Chapter 521: Strategy for conquering Ye Mingsheng!
After the combat meeting, Cui Desheng, deputy general of the Third Division, returned to his residence and told Cui Shao, who had just arrived in Yijing yesterday, everything that happened at the combat meeting today.

"Uncle, judging from the way the commander-in-chief has always acted, I think Yuan Song is going to fail this time!" Cui Desheng said with some emotion:
At this point, Cui Desheng changed the subject and said with some doubt:

"It's strange to say that Yuan Song is known for his calmness and even his steady actions in battle. Why didn't he ask for permission from Governor Ye this time and just transferred Chen Chuanwu without authorization? Although Chen Chuanwu is only a martial arts instructor in the reserve and is insignificant, he was removed by the Governor himself. How dare Yuan Song take the initiative without asking for permission?"

"If he really wants to help Chen Chuanwu, he should ask the commander-in-chief first. His First Division has made great contributions in entering the pass this time. Even if the commander-in-chief doesn't like Chen Chuanwu, he should give Yuan Song some face. I really don't understand why he did this!"

Listening to Cui Desheng's confusion, Cui Shao, who had been keeping his head down, shook his head and said:

"I originally thought that Yuan Song was a rough man, but I was wrong. He is so thoughtful!"

Cui Desheng was stunned when he heard this. After a few seconds, he still hadn't reacted yet. He didn't bother to think about it and asked Cui Shao directly:
"Uncle San, why don't I understand what you mean? Yuan Song acted so recklessly in this matter, how can it be considered that he is thoughtful?"

In response to Cui Desheng's question, Cui Shao gave some advice:
"You have to look at this matter in light of the current situation and Yuan Song's current position in the Fengwu Army..."

Despite Cui Shao's advice, Cui Desheng still couldn't figure it out after pondering for a while, and looked at Cui Shao for help. Cui Shao was speechless about Cui Desheng's stupid head. Seeing that he couldn't understand this, Cui Shao could only say:

"Although I have little contact with your military affairs, I have heard that Yuan Song is known as the first general of your Fengwu Army. The First Division under his command is also the ace unit of the Fengwu Army. Although the Fengwu Army can be what it is today due to Ye Mingsheng's wise leadership, it is also inseparable from the glorious military exploits of Yuan Song!"

"Now that the Fengwu Army has successfully entered the pass, Yuan Song, the commander of the First Division, has made great contributions. This time, Ye Mingsheng returned to Dongning and let Yuan Song serve as the commander-in-chief of the front line. Yuan Song's reputation has risen to a new level! It is hard to guarantee that there will not be people who are jealous!"

Listening to Cui Shao's words, Cui Desheng understood something even if he was dumb. He subconsciously touched his beard and said:
"Uncle San, are you saying that Yuan Song is worried that his achievements will overthrow his master? So he did this on purpose?"

Cui Shao nodded seriously and said:
“Yuan Song’s current position in the Fengwu Army is at a point where there is no room for advancement or promotion. The only step he can take is the position of Chief of Staff of the Fengwu Army. But everyone knows that the position of Chief of Staff in the Fengwu Army is tailor-made for He Jingyun. Apart from giving advice to Ye Mingsheng, the Chief of Staff does not have much actual power. Given Yuan Song’s personality, I don’t think he would want to be the chief steward…”

"In the case of Chen Chuanwu, it can be said that this is a case of execution first and reporting later. However, after all, Chen Chuanwu is only a reserve coach. According to the regulations of the Fengwu Army, he is only a low-level military officer at the level of a captain. Yuan Song has the power to apply directly to the General Staff for his enlistment! There is no need to report to Ye Mingsheng, so the severity of this matter depends on Ye Mingsheng's opinion!"

"So in my opinion, Yuan Song, who has nowhere to go, mainly wants to take a step back through this incident to avoid Ye Mingsheng from having other ideas. It is too deliberate to tarnish his own reputation like Wang Jian and Xiao He did, so he took advantage of Chen Chuanwu's opportunity to help his old comrade's nephew!"

"As the ancients said, a good lord is like a tiger, especially a tyrant like Ye Mingsheng. He is the most ruthless person. If you are not careful when serving such a lord, you will be doomed. Desheng, you must remember that people like Ye Mingsheng are suspicious. You must be extremely careful when doing things with them, and you must not be careless at all!"

"Just like Yuan Song this time, he was very calm. He knew that with his current reputation, if he didn't know how to act, he would sooner or later be suspected of being too successful and causing trouble for his master. Even if Ye Mingsheng could see through everything, there would inevitably be villains who would make up stories and make trouble!"

"The miserable end of Han Xin, Zhou Yafu and others is a lesson for us. As the saying goes, if you can be patient for a while, you will have peace in the sea; if you take a step back, you will have a broader horizon. If there is no expert behind him to guide him in this matter, then I may have underestimated him before!"

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The next day, Ye Mingsheng was working in the study, processing the official documents on tax reduction in Jizhou, when he heard Ye Cheng coming over and reporting:

"Sir, Master Gu Zhongshi is here to see you!"

Ye Mingsheng looked up when he heard this, a little surprised. But after thinking for a moment, he seemed to realize something, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes, and he said lightly:
"not see!"

"Yes!"

After a cup of tea, Gu Zhongshi in the Governor's Mansion felt a sinking feeling in his heart when he heard Ye Cheng's reply. However, he had been in the political arena for decades and still had some energy to cultivate his spirit. He smiled and nodded in front of Ye Cheng and said calmly:
"Since it's inconvenient, I'll come back another day to bother you, Lord Governor. Manager Ye is leaving now!"

"Master Gu, please take care!" Ye Cheng bowed and said:

After an incense stick of time, Gu Zhongshi returned to his residence. As soon as he returned to the study, he saw a tall, middle-aged man with gorgeous clothes and a fat body walking towards Gu Zhongshi and said very urgently:

"Master Gu, you are back! Have you seen Ye Mingsheng?"

Gu Zhongshi, with a solemn expression, glanced at Ma Hongde, the second master of the Ma family, in front of him. Without saying a word, he walked to his own armchair and sat down silently...

Seeing Gu Zhongshi looking so depressed, Ma Hongde, who had been looking forward to Gu Zhongshi's visit, suddenly felt something was wrong. He knew that Gu Zhongshi must have run into a snag with Ye Mingsheng, otherwise he wouldn't be so depressed.

After a moment of silence, Gu Zhongshi, who was sitting on the armchair, sighed helplessly and said:

"Ye Mingsheng should know why I was looking for him, so he deliberately didn't see me!" Upon hearing this, Ma Hongde immediately became dissatisfied and looked at Gu Zhongshi and said:
"Master Gu, you praised Ye Mingsheng to the skies in the beginning, and we believed you and joined the Fengwu Army. How come you can't even meet Ye Mingsheng now?"

Gu Zhongshi could only frown at Ma Hongde's complaints, but he didn't know what to say. Seeing that Gu Zhongshi didn't say anything, Ma Hongde was anxious and said directly

"Master Gu, your family also has shares in our Ma family's business, and you have received a lot of dividends every year. If the Fengwu Army is now a public-private partnership, not only will our Ma family's financial resources be cut off, but everyone will have nothing to eat. Master Gu, although it is good for you to be the deputy governor, you must also distinguish between the important and the unimportant, and sit on your butt!"

Although he was somewhat in the wrong, Ma Hongde's repeated pressure also made Gu Zhongshi angry. He looked at Ma Hongde coldly and said:

"I don't need you to tell me how to do things!"

Seeing that Gu Zhongshi seemed a little angry, Ma Hongde smiled and said:
"How dare I, Ma Hongde, a mere businessman, preach to Lord Gu? I am just reminding you..."

"If you can't handle Ye Mingsheng, I, Ma, will have to go on stage myself and meet our Governor General Ye!"

Listening to Ma Hongde's words, Gu Zhongshi snorted coldly and said:
"If you want to go over there, go ahead. As long as you have the ability, you can do whatever you want. But don't blame me for not reminding you. Ye Mingsheng is not Zhao Fuqu! Your stuff may not work on him!"

Facing Gu Zhongshi's high level, Ma Hongde smiled confidently and said:

"My Ma family is able to make such a big business, and it's not for nothing! We will not fight an unprepared battle. I know a little about General Ye Mingsheng. I know that he doesn't like money or luxury. He is very frugal in food, clothing and daily expenses. He has always been raising the banner of anti-corruption in the government and the army. Many officials and generals have been punished or even dismissed from office because of accepting bribes!"

Feeling the confidence in Ma Hongde's words, Gu Zhongshi narrowed his eyes and said calmly:

"You have done enough homework on Ye Mingsheng!"

Ma Hongde smiled and said:
"Master Gu, you are joking. If merchants like us don't ask around and find out what the masters like, can we continue our business? Can we do it in the long run?"

“In all these years of doing business, I, Ma, have seen such honest and incorruptible people… But I always believe that everyone has weaknesses. It depends on whether you can discover them. There may be people in this world who don’t love money, but there is absolutely no one who doesn’t love money, women, or fame!”

After listening to Ma Hongde's words, Gu Zhongshi became serious and asked:

'What are you going to do?'

Ma Hongde smiled mysteriously when he heard this:

"This matter still needs to be kept secret. Sir Gu, please forgive me!"

Although he didn't know what Ma Hongde wanted to do, seeing how confident he was about defeating Ye Mingsheng, Gu Zhongshi hesitated for a moment and said:
"Just go ahead and do it! If you need any cooperation from me, just let me know!"

"Thank you very much, Master Gu!" Ma Hongde bowed deeply to Gu Zhongshi and said:

After having a secret conversation with Gu Zhongshi for about half an hour, Ma Hongde finally walked out of Gu’s residence. As soon as he walked out, a luxurious carriage stopped in front of him...
With the help of his servants, Ma Hongde boarded the carriage. After entering the carriage, his face instantly darkened and he ordered the driver:
"Go to Guangtaiheng!"

"Yes!"

After an incense stick of time, the carriage carrying Ma Hongde stopped at a shop outside the east gate that was bustling with people. This was the store of Guangtaiheng, the largest bank in Youyan, in Yijing. As the largest bank in Youyan, Guangtaiheng was rooted in Youyan, but its business was not limited to Youyan. Their business scope spread all over the north of Dazhou, including Luoan, Jinyang, Yujing and other northern cities. They had branches.

Although Liaoyang is remote, Guangtaiheng originally had a store in Dongning, providing financial services to businesses that went to Liaoyang to buy medicinal materials and furs. The business amount was as high as more than 300,000 taels of silver each year, and Guangtaiheng would charge a fee ranging from ten to thirty points.

However, Ye Mingsheng led the Fengwu Army to power and vigorously promoted reforms in Liaoyang. The most important content of the reform was to strengthen the supervision of financial industries such as the Piaohao. Only Dadongsheng Company was allowed to carry out Piaohao business in Liaoyang and issue bonds with this as guarantee...
When the reform first began, other banks including Guangtaiheng had thought of ways to curry favor with high-ranking officials of the Fengwu Army and smooth relations with them. Some people even used their connections to find Ye Mingsheng himself, just to obtain a bank license.

However, Liaoyang was extremely poor at that time and its finances were in decline. In order to expand his financial resources and reduce the exploitation of the already impoverished people, Ye Mingsheng had no choice but to take action against them. It was at that time that Guangtaiheng Trading Company and the Ma family behind them realized that the Fengwu military regime led by Ye Mingsheng was completely different from the other corrupt and inefficient Da Zhou government in their impressions.

The Ma family had no choice but to order Guangtai Heng to withdraw from the Liaoyang market. Although it was painful for them to withdraw from the Liaoyang market, as they lost more than 30,000 taels of silver in profit every year, the Ma family was a large family with a large business, and they also had businesses in various places in the north of the Great Zhou. Remote areas like Liaoyang were not their business focus, so withdrawing from the Liaoyang market was not a big deal.
However, they never expected that the Fengwu Army, which had just risen for less than three years, not only had the courage to enter the pass, but also defeated Zhao Fuqu, who had dominated Youyan for decades, and even lost its old nest, the political and economic center, Yijingdu. This undoubtedly surprised countless people, including the Ma family.

The top executives of the Ma family were terrified when they thought that the reforms Ye Mingsheng implemented in Liaoyang might be implemented in Youyan. For a business like theirs that made huge profits through collusion between officials and businessmen, insider trading, and market manipulation to implement monopoly, Ye Mingsheng's policy of strengthening industry supervision and cracking down on bullying, hoarding, and price gouging would undoubtedly be a devastating blow to them...
(End of this chapter)