of Huo San and looked at Liu Baoshan vigilantly. The next second, a large number of soldiers arrived and surrounded Liu Baoshan!

(End of this chapter)