Chapter 472: Cheap Bones! (Thanks to book friend 2464 for the reward!)
Listening to Zhu Xiaowen's answer, Cui Shao's eyes showed a hint of relief, and he nodded with satisfaction and said:

"When you go back, you need to cultivate your character and reflect on your own actions. Don't make mistakes..."

"Yes, Xiaowen will follow your instructions!"

Zhu Xiaowen bowed deeply to Cui Shao again, then with a depressed look he clasped his hands towards Cui Zibo, and then said goodbye and left.

Looking at Zhu Xiaowen's departing back, Cui Zibo asked Cui Shao anxiously:

"Father, are you really going to let Brother Xiaowen resign and go back to farming? Even if he can't stay in the Censorate any longer, there's no need for him to resign. Father, please talk to the military governor and let Brother Xiaowen be sent out to be a county magistrate!"

Cui Shao heard this and said meaningfully:
"Xiao Wen did a great job this time!"

Listening to his father's words, Cui Zi Bo showed a puzzled look. Although Zhu Xiaowen's surname was not Cui, because he married a woman from the Cui family and was promoted from the Censorate by Cui Shao, in the eyes of many people, Zhu Xiaowen was a die-hard supporter of the Cui family. The Cui family also invested a lot of political resources to enable Zhu Xiaowen to reach where he is today and become the powerful deputy censor of the Censorate.

Therefore, if Zhu Xiaowen really resigned from his post and returned to his hometown to farm, wouldn't the Cui family's efforts in him be wasted? If so, why did his father still say that he did a good job?
Looking at Cui Zibo's puzzlement, Cui Shao shook his head and explained:
“If Xiaowen came to beg me to talk to Ye Mingsheng today, it really shows that he is blinded by greed. I have misjudged him…”

"After this incident, Ye Mingsheng took the opportunity to disintegrate our alliance. His next step will certainly be to eliminate our followers. If I go to Ye Mingsheng to plead for Xiaowen, Ye Mingsheng might give me a favor and let Xiaowen become a county magistrate. But then his future in Ye Mingsheng will be completely ruined! He will be a county magistrate for the rest of his life!"

"And Xiaowen did not ask me for help but chose to resign from his post. This is a move of retreating to advance, which will greatly reduce Ye Mingsheng's vigilance against him!"

After hearing what his father said, Cui Zibo probably understood a little, but he still asked with some doubt:
"But how can we re-employ him after he returns home? What if Ye Mingsheng forgets about him? There are many people in the Censorate who are eyeing Xiaowen's position!"

Cui Shao smiled confidently and said:

"Don't worry about that. Although the Fengwu Army under Ye Mingsheng is good at fighting, it lacks useful talents among the civil servants. Although Xiaowen made a mistake this time, his merits outweigh his flaws. He is still a rare talent. Although he is sometimes swayed by family affection, the most rare thing about him is that he does not have high requirements for external things and is not greedy for money, which is exactly what Ye Mingsheng likes..."

"A person who is talented and not greedy for money is exactly the qualified official Ye Mingsheng wants. Even if such a person has some minor flaws, Ye Mingsheng will choose to tolerate him. And most importantly, do you think the position of assistant clerk of the Coordination Office is easy to do?"

"Ye Mingsheng has been carrying out anti-corruption in the government and cracking down on those who commit crimes. Since Ye Mingsheng took over Liaoyang, the number of prisoners interrogated by the Censorate has increased several times compared to the past. Under Ye Mingsheng's instruction, Murong Yuliang marginalized my former capable men in the Censorate, so the only people who really do the work are Xiaowen and his men!"

"I don't even need to ask Xiaowen to resign this time. Murong Yuliang will take the initiative to talk to Ye Mingsheng. Don't worry, although Xiaowen has been affected by this incident, he will be ignored for a while at most. It won't be long before he makes a comeback!"

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Early morning, Governor's Mansion.

As usual, Ye Mingsheng accompanied Ye Cui to finish breakfast. When he was about to say goodbye and leave amid Ye Cui's instructions, he suddenly saw a big "Fu" character hanging in Ye Cui's hall. The structure of this character was tight, upright, and steady, and it had the charm of Yan Zhenqing's style!

Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but be curious about who wrote this word. You know, Ye Cui usually doesn't hang these things. Seeing Ye Mingsheng looking at the word "Fu", Ye Cui said without Ye Mingsheng saying anything:
"This Chinese character for blessing was written by your third uncle himself and given to me as a New Year's gift. How about it? It's very nice, isn't it?"

Ye Mingsheng understood something when he heard this. It turned out to be a gift from Cui Shao. No wonder his mother hung it on the wall so preciously. He smiled and praised:

"Third uncle's handwriting is naturally excellent!"

Hearing her son's praise, a happy smile appeared on Ye Cui's face. After chatting with Ye Cui for a few more words, Ye Mingsheng returned to his study.

Sitting on the chair in the study, Ye Mingsheng’s eyes were still filled with the word “Fu” written by Cui Shao.
The Yun family and the Gongsun family were nothing more than minor problems. The reason why Ye Mingsheng had not dealt with them before was simply because he had other things to do and did not have the time. However, Cui Shao and the Cui family always made Ye Mingsheng feel a little uncomfortable.

Ye Mingsheng had thought about setting a trap, but Cui Shao was like a slippery loach, not giving Ye Mingsheng any excuses. Until now, the only evidence Ye Mingsheng had was that he mixed wasteland into the land he redeemed, but even this evidence was mainly due to the actions of the Yun family and the Gongsun family. According to Gu Sansi's report, the Cui family had quietly used good land to exchange the wasteland for the good land in the past few months.

In addition, Cui Shao was in the provincial government, so he would handle official documents if Ye Mingsheng gave him them, and would never participate in them if Ye Mingsheng didn't give him any. He was really self-protective, which made it difficult for Ye Mingsheng to move him. After all, he was Ye Mingsheng's third uncle and An Miaoyi's uncle-in-law. With these two relationships, not to mention that Ye Mingsheng had no suitable excuse, even if he had an excuse and evidence to move him, the gossip in the world would poke Ye Mingsheng in the spine...

Public opinion, reputation, and personal image are of little use to Ye Mingsheng if he only wants to stay in Liaoyang. However, if Ye Mingsheng wants to compete for the Central Plains, he must maintain them well!
After pondering for a while, Ye Mingsheng shook his head. Ever since he took office in Liaoyang, he has regarded the three clans of Liaoyang as a serious threat. He wanted to clip their wings and weaken their strength. So far, Ye Mingsheng has basically achieved his goal.

The three Liaoyang clans basically posed no threat to his rule, and Ye Mingsheng also needed their help in the fight for hegemony over the world and the Central Plains. So now Ye Mingsheng felt that as long as Cui Shao was sensible enough, there was no need for him to kill them all.

Putting Cui Shao's matter aside for the moment, Ye Mingsheng flipped through today's memorial. Qi Dechao had been serving as Ye Mingsheng's aide-de-camp for some time, and he had some understanding of Ye Mingsheng's priorities.

Therefore, the second memorial he sent today was about the movement of the army. Yesterday morning, Yuan Song's First Division and Lin Huaiwu's Second Division had already begun to move towards Guangning Prefecture in the name of suppressing bandits according to the plan. ·············

Although a large number of people were involved in this expedition, including the two main divisions of the Fengwu Army, just like Guo Zhiping's Third Division before, Ye Mingsheng did not attend the oath-taking ceremony in order not to attract attention. The entire process of the army was as low-key as possible, and only generals at the commander-in-chief level and above were entitled to know the army's true combat purpose.

Judging from the current reports, the plan is progressing smoothly. After putting down the memorial about the army, Ye Mingsheng picked up the second memorial. This memorial was presented to Ye Mingsheng by Huo San from the General Coordination Office, and it mainly introduced the situation in Youyan.

Because Ye Mingsheng had deliberately shown weakness to Youyan in selling firearms, Youyan looked down on Ye Mingsheng and the Fengwu Army. This contempt was not only reflected in the fact that they only stationed 10,000 people in Jizhou, the eastern gate of Youyan, but also in their intelligence.

According to the investigation of the Coordination Office, although Youyan sent some spies to Liaoyang to gather intelligence and find out the strength of Fengwu Army, these people were not elite personnel, but unlucky people who were defeated in their internal struggle.
Even the annual funding for them in Liaoyang is only a pitiful 500 taels of silver. With the joint efforts of Huo San and Wang Xuecheng, the spies sent by Youyan have either been turned against or are already under the secret control of the Coordination Office and can be arrested at any time...

It is precisely because of this that even though the Fengwu Army's sneak attack had already set out, the current Youyan high-level officials were still in the same situation as when Huo San reported before. Youyan has not yet noticed the Fengwu Army's intention to enter the pass, and they are even fighting among themselves over who is Zhao Fuqu's successor.

Previously, Zhao Fuqu was assassinated by people from the Supervisory Office in Jinzhong. His second son Zhao Jianwen was informed that his father was about to die. In order to replace his brother Zhao Jianan, he jumped up and down and made preparations everywhere. As a result, Zhao Fuqu scolded him in a letter and ordered Zhao Jianwen to be confined to his home.

Zhao Jianwen, who was under house arrest, found out that it was his elder brother Zhao Jianan who was behind all this. The person who told him that his father was about to die was his elder brother Zhao Jianan's man. Zhao Jianwen could not swallow this. Although he was ordered to be under house arrest, he was restless in the mansion and found several killers to assassinate him. Zhao Jianan's strategist Sun Zhunde wanted to vent his anger.

The killers ambushed Sun Zhunde under the instruction of Zhao Jianwen. Although Sun Zhunde was lucky enough to escape, his second son became disabled in order to cover his escape, and had to be confined to a wheelchair from then on. Sun Zhunde was extremely sad and angry after suffering this disaster, and begged Zhao Jianan to make the decision for him. Zhao Jianan and Zhao Jianwen, who were incompatible with each other, confronted each other over this matter, and the two sides fought each other...

Seeing this, a faint smile emerged on Ye Mingsheng's face. Without Zhao Fuqu in Yijing, all these monsters and demons showed up. However, this is exactly what Ye Mingsheng likes. If you want to destroy them, you must first make them crazy. The more chaotic the internal struggle in Youyan is, the better. Anyway, they don't have many days left!
By the time Zhao Fuqu rushed back from Jinzhong and tried to reunite the Yan army, it would probably be too late. The Fengwu Army had already occupied most of Youyan!

In addition to the situation regarding Youyan, Huo San also mentioned in his memorial the situations of the Yun family and the Gongsun family. Under the auspices of Yun Hanjie, the Yun family has already brought back the culprit Yun Guanjing who had been hiding away, and has begun to sell off their property.

As for the Gongsun family, although they are not as rich as the Yun family, they are also prepared to dig out the silver and food in the bottom of the family box and hand them over to Ye Mingsheng in exchange for Ye Mingsheng's leniency towards them...
Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng sneered in his heart. If he had known this would happen, he would not have done it in the first place. They are all a bunch of despicable bones. You turned a blind eye to it and did not want to cause any more trouble, but they just took advantage of you and were so shameless. Now that you see that he is going to play real games, they just give in!

After writing two sentences of instructions to Huo San, Ye Mingsheng handed it to Qi Dechao. Then he seemed to remember something and calculated that there should be a result by the day. So he asked Qi Dechao to find Wang Xuecheng's letter from the memorial and give it to him. He wanted to read Wang Xuecheng's letter first.

Although he was only the deputy director of the Coordination Office, due to the special nature of the Coordination Office, Ye Mingsheng also gave Wang Xuecheng the same power as Huo San to come to the Governor's Mansion to meet him and write reports to him. Sometimes some secret matters were also given to Wang Xuecheng to do.

And this time, Ye Mingsheng had a special task assigned to Wang Xuecheng···············
Letting go of Wang Xuecheng's memorial, Ye Mingsheng began to read it carefully. When he met Murong Qingwu by chance in Dongting Theater before, looking at Murong Qingwu's expression and behavior, Ye Mingsheng had a vague premonition that the relationship between Murong Qingwu and Shen Yutong was unusual.

Then Ye Mingsheng remembered that Shen Yutong's father, Censor Shen Hui, was a disciple of Murong Qingwu's uncle Murong Lun. Shen Yutong and Murong Qingwu might have grown up together in Luoan. Although he realized this, Ye Mingsheng just thought Shen Yutong was very beautiful at the time and had no other feelings, so he didn't think about it further!
As Shen Yutong, the most famous actress in Liaoyang, was given to Ye Mingsheng as a gift by An Miaoyi and became one of his concubines, Ye Mingsheng began to be curious about the story between Shen Yutong and Murong Qingwu, so he asked Wang Xuecheng to arrange people to investigate the matter, and now is the time to uncover the mystery...

(End of this chapter)