Chapter 408: Thunderous Means! (Thanks to the book friend Mo Shaobao for the reward!)
"Wang Erniu, receive the reward of three taels and five cents of silver, three pieces of cloth, five catties of salt, and one stone of grain, and transfer to the First Division!"

"Zhang Changshun, receive the reward of five taels and eight cents of silver, two pieces of cloth, three catties of salt, and eight dou of grain, and return to Sanyuan County, Dongning Prefecture, your hometown."

"Li Er, receive the reward of two taels and eight cents of silver, five pieces of cloth, ten catties of salt, and one stone of grain, and transfer to the Third Division!"

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After the military parade, Ye Mingsheng officially announced his disarmament plan. With Ye Mingsheng's order, such voices were heard in all the Fengwu Army camps in Liaoyang.

In this chaotic world, many poor families think that being a soldier is a good way out, although it is risky. Not only can they feed themselves, but they can also earn military pay to supplement their family income.

Especially for a team like the Fengwu Army, the military pay was paid on time and the food in the army was very good. When most people were still eating bran and vegetables and were hungry, the soldiers could not only eat enough, but also have meat dishes every now and then to improve their diet. Therefore, a job in the Fengwu Army was a coveted job for many young and middle-aged people in Liaoyang.

Therefore, laying off so many people at once would inevitably lead to complaints. Although Ye Mingsheng was confident that he could suppress these complaints with his prestige and power in the military.

However, in order to reduce these voices and also to reduce the resistance to disarmament, Ye Mingsheng deliberately chose a suitable time. While announcing the disarmament plan, he also began to reward soldiers based on their merits, allowing these soldiers to return home with hard currency such as money, food, salt, and cloth...
No matter when, being able to return home in glory is something most people dream of. Therefore, just as Ye Mingsheng planned, many of the laid-off soldiers accepted the arrangement to return to their hometowns to prepare for production.
Although the soldiers generally accepted the disarmament plan, the local generals could not sit still. They were very angry. They were not angry because Ye Mingsheng was partial and only disbanded their troops, but not the troops of Yuan Song, Lin Huaiwu and other generals under Ye Mingsheng.

Just to avoid such gossip, Ye Mingsheng basically cut the number of troops on both sides to an equal number, and it was even possible that Yuan Song, Lin Huaiwu, and Guo Zhiping cut more troops!
The reason why the local generals were in a bad mood was that the troops under their command were fundamentally different from those under Yuan Song, Lin Huaiwu and others!

Whether it is Yuan Song, Lin Huaiwu or Guo Zhiping, their troops are from the Fengwu Army. They are different from Ye Mingsheng's troops. Ye Mingsheng can command them at will without any worries!

Although these local generals surrendered, it would be more accurate to say that their troops were their private soldiers rather than the Fengwu Army. The power of these local generals came from the troops in their hands.

Therefore, the disarmament and reorganization action that Ye Mingsheng was preparing this time was equivalent to weakening their authority and strength. They were already closely connected with several major families, so they immediately began to complain and prepared to fight back.

In the Xiaobeigang military camp outside Dongning City, thousands of soldiers gathered in the parade ground, shouting excitedly:

"The higher-ups are so damn partial! Yuan Song and his men only cut a few hundred troops, but we cut more than a thousand! They are all Fengwu soldiers, how come one was raised by his biological mother and the other by his stepmother?"

"I've fought in wars all my life, and I only know how to kill people. Now you're sending me home, what can I do? You want to send me away with such a little money, Ye Mingsheng wants to starve me to death!"

"Brothers, we can't go back to our hometown. Ye Mingsheng wants to betray us. He wants to settle accounts with us. Once we all go home, he will start to want our lives. We can't be laid off. We have to go to the Governor's Mansion to find Ye Mingsheng and see what he has to say!"

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Under the deliberate instigation of these local generals, the emotions of many soldiers were immediately ignited. They walked out of the village gate in groups with weapons in hand, wanting to rush into the city. However, at this moment, a large number of Fengwu Army soldiers, led by Lin Huaiwu, surrounded them.

"You are moving without orders. Are you planning to rebel?"

Arriving at the gate of the village and looking at the agitated officers and soldiers, Lin Huaiwu, who was riding on a tall horse, waved his whip and scolded them in a stern voice:

As the scolding rang out, the soldiers brought by Lin Huaiwu immediately drew their bows and arrows, aimed their muskets, and were ready to quell the rebellion at any time.

After hearing Lin Huaiwu's words, these thousands of emotional officers and soldiers realized the seriousness of the matter. When they looked at the soldiers armed with live ammunition outside the camp, they couldn't help but reveal a hint of fear in their eyes.

Seeing that the officers and soldiers who had been finally mobilized began to panic, Fang Dawei, a leading figure among the local generals and the main organizer of this action, stood up and said loudly:
"General Lin, we are not rebelling. We are just confused about the disarmament issue. We want to go to the Governor's Mansion and ask the Governor in person for clarification!"

Hearing Fang Dawei's words, Lin Huaiwu sneered, raised his whip while riding on a tall horse, pointed at the soldiers around Fang Dawei and said:

"Why do you have to bring muskets and swords to the Governor's Mansion to meet the Governor? I think you have ulterior motives..."

Fang Dawei was speechless when he heard this. Just as he was racking his brains to think of how to defend himself, Lin Huaiwu suddenly threw out a letter from his arms and said:
"The letters between Fang Dawei and Gongsun Heng are here. Do you still want to quibble when you are about to die?"

Looking at the letter in Lin Huaiwu's hand, Fang Dawei was immediately panicked, knowing that his conspiracy with the Gongsun family had been exposed. Although he was extremely terrified, he had no choice but to shout loudly:
“You can always find a pretext to accuse someone of a crime! Brothers, Ye Mingsheng must behead all of them...ah!”

Before Fang Dawei finished speaking, he saw Lin Huaiwu clenching his fist with one hand. Just when Fang Dawei was wondering what Lin Huaiwu was doing, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back and screamed out instinctively.

At this moment, one of Fang Dawei's personal soldiers behind him took out a dagger and stabbed him in the back. The stab was fast and accurate. After a scream, Fang Dawei fell to the ground without any other struggle.

"Liu Dabiao from the Coordination Office killed the traitor!" The personal soldiers who killed Fang Dawei shouted loudly.
Fang Dawei's death was very sudden. The rest of his personal soldiers had no time to react. By the time they reacted, Fang Dawei was already completely dead. Just when they were thinking about revenge for Fang Dawei, Lin Huaiwu and his soldiers rushed forward and shouted loudly:

"The commander-in-chief has issued an order! Only the ringleader will be executed! The rest of the troops will be innocent if they lay down their weapons!"

Fang Dawei was dead, and the thousands of soldiers who had been mobilized were leaderless. Under the temptation of slogans and the intimidation of the large group of Fengwu Army soldiers, they all made a wise choice and laid down their weapons, kneeling on the ground and surrendering!
In less than half an hour, Lin Huaiwu completely put down the rebellion in the Xiaobeigang military camp and took control of the entire camp. ························
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Governor's Mansion, Study.

Ye Mingsheng was sitting on a chair, sipping his tea slowly, while He Jingyun was reporting the situation to him.

"Reporting to the military governor, General Yuan has put down the rebellion in Changqing Prefecture, and the bandit leader Wang Desheng has been executed. General Lin Huaiwu has also put down the rebellion in Xiaobeigang military camp, and the bandit leader Fang Dawei has been executed. General Ye Tie has already entered Guangning Prefecture with the troops of the Fifth Division..."

After hearing this, Ye Mingsheng put down his teacup, nodded with satisfaction and said:
"Very good! Everyone has done a good job. Except for Ye Tie's Fifth Division, the rest of the divisions will continue with the disarmament plan. We must complete the disarmament plan within a month!"

"Yes!" He Jingyun nodded and said:
Ye Mingsheng, who was in a good mood, dug out the secret intelligence that Huo San from the Coordination Office had personally presented to him half a month ago. The Cui family, the Yun family, and the Gongsun family had seen the opportunity when he wanted to disarm and wanted to stage a mutiny to embarrass him so as to increase their bargaining chips at the negotiating table. However, they overestimated the degree of unity among themselves and underestimated the working ability of the Coordination Office.

Not long after they had formulated the plan, Ye Mingsheng got the news, and this became one of the reasons why Ye Mingsheng dared to take action against the three clans in Liaoyang. Now he used thundering means to clear out the remnants of the local faction. On the one hand, it strengthened Ye Mingsheng's control over his troops, and on the other hand, it also gave a deterrent to the three clans behind the remnants of the local faction.

After lunch, Ye Mingsheng was about to take a nap when Qi Dechao hurried over to his side and reported:

"Sir, Cui Shao is here!"

Upon hearing the news, Ye Mingsheng's eyes narrowed slightly. He knew that Cui Shao would come to find him sooner or later, but Cui Shao was more straightforward and decisive than he imagined.

According to the intelligence from the Coordination Office, creating a mutiny was only the first step in Cui Shao's plan. After the mutiny, the three Liaoyang clans had several other tricks to deal with Ye Mingsheng...
Unexpectedly, Cui Shao came to the door on his own initiative. If Ye Mingsheng's guess was correct, this old fox should have come to ask for peace!

After pondering for a while, Ye Mingsheng straightened his clothes and walked towards the door. He wanted to greet his third uncle in person!

Half a cup of tea later, Ye Mingsheng, accompanied by Qi Dechao and other guards, came to the gate of his governor's mansion. His eyes were immediately locked on Cui Shao. Although Cui Shao was still composed at this time, Ye Mingsheng could clearly feel from his demeanor that Cui Shao looked much older than he was a few months ago.

Ye Mingsheng noticed this detail, and now he walked towards Cui Shao with a smile on his face, bowed and said:

"Third uncle, you are here!"

"Well! I heard that your mother moved here from Fengzhou, so I came to visit her!" Cui Shao said calmly;

Hearing Cui Shao's words, Ye Mingsheng sneered in his heart. His mother, Ye Cui, has moved to Dongning for almost two months. Why didn't you, Cui Shao, come to visit her earlier or later, but at this time?

Although he thought so in his heart, Ye Mingsheng still smiled and said:

"Thank you, Third Uncle, for your concern. My mother often misses the uncles and brothers of the Cui family, and she said she wanted to go back to see our ancestors..."

After a few pleasantries, Ye Mingsheng invited Cui Shao into his house. Seeing Ye Mingsheng personally coming out to greet him with great courtesy, although Cui Shao did not show any expression on the surface, he nodded slightly in his heart. To be honest, he was already prepared to be either intimidated or turned away when he took the initiative to come this time.

However, Ye Mingsheng's attitude was much more than he had imagined. This made Cui Shao feel better emotionally, but also made him more wary of Ye Mingsheng intellectually. Not everyone can be so smiling and kind to their political opponents during the political struggle between the two sides. This further shows how cunning Ye Mingsheng is.

Originally, Ye Cui had the habit of taking a nap as she was old, but when she heard that her third brother Cui Shao was coming, she was no longer sleepy and insisted on meeting Cui Shao.

The cousins ​​had not seen each other for two years since the last birthday banquet of the Cui family's ancestor, so they seemed to have endless things to talk about when they met. While Ye Cui was excited, she also did not forget to ask about the people from her natal family.

Although there were some unpleasantness with the Cui family back then, for Ye Cui, the Cui family was her natal family after all, the place where she was born and raised, and the place she could never give up emotionally...
If she had not realized that Cui Shao came here to discuss important matters with Ye Mingsheng, Ye Cui would probably have kept Cui Shao talking for the entire afternoon. However, even so, Ye Cui still kept Cui Shao talking and asked him to stay for dinner in the evening.

After meeting Ye Cui and talking about family affection, Ye Mingsheng brought Cui Shao to his study. When the maid served tea and Ye Mingsheng was organizing his words to speak, Cui Shao took a sip of tea and looked at Ye Mingsheng and said:
"Mingsheng, if you must reform, we can support you!"

Ye Mingsheng was shocked by Cui Shao's directness and the size of his concessions. He had been thinking about this in his mind ever since he met Cui Shao.

Ye Mingsheng felt that Cui Shao’s request for peace was to offer him a higher price in order to make a political exchange with him and prompt him to give up the reform. Unexpectedly, Cui Shao actually agreed to the reform directly. Cui Shao has been giving Ye Mingsheng surprises since he arrived...
This also made Ye Mingsheng a little confused about what Cui Shao was up to. In his impression, Cui Shao was not someone who would give in and compromise so easily!

After a pause, Ye Mingsheng asked tentatively:

"I wonder if you, Third Uncle, are only representing the Cui family this time, or can you also represent the Yun family and the Gongsun family?"

(End of this chapter)